(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)Nancy Pelosi is once again trying to use the latest coronavirus relief bill to benefit Democrats. Pelosi, who has tried and failed to add millions in pork to past pandemic relief packages, is now throwing our law enforcement officers under the bus as she panders to the Black Lives Matter agenda. You don’t want to miss this.
As anti-police rioters call for defunding the police, House Democrats are no longer interested in putting money for police programs in the latest coronavirus relief bill.
The most recent version of the $2.2 trillion HEROES Act does not include $600 million for police programs that were in earlier versions of the mammoth legislation, according to Fox News.
Those earlier versions included $300 million for Community Oriented Police Services Programs, whose funds go toward hiring additional officers, and $300 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, which allow local departments to buy personal protective equipment.
Democrat nominee Joe Biden made his feelings clear about police officers at the debate. Biden claimed at the debate that America sufferers from “systemic injustice,” which is just another way to say “systemic racism.” Biden said he wanted to fund “social workers” to respond to 911 calls.
Well, Nancy knows the last thing the BLM crowd wants is additional police officers in their communities.
The House Speaker’s explanation is that other funding streams have emerged to address the need for PPE and to hire additional cops. Well, that’s not how Rep. Steve Scalise sees it at all.
“House Democrats have fully embraced the radical left’s movement to defund the police,” Scalise said in a statement to Fox News.
“Democrats’ so-called ‘Heroes Act’ removes $600 million from a previous version of the bill that was intended for real heroes: state and local law enforcement,” he added.
He went on to claim Democrats “have no respect for law and order in our communities.”
“In the face of violent rioting and looting, our law enforcement officers need our help more than ever, but Speaker Pelosi and her liberal lieutenants are abandoning these officers in plain sight,” he said. “It’s shameful.”
During a House Rules Committee hearing, Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey of New York conceded the bill does not add funding but said that “[in] no way does that mean defunding the police.”
Republican Rep. Rob Woodall of Georgia argued police officers mattered to Democrats in the spring, but not after a summer of anti-police protests.
“In the spring you believed local police departments are worthy of $300 million in investment, you recognized that need. But in this HEROES Act, I can’t find that at all. It appears to have disappeared,” Woodall said.
In a Wednesday statement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell castigated House Democrats for their actions.
“Now that supporting law enforcement has become less than fashionable on the far left, Democrats have actually taken out hundreds of millions of dollars for hiring and assisting police officers,” he said.
“Their so-called sequel to the HEROES Act has decided that cops are not heroes after all. House Democrats couldn’t miss a chance to ‘defund the police,’” he added. “This latest bill from the Speaker is no more serious than any of their other political stunts going back months. If they continue to refuse to get serious then American families will continue to hurt.”
“With the general election, just weeks away, President Trump and Republicans have sought to drive home a message of law and order and accuse Democrats of cozying up to protesters that have overrun the streets in U.S. cities,” Fox News reports.
No one is surprised by Pelosi and her Democrat cohorts. They go out of their way to coddle BLM every chance they get. But this time will it be at the expense of Americans, many who live in the inner city and desperately count on police officers to keep their neighborhoods safe.
