Many Republicans have criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for her so-called HEROES Act, which is the latest effort from congressional Democrats to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. That includes Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), who labeled it “blatant political scammery” during an interview with Huntsville, AL radio’s WVNN.
The bill, seen by Republicans as a messaging bill for the 2020 general election, would have a profound impact on the economy if passed according to DesJarlais.
DesJarlais told WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show” that while the bill has perks for young voters, it would also stall the economic recovery from the coronavirus downturn, which would be used against President Donald Trump in his reelection bid.
“I think things are getting better,” he said. “You can see it in the new cases and death rates, the flattening of the curve, and so on and so forth. Most states are going to be reopened by the end of this month. And we’re doing so with caution. But I find it interesting, for example, in this last HEROES Act that Pelosi tried to push through — in my opinion, it was just blatant political scammery at its best where they have this wish list that has very little to do with coronavirus. And it’s almost like they’re hoping for a slow financial recovery. We happened to have a presidential election in November. The economy often drives elections. President Trump was presiding over one of the best economic times of our nation’s history. Then this virus hits.”
“He acted quickly,” DesJarlais continued. “He was criticized for doing too much, too soon. And then, ‘Oh, in hindsight, he should have done more.’ Governors were slow to respond and shut down the states quickly. There’s a study out of Columbia … that says that if we had just shut down a week or two early, we could have saved 36,000 lives. It’s easy to speculate that it is the president’s fault, that it is the governors’ fault. But this huge spending package dealt with postal workers and getting $10,000 off of student loans, even though they’ve suspended student loan payments for six months, is obviously targeting young voters, trying to do things that will woo voters to the Democratic side, extending the $600-per-week unemployment through January 2021, where people are being paid more not to work than they were when working.”
“To me, it just seems like a Democratic ploy to stall the economy and somehow blame Trump in the fall,” he added.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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