Trump signs coronavirus relief bill after days of delay
President Trump signed the $2.3 trillion relief legislation avoiding a government shutdown and extending additional unemployment
benefits that lapsed.
Wibbitz – News, Wibbitz – News
This week, USA TODAY Politics focuses on the run-up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, his remaining Cabinet picks and the final week of the current Congress.
Dates to watch:
Jan. 6: Congress will count and certify the electoral results in a joint session.
Jan. 20: Inauguration of Biden, who will take the oath of office.
Be sure to refresh this page often to get the latest information on the transition.
President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that he would be traveling to Georgia in January to campaign for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, who are engaged in intensely completive reelection bids.
“On behalf of two GREAT Senators, @sendavidperdue & @KLoeffler, I will be going to Georgia on Monday night, January 4th., to have a big and wonderful RALLY.” Trump tweeted. “So important for our Country that they win!”
The Republican National Convention confirmed it will be hosting a “Victory Rally” in Dalton, Georgia, on Jan. 4. Loeffler and Perdue will join the president for the rally, which will take place at Dalton Regional Airport and begin at 7 p.m. ET.
The fates of both senators will be determined on Jan. 5, when Georgians will cast their ballots in a runoff that will not only determine the state’s representation in Congress but also the balance of power in the Senate.
Election watchers expect the bitterly contested race to be extremely close. Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock are in statistical ties with the Republican incumbents, according to a FiveThirtyEight average.
Ossoff and Warnock have both raised over $100 million each, while Loeffler and Perdue raised $64 million and $68.1 million, respectively. The cash influx has enabled a barrage of political advertising just as the state sees early voting levels in the runoffs just shy of turnout in the general election, a near unprecedented rate.
Trump, who lost Georgia to President-elect Joe Biden, has continued to make unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud in the election. The president has recently come under increased criticism from conservatives for attacking the legitimacy of the state’s electoral system ahead of a crucial election.
Loeffler and Perdue both joined the president’s condemnations of state election officials and the integrity of the vote itself, going so far as to call for the ouster of the Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffesperger, and suing the state in federal court, arguing that more mail ballots should have been scrapped in November.
— Matthew Brown
Trump advocates for $2,000 stimulus checks after signing relief package
“As President, I have told Congress that I want far less wasteful spending and more money going to the American people in the form of $2,000 checks per adult and $600 per child,” Trump said in a statement.
The president signed the relief package Sunday just after expanded unemployment benefits for workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic expired Saturday.
The White House had originally agreed to much of the aid package until Trump unexpectedly threatened to veto the deal that congressional leadership had reached with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would expand direct payments to the $2,000 amount. A voice vote to increase the direct payment amount failed last week after some Republican opposition.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
