Democrats Block GOP Effort and Demand More Targeted Funds
Al Grabo for the New York Times
We ran the numbers: There are 2041 news articles covering this topic. 25% (502) are left leaning, 45% (914) center, 31% (625) right leaning.
Senate Democrats blocked a Republican effort to add $250 billion in coronavirus-related small-business loans. While left-leaning articles highlight that McConnell was trying to score political points through this effort, right-leaning articles highlight that Democrats were “playing politics” with the coronavirus pandemic.
A left-leaning article by The New York Times highlights that Democrats argued that if Congress was providing additional aid to a loan program intended to keep small businesses afloat, it should also include more money urgently needed for hospitals, states and cities confronting the coronavirus. The article also highlights that Democrats accused McConnell of merely looking to score political points by approving the administration’s request for additional money for the small-business program.
NPR published a centrist article highlighting that Congressional Republicans and the White house want to increase the total amount of loans available through the Paycheck Protection Program from $350 billion to $600 billion. They explain that while Democrats do not object to the increase in funding, they want to make sure half are targeted towards "community-based financial institutions" to help minority owned businesses, veterans and rural Americans across the country.
A right-leaning article by Fox News reports that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy accused Democrats of “playing politics” with the coronavirus pandemic, claiming that he was disappointed that Senate Democrats objected to the $250 billion request for small businesses pushed by the White House. McCarthy also called on China to apologize for their lack of honesty in the onset of the novel coronavirus.