California Republicans betray families and businesses with votes against COVID stimulus
President Joe Biden today signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus package designed to help Americans struggling with economic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every single Republican member of Congress voted against the American Rescue Plan. This includes the Central Valley region’s Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R- Richvale, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, and David Valadao, R-Handford.
These men represent a region that was already hard-hit by poverty before COVID. Yet they just voted against basic relief for families and businesses suffering from the effects of a global pandemic.
“Millions of people out of work through no fault of their own,” said Biden earlier this week. “I want to emphasize that: through no fault of their own. Food bank lines stretching for miles. Did any of you ever think you’d see that in America, in cities all across this country?”
COVID has financially devastated millions of Americans, leaving many jobless and unable to support their families. Over 529,000 Americans have died.
This once-unthinkable death toll could have been lower if we’d had a president with the empathy and care of Biden. Instead, we had Donald Trump, who spent months downplaying the virus, resisting science and promoting snake oil elixirs as COVID cure-alls — while Californian Republicans applauded.
Biden immediately moved to get the situation under control when he took office in January. He bolstered the nation’s vaccine supply and distribution and called on Congress to extend an economic lifeline to suffering Americans.
Millions of struggling Californians will welcome the economic boost, which includes direct checks of up to $1,400 for people who make under $80,000 a year, a child tax credit for parents and increased subsidies for health care plans. The bill also extends unemployment benefits for people who have lost their jobs due to business closures and contains $28.6 billion in relief for restaurants devastated by shutdowns.
This historic effort to help poor and middle-class families is not enough, but it’s the best Biden and his Democratic counterparts can do in the face of absolute Republican opposition. Nunes derided the bill as a “slush fund” while LaMalfa blasted it as a “liberal wish list.” McClintock, who has spent his life drawing a government paycheck while railing against government spending, called it “fiscal suicide.”
Of course, they had no problem voting for Trump’s deficit-expanding $1.5 trillion tax cut for the rich in 2017. But when the new president pushes a bill to help local businesses and alleviate poverty in the middle of a deadly pandemic, they express indignation. Message received.
One of the core purposes of government is to help families and businesses when they’re hit by disasters. Whether the damage is done by an earthquake, a hurricane, a terror attack or a pandemic, Americans pull together in tough times and help one another. If today’s Republicans had their way, however, they’d leave their constituents — the non-wealthy ones, anyhow — twisting in the wind.
California’s ruling Democratic Party has repeatedly proven its incompetence, corruption and stupidity in recent years. At least, however, you can usually count on a Democratic politician to embrace the basic duty of helping people when they need it most.
The Republicans’ unanimous vote against this COVID rescue plan shows exactly why the GOP has become completely irrelevant in California.