The Attractive Cover On A Bad Book
The House of Representatives’ so-called COVID-19 Relief Bill is actually but a cover for an amazing hodge-podge of unnecessary and excessive spending having little or nothing to do with COVID or even healthcare, in general. This is a Progressive Democrat dream package that America’s already excessive debt can ill afford, designed, it certainly appears, to primarily feather the hopes, dreams, and pockets of political favorites, by means of a stalking-horse COVID row boat out in front straining to pull along behind it an ocean liner filled to the brim with unrelated handouts, hoping all along that sym(pathetic) legislators with blinders on, lining up to vote, will only notice the row boat.
Estimates of just how much money will actually go to even broader COVID relief (vaccinations, treatments, medical supplies, etc., funding for businesses economically injured by the virus lock-downs, additional unemployment benefits, etc.) range from the Wall Street Journal’s “generous definition of COVID-related provisions at $825-billion (less than half of the proposed $1.9-trillion overall relief bill), all the way down to an estimate that “less than 10% of the money in this massive bill is for health-related items,” according to House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA). Scalise went on the say that “over $100-billion would go to schools – not to open. In fact, 95% of that money can’t even be spent until 2022. Do we really want to wait until 2022 to start having your kid go back to school? This bill will actually delay school reopening.”
The bill is a “silver bullet for progressives to check off long-standing items on their wish list.,” said writer Scott Zipperle. Those items include that $15/hour minimum wage increase (said to be phased in over four years) which some feel will be punitive to businesses in smaller communities in the country’s middle, “taxpayer-funded bailouts” for underfunded pension plans, as well as public money “bailouts” for “poorly managed” (Democrat) states. On that subject, apparently $350-billion is ear-marked for state and local government bailouts. You can guess the states and cities. And, again, that’s one-third-of-a-trillion-dollars for the “relief” of poorly run states and cities, which has zero to do with COVID relief or healthcare, and, without penalty, might very well only encourage those recipients to continue their mismanagement.
Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) has also indicated that with the proposed bill, “stimulus checks could go to families in which a parent is an illegal alien,” and the bill also “expands eligibility for PPP funding for large nonprofits, labor unions, country clubs and country clubs, and publicly-traded internet news organizations.” House Banks & Budget Committee ranking member, Jason Smith (R-MO), commented: “Democrats are rushing to pass this spending bill that will enact bailouts for state governments that lock-down their citizens and radical policies that will destroy jobs and raise the cost of living for working-class Americans. Instead of stimulus, I call it what it is – the Biden bailout bill. It’s an abusive process and a lot of reckless spending.”
Fox News commentator, Sean Hannity added his thoughts on-air: “This is not a serious, thoughtful COVID relief package. What it really is, is a massive federal payout to everyone and every state who donated to and supported Democrat candidates in 2020.” Chimed in one viewer after hearing the Hannity program: “Why should I bail out those states or pay for the riots in a state that experienced massive destruction due to riots because their leadership watched it happen and did nothing?”
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan think-tank, concluded that the relief bill “is much larger than the needs of the economy, much of its spending is poorly targeted, it includes a number of measures unrelated to the COVID pandemic and economic crisis, and it would abruptly cut off aid to unemployed workers at the end of August.”
Sadly, this misguided political patronage bill, targeting way too much money, and toward the wrong goals, will likely pass the Democrat-majority House, and thanks to the disastrous Georgia Senate run-off election vote, now may or may not be stoppable in the Senate. Shining the light of common sense and reason, lacking currently in the Democrat House, at least on this issue, economist Ben Stein concludes this discussion with the logical, extremely serious, and stark prediction: “Mr. Biden and his friends think there’s an unlimited pot of money to throw at these problems. There isn’t. At some point, the government is going to go bankrupt.”
Relief bill health-related $$ estimate via The Wall Street Journal, Editors, 2-22-21; Scalise estimate/school money via breitbart.com, Trent Baker, 2-22-21; Silver bullet quote/bailout examples via dailysignal.com, Scott Zipperle, 2-18-21; Banks alien &PPP quote/Smith bailout bill quote via breitbart.com, Sean Moran, 2-22-21; Hannity & viewer quotes via foxnews.com, Charles Creitz, 2-22-21; Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget quote via breitbart.com, Sean Moran, 2-22-21; Stein quote via newsmax.com, Sandy Fitzgerald, 2-20-21).