chaparral wrote:
gregtryin wrote:
You are right, oversight is critical. Start with the Dems that added $25 million dollars of pork onto the Coronavirus stimulus package for the Kennedy Center only to see all of the employees furloughed.
https://www.foxnews.com/...aking-stimulus-money From the article:
"The publicâs perception is that the Kennedy Center leadership took taxpayer funding and left their employees holding the bag," Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, said in a statement. "Congress, and more importantly the public, deserves answers to the questionable decisions made to furlough employees after receiving funding to prevent that.â
Greg
Umm, can you show me where the dems added that funding? Because the information that is public is a a staffer for a Republican was pushing for it. That Republican, Roy Blunt, sits on the Kennedy Center board. There is nothing I can find that says Democrats were the ones that put the 25 million in the bill and not Republicans.
You need to go back to your link and read it again. It does not say what you attempted to summarize above. From the article:
The government largesse would follow and, with it, scrutiny. The office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who also sits on the Kennedy Center board, declined to comment other than to note that Henke was a former staffer of Sen. Roy Blunt. But the office of the Missouri Republican, who also sits on the board, insisted that it didnât shepherd any funds across the finish line.
A Blunt aide told RCP that the money âwas not a priority.â The senator, the staffer continued, was much more concerned about funding for HHS, and that the officeâs understanding was âthat the push for more funding came from House Democrats.â
That lawmakers would be cagey about legislative sausage-making isnât surprising. But Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who didnât respond to multiple RCP requests for comment, has pointed the finger at Pelosi. McCarthy, who likewise sits on the board of the center, complained that Pelosi never had a good reason for holding up the relief package other than to âadd $24 million more dollars for the Kennedy Center in Washington.â
It is unclear, up to this point, who actually introduced the text into the bill that funded the arts center. The initial Senate bill included just $1 million. Informed speculation, shared with RCP, was that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell balked at the bigger dollar amount and eventually the decision got punted to the White House.
How did the bottom line balloon from $1 million to $25 million? A separate senior aide told RCP it had nothing to do with the Grand Old Party: âIt is absolutely true that the Pelosi ask was for tons more Kennedy Center money.â What about the Blunt staffer making the rounds on Capitol Hill? âThe doula was a hack GOP staffer,â the aide argued. âBut this was a Democratic baby all along.â
The money was negotiated in the Senate Appropriations Committee. A spokesman for the ranking Democrat told RCP: âYes, Senator [Patrick] Leahy did support inclusion of emergency support for the Kennedy Center in the third emergency Coronavirus crisis bill. The Kennedy Center, as you know, has special standing not only as a national cultural resource but also as a national memorial to President Kennedy. The funding that was included will help support essential maintenance and operating functions, but of course it will not be enough to make up for all of the planned events in the centerâs immediate future.â
If you are a Canuck that engages in gratuitous bashing of the US, you are probably on my Iggy List. So, save your self a bunch of typing a response unless you also feel the need to gratuitously bash me. If so, have fun.
"Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f___ things up" - Barack Obama, 2020