PENNSYLVANIA — As Congress prepares to vote on President Biden’s COVID relief bill this week, Pennsylvania Republicans continue to stick out like a sore thumb as one of the last remaining groups opposing the American Rescue Plan.
Here are some of the lowlights:
Sen. Pat Toomey — “The economy has come roaring back. Disposable income is at record high levels…It’s not an economy in collapse.” “[The American Rescue Plan is] a colossal waste and economically harmful.”
Rep. Mike Kelly — “The COVID-19 relief bill has a total disregard for their future and economic stability…I think it is absolutely not only irresponsible — it is immoral.”
Rep. John Joyce — “The plan “includes extreme leftist priorities — none of which will get Americans back to work.’”
Rep. Fred Keller — ”I don’t know how anybody can look their constituents in the eye, knowing – voting for this and knowing that, where’s the money gonna come from to make it revenue neutral because it’s going through reconciliation.”
Rep. Scott Perry —”BAD BILL — Folks, what’s packed into President Biden’s $1.9 Trillion “American Rescue Plan” throws a drowning economy an anchor, not a life preserver.“
Working families and struggling small businesses in Pennsylvania and across the country know that we need President Biden’s plan to deliver immediate financial relief that will jumpstart our economy, which might explain why the president’s bill is the most popular piece of legislation in years. Opposing this needed relief effort isn’t just bad policy from Pennsylvania Republicans then — it won’t make them any more popular with their constituents, either.
The American Rescue Plan maintains strong bipartisan support even as the House prepares tomorrow to vote on it:
Morning Consult: “76 percent said they back the stimulus package, including 52 percent who said they ‘strongly’ support the bill.
— “7 in 10 independents support the stimulus proposal, compared to over 1 in 5 who oppose it.”
— “More than half of GOP voters still back the stimulus package at 60 percent.”
According to a SurveyMonkey poll, the three key components in Biden’s proposed plan are all considered to be important by at least 80 percent of Americans.
— “In the SurveyMonkey poll, 4 in 5 Americans said it was important for the relief bill to include additional $1,400 direct checks, including nearly 7 in 10 Republicans.”
— “A similarly large group said it was important to include money for vaccine deployment.”
— A majority of Americans also consider money for schools and state and local governments to be “very important.”
According to a CBS News poll, nearly eight in ten Americans are satisfied with the size of the plan or think it should be bigger—39 percent say it’s the right size and another 40 percent say it’s not big enough.
The Economist’s G. Elliott Morris: “66% of Americans in a new The Economist/YouGov poll said they support Biden’s economic/covid-19 relief plan.”
— The American Rescue Package is “the most popular key legislative/executive action since the [minimum] wage hike of 2007.”
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