In the midst of a crisis, Nancy Pelosi & Co. are actively engaged in mindless obstruction. This is truly outrageous.
Over the last five days, a BI-PARTISAN group of senators has been working around the clock on a third piece of legislation to address the economic fallout from the coronavirus. (A refresher on Bills #1 and #2 can be found below.) Because of the coronavirus, many lives are in jeopardy. Our economy is tanking, millions of jobs could be lost, and our healthcare systems are in danger of becoming overwhelmed.
Our nation WILL get back on its feet eventually, but Bill #3 is a vital piece of legislation that’s supposed to provide (among other things) cash assistance to struggling families affected by the disease, aid to small businesses, and loans to major industries hurt by the coronavirus. This NEEDS TO GET DONE!
So what’s the holdup? Well, do you remember when Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”? That’s exactly what’s happening here.
On Sunday, things came to a grinding halt when Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) insisted on new provisions in the Senate’s version of Bill #3. Then today, Mrs. Pelosi turned around and offered her own 1,119-page version of Bill #3 in the House. Take a look at a few things they’re trying to bake into this:
- Even more collective bargaining powers for unions
- Bailout of the U.S. Postal Service
- Jacking up fuel emission standards for airlines
- Student loan forgiveness up to $10K
- Mandated diversity reporting for corporations
- Limiting enforcement of immigration laws during this crisis
- Forcing states to accept voter registrations on election day, for those who have not bothered to register beforehand
What does ANY OF THIS have to do with the federal government’s response to the coronavirus?! The answer is nothing, of course. If these are issues worth Congress’ time, then fine, they should be introduced as standalone legislation. They have NO business in Bill #3. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi are simply using the coronavirus as a tool to advance the liberal agenda.
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To jog your memory of Bills #1 and #2 responding to the coronavirus:
March 4th – Bill #1 for over $8 billion in emergency spending to help government agencies combat the coronavirus. Without question, that was an appropriate and necessary action which I supported.
March 15th – Bill #2 for Americans and companies affected by COVID-19: This legislation was recklessly rushed through the House with MAJOR FLAWS that would have permanently destroyed COUNTLESS small businesses. By voting no, I was one of only 40 Members in the House willing to protect those businesses and the millions of families who rely on them for jobs. Hours later, national outrage set in over those preventable mistakes, and the House quickly adopted technical changes to fix them. That was obviously the right thing to do, and the final version was adopted unanimously in the House.
Bill #3, as of this afternoon, remains a work in progress.