Stocks Knocked After Pelosi ‘Very Skeptical About Deal’

Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said she’s ‘VERY skeptical about a deal’ over the next round of pandemic stimulus, following Wednesday discussions with Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin.

Speaking on a Democratic whip call, Pelosi said Republicans and Democrats ‘don’t share the same values,’ citing the child income tax credit, and that Democrats ‘have gone down significantly’ in their demands, while Republicans ‘are at 0,’ according to Politico‘s Jake Sherman.

PELOSI gave several examples on the private Democratic call about how far Rs and Ds are apart:

She said that Republicans refuse to peel back a biz tax credit, and, at the same time, won’t do anything for children — referring to the tax credit.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 1, 2020

Pelosi’s comments jolted stocks downward in Thursday trading. 

On Wednesday, Democrats delayed a vote on their own $2.2 trillion proposal in order to allow for further negotiation, saying that the two sides must agree by Thursday or the high-wire talks will collapse, according to the NY Daily News.

Despite progress, insiders caution it’s a long shot to expect any important bipartisan compromise so close to a presidential vote.

Underlining the stakes for the American people, airlines went ahead with furloughs of tens of thousands of workers after a provision in a previous stimulus measure expired.

A new measure would likely include a new round of $1,200 checks to taxpayers and some version of the federal weekly emergency unemployment assistance, which was pegged at $600. It would also extend aid to small businesses and airlines. –NY Daily News

Alas for the American people, Wednesday’s ‘hopeful’ progress was dashed by Pelosi’s Thursday pessimism.

Yet, another Politico reporter, Heather Caygle says her Democratic sources are reporting a “small chance” of a deal.

Dems tell me “small chance” of a deal https://t.co/i0oFDvqDgy

— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) October 1, 2020