“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Rahm Emanual, Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff, said it first.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) tried to use the current crisis get some things she wanted.
The US Senate was working with the White House on a bill to respond to Corona virus financial issues.
Then Pelosi returned from recess with a 1,432 page alternate bill, and persuaded Sen. Schumer to adopt it.
Click here to read a Fox News summary of the fallout.
Click to read Pelosi’s Corona virus stimulus “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act”.
The expenditures are identified as being used “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.”
They also include the statement:
“That such amount is designated by the Congress as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.”
Here’s a list of some items in the “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act.”
$100,000,000 to NASA
$20,000,000,000 to the USPS
$300,000,000 to the Endowment for the Arts
$300,000,000 for the Endowment for the Humanities
$15,000,000 for Veterans Employment Training
$435,000,000 for mental health support
$30,000,000,000 for the Department of Education stabilization fund
$200,000,000 to Safe Schools Emergency Response to Violence Program
$300,000,000 to Public Broadcasting
$500,000,000 to Museums and Libraries
$720,000,000 to Social Security Admin ($500,000,000 of which is for admin costs)
$25,000,000 for Cleaning supplies for the Capitol Building (page 136)
$7,500,000 to the Smithsonian for additional salaries
$35,000,000 to the JFK Center for performing Arts
$25,000,000 for additional salary for House of Representatives
$3,000,000,000 upgrade to the IT department at the VA
$315,000,000 for State Department Diplomatic Programs
$95,000,000 for the Agency of International Development
$300,000,000 for International Disaster Assistance
$300,000,000 for Migrant and Refugee Assistance (pg 147)
$90,000,000 for the Peace Corp (pg 148)
$13,000,000 to Howard University (pg 121)
9,000,000 Misc Senate Expenses (pg 134)
$100,000,000 to Essential Air carriers (pg 162)
Air carriers fully offset their annual carbon emissions for domestic flights beginning in 2025. Pg 1018
$40,000,000,000 goes to the Take Responsibility to Workers and Families Act (Pg 164)
$1,000,000,000 Airlines Recycle and Save Program (pg 163)
$25,000,000 to the FAA for administrative costs (pg 165)
$492,000,000 to National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) (pg 167)
$526,000,000 Grants to Amtrak to remain available if needed through 2021 (pg 168)
$25,000,000,000 for Transit Infrastructure pg 169
$3,000,000 Maritime Administration pg 172
$5,000,000 Salaries and Expensive Office of the Inspector General pg 172
No voter ID to get a ballot, & anonymous “ballot harvesting” pg 650
Early voting 15 days before election (November 2020 election and thereafter) Pg 861
No ID to get absentee ballot (Pg 863)
On-line requests for absentee ballots (Pg 867)
On-line voter registration (Pg 885)
Mail absentee ballost to all registered voters (Pg 869)
Voter can have anyone return their ballot (Pg 872)
Same day registration for all ststes (Pg 895)
Caps Officer and Employee compensation at $425,000 for two years for companies receiving loans (Pg 781)
Student Loan Relief (Pg 843)
$2,500,000 Public and Indian Housing pg 175
$5,000,000 Community Planning and Development pg 175
$2,500,000 Office of Housing
$1,500,000,000 Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Office of Public and Indian Housing. 1,000,000,000 of which can be used as “additional administrative and other expenses”. pg 176
$720,000,000 to the public housing fund pg 177
$100,000,000 for Community Block Grants for Native Americans pg 183
$250,000,000 for Housing Block Grants for Tribes pg 182
$130,000,000 for AIDS Housing pg 185
$20,000,000 of which goes to one time grantees pg 186
$15,000,000,000 for the Community Development Fund pg 188
$5,000,000,000 in Homeless Assistance pg 193
$100,000,000,000 for Rental Assistance – pg 198
$7,000,000 enforce the Fair Housing Act – 203
Paid Family Leave for Sickness is 2 paid work weeks pg 213
2,000,000,000 for Emergency Connectivity Fund (Pg 1287)
$1,000,000,000 Life-Line Broadband Service (Pg 1289) (more Obamaphones)
$227,000,000 for grants to States for youth 2 activities pg 80
$261,000,000 for grants to States for dislocated worker employment and training activities, including supportive services and needs-related payments; pg 80
$10,000,000 for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker programs
$100,000,000 for “Job Corps”
$15,000,000 for “Program Administration”
$6,500,000, to the “Wage and Hour Division”
$30,000,000 to OSHA
$10,000,000 for Susan Harwood training grants
$1,300,000,000 for “Primary Health Care”
$75,000,000 for “Student Aid Administration”
$9,500,000,000 for “Higher Education”
How many legislators will have the time to read this bill? And who will really understand it?
And how much of this wish list manages to get into the final Senate bill.
We need to elect a Taxpayer-friendly Legislature in DC (and in Concord) in 2020!
Or at least a House of Representatives that can prioritize the public interest over their liberal agenda.
Posted by GST Chairman Ray Chadwick