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Every Republican Senator Voted Against The Biden Pandemic Aid Package That Passed, And People Are Furious

A month and a half after Joe Biden took office, his sweeping pandemic relief package, totaling $1.9 trillion, was passed by the Senate. Hooray! It’s now scheduled to go through the House one more time before it winds up on Biden’s desk, but if it passes with flying colors it won’t be thanks to Republican senators. Every single one of them voted against it, while every Democrat in the chamber was for it, even Krysten Sinema.

The bill is called the American Rescue Plan, and it’s designed to benefit working class Americans far more than the previous two packages passed under the watch of Donald J. Trump. (Although the first one, passed last March, was slightly more expensive, at a total of $2.2 trillion.) As per The New York Times:

It would inject vast amounts of federal resources into the economy, including direct payments of up to $1,400 for hundreds of millions of Americans, jobless aid of $300 a week to last through the summer, money for distributing coronavirus vaccines and relief for states, cities, schools and small businesses struggling during the pandemic.

The previous packages were largely fixated on corporations, but this one goes above and beyond to save those in need:

It would potentially cut child poverty in half, through a generous expansion of tax credits for low-income Americans with children, increases in subsidies for child care, a broadening of eligibility under the Affordable Care Act and an expansion of food stamps and rental assistance.

And again, every single Republican senator was against it. Perhaps they were too busy reading Dr. Seuss books. It’s a reminder about the deep division in Congress — and about how the Democrats are, albeit narrowly, in charge. When the news hit, social media was quick to pounce on those that tried to stop the bill from passing.

But again, conservatives are a little busy right now.

(Via The New York Times)