One man is standing in the way of coronavirus aid

It's Mitch McConnell

Mitch McConnell.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

Americans around the country, from the unemployed to the business class, are on tenterhooks to see if the federal government can get it together to pass another pandemic economic rescue. A bipartisan group has coalesced around a new package totaling about $908 billion — including a $300 per week boost to unemployment insurance, money for vaccine distribution, significant aid to cities and states, and another re-up of the CARES Act's grants for small businesses. It's far, far short of what is needed to ensure all Americans get what they need. Still, it's much better than nothing — roughly the bare minimum to stave off an utter catastrophe.

But there is still one enormous obstacle: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. On Tuesday, McConnell released a version of the same meager $500 billion counter-proposal he's been insisting on for months, and proceeded to attack the bipartisan deal. "The solution to this impasse has been in plain sight for a long time now for anyone willing to see it," he said Thursday, clearly implying that they should just pass his garbage plan. If he gets his way, many Americans will starve this winter.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.