GOP complaints hypocritical

The recent COVID recovery passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden predictably drew howls of protest from Republicans. (I don’t even include among “responsible” Republicans those from Idaho; they are a tribe of partisan robots not worth considering.)

Their loudest complaints among the GOP: failure by the Democrats to involve them in the formation of the legislation and “ramming” the bill through via the reconciliation process.

Please. Those same Republicans forget or ignore the frequency by which former President Donald Trump used the same reconciliation tactic for major initiatives. Trump used it to try to undo Obamacare. He never sought Democratic help or input for that effort.

Nor did he ask for input from Dems when he rammed through his massive pro-wealthy 2017 tax-cut package.

Where were the noisy complaints then from conservatives now deriding Biden’s bill?

The other major GOP complaint is that funding won’t be spent wisely. Time will tell on that matter. I suspect we won’t hear that argument much longer, once everyday Americans bank the federal money and keep their household finances afloat.

So, we’re bound to hear more complaints from Republicans about the use of reconciliation over the next few months. Their complaints are irrelevant and hypocritical.

Tom Sowa

Spokane