McConnell says F-you to NY and NJ
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a “major package” of aid for state and local government will be in the next stimulus legislation considered by Congress, setting up a conflict with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who is urging a slowdown in doling out federal help.
The $484 billion aid plan set for passage by the House on Thursday is an “interim” step to mitigate some of the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, Pelosi said Wednesday on Bloomberg Television.
“Now we have to go further to help state and local” governments, she said, without putting a price tag on the aid."
this is unfortunately not at all surprising. there is also a strong probability that the Republicans are going to use aid to the states to extort governors to lift their social distancing sanctions. But it's pretty stupid of them, because the economy can't be "opened up" until the pandemic starts to retreat.
give money to Amy McGrath, McConnell's opponent in KY
drummerboy said:
give money to Amy McGrath, McConnell's opponent in KY
Just did
drummerboy said:
give money to Amy McGrath, McConnell's opponent in KY
Also, Jaime Harrison, in South Carolina, is actually LEADING the odious Lindsey Graham. But he can use all the help he can get, though, so please consider donating any extra political contribution $ you have.
The thought of seeing McConnell and Graham lose makes my heart skip a beat. But if I could only pick one loser, I'd pick McConnell.
Then again if Warren were the VP pick, thus the tie breaker on a Senate vote, I'd enjoy seeing her have the opportunity to make McConnell eat the words "Nevertheless she persisted."
Morganna said:
The thought of seeing McConnell and Graham lose makes my heart skip a beat. But if I could only pick one loser, I'd pick McConnell.
Then again if Warren were the VP pick, thus the tie breaker on a Senate vote, I'd enjoy seeing her have the opportunity to make McConnell eat the words "Nevertheless she persisted."
This is where Bloomberg's money should be going.
Red_Barchetta said:
This is where Bloomberg's money should be going.
Our money too
Unbelievable, except its not.
McConnell & Ilk are truly deplorable. They'll trip over each other to be first to bail out big business like airlines. Whereas, local governments, in the forefront of the virus fight, get zilch.
We often blame Trump but the whole Republican party is now one and the same. Corrupt and sycophantic enablers. Dragging us all into their sewer.
BG9 said:
Unbelievable, except its not.
McConnell & Ilk are truly deplorable. They'll trip over each other to be first to bail out big business like airlines. Whereas, local governments, in the forefront of the virus fight, get zilch.
We often blame Trump but the whole Republican party is now one and the same. Corrupt and sycophantic enablers. Dragging us all into their sewer.
Yup, they will throw government money to big corporations who then buy back shares to enrich themselves. These are for profit entities, if they do well they make a lot of money, if they don't they go bankrupt. That's how they claim the system works.
Local government on the other hand is not-for-profit. They are there for us. If they don't do well in times of crisis we should help them. It is our money after all.
This is pure corruption and political retribution. It is the opposite of solidarity and unity. It's like Ted Cruz who voted against Federal help for NY/NJ when Sandy hit. But then when Harvey hit Texas he expected us to send them federal help. GOP used to be a party with conservative values, but it turned into a cancer for our country. They need to be voted out of every office they hold come November and then run out of town (except for the ones that go to jail of course). Then they can make place for a political movement, right of center, with real conservative values they believe in and live by.
Vote Blue in November.
"Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday launched into a fiery takedown of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying state and local governments with cratered finances because of the coronavirus pandemic should be allowed to file for bankruptcy rather than rely on federal aid.
“My breath is taken away,” Murphy, a Democrat, said of the Kentucky Republican during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton.
“Really? This is the time, in a moment of crisis unlike any our country has faced in at least 100 years, to suggest it’s a good thing for states to go bankrupt?" the governor asked.
“Come on, man,” Murphy said. “That is completely and utterly irresponsible. There’s no level of responsibility associated with that. And I don’t care what party you’re in.”
Read the entire article:
eta - At today's press conference, Trump, who previously appeared to agree that the states and local governments should be helped in the next round, seemed to have shifted (what else is new) when asked about McConnell's statement and said "look how well Indiana has done" as he pointed to Pence. This is going to be tough.
McConnell calls it a "blue state bailout."
Red_Barchetta said:
This is where Bloomberg's money should be going.
Bloomberg is dipping into the piggy bank for fund testing and tracing in NY. So not a bad use of the spare change.
Peter King is outraged by McConnell's comments.
"Long Island GOP Rep. Pete King on Wednesday ripped Mitch McConnell as the “Marie Antoinette of the Senate” after the Majority Leader suggested struggling states go bankrupt amid the coronavirus crisis.
King was reacting to McConnell’s comments on a radio talk show earlier in the day where the senator dismissed the idea of more federal aid to states, claiming governors “would love to have free money.”
