The Daily Signal - Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Why $1.9 Trillion in COVID-19 'Relief' Isn't That

Episode Date: March 3, 2021

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., says Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill, among other things, has "only about 10% of the bill that actually deals with COVID and the other components that are in the bill, there's $350 billion to bail out the blue States." Blackburn, today's guest on "The Daily Signal Podcast," also says that "Nancy Pelosi wants $112 million for the Bay Area Rapid Transit, so that people can get from San Francisco to Silicon Valley to work on all of those six figure jobs." Why are Democrats pushing for these provisions in COVID-19 "relief"? Blackburn discusses this and more. We also cover these stories: The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was domestic terrorism, FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. A Los Angeles teachers union says California’s plan to reopen public schools is "a recipe for propagating structural racism.”  The U.S. and the European Union issue new sanctions against Russia in response to the confirmed poisoning of an opposition leader.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Wednesday, March 3rd. I'm Virginia Allen. And I'm Rachel Del Judas. Is the Democrats COVID-19 relief bill giving funding to the Confucius Institutes and research partnerships with the Chinese Communist Party? Senator Marsha Blackburn joins me during a conversation we had at CPAC 2021 to discuss. And Congressman Greg Stuby of Florida joins the podcast to talk about how his state has been able to successfully reopen during the pandemic. Don't forget, if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to leave a review or a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and encourage others to subscribe. Now, onto our top news.

The January 6th attack on the Capitol was domestic terrorism. That is according to FBI Director Christopher Ray. Director Ray spoke in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and had this to say, per Guardian News. I was appalled, like you, at the violence and destruction that we saw that day. I was appalled that you, our country's elected leaders, were victimized right here in these very halls. That attack, that siege was criminal behavior, plain and simple, and its behavior that we, the FBI, view as domestic terrorism. It's got no place in our democracy, and tolerating it would make a mockery of our nation's rule of it. law. Ray also said, per Bloomberg quick takes, that the evidence so far does not show that Antifa

was involved in the riot. We have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to Antifa in connection with the sixth. That doesn't mean we're not looking and we'll continue to look. But at the moment, we have not seen that. The FBI has already arrested more than 280 people involved in the riot at the Capitol on January 6th and has charged over 300. A Los Angeles Teachers Union says California's plan to reopen the state schools is a recipe for propagating structural racism. During a Monday press event, United Teachers Los Angeles President Cicely, Meyer Cruz said, we are being unfairly targeted by people who are not experiencing this disease in the same ways as students and families in our communities. If this was a rich person's disease, we would have seen a very different response.

We would not have the high rates of infections and deaths, Myark-Cruz said, as schools in the state have remained closed for a year as teachers' unions continue to lobby for their interests. Myark-Cruz added, now educators are asked and said to sacrifice ourselves, the safety of our students, and the safety of our schools. U.S. and the European Union have issued new sanctions against Russia in response to the confirmed poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navani last year. During a call with press on Tuesday, senior U.S. administration officials told reporters that after investigation, they can now say with high confidence that Russia's Federal Security Service poisoned Alexei Navani using a nerve agent, which is a direct violation of the International Chemical Weapons Convention. The U.S. is

sanctioning seven senior members of the Russian government and 14 entities involved, in Russia's chemical and biological industrial base. Senior U.S. officials reportedly said on Tuesday's press call that the United States has consistently characterized the legal offensive against Mr. Navani as politically motivated, an assessment shared by our G7 partners and the European Commission of Human Rights. We reiterate our call for the Russian government to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Navani. Navani is currently serving a more than two-year sentence in a Russian exile colony. President Joe Biden did not mention children's book author Dr. Seuss in the annual Read Across America Day proclamation on Monday.

