that is what it needs to be. mitch mcconnell, when the senate convenes to come to the senate floor for a vote. you can watch that on c-span2 starting at noon eastern time. thank you for calling in today and sharing your thoughts. we will be back here tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. >> coming up live on c-span,

vice president-elect kamala harris will get the covid-19 vaccine. president-elect joe biden will be speaking in wilmington, delaware about the rise in coronavirus cases in the united states. watch our live coverage here on c-span. >> with covid-19 relief legislation approved by congress and coronavirus vaccines being administered, use our website, c-span.org/coronavirus, to follow the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak. all at c-span.org/coronavirus. host: following the house action, chuck schumer promising to push the effort in the senate for $2000 checks to americans in

response to the coronavirus pandemic. here is what he wrote last night. following the strong bipartisan vote in the house, i will pass legislation's to quickly deliver americans with to quickly deliver americans with $2000 emergency checks. fory senate democrat is this financial relief which can be reproved -- approved tomorrow if no republicans block it. american workers and families are crying out for help. mitch mcconnell has not indicated whether or not he supports these to thousand dollars checks will bring it up for a vote. politico notes senate minority leader chuck schumer will try to pass the house built by unanimous consent today. republicans are expected to object. have resistedors higher stimulus checks. take several days to

set up a roll call vote on the proposal and it would need to garner 50 votes. it's all occurring during what should be a holiday break for congress. days left of this congress. the senate will convene today. you can watch the floor over on c-span2. the hill reports no republican senator has said they will object to schumer's efforts to pass the house bill through the senate and aquatic leaders are expected to fall short after republican blocked two attempts earlier this month to pass a second round of $1200 checks. this?s your take on isaac in springfield gardens, new york. democratic caller. go ahead. caller: good morning.

i just want to make the country aware of how the republican people'sdoing the poor of this country. yet there is still a majority that still votes for the republican party. the one that's making the poor suffer. please america, wise up. republicans oppose what is called the cash act, $2000 direct payments to americans. here's the speaker of the house on the floor yesterday arguing for the legislation. >> it's a simple vote. our goals have been crushed the virus. help usr heroes who crush the virus and put money in the pockets of the american people. today we would be doing that right now. legislation will be a lifeline

for millions of americans. the previously passed relief bill by including dependence and assuring that families and children -- with children in college can also receive relief. republicans have a choice. vote for this legislation or vote to deny the american people the bigger paychecks they need. to reject this would be in denial of the economic challenges that people are facing and it would deny them the relief they need. in statel go to ben college, pennsylvania. republican. support or oppose these payments? >> i'm somewhere in the middle. i'm going to quote the speaker of the house when she said republicans need to do this. the sitting republican president is the one who truly wanted to get these payments out as soon

as possible and as large as possible. but for some reason they wanted to wait until after the election. helping out struggling folk in this country, of course i do. i have multiple concerns about where this money is actually going to come from at the end of the day. sending $2000 checks every american doesn't seem fiscally feasible to me. host: that's the argument republicans made about not having this covid relief package over a trillion dollars. when you increase the checks to overcans to $2000, you go the $2 trillion mark. congressional outlets that look at this, the $2000 checks will cost about 464 billion dollars, up from roughly 160 billion right now.

that's according to the congressional estimate released monday. when you hear that, what do you think? i was laid off in march of 2020. i live in pennsylvania. pennsylvania state unemployment insurance which is next to nothing plus the $600 every week. that was plenty to get by. i was workingthan and i know it's an argument that we can't have people making more unemployment at their jobs. ofng back to the office budget management, whoever put that out in congress, it's just not possible. $2000 is too much in my opinion. i hate to sound heartless. i don't want to sound like i don't want to help others, but

it's just too much. i think 600 was a reasonable amount. president,upport the right? you voted for him? >> absolutely. host: that president arguing for more checks to americans. take a look at the poll on this issue. relief isoronavirus more important than getting the national debt under control. 21% said the debt is more important. a large majority of republicans agreed that the relief was more important than the national debt. who led the brady opposition on the floor yesterday. here he is making the argument against it. than doubled more the number of small businesses and midsize businesses kidding

ppp forgivable loans to hire their workers and stay alive through the recovery. they could make sure airline workers have secure jobs for more than just a few months and do more to replenish frontline health care workers. we should be focused on the families that are hurting most, and more than the 8 million americans who lost their jobs due to covid. how top priority in addition to defeating the virus is to get them back to work. congress has already approved more than $20,800 directly to a family of four with one parent out of work. top of their state unemployment benefits. if we want to do even more for the jobless, this same huge amount of money today could give every unemployed worker from covid and their employer a $50,000 incentive to return to work.

