UPDATED 19 DECEMBER: There has been a lot of movement concerning the relief bill, but it is massively confusing. There is a possibility for getting stimulus checks to everyone, for example. There is the possibility of getting some financial relief for state and local governments through FEMA. It’s enough to cause me to revise the script to include some of these demands.

If you’re like me, and I know you’re not much like me because as I’ve been reminded throughout my life starting with my mum while in utero, no one is like me, but if you are like me, you’re more than just a little confused about what is going on with the Congressional relief bill. Don’t feel bad about being like me or about being confused.

The confusion is by design. The Repubes and Mitch McConnell want you to be confused. Luckily, for you, you have a part-time blogger and full-time citizen to help untangle the Gordian knot of a conundrum of a mess that McConnell and the WH have made of this just so they can slip their liability protections in for big corporations who knowingly, wantonly, and callously murdered their employees and surrounding communities with for fun and profit.

Call Your MoC about the Bipartisan #COVID19 Relief Bill
Call Your MoC about a #COVID19 Relief Bill

First, we’ll go through what is going on in Congress, and then we’ll get to what you can do about it.

As you may have known, there is a thing known as the $908 billion bipartisan relief bill that has broad bipartisan support from both Democratic and Repube members of both the House and Senate. You’d think that would be enough to get it passed by Congress and signed into law. But, this is Mitch McConnell’s Senate where if it ain’t a radically unqualified judicial nominee, it ain’t moving. So, there’s that.

Now, there is another bill written by someone at the WH and presented by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin which is not too coincidentally referred to as the $916 billion offer from the WH. It has garnered support from Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthy. And, other Repubes if they absolutely hafta.

Let’s compare the bills. We begin with the handy-dandy bulleted side-by-side comparison. Then, we’ll discuss specifics afterward.

The Bipartisan Bill
  • STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING
    • $160 billion in funds for state and local governments
  • UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
    • $180 billion for unemployment insurance benefits
    • Extends the expiring programs
    • Provides $300.00 per week in extra benefits
  • STIMULUS CHECKS
    • NONE
  • SMALL BUSINESS AND PPP SUPPORT
    • $288 billion to support small businesses
  • VACCINE DISTRIBUTION
    • Funding for vaccine distribution
  • LIABILITY PROTECTION
    • Temporary protection from lawsuits
  • OTHER PROVISIONS
    • $25 billion in renters assistance
the wh offer
  • STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING
    • Provided for
  • UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
    • $40 billion to extend expiring programs that have increased access to UI
    • Does not provide for an increase in weekly benefits
  • STIMULUS CHECKS
    • a second round of $600 stimulus checks for individuals and $1200 for couples
  • SMALL BUSINESS AND PPP SUPPORT
    • Support for small businesses and funding for PPP
  • VACCINE DISTRIBUTION
    • Funding for vaccine distribution
  • LIABILITY PROTECTION
    • Robust protections for business, schools, and hospitals
  • OTHER PROVISIONS
    • No known other provisions

Analysis

Why introduce a new bill when there is already substantial progress being made in the bipartisan negotiation of a bill already? It certainly isn’t going to help get a bipartisan bill passed because that’s already underway, right?

CONFUSION AND CHAOS: By introducing yet another bill at this stage just adds more confusion and chaos. In the previous Call Your MoC post on the relief bill there were like four. Now, we have a bill that by all accounts is truly bipartisan and has broad support. Introducing a sixth bill will only further muddy the waters. It fits everything we know about the Ol’ Pussy Grabber:

  • He’s a narcissist: He’s said for months that we’ve turned the corner on the pandemic and the vaccines will be the magic bullet that returns us to normal, so why would we need a relief bill? Passing another bill is a narcissistic wound because it suggests that he’s been less than perfect. He won’t stand for it.
  • He’s malignant: We know he’s a sadist. He enjoys inflicting pain and discomfort on people, especially those he thinks deserve it. Who doesn’t deserve all the pain he can mete out more than the American people who so severely disappointed him by not voting for him? If the pandemic is mitigated and economic relief provided, then people will not suffer sufficiently.
  • He’s chaotic: Trump thrives on chaos. It distracts and helps him get what he wants. He only wants to delay and obfuscate until he’s out of office. He’ll argue that if we had re-elected him, then we wouldn’t’ve needed a relief package. #BidenHarris have completely screwed up is the only reason we need one.

SPLITTING: One of the biggest reasons to introduce the WH bill is split the support for the bipartisan compromise bill. Sanders, Warren, and the progressive caucus have said that they want $1200 stimulus checks in the bill. What do they offer? $600 stimulus checks but fewer other financial aide benefits. They’re hoping to weaken support for the bipartisan bill by holding out hope that we might could negotiate up to the $1200 stimulus checks.

POISON PILL: The new bill is a poison pill designed for the Democrats to reject. Once the Dems reject it, the Repubes will throw their hands in the air and lament the unreasonableness of the Dems. Lord knows, they tried to compromise. They included funding for local governments, but then Dems moved the goal post. There just is no working with them.

THEIR TRUE COLORS: This bill shows Mitch McConnell’s true colors. If Mitch had wanted a stimulus bill, he coulda had one. He doesn’t want to pass a relief bill, so he’s looking for an excuse not to. It is as simple as that. If you want to know why, you’ll have to look inside his flinty petrified heart or await another blog post to find out.

