What’s Important
Biden Follows Republican Roadmap and Sets New Goal of 200 Vaccine Doses in 100 Days: Last week, President Biden followed Republicans’ advice and set a new vaccine goal of administering 200 million vaccines in 100 days. Two months ago, Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Scalise (R-La.) called on President Biden to develop a new plan to administer 200 million vaccines in 100 days.
Relief Radar
Dems Bail Out Failed Lockdown States at Expense of Open States: Under President Trump, the previous bipartisan COVID-19 packages allocated funding to states based on population. However, in their partisan $1.9 trillion far-left wish list, Democrats changed that formula by adding unemployment as a factor and boosted support to liberal states.
This is because Democrat-run states have the highest unemployment rates. In fact, the six states with unemployment rates over 8 percent are all run by liberal governors.
Democrats are bailing out their allies who made bad and unreasonable policy decisions during the pandemic, kept businesses shut down, and harmed their own economies. Republican governors made the right decisions to respond to the pandemic and get their economies back on track. The unemployment data demonstrates that.
California and New York are the biggest winners and gain billions of dollars under this new skewed formula. In New York, the unemployment rate is 8.8 percent, and in California, the unemployment rate is 9 percent. However, this formula cuts funding for states like Florida, where the unemployment rate is 4.8 percent, and Utah, where the unemployment rate is 3.1 percent.
Democrat Hypocrisy Alert
Cuomo Gave Scarce COVID Tests to Family Members: At the start of the pandemic when COVID testing was scarce, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo prioritized his family members, including CNN news anchor Chris Cuomo, and other well-connected individuals to have special access to state-administered coronavirus tests and had the state lab immediately process their tests. This is around the same time when he mandated COVID-positive patients to be admitted to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Democrats in Congress continue to refuse to hold Governor Cuomo accountable for his actions endangering the most vulnerable and subsequent cover-up.
Speaker Pelosi Says Children Come First but Fails to Work Towards Reopening Schools: Earlier this year, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MSNBC that “there is no issue more critical to the future of our nation than the safety, education and all-around well-being of America’s children.” That was a lie. What does Speaker Pelosi say to the children suffering because Democrats are keeping their schools shut down?
Biden Blunders
Biden’s Border Crisis Has Created a Health Crisis at the Border: As President Biden has unraveled the previous administration’s deterrent-focused policies aimed at preventing illegal immigration, there is now not only a humanitarian and national security crisis at the border, but a health crisis as well. There are currently 300 unaccompanied minors being held at federal facilities who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Additionally, nearly 2,000 illegal immigrants have been released without being tested for COVID-19.
Biden’s Top HHS Appointee Sent COVID-Positive Patients to Nursing Homes Confirmed by Senate: Last week, the Senate confirmed Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Dr. Rachel Levine, for a top post at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Like New York Governor Cuomo, Levine issued a deadly order mandating nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients. She also moved her mother out of a personal care facility before doing so.
This Week in SSOCC
99% of PPP Funding Went to Correct Recipient & Used Appropriately: Last week, the Select Subcommittee held a hearing on the Paycheck Protection Program. During the hearing, Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) touted the successes of the Paycheck Protection Program, underscoring it supported 51 million jobs, over 80 percent of America’s small businesses, and saved almost 19 million jobs from permanent loss. He also emphasized the Trump Administration harnessed the full force of the federal government to find and prosecute fraud in the Paycheck Protection Program and noted over 99 percent of the money went to the correct recipient and has been used appropriately.
Pandemic Response Report is a weekly newsletter about America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Republicans.