money,is huge amount of you could give the bottom 90% of workers in america and income tax-free year for 2021. a full year where you go to work each day for yourself rather than from washington. thoseu imagine what of tax 21 would do for lower and middle income families, workers and the economy? for we can simply hold this money back. another halfpend trillion dollars we don't have my we assess the impact vaccinations are having on consumer confidence and locking of the economy. there are a lot of ways to spend money if that's the goal. but in my view, let's be smart about it. let's target assistance to those who need it most. brady arguing against $2000 checks to americans.

greg in virginia. where do you come down on this? caller: i oppose it. i agree with congressman. fed comes along and tightens the money supply to increase interest rates, in the long run this is going to end up hurting everyone. our going to end up hurting economy because inflation has to happen. this is basic economic laws. so when you get a check for $2000, it's got to come from somewhere. the government does not create wealth. that money has got to be redistributed. people are going to reject $2000 -- we are going to have to pay for this somewhere down the our childrenit be or grandchildren, somebody's got to pay for it. the $2000re getting

now, down the line, you may end up paying for it in a bigger way. what is your reaction to this headline in the wall street journal? finish at records. investors bet that new fiscal stimulus will help consumers and small businesses. the stock market goes up and down and fluctuates with the current news and we will see how the stock market does when those trillions of dollars to start flowing through the economy and the value of the dollar goes down and we end up getting hit with inflation. we will see how the stock market does when that happens. host: bob in utah. democratic caller. your turn. to see thatuld like $2000 go out. now,e with money right it's going to end up in their

pocket eventually. it always has. and i have heard this story of , us being in debt for the last 50 years and it just keeps going up. but the rich keep getting richer. and this will just make them a little richer. to keep our country going at this time. criteria me read the to you and others for these checks. this also addresses whether or not you will get a check. if you got a check in march, you may not get it because they have lowered the criteria. income was9 reported $75,000 or less, you would be eligible to receive the full $600 one-time payment. couples who reported an adjusted

gross income would receive, you can strike the 1200 and make it 4000. if you reported making more than 75,000, you would with seve partial payments for every $100 above the limit. so every individual who earned 86,500 -- a couple making 174,000 or more or head of households making more than 100, you also won't get a stimulus check. in oakland county michigan sent us a check saying he's for it if threshold is lowered significantly. we just read what the threshold is. william in washington courthouse, ohio. a republican. good morning to you. caller: good morning. there is one thing i'm not understanding. i agree about the $2000.

but one thing i'm not agreeing upon is we are sending billions and billions of dollars to other countries instead of sending billions to other countries, why don't you just take care of our country for once first? americant what every is trying to tell congress, the of putting out what is it, 40 million or something like that to businesses that aren't even open , it just doesn't make sense to me. host: so are you in support of these $2000 payments if they cut out some spending in other places? caller: yes. instead of sending billions of dollars to other countries, put the billions into the american

people's pocket. did you hear yesterday, there was a washington post article about how the president the governmento funding portion of this package that he signed sunday night, the line items that he is opposed to, some of it being foreign aid are amounts that he himself in his budget requested of congress to spend. caller: so some things get spent. we are talking about the coronavirus relief fund here. if this is all about the that turns, how does around and send billions of dollars to other countries? you: that's where i think are confused. what the president signed was a package that included different bills. one was to keep the government running.

