Our elected officials have cobbled together a ‘COVID-19 Relief Bill’, supposedly to assist those many Americans that were financially destroyed, or nearly so, by government action to prevent further spread of COVID-19. The results of this bill, and others, should send about 300 million taxpayers to march to Washington, DC, torches and pitchforks in hand. Let’s dig.
Since March 2020, many industries have been decimated or worse due to governmental edict–not by poor running, not by mismanagement, not by lazy workers, not by ‘poor market conditions.’ By nationwide actions, mostly by State Governors, to limit crowd sizes and certain ‘non-approved’ activities. Some of the details defy explanation and logic: Big Box retailers remain open for business, while it remains illegal for small stores to open. Protesting and rioting are allowed (if not encouraged), but attending church, funerals, and schools are forbidden. The government intrusion on what is allowed INSIDE YOUR HOUSE is unprecedented, as some areas have actually cancelled Thanksgiving, with Christmas on the near-term hit list. That Governors have that much ‘emergency’ power to regulate legal, personal activity, is criminal in and of itself. None of these ‘edicts’ have passed any form of legislative process—they are just the proclamation by the Governors. The day-to-day restrictions on restaurants change so whimsically, it is impossible to be sure what the ‘law’ is that day. And whatever rules are enacted are simply ignored by our Elected class themselves, further accelerating the differences between their world and everyone else’s.
The impacts of such edicts cannot be overestimated. Pubs, bars, restaurants, mom-and-pop grocery stores, hair salons, florists, specialty retailers, all manner of small businesses, some that have been open for decades, have either been shut down entirely or have had their business so severely restricted as to be closed. Sports fans have not been allowed to attend their games of choice, so the parking lot attenders, food and drink providers, custodians, and vendors of all types have simply economically disappeared. No customers allowed, no business. Oddly enough, BIG stores stay open: the Walmarts, Costcos, Sams, Home Depots, and Lowes of the world are somehow considered safer than the small businesses.
Federal elected officials have performed so poorly during this ‘emergency’, they have brought into question whether they should even exist. During this entire process, they have ‘worked’ nearly 100 out of 300 days this period, yet received full pay, not missing a penny of their salary. They passed a multi-TRILLION dollar ‘relief’ package this Summer, attempting to ease the burdens on businesses. They offered forgivable loans to companies to maintain their payrolls, with no customers. And they created $1,200 of one-time ‘stimulus’ checks to individuals earning less than $100,000 (families less than $150K). They also extended unemployment benefits for some. But Congress couldn’t help themselves—they are who they are—so they loaded the bill with literally BILLIONS of dollars for their pet projects that had NOTHING TO DO WITH COVID-19. Everything from millions to the Kennedy Center, to millions in foreign aid. The excuse: this is how Washington works.
So, here we are again. Congress is mulling over a $2.2T ‘stimulus/relief package’. But as the details of this package get out, the ridiculous, unworkable nature of Washington is once again quite evident, using this emergency to fund anything they want. Included in this go-round: $600 for the same folks that got the $1,200 checks earlier. An additional $300/week upgrade to unemployment. And a few other items that make some sense: bailouts to industries that were directly impacted by the various levels of lockdowns. If it stopped here, the spending would total around $1T—an incredible sum, nearly 1/3 of all taxes collected in 2019! But that isn’t the issue, by a LONG shot. This bill includes over $1.2T of completely unrelated-to-COVID spending (again). Hundreds of millions doled out to various foreign countries! Millions spent on pet projects (the Kennedy Center AGAIN!). So, for the ‘emergency’ bill, less than half actually goes to the people in need. If your temperature is not rising at this point, I haven’t illustrated the financial malfeasance well enough. And the excuse that ‘this is how Washington, DC works, you have to ‘compromise’ to get anything passed’ is a worthless bromide. If this is how things work, the process is broken enough to scrap it. Congress will not even bring a ‘clean’ bill to the table for a vote, one that only provides help for those that need it. That is because they need the LEVERAGE of people in pain to pass spending that simply would not pass on its own. And somehow, those same Congresscritters that make six-figure salaries (fully paid, of course), think that $1,800 per family pays for the damage done over the last 10 months! Put it another way: Congress is willing to BORROW $2.2T (there are NO tax revenues to spend on this) to give some families $600 of their own money, so that they can spend like drunken sailors on anything else they can conjure up (no offense to drunken sailors—they are limited to blowing only their own cash).
At what point do we decide, as taxpayers and citizens, that this entire process and system is broken beyond repair? Are we angry enough yet? We just had an election, but it truly doesn’t seem to matter. Congress has no boundaries, no ethics, no governing of any kind. The only hope we have is if President Donald Trump vetoes this monstrosity of a bill. But there are two problems with that: 1. There are still people in desperate need, that have had their economic lives destroyed by government, and 2. If Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20, 2021, the bill (or one even worse) can be re-submitted by Congress for signature. Taxpayers will be paying for this nonsense for literally DECADES! Why do we have ANY foreign aid spending while our own people are in such incredible need? Any bill that funds Americans last, and foreign entities first, should trigger the ‘torches and pitchforks’ response from ALL Americans. Do we have that in us anymore, or is this the ‘new normal’? Ugh.
Author’s note: I am fully aware that the House submitted TWO bills, one for COVID-19 relief, and an Omnibus spending bill to fund government. But the Senate only had one vote, covering both bills, so yes, they were ‘lumped together’. The Omnibus bill just emphasizes the point: Congress no longer works. At all.