Op-Ed: Overstuffed $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill endangers future growth and prosperity
Gov. Kasich authored a USA Today op-ed about the divisions in America and how each of us have a role in charting a new and better path forward.
See an excerpt below and read the full op-ed here.
“Outrageous! That’s my shocked reaction after looking deep into details of the $1.9 billion coronavirus relief package Congress is considering. Outrageous, not because I’m against valid and much-needed COVID relief for individuals and businesses truly hurt by this pandemic. And not because increased spending isn’t needed for testing, vaccine distribution and other health care responses to the virus.
But money to help those with real needs will likely add up to less than half of the bloated spending that’s been crammed into this package in the guise of “relief.” Every unwarranted, special-interest dollar stuffed into this bill adds an additional burden to our already unsustainable national debt. Yet few Americans seem to mind.”
As a lifelong conservative, balancing America's and Ohio's budgets have been career milestones that John Kasich has been proud to champion during his time in public office.
As chair of the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee in the 1990s, John Kasich was the architect of the first balanced federal budget in a generation. But he had watched with frustration and amazement as, after he left Congress, Washington backslid from budget discipline and blew a projected $5 trillion surplus in a few short years. Based on that experience, he worked as governor to keep Ohio’s budget balanced and rebuild a depleted rainy day fund to $2.7 billion – the strongest emergency reserves in the state’s history.
There is perhaps nobody in the country more credible to discuss the harm of runaway debt and how it will crush jobs and prosperity for future generations.