I totally understand and appreciate the view that Pelosi should "take the deal." And believe me, I agree that the economy needs more stimulus right now.

But there is a simple, fundamental flaw with the "take the deal" argument: there is no deal to take.

So long as Mitch McConnell is not on board, nothing will pass. And McConnell has been crystal clear that nothing will pass before the election.

Even "take the dealers" agree with this basic fact.

That makes Trump's "offer" a false one. It's like a coupon that already expired.

That leaves the "take the dealers" with a different argument: that Pelosi should accept the false offer and thereby put McConnell in a "tough spot."

A) When has McConnell being in a "tough spot" ever induced him to do something he didn't want to do?

B) More importantly, the "tough spot" argument relies on the idea that the "deal" Pelosi takes will be seen as bipartisan and consensus. But there's no guarantee of that at all. Most House Rs will have no incentive to vote for it, leaving it to pass with mainly Dems.

And though it was "Trump's offer," we are supposed to believe that Trump would actually publicly pressure McConnell to support a bill that passes with mainly Dem votes and stands no chance of passing the Senate? There's just no evidence for that.

Whenever there has been a legislative "disagreement" between McConnell and Trump, McConnell has won. Trump's deviations from standard conservative orthodoxy have ALL been executive actions.

So there's no particular reason to believe that passing a *third* stimulus bill will put more pressure on McConnell to take it up than the first two did.

So what does "taking the deal" accomplish other than having Democrats embrace weaker
policy positions that then--as night follows day--become the new starting point for future attempts at dealmaking?

I suspect that for some people, they just want the assurance that Pelosi would not, in fact, stand in the way if there was a *real* deal to be had. I get that.

And again, if McConnell would even commit to giving the package an up-or-down vote, then it'd be a different story.

But as long as the Senate Republicans are against another aid package, there is no deal to take. And the value from a symbolic gesture that comes from embracing a deal that is DOA in the Senate is...limited at best, and harmful at worst.