the spending for federal agencies. that is where the foreign aid money was. and then it also included the 900 billion dollars for coronavirus relief. that we sendstand money to other countries. outderstand that to help other countries. but instead of sending billions and billions to these countries, why not cut that in half? host: not your point. let me show you what the 900 billion amount is four when it comes to the pandemic. here are some of the details. up to $600 per adult and child. that could change to 2000 if it is approved by the senate today with this week. it also extends unemployment benefits to 11 weeks. emergency unemployment compensation extended. the paycheck protection program. schools and colleges will

receive 82 billion. it extends the eviction moratorium. $20 billion in grants for small businesses. $9 billion for a treasury program that caters to low income and underserved communities. there is also money for the testing and vaccine purchasing and distribution. 20 billion dollars to purchase the vaccine for states. and another $20 billion for state testing. let's go to victor. independent. good morning. caller: good morning. i think it's a good plan to get money in the hands of people who need it. theyey are not evicted, so are not without food and they can pay their bills. if we can do that, we stop human

suffering and that's the purpose of government is to help people. out, i likedpaid what mr. brady said. they also need to raise taxes on the top 1%. you can also raise money and not increase the deficit. 1%. could raise the we can do a lot of things also like having prisoners do food. let them grow food. the food banks are short. we have long lines all over the place. this is just mismanagement of resources in many ways. got caught blind by how bad this is. the federal reserve chairman has said we should care on the side of spending more money. not backed by the gold standard anymore. they just print it. it's fiat money.

$30 though we are in debt trillion, the interest rates are so low it doesn't affect us as much. up, thenst rates to go you have a problem. one thing historians note, we were 5.4 trillion when bush took office. paul put up a bill to balance the budget by law, we wouldn't have the debt. but they wouldn't pass that. we have a lot of mismanagement. we have a lot of people in government that don't know anything about government. they know the short-term effects but not the long-term effects. they don't to connect economics classes and they don't take enough civics classes. as a result of that, it's just like a doctor. thisauci doesn't know all stuff. he's made mistakes. makeould you rather have

the scientific things? a doctor with his experience or a plumber? they are listening to the plumbers. that's the problem. they are listening to the fox news. cutting a lot of misinformation. that needs to stop. also took action to override the president's veto of the national defense authorization act. this bill has passed with overwhelming support for decades. here's the headline. house votes to override trump veto. more than 100 republicans blocked the president on the ndaa. series of sent out a tweets saying here are the 26 republicans who switched their vote on the national defense authorization to support the president's veto. and he also said here are the 16 democrats who switched their vote on the bill to oppose the

president's veto. the 16 -- that's the same tweet. leo shane if you want to learn more about how all of that went down yesterday. take upte expected to that veto override as well. back to our conversation about these stimulus checks. antonio. you are next. the $2000.gree with i'm a single male trying to find an apartment for $700 and i can't even find that. out $600, whatd is that going to take care of? host: did you get the first round of stimulus checks back in march? caller: yes i did. host: what did you do with the money? caller: i paid bills.

host: how far did it go? caller: a month. $2000 can help pay someone's rent for a month. because the $1200 pre-much did that. it just paid rent. that was pretty much it. host: leo in atlanta, georgia. independent. caller: i'm in favor of the $2000 stimulus checks and here is why. been a lot of talk about the deficit especially from the republican. if you wind back the clock to 2000, we were running a surplus when bush took office. by the end of his presidency, we were running a $500 billion deficit in the worst financial crisis that we've ever had. realize when you get into a financial crisis, that's not when government spending needs to stop.

that's when you need to spend the most amount of money to stimulate the economy. into the trump presidency, the tc ja, we started running a trillion dollar deficit again. back to the levels where it was in 2009, 20 10 and 2011 due to the financial crash. any money that we get into the hands of the poorest people in the country today is going to be 10,er for us down the road 15, 20 years from now. the time to tackle the deficit isn't in the middle of one of the worst crises in a century. it's when we are doing well, when things have normalized. if you look historically at tax rates, the top marginal rate on income adjusted -- this is adjusted for inflation. , a gopwight eisenhower republican with 90% income in the 50's or $2 million today.

