Congressional Democrats are drawing enormous backlash as details emerge about the hidden pork in their Coronavirus relief bill while millions of Americans face dire financial distress from the unprecedented disruption caused by the health pandemic.
Crisis Spending?
At a time when citizens fret over their ability to pay basic living expenses over the coming months, the bill being spearheaded by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) would fund the National Endowment for the Arts & Humanities to the tune of $600 million and add $42.5 million in cash to the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution.
Pelosi received a standing ovation at the Kennedy Center Honors in December after she was called out for recognition by Kennedy Center Board Chairman David Rubenstein at the swank soiree. "We have more leaders of our government than I’ve ever seen at a Kennedy Center Honors,” Rubenstein said at the event. “I can’t mention you all, but let me just mention the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi." The Hill reported at the time, "Suddenly, the audience rose to their feet with zealous cheers and applause."
"When Kennedy Center chairman David Rubenstein pointed out Pelosi's presence, the theater rose to its feet for a thunderous and extended applause," is how The Hollywood Reporter described the moment. "[T]he longest, loudest standing ovation of the three-hour event went not to any of the artists, but to Nancy Pelosi," a gushing San Francisco Chronicle account explained. "When Kennedy Center chair David Rubenstein introduced the Democratic speaker of the House from the stage, the room stood and cheered for Pelosi, who has become a face for the push for impeachment of President Trump." The Kennedy Center would receive $35 million under the Pelosi-led House Coronavirus relief bill.
Laced With Pork
The Democrat bill already has faced withering scorn for including a raft of funding priorities tailored to the party's political sensibilities. Among other items, the bill calls for a bailout of the U.S. Post Office, funds climate change research for the airline industry, and mandates diversity reports from every company that receives COVID-19 aid.
The IRS would be boosted by a $278 million financial injection under the emergency relief package to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus" and another $42 million for "enforcement," Breitbart reports.
The bill has a flood of election rules, including requirements for early voting, and would nullify four Trump administration executive orders on the collective bargaining power of federal workers.
Beyond all this D.C.-centric and politically motivated outpouring of taxpayer dollars, Pelosi's bill does promise $1,500 to every American as opposed to the $1,200 in the Republican Senate bill. It would seem that Democrats hope offering citizens an extra $300 will make it more palatable for them to take on a laundry list of unnecessary "emergency" spending along the way.
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Read more from Joe Schaeffer.
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