Jeff Charles reporting for RedState
President Donald Trump just weighed in on the 5,000-page omnibus stimulus bill that was ostensibly designed, in part, to help Americans deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. His remarks will likely trigger the usual irrational meltdowns among far-leftists, but it is a sign that this particular proposal might not be a reality soon.
Trump tweeted a video on Tuesday evening, giving his thoughts on the bill. He started by slamming the Democrats for blocking relief legislation during the summer. “Throughout the summer, Democrats cruelly blocked COVID relief legislation in an effort to advance their extreme left-wing agenda and influence the election, he began. “Then, a few months ago, Congress started negotiations on a new package to get urgently-needed help to the American people. It’s taken forever.”
The president continued, noting that members of Congress did not read the document.
“However, the bill they are now planning to send back to my desk is much different than anticipated. It really is a disgrace. For example, among the more than 5000 pages in this bill, which nobody in Congress has read because of its length and complexity,” he said.
The president pointed out the obvious contradiction between the stated purpose of the bill and its actual content. He started listing off the components of the proposed legislation that dealt with foreign aid:
“It’s called the COVID Relief Bill. But it has almost nothing to do with COVID.This bill contains $85.5 million for assistance to Cambodia. $134 million to Burma, $1.3 billlion for Egypt and the Egyptian military, which will go out and buy almost exclusively Russian military equipment. $25 million for democracy and gender programs in Pakistan. $505 million to Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.”
Trump continued, listing off other recipients of the funding:
“$40 million for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which is not even open for business. $1 billion for the Smithsonian and an additional $154 million for the National Gallery of Art. Likewise, these facilities are essentially not open. $7 million for reef fish management. $25 billion to combat Asian carp, $2.5 million dollars to count the number of amberjack fish in the Gulf of Mexico, a provision to promote the breeding of fish in federal hatcheries.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, President Trump also noted that the bill would allow stimulus checks for illegal immigrants.
“The bill also allows stimulus checks for the family members of illegal aliens, allowing them to get up to one thousand eight hundred dollars each. This is far more than the Americans are given,” Trump explained. “Despite all of this wasteful spending and much more than nine hundred billion dollar package provides hardworking taxpayers with only 600 dollars each in relief payments.”
President Trump did not outright threaten to veto the bill, but he all but indicated that this would be his course of action if changes are not made. He called on lawmakers to revise the bill and to increase the “ridiculously low $600 to $2,000 or $4,000 for a couple.”
“I’m also asking Congress to immediately get rid of the wasteful and unnecessary items from this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a covid relief package. And maybe that administration will be me, and we will get it done,” he concluded.
Trump’s remarks come amid a bitter battle over the proposed legislation. Both Democrats and Republicans are taking issue with the content of the bill, noting that funding seems to be going to anything but Americans who have been impacted by the coronavirus.
Nevertheless, Trump’s comments will inevitably be met with wailing and gnashing of teeth from the left. Even though he insisted on bumping up the funding for everyday Americans suffering from the effects of the pandemic, the activist media will find a way to complain about it. But let’s look on the bright side. Won’t it be rather entertaining to watch the mental gymnastics they will engage in to whine about Trump’s request?