What does a minimum wage hike have to do with COVID relief?

[Derec]

Especially since it doesn't fully kick in for four years anyway?

House Democrats to keep minimum wage hike in COVID-19 relief bill for Friday vote

House Democrats will leave a provision to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour in their version of the COVID-19 relief package set for a vote on Friday despite a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian that the measure does not comply with budgetary rules.
[...]
"We simply cannot go back to the Black, Brown, AAPI, Indigenous, poor and working class voters who delivered us the White House and the Senate majority and tell them that an unelected parliamentarian advised us – based on arcane rules – that we could not raise the minimum wage as we promised," Jayapal said.

Yeah, I mean who cares about actual rules? If you have a slim majority you should be able to do whatever you want, right?

Regardless of what you think about the $15 minimum wage hike, it should be a standalone bill. Not passing a clean COVID relief bill is merely going to delay the passage of the package unnecessarily. Same goes for pork like "Nancy Pelosi's Subway". The funding for the project may or may not be sensible, but it is something to be included (or not) in an infrastructure bill, not this one, as it has nothing to do with COVID relief.

[prideandfall]

Yeah, I mean who cares about actual rules? If you have a slim majority you should be able to do whatever you want, right?

well, this is what republicans have been doing since the early 80s, and so conservatives are the ones who set the stage here - they have used any and every trick they could to strong arm and bully the government to their will, while the democrats have sat back and passively let toxic authoritarian libertarianism infest this country.

this is the republican's fault - they set the precedent of stuffing unrelated bills with riders for their pet causes. they set the standard of never compromising and making every single bill into a political theater stunt.
i'm just glad the democrats seem to actually be playing ball now instead of continuing their decades long meekness of apologizing for doing the barest minimum to represent the interests of the population.

Regardless of what you think about the $15 minimum wage hike, it should be a standalone bill. Not passing a clean COVID relief bill is merely going to delay the passage of the package unnecessarily. Same goes for pork like "Nancy Pelosi's Subway". The funding for the project may or may not be sensible, but it is something to be included (or not) in an infrastructure bill, not this one, as it has nothing to do with COVID relief.

if you don't like things like this, i would suggest you stop voting for republicans.
if it wasn't for them making this not only the norm in washington but literally the only way to get anything done, this wouldn't be happening.

[Worldtraveller]

Yeah, I mean who cares about actual rules? If you have a slim majority you should be able to do whatever you want, right?

well, this is what republicans have been doing since the early 80s, and so conservatives are the ones who set the stage here - they have used any and every trick they could to strong arm and bully the government to their will, while the democrats have sat back and passively let toxic authoritarian libertarianism infest this country.

this is the republican's fault - they set the precedent of stuffing unrelated bills with riders for their pet causes. they set the standard of never compromising and making every single bill into a political theater stunt.
i'm just glad the democrats seem to actually be playing ball now instead of continuing their decades long meekness of apologizing for doing the barest minimum to represent the interests of the population.

Regardless of what you think about the $15 minimum wage hike, it should be a standalone bill. Not passing a clean COVID relief bill is merely going to delay the passage of the package unnecessarily. Same goes for pork like "Nancy Pelosi's Subway". The funding for the project may or may not be sensible, but it is something to be included (or not) in an infrastructure bill, not this one, as it has nothing to do with COVID relief.

if you don't like things like this, i would suggest you stop voting for republicans.
if it wasn't for them making this not only the norm in washington but literally the only way to get anything done, this wouldn't be happening.

Thanks for pointing all this out.

I would add that suddenly the right wing cares about 'riders' and unrelated things in legislation. It's not like their motives aren't blatantly obvious to anyone with two brain cells, but that means most right wingers won't notice.

[Swammerdami]

Yeah, I mean who cares about actual rules? If you have a slim majority you should be able to do whatever you want, right?

The 2020 Covid stimulus bill, back when the Republicans controlled the Senate, contained a peculiar provision to cancel plans to build a new FBI headquarters in the suburbs, and instead rebuild on the current site on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the existing FBI headquarters is literally crumbling to pieces.

What about that? What did that have to do with Covid stimulus, hunh? Wudddaboutit? Wuddaboutit, Derec?

Decision makers both inside and outside the FBI agreed that a new HQ in the suburbs would make more sense, and much money had already been spent planning that project. What-about-it, Derec?

Is the location of FBI HQ related to Covid stimulus? Whataboutit? Spoiler alert:

Show

The existing FBI building is to be demolished in any event. If a new HQ is built in the suburbs instead of on the existing site, the existing site will be sold and is likely to be used for a ... hotel! There's already one 5-star hotel on Pennsylvania Hotel.

Show

the Trump International Hotel

What about that, Derec?

[Gospel]

The Republican platform exists solely to bemoan the left. It hasn't done anything but that since Bush Jr. and this post is nothing more than an echo from their chambers.

[Worldtraveller]

The Republican platform exists solely to bemoan the left. It hasn't done anything but that since Bush Jr. Reagan and this post is nothing more than an echo from their chambers.

FIXT. You youngsters.

[TV and credit cards]

Yeah, I mean who cares about actual rules? If you have a slim majority you should be able to do whatever you want, right?

The 2020 Covid stimulus bill, back when the Republicans controlled the Senate, contained a peculiar provision to cancel plans to build a new FBI headquarters in the suburbs, and instead rebuild on the current site on Pennsylvania Avenue, where the existing FBI headquarters is literally crumbling to pieces.

What about that? What did that have to do with Covid stimulus, hunh? Wudddaboutit? Wuddaboutit, Derec?

Decision makers both inside and outside the FBI agreed that a new HQ in the suburbs would make more sense, and much money had already been spent planning that project. What-about-it, Derec?

Is the location of FBI HQ related to Covid stimulus? Whataboutit? Spoiler alert:

Show

The existing FBI building is to be demolished in any event. If a new HQ is built in the suburbs instead of on the existing site, the existing site will be sold and is likely to be used for a ... hotel! There's already one 5-star hotel on Pennsylvania Hotel.

Show

the Trump International Hotel

What about that, Derec?

Well, all you have to do is put "to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally" in front of everything and that makes not only a new FBI headquarters good to go but Naval Strike Missiles and Launchers, P–8A Poseidon Aircraft, AH–64 Helicopters, and all sorts of way to blast the living shit out of the coronavirus.

But subways and and a raise in the minimum wage? Oh those despicable Democrats.

[laughing dog]

To answer the OP question - nothing. I find it incredible that someone just now realized that bills may contain items that are not connected at all.

[Shadowy Man]

To answer the OP question - nothing. I find it incredible that someone just now realized that bills may contain items that are not connected at all.

Well, there’s no loud complaining by Republicans when it’s their unconnected stuff getting added, so it’s understandable why consumers of right wing media don’t hear about it until the left is doing it.

[KeepTalking]

While I get the sentiment that many have expressed in this thread, regarding it not needing to have anything to do with COVID-19 relief, it kind of does, just in a "prepare for the next pandemic" way.

COVID-19, like most diseases, hits those in poverty harder, because of reduced access to preventative medical care. Increasing the minimum wage to a living wage reduces the number of people in poverty, therefor, it will lessen the impact of the next pandemic, just as it would have lessened the impact of COVID-19 due to a reduction in the number of people below the poverty line.