The Senate’s COVID-19 Relief Bill Is a Crony Capitalist Dream

by | Mar 26, 2020

Over at Reason, Elizabeth Nolan Brown and the gang, including LP chairman Nick Sarwark and libertarian-leaning independent congressman Justin Amash, are of course opposing the government’s massive bailout of their corrupt cronies:

After a day of performative fussing and fighting over partisan particulars in the COVID-19 relief bill, U.S. senators last night passed—96 to 0—the $2 trillion spending measure largely unchanged.

The part getting the most attention is the direct payments: $1,200 each for single Americans who made under $75,000, dual-income married couples who made under $150,000, or single-income heads of household who made under $112,500 in annual adjusted gross income in 2019. Pro-rated amounts will go to single filers making up to $99,000 and couples making up to $198,000. Families get an additional $500 for each child age 16 and under. (More details here.)

But the 880-page bill is brimming with bailouts for government-favored corporations, too.

“Do you trust politicians to make investment decisions with your children’s future?” tweeted Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark, who has been fiercely critical of business bailouts. “Each American would be the hook for over $6,000 in debt for these ‘investments,’ but it’s the businesses that will receive the rewards. Say no to socialist bailouts of corporate cronies.”

Check out the rest here.

About Scott Horton

Scott Horton is director of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from ScottHorton.org. He's the author of the 2021 book Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism, the 2017 book, Fool's Errand:Time to End the War in Afghanistan, editor of the 2019 book The Great Ron Paul: The Scott Horton Show Interviews 2004–2019 and the 2022 book Hotter Than The Sun: Time to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. He’s conducted more than 6,000 interviews since 2003. Scott lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Larisa Alexandrovna Horton.

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