When President Trump claimed the “total authority” to lift the lockdown and reopen the economy in every state, governors and mayors took strong exception. They cited the doctrine of federalism, which gives them the power to deal with national issues that affect state and local levels. They were widely applauded, and Trump decided to let them “call your own shots.”
But, when the Trump administration asked state and local governments to take over some of the tasks in combating COVID-19, there was a different response. “Where’s the money?” they inquired. Many governors wanted the federal government to finance testing for the virus in the states.
“I understand that this is a problematic area and the federal government’s not eager to get in testing,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said. “But the plain reality here is we have to do it in partnership with the federal government.” Or at least in partnership with the federal Treasury.
At a news conference last week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said his state purchased 500,000 test kits from a South Korean company at a cost of $9 million. “The administration made it clear over and over again they want the states to take the lead,” Hogan said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
Hogan is a Republican, but the disagreement over testing divides the country along the usual lines: Democrats such as Cuomo and the many in the press on one side, Republicans and conservatives on the other. Hogan agrees with Democrats on testing. And Democrats won on testing in the $484 billion relief bill to fund a small-business loan program that ran out of money. Democrats sought $30 billion to create “fast, free testing in every community.” They got $25 billion. States received $11 billion directly, presumably enough to cover the bill for testing.
Democrats are on a spending jag with no end in sight. “Democratic lawmakers say [the $484 billion] should just be the beginning,” the Washington Post reported. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wants “to quickly begin work on another piece of legislation that would match the size and scope of last month’s $2 trillion CARES Act.”
The tab for the four anti-COVID-19 bills so far is $3 billion. If Democrats have a plan to pay for this, they haven’t let on. One might suspect there is no plan. “There’s plenty of hard-won provisions that we Democrats are pleased with, but it’s ultimately a building block,” Schumer said. “The next bill must be big and bold and suited to the needs of a beleaguered nation.” What Schumer relishes is another $2 trillion.
Democrats are giddy, about to spend and then spend more. The Obama administration’s recovery bill after the 2008-2009 recession was large, but it was never seen as a mere “building block.” Nor did President Barack Obama seek another initiative in “size and scope.” Schumer has leapfrogged Obama into Sen. Bernie Sanders territory. As a presidential candidate, Sanders never explained how he would pay for the vast programs he proposed. One might suspect he never gave it a thought.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has joined the spending club. In remarks in a telephone call last week, Biden sounded as if he’s moving still further away from his old spot as party centrist. The government spending in the coronavirus crisis changed his mind.
“I believe because, sort of, the blinders have been taken off because of this COVID crisis,” he said. “I think people are realizing, ‘My Lord, look at what is possible. Look at the institutional changes we can make without us becoming a socialist country or any of that malarkey. That we can make to provide the opportunities to change the institutional drawbacks from education all the way through to all the other things we talked about.’ If I sound like I’m excited, I am.”
Spending is addictive. Like Biden says, it’s exciting. And it appeals to another fellow in
Washington: President Trump. He’s already imagining the next spending bill. He tweeted that he’d like that bill to include “much needed Infrastructure Investments for Bridges, Tunnels, Broadband, Tax Incentives for Restaurants, Entertainment, Sports, and Payroll Tax Cuts to increase Economic Growth.”
We’re headed for the worst economy since 1943, when the deficit was 40% of GDP. All President Franklin D. Roosevelt needed then was a plan to win the war. He had one. Trump and Democrats don’t have a plan to save the economy.
Fred Barnes is a Washington Examiner senior columnist.