“McConnell’s dismissive remark that States devastated by Coronavirus should go bankrupt rather than get the federal assistance they need and deserve is shameful and indefensible,” King wrote on Twitter.
“To say that it is ‘free money’ to provide funds for cops, firefighters and healthcare workers makes McConnell the Marie Antoinette of the Senate.
Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France during the French Revolution, allegedly responded derisively to the news that peasants were starving, saying, “Let them eat cake.”
https://nypost.com/2020/04/23/rep-pete-king-rips-mitch-mcconnell-as-marie-antoinette/
I think McConnell is doing this because of his re-election campaign this year. The "screw the blue states" line probably plays well in Kentucky. However, it's stupid and short-sighted, as McConnell himself knows. The blue states pay the bills, for the freeloading red states. Even the cold-hearted and calculating McConnell knows this. If you crash the NJ-NY-CT economies (which is what would happen if public services were drastically cut), then you stop getting the golden eggs.
cramer said:
Peter King is outraged by McConnell's comments.
"Long Island GOP Rep. Pete King on Wednesday ripped Mitch McConnell as the “Marie Antoinette of the Senate” after the Majority Leader suggested struggling states go bankrupt amid the coronavirus crisis.
So should he be beheaded?
STANV said:
cramer said:
Peter King is outraged by McConnell's comments.
"Long Island GOP Rep. Pete King on Wednesday ripped Mitch McConnell as the “Marie Antoinette of the Senate” after the Majority Leader suggested struggling states go bankrupt amid the coronavirus crisis.
So should he be beheaded?
His head should be put on a spike. He's evil.
cramer said:
His head should be put on a spike. He's evil.
Last year or so Peter King spoke out against the cap on SALT. He claims it hurts the middle class in LI, it does. This would be a good time for him to speak out.
He used to speak out against Trump reminding everyone of his own Queens roots and that Trump was not the tough guy he claims to be.
Get vocal Pete!
Pelosi is preparing her own bill for state funding that will pass in the House. With Peter King voting for it in the Senate there are 48 votes. It will need 3 more Republicans for it to pass. Then it goes to Trump.
Who are the likely Republican senators that would vote in favor?
eta - Too bad that the state funding wasn't included in the third coronavirus bill that is set to be approved by the House today. The Democrats were in a tough position, but right now it looks like they were played.
Add Rob Portman to the Republicans who would vote for state funding:
"Many Republicans find his position daft. That may include President Trump, who purportedly told New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Tuesday that he would support state and local funding in the next big funding bill. Republican Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio), whose home-state governor is also a Republican, objected:'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/23/mitch-mcconnells-worst-idea-maybe-ever/
cramer said:
Pelosi is preparing her own bill for state funding that will pass in the House. With Peter King voting for it in the Senate there are 48 votes. It will need 3 more Republicans for it to pass. Then it goes to Trump.
Peter King is in the House.
DaveSchmidt said:
cramer said:
Pelosi is preparing her own bill for state funding that will pass in the House. With Peter King voting for it in the Senate there are 48 votes. It will need 3 more Republicans for it to pass. Then it goes to Trump.
Peter King is in the House.
Shucks. I got excited.
nohero said:
I think McConnell is doing this because of his re-election campaign this year. The "screw the blue states" line probably plays well in Kentucky. However, it's stupid and short-sighted, as McConnell himself knows. The blue states pay the bills, for the freeloading red states. Even the cold-hearted and calculating McConnell knows this. If you crash the NJ-NY-CT economies (which is what would happen if public services were drastically cut), then you stop getting the golden eggs.
I wonder if the agenda is to destroy public unions and their pension funds. Bring the unions to heel.
When you go into bankruptcy your debts will be resolved but just about everything goes out the window. Unions contracts can overridden, layoffs mandated, salaries capped and adjusted and pension moneys grabbed. I don't know if they can grab the employees pension contribution but I'm certain they can grab the what the state and municipalities put in.
There's nothing the unions can do. They can protest all they want but its in the hands of the federal courts with the power of federal enforcement.
BG9 said:
There's nothing the unions can do. They can protest all they want but its in the hands of the federal courts with the power of federal enforcement.
They can threaten to go on strike once normal business is resumed but that might be like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
They can appeal to Trump who claims to be a friend of working people.
"Gov. Phil Murphy is asking lawmakers in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to authorize emergency borrowing powers that were written into New Jersey’s Constitution to help fortify the state’s coffers during times of war or major disaster.
The governor made a case for flexing those special fiscal powers during a media briefing in Trenton on Thursday, citing the significant economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, which has already caused hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents to lose their jobs."
.........
