华盛顿——周四，华盛顿新冠肺炎救援队的主要队员投掷了熟悉的排球，标志着比赛前几天的时间选举这有望改变已经拖延了数月却毫无结果的谈判局面。
众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)发表了一份批评性的评估报告，指责财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin)未能对她提出的民主党优先事项的要求做出回应，这些要求是约2万亿美元援助计划的一部分。总统唐纳德·特朗普再次承诺“一个非常大的包裹，只要选举并指责佩洛西在选举前的僵局扰乱了市场，至少目前没有缓解的迹象。
佩洛西给姆努钦写了一封信，指责共和党人谈判失败，谈判持续了三个月，并在选举前的最后几天破裂。选举后谈判的走向完全不确定——卷土重来的胜利将赋予特朗普更大的影响力，但失败也可能使他对协议的投资减少，更不愿意妥协。
特朗普周四在拉斯维加斯的“乔恩·塔夫播客”上说:“我宁愿现在就做，但南希·佩洛西不想做。”
佩洛西说，达成协议的剩余障碍包括六个以上的重要项目，包括测试计划、对州和地方政府的援助、学校资金、失业救济和共和党寻求的针对冠状病毒相关诉讼的保护措施。
共和党人表示，佩洛西在谈判中一直不屈不挠，无论周二的选举结果如何，他们都将控制白宫和参议院，直到明年1月。共和党人还要求制定一个更有针对性的援助计划，忽略佩洛西的关键要求。
他们说，为贫困劳动者和有孩子的家庭提供可退还的税收抵免等项目与打击新冠肺炎没有直接关系，并指责佩洛西在谈判中拖拖拉拉，否认特朗普在选举日之前取得胜利。
佩洛西给姆努钦的信正值市场因全国冠状病毒激增和华盛顿未能就另一项病毒救助计划达成一致而感到震惊。
佩洛西写道:“随着冠状病毒激增和股市暴跌，我们仍在等待特朗普政府对多个至关重要的项目的承诺回应。”"你的回答对我们继续谈判至关重要。"
姆努钦反驳说，佩洛西的信是为了媒体利益的“政治噱头”。他在一封回信中说，佩洛西的“要么全有要么全无的方法现在正在伤害努力工作的家庭”，因为他支持更有针对性的立法，这些立法可以毫无争议地通过。
这位加州民主党人在谈判中采取了强硬态度，几个月来一直要求达成一项超过2万亿美元的新冠肺炎救助协议，该协议超过了3月份席卷国会的里程碑式的1.8万亿美元的《关爱法案》。众议院两次通过立法，但共和党控制的参议院陷入僵局。
白宫表示，佩洛西对在重大问题上妥协不感兴趣。
白宫经济顾问拉里·库德洛(Larry Kudlow)在福克斯新闻(Fox News)上表示:“我认为这种复苏本身并不依赖于援助计划，但我认为失业援助(工资单保护计划)小企业援助，帮助学校——这可能会有很大帮助，但这不会发生。”"民主党人一直完全不妥协。"
白宫表示，佩洛西在最近一轮会谈中做出了一系列让步，但没有给予太多回报，佩洛西对姆努钦的嘲笑是在清晨的公关攻势中传达给政治的。
最近几周的秘密会谈伴随着佩洛西以及她的政府同僚的大量乐观言论，但没有结果。与此同时，许多参议院共和党人与特朗普决裂，特朗普渴望达成一项协议，让他以自己的名义再发放一轮1200美元的直接付款。参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)在选举前建议特朗普不要达成协议，警告称这将分裂共和党。
佩洛西周四表示，她有信心乔·拜登将赢得白宫，并表示，在跛脚鸭会期结束新冠肺炎救助立法将有助于拜登政府快速启动。但她拒绝了任何关于她需要表现出更大灵活性才能让特朗普签署任何措施的建议。
“我要账单有两个原因。首先，美国人民需要帮助。他们需要真正的帮助，”佩洛西告诉记者。"其次，在乔·拜登政府中，我们有大量的工作要做."