people don't really realize how much higher rates were in the top third of a percent of earners in this country and all that's really happened since 1980 under reagan, bush and now trump with the tax cuts they've implemented is a huge shift in andth to the top 1/10 of 1% those earners don't typically reinvest that money where it needs to go. what we have is the market of consumers who are consistently poor, wages are stagnating relative to inflation and when we get into a real crisis like coronavirus we become exposed. i think that's kind of what you're seeing now. this just isn't an equitable tax system for the american people. host: who did you vote for? i voted for jill biden. it wasn't inspiring vote.

host: how do you plan to vote in the runoff? for usve already voted off and worn out. i couldn't vote for leffler of purdue simply because just their messaging. not just their entire history of things that i oppose. just look at what they've done since the election. denied the outcome that we all know is so plainly true just so they can kiss up to the president. about themch advancing themselves politically. they really have no ideology or coherent philosophy. if the democrats like something, they oppose it. if donald trump likes something, they are for it. relief bill becomes campaign issue in georgia runoff. are you seeing that on the ground? caller: absolutely. i have lived in georgia my whole

life. it's really interesting to see how the political climate here has changed over my lifetime especially into the northern suburbs. a good example is forsyth county. there was racial expulsion in 1912 or 1913 and at the turn-of-the-century, there were 87 black people living in the county and a population of 90,000 or so. and the growth of atlanta expansion into the suburbs, places like that they used to go -- you or 822 or going are starting to see atlanta outweigh the more rural areas. a look at what david purdue sent out yesterday. about the coronavirus relief package. he sent out this text.

covidews georgia, more relief is on the way. democrats made it harder then we -- needed to be, but we never stopped fighting for our families and business. that is the senator who is up for reelection. his opponent sent out this tweet to him. -- perdue must reverse his opposition and join democrats and president trump in a neatly supporting $2000 relief checks for his constituents. as we said, it's unclear whether or not republicans will lock senate minority leader chuck atumer from bringing up this that just passed in the house yesterday. senatorsneed all 100 to be in support of bringing it to the floor. it's unclear what republicans will do, but there is some indication that there could be some gop support.

here is senator marco rubio saying i agree with the president and millions of working-class families our entire need of additional relief which is why i support $2000 in direct payments for americans struggling due to the pandemic. republicans tried to pass additional relief only to be rejected by democrats at every turn. -- thankfully she was finally stopped holding american families hostage. that is senator rubio's from yesterday. this headline in the hill newspaper this morning. toator bernie sanders plans slow down the veto override in a $2000 get a vote on the check proposal. he says what he will do this week on the senate floor, mitch mcconnell wants to vote to override trump's veto of the 740

billion dollar defense funding bill and head home for the new year. i'm going to object. until we get a vote on legislation to provide a direct payment to the working class. the senate convenes today. you can watch out coverage on c-span2. in the moment chuck schumer comes to the floor to offer of one or bring forward a vote these $2000 payments. in maryland, democratic colors. why do you come down on this? caller: i think they should send out the $2000 payment. it is long overdue. other countries similar to us have been paying out their residence for the entire duration of the pandemic. our neighbors. canada has been giving the residents almost $2000 a month this whole time. arguingsenators have an

over whether to give us $600 the second time. it's asinine. aren't understand how they able to make 150 thousand dollars over the last eight months and argue over whether the american people that pay their salaries are allowed to have relief. i don't understand how someone can support that. who workpeople like me on a covid unit and had a second job, lost my second job. can't get unemployment, but my job doesn't cover enough for all of my bills. so that leaves me in limbo. host: did you get the first stimulus check in march? caller: yes. host: what did you do with the money? caller: paid bills. host: how many more hills were you able to pay? able to put some

on my car and some insurance and gas and electric. but my rent is $1100. job, doesyour first it cover your rent? caller: it will cover my rent. we also have food, gas, insurance, renters insurance. just the regular stuff. i have a teenage kid in his senior year. we also have all of his senior stuff as well. meanwhile my senators are comfortable and have no problem taking recesses, going home for the holiday and i'm trying to figure out what i was able to buy my son for christmas. to be killingng myself working and trying to pick up over time to be able to

make it through the new year. could you usekly this check? caller: about six months ago. host: robert in moss point mississippi. republican. you are next. caller: i am for the $2000 checks. i want to say that there is blame on both sides of the aisle. needed tok that they cut the foreign spending out this year and concentrate it on ,he united states, that i think i just don't understand how you dollarsd millions of overseas when they were in there talking about it voting on it, and not thinking about the

