$1.9T stimulus: Alabama’s Sen. Tuberville calls bill House just passed ‘heist of taxpayers’ money’ – al.com

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville called the new stimulus bill passed by Congress today “a progressive giveaway and a heist of taxpayers’ money.”
“We did not even get to see the final bill until we were about to vote on it,” the freshman Alabama Republican senator said. But Republicans “took the opportunity we had” to file amendments “to make sure rural communities got their slice of the pie, supporting vaccine distribution and testing, and trimming excess fat in the bill. Tuberville’s staff said he filed 23 amendments and offered one on the Senate floor, and other Republicans filed “hundreds” of amendments.
“At every turn we were shut down,” Tuberville told Alabama reporters in his weekly media update and question session.
Tuberville said people “need to understand what this was. It was not a rescue plan. It’s not targeted relief. It’s a progressive giveaway and a heist of taxpayers’ money. When we have to borrow this much money we are digging our country deeper into debt…. Our kids and grandkids are going to owe more money to countries like China.”
Tuberville said he did support the $1,400 stimulus checks and “giving businesses help,” but the ‘best thing is to get back open, get businesses back open, kids back in school…. The economy is going to have problems with all this money we’re printing. People need it, but the lasting effects is going to be a terrible thing.”
Asked about the vaccine rollout in Alabama, Tuberville said he took a call today from the Muscle Shoals mayor saying his town has “very little vaccine” to distribute.
“We understand it’s a process,” Tuberville said. “It has to be made, put in the bottles, refrigerated, shipped, (you) have to have syringes and all the things that come with it.”
“I’d just like to know how they’re picking out the areas where they’re shipping it to,” Tuberville said. “We can’t get those answers.”
Updated at 7:40 p.m. CST to correct the numbers of Republican amendments to the bill filed on the Senate floor.