Remember when Joe Biden promised his administration would be one of the most transparent administrations ever?
During the April 6, 2022 White House Press Briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the administration provided Congress with a 385 page report detailing how COVID relief funding had been spent. She then told reporters they were welcome to read the report, and offered to make them copies.
Only one reporter requested a copy. Rachel Cohrs of Stat news requested a copy, and after three weeks and additional requests no copy was ever provided.
However, she was eventually given an opportunity to read the report in a small conference room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building- under the direct supervision of a budget office employee. And while she was allowed to take notes, she was NOT allowed to make any copies or take any pictures of any part of the report. And she was given just one hour to review the 385 pages.
In the article she was eventually able to write on the report, she noted that while a number of documents were included which could be embarrassing to some Republicans, she noticed there were no documents that would have explained the White House’s spending strategy. There were also no documents regarding the movement of COVID Relief funds between numerous other accounts. For example, the $1 billion which was “temporarily” transferred out of NIH to help pay for the health department’s efforts to house unaccompanied children at the U.S. border with Mexico.
Of course it does seems strange that the White House and Democrats in Congress are demanding additional COVID Relief funds. If you don’t understand why that might seem strange, let me explain.
Remember Biden’s Build Back Better spending bill? He claimed would cost the average American nothing, and would not increase the federal deficit by one cent. “Not one cent.” Do you also remember that one of the ways he was going to pay for that $3.5 trillion spending plan was to use unspent money allocated by previous bills for COVID Relief?
And yet Democrats are again demanding additional funding for COVID relief (because American’s desperately need it). If approved, I can’t help but wonder where those “unspent” funds will be spent?
You may have heard the philosophical question, “If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound?”
I would ask the question, “If you offer to provide documents then refuse to provide them, are you providing transparency?”
Articles:
There Is Still Plenty of Money Left from Past Covid-Relief Bills (Veronique de Rugy)