Monday on MSNBC, “All In,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the American people are in pain, at home and paying attention to Republicans’ unwillingness to fund food stamps and food banks in the next coronavirus stimulus package.
Pelosi said, “We are seeing record-breaking unemployment rates and so many people signing up for it. It breaks your heart, but we have the unemployment insurance that will be renewed in this legislation, as well as cash payments, direct payments, people are craving that. I guess, what advantage we have, sad as it is that people see what is happening, even though they are working from home but listening to their constituents, there’s a lot of pain and heartache. People don’t know if they’re going to be able to put food on the table. Moms have said, Brookings Institution put this out last week, one in five children are food insecure. They don’t know where their next meal is coming from. They don’t know if they’re going to be able to pay the rent. This is very, very personal, and we want to be addressing the personal concerns in a way that is monumental because it is big. We’ve never seen anything like it, and we have to be brave, get up there, just make the case. This is the plan. These are the resources. This is how we want to do this, and as we do it, we want to be worthy of those who lost their lives, worthy of those fighting for other people’s lives and plan to do that.”
Hayes asked, “In this case, my understanding is it’s coming from Mitch McConnell in the White House, we’re done here. There is a headline that gave me a chuckle, ‘The GOP Rekindles Deficit Concerns Adding Snag to Talks on Aid.’ Is it your sense there is like—what is your read of the posture of the White House and Senate Republicans towards additional legislative rescue relief like you’re proposing?”
Pelosi said, “Well, it’s interesting to see what they’re saying, becoming renewing their fiscal hawk positions that they can barely remember. I have confidence in going big with what we do. When I saw them give a $2 trillion addition to the national debt in order to give 83% of the benefits to the top 1%, that was so irresponsible in terms of nothing for the economy except put mountains of debt on our children. With this, we are saying these are investments. All of these things are for the good of helping people in personal lives but also a stimulus to the economy. Ask any —well, almost any, I don’t know who they would drum up, economist they will tell you food stamps, imagine they are against SNAP, against expanding the opportunity for people to have access to food stamps at a time where the papers and news is full of families in long lines at food banks. And we have to help those food banks as well. So this is personal. It’s heartbreaking, really. So I have confidence in the American people. America has a big heart, a heart full of love, and people care about each other. What they see what we’re doing, it will be big because the problem is big and needs are big of the American people, that it will be more attention paid to what the Republicans are saying or doing and then a judgment can be made. But I’m optimistic always. I see everything as an opportunity, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity.”
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