GOP Rep. Pete King Shreds 'Marie Antoinette' Mitch McConnell's Bankruptcy Plan
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday suggested that states could go bankrupt rather than get additional federal funding to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
And at least one member of his own party is slamming the plan.
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) ripped McConnell in a pair of tweets on Wednesday evening:
.@senatemajldr McConnell’s dismissive remark that States devastated by Coronavirus should go bankrupt rather than get the federal assistance they need and deserve is shameful and indefensible. To say that it is “free money” to provide funds for...
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) April 23, 2020
...cops, firefighters and healthcare workers makes McConnell the Marie Antoinette of the Senate.
— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) April 23, 2020
McConnell told radio host Hugh Hewitt that some states have given too much in their public pensions, and he didn’t want federal money to bail them out now that cash everywhere is running low.
“I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route,” he said Wednesday. “It’s saved some cities, and there’s no good reason for it not to be available.”
Later, his staff issued a news release dismissing federal aid as “blue-state bailouts.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called McConnell’s remarks “one of the saddest, really dumb comments of all time.”
And on social media, the plan was slammed by people across the political spectrum:
The Senate Republican leader to Americans who live in PA, MI, and WI: Drop dead. https://t.co/bPL2Hmj85w
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) April 22, 2020
When Mitch McConnell says we should let states go bankrupt, let’s be honest about what he’s saying:
He wants police officers to lose their jobs.
He wants firefighters to go broke.
He wants hospitals to close and sick people thrown out on the street.
Prove me wrong, Mitch. https://t.co/gAPKSeFQ4N— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 22, 2020
I thought I had heard the worst public policy ideas already in my life. However, Senate Majority Leader McConnell's proposal to allow states to go bankrupt is the single worst suggestion I've heard in 36 years of covering economics, markets and business. Pure and utter insanity!
— ron insana (@rinsana) April 22, 2020
McConnell telling state and local governments to just go bankrupt means he is telling all the teachers, police and firefighters that their pensions aren't worth saving.
— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) April 22, 2020
Mitch McConnell, why don’t you come to a police precinct in my district and tell this to the cops keeping our city safe? Or the nurses risking their lives every day?
Telling states and cities to go bankrupt is an insult to all those on the front lines serving our communities. https://t.co/EiHBwWByeE— Max Rose (@MaxRose4NY) April 22, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.