The COVID Relief Bill Is Crap, and Other Things You Already Knew

Well, Merry Effing Christmas! Congress has come to an agreement on the much ballyhooed COVID Relief Package!

My colleague Bonchie has already given the particulars, so I won’t belabor the finer points:

“Yesterday, Congress announced a deal had been reached on a new COVID relief bill, at least insofar as getting it to the floor for a vote. In reality, almost no one has actually read it. This all happened after months of stonewalling by Democrats as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer sought to ensure maximum political damage occurred to President Trump. They played a cynical game with people’s lives and the media praised them for it.

“Well, now we are getting details about this newest “compromise.” You’ll be less than shocked to learn that the bill is mostly trash, full of unrelated spending, and short on help for average Americans. In fact, only 1/5th of the bill goes to sending relief checks directly to the people.”

As far as I’m concerned, instead of a lump of coal, it’s a turd in the stocking of Americans. Coal at least has a purpose, and doesn’t stink to high heaven of hypocrisy.

Now House and Senate leaders are blowing smoke up each other’s hind parts, and doing the cable shows as though they’ve done something monumental. We worked sooo hard for the American people. I think that’s supposed to be your job, right? Glad you finally got that.

Apparently, the incoming administration is also on record praising this “bipartisan” effort. They talk about this like they did 10 rounds with Mike Tyson instead of having dinners catered and lobbyists sending the copy. All they have to do is wipe flop sweat and floss for the cameras.

“Biden praised the bipartisan spirit that produced the measure, which he called ‘just the beginning.’

” ‘This is a model for the challenging work ahead for our nation,’ Biden said Sunday in a statement.

“ ‘There will be another major rescue package for the American people,’ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in announcing the agreement for the relief bill. ‘It is packed with targeted policies to help struggling Americans who have already waited too long.’

“Democrats acknowledged it wasn’t as robust a relief package as they initially sought — or, they say, the country needs. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed more to come once Biden takes office.

” ‘It is a first step,’ she said. ‘We have to do more.’ ”

Congress is the only job in America where a person can get paid $174,000 a year and call it an accomplishment for doing the bare minimum, past deadline, over and over–and where some of the people who've been holding up relief in a pandemic can take a break to get early vaccines.

— Edward-Isaac Dovere (@IsaacDovere) December 20, 2020

If this is all you could do after months of “bipartisan spirit”, we don’t want your “more”. In a Biden-Harris administration, the only “more” we’ll see are more social programs, while we continue to lose more of our freedoms. Universal Basic Income, here we come!

They want us to be homless and bankrupt. I'm angry, both my jobs closed.. its winter there are no jobs in my town and no more unemployment.. I have been working since I was 14! Rent here is 1400,00 a month for a shack. what are we to do….

— Shooting Star I am President- Elect!! (@AlhawariSls) December 21, 2020

But you see, when you never miss a meal, you don’t worry about being fed. These geniuses were in no hurry because they were feeling no pain. First, they deemed themselves “essential”, then Speaker Pelosi played politics to ensure Trump didn’t get a “win” with a COVID stimulus (McConnell also played his part), then they made sure they included all of their corporate and special interest friends.

Remember:

While Speaker Pelosi is gushing about how proud she is of your pittance of a #StimulusCheck, multiple businesses she and her husband have ownership stakes in have received $3.35M-$8M from the PPP.

Guess what program just got another $284B?https://t.co/zNZdcyOcTW

— Robbie Jaeger 🔎 (@RobletoFire) December 21, 2020

The average American is getting a pittance check, but most are sitting at home anyway—if they still have a home. If you have no money, what does it matter if restaurants are shut down? People can’t feed their families? Well, there’s always a food bank! Bernie Sanders has said he thinks bread lines are cool.

Congress has inevitably let us down again. A 900 billion dollar package and Americans will get $600 to cover the last 8 months. How difficult is it to divide 900 billion by the number of struggling Americans and just distribute? Special Interest and Big Biz wins again.

— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) December 20, 2020

Chef Andrew Gruel, never one to mince words, is one of the business owners who is rebelling against California’s lockdown insanity. But unlike our Congress, it’s not just about him, but the people who rely on his restaurants remaining open so they can feed their own families and pay their own rent. But for Congress, its important to ensure that people can still wander around Home Depot freely with a mask; those essential workers are the only ones that matter because: optics.

Robin Enochs came up with this on-the-nose Thomas Sowell quote that fits the situation.

Stimulus package is trash.

"First you take people's money away quietly and then you give some of it back to them flamboyantly." – Thomas Sowell

— Robin Enochs (@RobinEnochs) December 21, 2020

This Congress has spent a Summer posturing, vacationing, gaslighting, while standing on the sidelines as your businesses have been destroyed, your ability to work has been restricted, and your ability to worship corporately has been stopped. But nothing to see here… move along—LOOK! Here’s some cash in your pocket!

After 8 months of nothing, the pocket has a huge hole in it, but I think that was part of the plan.

Now that Congress has reached an agreement to give you a few bites, but not unlock your handcuffs, we’re all supposed to cheer?

I fail to understand why they are trying to make a big deal out of this. As though the louder they shout about it, the more the American people will ignore what has transpired over the past 9 months. Remember when Speaker Pelosi tried to gaslight Wolf Blitzer about how much she knows about the suffering of the American people, and so unlike a CNN anchor, he called her on it?

So Nancy and Mitch think they’ve now “helped” the American people, and they expect us to swoon and thank them. Not gonna happen, my friends.