[2006alum]

Folks, I don't necessarily disagree with your critiques, but remember that this is likely the first of several large federal interventions - the first and most important thing was to get bipartisan agreement on free testing and treatment and to provide incentives and support for families to stay home when sick or caring for sick individuals. Businesses won't be able to restart unless and until the number of sick comes down and employees are free to work, and Americans feeling free enough to go out and spend.

Also, there's a brobdingnagian, brobdingnagian difference between 200k deaths and 1.7m deaths (from the estimates in the source BC provided yesterday) in terms of the impact to businesses, etc. The variation among those figures will also dictate whether we are closing schools and businesses for 4-6 weeks or 4-6 months, which in turn will necessitate a very different federal legislative response. I suspect Congress may want to see how this unfolds before directing broader, long-term relief. 

Also, remember that in this highly partisan era, every additional provision you add to a bill increases the likelihood of someone saying no and becoming a vetogate. I'm thankful that cooler heads prevailed and something got passed as a first step. 

(And note that the Senate inexplicably decided to take the weekend off, so even this won't get passed until Monday, assuming 60+ agree to it without much reconciliation needed.)

[2006alum]

Folks, I don't necessarily disagree with your critiques, but remember that this is likely the first of several large federal interventions - the first and most important thing was to get bipartisan agreement on free testing and treatment and to provide incentives and support for families to stay home when sick or caring for sick individuals. Businesses won't be able to restart unless and until the number of sick comes down and employees are free to work, and Americans feeling free enough to go out and spend.

Also, there's a brobdingnagian, brobdingnagian difference between 200k deaths and 1.7m deaths (from the estimates in the source BC provided yesterday) in terms of the impact to businesses, etc. The variation among those figures will also dictate whether we are closing schools and businesses for 4-6 weeks or 4-6 months, which in turn will necessitate a very different federal legislative response. I suspect Congress may want to see how this unfolds before directing broader, long-term relief. 

Also, remember that in this highly partisan era, every additional provision you add to a bill increases the likelihood of someone saying no and becoming a vetogate. I'm thankful that cooler heads prevailed and something got passed as a first step. 

(And note that the Senate inexplicably decided to take the weekend off, so even this won't get passed until Monday, assuming 60+ agree to it without much reconciliation needed.)