‘It’s not about money, but if you want to make it about money, you’re making a mistake because you’re going to lose…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) New York’s Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded to President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the federal government should withhold bail-outs from fiscally irresponsible, “Democrat run” states by claiming the state of New York has been “bailing out” other states “for decades.”
Cuomo: “Who happen to be the donor states? Who are the giver states? They are the same states that they are talking about now. Who are the taker states? Kentucky, Southeast part of the country.” pic.twitter.com/kelqvlfd7v
— The Hill (@thehill) April 27, 2020
Cuomo said it’s “repugnant” to compare the “dollars and cents” contributions of individual states, but added that an actual tally would show New York repeatedly contributing more than the federal government or any other state.
“It’s not the time to be saying ‘Well you put in a dollar more than I did, or I put in $5 more than you did.’ … But if you want to go to who’s getting bailed out and who paid what, nobody would be bailing out New York state,” Cuomo said during Tuesday’s press briefing.
“New York state has been bailing them out every year for decades,” he continued. “If you want to do an analysis of who is a giver and who is a taker, we are the No. 1 giver.”
Cuomo went on to claim that for every $1 New York state gives to the federal government, it receives 91 cents back.
The other “giver states” include New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and California, according to Cuomo, while the “taker states” include Kentucky and the “southeast part of the country,” he said.
“It’s not about money, but if you want to make it about money, you’re making a mistake because you’re going to lose on a tally sheet,” Cuomo added. “And it’s not even going to be close.”
Trump suggested on Monday that the federal government should not be responsible for bailing out liberal states that continuously mismanage federal funds.
This idea is similar to one proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last week, when he argued that states should be able to declare bankruptcy in order to prevent the federal government from sinking further into debt.