[OutsiderFan]

What this actually shows is how monumentally stupid that both the House and the Senate leadership have been. Anybody who could count knew that the Congress needed to pass this bill BEFORE it would be at risk of a "pocket veto". This isn't a "new fact". I can remember back in the 60's filibusters whose sole purpose was to delay the inevitable passage of a bill so that the POTUS could simply ignore it and make Congress start over. Usually these were things the POTUS could veto, but didn't want to for political reasons. The budgets had to be passed early to make sure that couldn't happen. This is part of elementary political strategy, and nobody "got it". One might argue that there was no apparent reason to worry about what this POTUS might do, but anybody who argues that has been under a rock for four years.

Totally. 

It also wasn't smart to combine the budget appropriation and Covid relief bill into one.  They should have been separate.  But if they had to be combined, they needed to come up with a name for the legislation better than:

"Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 [Including Coronavirus Stimulus & Relief]"  Huh?

We need to be able to call it something simple like "Funding & Relief Act" 

They can't even get the basics right. Unreal. I honestly thought the 10 day clock would start 12/23, not 12/24, and allow override vote before end of Jan. 3. But the ones who actually work in Congress should have been well aware of the calendar and acted accordingly.

[OutsiderFan]

What this actually shows is how monumentally stupid that both the House and the Senate leadership have been. Anybody who could count knew that the Congress needed to pass this bill BEFORE it would be at risk of a "pocket veto". This isn't a "new fact". I can remember back in the 60's filibusters whose sole purpose was to delay the inevitable passage of a bill so that the POTUS could simply ignore it and make Congress start over. Usually these were things the POTUS could veto, but didn't want to for political reasons. The budgets had to be passed early to make sure that couldn't happen. This is part of elementary political strategy, and nobody "got it". One might argue that there was no apparent reason to worry about what this POTUS might do, but anybody who argues that has been under a rock for four years.

Totally. 

It also wasn't smart to combine the budget appropriation and Covid relief bill into one.  They should have been separate.  But if they had to be combined, they needed to come up with a name for the legislation better than:

"Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 [Including Coronavirus Stimulus & Relief]"  Huh?

We need to be able to call it something simple like "Funding & Relief Act" 

They can't even get the basics right. Unreal. I honestly thought the 10 day clock would start 12/23, not 12/24, and allow override vote before end of Jan. 3. But the ones who actually work in Congress should have been well aware of the calendar and acted accordingly.

[Goose]

Certainly dumb by Pelosi. Not sure Mitch would mind if the stimulus gets jammed up completely though, as long as this doesn't blow back on him in Georgia. He'll take a recession. His goal is to turn Biden into Jimmy Carter.

You may be correct about Mitch. I sure hope you are wrong about this. Biden may be many things, but Jimmy Carter he is not. He has been in Washington more than long enough to know how things work, or at least used to work. Jimmy Carter had not, and that was a problem.

The Georgia election will be pretty much independent of this since it is now a Trump issue, not a Senate issue. I think Mitch wanted to take credit for passing some "responsible" relief for the average person. He isn't going to have that option now, if Trump just sits on it. I still hope Trump will be a fool and actually veto it. Not a zero probability event.

[Goose]

Certainly dumb by Pelosi. Not sure Mitch would mind if the stimulus gets jammed up completely though, as long as this doesn't blow back on him in Georgia. He'll take a recession. His goal is to turn Biden into Jimmy Carter.

You may be correct about Mitch. I sure hope you are wrong about this. Biden may be many things, but Jimmy Carter he is not. He has been in Washington more than long enough to know how things work, or at least used to work. Jimmy Carter had not, and that was a problem.

The Georgia election will be pretty much independent of this since it is now a Trump issue, not a Senate issue. I think Mitch wanted to take credit for passing some "responsible" relief for the average person. He isn't going to have that option now, if Trump just sits on it. I still hope Trump will be a fool and actually veto it. Not a zero probability event.

[Griffins78]

I think this bill getting voted on now is only because McConnell thought he needed it to try to save his GOP senators running in Georgia so he could keep control of the Senate. He's waited for almost a year and would not have passed anything if he didn't think he needed to. He squeezed as much from the Democrats that he could to give the minimal amount. He assumed Trump would sign it. He was wrong.

McConnell shows he doesn't care for the American people. He's willing to let them die from COVID and hunger or to lose their home by not passing a bill to help them.

[Griffins78]

I think this bill getting voted on now is only because McConnell thought he needed it to try to save his GOP senators running in Georgia so he could keep control of the Senate. He's waited for almost a year and would not have passed anything if he didn't think he needed to. He squeezed as much from the Democrats that he could to give the minimal amount. He assumed Trump would sign it. He was wrong.

McConnell shows he doesn't care for the American people. He's willing to let them die from COVID and hunger or to lose their home by not passing a bill to help them.

[Goose]

I think this bill getting voted on now is only because McConnell thought he needed it to try to save his GOP senators running in Georgia so he could keep control of the Senate. He's waited for almost a year and would not have passed anything if he didn't think he needed to. He squeezed as much from the Democrats that he could to give the minimal amount.

Could be true. I am not so sure any of us understand McConnell's motives because he has been such a Trump apologist no matter what contradictions and policy gyrations were necessary to do so. I for one hope he finally saw the handwriting on the wall and decided to actually attempt to be part of the solution. He did have to worry about what he actually could pass in the Senate, so it wasn't just his decision

He assumed Trump would sign it. He was wrong.

Yep, and that makes him a fool (if there was any doubt). His job is to leave nothing to chance. Everett Dirksen he is not.

McConnell shows he doesn't care for the American people. He's willing to let them die from COVID and hunger or to lose their home by not passing a bill to help them.

In point of fact, he did pass a bill to help them. It may not be the bill you want, and it may be later than you want, but he did pass it. Whether he cares about the American people is a different question, but he did pass a bill.

[Goose]

I think this bill getting voted on now is only because McConnell thought he needed it to try to save his GOP senators running in Georgia so he could keep control of the Senate. He's waited for almost a year and would not have passed anything if he didn't think he needed to. He squeezed as much from the Democrats that he could to give the minimal amount.

Could be true. I am not so sure any of us understand McConnell's motives because he has been such a Trump apologist no matter what contradictions and policy gyrations were necessary to do so. I for one hope he finally saw the handwriting on the wall and decided to actually attempt to be part of the solution. He did have to worry about what he actually could pass in the Senate, so it wasn't just his decision

He assumed Trump would sign it. He was wrong.

Yep, and that makes him a fool (if there was any doubt). His job is to leave nothing to chance. Everett Dirksen he is not.

McConnell shows he doesn't care for the American people. He's willing to let them die from COVID and hunger or to lose their home by not passing a bill to help them.

In point of fact, he did pass a bill to help them. It may not be the bill you want, and it may be later than you want, but he did pass it. Whether he cares about the American people is a different question, but he did pass a bill.