Step one:
Page 781 of the bill provides $25 million to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to cover "salary and expenses."
This is called a payoff. Pure and simple.
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Step one:
Page 781 of the bill provides $25 million to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to cover "salary and expenses."
This is called a payoff. Pure and simple.
CALM DOWN. This isn't that much money, even for Congressional salaries. Consider:
The base salary for a member of Congress is $174,000 per year.
There are 435 members of Congress.
$174,000 times 435 is $75.6 million.
So Congress has over $75 million in "salary and expenses," per year, for just the members of the House of Representatives. No benefits. No staff. No office expenses. No electricity. No janitors. Just base pay for the people elected.
It's undeniable that the coronavirus has caused expenses for Congress to go up. Buildings are being cleaned more (requires more staff and materials), they probably purchased a bunch of PPE and medical supplies (at above market-rate prices), and temporary staff are needed to cover for people home sick (whether actually sick or just psychosomatic).
An extra $25 million to cover those expenses is totally reasonable. A bargain, in fact.
If that's all it took to buy their votes, it's a great price!
Considering they explicitly state in the bill that none of it will go to Trump's businesses and yet they make sure they themselves get paid, it's disgusting. So Trump's hotel employees and businesses aren't allowed to be paid but congress is. Rules for thee, not for me.
That was an easy condition for Trump to accept. His balance sheet is beautiful, he's very under-leveraged, and the Trump companies can get financing from the big banks.
But the condition also applies to the families of members of Congress. Scumbags like Hunter Biden. That going to hurt them.
Trump wins. Again.
Did you even read the bill? The exact same provision says the President (and his family) and members of congress (and their families):
Seems reasonable. I'd buy it, but the fact that I have witnessed Dems try to screw over Trump and the American people over and over again these past few years is all the evidence I need to know their intentions are deceitful. That money will be squandered.
Go away Nancy