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Nevilledog

(50,678 posts)
Fri Aug 7, 2020, 05:59 PM Aug 2020

Right-Wing Groups Took Millions in COVID Aid and Spent It Lobbying Against Aid

https://truthout.org/articles/right-wing-groups-took-millions-in-covid-aid-and-spent-it-lobbying-against-aid/

Conservative groups whose board members have taken in tens of millions in coronavirus relief from Congress have spent millions to lobby lawmakers to cut aid for unemployed workers.

Negotiations over the next phase of much-needed coronavirus relief have stalled, largely because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have insisted on cutting the federal unemployment benefit created under the CARES Act in March from $600 per week to around $200 — based on a widely-debunked premise that it keeps workers from returning to their jobs.

Just three months ahead of a national election, Republicans inexplicably let the federal unemployment benefit expire last week despite research showing that any significant lapse or cut would devastate the economy.

These negotiations have been driven by a lobbying frenzy, The New York Times reported, and many of the board members of the groups urging Congress to drastically slash the unemployment benefit — such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, FreedomWorks, Americans for Tax Reform and the Club for Growth — have themselves benefited greatly from the CARES Act.

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