ANYTHING ELSE: That’s what I got. If you can think of any other reason for the WH offer to exist, please put it in the comments.

Call to Action

Call Your Moc

The first thing you should do is call your members of Congress, your representative and your senators, and tell them to support the $908 billion bipartisan relief package. See the script below. Of course, when we say call, we mean contact using the telephone, email, snail mail, or social media.

Call only your members of Congress, though. Don’t go calling Mitch McConnell or Kevin McCarthy or any other Congress person you love to hate. It doesn’t do any good. They don’t listen to non-constituents and you fill-up inboxes and other spaces so that their real constituents can’t use them.

Tweet Mitch McConnell

What is wrong with Mitch McConnell
What is WRONG with Mitch McConnell

It don’t do no good to call, email, or mail Mitch McConnell, but you can social media at him. You can’t fill up his twitter feed. The worst that can happen is he can block you. For some #Resisters that seems to be a badge of honor being blocked by someone or another.

But, seriously, we need a sustained tweet campaign at Mitch McConnell. He needs to be buried in a tweet avalanche, swim in a twitter deluge, idle in a twitter traffic jam. So, here’s a free tweet just to get you started:

The American people need stimulus checks, UI bonuses and extensions, eviction moratoriums. renters assist. Local gov’ts need help. Small business need help. Corps don’t need liability protection. Pass the bipartisan relief bill

The Script

Adapt this script for phone calls and emails.

Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [STATE and LOCALITY].

I’m calling today to urge you to support the bipartisan relief bill. There is a lot of debate on what types of relief should be included. Please support extensions of unemployment insurance, $1200.00 stimulus checks, rent and eviction protection, support for state and local governments, paycheck protection for small and moderate sized businesses

We have run up our deficit by over a trillion dollars because of tax cuts to the wealthy that have not paid off in benefits for our citizens. Don’t balance the budgets on the dinner tables and homes of average Americas but by raising the taxes on the rich. The American people need the help and support of our federal government.

Thank you for your time and attention.

IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.

Tips for Calling

When you call your representative’s office, please remember the following:

  • Only contact YOUR MoC! They only listen to their constituents and dismiss requests from non-constituents.Ask for the aide working on the policy-related issues.
  • Be polite! No matter whose office you’re calling. No matter what their positions are. No matter how inflamed you are about the issue — and you should be very passionate — be polite.
  • Remember that the people you are talking to are people! So, be nice.
  • Call during business hours of the area code their office is in. Typically, that is 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
  • Have a script or notes to follow so you don’t forget anything.
  • Maybe call with friends. You know like a party.

In Addition to Calling

When Calling Your Member of Congress Doesn't Work
Call Your MOC: How To Contact Your MOC When Calling Doesn’t Work

I’ve heard back from readers that some MoC’s voice mail boxes are always full! It’s as if they don’t want to hear from their constituents. Kinda like those MoC’s who don’t hold town halls or other open forum meetings. Here are some other ways to contact your MoC:

  • Send a postcard to their office. Nothing says I care like kicking it old school and using snail mail.
  • Email their office. Lay out your concerns in a brief email and send it in. We all know how easy it is to email. Make sure you include the issue you are addressing in the subject line.
  • Use the contact page on their website. This is the surest way of getting a message to them. Each MoC has an official government website and each has a contact page that comes with it automatically.
  • Contact them using social media. It’s hard to break through all the noise on social media, but it can’t hurt to try given all the time we all spend using it. Be sure to tag your MoC’s when social mediaing about about a specific issue. Be clear and respectful, though, when addressing an issue that you want your MoC to act upon. Make sure you let them know you are a constituent.

Contacting Your MoC

Find out how to contact your MoC using these links!

  • Common Cause will give you the names, party affiliation, direct phone number, website link, and social media platforms of all of your federal, state, and local elected officials.
  • GovTrack gives you the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and Twitter handles of your senators and representative. It is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Just plug-in your address. You can also track legislation.
  • USA.gov is the official guide to information and services of the US government. This page explains clearly how to contact everyone from the Ol’ Pussy Grabber to your representative to specific government agencies. Through it you can find the following information about your MoC’s:
    • Their phone numbers: DC and state offices
    • Their mailing addresses both in DC and their state offices
    • Official website with their contact page including email, request a meeting, town hall schedules, and social media
    • And, the committees they sit on
  • 5 Calls: Sign-up for 5 Calls because they help you contact your member of Congress and keep you abreast of on going issues that are important to you! Now, that is a good deal.
  • The Capital Hill Switch Board: (202) 224-3121.
  • MassacreMitch and #MoscowMitch: His DC office, (202) 224-2541.
  • Nancy Pelosi: Her DC office, (202) 225-4965; her California office, (415) 556-4862
  • The Ol’ Pussy Grabber: The WH switchboard, (202) 456-1414 or the comments line at (202) 456-1111 during business hours

Join Indivisible

Follow the link to Indivisible to find a group near you, their campaigns, events in your neighborhood, and download their handy-dandy booklet!

Image Attribution

“One tweet *can* change the world” by opensourceway is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0