Name: Ted Cruz criticized for joking about "magic money tree" for pandemic aid: "It's not a godd**n joke"
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Ted Cruz criticized for joking about "magic money tree" for pandemic aid: "It's not a godd**n joke"

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)view in app--August 11, 2020 10:50PM (UTC), D-Mass., shot back Monday at ,&nbsp;R-Tex., after he attempted to dismiss&nbsp;a pandemic relief proposal over its alleged dependency on&nbsp;a "magic money tree.""It's not a goddamn joke Ted," Markey told his Republican colleague.&nbsp;"Millions of families are facing hunger, the threat of eviction, and the loss of their health care during a pandemic that is worsening every day. Get real."The battle, which unfolded entirely on Twitter, began after Markey proposed that should give&nbsp;all Americans&nbsp;$2,000 a month&nbsp;until&nbsp;three months after the pandemic has passed. Moreover, the progressive senator&nbsp;added that&nbsp;the policy&nbsp;should be&nbsp;retroactively applied to the months&nbsp;of economic shutdowns that the outbreak triggered in March.Markey&nbsp;included a similar&nbsp;proposal in a&nbsp;&nbsp;that he introduced in early May, which&nbsp;drew backing&nbsp;from vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.&nbsp;However, the initial bill limited the monthly payments to Americans making $120,000 per year or less&nbsp;— not "every person in our country."Cruz, who caught backlash last month after he was caught on camera&nbsp;,&nbsp;mocked&nbsp;Markey's idea as he&nbsp;invoked foot massages and&nbsp;"soy lattes"&nbsp;—&nbsp;a timeworn&nbsp;conservative&nbsp;putdown for liberals."Why be so cheap? Give everyone $1 million a day, every day, forever," Cruz tweeted in response.&nbsp;"And three soy lattes a day. And a foot massage. We have a magic money tree—we should use it!"Negotiations over&nbsp;a new coronavirus relief package&nbsp;unwinded&nbsp;last week, triggering an end to enhanced federal unemployment benefits for American workers.&nbsp;Among the issues that Republicans&nbsp;have not&nbsp;been able to settle&nbsp;within their own ranks are: a payroll tax cut, which &nbsp;in a&nbsp;break&nbsp;with his colleagues,&nbsp;and monthly relief payments to individuals.As talks flagged,&nbsp;,&nbsp;stepping&nbsp;in later that weekend to sign&nbsp;directives&nbsp;that administration officials claim will&nbsp;provide significant relief to struggling Americans.&nbsp;One such&nbsp;order&nbsp;sets up a system intended to provide $400 in extra weekly unemployment benefits, or a 66% cut from the $600 weekly bonus received through the end of July as part of the CARES Act.However,&nbsp;state&nbsp;and local governments&nbsp;must apply for federal support for&nbsp;those $400 checks, and Trump's directives still leave them on the hook for 25%. The Republican&nbsp;officials who control Cruz's state of Texas &nbsp;on the policy. Five months into the pandemic, some&nbsp;Texans&nbsp;report that they still .As of Tuesday, there were&nbsp;more than 5 million COVID-19 cases and more than 163,000 deaths from the pandemic in the U.S., according&nbsp;Johns Hopkins University . Texas, which&nbsp;has seen a dramatic spike in cases over the summer months, has reported at least 9,238 deaths, per Johns Hopkins. Researchers at&nbsp;the University of Texas that total will increase to 14,500 by Sept. 1.Roger Sollenberger is a staff writer at Salon.MORE FROM•FOLLOW• • •

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)view in app--August 11, 2020 10:50PM (UTC), D-Mass., shot back Monday at ,&nbsp;R-Tex., after he attempted to dismiss&nbsp;a pandemic relief proposal over its alleged dependency on&nbsp;a "magic money tree.""It's not a goddamn joke Ted," Markey told his Republican colleague.&nbsp;"Millions of families are facing hunger, the threat of eviction, and the loss of their health care during a pandemic that is worsening every day. Get real."The battle, which unfolded entirely on Twitter, began after Markey proposed that should give&nbsp;all Americans&nbsp;$2,000 a...

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Ted Cruz criticized for joking about "magic money tree" for pandemic aid: "It's not a godd**n joke"

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