Free Republic

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is criticizing President-elect Biden's new coronavirus relief, arguing that it doesn't go far enough to help people in need during the pandemic. Biden's stimulus plan, which includes the increased payments, would cost $1.9 trillion. According to The Washington Post, most people would end up with a total of $2,000 in stimulus, including $600 checks dispensed in recent legislation. But that wasn't enough for Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared to want the latest checks to reach $2,000 as she and others have repeatedly requested. "$2,000 means $2,000. $2,000 does not mean $1,400,″ she told the Post.

Democrats and their liberal economic advisers obsess about income inequality. Will someone please tell them that no act in modern times has widened the gap between the rich and the poor more than the lockdowns going on right now? Diane Yentel, the president and CEO of the leftist National Low Income Housing Coalition, said, "The majority of the up to 17 million households at risk of losing their homes this winter are people of color." Politico reported that minorities and the poor have "been more vulnerable to job and income losses from the ensuing economic crisis, in large part because...

Why people continue to trust government officials is a mystery. Often disconnected from the problems at hand, their policies also often contradict their supporters' frequently expressed beliefs. While suffering from cost overruns and increasing budget deficits, these policies handsomely reward their cronies, too. A good example is the latest attempt to pass yet another COVID-19 relief bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Republicans' failure to agree to her $2.2 trillion bill "malfeasance." Never mind that the White House's $1.8 trillion proposal was right up there with hers. It's right to help those low-income Americans hurt by the pandemic-induced recession. But...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday pushed for a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package, saying he would accept a deal worth more than $2.2 trillion despite opposition to large spending measures among his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate. “I want to do it even bigger than the Democrats,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News, as talks between House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin approached a Tuesday deadline for reaching a bipartisan deal that could pass Congress before Election Day on Nov. 3. The White House has proposed $1.8 trillion in coronavirus relief, while Pelosi...

It’s time to set the record straight. The American people are wondering what Congress is going to do to help folks who are still struggling from the effects of COVID-19 on their health and on our economy. They see little movement in negotiations, and I’ve had folks back home ask me, what are you all doing up there? Sadly, the answer is not much because Speaker Pelosi prefers to play political games. In May, the Speaker used a public health crisis as an excuse to try and give new legislative life to several extreme partisan ideas that, on their face,...

The economy is starting to bounce back from the coronavirus, but a full recovery will take years. About 30 million Americans remain unemployed. And the Federal Reserve expects the jobless rate — which currently exceeds 13 percent — to remain above 9 percent through the end of the year, far above the historic low of 3.5 percent we recorded in February. Simply put, Americans are struggling. Through no fault of their own, millions have lost their jobs — and with it, their health insurance. Many are signing up for Medicaid or Obamacare. Conservatives like me cringe to see so many...

Back in 2009, Nancy Pelosi infamously declared the best way to revive the economy was to dole out ever-more-generous food stamps and unemployment benefits. The more people collecting welfare, the better. At the time, this notion seemed laughable. Now this economic illiteracy seems to have become conventional wisdom. This was a headline in the New York Times recently: "End of $600 Unemployment Bonus Could Push Millions Past the Brink." Here was the lead on the "news" piece: "When millions of Americans began losing their jobs in March, the federal government stepped in with a life preserver: $600 a week in...

After months of delay, deliberation and debate, the next COVID-19 relief package is purportedly just around the corner. The problem is, no one can agree what should be in it or how much more spending of taxpayer dollars is warranted.  For example, to many Democratic lawmakers, bailing out the United States Postal Service is an appropriate undertaking (even though the agency is staying above water for the time being). Meanwhile, Republicans are eyeing measures such as broad-based liability protections and financial incentives for reopening schools. These proposals will almost certainly be torpedoed by Democrats, while Republicans reject wasteful spending not related...

Mr. President, Herbert Hoover said, "Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt." But he had no idea how big that deficit could become under your administration. I know you won't accept Nancy Pelosi's embarrassing $3 trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill, but it's time to say "No" to any additional spending packages. You were elected to tame big government, but by temporarily falling under the spell of the "experts," you've allowed our economy to be shut down. It's time to realize that there's no doubt that some countries and some states that have remained or become open are...

Why are some leaders so reluctant to admit that in the early days of the coronavirus crisis, they were slow to realize the seriousness of the threat? That's the charge leveled against President Trump daily. Just look at the number of times various critics have said he has "blood on his hands." Trump has denied responsibility, and has argued that rather than being slow off the mark, he was actually quick to respond. There is much angry debate on that point. What is clear now is that more than a few officials around the country were slow to act. And...

For over a year now, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has been on a mission to nationalize the United States’ emerging 5G market, advocating for the government to act as a wholesaler of spectrum to internet service providers. Citing national security concerns, Gingrich has written that our country’s “laissez-faire tendencies and preferences are being used to defeat us” as China rapidly expands its Huawei 5G network across the world. Yet, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation released last week reports that the former Speaker’s advocacy may be more self-interested than simple concern for the privacy of his fellow...

If you thought our Democrat legislators wouldn’t try to push through more pork in the Covid-19 congressional barrel, you have been living in a fool’s paradise. The House has just completed its response to the bipartisan Senate bill, the Cares Act. With its $2.2T price tag, what this act is “helping” entails a lot more than a coronavirus response. Of course, much of the money is targeted at necessary things that will directly mitigate Covid-19’s impact on our nation. But as Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel points out, “A rough calculation suggests the single biggest recipient of taxpayer dollars in...

I quoted Maj. Gen. George S. Patton in my column last week: "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." I'm repeating it because it is so relevant to the coronavirus crisis. No one thinks the stimulus bill the Senate is trying to pass, which Democrats have sabotaged, is a perfect plan. There is something in it for everyone to criticize. But when the house is burning down, the job is to put the fire out as quickly as possible. A moment delay to look for a better way to do it can...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi must be blind. She’s actually advocating that she and her fellow Democrats nationalize the medical supply chain and is holding the third coronavirus relief bill hostage until she and her party get what they want. She wants us to believe that this is the only solution to meet the growing need for goods to combat the coronavirus. What this is truly about is her and her colleagues’ own arrogance and quest for government expansion and control of the economy -- an obvious power grab that’s clearly designed to exploit the COVID-19 national emergency. Is Pelosi so...