american people. on both sides. host: sandy on twitter says i hope the 2000 goes out to help people pay for the rent and some food. it will also give people hope. they are mentally devastated and scared. the washington post reports that the schedule for sending out these checks corresponds with steven mnuchin's earlier promise to dispatch stimulus checks to families this week. no planned later thrown into turmoil after trump refused to sign the stimulus package. supportparty did not some of his demands and as you will know, he relented on sunday and he passed this legislation. the washington post this morning also has the back story on who and how convinced the president that he should sign this legislation.

the washington post, with other key republicans waylaid, it fell to senator lindsey graham to talk the president down. what possible solution could assuage trump without forcing congress to reopen negotiation. it a shot, take a phone call. hit a shot, talk about what's a good deal. graham said it was a very intense christmas day. between thoseurse men. with kevinhe phone mccarthy the republican leader in the house who was in a clinic in bakersfield california minutes away from undergoing general -- general anesthesia for surgery on an injured elbow. he spent the west -- the rest of the week in a cast searching for a way to address the president's

remaining concerns. that rob portman, a former white house budget director who proposed an elegant solution. a package that would let tramp asked -- trump ask congress to cut spending. could inbound the money for up to 45 days meaning it could not peace spent until after he left office. , a day on theore golf course helped change trump's mind on the stimulus bill. in florida. where do you come down on this issue of $2000 direct payments? caller: remember, this is a one time payment and i know most congressmen receive anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 a month.

complainingy are about citizens making $2000 payment that they do only one time and the thing about it, what did they think the people under $75,000 earning is going to do with that month? they are not going to save it. they are going to prime the system that republicans are always talking about. men makeness that money when people spend money. americans national gross product 70% is people spending money. reasoning,know what they must not have taken economic classes. lookseels good, what good. they don't think for the future. the money that is spent, the money that people get, they are not saving it. it is going right back into the system. so i don't know what reason they have to say no.

host: william in clearwater florida. caller: i definitely support them. matter of fact, i think it's not enough money. taxe are our hard-earned dollars that they are spending on other countries. if you read the bill, they want aboute money to see insects eating trees. they spent tens of millions of dollars investigating a president over nonsense. though senators make $184,000 a year. those are our tax dollars and they can't give us back some of our tax money? that's ridiculous. people are suffering. senators $600se and see how they live on that? or $1200. each one of them owns two or three houses.

it's all about them. people are just getting tired. they want to eat, look at the food lines. moneyant to give all this , what's this, the second round for the kennedy center, a billion dollars to the smithsonian, that stuff is just sitting in a building. these are people that are living. they need food, they have to pay their rent. these politicians, it's all about them. host: will you watch the senate today when you convene at noon? who blocks the senate minority leader from bringing up the cash act? caller: i advise everyone of them to pass that or they will be looking at their career going down the drain. americans are just tired of this. host: noon eastern time, over on

c-span two. he will be able to see when the senate comes in what happens on the floor. the minority leader chuck schumer promising to bring the house bill that passed yesterday with 44 republicans and democratic support, most of the democrats. a vote onsing to push the senate floor. senators to 100 approve that to bring it to the floor for a vote. so you can watch it on c-span2. donald in omaha nebraska, independent. caller: i'm for the $2000 people need it. money, all they have to do is audit the last one. the great big one and they started with and see where all of that went.

you know it went into politicians pocket for their buddies, but nobody says nothing about that. host: coming up next on the washington journal, we are going to talk with the organization that watches spending on capitol hill. stephen ellis is the president of taxpayers for common sense. we are going to talk to him about the covid relief package that was sent. maybe get some insight to what happened in the first act in march. we will see if he's got some details you would find interesting. in other news today, on the front pages of many of the the headline that president-elect joe biden is saying that the current administration is blocking the transition. here's what he told reporters yesterday. >> we need to make sure that nothing is lost in the handoff

