The $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill, set for a final vote in the House this week, includes a “litany of outrageous items” Democrats are using to reward their constituents rather than spending money that will actually help a pandemic-stricken nation, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said Monday.
“Just look at the litany of outrageous items in this bill,” Toomey told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “It’s completely indefensible. Almost $2 trillion, on top of $4 trillion. By the way, of the $4 trillion that was already done last year, probably $1 trillion of it is not even spent yet.”
The evidence that the bill’s aim is to reward constituencies was shown Saturday through a vote that allowed a provision that $1,400 stimulus payments to go to criminals serving time in prison and to illegal immigrants, Toomey said.
“There are reparations for minority farmers that don’t have to demonstrate any financial stress or any adverse effect from COVID, but they’ll get 120% of whatever indebtedness they have just paid for by the taxpayer, but not if you’re a white farmer,” Toomey said. “It’s outrageous and, I think, unconstitutional. The list goes on and on.”
Toomey said he offered an amendment to remove the part about farm money from the bill, “because I think sending people large sums of money based on the color of their skin is outrageous and unconstitutional. But every Democrat voted against my amendment, so it’s still in the bill.”
The senator added such provisions make it “very clear” the “radical left is driving this.”
“A few weeks ago, 10 Republican senators marched down to the White House and offered President [Joe] Biden – on a silver platter – a bill that would have been well over $600 billion, and that was their starting point for negotiations,” Toomey said. “Of course, as you know, 10 is a hugely significant number because together with the 50 Democrats, those 10 would have constituted the 60 votes needed to pass something on a bipartisan basis.”
But even though the compromise would have probably left Biden with a bipartisan bill for spending over $1 trillion, the president “never even pursued that, instead insisting that the AOCs and the Bernie Sanders of the party had to get their way.”
Source: Newmax
