Do D.C. politicians think that we’re not looking, or that we’re stupid – or both? How else can you explain a nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that has very little to do with actual COVID relief? It’s simply the latest and most egregious Washington-style shell game being foisted on the hard-working American taxpayer.
Democrat operative Rahm Emanuel famously once said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” Well, the proposed COVID-19 relief bill lives up to this aspiration in spades! It should come as no surprise that Congress has taken advantage of the current COVID-19 crisis to push through their latest spending bill which has little to do with the actual epidemic. In fact, analysis shows that in the $1.9 trillion bill, only 9 percent of the money goes toward actual COVID-19 relief. This has, unfortunately, become the standard operating procedure for our elected officials. Congress has shown it cannot function, spending endlessly with no regard for fiscal sanity. So, let’s take a moment and explore some key facts about the latest COVID-19 “Relief” Bill.
A whopping 1 percent of its nearly $2 trillion goes to accelerating distribution of the vaccine. The vaccine that has been labeled as the linchpin for moving back to normal is given minimal funding and seemingly ignored. Furthermore, only 5 percent of the bill goes toward public health needs. So, how do we account for the other 91 percent of the funds? Well, the answer might surprise you, or more likely if you have been paying attention, probably not.
$300 billion (i.e. $300,000,000,000) goes to long-standing issues that are in no way related to the ongoing crisis. For instance, tucked inside we find $100,000,000 for public transportation in the greater San Francisco area. How do we as Granite Staters benefit from spending our tax dollars on public transportation in a city 3,000 miles away? How does this relate to COVID-19? It doesn’t. But that’s just the beginning. Over $200,000,000 will go toward starting two new museums, plus an additional $135,000,000 for the National Endowment of the Arts.
If Congress feels it must spend money that it doesn’t have, would it not be best to send the money directly to the people? Why is it that the citizens always seem to get the short end of the stick? Why wouldn’t we consider another round of PPP loans to actually keep businesses open and American workers productively employed? If Congress is going to take on even more debt and further bankrupt the next generation, shouldn’t we target those who are truly in need? Especially, those who have lost businesses or have been out of work due to the pandemic. Only time will tell if ‘we the people’ will eventually wake up and demand accountability for how our dollars will be spent. But the clock is ticking – and I hope that you’ll agree with me: ‘The time is NOW!’
