Appearing on the Hugh Hewitt Show on Wednesday, GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he would not oppose states filing for bankruptcy to deal with economic fallout from the coronavirus.

But he would not support states using federal funds to bail themselves out of pension problems and to cover the costs of unwise economic decisions they have made.

“I mean, we all represent states. We all have governors regardless of party who would love to have free money…And that’s why I said yesterday we’re going to push the pause button here, because I think this whole business of additional assistance for state and local governments need[s] to be thoroughly evaluated…There’s not going to be any desire on the Republican side to bail out state pensions by borrowing money from future generations.”

McConnell brings up a salient point. There is no such thing as free money, no matter how the federal government doles it out. Our children and grandchildren will get the bill. Are we willing to burden them with that albatross in future years?

“Yeah, I would certainly be in favor of allowing states to use the bankruptcy route. It saves some cities,” said McConnell. “And there’s no good reason for it not to be available.”

During the crash of 2008 the idea was brought up and not used. “While bankruptcy for states may seem like an attractive alternative to state bailouts, there are significant constitutional concerns that should be addressed by congressional hearings,” then cautioned former GOP Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas.

McConnell concluded, “My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don’t have to do that. That’s not something I’m going to be in favor of.”

A pause in federal financial aid to the states would draw the vicious ire of Democrat governors across the nation. They are happy with the status quo of kicking the can down the road and making taxpayers foot the bill decades from now. But should future Americans be saddled with this debt because of the bad economic decisions and short-term thinking by Democrat governors now? McConnell is right. no. Funds now dispersed as virus aid should be used for that, not to cover state shortfalls.

This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on April 23, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Trump nails Biden in hilarious ad
NY mosque remains open for daily prayers as churches all over America are hit with mandatory shutdowns
China calls U.S. ‘primitive society’

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Steve Gruber.