A comical skit featuring Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) posted online Sunday purports to ‘explain’ the “Democrat math” behind the $1.9 trillion COVID bill passed by the Senate over the weekend.
The skit, in which Crenshaw plays two characters — someone “from the government” and an ordinary American — is meant to demonstrate the yawning gap between what the expensive relief bill costs individual taxpayers versus what they are getting in return.
“How are you doing? Who are you?” Crenshaw, the ordinary American, asks as the ‘government’ character as he sits down.
“Well, I’m from the government,” that character says. “I’m here to save America, man, I just need your help.”
Democrat math….doesn’t work. pic.twitter.com/1UpACYwJzw
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 8, 2021
The ordinary American character then asks if ‘the government’ is finally going to disperse “hundreds of billions” in small business relief passed in earlier COVID measures that has yet to be dispersed.
“Well, uh, here’s the thing, we’re gonna get to that,” the government character, dressed in a suit and dark sunglasses, responds. “Right now, I’m gonna need about, oh, $5,750 from ya, give or take.”
“Uh, what? Really?” the ordinary American character, who appears to be a small business owner, asks.
“Yeah, come on, man, small price to pay for what you’re gonna get out of it,” says the government. “See, we’re gonna make that go a really long way.”
“I mean, I guess so, I mean, if that’s really what it takes. I obviously don’t have it on me,” says the business owner.
“Charge your kids,” the government man says. “They have plenty of money.”
“I don’t have any kids,” the business owner responds.
“Then charge somebody else’s kids. Come on, man,” the government man says, using a phrase commonly linked to President Joe Biden.
“Okay,” says the business owner. “I appreciate it, I guess, I mean, it has been a tough year.”
“‘Kay…here ya go,” the government man responds, pretending to sign a check and handing it to the business owner character.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“That’s your $1,400 check,” the government man replies, before adding, “You’re welcome,” and getting up to leave.
“But I gave you…and you gave me back…I don’t…” an incredulous business owner responds.
The skit was meant to demonstrate, in simple mathematical terms, the disparity between its cost to taxpayers and their benefit from a piece of legislation that has been sold by Democrats as focused primarily on helping Americans negatively impacted economically by the pandemic.
Republicans have blasted the bill for spending more than a trillion dollars on unrelated things, including payoffs to Democrat-run states and cities that had deep budget deficits long before the pandemic hit.
Also, a GOP analysis of the bill found that a paltry amount is actually earmarked for COVID relief.
“This $1.9 trillion bill is the same size of the bill we passed last April, right in the middle of the pandemic,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said last week. “This is not the same country we had one year ago. Only 9 percent of this $1.9 trillion is related to health care, and less than 1 percent of this $1.9 trillion bill is related to vaccines.”
Nevertheless, Crenshaw’s depiction was criticized as inappropriate by some social media users.
“This is a ridiculous framing. It’s not that you’re getting $1400 and it’s costing you $5757 – it’s that you’re getting $1400 and it’s costing your kids $5757, plus interest,” one user wrote in response to a tweet from a user who made a similar point Crenshaw made in his video.
This is a ridiculous framing. It’s not that you’re getting $1400 and it’s costing you $5757 – it’s that you’re getting $1400 and it’s costing your kids $5757, plus interest. https://t.co/8x0umfP0S7
— Zack Kanter (@zackkanter) March 6, 2021
Others chimed in as well.
Also I’m raising my kids. The least they can do in return is pay off the debt.
— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) March 7, 2021
Oh man, we're waaaay past our kids, this debt debt is biblical, like to the seventh son of the seventh son of the seventh son (and anyone else Caesar can squeeze). https://t.co/COtsbFMVAJ
— Minnow (@Phila_Mino) March 7, 2021
That's a ridiculous frame.
It also means it is very hard for many people to understand how stimulus works, how money works, how time and money work together, why a government isn't a household, etc etc.
In general, when someone does math like this they are making a bad pt. https://t.co/ZcMzhcKM38
— Adam Davidson (@adamdavidson) March 7, 2021
Funny how you have to misrepresent the truth because it’s 100% correct that the majority of taxpayers footing this bill are the ones not receiving a check. By the way, I don’t even want your damn handout
— JJ Unique (@showmeyourputs) March 7, 2021
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Jon@bizpacreview.com
Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.
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