President Joe Biden gifted $83 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to Arizona State University (ASU) for the construction of a library honoring the late centrist Senator John McCain.
The library will serve as the anchor to ASU’s future McCain Campus. The funds came from the American Rescue Plan, which was originally promised as a means of “delivering direct relief to the American people,” who sustained lasting financial and emotional strains endured by the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Capital Projects Fund under the American Rescue Plan will issue the funding. The $83 million is part of the $10 million total within the fund.
It appears that the real goal of the American Rescue Plan is to satisfy government whims and political ends, as especially evident by the Capital Projects Fund. Much of the most recent awards have gone to internet infrastructure: over $8.4 billion. It appears that the millions for the McCain Library are part of the leftovers from the broadband internet agenda. Though Americans suffer historic levels of inflation, crime, and a border crisis initiated by a pandemic and exacerbated under the current administration, they’ll be able to go online in more places throughout the country besides their local public library.
The $83 million in federal taxpayer dollars, meant to go back to the people, will instead go to an 83,000 square foot library near Papago Park designed specifically for “underserved communities.” Meaning: the entire public may not always benefit from the library, just those that meet certain equity criteria determined by ASU and/or the government.
Those special services include telemedicine, health screenings and monitoring, job fairs, employment training programs, and skills development training classes.
Interestingly, Gov. Katie Hobbs was present to introduce Biden on Thursday morning, even though the evening before she stepped down as governor temporarily and wasn’t present on the tarmac when Biden landed. Treasurer Kimberly Yee served as acting governor, with both Secretary Adrian Fontes and Attorney General Kris Mayes absent.
“This [library] could not come at a better time as our state and country grapple with challenges to our nation’s core values; challenges to morality, to truth, to democracy, and to freedom,” said Hobbs. “It’s moments like these that give me renewed hope for our future. I have seen what can happen when we come together for the greater good and center policy around people instead of politics; that’s what I’ve done and will continue to do as governor.”
WELCOME WAGON Phoenix's @MayorGallego was lone Dem on tarmac to greet @POTUS Wednesday night at @PHXSkyHarbor. AZ's top Ds – Hobbs/Fontes/Mayes – out of state. Congressional D's stuck in DC shutdown jam. pic.twitter.com/EwgHB3oV6Z
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) September 28, 2023
Despite the subject of his grand gift being McCain, Biden’s speech announcing the library focused more on demonizing his political opposition. The president mentioned “MAGA,” “Republicans,” and “extremists” individually more times than he mentioned McCain.
Biden made it clear that there are two classes of citizens in this country: those who align with his governance, and the “MAGA extremist[s]” he defined as those opposed to “woke” ideologies like sexualized curriculum and manufactured diversity of race.
“The MAGA extremists across the country have made it clear where they stand. So, the challenge for the rest of America — for the majority of Americans is to make clear where we stand,” said Biden.