Mitch McConnell couldn’t stand the heat.
The Republican Senate leader on Wednesday backed off his controversial claim that coronavirus-ravaged states should go bankrupt and said he’s “open” to bailing them out, apparently caving to blistering criticism from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other Democrats.
McConnell — whose bankruptcy comments last week may have turned him into one of the most hated men in Washington — said in an interview on Fox News Radio that “all governors, regardless of party, would like to have more money” amid the economy-crushing pandemic.
“I’m open to discussing that,” McConnell said.
Last week, the Kentucky senator was far less sympathetic.
“There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations,” McConnell said April 22, adding that states should just “use the bankruptcy route” if they can’t deal with budget shortfalls caused by the virus.
The Senate majority leader’s office added fuel to fire by releasing a transcript of his April 22 comments under a subhead that read “Stopping Blue State Bailouts.”
McConnell’s backpedaling came after seven days of uninterrupted pushback from Democrats.
Leading the anti-McConnell charge was Cuomo, who says New York could suffer $13 billion in lost revenue because of the virus, with hundreds of thousands of residents forced into unemployment and businesses boarded up.
Before McConnell’s about-face, Cuomo laid into the senator anew during his daily briefing from Albany.
“Even in this moment, when people are dying all across the country, you still want to play your politics? That’s what this is about, and that’s why it is so disturbing on a fundamental level,” Cuomo said of McConnell.
The governor again noted that New York contributes about $116 billion more to federal government coffers than it takes out, contrary to Kentucky, which receives roughly $148 billion more than it gives.
“How dare they? How dare they, even when those are the facts? How long are you gonna play the American people and assume they’re stupid?” Cuomo said. “They are not, and they can add.”
Congress is expected to start next week on another economic stimulus package that’s expected to top $2 trillion.
Democrats are expected to push for the package to earmark $500 billion in aid for states to cover enormous budget holes.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who unsuccessfully argued for bailouts to be included in the last COVID-19 aid measure, said workers on the front lines of the virus war will face salary cuts if states don’t receive fiscal relief.
“McConnell showed how out of touch he really is when he suggested that we should let states that are being crushed by coronavirus go bankrupt,” Schumer tweeted. “He’s saying that police officers and firefighters … shouldn’t get the same help as big business.”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-N.Y., sent a letter to his Capitol Hill counterparts Wednesday saying it isn’t just first responders who would suffer.
“Without aid, we cannot continue to fund critical services such as healthcare, public safety, transportation and education,” Heastie wrote.
State lawmakers are nervous as Cuomo is expected to announce possible healthcare and school cuts in the coming weeks as tax revenue has vanished due to the pandemic.
The state budget approved earlier this month gave the governor the power to slash spending throughout the year.
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