Week 17 of Coronavirus 'Staycation'

~

In the news:

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Friday the Senate Republican Covid-19 stimulus bill “will be announced on Monday” and he hopes it will lead to negotiations and passage of a bill “in the next few weeks.” 

The Senate is scheduled to start its recess in two weeks and the House in one week, although House Democratic leaders have said they’re prepared to stay in session to complete work on the bill.

Speaking at a news conference in Ashland, Kentucky, McConnell said lawmakers have spent $3 trillion already in response to the outbreak and subsequent shutdown of the economy and therefore “need to be very careful what we do next” because that spending led to “a national debt the size of our economy for the first time since World War II, so that in itself is concerning.”

McConnell said Republicans “envision another round of direct cash payments, especially to those making $40,000 a year and less” with a focus on “the hospitality industry (which) has been really hit hard."

The Kentucky Republican also said he expects an extension of federal unemployment benefits would be included in the bill but not the $600 federal payments to those out of work because Republicans believe it’s created a disincentive for people to return to their jobs.

“But I do think basic unemployment insurance, fundamentally handled by the state but backed up by us will be a part of it,” McConnell said. 

Finally, McConnell explained the GOP proposal will include liability protections for businesses, schools, and other entities to make sure they are not sued if people get sick as the economy reopens, he has explained before.

“The measure will include liability protection, for the coronavirus only, beginning in December 2019 and running for the next four years,” he said. “That will be the beginning of the discussion with the Democrats next week. Hopefully, we can come together behind something we can agree on in the next few weeks.”" {CNN.com}

~

My thoughts:

This week has been quite interesting, actually. I started a mini book club type thing with my mom, where our first book is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. We're almost halfway through the book and I'm happy to say it's a very interesting and enjoyable read! I've ended up spending a lot of time on my blog, using the last few days before leaving getting out some of the little things that bug me {and maybe some of you, as well} on top of adding a lightbox for anyone who couldn't check out my Disney post. Of course, I also spent quite a bit of time packing, hanging out with friends and preparing everything for our trip. Recently, I've been really getting into the Netflix show, She-Ra. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out! At the time of writing, I am on Season 5 Episode 10--so definitely nearing the end! I'm really excited to see how the series ends as the producer said the new season 5 will be the final season.

To wrap up this post, I just want to make sure it's clear that this was only covering Monday to Friday of last week because if you're reading this between July 27, 2020-August 3, 2020, I am away in Florida! For all the details, check out this blog post from Friday! Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week! Also, yes, I will still have a post going up on Friday, so make sure to check that out!