between administrations. picture ofds a clear our posture around the world and our operations to deter enemies. visibility in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch up that our adversaries may try to exploit. beginning, wee have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership of the department of defense and the office of management and budget. aren'tow, we just getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. short in my view of irresponsibility. host: the house yesterday voting 275 to 100 84 to approve $2000

checks to americans. your take on that this morning. crystal in west palm beach, florida. democrat. caller: thank you for taking my call. i just want to reiterate the first caller who talked about our neighbors, canada, and how those people have been receiving $2000 a month since the pandemic began. joke think the $600 is a and we are so busy fighting like a bunch of bumpkins in america that it is just ridiculous. we do not have our own self interest as a priority. we would rather fight. to thousandou get dollar check if it passes? caller: yes i will. host: what will you do with the money? caller: i will pay hospital

bills because i was hospitalized and i give -- have a huge hospital bill. dislike people will pay the most basic fundamental bills. liketies, rent, it's not we are going to take the money and go on vacation or something. we are really suffering as people and there is so much conflict and so much focus on the wrong areas such as politics. have lost our bunk and minds and it's really hilarious. $600. crystal in florida. david says, refund all income taxes withheld for those workers making 75000 and under. thosesiness portion of taxes also gets refunded to the businesses. and columbia, maryland.

what do you think of this? caller: i'm actually a registered independent. i called on the republican line because my comments will fall more in line with the republican, but i am a registered independent because i cannot be kennedy democrat. they have changed the party platform. it's not the same party. i am very much for the $2000 stimulus and i am actually commending people that feel offended by the computer fraud to take 10% of whatever you get and throw it into the defense against this fraud. i know it's not a popular topic to bring up the fraud, however, it is a known fact that germany handed over the servers immediately after the election and we had the ephemeral data. hill producertol

tweets out that vice president-elect kamala harris will be administering the covid-19 vaccine at united medical center here in tc this morning. there will be coverage of that, she will do it on camera. our website,hat on c-span.org. kurt in conway, south carolina. caller: thanks for taking my call. one thing i don't understand about this whole stimulus thing, i'm in agreement with $2000 payment to the people who really need it. however, there's a large number of people already on government assistance, such as myself with social security. disability,ople on welfare, there are people getting government checks which is a guaranteed income every month. thosen't the people on

payments, their payment be reduced. while -- myy $600, wife and myself saved most of it. we are going to save probably three quarters of that too because we are not in need of the money. there are people in great need of that money. paymentthe $600 initial was rather anemic to people that really needed it. $2000 is great for people that really need it. but i just don't understand why people that are already on the dole such as myself on social security and other government assistance programs are entitled to get that $2000 that they really don't need. host: how do you respond to alks who say, i have not seen cost-of-living adjustment on social security and expenses keep rising.

food, medical expenses. the expenses that are not covered by medicare. and this would help them. it would helprse them. i propose that they get a reduced amount, not the full $2000. i think if they got half to help them out, that's fine, but the majority of people on these guaranteed incomes are not actually in dire need of the extra funds. there are other people that have been thrown out of work. they have kids at home. those are the people that really are in need of this money. things,hole scheme of what's $2000 going to do for you over the course of six or eight months? it's not that give a help. it is a help, but it's not going to cure anything.

host: a member of the problem solvers caucus on what he supported passage of the cash act. >> the effects of this pandemic have been cruelly uneven. some remain unscathed. working remotely and still healthy. are still in misery. unable to pay funeral bills for lost loved ones. while the stock market has had a new record today, there are still bodies stored in refrigerator trucks. retail and grocery stores are booming, airline, broadway and mom and pop store employees have been laid off and life savings invested in small businesses have been wiped out. president's cynical ploy to threaten the covid relief ofkage to obscure his dark night pardons has now resulted in a fighters chance that we can

pass this to thousand dollar stimulus check legislation if we can only get mitch mcconnell to finally show some empathy. let's pass this bill and then let's immediately work to send the aliens necessary to save our state and local governments before they fire police officers, teachers and front-line workers, which will only result in more unemployment checks from us and financial ruin for those families in the communities they serve. let's rebuild our infrastructure and put americans back to work. we can do this if we remember why we are here. and we need both macaques and republicans recognize that outside of this fantasyland, millions of americans are desperately pleading for our help. host: democrat of new york. part of the problem solvers caucus, typically moderate republicans and democrats that try to come together to compromise on these problems with debates on capitol hill. listen to kurt schrader, a

