Stimulus & Bailout Watch Thread

[Winehole23]

DMC brought his pea shooter this morning.

lol grousing that something was left out of a short caption for a tweet.

[ElNono]

What do you suggest, that they remain unemployed and just be wards of the state?

I suggest the government continues to help unemployed people deal with paying rent and getting food, without rescinding people's rights to sue a company if they can prove they were reckless, for the duration of the health emergency.

[boutons_deux]

" personal income rose 7.3 percent from Q1 to Q2, likely due to (https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1288820108576645121)

federal stimulus payments,
unemployment benefit boosts, and
PPP loans to businesses.

The personal savings rate also rose to an unprecedented 25.7 percent :lol not spending, is 2/3 of economy

as Americans prepared for the economic downturn and had no idea when it would end."

https://theweek.com/speedreads/928366/american-income-rises-7-percent-even-economy-sees-sharpest-slump-ever (https://theweek.com/speedreads/928366/american-income-rises-7-percent-even-economy-sees-sharpest-slump-ever)

[boutons_deux]

4 truths about America's rapidly shrinking economy

1) The economy is in the toilet.

the worst single-quarter decline (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/07/30/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus) recorded in statistics that go back to 1947

New unemployment claims have been holding steady for weeks (https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/07/30/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus) at a level

several times higher than the worst point of the Great Recession.

2) The coronavirus rescue packages are working.

overall personal income actually grew by 7.3 percent (https://twitter.com/JustinWolfers/status/1288820108576645121), thanks entirely to the boost to
unemployment insurance,
the economic impact payments, and
other government rescues.

3) Recovery is not coming soon.

most of the decline in spending, but instead the presence of coronavirus.

the economy will not return to its previous strength (https://theweek.com/articles/922834/donald-trump-destroyed-economy) for the indefinite future.

4) If the rescues are not renewed, heaven help us

America is in a severe emergency that will get much worse on the current track (https://theweek.com/articles/926122/congress-throw-american-economy-cliff).

Republicans recently proposed slashing it by two-thirds (https://theweek.com/articles/927868/republicans-coronavirus-aid-bill-joke-might-take-stock-market-crash-change-minds). That will likely end with tens of millions being thrown out on the street.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/928415/4-truths-about-americas-rapidly-shrinking-economy (https://theweek.com/speedreads/928415/4-truths-about-americas-rapidly-shrinking-economy)

Repugs fully intend to keep America on a MUCH WORSE track, with their "stimulus" proposal of

increasing poverty,

decreasing GDP,

increasing unemployment,

Ms losing lodging into homelessness

The Repug plutocrats don't give a fuck.

[CosmicCowboy]

I suggest the government continues to help unemployed people deal with paying rent and getting food, without rescinding people's rights to sue a company if they can prove they were reckless, for the duration of the health emergency.

Just curious...If the employer gives the employees all the masks they want, personal hand sanitizer, access to soap and water in the restroom etc. Are they reckless if the employee doesn't use them?

[boutons_deux]

Just curious...If the employer gives the employees all the masks they want, personal hand sanitizer, access to soap and water in the restroom etc. Are they reckless if the employee doesn't use them?

They are reckless if they don't fire employees who refuse to cooperate protecting the health and lives of all employees.

[CosmicCowboy]

They are reckless if they don't fire employees who refuse to cooperate protecting the health and lives of all employees.

good fucking luck with that. :lol

[Blake]

good fucking luck with that. :lol

Bullshit. If it's something mandated by health code it's an easy termination.

[boutons_deux]

Lawmakers said aviation companies laid off workers even as they took Cares Act funds

more than $500 million in federal funds went to four companies that have laid off more than 7,500 workers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/lawmakers-said-aviation-companies-laid-off-workers-even-as-they-took-cares-act-funds/2020/07/29/0c592ae6-d1cb-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/lawmakers-said-aviation-companies-laid-off-workers-even-as-they-took-cares-act-funds/2020/07/29/0c592ae6-d1cb-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_to_your_he alth&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_tyh&wpmk=1&pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.e yJjb29raWVuYW1lIjoid3BfY3J0aWQiLCJpc3MiOiJDYXJ0YSI sImNvb2tpZXZhbHVlIjoiNTk3NDBkYjNhZGU0ZTIxYTg0OTNmZ GFlIiwidGFnIjoiNWYyMzJkZDZmZTFmZjY1ZTExNzBlOTg5Iiw idXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2FzaGluZ3RvbnBvc3QuY29tL 2xvY2FsL3RyYWZmaWNhbmRjb21tdXRpbmcvbGF3bWFrZXJzLXN haWQtYXZpYXRpb24tY29tcGFuaWVzLWxhaWQtb2ZmLXdvcmtlc nMtZXZlbi1hcy10aGV5LXRvb2stY2FyZXMtYWN0LWZ1bmRzLzI wMjAvMDcvMjkvMGM1OTJhZTYtZDFjYi0xMWVhLThjNTUtNjFlN 2ZhNWU4MmFiX3N0b3J5Lmh0bWw_dXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPXdwX3R vX3lvdXJfaGVhbHRoJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX3Nvd XJjZT1uZXdzbGV0dGVyJndwaXNyYz1ubF90eWgmd3Btaz0xIn0 .7zyx7CCpMM44w3Axii0DDrqJdwjzikEK2kql6GxQrhk)

accountability? punishment? give the money back?

[CosmicCowboy]

Bullshit. If it's something mandated by health code it's an easy termination.

Maybe, maybe not.

[Blake]

Nice strawman but it's not mandated. You continue to make an ass out of yourself trying to argue with me.

Huh? I'm directly responding to your question. Masks are absolutely mandated in Bexar County at all places of business. If you're talking about some other type of business you should have said so.

You're an idiot, tbh.

[ElNono]

Just curious...If the employer gives the employees all the masks they want, personal hand sanitizer, access to soap and water in the restroom etc. Are they reckless if the employee doesn't use them?

Nope. But there's no reason to shred a person's right to sue it's employer if they can actually prove there's been negligence. It's the antithesis of law and order.

[Blake]

Maybe, maybe not.

