President Donald Trump suggested Monday that the federal government should not be responsible for bailing out states and cities that are struggling financially because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help?" Trump tweeted Monday morning.
"I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?" he added.
State and local governments have pressed for federal aid in recent weeks as the coronavirus pandemic dries up many of their revenue sources, threatening a fiscal catastrophe. State and local governments have said they may need as much as three-quarters of a trillion dollars.
Mitch McConnell's "let them go bankrupt" comment last week on the states was such a disaster that he's now admitting money's going to come...but at a steep, steep price.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday there would likely be more money approved for state and local government relief in the next legislative package Congress passes to address the coronavirus outbreak, a shift in the messaging for the Kentucky Republican.
McConnell last week said he wasn't sure if more money -- which is a key priority for Democrats and many Republicans -- was needed and indicated he was reluctant to provide billions to some state governments he believes have mismanaged their debt.
"There probably will be another state and local funding bill," McConnell said in an interview with Fox News Radio on Monday. "But we need to make sure that we achieve something that will go beyond simply sending out money."
The GOP leader also defended his remarks last week -- that caused an uproar with prominent Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and least a few high-profile Republicans -- that laws should be changed so states can declare bankruptcy to help them shed some of their debt.
"I wasn't saying they had to take bankruptcy. I think it's just an option to be looked at that unfortunately states don't have that option now, cities do. I wasn't necessarily recommending it. But I was pointing out they have their own fiscal problems that predate the coronavirus and I was not interested in borrowing money from future generations to fix age old problems that states have that they created themselves wholly unrelated to this," he said.
McConnell also said his "red line" in negotiations for the next legislative package is ensuring "litigation protections" for employers, businesses and healthcare professionals, shielding them from lawsuits, as states reopen. "The whole country will be afraid to go back to work... if businesses are afraid they're going to be sued constantly," he said.
So legal immunity for businesses who force their employees to go to work during a pandemic. This is McConnell's top priority. Awesome.
Meanwhile, Trump wants America's kids to head back to school, despite the fact that basically the first thing all 50 states did was to close schools.
As states continue to roll out plans to reopen their economies, President Donald Trump told governors during a Monday phone call that they should also "seriously consider" reopening their schools.
"Some of you might start thinking about school openings. Because a lot of people are wanting to have the school openings. It's not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we’ve all gone through," Trump told governors, according to a recording of the call obtained by ABC News. "So a lot of people are thinking about the school openings."
The president added the governors should "seriously consider" it and "maybe get going on it."
The "or else your state doesn't get a dime" is merely implied. You see, Trump knows that if governors send kids back to school, all the governors go down with him should things turn horrific with new cases and kids getting sick and dying.
That's where we are right now, with Trump trying to be as sociopathic as possible while touting an 8-point plan for reopening the economy that according to the White House already has 7 points done.
This is like checking off my plan to write a college research paper with step 1 being "wake up" and step 8 being "Write research paper".
Utterly sad.
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