Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic base in Washington have scuttled the bipartisan Coronavirus relief bill… in hopes they could get a whole laundry list of radical socialist policies pushed through.
Pelosi’s proposed bill would take a big plank out of Bernie Sanders’ agenda: forgiving $10,000 in student loan debt, per person, forever.
She would also begin to implement some of the most economy-crushing parts of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal.” To compensate for money being given or loaned to airlines, Pelosi would demand they reduce their overall carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050. That would force cash-strapped airlines to dump huge amounts of money into expensive new aircraft, just to meet an arbitrary government benchmark.
Pelosi’s plan also gives $35 million to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC–a government-funding theater.
She would also bail out the post office–forgiving up to $10 billion in debt, without forcing it to make major changes that would allow it to become financially sustainable.
In addition, Pelosi also wants to spend $1 billion to bring back “Obamaphones”–the Obama-era discounted phone service for low-income Americans.
But most shockingly, Pelosi also wants to give $300 million in taxpayer dollars to refugees–effectively, moving more American dollars out of the country at a time when the economy is collapsing.
Lest there be any confusion over what the Democrats are doing, Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) told House Democrats, when presenting the bill, that Coronavirus offered up “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”
Democrats have faced scorching criticism from Republicans and even members of the media.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Kans.) criticized Pelosi for “taking hostages” in a time of crisis.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) fumed that “Democrats won’t let us fund hospitals or save small businesses unless they get to dust off the green New Deal.”
It’s unclear when or how both sides will find common ground, and pass a bill that helps save the U.S. economy.