Day 1,378: Trump, GOP engineered ugly stock market dive less than a week before Election Day

Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have been clear for weeks: there would be no additional COVID-19 relief bill signed into law before the election. The House sent over a comprehensive $2.2 trillion package a month ago and the Senate has refused to touch it.

Instead, they focused their efforts on jamming through Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

After Barrett’s confirmation, the Senate officially adjourned until after the election, just six days away, guaranteeing no deal would be done until at least then. It’s possible a deal won’t get completed until after a Jan. 20, 2021 inauguration, if at all.

Amid rumors of mass layoffs, coupled with surging COVID-19 cases and no real federal plan to slow the tsunami, stock markets have taken notice in recent days.

The Dow Jones is down more than 1,800 points, or 6.4%, this week. Wednesday alone saw a 943-point slide.

Trump frequently touts the stock market as way that he should be judged (despite that being a questionable indicator of how the economy is working for most Americans).

A stimulus bill was sitting right there for Trump to negotiate and complete, with Democrats at the table largely forgoing political considerations. It would have put badly needed money in the pockets of Americans. It would have goosed markets upward immediately. It would have been an unequivocal win right before an election where Trump is desperate for a boost.

Apart from bad policy in not doing something that would have benefited tens of millions of Americans, the failure to even negotiate for relief is horrendous politics.

1,378 days in, 84 to go

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