The White House reveals support for big business to get a $ 1.9 million COVID relief plan, with CEOs, including Google, Goldman Sachs and AT&T chiefs, saying it’s “vital”
- President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill is receiving a boost from big business
- More than 160 senior executives from seven major industries have written a letter to Congress leaders supporting the package
- “Congress should act swiftly and bipartisanly to authorize a stimulus and relief package,” the letter said, noting the Biden-Harris plan
- Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Google CEO Sundar Pichai were one of the business leaders who signed the letter.
President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill is receiving a big boost from big business.
CNN reported Wednesday that more than 160 senior executives from seven major industries have written a letter to Congressional leaders supporting the package.
“Previous federal relief measures have been essential, but more effort must be made to place the country on a path to a strong and lasting recovery,” the letter said. “Congress should act swiftly and bipartisanly to authorize a stimulus and relief package along the lines of the American rescue plan proposed by the Biden-Harris administration.”
President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package garnered the support of more than 150 business leaders in the form of a letter sent to congressional leaders on Wednesday
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (left) and Google CEO Sundar Pichai (right) were one of the business leaders who signed the letter.
At Wednesday’s White House press conference, press secretary Jen Psaki said the letter demonstrates that there is a “growing consensus” that this package needs to be approved.
Psaki said the letter was drafted by outside groups and was not organized by the White House.
“We didn’t play any organizational role here,” he said.
Biden released a $ 1.9 trillion package even before it was invested, and the House is expected to vote on it this week, and the Senate will follow suit soon after.
He justified the cost by saying he has to “get big” to deal with the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for almost a year.
Although the president had originally hoped to get some support from the Republican Party, especially from Senate moderates, so far no Republican has stung.
Since then, the White House has defined “bipartisan” as Republican voters who approve the package in the polls.
White House Quick Response Director Michael Gwin released figures Wednesday morning that include 60 percent of Republicans supporting Biden’s bill.
The biggest complaint from Republican lawmakers is that the plan is too expensive.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has also complained that the package is “totally partisan.”
Progressive Democrats want a minimum wage of $ 15 to be included in the final bill, but that decision will have to be made by the Senate MP for reconciliation (i.e., it will only take a majority vote in the Senate to pass la) pass the bill.
Among the business leaders who signed the letter were Google CEO Sundar Pichai, AT&T CEO John Stankey, Comcast President and CEO Brian Roberts, Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer, president and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and Blackstone President and CEO Stephen Schwartzman, CNN reported.
“Strengthening the public health response to coronavirus is the first step toward economic restoration,” the letter said. “The American Rescue Plan mobilizes a national immunization program, provides financial assistance to families in need, and supports communities that were most damaged by the pandemic.”
The American Rescue Plan includes money for vaccination, for the reopening of schools, for the relief of small businesses, and for the expansion of federal unemployment benefits. And it adds $ 1,400 to the previously approved $ 600 stimulus checks, for the amount of $ 2,000 that both former President Donald Trump wanted before he left office, and Biden.