(UNDATED) – Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to the failed vote in the Senate to provide relief to the U.S. economy including 30 million small businesses in the unprecedented economic shutdown response to the Chinese coronavirus outbreak:
“It is abhorrent that Senate Democrats are attempting to hold our nation’s economy and 30 million small businesses hostage in their neverending quest to turn crisis into a political opportunity.
“The magnitude of the health emergency and the proposed Senate response emphasize how serious Senate Republicans are taking this crisis. No Republican was elected to spend trillions of dollars to revive an economy deliberately shut down to save a million American lives, and yet they have stood up and done what they believe is necessary to ensure Americans can get by while they wait in their homes for the virus to pass. We continue to believe that all spending should be targeted to the specific needs created by the emergency, and any attempt to make permanent spending increases should be rejected.
“What’s more, any attempts to fundamentally change our nation’s health care system including the creation of any one size fits all medical billing system that lays the groundwork for socialized medicine should be rejected. These rate-setting proposals fundamentally change the ability for the very heroes in the health provider community to be paid a fair price for their labor and it would be a punch in their guts to enact legislation now that punishes them while they are working tirelessly to save American lives.
“While Americans for Limited Government is uncomfortable with the amount of spending authorized, and the changes to the unemployment laws that dramatically expand the program having the likely unintended impact of encouraging businesses to lay off employees, rather than fight through the crisis, it remains important Congress come together. Democrats must stop their putting politics ahead of the lives and livelihoods of the American people.
“America is the greatest country in the history of mankind. We will survive this national challenge, and by passing legislation providing a safety net to allow the small business foundation of our economy to hit the ground running once we’re past this crisis, we will come back rapidly and stronger than ever.”
