States and Cities Are Demanding a Federal Bailout [OPINION]

Governors and mayors across the fruited plain are stressing out over the lack of a federal bailout plan now that Congress has high-tailed it out of town.

Congressional Democrats attempted to play chicken with the Trump Administration on a COVID-19 relief package that would have provided additional aid for the local districts, but when they thought they had Donald Trump cornered, he snookered them with a series of executive orders over the weekend.

The executive orders are not perfect, but they force the Democrats back to the bargaining table to negotiate a better deal for everyone. The problem for the Democrats is that Trump's orders provide what they have demanded but not all of what they have promised.

To oppose what Trump has ordered would be mighty awkward for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer at this point. To support the orders would be to support Trump. And they don't want to do that, either.

Governors and mayors have spent with reckless abandon since the beginning of the COVID crisis, anticipating that the federal government would bail them out. Charlie Baker told state lawmakers they have to spend to get reimbursed by the federal government. Mayor Jon Mitchell had the same approach when leasing COVID overflow facilities.

Many state and local governments are debt-ridden because they didn't prepare or relied on federal reimbursements for money they spent. Ridiculous lockdown mandates resulted in millions of dollars in lost revenues. And now the bills are due.

Congress will eventually rally to assist state and local governments. And that will only lead to more mismanagement.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.