谈判的失败，加上席卷全国的第三波令人恐惧的冠状病毒病例，导致市场暴跌，并肯定会给立法者带来压力，要求他们在选举后解决分歧。但这种跛脚鸭会议——尤其是如果华盛顿的权力平衡发生变化——往往无法实现。
Pelosi, Trump administration trade blame over virus aid
WASHINGTON -- The major players in Washington's COVID-19 relief blame game lobbed familiar volleys on Thursday, marking time in the days before an election that promises to change the landscape for talks that have dragged on for months without producing results.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a scolding assessment, blaming Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for failing to produce answers to her demands for Democratic priorities as part of the approximately $2 trillion aid package. President Donald Trump again promised “a very big package as soon as the election is over" and faulted Pelosi for the pre-election standoff that has rattled markets and shows, at least for now, no signs of easing.
Pelosi sent Mnuchin a letter faulting Republicans for the failed talks, which ground on for three months and cratered in the final days before the election. Where the talks go after the election is wholly uncertain — a comeback win would award Trump with greater leverage but a loss could also make him less invested in an agreement and less willing to compromise to get there.
“I would rather do it now, but Nancy Pelosi does not want to do it," Trump said Thursday from Las Vegas on “The Jon Taffer Podcast.”
Pelosi says remaining obstacles to an agreement include more than half a dozen big-ticket items, including a testing plan, aid to state and local governments, funding for schools, jobless benefits and a GOP-sought shield against coronavirus-related lawsuits.
Republicans, who say Pelosi has been unyielding in the talks, will control the White House and the Senate until January regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's election, and have pressed for a more targeted aid package that ignores key Pelosi demands.
They say items like refundable tax credits for the working poor and families with children are not directly related to fighting COVID-19 and charge that Pelosi has slow-walked the negotiations to deny Trump a victory in the run-up to Election Day.
Pelosi's letter to Mnuchin comes as markets are reeling from a coronavirus surge across the country and Washington’s failure to agree on another virus relief package.
“As the coronavirus surges and the stock market plummets, we are still awaiting the Trump Administration’s promised responses on multiple items of critical importance,” Pelosi wrote. “Your responses are critical for our negotiations to continue."
Mnuchin shot back that Pelosi's letter was a “political stunt" for the media's benefit. He said in a response letter that Pelosi's “ALL OR NONE approach is hurting hard-working families NOW" by holding up more narrowly targeted legislation that could pass with little controversy.
The California Democrat has played hardball in the talks and has for months demanded a $2 trillion-plus COVID-19 rescue deal that's larger than the landmark $1.8 trillion CARES Act that swept through Congress in March. Legislation has twice passed the House, but the GOP-held Senate has been gridlocked.
The White House said Pelosi is uninterested in compromising on major issues.
“I don’t think this recovery depends on the assistance package, per se, but I do think unemployment assistance, (Payroll Protection Program) small business assistance, helping the schools — that could have helped a lot, and it’s not going to happen," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Fox News. “The Democrats have been completely intransigent.”
Pelosi has extracted a series of concessions in the most recent round of talks without giving much in return, the White House says, and Pelosi's jibes at Mnuchin were delivered to Politico in an early morning PR offensive.
Recent weeks of secretive talks have been accompanied by lots of optimistic rhetoric from Pelosi and at times from her administration counterparts — but no results. Meanwhile, many Senate Republicans have broken with Trump, who was eager for a deal that would have let him issue another round of $1,200 direct payments in his name. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell advised Trump against a deal before the election, warning it would divide Republicans.
Pelosi said Thursday that she is confident that Joe Biden will win the White House and said that wrapping up COVID-19 relief legislation in the lame-duck session would help get a Biden administration off to a quick start. But she brushed aside any suggestion that she would need to display more flexibility to get any measure signed by Trump.
“I want a bill for two reasons. First and foremost, the American people need help,. They need real help," Pelosi told reporters. “And second of all, we have plenty of work to do in a Joe Biden administration."
The failure of the talks, along with a third, frightening wave of coronavirus cases sweeping the country, has sent markets plummeting and is sure to bring heat on lawmakers to resolve their differences after the election. But such lame-duck sessions — especially if there is a change in Washington's balance of power — often fail to deliver.
