Never at a loss for words, has Louisiana Senator John Kennedy sounded off on why Washington can't get a stimulus bill done.
Kennedy rebuked the notion Republicans are holding up progress on second round of economic recovery for the nation:
“The Republican caucus have proposed a bill twice now that has come to the floor for a vote and we were defeated both times,” Kennedy says. “To provide additional money for small business, additional money for unemployment, money to get our schools open, money for more testing.”
The Senator says the only roadblock is a competing bill backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which he says is packed with pork spending that has nothing to do with economic recovery.
Speaking with WWL Kennedy went on the offensive: Blasting an opposition stimulus bill he says is loaded down with legislation that does not deal with economic recovery.
“Why should we hold up a coronavirus bill, additional unemployment compensation—which New Orleans needs badly—additional money for small businesses, why should we hold up our needs to have a debate about immigration law?”
Kennedy says the bill championed by Nancy Pelosi, and backed by Democrats in both houses, is full of new laws on immigration, freeing federal prisoners, and bailouts for bankrupt states.
We are ready to spend another $500-bln. But as long as the speaker [Nancy Pelosi] says no, in addition to doing that we’ve got to bail out New York, we’ve got to bail out Illinois, we’ve got to bail out California--I’m not going to vote to spend Louisiana tax money to bail out California when its state revenues are up!
And Kennedy even had something to say about the way the City of New Orleans, and Mayor LaToya Cantrell, is running the official response to the coronavirus.
“You can’t lock down the economy and stop the virus, it’s going to spread,” Kennedy maintains. “You’ve got to strike a balance. We’re dying economically. We are! We’re a service driven economy, a tourism economy. We’ve got to strike a balance between protecting lives and protecting livelihoods.”
Kennedy says he's kept up at night watching permanent damage done to the New Orleans economy without regard for the livelihood of the people.