That can’t be said for the privileged members of the House of Representatives and Senate who seem to believe they’re way too important to assume the risks of COVID-19 contraction, have self-imposed their stay at home, and don’t appear to be in much of a rush to go back to work like the millions of “essential” people who are working and millions of others who’d like to go back to work.

House members, most of whom have been in their districts for all of April as Covid-19 spreads, will not have to travel to Washington before May 4 “absent an emergency,” the Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office said. It added that lawmakers would get “sufficient notice” if they have to travel to Washington to vote on coronavirus legislation.

While Congress has been out of the Capitol, the coronavirus has taken a steeper human and economic toll. U.S. Covid-19 cases now top 560,000, and the disease has been linked to more than 22,800 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
— CNBC, 4/13/20

Some politicians are managing to deal with the shutdown inconvenience as best they can.

As 22 million-plus Americans have lost their jobs, millions of others are resorting to waiting in long lines at food banks while others have no idea when and if they’ll get their next paycheck, members of Congress, the Senate and their staffs are enjoying time at home with their paychecks uninterrupted.

Rubbing it in our faces is not cool.

 
When it comes to those like Speaker Pelosi who don’t need a taxpayer funded paycheck, a little sensitivity to the plight of her fellow citizens is in order.

This is especially distressing to some of us “ordinary people” whom were told that we could expect assistance, not that all of us wanted a hand-out. The gesture, at least, would’ve been nice.

The president and his Democrat leadership have now told us that certain institutions need this bloated stimulus package sooner in order to save jobs. Whether they’re right or not will be for historians to decide, but unless you did some early hand-washing, you may be SOL.

$302.28 billion was given to select businesses that were supposedly important to the financial solvency of our nation. However, after that sizable cash infusion, the economy continued to tank. The handling of our economy over last eight years has been blamed politically, while presidential candidates (in order to differentiate themselves from an opposing party’s incumbent) in unison talked-down the economy, calling it the worst since the Hoover Administration. Add to that the simmering Democrat Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-socialist experiment run amok, “bad bookkeeping” fraud, things went downhill.

We were told certain institutions couldn’t be allowed to fail, and they received no-strings attached TARP money. Now let me ask you; when was the last time (aside from receiving a tax refund) did the government ever give us something without any guidelines or laws directing us how to utilize what they gave us? Yet it was done and then some, given the perks, junkets, and parties our money allowed them.

Here’s one theory why: the recipients washed the hands of politicians.

For example, the Bank of America (incl. Merrill Lynch) received $45 million. Why would they get that kind of money, no strings attached? Maybe because Kenneth Lewis, Chairman and CEO of Bank of America, washed some hands, giving $56,300 to Republicans and $15,163 to Democrats. Stan O’Neal, Merrill Lynch Chairman and CEO from 2003-2007, donated $5,000 to Republicans and $7,800 to Democrats, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Current chairman John Thain has given $234,800 to Republicans, $18,000 to Democrats, and $108,750 to special interests.

Citigroup received $45 million, and I’m sure the fact that their 2002-2007 chairman and CEO‘s campaign donations got them some attention. Charles Prince gave $53,100 to Republicans and $100,700 to Democrats, including Barack Obama, the DNCC, and Charlie Rangel. Citigroup’s chairman-designate Richard Parson has donated another $259,850 to Republicans and $17,300 to Democrats. Current chairman Vikram Pandit gave $40,000 to Republicans and $5,000 to Democrats.

AIG received $40 million of TARP money, and the fact that CEO Edward Liddy gave $14,100 to Republicans and $250 to Democrats probably didn’t hurt.

$25 million dollars went to Wells Fargo, and Chairman Richard Kovacevich donated $181,500 to Republicans, $32,200 to Democrats, and $42,920 to special interests. Quite the coincidence….

And don’t let the party disparities fool you. That money was clearly meant as insurance, either way.

Another $25 million was used to keep yet another fine financial institution up and running. Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO, gave $46,800 to Republicans and $491,700 to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Mark Warner, Steny Hoyer, Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, the DNCC, Mary Landrieu, and Barack Obama.

Remember all the outrage that was the automotive hearings, when our elected officials let the Big Three have it? It would appear that was probably all for show.

General Motors received $14.284 million after Chairman Rick Wagoner gave $17,100 to Republicans, $18,800 to Democrats, and $76,932, mostly to the GM Political Action Committee (which lobbies politicians).

Goldman Sachs got $10 million as Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein gave $5,000 to Republicans and $130,290 to Democrats, including the DSCC, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Jon Corzine, John Kerry, Tom Daschle (reported?), Chuck Schumer, Bob Torricelli, and Al Gore.

You get the idea. It’s clear as day that to get any “assistance” from our lawmakers, you got to pay to play.

After months of anger and anxiety, our part in the Rick Senninger saga will be over on Monday when our house is sold from under us. I didn’t pay off any politicians requesting special treatment when our world was falling down around us, and we don’t have anything near the world of opulence like those mentioned above.

The good thing is, that unlike those CEOs and chairmen, we can sleep well over the coming days and weeks knowing that we’ll not have to continue paying out big sums of money to the elected just to keep them off our backs, or to get their attention when we need a boost.

As this vitally-important pork-payoff stimulus plan edges towards implementation, remember that those who washed hands will be the first ones helped. Those of us unwashed will be the ones to bear the brunt of the economic fiasco created by the very ones who now say they know how fix it.

For a price….