democratic congressman, also a member of the problem solvers caucus who spoke against the cash act. >> i rise today to speak against the cash act. this is an ineffective and poorly targeted approach. it is clearly a last-minute political maneuver by the president and extremists who absent fromrgely negotiations. they have chosen to tweet their opinions instead of getting aids in the hands of small businesses that need it most. as covid cases skyrocketed, my caucus worked with senators on both sides of the aisle and house and senate leadership craft legislation that includes fitted programs like the ppp and unemployment compensation that have been improved upon since the start of the covid-19 epidemic. suffering all those today due to financial hardship

and look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on a bipartisan bicameral basis to find ways to help provide relief. making six-figure incomes have not been impacted by covid-19, do not need checks. getave had nine months to it to people who need it most. host: democrat was one of two who voted against the cash act yesterday. democrat of, illinois also voted against it. 130 republicans were also named. democrats approved $2000 checks to americans. the senate today when they convene, you can watch on c-span2. they are expecting the minority leader, chuck schumer to force a vote on this $2000 check.

democratic collar, we are asking all of you to tell washington what you want them to do on this. what do you think? want to say that these say -- on social security ought to be removed. i beg your pardon. i would like to see a lot of them out there live on under 16,000 a year. and it's awful hard. we don't have money. we get by just barely now. and we need money for repairs for our car. my car was down for over a year because i couldn't afford repairs. going, i need it it for the doctors and anything else important and i've had to go to. caller: jake sherman with politico this morning is

tweeting out that at this hour, senate leadership has shown little interest in the $2000 check bill and it's not entirely clear to us or them whether the bill would get the requisite 60 votes it needs to get through the chamber. 12 republicans would need to join with all the democrats. marco rubio and joist -- endorsed the bill. he writes, senior republicans were skeptical it would garner 12 there members with such a paltry gop vote in the house. make no mistake, this is a really tough vote for republicans. action on c-span2 for the senate floor. joy, republican. how are you. caller: good morning. host: go ahead. caller: i'm opposing the $2000

check because these people, the more you give them, the more they want. what did they do with the last money they got? they got unemployment. they got free government money. it's a continuous thing. weget it down, -- now, complain too much later. we are running out of money and either save it, don't go out and spend it on things you need. i live on about $12,000 a year and i make it. and i'm on social security so i just think it's stupid. spending all this money and people are going to continue to cry and moan and they are going to keep getting it. host: john in baltimore texas to say, this is a stupid question. $2000 droppingke

out of the sky, especially people who have not seen any reduction in their income? caller: it was sensitive with the $2000 relief. they are giving however many billion's of dollars to anybody else in the other bill they did. they are always last on the totem pole. it can find money for everybody in the world except the people who live here in this country. i think they should give us 1200 a month for the next months. you have to vote the aristocracy out. that's the only way to get rid of them and never reelect another person that runs for office. host: will you get a check? caller: i don't know. i would like to see a bill goes through congress that's just one thing on the bill. how comes there's always 5000 pages of what is supposed to be

a relief package for us? it's a bunch of bs and i'm tired of it. i don't know who else might be tired of it. it's time to change the system or burn it down. host: jj, democratic caller. caller: thanks for taking my call. i'm for the $2000. we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. i think we should get $2000 a month for about six months. that way -- people are hurting. some people don't have any food. people can't pay their bills. small businesses are shutting down. ridiculous, and the people in washington, our politicians are playing games with us. and weme that stopped start looking at the real issues. we don't have time to distinguish who needs it and who doesn't need it.

the best thing to do for the next six months is give everybody $2000. we are going to pay it back in taxes over time. this is a crisis right now and it's time that we stop the bickering in washington. portion ofleave this today's washington journal and you can watch the rest on c-span.org as we bring you live footage of vice president-elect kamala harris receiving the covid-19 vaccine. you veryis: thank much. [inaudible] wonderful. >> would it be ok if i administer -- sen. harris: thank you, i'm looking forward to it. >>