On today's Quick News Daily Podcast, we cover a lot of smaller stories that are making headlines. These include stories about Vice President-elect Kamala Harris resigning her Senate position today, when Jon Ossoff and Reverend Warnock could be sworn in as U.S. Senators from Georgia, and what effect Twitter's ban on Trump is already having. Also, we'll cover the changes to the Inauguration, like a Tom Hanks-hosted TV program, and President-elect Biden's stimulus plan (The American Rescue Plan).
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Transcript:
SENATE
Kamala Harris is resigning from the Senate today so that she can prep for her role as Vice President, which is still so, so fun to say.
This means that the current California Secretary of State will fill her seat. He said that he expects to be sworn in on Wednesday.
Another thing I’ve been wondering is when exactly do Jon Ossoff and Reverend Warnock get sworn in in the Senate?
Well, according to WXTL in Georgia, every country in Georgia was able to meet the deadline of certifying their results by midnight this past Friday.
No precincts or counties reported any changes in the outcome, so again, no fraud there.
Warnock and Ossoff have to bring their certification papers to DC, and once they do that, they’re usually sworn in the next day.
Even though I’m sure they could head there today with their papers, everywhere I’ve looked says that Democrats will get control of the Senate on January 20th, so I guess everyone just kind of takes a break until then.
BIDEN STIMULUS PLAN
I think it was Friday of last week, President Biden (I’m just going to start calling him that, if you don’t mind) introduced his plan for a $1.9 trillion emergency legislative package to fund a nationwide vaccination effort and provide direct economic relief to Americans. He’s calling the plan “The American Rescue Plan”.
"In this pandemic in America, we cannot let people go hungry. We cannot let people get evicted. We cannot let nurses, educators and others lose their jobs when we so badly need them. We must act now and act decisively," Biden said.
Woah, is that our president saying that? Is our president actually getting involved in passing bills and doing actual work? I thought he was just supposed to tweet about what he’s watching on Fox & Friends.
The American Rescue Plan will include more than $400 billion toward dealing with COVID, including $160 billion to execute a national vaccination program, expand testing and mobilize a public health jobs program.
The proposal includes $1,400 stimulus checks for Americans and extends and expands unemployment benefits, including a $400 weekly unemployment insurance supplement, through September.
The CNN article says “Biden's plan invests $50 billion to expand Covid-19 testing, providing funds to purchase rapid tests, expand lab capacity and help schools and local governments implement regular testing protocols. Biden will also ask for $30 billion to invest in the disaster relief fund to ensure sufficient supplies and protective gear, and to provide total federal reimbursement for critical emergency response resources.”
The request includes $30 billion in rental, utility, energy, and water assistance for those hit hardest by the pandemic, as well as extending eviction and foreclosure moratoriums until September 30th.
In terms of small business help, Biden is proposing $15 billion in flexible grants to more than 1 million of the hardest hit small businesses. He is proposing investing $35 billion in government funds into state, local, tribal, and nonprofit small business financing programs.
Biden's plan would provide additional resources for high-quality, affordable childcare. He will request a $25 billion emergency stabilization fund to assist childcare providers in covering their costs to operate safely. It would also provide emergency paid leave to an additional 106 million Americans in orde
