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WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden told Democratic lawmakers Wednesday hes not married to an absolute number on his $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan but Congress needs to act fast on relief for the pandemic and the economic crisis.

Biden also said he doesnt want to budge from his proposed $1,400 in direct payments promised to Americans. But he said he is willing to target the aid, which would mean lowering the income threshold to qualify for the money.

Look, we got a lot of people hurting in our country today, Biden said. We need to act. We need to act fast.

Biden said, Im not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people.

He spoke with House Democrats and followed with a meeting at the White House with top Senate Democrats, deepening his public engagements with lawmakers on pandemic aid and an economic recovery package. Together they are his first legislative priority and a test of the administrations ability to work with Congress to deliver.

Bidens remarks to the Democratic House caucus were relayed by two people who requested anonymity to discuss the private conference call.

While Biden is trying to build bipartisan support from Republicans, he is also prepared to rely on the Democratic majority in Congress to push his top agenda item into law. Objecting to the presidents package as excessive, Republicans proposed a $618 billion alternative with slimmer $1,000 direct payments and zero aid for states and cities. But Biden panned the GOP package as insufficient even as he continues private talks with Republicans on potential areas of compromise.

In his meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and 10 top Senate Democrats in the Oval Office, the president expressed confidence that the relief package would still win over GOP votes and be bipartisan.

I think well get some Republicans, he said at the start of the meeting.

With a rising virus death toll and strained economy, the goal is to have COVID-19 relief approved by March, when extra unemployment assistance and other pandemic aid measures expire. Money for vaccine distributions, direct payments to households, school reopenings and business aid are at stake.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the president fully recognizes the final package may look different than the one he initially proposed.

She said further targeting the $1,400 payments means not the size of the check, it means the income level of the people who receive the check. Thats under discussion, she said.

As lawmakers in Congress begin drafting the details of the package, Biden is taking care to shore up his allies while also ensuring that the final product fulfills his promise for bold relief to a battered nation.

House Democrats were told on the call with the president that they could be flexible on some numbers and programs, but should not back down on the size or scope of the aid.

We have to go big, not small, Biden told the Democrats. Ive got your back, and youve got mine.

As the White House reaches for a bipartisan bill, House and Senate Democrats have launched a lengthy budget process for approving Bidens bill with or without Republican support. Voting started Tuesday in the Senate and was set for Wednesday and Thursday in the House.

We want to do it bipartisan, but we must be strong, Schumer said after the 90-minute session at the White House. Democrats are working with our Republican friends, when we can.

The swift action follows Tuesdays outreach as Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen joined the Democratic senators for a private virtual meeting, both declaring the Republicans $618 billion offer was too small.

Both Biden and Yellen recalled the lessons of the government response to the 2009 financial crisis, which some have since said was inadequate as conditions worsened.

Schumer said of the Republican proposal: If we did a package that small, wed be mired in the COVID crisis for years.

Earlier in the week, Biden met with 10 Republican senators who were pitching their $618 billion alternative, and told them he wont delay aid in hopes of winning GOP support even as talks continue.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell criticized the Democrats for pressing ahead largely on their own as the GOP senators try to provide bipartisan alternatives.

Theyve chosen a totally partisan path, McConnell said. Thats unfortunate.

The two sides are far apart. The cornerstone of the GOP plan is $160 billion for the health care response vaccine distribution, a massive expansion of testing, protective gear and money for rural hospitals, similar to what Biden has proposed for aid specific to the pandemic.

But from there, the two plans drastically diverge. Biden proposes $170 billion for schools, compared with $20 billion in the Republican plan. Republicans also would give nothing to states, money that Democrats argue is just as important, with $350 billion in Bidens plan to keep police, fire and other workers on the job.

The GOPs $1,000 direct payments would go to fewer people those earning up to $40,000 a year, or $80,000 for couples. Bidens bigger $1,400 payments would extend to higher income levels, up to $300,000 for some families.

The Republicans offer $40 billion for Paycheck Protection Program business aid. But gone are Democratic priorities such as a gradual lifting of the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The Delaware senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, both Democrats from Bidens state, were at the White House earlier Wednesday and discussed with the president the need for state and local aid and the possibility of narrowing who qualifies for another round of direct payments.

Coons said hes in conversations with Republicans about on what terms are they willing to increase the amount significantly for some state and local aid. Without that, he said, its a nonstarter.

Winning the support of 10 Republicans would be significant, potentially giving Biden the votes needed in the 50-50 Senate to reach the 60-vote threshold typically required to advance legislation. Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaker.

But Democrats pushed ahead with Tuesdays vote, laying groundwork for eventual approval under the budget reconciliation process that would allow the bill to pass with a 51-vote Senate majority.

