Dems seize on 'slush fund' to oppose Republican rescue package Senate Democrats ripped a GOP proposal to give the Trump administration $500 billion in funds for companies with little oversight
As Senate Democrats went to the floor Sunday night to vote — the first time they’d been there in days — they had one thing on their minds: a secret “slush fund” for Corporate America.
That was way too much for Democrats, many of whom lived through the political furor surrounding the 2008 financial-services industry bailout. They remember facing the populist backlash and being pounded by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. They aren't going to do it again. Even moderate West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin lashed out at the Republicans over the lack of controls on the Exchange Stabilization Fund.
But the key to the unanimous set of Democratic ‘no’ votes — and what made it easy for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to line them up — was the “slush fund” accusation. Republicans also say that they have made major concessions to the Democrats on their demands for this stimulus package. Democrats secured $250 billion in additional unemployment insurance payments, which some top Republicans opposed. The $75 billion in new funding for hospitals was a Democratic win as well, although Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi want hundreds of billions more.
“The proposal provides desperately needed resources for affected industries and sectors in order to keep people employed and at work,” said Eric Ueland, the White House director of legislative affairs and a former top Senate aide who is closely involved in the negotiations. “This carefully drawn language contains significant pro-taxpayer and pro-consumer protections in a way unprecedented since the invention of these vehicles really 12 years ago.
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