Lol

[Winehole23]

It's the pandemic, stupid


Criticizing a spendthrift government is often good politics for conservatives, but with your own party in the White House and an unemployment rate of 14.8, 13, and 10.9 percent in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio respectively (https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm), it’s a lot less likely to work.

The phrase “zombie Reaganism” gets thrown around a lot these days, but it’s hard to think of a better example than people who reach for a welfare cliff-style argument to argue against remediating hardship caused by the government throwing millions of people out of work.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/go-big-on-covid-relief-or-get-thrown-out-of-power/

[Winehole23]

Repost =/= endorsement

Bloom is obviously a conservative dickhead.

[DMC]

I suggest the government continues to help unemployed people deal with paying rent and getting food, without rescinding people's rights to sue a company if they can prove they were reckless, for the duration of the health emergency.

This country suffers from litigation sickness. It's unfortunate that stipulations must be imposed to prevent being sued for giving shit to people (not COVID fwiw).

[ElNono]

This country suffers from litigation sickness. It's unfortunate that stipulations must be imposed to prevent being sued for giving shit to people (not COVID fwiw).

There's already a ton of legal avenues to deal with workplace liability, from worker's comp to insurance. The notion we need to restrict citizen rights' further is at the very least disingenuous.

People can't make fucking rent, and these guys are thinking about lawsuit immunity for the same group who already received billions/trillions in aid, both on 'forgivable' loans and stock market rescue.

I don't hate businesses, but they got their fare share of rescuing... how about we take care of the little guy now? A $1200 check every 4 months ain't cutting it.

[Winehole23]

This country suffers from litigation sickness. It's unfortunate that stipulations must be imposed to prevent being sued for giving shit to people (not COVID fwiw).I can hear your heart breaking from here.

[Winehole23]

Free enterprise proponents: no need for state regulations, the tort system keeps businesses honest.

Also free enterprise proponents: businesses must be shielded from economy killing lawsuits!

[boutons_deux]

Government watchdog finds 'strong indicators of widespread fraud' in small business loan program



The Small Business Administration's watchdog said widespread instances of possible fraud were discovered in the agency's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
The inspector general found about $300 million that went to ineligible recipients or was double disbursed.
The agency says its internal controls caught most of the nefarious applications and is working to augment those tools.


https://www.businessinsider.com/widespread-fraud-likely-in-ppp-bailout-program-payments-sba-watchdog-2020-7

[CosmicCowboy]

For those that can't read the Wall Street journal: In today's paper.

Employers across the country are being sued by the families of workers who contend their loved ones contracted lethal cases of Covid-19 on the job, a new legal front that shows the risks of reopening workplaces.

Walmart Inc., Safeway Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and some health-care facilities have been sued for gross negligence or wrongful death since the coronavirus pandemic began unfolding in March. Employees’ loved ones contend the companies failed to protect workers from the deadly virus and should compensate their family members as a result. Workers who survived the virus also are suing to have medical bills, future earnings and other damages paid out.

In responding to the lawsuits, employers have said they took steps to combat the virus, including screening workers for signs of illness, requiring they wear masks, sanitizing workspaces and limiting the number of customers inside stores. Some point out that it is impossible to know where or how their workers contracted Covid-19, particularly as it spreads more widely across the country.

The new coronavirus has created a global health and economic crisis, responsible for the death of more than 150,000 people in the U.S. while straining resources and institutions.

The cases are part of an unfolding liability threat facing U.S. companies of all industries as many resume operations after having employees work remotely or being shut down altogether for months.

The coronavirus relief bill that Senate Republicans unveiled this week would make it harder for workers to sue their employer if they get sick on the job. The proposed legislation protects companies, schools and churches from being held liable for coronavirus infections beginning in December 2019, unless they acted with willful misconduct or engaged in grossly negligent behavior.


The bill would cap punitive damages, set a clear-and-convincing-evidence burden of proof and raise requirements for personal-injury lawsuits. It would also push such lawsuits to federal courts, which potentially are more favorable to defendants.

The measures face resistance in the Democratic-controlled House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes the GOP liability plans. She wants lawmakers to instead bolster protections for workers by strengthening Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules.

Legal experts say the GOP proposals would significantly curb, but not eliminate, cases filed on behalf of sickened workers.

“The amount of litigation on the horizon is enormous,” said Harold H. Kim, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, an arm of the business trade group.

Labor unions and consumer advocates say that few lawsuits have been filed, and that the Senate bill would deny redress to injured workers and their families. About 69 employment and labor cases contending that workers were exposed or potentially exposed to the virus had been filed as of late July, according to a coronavirus litigation tracker maintained by the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth.

Employers rarely are found liable for employee deaths tied to the workplace. That’s because the legal bar for proving fault is high, and because states often restrict such complaints to their workers’ compensation systems, which typically limit payouts to a portion of a worker’s salary, coverage of their medical bills and disability compensation.

Legal experts say the coronavirus pandemic could change how such cases play out. Early lawsuits on behalf of sickened workers center on whether employers adhered to state and federal guidelines for reducing the spread of the virus, which evolved rapidly in March and April, especially on mask use, and at times conflicted with each other.

Employers who didn’t send sick workers home, enforce social distancing or adhere to mask-wearing guidance could be found liable, legal experts say. Cases that show the employer acted with gross negligence—which aren’t precluded by the Senate proposal and sometimes can proceed outside the workers’ compensation system—could result in out-of-court settlements or end up before sympathetic juries.

Pedro Zuniga worked for 22 years handling produce in a Safeway distribution center in Tracy, Calif. In mid-March, he and other workers complained to supervisors that the work environment wasn’t safe because colleagues were coming in sick, according to Paul Matiasic, an attorney representing the claim by Mr. Zuniga’s family. Mr. Matiasic said management threatened to retaliate against workers if they didn’t show up as the distribution center expanded its hours to meet increased food-shopping demands.

On March 20, the grocer posted a “Team Talk” memo in the distribution center titled “Coronavirus Risks: Fact vs. Fiction.” The sign, which bears the logo of Safeway parent Albertsons Companies, recommended against wearing a mask in the workplace.