Continued here:
Biden flexible on who gets aid, tells lawmakers to 'go big' - The Associated Press

Could Democrats be fighting the last war and wasting money on another $1.9 trillion economic relief package?

Perhaps, if Saint Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard is right.

The Fed official thinks the economy is already set for a strong recovery in 2021.

Its possible U.S. economic growth could top 6% this year, he said. Theres certainly a chance we grow faster than China in 2021, Bullard said.

Even the first three months of this year are looking strong. Only weeks ago Wall Street economists were penciling a contraction, Bullard noted

But strong growth should really kick in as soon as April as more Americans are vaccinated, he said.

So Democrats could keep their powder dry for another day, he said.

Democrats have the power here and can do what they want. But the trade-off would be in my mind do they want to invest a lot in this recovery that already looks strong or do they want to save firepower to do other things that they might want to do, Bullard said during a discussion with reporters after he spoke to the CFA Society St. Louis.

President Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats have said a Republican fiscal stimulus package of $618 billion is insufficient.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats cannot accept a package that is too small or too narrow to pull our country of of this emergency.

In his talk to reporters, Bullard said the major downside risk to his forecast was the chance the vaccines might turn out not to be effective as expected against mutations of the coronavirus.

While the unemployment rate has fallen sharply to 6.7% after hitting a peak of 14.8% in April, many economists worry the 10.7 million unemployed Americans who have lost their jobs during the pandemic will have a hard time finding work again and the jobless rate may not improve much further.

But Bullard noted many of these workers believe they are on temporary layoffs. If they are called back, he thinks the unemployment rate could fall to 4.5% by the fourth quarter.

The problem of the permanently unemployed isnt as big as it was during the aftermath of the financial crisis, Bullard said.

There is still a tendency to think that this is a replay of the global financial crisis and a replay of the recovery from the global financial crisis. I dont think its anything like that, this shock is very different.

The idea that youre still not going to recover three, four, or five years from now is not the right way to view whats going on here, he said.

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U.S. economic growth could surpass China this year and Democrats may be better off spending stimulus money on something else, Fed's Bullard says -...

Four Texas Democrats in the U.S. House have come out against President Joe Bidens Wednesday executive order directing the secretary of the interior to halt new oil and gas leases on federal public lands and waters to the extent possible.

In a letter, Democratic Reps. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher of Houston and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth called Bidens order far-reaching and demanded he rescind it, arguing that banning responsible energy leasing would eliminate jobs, decrease the countrys gross domestic product, increase crude imports from foreign countries and chip away at federal revenue, among other concerns.

Texas ... has been ravaged by the coronavirus and this recent Executive Order will hurt an already suffering community. Therefore, I urge the Biden administration to rescind this federal order and reevaluate the impact of this measure with input from relevant stakeholders and experts, Gonzalez said in a news release. I, and my colleagues, stand ready to work with President Biden, the incoming secretary of interior and other stakeholders to develop a thoughtful policy that addresses climate change, protects American jobs and moves us forward.

At a signing ceremony Wednesday, Biden cast the order as a measure to slow the pace of climate change and avoid the pollution of public lands.

[Unlike] the previous administration, well start to properly manage lands and waterways in ways that allow us to protect, preserve them, the full value that they provide for us for future generations, Biden said. Let me be clear, and I know this always comes up: Were not going to ban fracking. Well protect jobs and grow jobs, including through stronger standards like controls from methane leaks and union workers willing to install the changes.

The order, dubbed the Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad Executive Order, also calls for the interior secretary to launch a rigorous review of existing energy leases and permits while identifying steps toward doubling offshore wind energy production by 2030. It also establishes an interagency National Climate Task Force along with the development of an emissions-reduction target.

Bidens other executive order reestablishes the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which will seek input, advice and the best-available science, data and scientific and technological information from scientists, engineers and other experts in science, technology and innovation.

Efforts to fight climate change are largely popular among Democrats in Texas and across the nation. But the energy sector is a major source of jobs in the state, making the issue more politically complicated here. Soon after the four Democrats released the statement, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee devoted to helping Republicans win a majority in the U.S. House, released statements criticizing two other Texas Democrats U.S. Reps. Filemon Vela of Brownsville and Colin Allred of Dallas for not signing on.

The federal government owns 1.9% of the land in Texas, which is less than 3.3 million acres out of more than 168 million throughout the state. According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, there are more than 11.7 million acres of active energy leases off the Gulf of Mexico, as of the beginning of January. Of the leases that are active, slightly more than 2.5 million acres are producing or have produced oil or gas.

While the four Texas Democrats spoke out against Bidens plan for energy leasing, they praised him for signing an order rejoining the international Paris climate agreement on the first day of his administration. The letter does not mention where the four Texas Democrats stand on Bidens decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.

