Key Vote Alert – NO on the 2020 Christmas Wish List
“NO” on The 2020 Christmas Wish-List
Club for Growth opposes COVID Relief package and Omnibus appropriations bill agreed upon yesterday by the four leaders of the House and Senate and urges all Representatives and Senators to vote no on the legislation. If the agreement is divided into two votes, Club for Growth will key vote NO on BOTH votes. The legislative package will be considered soon in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate. The result of the vote (or votes) will be included in the Club for Growth Foundation’s 2020 Congressional Scorecard.
This legislation is another example of Congress taking advantage of legislating by crisis and taking short-cuts in the legislative process in order to pass a bill that has not been reviewed by the American people, nor many Members. Although an agreement by Congressional leadership has been announced, there is not currently legislative text for Members of Congress and the public to review. This legislation is expected to only be available for a few hours before it will be voted on.
According to a summary document released by Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer, this bipartisan deal will spend around $900 billion on a myriad of issues including climate change reforms, rental assistances, the low-income housing tax credit, a tax credit for paid sick leave, increased food stamp benefits, a renewal and extension of unemployment benefits, education, an expansion of Pell Grants, internet access, global health money, money for vaccines, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and stimulus checks. Stimulus spending is never good for economic growth. Although the Senate Majority Leader has called on both parties to “pass everything that we can agree to” many of these issues have not received broad support within the Senate Majority or House Minority. Perhaps this is why the Senate Majority and House Minority have not yet released a similar summary document touting the so-called “wins” they extracted in the negotiations.
The deal provides for $82 billion for colleges and schools. Education bureaucrats should not be rewarded with billions of dollars when many schools are not offering in-person educational opportunities. Instead, the money should be directed to families and students to ensure all K-12 students have access to high-quality education.
Club for Growth also opposes a federal extension of unemployment benefits. Instead, Congress should prioritize funding for the distribution of a vaccine so that a more normal life may more quickly return to the world.
For highly distressed businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program has served as a lifeline. But millions of jobs and businesses have been lost to the COVID pandemic. For those businesses and job creators, this legislation does nothing to incentivize new business formation.
Over the past 9 months, the House Majority has too often politicized the coronavirus pandemic in order to enact its political agenda in elections. Speaker Pelosi’s willingness to cut a smaller deal now than the previous $3 trillion wish-list she demanded earlier this summer is evidence that Democrats intend to continue to push for trillions in stimulus spending that will bankrupt the economy in 2021.
The legislative package will also include an Omnibus appropriations bill that will fund the discretionary appropriations elements of the federal government through September 30, 2021. Again, the legislative text for this huge pillar of the bipartisan deal is not available at the time this key vote alert was published. Members of Congress and the American people should have the ability to scrutinize this legislation and determine which special interests are being funded, whether there are any Congressional earmarks included, and what other anomalies are tucked into the pages of a thousand-page bill. If history is any evidence to that question, the answer will certainly be yes.
The Federal Government is way too big and intrusive. And 2020, punctuated by this spending bill, has watched the Congress incur more deficit spending that ever before. Prior to COVID, revenue was at a record level, but while some revenues slowed due to lockdowns enforced by States and local governments bureaucrats, the American people have suffered. Purposeful in their agenda, liberals have attempted to turn America into chaos. Christmas is no time to reward such nasty behavior.
But there is a way forward. The American people are resilient and our economy is built on the willingness to engage in business activity, take risks, and invoke the entrepreneurial spirit of the job creator. As many businesses are taking steps to adjust to the circumstances facing their business due to the pandemic, government needs to remove tax and regulatory burdens that are preventing people from conducting business. Because this bill does none of that, President Trump should veto it.
Club for Growth Foundation’s Congressional Scorecard for the 116th Congress provides a comprehensive rating of how well or how poorly each member of Congress supports pro-growth, free-market policies and will be distributed to the public.