“If you are healthy, a mask will not protect you from the respiratory drops an infected person coughs out,” the sign read. “Open areas of the mask can let those drops in.”

On April 4, Mr. Zuniga—trembling, coughing and feverish—went to an area hospital after getting a Covid-19 test, which came back positive. The next day he was transferred to intensive care, where he was put on a ventilator and placed in a medically induced coma. He died eight days later at age 52.

Norma Zuniga, his widow and the mother of their five children, in May sued Safeway and Albertsons for gross negligence and wrongful death in Alameda County Superior Court seeking general and punitive damages. The lawsuit contends that the grocer failed to follow March 9 guidance from OSHA aimed at preparing workplaces for Covid-19, which called for isolating sick workers. It said the grocer misled workers when it said that wearing protective equipment wouldn’t help prevent the spread of the disease.


“It defies common sense,” Mr. Matiasic said of the mask posting, a copy of which is included in Ms. Zuniga’s lawsuit.

An Albertsons spokeswoman said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation. In July, Safeway and Albertsons filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that it didn’t meet the criteria for proceeding outside the workers’ compensation system. It also had the case moved to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The grocer denied that it failed to take appropriate workplace safety precautions. It said that as of March 20, neither the CDC’s nor California’s official guidance recommended wearing masks, and that state occupational safety and health interim guidance at the time said masks didn’t protect people from airborne infectious disease. It also said that state health and safety officials inspected the distribution center on April 15 regarding Covid-19 procedures and found no violations.

The Ebola outbreak of 2014 offers some clues for how sickened workers’ lawsuits could play out.

Two nurses contracted the deadly virus after treating a Liberian Ebola patient at a Dallas hospital that year. One of them, Nina Pham, sued the company that owned the hospital for not properly training or protecting staff to handle Ebola. The hospital’s owner, Texas Health Resources, denied those claims. The two sides reached an undisclosed settlement out of court two years later.

Brent Walker, an attorney who represented Ms. Pham, said that hospitals that didn’t provide properly fitted N95 masks to clinicians treating Covid-19 patients face particular liability risk because federal regulations already required they do so before the pandemic hit. Other cases are expected to hinge on whether health-care employers followed international and U.S. safety guidelines, he said.

In general, cases may come down to a simple question: “What was negligent as opposed to just an unfortunate outcome?” Mr. Walker said.

Health-care employer groups say that facilities faced an unprecedented workplace safety threat when the pandemic unfolded and shouldn’t be held responsible if they took reasonable precautions to protect employees.

“Many of our institutions were overwhelmed with people with the symptoms and had to react accordingly and were not getting the best guidance from the government,” said Tom Nickels, executive vice president at the American Hospital Association. “To come back and second guess and pick apart actions that people took under a very stressful situation, we think, is incredibly unfair.”

Wando Evans worked the overnight shift stocking shelves and performing maintenance at a Walmart in the Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park. In late March, he told store management he had symptoms consistent with Covid-19, said Tony S. Kalogerakos, an attorney representing Mr. Evans’s family. “They just put him back to work,” Mr. Kalogerakos said, citing information from Mr. Evans’s colleagues.

On March 23, after his symptoms worsened, he again notified store management and was sent home. Two days later he was found dead in his home at age 51.

Mr. Evans’s family in April filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Walmart seeking unspecified damages. It contends the retailer didn’t initially follow CDC or OSHA recommendations, which put workers and the public at risk.

Walmart filed a motion to dismiss the case in June on the grounds that the claims cannot be brought in a civil lawsuit because they should be handled exclusively by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.

Peggy Cross, a 72-year-old part-time employee at a Walmart in Dallas, in June sued the retailer in Dallas County District Court for more than $1 million. Her suit contends that she contracted Covid-19 at work because the retailer failed to provide proper protective equipment and take other safety measures. Ms. Cross survived the virus after being hospitalized for a week in late April, according to her complaint. Ms. Cross and her lawyers didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove declined to answer specific questions on Mr. Evans’s lawsuit, or comment on Ms. Cross’s. He said that, while it may be impossible to determine where or how someone contracts the virus, the retailer is taking steps to protect workers and customers.

[CosmicCowboy]

In April, Walmart began taking store workers’ temperatures and requiring that they wear masks or other face coverings. Walmart also has installed sneeze guards at registers, placed social-distancing decals on floors and limited the number of customers in stores. It announced that customers must wear masks in stores in mid-July.

“We continue to mourn the loss of Wando Evans and our thoughts remain with his family. We’re also thankful Ms. Cross has recovered from her illness,” Mr. Hargrove said. “We take these situations seriously and are continuing to defend the company in both cases.”

The families of three employees who worked at Tyson’s pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, and died after contracting Covid-19 sued the meat company and nearly 20 of its executives, managers and supervisors in June.

Their complaint, filed in Iowa District Court for Blackhawk County, contends that management was aware that the virus was spreading through the plant by early April, and was urged by local law enforcement and health officials to shut it down. Yet Tyson kept the plant open for days and allowed employees to work crowded elbow-to-elbow while most weren’t wearing face coverings, according to the lawsuit.

More than 1,000 Tyson employees were infected with Covid-19 at the Waterloo facility and five have died, according to the lawsuit.

Among them were Sedika Buljic, a 58-year-old Bosnian refugee who worked at Tyson for 18 years before she died April 18 from complications of Covid-19. Reberiano Garcia, a 60-year-old father of 10 whose wife died of cancer last fall, succumbed to the virus on April 23. Jose Luis Ayala, Jr., a 44-year-old maintenance worker known for tinkering with computers, died May 25 from complications of the virus.

The complaint filed by their families says that the company acted with gross negligence because it encouraged sick employees to come to work and failed to implement or convey a range of safety measures to workers, many of whom don’t speak English. The families are seeking unspecified economic, noneconomic and punitive damages.

Tyson said on April 22 it was closing the plant because of Covid-19 cases, worker absenteeism and community concerns. It reopened May 7 after testing all returning workers for the virus, opening an on-site health clinic at the plant and taking other safety measures.

