EDITORIAL: Pandemic pork bails out union pension plans

Democrats continue to complain that Republicans risk death and destruction by blocking billions in more spending to prepare for the next COVID wave. The White House coronavirus coordinator said in March that “severe” and “immediate” consequences would ensue absent additional funding for testing and treatment of the uninsured and with other pandemic-related spending.

Thus it was instructive to see President Joe Biden last week bragging to a Cleveland audience about his administration’s $90 billion program to bail out union pension plans. “With today’s actions, millions of workers will have the dignified retirement they earned and they deserve,” Mr. Biden said. In addition to buying blue-collar votes, the cash dump is intended to shore up nearly 200 struggling multicompany retirement plans created through union negotiations.

Union pension plans and COVID may seem unrelated. In fact, however, authorization for this generous subsidy was included in the $1.9 trillion “emergency” American Rescue Plan, which was supposed to help the nation weather the ravages of virus-related economic destruction. The measure, passed in March 2021, included health care subsidies, unemployment insurance extensions, direct cash payouts and tax breaks intended to cushion the blow of the pandemic.

But, as might be expected, it also included enough pork to supply Famous Dave’s for the rest of the century. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget concluded that 15 percent of the initiatives in the bill were directed toward “long-standing policy priorities that are not directly related to the” pandemic. Those would include transportation projects, a minimum wage increase, “environmental justice” grants and massive taxpayer subsidies for union pension funds.

Yet now Democrats cry poverty when it comes to pandemic control.

“Democrats have been hammering this home for months — we’ve been yelling from the rooftops, warning what’s at risk if we don’t get this done,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said last month. “The fact the administration has had to resort to allocating resources from our long-term needs to keep our short-term response afloat — that’s not a solution. That’s a stopgap. And it should be a clear sign of how urgent it is that Congress take action.”

Congress did take action. But instead of funding a more stable response to the coronavirus, Democrats opted instead to lard up a relief bill with handouts to their political supporters. Meanwhile, average Americans who watch inflation eat into their monthly budgets as their 401(k) accounts go south get no such consideration — and are expected to pay for Mr. Biden’s Cleveland Christmas.

If Democrats seek more money for pandemic control, they should repurpose existing funds. It’s simply a matter of priorities.