Bait-and-Switch: Georgia Democrats Already Feel Like They Were Lied To

On the same day that Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were sworn in as the latest two members of the Senate, solidifying control of the upper chamber for the Democratic Party, a new report suggests that their Georgia voters are already angry about what they consider a bait-and-switch promise for $2,000 coronavirus stimulus checks. The Biden administration is now touting quick delivery of $1,400 checks, which, when you add them to the $600 already delivered by Trump, would add up to a total of $2K. But to many Georgia Democrats, this smacks of politician math.

“Warnock and Ossoff made it a point to endorse and exclusively say ‘$2,000 checks,’” a voter named Oscar Zaro told conservative watchdog site, Mediaite. “A lot of the people in my district voted blue in the runoff for two main reasons. One: Loeffler and Perdue denying us relief during COVID while profiting millions themselves; and two, $2,000 checks.”

Bigger COVID stimulus checks turned into perhaps THE major issue of the Georgia runoffs; Warnock and Ossoff repeatedly attacked Mitch McConnell (and, by extension, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue) for wanting to cheap-out when it came to the checks. They vowed to embrace the Biden agenda, which called for $2,000 checks to be sent out soon after the inauguration. And they had the full support of the President-elect, who told voters exactly what they would be getting.

“If you send Jon and the reverend to Washington, those $2,000 checks will go out the door, restoring hope and decency for so many people who are struggling right now,” Biden said at a rally for the candidates.

With the size of the checks now having been diminished, Georgia Democrats feel like they’ve been bamboozled.

“It’s betrayal of the working class,” one Democratic canvasser told Mediaite. “I was lying to people who were relying on this. At the time I didn’t know it was a lie. But that was not the reality.”

As far as the new stimulus is concerned, it has also attracted its share of criticism on Capitol Hill – some of it from within Biden’s own party. The Washington Post reported:

The most conservative Senate Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.), has already expressed skepticism about the need for a new round of stimulus checks, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that Biden isn’t going far enough by proposing $1,400 checks, even though Biden’s approach means most people will end up with $2,000 given the earlier batch of $600 checks. “$2,000 means $2,000. $2,000 does not mean $1,400,″ Ocasio-Cortez said.

Seems that Biden is off to a shaky start…and that Georgia Democrats have buyer’s remorse only a day into the president’s first term.