Earlier this week, Rep. Justin Amash weighed in pretty extensively on the COVID19 relief package. His thread included this:
Likewise, neither Congress nor the Treasury secretary should be picking winners and losers. Corporate welfare is not only unjust but also reflects government conceit. Only consumers, not politicians, can appropriately determine which companies deserve to succeed.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 24, 2020
“Corporate welfare”? Um, OK. GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw had some thoughts on that:
You’re forgetting the fact that we are telling consumers not to consume. They can’t spend the money. They are staying home. Businesses can’t take in revenue, because we told them to close.
I’m surprised you’re treating this crisis like a normal stimulus package. It isn’t. https://t.co/dbwn00DwBB
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 25, 2020
In the past, Justin Amash has had useful things to add to our political discourse.
This … is not one of those things:
Just ten years after the Tea Party movement, Republicans in Congress are defending a $500 billion corporate welfare fund for a select group of large companies.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 26, 2020
Sounds like somebody’s been reading Democratic Party talking points!
A lot of the responses to Amash’s tweet suggest that this proves that the TEA Party was fundamentally a racist movement whose beef with Barack Obama was entirely motivated by racism:
The Tea Party BS was about opposing an African American President
— ⚫DiogenesX (@SteinbeckAfrica) March 26, 2020
I think you've figured out that you're the only real tea party member. The rest just didn't like the black man in the Oval office and needed an excuse.
— Tricia (@Cup_of_Snarky) March 26, 2020
Recommended
Where are they now?
Oh, yeah…the black guy isn't POTUS anymore.
— Tipsy McStagger (@thatluckyolsun) March 26, 2020
It was never a real movement. It was mostly racist backlash against Obama. You are a true believer but you know most others were not.
— Leslieanne Warlick (@LsfarmLw) March 26, 2020
But isn’t it even more likely that Amash just doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about?
Has anyone told him, what’s going on? Any friends or family or anyone? https://t.co/nylk7v2j7b
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 26, 2020
Hey, heard about this virus going around?
— China did this (@jtLOL) March 26, 2020
Does he think Congress just like woke up a few days ago and decided to introduce this bill because reasons or something?
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 26, 2020
principles, man
— Matt (@msw141) March 26, 2020
That must be it.
It's loans to companies to pay people.
— Poor Ole Georgia Boy (@SavedEXUSN) March 26, 2020
$500B in loans to corps and small businesses who are facing serious consequences from a pandemic is entirely different from $800B in crony giveaways to corps who made epically stupid financial decisions. Criticize the bill but at least be intellectually honest about it. https://t.co/zYQYNb38f9
— Heather (@dswhisperer2) March 26, 2020
But loans are “corporate welfare” now.
Remember that time an economic meltdown caused by failed risk assessment by financial firms, forwarded by loose government policy, was not the same thing as the government directly putting the economy into an induced coma? https://t.co/3DsmwR2IyO
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 26, 2020
Amash is trying to turn apples into oranges. Remind you of anyone else?
Outside of AOC, no one has had dumber and more economically illiterate comments regarding the current situation than Amash. https://t.co/KHCDxSw5i3
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) March 26, 2020
There's no one better at being self-righteous about things he half-understands than Amash.
(I'd say AOC, but there aren't many things she even half understands)
— The Partyman (@PartymanRandy) March 26, 2020
You don’t have to be an economics major to recognize that there’s a difference between a “corporate welfare fund” and a much-needed injection of money into the economy to keep it alive.
Their ignorant and dishonest tweets would usually be annoying, but they are far more harmful in the context of trying to undermine efforts to save lives and the American economy.
There are real consequences that will last decades if people actually listened to them.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) March 26, 2020
And whole point of the Tea Party was that we were creating massive debt by spending on things that govt should not be doing which would undermine our ability to control it and limit damage from spending on stuff only gov’t could do (like react to a pandemic & economic shutdown).
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) March 26, 2020
Do better, Justin Amash. It’s easy if you try.
This is why pure libertarianism is dumb . https://t.co/UwVSXbTDJ4
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) March 26, 2020
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