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McConnell: I’d rather see states go bankrupt than use public money to save them

McConnell: I’d rather see states go bankrupt than use public money to save them

The world is only beginning to grapple with the far-reaching and destructive effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but Republican leaders are already making it clear they’re willing to throw the nation to the wolves than spend a dollar more of public money than they have to.

The crisis is projected to blow a half-trillion-dollar hole in the budgets of America’s 50 states. If the states are not bailed out, the shortfall is likely to trigger crushing austerity, massive job losses, and an abrupt end to critical public services that could push our economy into years of recession or even a great depression to rival the 1929 crash.

Yesterday, Democratic leadership made the questionable decision to punt on the issue of state bailouts and pass the third coronavirus relief bill refilling the small business bailout fund without fighting for the common-sense concessions that liberals have been angrily demanding, like relief funding for state governments, the post office, and a national vote-by-mail program.

Add your name to reject Trump & Republicans’ vile idea of sacrificing seniors’ lives to save the stock market!

Predictably, the moment the third bill passed via vote-by-consent, McConnell announced the Senate would no longer be passing any bills by unanimous consent and force all Senators to return to Congress.

Now that the leverage of an empty small business bailout fund is gone, Democrats have almost nothing to force the issue with — and Senator McConnell is making it clear he would rather see the country burn than spend a cent on what his office dismissed as “Blue State Bailouts.”

Over the past four years, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump’s plutocratic policies have added a staggering $3 trillion to the national debt as their tax cuts for the wealthy funnel more and more money into the pockets of the richest Americans.

It is beyond appalling to see McConnell suddenly cry crocodile tears of fiscal responsibility now that a pandemic is ravaging the nation and killing tens of thousands of Americans, but it is just the sort of nihilistic cruelty we’ve come to expect from a Republican Party that has thrown off the mask and openly proclaims themselves to be a death cult in the service of Mammon.

For the second time in two decades, we are seeing irresponsible Republicans gut the nation and leave the next president an economic catastrophe to clean up as suffering rains down on America’s most vulnerable families.

Colin Taylor
Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America.

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