In a court filing earlier this week, Tyson denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and moved the case to a federal court.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson declined to comment on the lawsuit. He said the meat company started educating workers about the virus in multiple languages in January and told employees to stay home if they didn’t feel well. Mr. Mickelson said that the county health department for weeks declined to share information about Tyson workers with Covid-19, and that once it provided the company with a list of names and case information, the company decided to idle production at the plant.

“We’re saddened by the loss of any Tyson team member and sympathize with their families. Our top priority is the health and safety of our workers,” Mr. Mickelson said. He said Tyson is aware of a small number of active Covid-19 cases involving workers at its Waterloo plant.

Maurice Dotson, a nursing assistant who helped clothe and change the diapers of residents at the West Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Austin, Texas, went to a local hospital in early April with symptoms of the new coronavirus. He told his mother that “I got the virus at my job but I’m going to be all right,” said Quentin Brogdon, an attorney for his mother.

Mr. Dotson tested positive for the virus and, after being put on a ventilator, died April 17. He was 51 years old. In May his mother filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court against the nursing home seeking damages of $1 million or more. Her petition contends that the nursing home acted with negligence because it failed to appreciate the danger of Covid-19 and didn’t properly train workers to mitigate its spread.

Regency Integrated Health Services, which manages the nursing home, denied the allegations in a June court filing.

Brooke C. Ladner, a senior vice president at the company, declined to comment on the lawsuit. She said staff members at the facility are following enhanced infection control and prevention processes that were implemented when the pandemic began in early March, and that Mr. Dotson “was a dedicated health-care worker who touched countless lives.”

[Winehole23]

Stakes are real, Congress needs to come big.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/food-insecurity-30-million-americans-struggle-afford/#app

[boutons_deux]

Repugs recess for 3-day weekend to say FUCK YOU to The People

A more comprehensive look at skyrocketing unemployment rates

Unemployment rates for Black, Hispanic, and white workers, by gender, February–May 2020

https://www.epi.org/publication/covid-19-inequities-wilson-testimony/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute (https://www.epi.org/publication/covid-19-inequities-wilson-testimony/?utm_source=Economic+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=4aa4dd4632-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_21_07_37_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e7c5826c50-4aa4dd4632-59312805&mc_cid=4aa4dd4632&mc_eid=3f6f7e5a76#figure-a)

[Winehole23]

Repugs recess for 3-day weekend to say FUCK YOU to The PeopleMitch took us hostage in his negotiations with the Dems. Thousands will be pushed out into the street because of this short delay, but, leverage.


https://www.politico.com/newsletters/huddle/2020/07/31/senate-leaves-without-coronavirus-deal-489946?cid=su_tw_hu

[ElNono]

In April, Walmart began taking store workers’ temperatures and requiring that they wear masks or other face coverings. Walmart also has installed sneeze guards at registers, placed social-distancing decals on floors and limited the number of customers in stores. It announced that customers must wear masks in stores in mid-July.

“We continue to mourn the loss of Wando Evans and our thoughts remain with his family. We’re also thankful Ms. Cross has recovered from her illness,” Mr. Hargrove said. “We take these situations seriously and are continuing to defend the company in both cases.”

The families of three employees who worked at Tyson’s pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, and died after contracting Covid-19 sued the meat company and nearly 20 of its executives, managers and supervisors in June.

Their complaint, filed in Iowa District Court for Blackhawk County, contends that management was aware that the virus was spreading through the plant by early April, and was urged by local law enforcement and health officials to shut it down. Yet Tyson kept the plant open for days and allowed employees to work crowded elbow-to-elbow while most weren’t wearing face coverings, according to the lawsuit.

More than 1,000 Tyson employees were infected with Covid-19 at the Waterloo facility and five have died, according to the lawsuit.

Among them were Sedika Buljic, a 58-year-old Bosnian refugee who worked at Tyson for 18 years before she died April 18 from complications of Covid-19. Reberiano Garcia, a 60-year-old father of 10 whose wife died of cancer last fall, succumbed to the virus on April 23. Jose Luis Ayala, Jr., a 44-year-old maintenance worker known for tinkering with computers, died May 25 from complications of the virus.

The complaint filed by their families says that the company acted with gross negligence because it encouraged sick employees to come to work and failed to implement or convey a range of safety measures to workers, many of whom don’t speak English. The families are seeking unspecified economic, noneconomic and punitive damages.

Tyson said on April 22 it was closing the plant because of Covid-19 cases, worker absenteeism and community concerns. It reopened May 7 after testing all returning workers for the virus, opening an on-site health clinic at the plant and taking other safety measures.

In a court filing earlier this week, Tyson denied the plaintiffs’ allegations and moved the case to a federal court.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson declined to comment on the lawsuit. He said the meat company started educating workers about the virus in multiple languages in January and told employees to stay home if they didn’t feel well. Mr. Mickelson said that the county health department for weeks declined to share information about Tyson workers with Covid-19, and that once it provided the company with a list of names and case information, the company decided to idle production at the plant.

“We’re saddened by the loss of any Tyson team member and sympathize with their families. Our top priority is the health and safety of our workers,” Mr. Mickelson said. He said Tyson is aware of a small number of active Covid-19 cases involving workers at its Waterloo plant.

Maurice Dotson, a nursing assistant who helped clothe and change the diapers of residents at the West Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Austin, Texas, went to a local hospital in early April with symptoms of the new coronavirus. He told his mother that “I got the virus at my job but I’m going to be all right,” said Quentin Brogdon, an attorney for his mother.

Mr. Dotson tested positive for the virus and, after being put on a ventilator, died April 17. He was 51 years old. In May his mother filed a lawsuit in Travis County District Court against the nursing home seeking damages of $1 million or more. Her petition contends that the nursing home acted with negligence because it failed to appreciate the danger of Covid-19 and didn’t properly train workers to mitigate its spread.

Regency Integrated Health Services, which manages the nursing home, denied the allegations in a June court filing.

Brooke C. Ladner, a senior vice president at the company, declined to comment on the lawsuit. She said staff members at the facility are following enhanced infection control and prevention processes that were implemented when the pandemic began in early March, and that Mr. Dotson “was a dedicated health-care worker who touched countless lives.”