Vote Results
Club Position
No
Required for Majority
1/2
Vote Results
Motion Agreed to
Vote Number
289
Vote Date
December 21, 2020
Vote Counts
YEAs:
92
NAYs:
6
Not Voting:
2
Lamar Alexander
TN
R
Yea
Tammy Baldwin
WI
D
Yea
John Barrasso
WY
R
Yea
Michael Bennet
CO
D
Yea
Marsha Blackburn
TN
R
Nay
Richard Blumenthal
CT
D
Yea
Roy Blunt
MO
R
Yea
Cory Booker
NJ
D
Yea
John Boozman
AR
R
Yea
Mike Braun
IN
R
Yea
Sherrod Brown
OH
D
Yea
Richard Burr
NC
R
Yea
Maria Cantwell
WA
D
Yea
Shelley Moore Capito
WV
R
Yea
Benjamin Cardin
MD
D
Yea
Thomas Carper
DE
D
Yea
Bob Casey
PA
D
Yea
Bill Cassidy
LA
R
Yea
Susan Collins
ME
R
Yea
Christopher Coons
DE
D
Yea
John Cornyn
TX
R
Yea
Catherine Cortez Masto
NV
D
Yea
Tom Cotton
AR
R
Yea
Kevin Cramer
ND
R
Yea
Mike Crapo
ID
R
Yea
Ted Cruz
TX
R
Nay
Steve Daines
MT
R
Yea
Tammy Duckworth
IL
D
Yea
Richard Durbin
IL
D
Yea
Michael Enzi
WY
R
Abs
Joni Ernst
IA
R
Yea
Dianne Feinstein
CA
D
Yea
Deb Fischer
NE
R
Yea
Cory Gardner
CO
R
Yea
Kirsten Gillibrand
NY
D
Yea
Lindsey Graham
SC
R
Yea
Chuck Grassley
IA
R
Yea
Kamala Harris
CA
D
Yea
Maggie Hassan
NH
D
Yea
Josh Hawley
MO
R
Yea
Martin Heinrich
NM
D
Yea
Mazie Hirono
HI
D
Yea
John Hoeven
ND
R
Yea
Cindy Hyde-Smith
MS
R
Yea
James Inhofe
OK
R
Yea
Ron Johnson
WI
R
Nay
Doug Jones
AL
D
Yea
Tim Kaine
VA
D
Yea
Mark Kelly
AZ
D
Yea
John Kennedy
LA
R
Yea
Angus King
ME
I
Yea
Amy Klobuchar
MN
D
Yea
James Lankford
OK
R
Yea
Patrick Leahy
VT
D
Yea
Mike Lee
UT
R
Nay
Kelly Loeffler
GA
R
Yea
Joe Manchin
WV
D
Yea
Edward Markey
MA
D
Yea
Mitch McConnell
KY
R
Yea
Robert Menendez
NJ
D
Yea
Jeff Merkley
OR
D
Yea
Jerry Moran
KS
R
Yea
Lisa Murkowski
AK
R
Yea
Christopher Murphy
CT
D
Yea
Patty Murray
WA
D
Yea
Rand Paul
KY
R
Nay
David Perdue
GA
R
Yea
Gary Peters
MI
D
Yea
Rob Portman
OH
R
Yea
Jack Reed
RI
D
Yea
Jim Risch
ID
R
Yea
Pat Roberts
KS
R
Yea
Mitt Romney
UT
R
Yea
Jacky Rosen
NV
D
Yea
Mike Rounds
SD
R
Abs
Marco Rubio
FL
R
Yea
Bernie Sanders
VT
I
Yea
Ben Sasse
NE
R
Yea
Brian Schatz
HI
D
Yea
Chuck Schumer
NY
D
Yea
Rick Scott
FL
R
Nay
Tim Scott
SC
R
Yea
Jeanne Shaheen
NH
D
Yea
Richard Shelby
AL
R
Yea
Krysten Sinema
AZ
D
Yea
Tina Smith
MN
D
Yea
Debbie Stabenow
MI
D
Yea
Dan Sullivan
AK
R
Yea
Jon Tester
MT
D
Yea
John Thune
SD
R
Yea
Thom Tillis
NC
R
Yea
Pat Toomey
PA
R
Yea
Tom Udall
NM
D
Yea
Chris Van Hollen
MD
D
Yea
Mark Warner
VA
D
Yea
Elizabeth Warren
MA
D
Yea
Sheldon Whitehouse
RI
D
Yea
Roger Wicker
MS
R
Yea
Ron Wyden
OR
D
Yea
Todd Young
IN
R
Yea