The biggest spending package in American history came together in record time – and now, some observers are starting to wonder: How did it happen so fast?
The answer could be that it wasn’t quickly put together to help save the nation from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that’s led to tens of thousands of infections, hundreds of deaths and millions of lost jobs.
Instead, it could be that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi already had a list of liberal pet projects and left-wing fantasy goals ready to go – and has been waiting for the right emergency she could exploit to slip these projects into the U.S. budget.
That means her stunt over the weekend to suddenly stop bipartisan negotiations and delay the bill’s passing for the entire week was pre-planned.
After all, a simple bill to give Americans and American businesses emergency help during a time of temporary closures around the nation could have been short and sweet.
“This bill should’ve been one page,” wrote Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist website, told Fox News. “Everyone gets a check and they’ll be taxed on it in 2021 based on what they earned in 2020 (people who don’t need it will pay it back) – and it should’ve taken all of a day to enact.”
Simple. Easy. Effective. And of course, not what happened.
Instead, the bill is a jaw-dropping 883 pages long – and insiders say Pelosi’s fingerprints are all over it.
One lawmaker said the Senate was nearing agreement on a simpler, cleaner bill earlier in the process.
But Pelosi came into the picture with what Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., called a “Disney World wish list” of left-wing causes, leading to delays that frustrated Democrats and Republicans alike.
“Ninety-nine percent of this bill was already decided on Sunday,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on Fox News. “She held the bill up.”
One Democratic lawmaker even came right out and admitted what they were really up to – saying they could use stimulus to advance their left-wing agenda.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision,” Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., told lawmakers during an emergency phone call, The Hill reported last week.
Never mind that the country is facing a massive economic crisis.
As long as the U.S. Mint is ready to fire up the printing presses, Pelosi wanted to take full advantage of the situation.
“Let’s not worry about the cost,” she said on the same call, according to The Hill. “It’s an investment in the health of the economy.”
The result is a spending plan that House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., slammed as “a socialist wish list of policies that have nothing to do with the public health and economic emergency.”
That includes $10 billion in loans for the United States Postal Service.
Some 100 million Americans are under shelter orders at home. They’re pretty much a captive audience for having anything and everything they need shipped to them.
Yet the USPS can’t even turn a profit in that situation – and are still in so much trouble they need billions in bailout money.
The bill also includes $25 million for the Kennedy Center and $75 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and other public broadcasting entities.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley wondered how many Americans could’ve been helped with that money instead:
These are the items included in the stimulus bill:
$75 mill for public television/radio
$25 mil for the Kennedy Center
$75 mil for the Natl Endowment for the Arts
$75 mill for the Natl Endowment for the HumanitiesHow many more people could have been helped with this money?
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 26, 2020
“I’d rather be sending that money to hospitals than sending that money to the Kennedy Center,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who helped to negotiate the package, admitted on Fox News. “Nothing against the Kennedy Center, but this is about the coronavirus.”
However, he also indicated that’s the price of getting a deal done — creating a “win-win” situation for both sides.
Fox News host Sean Hannity was far less diplomatic, calling it “crap” and “garbage.”
Now, that “garbage” is something else: It’s a law.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert, and is the author of “America’s Final Warning.”