Walmart already moved to toss the lawsuit. Again, not sure why we need anything special here. Companies like these get sued for on-the-job injuries all the time.

And why would the family of these people do not deserve they day in court? If they can prove there was negligence on the company's part, isn't that justice?

[boutons_deux]

How the Trump Administration Allowed Aviation Companies to Keep Relief Money That Was Supposed to Go to Workers

One of the most generous programs of the bailout was

meant to help airline industry companies keep their workers on the payroll.

Some laid workers off first and then got the money anyway.

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-trump-administration-allowed-aviation-companies-to-keep-relief-money-that-was-supposed-to-go-to-workers (https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-trump-administration-allowed-aviation-companies-to-keep-relief-money-that-was-supposed-to-go-to-workers?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river)

[boutons_deux]

In GOP plan,

you can’t sue your employers for giving you COVID —

but they can sue you

The GOP proposal (https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s4317/BILLS-116s4317is.pdf) would erect almost

insurmountable obstacles to lawsuits by workers who become infected with the coronavirus at their workplaces.
It would absolve employers of responsibility for taking any but the most minimal steps to make their workplaces safe.

It would preempt tough state workplace safety laws (not that there are very many of them).

And while shutting the courthouse door to workers, it

would allow employers to sue workers for demanding safer conditions.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-07-29/covid-employer-liability?fbclid=IwAR29c9XMlmLWYYbrBZgnJpsjii2q1-Mgvxbx1BfkSrcmi-hSQz1oT4_p0SU (https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-07-29/covid-employer-liability?fbclid=IwAR29c9XMlmLWYYbrBZgnJpsjii2q1-Mgvxbx1BfkSrcmi-hSQz1oT4_p0SU)

[boutons_deux]

White House willing to cut a stimulus deal without ‘liability shield,’ breaking with McConnell

The Senate majority leader had said this week that

there would be no deal with Democrats without legal protections for employers against pandemic claims

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/31/liability-shield-congress-bailout/ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/31/liability-shield-congress-bailout/)

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/114265406_163851235277885_7189945599943571768_n.pn g?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=e_29nMub6RcAX92y1mI&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=5793b53852b0cb36ea2566a2e69715bc&oe=5F49113E

[boutons_deux]

Conservatives threaten to upend stimulus negotiations with last minute demand for payroll tax cut

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/conservatives-threaten-to-upend-stimulus-negotiations-with-last-minute-demand-for-payroll-tax-cut/ (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/conservatives-threaten-to-upend-stimulus-negotiations-with-last-minute-demand-for-payroll-tax-cut/)

Repugs intend to use
evictions,
foreclosures,
homelessness,
worse economy,
Ms more job losses,
incredible pain for America and Americans,

to get immunity for businesses and now to defund SS, Medicare, Medicaid.

Fuck all these assholes, and you voters, to hell

[boutons_deux]

Yale Study on $600 Unemployment Lifeline Championed by Democrats Destroys Favorite GOP Talking Point

debunks the repeated GOP talking point that the $600 federal expansion of unemployment benefits has disincentivized people from returning to work

The economists examined weekly data from Homebase—a firm that provides scheduling and time clock software to small businesses—and found "no evidence that more generous benefits disincentivized work either at the onset of the expansion or as firms looked to return to business over time."

"The data do not show a relationship between benefit generosity and employment paths after the CARES Act,

which could be due to the collapse of labor demand during the Covid-19 crisis,"

, "the researchers tested their results against employment outcomes in the federal government's Current Population Survey, a more representative sample of the labor market than the Homebase data, and obtained similar findings."

The Yale study found that

people with expanded unemployment benefits actually resumed working at a similar or slightly quicker rate than others did.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/29/yale-study-600-unemployment-lifeline-championed-democrats-destroys-favorite-gop?cd-origin=rss (https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/29/yale-study-600-unemployment-lifeline-championed-democrats-destroys-favorite-gop?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email)

[Winehole23]

interesting bottleneck, the GM prof's suggestion of course is that the world will end unless generous public grants are swiftly given to insolvent companies.

pesky federal laws.


Part of the limitation with the Main Street program is that the Fed is legally prohibited from lending to insolvent companies, making it more hesitant to step in to aid troubled businesses. And it cannot provide grants, only loans.

“It’s just too hard to do this through the constraints the Fed has on it by law,” said David Beckworth, a senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

The Fed is also not set up to take losses in case the loans default, so it has partnered with the Treasury to cover any losses with funding from the CARES Act, the $2 trillion economic relief package passed by Congress in March.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/01/fed-main-street-small-business-389899

[boutons_deux]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/01/fed-main-street-small-business-389899 (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/01/fed-main-street-small-business-389899)

yep, and with the Repug plutocrats, financed by the oligarchy, ready to push the non-oligarchy over the edge, plus the feckless Dems,

America is fucked and unfuckable.

Any and all solutions will be blocked by the Repugs until they get legal immunity for employers and payroll taxes cancelled.

and they are going to cripple the USPS with Trash's kakistocrat appointed to fuck up the USPS before November.

50M+ Americans will vote for Trash and the Repugs to keep fucking up and killing Americans.

Citizens are completely powerless, eg, neo-liberal, center-right, BigDollar DNC just blocked, by a huge majority vote, a Medicare-for-all plank from their platform

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s Billionaire Treasury Secretary Tells The Unemployed They Don’t Need An Extra $600/Week

the extra $600/week in unemployment benefits is disrupting the economy. :lol

https://www.politicususa.com/2020/08/02/steve-mnuchin-unemployed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29 (https://www.politicususa.com/2020/08/02/steve-mnuchin-unemployed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29)

:lol how about Trump-Made Pandemic? any disruption there?

... from the predator Capitalist asshole who "forgot" to declare his $100M stashed offshore.

When he took over IndyMac, he had "no option" but to foreclose on 1000s of homes.

[Nbadan]

The only real programs that benefit the little guy, the stimulus and the unemployment benefit, are the sticking point in the new Hero's act. Government gets theirs, big businesses get theirs, but taxpayers get reduced benefits. There are 4 unemployed people for every 1 job available in the US right now.

