AFP to Congress, President Trump: Reject Bad Deals, Misguided Trillion Dollar Spending Bills

Oct 9, 2020 by AFP

Arlington, Va. – Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today called on the president and Congress to reject yet another massive spending bill as lawmakers are now considering a $1.8 trillion spending package. For months, AFP has been advocating for lawmakers to enact policies that empower people to improve their lives and spur our economy to recover stronger.

AFP President Tim Phillips issued the following statement:

“This back and forth over the price tag of any stimulus bill does not help Americans or our country recover from this pandemic. A massive and misguided spending bill will only dig us deeper into debt and is a bad deal for American workers and families.

“With Congress already spending an unprecedented $4 trillion on spending packages, this latest proposal would only spend hundreds of billions to bailout state and local governments for decades of irresponsible spending, benefit favored companies through corporate welfare, and do nothing to help the American people. Congress needs to reject these bad deals, get its act together, and focus on actual solutions that will help our country recover stronger.”

Background:

Last month, the grassroots group boosted its national ad campaign urging lawmakers to reject bailouts for state and local governments that had financial issues years before COVID-19.

Tim Phillips recently wrote an op-ed in RealClearPolicy on why Congress needs to get its act together and focus on policies that help American families and the economy recover stronger.

AFP has released “Recover Stronger: A Starting Point to Build An Economy that Works for All,” a set of principles and recommendations that offer lawmakers a starting point to build a stronger economy as the country recovers from COVID-19.

In April, AFP sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to reject bailing out politicians for irresponsible decisions they made prior to the crisis.

Recent reports have found states haven’t spent the vast majority of COVID-19 assistance funds the federal government has already approved in earlier rounds of spending. Further reporting demonstrates tax revenue in most states is better than expected, and even higher for some forms of taxes nationwide than the same period last year.