Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA, and The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles are worried that the recently passed $2 trillion federal coronavirus relief package demonstrates that the policies conservatives passionately oppose—such as universal healthcare—are not actually too expensive for the country to afford.
Knowles hosted Kirk for a “Quarantined Chat” during which the duo covered a myriad of topics, including the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump signed a bill last week that provides $2 trillion in economic stimulus—the largest amount in American history—and politicians are already calling for trillions more in spending. Kirk and Knowles expressed mutual concerns over the stimulus bills.
“Here’s the long and short of it is that middle America, real small business relief, the best stimulus they could have, Michael, is the green light to go back to work,” Kirk said. “I mean, that’s what they want. I understand it’s not that simple, and I understand there’s all sorts of competing data and all that sort of stuff. However, I am of the opinion, like, hey, posting a $4 trillion deficit, that should be something that should be deliberated so thoughtfully and critiqued so carefully, not jammed through and passed in what I consider with some of the most egregious waste that I’ve seen in a bill in the history of the U.S. government.”
Knowles agreed and said that the part of the stimulus package that is “so scary” for conservatives is the “precedent” quickly passing trillions in federal spending sets in broader policy debates—especially the element of the stimulus package that will give cash directly to adult citizens.
“The sticking point for me is that we are now setting the precedent of the government on a massive scale sending direct checks to people because of a time of crisis,” Knowles said. “Well, look, maybe this is a serious crisis—at least an economic one—but what about the next time?”
Kirk raised his own concern regarding the proposed Medicare for All plan to make health care free at the point of service and capping prescription costs at $200 a year for each person.
“Yeah, but Michael, Medicare for All costs $32 trillion, but not $32 trillion a year,” Kirk said.
“That’s right,” Knowles said.
“That number that Bernie said was over 10 years. So now we’ve set a precedent that $3 trillion a year for Medicare for All is not that much,” Kirk said. “In fact, it’s perfectly affordable. UBI [Universal Basic Income], why not do it every quarter? Why not every month?”
