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n95 respirator face mask, Politicians are used to being in control. And that’s why, when they glanced up from their shoelaces, there was fear. We’ve not detected fear, per se, on Capitol Hill amid the coronavirus outbreak. But lawmakers know coronavirus isn’t something they can fully control. They can only respond – and hope they respond in the best way possible with money and resources. On Monday night, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL), in charge of deciding what money the government should spend to combat coronavirus, spoke in stark terms.

n95 respirator face mask - “Staring the administration and all of us in the face is a possible pandemic,” said Shelby. “Something we haven’t seen in my lifetime.” Shelby is now 85-years-old. “This is no ordinary crisis coming up,” observed Shelby. “I would call this a dire emergency.” At the time, Shelby said it was hard to estimate how much money was needed to fight coronavirus. But the Alabama Republican was clear it was best to get the dollar figure right the first time. After all, it’s easier to pass one big bill than two or three. Even if the grand total turns out to be less.

n95 respirator face mask, The administration sent a formal spending request to Capitol Hill later that night: $2.5 billion for coronavirus. Only $1.2 billion was new money. “If you lowball something like this, you’ll pay for it later,” said Shelby. “More funding is normally what people will say solves all the problems. I don’t think it does,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK) about the fiscal response to coronavirus. “It needs a lot of attention. But not necessarily more funding.”

n95 respirator face mask - Shelby didn’t offer a specific dollar figure. But by Tuesday morning, one administration source derided the Appropriations Committee Chairman as a “big spender.” On Wednesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) floated a proposal totaling $8.5 billion for coronavirus. By Wednesday afternoon, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called the administration plan “a little low.” He suggested around $4 billion. On Wednesday night, President Trump conceded he was game to spend more on coronavirus.

n95 respirator face mask - “If they want to give us more money, that’s ok. We’ll take more money. Some Republicans think we should have more money,” said Mr. Trump. Come Thursday afternoon, Fox was told lawmakers were developing a package of around $7 billion for coronavirus. Keep in mind that Paulson told lawmakers on that fateful night in September 2008 he required hundreds of billions of dollars. They settled on a $700 billion tourniquet to stem the bleeding and rescue troubled financial assets.