Republicans shamelessly take credit score for Covid-19 aid they voted towards

Two current tweets from members of Congress illustrate how, within the wake of President Joe Biden signing the Covid-19 aid invoice, Republicans try to “have their cake and vote towards it, too,” as Barack Obama as soon as put it.

That $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed into regulation final Thursday, didn’t obtain a single Republican vote, regardless that current polling exhibits a majority of Republican voters have mentioned they considerably or fully help it. The recognition of the laws places Republican members of Congress in a bind: How does one message towards a invoice that almost all People like, and that can reduce little one poverty in half, whereas additionally juicing an economic system that’s been ravaged by the year-long pandemic?

Some Republicans, maybe understandably, are as a substitute opting to as a substitute deal with tradition conflict distractions like whether or not Dr. Seuss is being “canceled.” However others are shamelessly attempting to take credit score for Democratic coverage proper after they voted towards it.

One instance of this got here final Friday, when Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) patted herself on the again for a choice made by Biden’s Small Enterprise Administration to increase deferment durations for Covid-19 Financial Harm Catastrophe Loans (EIDL).

“BREAKING … So proud to announce that the Biden Administration has simply applied my bipartisan COVID aid invoice as a part of @SBAgov,” Salazar tweeted, linking to an announcement on her web site during which she’s quoted as saying, “I’m so proud that my bipartisan laws has formally change into SBA coverage.”

The timing of the tweet, coming someday after the American Rescue Plan was signed, led many to consider the lawmaker was referring to the Covid-19 aid invoice Salazar voted towards — that invoice accommodates $15 billion in EIDL funding. However the SBA resolution she highlighted is definitely distinct from the American Rescue Plan, as Nationwide Financial Council (NEC) Deputy Director Bharat Ramamurti defined on Twitter.

“I’ve seen some confusion on this,” Ramamurti wrote, referring to Salazar’s tweet. “On Friday — separate from the American Rescue invoice — SBA introduced it was letting 3M+ companies defer EIDL mortgage funds for an additional yr.”

“We’re glad to see bipartisan help for this and different modifications we’ve made to assist small companies,” he added.

Whereas it’s not right to say that Salazar is attempting to take credit score for the Covid-19 aid invoice, her declare that the Biden administration “applied” her “bipartisan COVID aid invoice” is fake. The invoice in query hasn’t come up for a vote in Congress, and it doesn’t seem that the SBA’s resolution was impressed by it. An SBA press launch asserting the deferment extension doesn’t point out Salazar.

Salazar on Sunday responded to criticism by attempting to show the tables, tweeting that her assertion “has nothing to do with the $1.9T Blue State Bailout. It’s a bipartisan coverage I launched individually that was adopted by SBA.”

However whereas Salazar performed deceptive semantic video games on Twitter, the Democratic Nationwide Committee (DNC) introduced it’s shopping for billboards in her district to focus on that she and different Florida Republicans voted towards $1,400 aid checks — part of the Democratic Covid-19 aid invoice supported by greater than 80 p.c of People.

Sen. Wicker voted towards his personal modification, then took credit score for it passing

Much more egregious than Salazar’s tweet was one from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) lauding the $28.6 billion in help to eating places included within the aid invoice.

“Impartial restaurant operators have received $28.6 billion value of focused aid,” Wicker tweeted on Wednesday. “This funding will guarantee small companies can survive the pandemic by serving to to adapt their operations and hold their workers on the payroll.”

It’s true that Wicker pushed for restaurant aid — he and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) proposed an modification to the invoice with the funding. However Wicker in the end voted towards his personal modification.

Wicker was roundly dragged for attempting to have it each methods.

Chatting with reporters final Wednesday, Wicker dismissed a question about if he was attempting to take credit score for Democratic laws as a “silly query.”

“One good provision in a $1.9 trillion invoice doesn’t imply I’ve to vote for the entire thing,” he mentioned.

However voters don’t actually look like shopping for Republican claims that whereas there are good elements of the invoice, it was in the end too giant to warrant help. Current polling from Vox and Knowledge for Progress confirmed that twice as many citizens most popular the trail Democrats went down of passing a giant aid invoice shortly over a Republican possibility that was solely one-third the scale.

There’s precedent for Republicans attempting to take credit score for laws they voted towards. As Amanda Terkel detailed for HuffPost, they did the identical factor for the 2009 stimulus that, just like the 2021 one, handed with out a single Republican vote:

An analogous sample occurred after the 2009 stimulus, when GOP lawmakers who voted towards President Barack Obama’s laws then went again into their house districts and took credit score for the cash that flowed to their constituents. On the time, ThinkProgress counted 114 Republican lawmakers who blocked the invoice whereas touting its advantages. They despatched out press releases taking credit score for cash that funded tasks of their district, regardless that they voted towards it.

On Wednesday, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), maybe aware of that precedent, mentioned on the Home ground that “what we’re all involved about on our aspect is that the Republicans are all going to vote towards this, after which they’re going to indicate up at each ribbon chopping, and at each challenge funded out of this invoice, they usually’re going to pump up their chests and take credit score for all of those nice advantages which are coming to their residents.”

The Covid-19 aid package deal Biden signed is much more widespread than the 2009 stimulus. It additionally comes after many Republicans backed two Covid-19 aid payments whereas Donald Trump was president, in addition to 2017 tax cuts that (coincidentally) have been projected so as to add $1.9 trillion to the nationwide debt whereas disproportionately benefiting the wealthy.

However now that Democrats management the White Home and each chambers of Congress, Republicans are all of a sudden discovering causes to be towards spending, although the laws has some extent of help from a majority of Republican voters — and, in no less than two instances, are pretending they really supported the elements that profit their constituents, even after they voted towards them.