"The state Constitution generally restricts the state from borrowing to sustain annual operating costs, but it also offers special treatment for debts or liabilities issued “for purposes of war, or to repel invasion, or to suppress insurrection or to meet an emergency caused by disaster or act of God.”
It’s those emergency powers that would be triggered under the draft legislation that Murphy’s administration sent to lawmakers for consideration, which was first detailed by Bloomberg News in a report published on Wednesday."
.........
"Without the emergency bonding power and significant cash assistance from the federal government, Murphy said, “folks should assume we’re going to have to gut programs.”
“The fact of the matter is we are going to have serious cash-flow challenges, and then beyond cash flow, we will have serious programmatic challenges,” Murphy said, adding that state aid to schools and municipalities could be at risk."
eta - Within the past week, Fitch has downgraded NJ debt and Moody's has put NJ on credit watch negative. The njspotlight article above mentions the fact that the Federal Reserve has said it will purchase short-term debt of the states.
Governor Cuomo brings out the bat. .@NYGovCuomo: "New York puts in more money to the federal pot than it takes out. Your state takes out more than it puts in. Senator McConnell, who's getting bailed out here? It's your state that is living on the money that we generate." pic.twitter.com/8SZyFzlHza
Morganna said:
Last year or so Peter King spoke out against the cap on SALT. He claims it hurts the middle class in LI, it does. This would be a good time for him to speak out.
He used to speak out against Trump reminding everyone of his own Queens roots and that Trump was not the tough guy he claims to be.
Get vocal Pete!
This is not new policy from the Republicans. Peter King is a lifelong republican and he is not exactly a profile in courage. He is not running for re-election, and now he all of a sudden is becoming somewhat critical of his ow party, and ONLY after it directly damages his constituents. He is a coward
cramer said:
eta - Too bad that the state funding wasn't included in the third coronavirus bill that is set to be approved by the House today. The Democrats were in a tough position, but right now it looks like they were played.
“We’ve been talking about funding for state and local governments, and it was not in the bill that the House is going to pass today. They said, 'Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry — the next bill,’” Cuomo said. “As soon as the Senate passed it – this current bill – Sen. Mitch McConnell goes out and he says, maybe the states should declare bankruptcy. OK.”
Cuomo was referring to the nearly $500 billion Senate-passed bill, now before the House, to boost funding for small businesses and other programs. Lawmakers did not include money for state and local governments in the package, though the previously passed CARES Act had $150 billion for those governments. Still, Cuomo and other governors are pressing Congress for more — only to be rebuffed by the Senate GOP leader."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-says-mcconnell-bankruptcy
cramer said:
“We’ve been talking about funding for state and local governments, and it was not in the bill that the House is going to pass today. They said, 'Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry — the next bill,’” Cuomo said. “As soon as the Senate passed it – this current bill – Sen. Mitch McConnell goes out and he says, maybe the states should declare bankruptcy. OK.”
Cuomo was referring to the nearly $500 billion Senate-passed bill, now before the House, to boost funding for small businesses and other programs. Lawmakers did not include money for state and local governments in the package, though the previously passed CARES Act had $150 billion for those governments. Still, Cuomo and other governors are pressing Congress for more — only to be rebuffed by the Senate GOP leader."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-says-mcconnell-bankruptcy
Well then, no additional stimulus for anyone.
NJ May Have To Return $1.8B In Federal Coronavirus Aid
The CARES Act funding has restrictions on how it may be used, despite states being told there would be flexibility, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
By Karen Wall, Patch Staff Learn how you can verify your Patch account." data-placement="bottom" data-original-title="Verified Neighbor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
Apr 23, 2020 5:12 pm ET | Updated Apr 23, 2020
Jaytee said:
NJ May Have To Return $1.8B In Federal Coronavirus Aid
The CARES Act funding has restrictions on how it may be used, despite states being told there would be flexibility, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
By Karen Wall, Patch Staff Learn how you can verify your Patch account." data-placement="bottom" data-original-title="Verified Neighbor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
Apr 23, 2020 5:12 pm ET | Updated Apr 23, 2020
We"ll end up having to pay for these red drifter states as usual
Sponsored Business
Promote your business here - Businesses get highlighted throughout the site and you can add a deal.
"With the coronavirus crisis hitting state budgets hard, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday that he is open to allowing states to declare bankruptcy -- rather than sending governors more federal money to deal with their own ballooning deficits."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-says-states-should-be-able-to-declare-bankruptcy
This is the same argument that Republicans used to limit the deduction for state and local taxes. "They spend too much money." The next round of relief was supposed to include help for the states - the money given to the states so far has been limited to expenses related to coronavirus. I'm not surprised by this and was expecting it. But New Jersey needs the money.
eta - McConnell is an evil POS.