Cuomo Rips McConnell for Urging State Bankruptcy: Kentucky Takes More Federal Money Than NY

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lit into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for suggesting that states go bankrupt amid the coronavirus pandemic.

McConnell, arguing against “blue state bailouts,” said he was not interested in providing federal aid to states hit hard by the virus.

"I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route," he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. "It saves some cities. And there's no good reason for it not to be available. My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don't have to do that. That's not something I'm going to be in favor of."

Cuomo: That’s “dumb”

“This is one of the really dumb ideas of all time,” Cuomo said in a news briefing on Thursday. “Not to fund state and local governments is incredibly short-sighted. They want to fund small businesses, fund the airlines, I understand that, but state and local governments fund police and fire and teachers and schools. How do you not fund police and fire and teachers and schools in the midst of this crisis?”

“It makes no sense that the entire nation is dependent on what the governors do to reopen … but then you're not going to fund the state government. You think I’m going to do it alone? How do you think this is going to work?” he added. “You want to see that market fall through the cellar — let New York state declare bankruptcy.”

Kentucky takes more federal money than NY:

"NYS puts $116 billion more into the federal pot than we take out," the New York governor tweeted. "Kentucky TAKES $148 billion more from the federal pot than they put in," Cuomo continued. "But we don't deserve help now because the 15,000 people who died here were predominantly democrats?"

 

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