Cenk Uygur Wants a Democratic President to Cut Off Funds to Red States

Young Turks host Cenk Uygur had a reply to Donald Trump who said that bailouts were unfair to Republicans because “all the states that need help, they’re run by Democrats in every case.” Later, Trump tweeted:

Well run States should not be bailing out poorly run States, using CoronaVirus as the excuse! The elimination of Sanctuary Cities, Payroll Taxes, and perhaps Capital Gains Taxes, must be put on the table. Also lawsuit indemnification & business deductions for restaurants & ent.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 5, 2020

Uygur’s response was classic liberal misdirection.

If we had a Democrat with balls when we take over, they’d cut off funding to red states & make them beg for their handout. Almost all of them are welfare queens who live off the blue states. Republican run states are on average miserable failures who take more from federal govt. https://t.co/0aifSBybnE

— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) May 5, 2020

In truth, bad governance is bad governance. It knows no party or ideology. Crooks will be crooks and both Trump and Uygur should stop looking through the prism of everything being a partisan issue.

But Uygur’s nastiness needs to be noted. In fact, one big reason blue states take less from the federal government is that they tax the hell out of their own people. Red states, with generally lower taxes, get more back from Washington.

Some red states are poorer than blue states and have more people accepting federal assistance. But it’s a gross overstatement to say that Republican-led states are “miserable failures.

Are they failures because their public pension plans aren’t in arrears $140 billion dollars? Or violent crime isn’t a huge problem? Or enjoy prosperity that’s deficit-financed and paid back by overtaxing individuals and businesses?

So all those people moving from blue states to red states are “welfare queens”? Maybe Uygur thinks they’re delusional? Or perhaps, they’ve been driven from their homes by blue state governors raising taxes to unbearable levels and giving back state services that leave much to be desired.

Which states need bailouts? New York Governor Andrew Cuomo whines about federal help in making up his budget deficit. Why can’t he be more like Governor Mike Dewine who just announced budget cuts of $775 million?

Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday the state will cut nearly $800 million in spending — most affecting education and health care — to offset the loss of tax revenue stemming from the coronavirus crisis.

The cuts include a $300 million reduction in K-12 public-school funding, $210 million from Medicaid spending and $110 million from college and university funding, DeWine said.

DeWine said all state government agencies will see their budgets cut, adding up to $100 million, except for the state Department of Corrections, which operates state prisons.

Dear Cenk: Ohio is a red state.

Cuomo and every other Democratic governor haven’t made a move to cut their budgets first and then ask for federal help later. They’ve been accusing Trump of not liking them because of one thing or another. California Governor Gavin Newsom says Trump hates the state because of its sanctuary policies. Cuomo claims Trump hates New York because…well, just because.

Democratic governors have wept about the federal government not doing their work for them and buying medical supplies. They have blamed, whined, offered snide comments, called Trump names, and now they want hundreds of billions more in federal aid. They won’t cut their budgets but they’ll take money from Republicans in neighboring states to hide their own profligacy and corruption.

Is that the “miserable failure” that Uygur was talking about?

We all need each other in this crisis. There’s no way out without both sides tolerating each other long enough to work together to get out of this mess. Uygur’s ignorant and mean-spirited comments aren’t helping.