Dr. Seuss has been under fire for being racist. For example, one of his books, and to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street, features a drawing of a Chinese man with slits for eyes. Both former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump mentioned Seuss and their proclamations for Read Across America Day. On Tuesday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it won't be publishing six of Seuss's 46 children's books. In a Tuesday statement, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said, Today on Dr. Seuss's birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises celebrates reading and also our mission of supporting all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship. We are committed to action.

To that end, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, working with a panel of experts, including educators, reviewed our catalog of titles, I made the decision last year to cease publication and licensing of the following titles. And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street, if I ran the zoo, McElegat's Pool, O Beyond Zebra, scrambled eggs super, and the cat's quizer. These books portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong. Now stay tuned for my conversations with Senator Marshall Blackburn of Tennessee, and Congressman Greg Stubia of Florida, both reported at CPAC. Americans use firearms to defend themselves between 500,000 and 2,000, million times every year. But God forbid that my mother is ever faced with a scenario where she has

to stop a threat to her life. But if she is, I hope politicians protected by professional armed security didn't strip her of the right to use the firearms she can handle most competently. To watch the rest of Heritage expert Amy Swearer's testimony on assault weapons before the House Judiciary Committee head to the Heritage Foundation YouTube channel. There you'll find talks, events, and documentaries, backed with the reputation of the nation's most broadly supported Public Policy Research Institute. Start watching now at heritage.org slash YouTube. And don't forget to subscribe and share. I'm joined today on the Daily Signal podcast by Senator Marshall Blackburn of Tennessee. Senator Blackburn, it's always great to have you on the Daily Signal

podcast. And I am always delighted to join you all. Thank you so much. Thanks for being with us. So I wanted to start off talking to you about Democrats, COVID-1.9 trillion, COVID-19 bill. There's a lot in here. And can you just tell us about the bill and how much of it really does relate to COVID-19? Well, what we're hearing is there's only about 10% of the bill that actually deals with COVID. And the other components that are in the bill, you know, there's $350 billion to bail out the blue states. $50 billion of that, believe it or not, goes to New York. New York has been. been so poorly managed through the past several decades. Then you look at $27 billion going to California. California actually has a surplus in their budget this year, but they've mismanaged all their pensions.

Nancy Pelosi wants $112 million for the Bay Area Rapid Transit so that people can get from San Francisco to Silicon Valley to work on all of those six-figure jobs. You can look at what they're doing for arts, and museums, $150 billion there. We know that art centers and museums have been closed during COVID. So there is a tremendous amount of waste. Basically, what they did was to create a wish list of everything they wanted to get money out too quickly.

Because they know come 2022, they're going to lose the House. They're going to lose the Senate. They are pushing executive orders out of the White House. They think if they can get to look, liberal utopia in the next 12 months, they're going to try to do it. And so how much of this bill? Like, is there anything really related to COVID? I feel like there's like one or two things, but how much of this is actually COVID? Well, you know, it's so interesting because there's the PPP money, the plus up in unemployment, and then a few billion dollars for vaccine

production and distribution that is in the bill. But thank goodness President Trump, created Operation Warp Speed. And we have a vaccine and we are getting shots in arms and people are completing their shots and their vaccinations. And now they're beginning to get back to life as normal. Well, I want to ask you to coming from Tennessee and all the small businesses you work with and see and talk to there, how has the shutdown impacted the people of Tennessee? The shutdown has been very difficult for many of our small businesses. especially restaurants and entertainment venues. They were the first to be shut down.

They're going to be the last to be able to open up. So those sectors of our economy have been incredibly hard hit. And so when Tennesseans hear what the Democrats are doing with their spending bill, giving all this money to blue states, giving money to individuals that haven't missed a paycheck, they are just stumped with why they would even do this. COVID relief is supposed to be targeted, timely, and temporary. And that is what people want to see.

They don't want to burden their children with having all of these big tax bills that will come their way in another decade. Well, something else that's been a big topic of debate is kids going back to school and a lot of schools still across the country are still closed. How has that impacted Tennessee children and, you know, where do you think we should go from here? I have to give a shout out, Rachel. Our Tennessee superintendent and directors of schools and our teachers and our parents said, we are not going to be stopped by this.