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/117093773_973287053098870_7047678426147814609_n.jp g?_nc_cat=108&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=F82tyU5PdV0AX8zGjPo&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=d84ecc64beebe50f455ab02fee4a74aa&oe=5F4E1857

[Winehole23]

The only real programs that benefit the little guy, the stimulus and the unemployment benefit, are the sticking point in the new Hero's act. Government gets theirs, big businesses get theirs, but taxpayers get reduced benefits. There are 4 unemployed people for every 1 job available in the US right now.UNEMPLOYMENT is the second most serious problem we're facing right now but eyes glaze over.

[boutons_deux]

When we'll know it's time to reduce the unemployment boost

Super-unemployment was the main thing keeping the economy from spiraling into a complete collapse.

If it is cut off too soon, then America could easily nosedive right back into a recession.

A good candidate would be

when the ratio of jobseekers to jobs goes below one

— meaning there are more job openings than unemployed people (right now, there are four jobseekers for every opening).

For one thing, that is facially fair.

One can hardly blame people for going unemployed when there are simply not enough jobs to go around.

For another, that situation has only happened once in the last 20 years (https://www.bls.gov/charts/job-openings-and-labor-turnover/unemp-per-job-opening.htm) (between January 2018 and February 2020),

because those were the only two years when America got even close to full employment.

Keeping our foot all the way to the floor on super-unemployment until the job market is very strong

will ensure that America can pole-vault out of the pandemic economic sand pit, and

not be stuck with weak growth and few jobs as it was for nearly a decade after the Great Recession (https://theweek.com/articles/714423/great-recession-never-ended). https://theweek.com/speedreads/928992/when-well-know-time-reduce-unemployment-boost

[Blake]

"With Jobless Aid Expired, Trump Sidelines Himself in Stimulus Talks
As his top advisers met with Democratic leaders to try to hash out a compromise, President Trump hurled insults at Democrats and mused aloud about short-circuiting the talks and acting on his own....

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/us/politics/congress-jobless-aid-talks-trump.html


Reminds me of that rabid NBA fan that sits behind the visiting teams bench hurling insults.

he'll make sure his name is on that check again tho. What a dick.

[boutons_deux]

WTF are the Senate Repugs thinking, really W T F?

They just wanna OWN the House Dems with a big dickless FUCK YOU and FUCK AMERICANS?

Over 100 CEOs beg Congress:

Don't let small businesses fail permanentlyIn a pleading letter (https://www.howardschultz.com/lettertocongress/),

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff,
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz,
former American Express CEO Ken Chenault, and
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and
others

asked lawmakers for a list of measures that would

help small businesses (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/whats-in-the-nearly-500-billion-deal-to-protect-small-business-from-the-coronavirus-191934327.html), which contribute 44% of the country’s GDP and

employ half the nation’s private-sector workforce to stay afloat.

Other company leaders who signed onto the letter:

Google CEO Sundar Pichai,
Union Square Hospitality Group CEO Danny Meyer,
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson,
MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga,
Ulta Beauty CEO Mary Dillon, and
former HP CEO Meg Whitman.

“From retailers and restaurants to consulting firms and manufacturers, small business owners are

facing a future of potential financial ruin

that will make the nation’s current economic downturn last years longer than it must,” the CEOs wrote.

"To survive until a vaccine is widely available,

millions of small businesses will require longer-term support from the federal government,” the leaders wrote.

Underscoring the need for action, the CEOs said that

every day without a plan makes recovery more difficult

and that without immediate action,

waves of permanent closures will lead to

a domino effect of lost jobs, products, and services by Labor Day —

which "could be catastrophic."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/over-100-ce-os-beg-congress-dont-let-small-businesses-fail-forever-175536533.html (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/over-100-ce-os-beg-congress-dont-let-small-businesses-fail-forever-175536533.html)

What you get with gerrymandered, corrupt red states

so that Capitalist-whores Repug politicians are immune to everything EXCEPT BigDonor $Ms and BigDonor wishes.

Any politicized, wealthy so-called Christian pastors speaking up, to keep the tithes rolling into their bank accounts?

[boutons_deux]

Defense contractor with billions in sales got millions in pandemic loans intended for small businesses

Atlantic Diving Supply grew to become a major defense contractor in the years after 9/11

A military equipment supplier that has been accused of fraudulently misrepresenting its size in order to benefit from privileges associated with being a small business has received a Paycheck Protection Program small business loan worth at least $2 million

ADS was one of at least 27 PPP recipients estimated annual sales of more than $1 billion in 2019.

Another 2,068 loan recipients cleared $100 million in sales last year,

two other firms allegedly tied to ADS ― including one that was named in a settlement with the Department of Justice ― separately received smaller PPP loans.

it strains credibility that Atlantic Diving Supply is a real small business, especially given several recent settlements and law enforcement outcomes related to their alleged small business contracting fraud."

ADS received more than $3 billion in unclassified government contract dollars in 2019,

That’s more than some well-known, objectively large government contractors, including Bechtel, KBR and CACI.

ADS has already cleared $1 billion in federal contract receipts in 2020 despite the economic crisis.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/03/defense-contractor-with-billions-sales-got-millions-pandemic-loans-intended-small-businesses/

Who is ADS paying in Repug government to get back such huge small business $Ms?

[boutons_deux]

Top Federal Reserve official says US needs another lockdown to save economy

Neel Kashkari (https://thehill.com/person/neel-kashkari), president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, said

the nation needs to control the spread of the virus, which is increasing across much of the country, to get back on a path to economic health.

“That's the only way we're really going to have a real robust economic recovery.

Otherwise, we're going to have

flare-ups,

lockdowns and

a very halting recovery with many more job losses and

many more bankruptcies

for an extended period of time unfortunately,”

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/510235-top-federal-reserve-official-says-us-needs-another-lockdown-to-save-economy

Senate Repugs simply DON'T CARE.

[Winehole23]

Top Federal Reserve official says US needs another lockdown to save economy

Neel Kashkari (https://thehill.com/person/neel-kashkari), president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, said

the nation needs to control the spread of the virus, which is increasing across much of the country, to get back on a path to economic health.

