No Joe Biden, Red States Will Not Be Laying Off First Responders

One of the funniest moments in the final presidential debate was when Joe Biden contradicted himself in two consecutive sentences. It was during the discussion about how to handle COVID-19 going forward. President Trump is not wrong when he points out it is largely Democrat-run states with extended draconian lockdowns.

But Biden took offense to Trump pointing this out:

So, Biden doesn’t see red states and blue states, he just sees America—but red states have the worst outbreaks. Too funny. Later in the debate, the moderator, Kristen Welker, turned to COVID relief as part of her questions on the American family. She pushed both candidates on the failure to provide additional financial assistance.

President Trump correctly pointed out that the House’s current bill, the HEROES Act, is a cornucopia of spending that has nothing to do with COVID-19. He also notes the bailouts for blue states to cover decades of fiscal mismanagement and terrible public employee contracts. Here are a few examples from RealClearPolitics:

California would reap $48 billion. This amount is nearly a dollar-for-dollar bailout for its highly compensated employees.
New York would reap $35 billion. As in California, nearly a dollar-for-dollar bailout for their generously compensated employees.
Illinois will reap $20 billion in bailout money. As a consequence of its contracts with public employee unions, the financially-strapped state is flirting with junk bond status.
Washington, D.C., is lobbying for a $3.2 billion bailout. Their city leaders and employees are paid more than governors, four-star generals, and cabinet secretaries.

Biden responded again with his rhetoric about there being no red states and blue states. He will be an American president. Biden also asserted that all states would need help to avoid laying off public employees, teachers, and first responders. This is simply not the case. Red states are recovering much more quickly than blue states, experiencing nearly the predicted V-shaped recovery.

The Washington Examiner noted that GDP and unemployment rates are better in red states emerging from the pandemic.

Overall, Democratic-run states, particularly those in the Northeast and Midwest, had larger contractions in gross domestic product than Republican-run states in the Plains and the South, according to the latest state GDP data for the second quarter of 2020, released by the Commerce Department on Friday. Of the 20 states with the smallest decrease in state GDP, 13 were run by Republican governors, while the bottom 25 states with the highest decrease in state GDP were predominantly Democratic-run states.

Furthermore, the average unemployment rate across Republican states was 6.5% in August, compared to an average of 9% in Democrat states, according to an analysis of unemployment data by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

As an example, Governor Brian Kemp shared economic information for Georgia at an October rally for President Trump,

The state has an unemployment rate of 6.4%, which is better than the 8.1% in 2012 when Biden was on the ticket
The state has maintained a AAA bond rating and rainy day fund
Public safety, education, and healthcare were fully funded in the recent legislative session
State revenues continue to rise, and no budget cuts are expected
170 new projects, 20,000 new jobs, and $6.4 billion of new investment came to the state during the pandemic
10,000 more jobs coming to the state through the work of the Economic Development Board
Georgia was named the best state in the country to do business for the 7th consecutive year

The media vilified Kemp for his early reopening and refusal to impose a mask mandate. As of today, Georgia’s test positivity rate is 5.2%, the number of new cases remains steady, and the seven-day rolling average death rate hovers around 20. Keep in mind that these are patients with COVID, not people necessarily dying of COVID.

The state’s healthcare system is adequate, and all restrictions were lifted earlier this month. The children are back in school and college football is on. Georgians can gather, celebrate, and mourn if necessary. So, no, Joe Biden, red states like Georgia will not be asking for a bailout, and we don’t need your national standards.

These states will likely require nothing but a very narrow COVID relief bill. In fact, because residents are fleeing places like California and New York, their tax base will likely grow as the blue-state refugees settle.

These states’ residents have no interest in baling out blue states for their years of corruption and fiscal irresponsibility. While we are all Americans, we also choose our local and state leaders. Residents of Illinois and Washington, D.C., have tolerated financial mismanagement and need to elect people to fix it. They are not entitled to a wealth transfer from taxpayers in other states that will burden our children and grandchildren.

So, as the Democrat Party leader, Joe Biden should pressure Speaker Nancy Pelosi to stop her shenanigans and pass the narrow Senate bill. This would deliver relief to needy families and encourage poorly run blue states to stop the draconian madness and get people back to living.

WATCH the full exchange on COVID relief funding:

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