We're going to find a way, and they have. And they have had to do modified schedules. Some of them are back into school full-time. Others, they rotate days. But children are back in school. Children are playing sports. There are activities that are taken place. and they put the money that was in the CARES Act to good use.

They bolstered their remote learning opportunities and their technology and took the necessary precautions to have children in school in front of a teacher. And Tennessee is doing great with this. Well, switching gears a bit here, but something you've been talking about on Twitter is the nursing home cover-up we saw with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo covering up a lot of deaths. I think it was around 15,000 that was. happened in nursing homes in that state. So what's your thoughts there? And yeah, you've talked about a lot

on Twitter. So I'm just curious to hear something that, you know, this has happened and people are just starting to see and react to it now. One of the things that has so offended people is the bluster that came from Governor Cuomo during COVID. And no one has yet figured out why he made the decision to send people back to nursing homes when he had the mercy ship. And, and he had the mercy ship, when he also had the arena that had been fitted and was ready to receive COVID patients and when unused. So there is not an understanding of why he made that decision. Now, I think that it is just so devastating to individuals who lost loved ones and they couldn't see them. And yet he's out here selling a book about his great leadership.

He should take the proceeds from that book and pay. expenses for every one of these families that lost a loved one. Well, you spoke at CPAC and something that you talked about is fighting for freedom of speech here in the U.S. at home and also across the world. How should this happen and why is it important? Oh, that First Amendment. It is so vitally important. If they take the First Amendment and remove your freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom and ability to peaceably assemble, freedom to approach your government for a redress of grievances. If they take that, then they'll take the Second Amendment. They'll take the rest of them. And other nations look to us to say, this is how you push for freedom.

This is how you live in a free country. This is how you have robust, respectful debate. This is how you allow people to dissent. Well, something else was the topic of CPAC where you spoke, and we've seen it service a lot in social media and other areas. This is a situation of cancel culture where people say something that Big Tech disagrees with, and then they're canceled. And we've seen, you know, former President Donald Trump, his Twitter was taken down. And then other organizations, like the Job Creators Network, for example,

they're just an organization that is for lower taxes and, you know, helping people, you know, in their different communities. and job situations and their account was taken down. So what's your perspective of cancel culture and how do you think this challenge or the situation should be met? Rachel, I think that we have big tech, big media, and big leftists who are all in this together. And people are going to have to push back on this.

And then there is legislation and things that we should do. I have the virtual U.Protection agenda, which is my online privacy bill. which would put the individual in control of their presence online and give you the ability to say to Big Tech, no, you cannot follow me, track me, data mine me, sell or share my information without me allowing you to do so. And for Section 230 in Censorship, basically what it says is, look, you, big tech are going to have to go over here

and come out from behind these liability protections, we're going to save these four new entrants and smaller players in the social media space. And if you want to censor somebody or block or throttle or demonetize or de-platform, guess what? You've got to tell them specifically why before you take an action. Well, as we wrap up, I wanted to ask you to just about your perspective

on the current climate we're seeing right now. It's a heightened time, definitely, with all of the different things going on at the Capitol and all of the barbed wire and everything going on. And you spent a lot of time serving in the House and then now you're in the Senate. And so given the everything you'd be able to see all these years in public service, I was actually at your victory party, I think it was almost two years ago now, which is like bizarre to think about. But what is your thought on where we're at and where do you think we need to go because we have a lot of work to do? We do have a lot of work to do. And when you look at how things have transpired and how you. given the left is to taking away freedoms and rights and giving power to the government,

for government to have control over your life. My hope is that this 2020 election cycle will show people that the left really means business on this, and they are not going to give up. So if you like your freedom, you better be willing to fight for it. Well, it's a great note to end on. Senator Blackburn, thank you so much for joining us on the Daily Signal podcast. It's great having you with us. Thank you. It's great to have you with us on the Daily Signal podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me. So you've been vocal on Twitter about how the Biden administration is not doing a lot really at all to combat the threat of the Chinese communist government.