Correction, Jan. 28, 2021: This story previously misspelled the last name of a U.S. representative in one reference. He is Vicente Gonzalez, not Gonzales.

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Four Texas Democrats urge Joe Biden to rescind oil and gas order - The Texas Tribune

Democrats are seizing on the fallout from donors distancing themselves from Republicans, with lawmakers and advocacy groups saying it's a rare opportunity to change fundraising rules and the influence corporations have on campaigns.

Progressives are ramping up calls to permanently eliminate corporatePAC contributions, while moderate Democrats see an opening to win over business groups and leaders who have traditionally thrown much of their support behind Republicans.

Major corporate donors are freezing their PACs and reassessing their giving strategies, while others say they wont give any money to the 147 Republicans who voted to challenge the 2020 election results in Arizona or Pennsylvania last week, just hours after the deadly attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

But some critics of campaign financing want those freezes to become permanent.

A temporary suspension of contributions is not enough, said Mike Tanglis, a research director at the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen. These corporations cannot simply wait for the dust to settle and then resume business as usual. Our democracy may not survive the next insurrection.

Public Citizen this week called on all corporations and trade groups to shutter their political spending operations and permanently end their PACs.

End Citizens United, a group that advocates overturning the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that unleashed corporate campaign spending, said corporations shouldnt fund politicians with no regard for the harmful rhetoric those politicians spew in light of last weeks riots at the Capitol.

Actions have consequences, and we saw the consequences of those donations play out tragically last week as a majority of Republicans still voted to overturn the will of the people after the Capitol was attacked by domestic terrorists, said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United.

Democrats in Congress have also worked to overturn the Citizens United ruling. Their most recent push was in March, when the House passed H.R. 1, a wide-ranging bill that includes proposals for electoral reforms and more campaign finance transparency. The measure was not taken up in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Other progressive groups are ramping up their pressure campaigns to get more major corporations to end all political donations to the 147 Republicans, who include top lawmakerssuch as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthyGOP divided over Liz Cheney's future Democrats point fingers on whether Capitol rioters had inside help Pelosi suggests criminal charges for any lawmaker who helped with Capitol riot MORE (R-Calif.).

Sen. Sheldon WhitehouseSheldon WhitehouseSenior Democrat says Hawley, Cruz should step down from Judiciary Hawley, Cruz face rising anger, possible censure This week: Democrats barrel toward Trump impeachment after Capitol attack MORE (D-R.I.) said the renewed debate over corporate PACs is also shedding a light on the dangers of dark money funding to influence policy from an undisclosed source, allowing corporate donors to sidestep public scrutiny.

There is a well-developed, coordinated dark-money operation that has been active for years in climate denial, court capture, and political funding for the Republican Party. It is deeply undemocratic and ultimately dangerous, and it will be a top priority for Democrats to assure that control of government rests in the hands of the American people, where the Constitution puts it, and not in the hands of a few secretive dark-money donors, Whitehouse said in a statement to The Hill.

Other Democrats, however, see the recent funding crisis with the GOP as an opportunity to foster stronger ties with the business community rather than overhaul campaign finance laws.

Kristin Brackemyre, director of PAC and government relations at the nonpartisan Public Affairs Council, said the corporate backlash against Republicans could be an opening for Democrats.

Democrats have an opportunity right now to reengage with the business community, and they would be wise to take it, she said.

Moderate Democratssuch as the Blue Dogs and the New Democrat Coalition, which is made up of pro-business Democrats, are seizing on the vulnerability of their GOP counterparts.

Its called corporate patriotism. No corporation or PAC should finance terrorists - foreign or domestic - or those who aid and abet them, Rep. Stephanie MurphyStephanie MurphyLobbying world Newspaper editorial board apologizes for endorsing Republican over support for Texas lawsuit Raising the required minimum distribution age for America's seniors MORE (D-Fla.), co-chairwoman of theBlue DogCoalition,tweeted earlier this week.

She later told The Hill that the GOPs allegiance to President TrumpDonald TrumpCIA chief threatened to resign over push to install Trump loyalist as deputy: report Azar in departure letter says Capitol riot threatens to 'tarnish' administration's accomplishments Justice Dept. argues Trump should get immunity from rape accuser's lawsuit MORE has weakened its standing in the business community.

The Republican Party has routinely prioritized its allegiance to Donald Trump over the long-term economic prosperity and political stability of this nation, and they will have to reconcile Trumpism in their party for years to come, she said.

Democrats have always been the party of opportunity, which is good for both workers and employers. If businesses keep supporting candidates who use disinformation to erode democratic and capitalistic norms, then these businesses are investing in their own demise, she added.

