“We’re here today because Pelosi, Schumer and Biden decided to use a pandemic to push forward a progressive wish list — items to reward political allies, friends and donors at the expense of the American working class.”
— Rep. Jason T. Smith (R-Mo.), top Republican on the House Budget Committee, in remarks at a news conference, Feb. 24, 2021
House Republicans are objecting to the $1.9 trillion measure being pushed by President Biden and Democrats in Congress to deal with the coronaviruspandemic and its economic fallout. As part of the attack, the GOP staff on the House Budget Committee has distributed a pie chart that asserts only a small portion of the bill actually deals with combating the virus.
In his remarks, Smith listed a series of objections to the bill. Let’s take a tour through them and offer an assessment. Some of the claims have to do with arcane budget issues, while others reflect a more philosophical dispute. As this is a reader guide, we’re not going to issue a Pinocchio rating, but readers should be aware that several of these points are off-base or stretched.
“If this package was clearly about crushing the virus, then why is less than 9 percent of all total spending actually used to put shots in people’s arms?”
The GOP cites Biden himself for the $160 billion that this figure represents: “That’s why the American Rescue Plan puts 160 million — billion dollars into more testing and tracing, manufacturing and distribution, and setting up vaccination sites — everything that’s needed to get vaccines into people’s arms, which is the most difficult logistical effort the United States has undertaken in peace time,” Biden said Feb. 19, while touring a Pfizer vaccine plant. Continue reading.