So can you tell us about your concerns and why this issue is so important? Well, it's important. Obviously, the Chinese virus came from Wuhan, China. The policies that Trump put in place during his administration put America first, not China, first. It brought jobs back to the United States. And the economic numbers you saw evidence of that. Pre-COVID, you saw some of the best economic numbers in the history of our country. So I think it's very important that we continue those policies. And unfortunately, Biden's going to reverse all of those policies. I mean, it's no secret that his family has gotten paid by the Chinese Communist Party. They obviously want to go back to a type of situation where the Chinese

Communist Party is taking all of our jobs and all of our manufacturing. And that helps Wall Street. And that helps, billionaires, but that doesn't help Americans here that are trying to work and provide for their families. So I think we should be focused on the type of policies that Trump had, putting America first. And unfortunately, that's not what the Biden administration wants to do. As you've talked about, the Biden administration really isn't doing anything at all to combat, the threat of the Chinese communist government. How do you think that conservative should? How should this threat be met? Well, we need to continue to fight for the policies that Trump put in place. Now, I know we don't have the White House right now, but we need to continue to fight.

We need to win the House back in 2022. And I think if enough conservative Republicans continue to talk about these issues, the American people will see that there are still people out there willing to fight for the America First type policies. And hopefully, I know I will continue to focus on ensuring that candidates across the country get elected. And all we have to do is win five House seats to take the House back. And if we can do that, then we can start actually implementing some of these policies in a House that, currently run by Speaker Pelosi. Well, Florida, really, your state has led when it comes to leading and bringing kids back to school despite the ongoing pandemic that we find ourselves in.

Can you tell us a little bit about how your state has been able to do this? We are the example for the country because we did not shut down businesses. And in the beginning, we did for three weeks. And then the governor repealed that. We phase things back. We have COVID numbers that are actually going down. our children have been in school since May, and there's not a huge spike in COVID cases. In fact, if you look at the numbers, our numbers are better than New York, where they had the

incomplete state shutdown, where they've had businesses shut down, and their kids haven't been in a school in a year. My son lives in Michigan with his mom, so he goes to school up there, and I get him part-time. And the first time he walked into a classroom was when he visited a class here in my district back when he was here visiting me. He hasn't seen the inside of a classroom in Michigan for over a year. That's not what families want. That's not what's best for families. In fact, the science doesn't support that. The science shows that children, they're more likely to get the flu than they are to get the COVID virus. So why in the world we have our children in school learning and allowing parents to work and opening up our economy? So Florida's been a huge leader in that,

and I applaud the governor for his decisions in those in opening up Florida. And how would you encourage states across the country and even the Biden administration to open schools? I know that was something that now President Biden talked a lot about, but now that he's actually in office, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of movement there. So how would you encourage the administration and even other states who are finding themselves in a more difficult world than Florida is? You know, what would you encourage them to do? You know, the Democrats and Biden claim to be the party of following the science. That's what they like to say a lot. Well, the scientists at CDC from the very beginning of the pandemic have never recommended the closing of schools because children aren't

susceptible to the disease. The people that are most at risk are over the age of 65 with other health issues, not children. So why in the world, if the CDC and the scientists are saying, we should not shut down schools, why in the world would Democratic leaders shut down schools? It's not following the science. It's not following the facts. And states like Florida prove that you can keep schools open, you can keep people safe, and you can keep businesses open and not have huge cases of coronavirus. Well, something else when it comes to COVID as well that you've talked about on Twitter is how the Biden administration will allow terrorists to travel to the United States, but will consider a domestic travel blame for Florida. That was something that

was talked about. Do you see a double standard here, Congressman, and why? There's absolutely a double standard. There was a Miami Herald report that said that the Biden administration was considering banning domestic travel to and from the state of Florida because of quote unquote a spike in cases, which wasn't even factually accurate. I can give you all the numbers for that. That is hugely problematic and should show the entire country what their true purpose is. So we're going to ban, the Biden administration is going to ban travel from American citizens into American state to and from an American state that's run by a Republican governor, but we're going to allow hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants to come across the border.