“That's the only way we're really going to have a real robust economic recovery.

Otherwise, we're going to have

flare-ups,

lockdowns and

a very halting recovery with many more job losses and

many more bankruptcies

for an extended period of time unfortunately,”

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/510235-top-federal-reserve-official-says-us-needs-another-lockdown-to-save-economy

Senate Repugs simply DON'T CARE.


It's not an emergency until billionaires start going bankrupt, tbh. Think back to April. The main difference between then and now is the leg down in equity markets.

[boutons_deux]

https://secure.actblue.com/x/object/actblue-cyanotypes/replaced_images/list/546013/426981a2-2190-471a-a462-acd434c44fc2-healsvheroes-5d98c8f6.png

[Winehole23]

Hubert Horan:

The Airline Industry Collapse Part 3 – Recovery Expectations Were Always Dreadfully Wrong (https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/08/hubert-horan-the-airline-industry-collapse-part-3-recovery-expectations-were-always-dreadfully-wrong.html)
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/00-airline-2.png

With the current demand collapse (roughly 75% traffic volume, 85% revenue) the industry has struck an iceberg and the damage may keep the ship from ever getting back to port in one piece. But the industry’s narrative ludicrously claims that we are just seeing the same kind of engine room problems we saw in 2000 and 2008, that thus the coronavirus recovery will look just like the recovery from those single digit traffic drops. Iceberg strikes don’t always sink ships, especially if action is quickly taken to limit structural damage. But the narrative asserts airlines haven’t been anywhere near any icebergs, and thus there’s no need to think about the possibility that this iceberg strike might threaten the integrity of the ship.


Very few countries have followed the US approach of subsidizing existing airline owners. In those countries major carriers have either gone bankrupt or have been nationalized.https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/08/hubert-horan-the-airline-industry-collapse-part-3-recovery-expectations-were-always-dreadfully-wrong.html

[Winehole23]

The 2000 post-dot-com era recession cut US airline traffic by 6% and revenue by 19%, but this forced airlines operating 75% of industry capacity into bankruptcy. [8] This makes the industry’s efforts to convince people that a 75-85% collapse poses no threat to the viability of today’s major airlines especially challenging.

A recent study that attempted to present apples-to-apples data calculated that the cash flow drain of the big four US airlines in the second quarter was $168 million per day, or $15.4 billion per quarter. [9] That cash drain is the water flooding into the hole of the industry’s ship created by the iceberg.

It is structurally impossible for airlines to match these catastrophic revenue declines with comparable expense cuts, and there is no way that these airlines can suddenly improve cash flow by $15.4 billion per quarter. Operating expenses — which do not include major cost items such aircraft lease payments or contractually committed CAPEX purchases — fell only 68% at United and 57% at Southwest. Airlines can avoid certain purely variable expenses (fuel, landing fees, sales commissions, credit card fees) but many critical expenses (fleet, IT, airport facilities, maintenance bases) are locked-in over the medium term, and must be paid even if most of the fleet is grounded.

These airlines understand the financial data and are pursuing increasingly desperate measures to reduce the hemorrhaging of cash. As described in last month’s post, they have been trying to raise cash by claiming that the frequent flyer programs that are integral parts of their marketing and revenue management systems are actually independent business that could be spun off. [10] American (with Goldman Sachs) just secured a $1.2 billion loan (@10.75%) collateralized by slots and by intellectual property, including its brand name and the “aa.com” domain name. [11]

[Winehole23]

As described in the first article in this series two months ago [12] there was always an alternative that could have plugged the hole in the ship and prevented it from sinking. If airlines filed for bankruptcy protection as soon as it became obvious the virus could not be rapidly contained, they could have halted huge wasteful cash drains. Bankruptcy is painful and difficult but would have eliminated all the expenses related to unsustainable operations, and all the payments on unsustainable debt and fleet obligations. Moving quickly would have maximized the long-term value of the companies and maximized the recovery available for employees and creditors.

Instead, these airlines gambled that there was some way to preserve current equity holders’ control of the company. This narrative was constructed to “explain” why there were no risks of bankruptcy, despite a revenue collapse dramatically larger than ones that recently sent 75% of the industry into bankruptcy. This gamble depended on all of the most optimistic scenarios coming true — rapid virus suppression and vaccine distribution, a robust summer 2020 revenue rebound, no damage to underlying corporate and international demand, and continuing taxpayer subsidies.

The senior managers of these major carriers deliberately, consciously choose to not deal with any of the real problems caused by the iceberg in the hope that their creative story-telling could distract everyone from all the financial evidence until a powerful turnaround magically appeared.

[Winehole23]

Congressional oversight, hello?


Days Without a Bailout Oversight Chair130 (https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-missing-bailout-oversight-panel-chair-pelosi-mcconnell/). Although maybe the chair is superfluous. The Congressional Oversight Commission is actually holding a hearing on Friday about the Main Street Lending Program. Maybe it will cover how the Fed changed the program (https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-fed-emergency-lending-killing-planet-fossil-fuels/) to support the oil and gas industry. The hearing should stream at its new website, coc.senate.gov (http://www.coc.senate.gov/), which is sadly… not operative yet.
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-virus-heads-to-where-hospital-beds-are-scarce/

[boutons_deux]

Most swing-state voters support extending $600 weekly unemployment benefit



Most voters in six key 2020 election states support an extension of the $600 per week unemployment benefit, along with another direct payment and state and local government relief, according to a new CNBC/Change Research poll.
A majority of respondents also opposes shielding corporations from coronavirus-related lawsuits, the survey found.
Those issues will be among the most contentious as Republicans and Democrats try to strike an agreement on a pandemic relief bill.


https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/coronavirus-stimulus-voters-support-enhanced-unemployment-cnbcchange-poll-finds.html (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/coronavirus-stimulus-voters-support-enhanced-unemployment-cnbcchange-poll-finds.html?fbclid=IwAR3IEMo7WDYla6ICz68yafqKrpEh6U xiWd6GBdUdOg7wtlchceFKPtSTpFs)

[Winehole23]

Making lobbyists eligible for PPP without a cap comes awfully close to Congress putting campaign cash into its own pocket.

https://sirota.substack.com/p/gop-bill-could-funnel-cash-to-corporateit blows me away that people don't give a shit about open ripoffs like this

[boutons_deux]

it blows me away that people don't give a shit about open ripoffs like this

Even if citizens gave a shit, they're powerless to fix it.

