Republicans are in a battle with each other because federal dollars are being sent to COVID-19 hotspots
Republican elected officials are fighting with each other because some red states are being forced to spend money on other states that are suffering from the coronavirus.
While Americans might believe they live in a united group of states, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) took to the Senate floor Wednesday to rant that he doesn't want to give any of Florida's money to New York. It's unclear where the senator believes money comes from when Florida is hit by hurricanes.
Fellow conservative Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is similarly fighting for funding as his state is overtaken with COVID-19 cases.
“Maybe Rick knows something I don’t know but I don’t think so,” said Kennedy. “I don’t know what the president’s going to do. We had a very positive meeting yesterday.”
Republicans are already debating the Democratic bill that would help state and local governments, who are still struggling amid the pandemic. Americans are scrambling for additional stimulus money and some haven't even received their first checks from the stimulus bill.
With the largest job loss since the Great Depression, President Donald Trump seems to be putting all of his eggs in the basket that reopening will solve all of the problems. A concern being ignored, however, is if the virus spreads further, faster, and bigger than it is currently. More cases of the coronavirus mean fewer people will be willing to go out and about and the economy will likely tumble again.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) also argued, “if you're innovative at all there’s plenty of COVID-related things to spend your money on.” He said if they want his vote for another stimulus than the funds would have to be distributed more broadly across the states.
“There are strong views on both sides of the issue but I guess the question is, if we are gonna allow that flexibility what's the best way to do that,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD) said. But he admitted he “could see more likely something happening on flexibility. I don't think there’s any appetite for more aid at the moment.”
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are indicating that they are open to giving states more choices over how to use the funds.
There's already support for more spending to help bailout American families suffering under the crisis. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “I just don’t think when unemployment is getting to depression-era levels, the American public is not going to accept inaction from Congress."
New Yorker reporter Gabe Sherman recalled that as a developer getting started in New York City, Trump was handed tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks. Now he's turning his back on New York.