Faster than you can say, “Never let a crisis go to waste,” plans are being made in Washington for another $2 trillion stimulus package in response to coronavirus hysteria. The bill, along with a bucket list of far-left, big government priorities, includes funding for water, broadband, schools, and other items considered critical “infrastructure.” This bill is in addition to the $2.2 trillion stimulus passed just last week.
“There are infrastructure needs that our country has that directly relate to how we are proceeding with the coronavirus,” Nancy Pelosi told reporters. “And we would like to see in what comes next something that has always been nonpartisan, bipartisan, and that is an infrastructure piece that takes us into the future.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is pretending to question the need for what will be the fourth emergency relief package addressing the pandemic, but all he’s really doing is covering for its inevitable passage. After all, Dear Leader has been working with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer on a way to “get something done on infrastructure in a big way” ever since the three of them met last year to make plans on how they would create the big-government boondoggle.
For the Trumpists, cultists, Fellowship of the Pharisees, and others ready to scream “Fake News” or write this off as “BS,” I present this bit of evidence sent by the Tweeter-In-Chief following Pelosi’s announcement about the new stimulus:
With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 31, 2020
Washington is famous for using high-dollar spending legislation addressing so-called crises to hide the fact that a lot of the money being spent will be going to special interests to buy political favors and/or advance an unpopular agenda item. Based on the demands made by Chuck and Nancy in a letter ahead of their meeting with Trump last year, the coronavirus infrastructure stimulus bill will be no exception. (emphasis mine)
In light of our commitment to work with you to pass a comprehensive infrastructure bill, we urge you to consider the following priorities:
1. America’s unmet infrastructure needs are massive, and a bipartisan infrastructure package must meet those needs with substantial, new and real revenue. We look forward to hearing your ideas on how to pay for this package to ensure that it is big and bold enough to meet our country’s needs.
2. A big and bold infrastructure package must be comprehensive and include clean energy and resiliency priorities. To truly be a game changer for the American people, we should go beyond transportation and into broadband, water, energy, schools, housing and other initiatives. We must also invest in resiliency and risk mitigation of our current infrastructure to deal with climate change.
3. A big and bold infrastructure plan must have strong Buy America, labor, and women, veteran and minority-owned business protections in any package. This bill can and should be a major jobs and ownership boost for the American people — manufacturers, labor contractors, and women, veteran and minority-owned businesses.
One of the unanswered questions to infrastructure spending has been how to pay for it, although, as the CARES Act has shown us, they won’t let a pesky little detail like having no money get in the way of their agenda. But raising money for infrastructure has been discussed in the past by Trump, Pelosi, and Schumer, along with others in both parties.
For example, Trump has expressed his support for at 25-cents-a-gallon increase in the gas tax — an idea likely to receive new focus following the recent drop in prices at the pump — and Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) would like to see the gas tax doubled, along with doubling airline fees.
Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer wants to see the 2017 tax cuts rolled back while other Democrats have proposed a variety of new taxes on the wealthy. Not surprisingly, an increase in taxes is also supported by many Republicans in Congress to pay for infrastructure.
Before the Coronavirus, more deficit spending and higher taxes were only a matter of time in the Age of Trump. After the coronavirus, it looks like that time has arrived.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable and promotes conservative principles over political parties.
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