“McConnell is making it pretty clear that if Dems don’t win the Georgia Senate races, he will cripple the American economy, hoping it will let the GOP win the midterm.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-2-2020

Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday began circulating a coronavirus relief proposal whose contents offer so little assistance to the tens of millions of jobless, hungry, and eviction-prone Americans that critics warned the Kentucky Republican is actively working to ensure the U.S. economy remains mired in deep recession as Biden administration takes charge next month.

Described as a “targeted” relief proposal, McConnell’s plan is heavily geared toward providing corporations with immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits; the offer includes a liability shield that Public Citizen’s Remington Gregg described as “breathtakingly broad.” The Kentucky Republican’s plan also contains a 100% tax deduction for business meals.

Meanwhile, McConnell’s proposed relief measure does not include a boost to federal unemployment insurance, instead calling for a mere one-month extension of existing programs and stricter requirements for applicants in the name of preventing “fraud.” The Republican’s proposal also omits another round of direct stimulus payments and aid to cash-strapped state and local governments.

“Leave it to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to propose a bill that creates tax write-offs for fancy lunches and gives the middle finger to working families and 20 million unemployed Americans,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “This is not a serious proposal, it is a slap in the face to people who need help.”

In the months ahead of the November election and in the weeks since, analysts have cautioned that if McConnell maintains his stranglehold on the Senate, the Kentucky Republican could attempt to impose devastating economic austerity with the goal of undermining Biden’s presidency and gaining GOP seats in 2022 and beyond. McConnell’s new relief proposal only bolstered those concerns.

“McConnell is making it pretty clear that if Dems don’t win the Georgia Senate races, he will cripple the American economy, hoping it will let the GOP win the midterm,” tweeted journalist Jon Walker.

HuffPost‘s Zach Carter offered a similar assessment:

The core terms here are a one-month extension for expiring unemployment benefits and $330 billion for PPP. Given the scope of the crisis it’s hard to interpret as anything other than economic sabotage. https://t.co/djfhOSrFle

— Zach Carter (@zachdcarter) December 1, 2020

Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Action said in a statement that McConnell’s latest coronavirus relief offer is “nothing but a cruel joke.”

“Once again, Mitch McConnell shows that he is more interested in protecting corporations that have put workers’ lives at risk than he is in protecting Americans who have lost their water service,” said Hauter. “As the Covid crisis only grows more deadly, this disgraceful proposal puts the lives of everyday Americans at even greater risk.”