Democrats have decided to dodge any criticism of their coronavirus relief package by saying it polls well, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is a bloated, partisan bill that has little to do with coronavirus relief.
This is the line that Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan took Wednesday on Fox News, justifying his outburst on the House floor by saying that Republicans were “completely out of touch” with the public because the bill polled well and that Republicans wouldn’t negotiate with Democrats. Of course a bill that promises direct payments to people polls well, and it includes real relief provisions that Republicans would have supported. But the Democrats shut the Republicans out of negotiations and loaded it with their favorite pet projects, and they shouldn’t be surprised when Republicans are treating it as such.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said the White House was putting “very little effort” into reaching out to Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has singled out Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the most centrist Republican in the Senate, as having made a “big mistake” in previous stimulus bills. If you are freezing out Republicans such as Romney and Collins, you can’t reasonably claim you made some grand effort at bipartisanship.
A $1.9 trillion stimulus while the pandemic is slowing is wasteful, especially once you look at the specifics. About $350 billion will go to bail out states based on their unemployment numbers, meaning that states run by Democrats who have continued to push excessive lockdowns stand to benefit the most, including $42.3 billion for California’s yearlong lockdown.
There’s also about $130 billion heading to America’s schools, even though much of the previous $67 billion in school relief hasn’t been spent. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than 5% of that $130 billion will be spent this year.
This massive relief bill coming at the end of the pandemic spends on Democrats’ pet issues unrelated to the coronavirus while adding even more to the debt, a looming issue that neither party cares enough to address. Even before President Biden signed this bill on Thursday, Democrats have already signaled that they are ready to spend even more, jamming stimulus bill after stimulus bill filled with pet projects through the slimmest of congressional majorities.
The popularity of the relief package stems from the promise of $1,400 checks and what little relief included in the bill is actually needed. That doesn’t change the fact that Democrats lived down to the GOP attack of it being a liberal wish list, or that they froze Republicans out of negotiations, no matter how many temper tantrums Ryan throws on the House floor.
