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Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted on the creation of a coronavirus oversight committee.
But Republicans don’t want oversight, and thus, the vote fell along party lines.
Vicky voted against it too.
But her vote was more self-interested than partisan.
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But Republicans don’t want oversight, and thus, the vote fell along party lines.
Vicky voted against it too.
But her vote was more self-interested than partisan.
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The oversight committee is responsible for:
ensuring taxpayer money is responsibly used
reporting potential abuses
overseeing the implementation of the relief packages
investigating our preparedness for the virus
studying the economic impact of the virus
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ensuring taxpayer money is responsibly used reporting potential abuses overseeing the implementation of the relief packages investigating our preparedness for the virus studying the economic impact of the virus2/
evaluating disparate impacts on communities investigating communications and the effectiveness of the executive branch reviewing whistleblower protectionsreporting on cooperation by the executive branch in connection with the preparedness of the response3/
There are important reasons to provide oversight at this time. In the first instance, many of the traditional oversight forums are unavailable. The administration has relieved several Inspectors General of duty. The DOJ has elected not to investigate—pretty much anything.
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The House and Senate are not meeting regularly due to the virus and this bill dramatically decreases the number of people in the committee to twelve (7 Democrats, 5 Republicans).
From a substance standpoint, taxpayers just paid for the single largest bailout in history.
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From a substance standpoint, taxpayers just paid for the single largest bailout in history.
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We’ve given $1,000,000,000,000 to businesses alone. And much of that money hasn’t reached rural Missouri hands.Taxpayers deserve to know where our money is spent.
We’ve given far less money to hospitals, about 18% of what corporations received.
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We’ve given far less money to hospitals, about 18% of what corporations received.
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The way hospitals receive the funds is based on a Medicare for-pay formula, hospitals serving uninsured or Medicaid recipients don’t receive adequate funding through the stimulus. Congress, again, is in the best position to make sure our money reaches rural hospitals.
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We also have a President who eagerly disregards medical advice, advertises treatments that are not FDA approved, pits states against one another to battle for PPE, provides more assistance to red states than blue states, forgetting he’s responsible for all of us United States.
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It won’t surprise you that Vicky Hartzler voted against this measure.
She’s allergic to accountability.
She once tried to dismantle the entire Office for Congressional Ethics. And this oversight committee will look into where our taxpayer money went.
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She’s allergic to accountability.
She once tried to dismantle the entire Office for Congressional Ethics. And this oversight committee will look into where our taxpayer money went.
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Vicky’s family pretends to be family farmers, when their primary source of income is a multi-million dollar farm equipment dealership.
She hasn’t spoken publicly about whether she applied for PPP.
But as she’s taken more than $1M in farm subsidies, chances are she has.
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She hasn’t spoken publicly about whether she applied for PPP.
But as she’s taken more than $1M in farm subsidies, chances are she has.
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The oversight committee will investigate those who benefited from the bailout.
And while it would be easy to cast this vote aside as one of Vicky’s partisan moments, she has a vested self-interest in a lack of oversight over the PPP program to which she so fiercely clings.
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And while it would be easy to cast this vote aside as one of Vicky’s partisan moments, she has a vested self-interest in a lack of oversight over the PPP program to which she so fiercely clings.
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For that reason, I call on her to make a public disclosure of what Heartland Tractor and Hartzler-related enterprises received from the multiple bailouts.
I’ll go first. My family received $0.
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I’ll go first. My family received $0.
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Accountability isn’t a dirty word. Where I come from taking responsibility, speaking honestly, and doing the right thing—especially when it’s hard—is all that matters.
We need that in Washington.
I hope a decade in DC hasn’t made Vicky forget.
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We need that in Washington.
I hope a decade in DC hasn’t made Vicky forget.
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