 So, when it comes to an economic stimulus, it is the case that Republicans and Democrats haven't actually agreed on anything yet, but we are hearing more and more about a proposal that is gaining a lot of momentum, and that is the $908 billion proposal. And the reason why it's gaining momentum is because it seems like it's the first proposal in quite some time that has a shot at passing. Now the reason why it even has a chance at passing is because it has bipartisan support. But when I say it has bipartisan support, I should be more clear. Democrats got crumbs, and Republicans got the one thing that they wanted. And if Democrats pursue this particular proposal without asking for more, then it's going to be a disaster for them. And let me explain why. So Republicans had two main asks, and they're pretty hefty asks. So the first thing that they wanted is to make sure that this stimulus package doesn't surpass $1 trillion, and they got that. Additionally, the main thing that they're asking for is immunity for large multi-billion dollar corporations that could potentially be subject to lawsuits because they endangered their employees and exposed them to COVID-19 by either not giving them PPE, not offering hazard pay. I mean, we're talking about Tyson Foods, Amazon, thousands of their employees have gotten COVID-19. So I think that if you are reckless and you're endangering your customers and your employees, you should be legally liable. But Republicans want to shield them from any legal culpability. And they want immunity for large multi-billion dollar corporations. And so Democrats, they're getting things here that are genuinely important, right? Additional funding for PPE and schools and vaccines, it's important, right? What they want is important. So you have individuals like Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin not wanting to ask for more because they're afraid that if they end up asking for too much, then Republicans will reject the proposal and then they're going to get blamed for this. But the problem is that if you give Republicans what they want, which is corporate immunity and you don't actually get what you want, they're not going to come back to the table because when they get the one thing that they want already, what incentive do they have to negotiate after the lame duck session is over? And what's interesting is that Democrats, they don't see the enormous leverage that they have. There's two runoff races taking place in Georgia. So if you make the case, you can easily back Republicans into a corner. You can say, look, our party is fighting for you. We want direct cash payments to you. And the only thing that Republicans are fighting for is immunity for their corporate donors. Isn't that insane? Give us the Senate and we're going to make sure that if we deliver you another round of direct cash payments, they can make this case. And Republicans would basically be forced to come to the table. But they don't want to do that because they already got what they wanted in this proposal. So because Republicans agreed to anything, now Democrats feel like, oh my god, we have to jump on this opportunity, otherwise we might not get another shot. And they're terrified to even try to make the case. But again, I'm telling you, if you give Republicans the one thing that they want, they're not going to come back to the table. So if you pass any stimulus package, make it count. Ask for direct cash payments. And this is basically what Bernie Sanders is doing. He's trying to pressure Democrats to do better. Ask for more. At least ask for another round of $1,200 payments. So as Politico's Bergus Everett explains, Bernie Sanders is rustling up support among his colleagues to demand any COVID relief bill include direct payments to Americans and leave out a broad liability shield for companies against coronavirus-related litigation. The Vermont Independent is circulating a letter obtained by Politico from him and other progressive senators, taking a hard line against a bipartisan $908 billion proposal as written. It's the latest sign of unease in both parties over a measure that currently lacks another round of stimulus checks, but which may be the best chance to clinch a lame duck deal. Sanders and five of his colleagues in the Senate Democratic Caucus say the framework being discussed does not go anywhere near far enough. The plan includes $160 billion for state and local governments, a temporary liability shield for businesses, and money for transportation, vaccines, and schools. Quote, please join us in demanding that any new COVID relief proposal includes a $1,200 direct payment to adults and $500 to their children. Further, please work with us to make certain that there is no language in this bill to give a liability shield to corporations who threaten the health and safety of workers and customers, Sanders and his colleagues wrote to fellow Senate Democrats. Senator Josh Hawley, a conservative populist who has spoken to Sanders about the issue, has urged President Donald Trump to veto any bill without new direct payments, but many Republicans dislike how expensive that idea is despite supporting such a provision in March as the economy shut down. So let's be clear, the only reason why Republicans agree to support the CARES Act is because it included the corporate bailout. And it seems like the only reason why they're supporting this proposal is because there is a corporate immunity clause in it. So if you give them that without getting what you want, it's going to take a long time for them to come back to the table because unless their donors ask for something else, they have no incentive to negotiate because they genuinely don't care about the American people. Now it's interesting that Bernie Sanders is basically trying to talk some sense into Democrats and some of them are, you know, aligning with him to do this, such as Jeff Merkley and whatnot, but Josh Hawley on the other side is trying to encourage Republicans to actually beef up this proposal. And as Jeff Stein of the Washington Post reports, it's working. White House asks Senate GOP leadership to include second round of stimulus payments, but at $600, not $1,200 in emergency relief package. It comes amid a push by Senators Josh Hawley and Sanders for checks 2.0. So Josh Hawley is trying to get the GOP to support something better. And he's trying to encourage Donald Trump to veto any proposal without a direct cash payment. And Trump probably wants to leave somewhat of a better legacy. I mean, he doesn't necessarily care about the American people because he's preoccupied with his election fraud charade, and he just wants to make sure that, you know, he can somehow invalidate the results of the election. But he knows that his time is coming up. And if he genuinely wants to run for president in 2024, he knows he needs to do something for the American people, send us one more check with his name on it. He wants that to be part of his legacy. He knows this. And privately, he's actually conceded that he would support $2,000 per month, but publicly, he's only asking for $600. And when it comes to Josh Hawley, I think that his motivations are clear. He's no populist, right? The article and everyone is praising him for being a populist. If you don't support popular policies like a minimum wage increase, you're not actually a populist. So I know why he's doing this. He's doing this because he wants something to brag about when he inevitably runs for president in a couple of years. He's going to point back to this moment and say, look, I brought both parties together at a time of, you know, polarization. And we passed this this package. It was a historic moment. And I helped facilitate that. But here's the thing. I don't care why he's doing this so long as what he's doing actually will help the American people. And out of all people, Josh Hawley actually made one of the strongest cases for another round of direct cash payments that I've heard from anyone. So the Washington Post reports, Hawley expressed frustration Tuesday about negotiations being pretty dug in on the idea of not including checks. He added, I see them saying things like this is an emergency relief bill. Well, I don't know what's more of an emergency than working people and families who are having to get into food lines. I don't understand that logic at all. So again, I know why he's doing this. It's for his own political career and political ambitions. But I don't care at the end of the day. Now, Jeff Merkley kind of gave us a status update as to where talks are currently in an interview with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. And here's what he had to say. We do not have a complete plan yet. We do not even have any details of any of of the plan. And of course, there's always a concern that a bill will be brought to us and that will be asked to vote on it within a few hours, in which case it'll be all sorts of special favors stuck into it that we'll discover days later without the media or or all of us having a chance to discover them. I find myself agreeing completely with Josh Hawley as Bernie Sanders as a number of us that this should have the $1,200 payments, individual payments, also that the unemployment insurance should be increased. And I must say that the idea that you're going to say negligence doesn't matter for companies that deliberately knew that they were exposing their workers or their customers to high risk is completely unacceptable. So there is a real effort to massage that and make sure that the legitimate claims have a chance to be heard. Look, I don't know how anyone could disagree with what Jeff Merkley is saying. If you do disagree, you're either cold or corrupt. To prioritize immunity for large, multi-billion dollar companies, but not another round of direct cash payments. That's just it's not just bad politics. It's morally unacceptable. So I wish that more Democrats would be savvy like Bernie Sanders and acknowledge that they have a tremendous amount of leverage. You have Republicans basically backed into a corner and you can shame them into doing the right thing. And if they don't agree to another round of direct cash payments, don't worry about you getting blamed. Blame them actually be disciplined in your messaging and make the case to the American people. Say, listen, all they wanted was immunity for their corporate donors. We were the ones pushing for you and all that they'd offer you is crumbs and they offered crumbs just so we would agree with their proposal for corporate liability or corporate immunity. It's just it's really frustrating to watch all of this play out. And again, I can't get over the fact that $1,200 alone, it still isn't enough like Trump is asking for a $600. What we really should be getting is a recurring monthly payment of $2,000 for the duration of this pandemic. So it shouldn't even be a question when it comes to $1,200. And thankfully, Bernie Sanders also made the same case in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN. Just in terms of the I want to ask you where you see stimulus negotiations heading right now, Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader Schumer have said the bipartisan proposal made yesterday should be used as a basis for talks. Do you think they'll actually be able to compromise or able to compromise with McConnell on get something done? Well, I think in all due respect to Leader McConnell, what he brought his proposal is literally laughable. He doesn't have a nickel for unemployment supplements. We provided in the past at least $600 a week. He doesn't have a penny all over this country. People are worried about being evicted. There is no $1,200 check for those people. So I think his proposal is literally a laughable. I think the other proposal brought forth may be a start for discussions, but we got to go a lot further than what that proposal now entails. For example, that proposal does not have the $1,200. I would do $2,000 a month stimulus check. But it's a start, but we've got to build on that. Yeah, so he's absolutely correct. So look, I don't know where negotiations will go. I'm a bit skeptical that anything is going to get passed in a lame duck session. We'll see what happens. I kind of feel like in order to get anything meaningful passed, it's going to have to happen after the election if Democrats take back the Senate, but we'll have to see. I'm telling you, like if Democrats don't get what they're asking for now, Republicans aren't going to come back to the table. Do not take Mitch McConnell's word because his word is dog shit. Mitch McConnell is basically saying, well, you know, maybe we can do something just really quick and emergency relief bill and then later we'll come back and do something better. If Democrats take Mitch McConnell at his word again, I don't even know what to say. It's just it's a joke. Don't listen to anything Mitch McConnell says, because the one thing that he wants is corporate immunity. And if he gets that, you're not going to get another stimulus package unless you take back the Senate. And I don't think Republicans or I don't think Democrats rather are competent enough to make the case as to why we're not getting another round of direct cash payments. They can't tie Mitch McConnell to this and Republicans and their corruption to this. And look, let's be clear, I'm sure Democrats also want that shield for large multi-billion dollar companies in there because these companies contribute to them as well. But what matters is that if you don't want to see this eviction crisis come to fruition, if you don't want to see societal collapse because people have nothing, then take action. We've responded to this in a way that you would expect a failed state to respond to the pandemic or the only developed country and the richest one in the world who has done nothing for our citizens. We got a one time $1,200 payment back in May. That's laughable. So the fact that this is even up for discussion to me, it just shows how out of touch our government is with the needs of the American people.