Financial Markets
Republicans Blast Dems for $3 Trillion Publicity Stunt
House Democrats unveiled a massive $3 trillion spending bill to fund coronavirus relief on Tuesday. However, Republicans say it’s nothing but an empty publicity stunt.
The bill is the largest proposal yet in the country’s coronavirus response coronavirus. Previous relief bills have mostly centered around funding for individuals and private sector businesses but, unsurprisingly, most of the money in the Democrat-backed bill will go to local and state governments.
Despite the massive cost to taxpayers, House Democrats didn’t seek any input from their Republican counterparts on the bill. Trillions of dollars have already been allocated for coronavirus relief, and Republicans have been trying to be considerate of the cost to taxpayers. However, Democrats are eager to shove cash into government coffers.
No Consults
Republicans blasted the Democrats for not consulting with them before proposing the legislation. “This is nothing more than a messaging exercise by House Democrats, they didn’t have any input from Republicans,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), a high-ranking Senate Republican. “It’s not going anywhere.”
GOP lawmakers and the Trump administration have been taking a patient approach to further stimulus. Sources indicate that the White House is in “wait and see” mode when it comes to more relief.
The former chairman of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors, Kevin Hasset, spoke via webcast on Tuesday. He said the government wants to wait to see how the economy develops before rushing into more financial aid. “Right now we’re watching the economies that open up, watching how quickly economic activity picks up and watching the response to the disease,” said Hasset. “As we get more information on that, then we can make a judgment on what the next phase will look like,” he said. Hasset also suggested that another large relief package might not be necessary if the economy rebounds as expected.
Republicans have devoted most of their focus to reopening the economy and protecting businesses. Meanwhile, Democrats have been dragging their feet. Since the pandemic began, several prominent Democrats have made public statements. Most of them indicate they see the pandemic as an opportunity to further their political agenda.
Possible Effects
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package, but the measure was flatly rejected by Senate Republicans https://t.co/7snDkQzoTR pic.twitter.com/pVd8C2A8vo
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 13, 2020
The new bill also fits that mold. It includes provisions to repeal the cap on state and local tax deductions. The policy came about to prevent overspending liberal states from passing the bill for their high-tax policies onto the federal government.
Some of the bill’s proposals seem to be directly counterproductive to reopening the country in a timely fashion. Employers have reported that they’re having trouble getting their employees to return to work. This comes as a result of expanded unemployment benefits that pay workers more money than they make on their paycheck. Rather than addressing the issue, Democrats want to extend the bloated unemployment program to January, two months after the election. After all, the economy can’t recover if people refuse to go back to work. Also, the Democrats know they have a better chance at the ballot box if the economy continues to struggle through November.
What Dems Are Willing To Do
The Democrats are willing to keep their foot on the throat of the American economy if it means beating Trump. Rather than work towards reopening the economy, Democrats want to keep things on hold and continue running up the national deficit. True to the “progressive” political model, Democrats are pushing cushy government benefits to improve their standing with voters. However, the amount of money that will trickle down to individuals is chump change compared to the fat checks that will go to government institutions.
Republicans are right to scoff at the outrageous spending bill. Americans want to get back to work, and Democrats are doing everything they can to slow the process down. Democrats didn’t even bother to consult with Republicans when they drafted this bill, so they knew it wasn’t going anywhere. As usual, the left is wasting public resources by spending their time drafting legislation that has no hope of passing instead of working to find viable solutions to the country’s problems.
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