A stingy new GOP plan for unemployment benefits reflects Trump's twisted vision

[Zorro]

When Republicans broke with President Trump on mask-wearing, it was treated as a major story. Much hullabaloo ensued when Sen. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) tweeted out a picture of her father wearing a mask, and when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared: “Put on a mask — it’s not complicated.”

In so doing, Republicans appeared to be rejecting Trump’s ongoing depiction of the coronavirus crisis as something that has largely been put behind us.

But in another, equally fundamental sense, Republicans really aren’t breaking with Trump’s reading of the coronavirus crisis at all. And the consequences could be truly dire.

Senate Republicans are set to roll out their plan for the next economic rescue package. The Post team reports:

Senate Republicans will propose cutting weekly emergency unemployment benefits from $600 to $200 until states can bring a more complicated program online, according to two people familiar with the plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity about details that had not yet been released.

The proposal will come as part of a broader $1 trillion relief bill aimed at stemming the economic fallout caused by the novel coronavirus. Republicans plan to release the legislation later on Monday and start negotiations with Democrats. The $600 weekly jobless benefit expires in a few days, and House Democrats have proposed extending it until January because the unemployment rate remains very high.

Senate Republicans want to reduce the $600 payment to $200 until states can implement a new approach that would pay the unemployed 70 percent of the income they collected before they lost their jobs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/27/stingy-new-gop-plan-unemployment-benefits-reflects-trumps-political-needs/