XPost: alt.politics.trump, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.politics.democrats   
   From: invalid@example.org   
      
   Some men, as Batman’s butler Alfred famously said, “can’t be bought,   
   bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the   
   world burn.”   
      
   Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may be among them.   
      
   While it’s awfully hard to be surprised by the depths of the Senate   
   majority leader’s cynicism, on Wednesday he gave a truly remarkable   
   interview to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in which the subject of   
   aid to states and localities came up in a discussion of the rescue   
   packages that Congress has passed.   
      
   Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic   
      
   The Senate majority leader made clear that he does not want to see any   
   more aid to states and localities from this point on. Instead, he believes   
   that they should simply be forced to declare bankruptcy. He said:   
      
   My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to   
   borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they   
   don’t have to do that [declare bankruptcy. That’s not something I’m   
   going to be in favor of....   
      
   We all have governors regardless of party who would love to have free   
   money. And that’s why I said yesterday we’re going to push the pause   
   button here, because I think this whole business of additional assistance   
   for state and local governments need to be thoroughly evaluated.   
      
   Meanwhile, his office is calling aid to states “Blue State Bailouts” —   
   as though it’s only states with lots of Democrats that need help to avoid   
   having to lay off teachers and cops, and not every state in the Union.   
      
   The twin public health and economic crises have put state budgets in a   
   desperate condition. If something isn’t done soon, those budgets are   
   going to collapse, resulting in massive layoffs and cuts in services (as   
   of 2014, there were more than 16 million state and local full-time-   
   equivalent employees in America). Which, of course, will make the   
   recession deeper and longer.   
      
   While Phase 3 of the rescue effort included $150 billion for states and   
   localities, it wasn’t nearly enough. In the negotiations over Phase 4,   
   Democrats requested an additional $150 billion, but even that represented   
   a fraction of the need. According to experts and groups like the National   
   Governors Association, states actually need more like $500 billion to stay   
   afloat.   
      
   As those negotiations proceeded, the position of the Trump White House   
   came down to, “We’ll get to that later.” According to some reporting,   
   they were privately worried that giving the states aid too soon would   
   discourage them from quickly reopening businesses and schools; better to   
   use some more economic pain as a way to incentivize them to lift stay-at-   
   home orders, regardless of what public health might dictate.   
      
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/22/mitch-mcconnell-states-   
   drop-dead/   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)