Thursday on MSNBC, network political commentator former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) accused President Donald Trump of allowing companies to get away with “profiteering” during the coronavirus pandemic.
McCaskill said, “My state has not done a statewide stay at home order. We’re one of those ten states. The governor really has his priorities straight. He made sure nobody will have to pay a late penalty for renewing their conceal and carry license but declined to issue a stay at home order for the state. We have real problems here in my state.”
She continued, “I did a lot of work around government contracting. I understand war profiteering like went on in the Iraq war. What is happening right now is profiteering because of supply and demand. The federal government has the ability to stop this. Price gouging laws don’t generally apply to government contracts. That’s why the executive power at this time of national emergency should be used to set prices on masks and ventilators and say this is the price the federal government will pay and you must sell it to us or we will sell our negotiate however they want to do it.”
She added, “They admitted in this briefing they don’t want to interrupt commerce. That means – I’m not talking about hoarding— I’m talking about price gouging. New York right now is spending billions of dollars on health care equipment with public money, and they are overpaying for what they are buying because this executive, this president, because of some of the culture in his and politics and his administration don’t want to step in and say, ‘No, we’re not going to put up with profiteering in this health care crisis.’ It’s outrageous to me.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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