Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) offers remarks during a ceremony announcing the Library of Congress as the new home of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Archive, November 20, 2019. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.
In another show of political opportunism, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have yet another gripe. This time it’s funding for fighting Corona Virus, reports the WSJ.
- Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the request “long overdue and completely inadequate.”
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the Administration’s proposal to tap some of the money from an Ebola preparedness account an example of Mr. Trump’s “towering incompetence.”
We’d take these complaints seriously if they were based on any expertise or factual understanding of the threat. Instead, they’re ritualized gripes intended to set up the politics to make the bill a blowout and dare Mr. Trump to veto virus funds.
Corona Virus Turns into Pork Barrel Politics
The Schumer-Pelosi gambit is to load up the supplemental bill with other health spending, whether for state grants, federal research funds, or even aid for Puerto Rico’s disaster survivors.
While in New Delhi, President Trump was asked about the criticism back home. If he had requested more money, Trump replied, Democrats would have argued that it was too much.
Democrats Getting Ready to Blame Trump
(President Trump) has a point, though our guess is that Democrats are preparing the ground to blame the Administration if the coronavirus spreads. The virus may well get worse, which is why the funding request anticipates more cases.
Alas, there is no cure for cynicism in the service of pork-barrel politics.
