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The Las Vegas Review-Journal Editorial Board (TNS)
In Iowa, officials used federal COVID money to build a new baseball stadium near the famed “Field of Dreams” diamond. Michigan politicians directed more than $25 million in pandemic cash toward tourism and marketing efforts. In New Mexico, officials spent $16 million in COVID funds to run a lottery for people who got vaccinated.
Joe Biden’s aptly misnamed American Rescue Plan, passed in 2021, dedicated $350 billion for state and local governments to stem budget losses from pandemic business closures and subsequent tax shortfalls. As critics predicted, it became a massive slush fund for government workers and public-sector unions. The waste was unprecedented. In addition to the above examples, a Heritage Foundation review found pandemic money lavished to rehab ski resorts and golf courses and to build tennis and pickleball courts.
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