Quelle surprise. His Royale with Cheetos has decided at the last minute to squash the long awaited yet extremely underwhelming stimulus bill from the US Congress, wanting more money in the stimulus cheques ($2000 vs the paltry “let them eat cake” $600) and removing a lot of riders and other “unnecessary” spending.
From MSN:
The president’s tweet, which included a video of him discussing what he considers the bill’s many flaws, including funding headed overseas, came less than 24 hours after the Senate passed the measure. The foreign aid provisions are part of a $1.4 trillion measure to keep the government funded, which was paired with the Covid relief bill.
Trump did not threaten a veto in the video, and he had been expected to sign the legislation into law, along with the bill to keep the government open. The legislation passed both houses of Congress with veto-proof majorities.
The package includes increased jobless benefits, more small business loans, a direct payment of $600 to individuals, and funds to help distribute Covid-19 vaccines, among other things.
The size of direct payments were a key sticking point in the final bill, which came after months of failed talks and false starts, all while the economy struggled to recover and hundreds of thousands of Americans died from the coronavirus.
As constructive (yet late, since as leader of the GOP cult, he could have directed a much bigger package that actually aligns with the Democrats demands….) as that criticism is, he couldn’t let slip his delusion about being re-elected, adding:
If Congress doesn’t deliver the relief package he wants, it will be left to the next administration.
“And maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done,” he said.
Markets aren’t happy, even though this refusal to sign is not yet a veto, its the kind of volatility you don’t want leading up to a low volume Christmas trading period. S&P futures have been rattled:
Asian stocks have been largely unaffected as have currencies, although Bitcoin saw a boost alongside gold prices in the wake of the Tweet.