Rep. Brad SchneiderBradley (Brad) Scott SchneiderThe Hill's Morning Report - Biden asks Congress to expand largest relief response in U.S. history Rep. Adriano Espaillat tests positive for COVID-19 The Hill's Morning Report - How many Republicans will vote for Trump's impeachment? MORE (D-Ill.), chairman of the NewDem Action Fund, said that as a party Democrats have always been more dependable when it comes to long-term growth.

We don't believe in a mythology about how the economy works, and we haven't been sold a big lie about the results of our election, Schneider said.

Schneider said he is optimistic that Democrats can take leadership on pro-business and pro-growth policies, especially when President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenAzar in departure letter says Capitol riot threatens to 'tarnish' administration's accomplishments House Democrats introduce measures to oppose Trump's bomb sale to Saudis On The Money: Retail sales drop in latest sign of weakening economy | Fast-food workers strike for minimum wage | US officials raise concerns over Mexico's handling of energy permits MORE takes office.

With Joe Biden as president and the New Democrat Coalition in a critical leverage position in the House, America is going to see the kind of reliable and commonsense pro-business and pro-growth policies its been crying out for the last four years. Were going to tackle the pandemic, modernize our infrastructure and restore American global leadership, he said.

Some traditional GOP allies are even signaling a willingness to work with both Biden and congressional Democrats, at least on some issues.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the most powerful pro-business lobbying entities, voiced its support for Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan unveiled Thursday, an early indication that the business community is ready to work with moderate Democratssuch as Biden.

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Democrats seize on GOP donor fallout | TheHill - The Hill

In a week when Democrats won two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia to gain control of Congress, financial markets affirmed a view already prevalent on Wall Street: that Democrats are the best party to get the economy out of its growth slump.

This is a shift from prior decades because of the specific circumstances of the economy in 2021. And it may not last for long given the competing tensions within the Democratic Party. But for at least the next couple of years, it could result in a Goldilocks policy environment.

Just as in the days preceding the presidential election in November, markets were braced for the potential "blue wave" that would deliver Democratic control in Washington a scenario the Georgia Senate runoff actually accomplished. For the week, 10-year Treasury yields rose by 0.19%, the largest weekly increase since early June, and the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index rose by 8.6% on the anticipation of faster economic growth.

The explanation for this new economic narrative is straightforward. Republicans scored decades of policy achievements by lowering taxes and restraining inflation. What's needed to drive higher levels of economic growth now is more government spending, which can kick-start a cycle of hiring, investment and consumer spending.

How much spending will it take? Nobody knows for sure, but the best way to figure out when we've done enough or that spending has become a problem is to monitor inflation and longer-term interest rates, not the size of the national debt or federal budget deficits. Investors believe Democrats are more committed to doing that than Republicans.

The Democrats' pro-growth agenda is part of a demographic reordering of the two political parties over the past several years. Under former President Barack Obama, the urban-rural divide widened, with cities becoming more Democratic and rural areas becoming more Republican. Under President Donald Trump, that geographic divide expanded to metro areas as a whole, with suburban areas shifting to Democrats while rural areas grew even more Republican.

An education divide opened up as well, with college-educated voters becoming more Democratic and non-college-educated voters becoming more Republican. The net effect of those shifts gave President-elect Joe Biden victories in counties comprising more than 70% of the nation's economic output. In particular, areas showing strong population and economic growth tilted blue. So to the extent either party has economic growth in its self-interest, it's the Democrats.

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While there are other rising voices within the Democratic Party seeking to enact policies less favorable to economic growth such as raising taxes or taking government spending to such worrisome levels that inflation becomes a concern the votes to pursue that more extreme agenda likely won't exist when Democrats have only a one-vote advantage in the Senate and a slim majority in the House. The Democrats are inherently a coalitional party, and their current numbers probably give them enough votes to enact policies that will boost growth, but not enough for moves that will hurt the economy.

At the same time, Republican priorities are shifting away from economic growth. Trump deviated from his party predecessors both by opposing immigration and starting economy-damaging trade wars. More recently, it's unclear whether the party is going to have any kind of policy agenda whatsoever as it delves deeper into conspiracy theories rather than focuses on traditional business interests.

For investors, the hope is that the economic agenda that Biden is expected to lay out for action over the next several months will help the economy recover not just from pandemic, but also from years of under-investment in infrastructure and a labor market that too often has been far from full employment.

Perhaps by the 2022 midterm or 2024 presidential elections, there will be a more balanced view over which party is better for the economy. But for the time being, investors believe that a blue Washington means they'll be seeing green in their portfolios.

Conor Sen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.

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Democrats are now the pro-business party - Newsday