Opinion: House Republicans callously turn their backs on Americans in need
The reasons given by the House Republicans for their rejection of the bill combine so much of what we’ve come to expect from today’s GOP, namely lies and hypocrisy. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy summed up the party line when he falsely declared on Fox News that, “This is supposed to be a Covid bill. Only 9% of it goes to Covid.” This baseless 9% claim was repeated by numerous other House Republicans to justify callously turning their backs on Americans in need.
McCarthy and these other Republicans must know that the 9% number is a lie given that fact checkers ripped it to shreds as misleading in the days before Saturday’s vote. These Republicans dishonestly claim that just 9% goes to fight the pandemic because only $160 billion of the $1.9 trillion package directly funds vaccinations, testing and other specific virus containment efforts. But every American needs to knows this bill also seeks to address the economic pain Covid-19 has wrought upon millions by including other healthcare spending like extending paid sick leave and subsidizing insurance coverage for those who’ve lost their jobs.
Currently, there are more than 19 million Americans receiving some form of unemployment assistance. This past Thursday, 730,00 Americans filed for first time unemployment claims — nearly four times the 200,000 average claims filed a week pre-Covid-19. Given the unemployment spike and business closures caused by the virus, millions of Americans report not having enough food to eat, including a distressing spike in children going to bed hungry.
There’s a straight line between the Covid-19-related economic downturn and the roughly six million more Americans who applied for food assistance in 2020 — a 17% increase from the year before. (For the record, 10 Senate Republicans did offer their own relief bill, but it was less than one third of the amount of Biden’s Covid-19 plan — with lower direct stimulus payments, only $20 billion for school reopening, versus Biden’s $130 billion, and no rental assistance aid, among other things. Consequently, Biden rejected it.)
The Covid-19 relief bill passed Saturday addresses that and more by including approximately $420 billion for the $1,400 direct stimulus payments to individuals, plus $350 billion to extend unemployment benefits — some of which is due to end in March. Another $130 billion — 7% of the bill — is funding for public schools to re-open. There’s also funding to expand healthcare subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, an additional $47 billion in small business aid via various programs, $19.1 billion to help people pay their back rent, increased funding for food stamps benefits and more.
I’m sure you get the idea. Overwhelmingly, the funds are to help Americans whose lives have been turned upside down by the pandemic. And the House Republicans have to know that.
Then there’s the overpowering stench of hypocrisy emanating from the GOP’s opposition to this relief bill by claiming it will add to the deficit. These included the same politicians who supported the 2017 GOP tax cut that is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to increase the national debt by $1.9 trillion by 2028. Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, for example, gleefully supported the 2017 cut but now opposes the Covid-19 relief bill because it’s “a debt junkie.”
While the Covid-19 relief bill is targeted to help Americans hit hardest by the pandemic, the 2017 tax cut helped the wealthy over the middle and lower class. In fact, by 2027 that GOP cut is expected to result in the top 1% receiving roughly 83% of the tax cut benefits if there are no changes to the law before then. This GOP boondoggle for the rich, which people like Rep. McCarthy sold to the American people with false statements like “every American” would get a tax cut if the bill is passed, also included other goodies for the wealthy such as raising the exemption for estate tax from $11 million to $22 million.
Why would Republicans oppose this desperately needed Covid-19 relief? It appears the Republican Party’s own cold calculations have concluded that opposing this measure is good for them politically. Despite 68% of Americans supporting the Biden Covid-19 relief bill in a recent Quinnipiac poll, GOP House representatives apparently believe that their base would rather have the “red meat” of fighting Democrats than the actual red meat that this relief bill could provide them the funds to afford. Tragically for our nation, today’s GOP is more concerned with rejecting Democratic proposals than with helping Americans in need.
