South Carolina Republicans slammed U.S. majority whip Jim Clyburn on Monday for an alleged quote he gave amid “deliberations” in Washington, D.C. over the proper federal response to the coronavirus.
According to The Hill, Clyburn allegedly gave the quote on a conference call last Thursday featuring 200 Democratic lawmakers. On this call, Democrats discussed a wish list of items they wanted included in the proposed coronavirus “stimulus” – including new infrastructure spending, expanded Social Security benefits, additional collective bargaining powers for unions, tighter environmental regulations on airlines and new tax credits for wind and solar energy sources.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision,” Clyburn reportedly said.
Wow …
It is not clear whether a recording of the call exists, but reporters Mike Lillis and Scott Wong of The Hill cited “a source on the call” who corroborated the statement.
“This is absolutely disgusting,” SCGOP chairman Drew McKissick said in a statement released by the party. “People are suffering and Democrats like Jim Clyburn are playing politics and trying to use this crisis as an ‘opportunity’ to push their pet projects and advance their liberal agenda. Instead, they should work with President Trump and the Republicans in Congress to pass legislation that supports South Carolina families, businesses and medical professionals.”
We reached out to sources close to Clyburn but did not immediately receive a response from them. In the event we receive something back, we will be sure to update this article accordingly …
Our view? Irrespective of whether Clyburn said what he is accused of saying, it is abundantly clear both Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. are attempting to use a national emergency to advance the narrow interests of their core constituencies.
Which is indeed “disgusting.”
The GOP is pushing for crony capitalist bailouts – including an unaccountable $500 billion “slush fund” with limited transparency and oversight – while Democrats are advocating for bureaucratic bailouts in addition to the items contained on the “wish list” enumerated above.
Unreal …
We can’t believe we are having to say this right now, but: Republicans, Democrats … come on.
This is NOT a time for ideologically motivated “wish lists.”
Nor is it a time for crony capitalist “slush funds.”
(Click to view)
(Via: The White House)
As we remarked during some long-winded sermonizing over the weekend, this is a time for our leaders to come together – for once – on behalf of the people they are supposed to be serving.
“All relief must be targeted to the individual income earners and small businesses that drive – or rather, were driving our economy before this crisis hit,” we wrote.
At the very least … leaders of both parties should pass the individual and small business portions of an emergency response immediately and defer debate over the desires of their respective puppet-masters until a later date.
Preferably, never.
What do you think? Vote in our poll and post your thoughts in our always-entertaining comments section below.
Should Republicans and Democrats pass the individual and small business portions of the coronavirus stimulus now?
-FITSNews
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