We're going to allow terrorists harboring nations like Syria and Iran and North Korea to be able to travel to the United States. We're going to flip those policies that Trump had in place and allow terrorists from Iran to travel to the United States, illegal immigrants across our border, Mexico border, but we're going to tell American citizens they can't travel to and from Florida. Obviously, it's 100% politically driven. What are some of the biggest challenges as well as opportunities you see in Congress? I mean, we've talked about how there's a Democrat House and Senate and even the White House,

but are there, you know, what are the challenges and then where do you see opportunity? Yeah, the biggest challenge is fighting this progressive, far left, radical left democratic agenda that we see in the House and in the Senate. That's the challenge. And I would have thought that a lot of this work would have been more bipartisan because Pelosi can only lose five votes in the House. But unfortunately, all the Democrats have been voting in block despite the outcries from some of their people in their district. So that's the challenge. The focus is taking the House back in 2022.

And they have gone so far to the left with all these dangerous policies like the executive orders that Biden has put in place. The Equality Act they passed yesterday, this Pelosi wish list for progressives. that they are saying is COVID relief when only 9% of the bills COVID release relief. We're going to be able to put those members that voted for those bills on the on the floor in campaigns in 2022. And I feel very strongly that we'll be able to take the House back in 2022. And then at least we can be a backstop to some of these horrible policies that the Democrats are putting forward. If you all do take back in the House in 2022, what do you think, you know, when it comes to being a backstop like you mentioned, what are some of the things you think

should be immediately addressed? We need to go back and focus to the American First agenda that Trump has put in place. Tax cuts, cutting regulations is exactly what they did, and it shows on the economic numbers pre-COVID that was very, very successful. Securing our border, building a strong national defense, those are the type of things that we should be focused on, not opening the border, giving amnesty to illegal immigrants that are already here, and having caravans full of people crossing the border and coming to the United States, and allowing terrorist harboring nations to fly citizens here. Those are not the policies of America, and those are the type of things we'd be focused on when we get the House back.

Well, lastly, Congressman, something that's entered the national conversation recently, just with big tech and Twitter and people being banned from Twitter when it comes to former President Trump and then tons of different conservatives across the country, and then not only with even Twitter, but we've just seen people's character be attacked if they speak a perspective that's contrary to what the mainstream. things. So what is your perspective of canceled culture and how do you think it should be addressed? One of the biggest challenges we face right now as a nation is the political censorship of ideological

views that aren't in line with the radical left progressive agenda. You've seen it on Twitter, you've seen it in Facebook, and you're seeing the mainstream media perpetuate all of these things, and it's very, very dangerous. You're seeing Google, Twitter, Facebook do the things that they're doing because they can get away with it because they have liability protection. That's why I think we need to reform Section 230, take away their liability protection, and treat them just like any other news channel or newspaper that's editorializing or publishing content. If we do that, immediately you will see their behavior change because individuals and businesses would have a private right of cause of action if their First Amendment rights have been violated,

which clearly they have no problem in violating it. They've even dismissed the former president of the United States off of Twitter, which is completely reprehensible. they've censored things that have been damaging to Democrats like the New York Post story on Hunter Biden that's just violation of all of the free speech rights

that we have in our Constitution and vision in the Constitution. They do that because they have liability protection. They know nothing's going to happen to them. Thank you so much for joining us on the Daily Signal podcast. It's been great having you with us. Yeah, thanks for having me anytime. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thanks for listening to the Daily Signal podcast.

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