Republican political consultant Karl Rove said Democratic states will receive a “reward” of federal aid via the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill “at the expense of red states.”
“A hundred and ninety-five [billion dollars] goes to states, and it’s going to give it out on the basis of high unemployment, not population, not shortfall in revenue, but high unemployment, which means that all these blue states, Hawaii, Nevada, California, Colorado, New York, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Connecticut, D.C., and New Jersey, are the top states to get aid,” Rove said on Fox News on Tuesday.
“The top states that will get, in essence, less aid than they would otherwise get, would be all red states except for Vermont, Nebraska, South Dakota, Vermont, and so forth. So, you know, they’re using this as a way to reward blue states at the expense of red states,” he continued.
He added that a recent New York Times article, “Virus Did Not Bring Financial Rout That Many States Feared,” pointed out, “We don’t need to do it.”
Rove’s comments echoed those of Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who said the new relief package “rewards” Democratic states “for their bad actions.”
“South Dakota kept our state Open for Business, and now we’re a national leader in vaccinations,” Noem said on Twitter last week. “But the federal COVID bill unfairly bails out states like New York that shutdown their economies. It rewards them for their bad actions. Does Cuomo really need more federal money?”
“It bails out those states that shut down their economies. It rewards them for making people stay in their homes and for taking away a business’s right to be open and take care of their customers and their employees,” Noem said when asked for her response on bailouts to some states. “It’s incredibly detrimental to our state because we made the right decisions, we trusted people, we have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation … tied for it with Nebraska, and we’re getting through this together.”
South Dakota kept our state Open for Business, and now we’re a national leader in vaccinations.
But the federal COVID bill unfairly bails out states like New York that shutdown their economies. It rewards them for their bad actions. Does Cuomo really need more federal money? pic.twitter.com/pZHG7Tb0M3
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) February 23, 2021
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The House passed the relief bill early on Saturday morning, and it will now head to the Senate.
“The Senate will take up the American Rescue Plan this week. I expect a hardy debate and some late nights, but the American people sent us here with a job to do, to help the country through this moment of extraordinary challenge,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