Vote? :lol

The corruption, the bribery of the political class by the oligarchy is complete and untouchable.

The judicial class isn't far behind, $10Ms were spent to get Gorsuch and Kavanaugh onto SCOTUS to obtain a non-squishy, solid 5 conservatives.

[boutons_deux]

$600/week to nearly 30M unemployed is about $15B/week that is very probably spent immediately by recipients

$60B/month is what the Repugs want to take out of the economy.

Money to citizens is the best kind of Keynesian spending by govt when the private sector has cratered.

Stimulus to the oligarchy doesn't help, those $100Bs get hoarded by the oligarchy, not spent.

[TimDunkem]

Stimulus to the oligarchy doesn't help, those $100Bs get hoarded by the oligarchy, not spent.
Good point.

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/117288220_165861711743504_603375372558791114_n.png ?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=dILJfXKtbpEAX-1cTJA&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=7891810e91758d6ac0ac859c729424b6&oe=5F52214C

[boutons_deux]

For the unemployed, rising grocery prices strain budgets even more

Beef and veal prices rose 20.2 percent, and

eggs rose 10.4 percent since February

The cost of groceries has been rising at the fastest pace in decades since the coronavirus (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/02/28/what-you-need-know-about-coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) pandemic seized the U.S. economy,

Compared with this time last year, prices for beef and veal are up 25.1 percent. Eggs are up 12.1 percent, and pork is up 11.8 percent from a year earlier

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/04/grocery-prices-unemployed/ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/04/grocery-prices-unemployed/)

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/117122910_920757535002025_7930381242444588536_o.pn g?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=mvw2ebugoeQAX9fOuwK&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=89161efa469ea0ee55c34f20878f472c&oe=5F5391B6

[boutons_deux]

What California's unemployment numbers tell us about the Trump-Made COVID depression

California is the largest state and surely roughly representative of what is happening elsewhere.

We see that the United States is mired in a full-blown depression,

and unless President Trump and Senate Republicans do something,

it will get much worse.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/929710/what-californias-unemployment-numbers-tell-about-covid-depression

[CosmicCowboy]

Boutons, take a break, put on your mask and run down to Sams and get your mom another carton of Kools...you've been in the trailer too long.

[BSfromTX]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/117288220_165861711743504_603375372558791114_n.png ?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=dILJfXKtbpEAX-1cTJA&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=7891810e91758d6ac0ac859c729424b6&oe=5F52214C

TB, I don't disagree with you on this post, but wanted to ask you if you feel that democrats share in the "face of corruption" and if so how much?

[spurraider21]

TB, I don't disagree with you on this post, but wanted to ask you if you feel that democrats share in the "face of corruption" and if so how much?
plenty. but the dems passed a relief package in the house back in may which mcconnell has refused to bring to a vote... so there's that.

[boutons_deux]

TB, I don't disagree with you on this post, but wanted to ask you if you feel that democrats share in the "face of corruption" and if so how much?

the entire political class and Repug recent Federal judges are corrupt.

[boutons_deux]

History Is Waving A Big Red Flag As Negotiators Hit Stalemate Over State And Local Funding

(Dems)They’ve publicly refused to budge on the biggest planks of their plan,

reportedly (https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2020/08/05/you-admit-you-dont-know-what-youre-talking-about-489987) eking out billions of dollars in concessions from the White House negotiators,

Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Those two are facing immense pressure from a fractured (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mnuchin-meadows-pelosi-schumer-covid-unemployment) Republican caucus,

some of whom are desperate to take a deal home to their constituents — and

some of whom refuse to spend a dime more in federal aid. :lol They Don't Care

One of the key sticking points that has emerged in negotiations is direct funding to states and municipalities.

“A lesson of the Great Recession is even though we got a lot of great federal stimulus,

it was offset by state and local austerity efforts that hurt the recovery,”

Pelosi is touting the state and local employment piece as the one of the key reasons the funds are needed.

“Health care workers, first responders, teachers, sanitation and transportation workers are employed by state and local government,” she said Thursday on CNBC.

“If they don’t get the money, many of these people, millions of them, will be unemployed and go on unemployment insurance,

so what money is that saving?”

The Republican proposal ... omitted any direct state and local aid.

if they forget the lessons of the Great Recession

the country will pay in the long run.

“If Congress doesn’t do anything to support state and local governments,

that is actually going to be catastrophic,”

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/state-local-funding-pelosi-schumer-meadows-mnuchin-covid-unemployment (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/state-local-funding-pelosi-schumer-meadows-mnuchin-covid-unemployment)

red states TX and FL are in bad shape due to depending of sales taxes with sales far down.

[pgardn]

The Democrats and Pelosi have totally gained the upper hand in this money game.

You are on the red team and your leader walked away from a virus he can’t play middle school games with, and now your State actually needs help badly.

sleep in that bed you made.

Or just call it a Chinese virus, that will do it.

[Winehole23]

The Democrats and Pelosi have totally gained the upper hand in this money game.

You are on the red team and your leader walked away from a virus he can’t play middle school games with, and now your State actually needs help badly.

sleep in that bed you made.

Or just call it a Chinese virus, that will do it.The GOP thinks tuffness requires shitting on people and states who need help through no fault of their own; wasn't it our government that asked us to shelter in place in March and April?

The GOP is still apparently hell bent on shafting states and the unemployed -- and COVID 19 relief -- if it isn't allowed to load the money cannon for Wall Street and specially targeted sectors, one more time.

[Winehole23]

basically

1291745066390888451

[boutons_deux]

The plutocratic, corrupt Repug Senators' SHIT SHOW:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_4o4axYfuY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_4o4axYfuY)

$Ts in tax cuts to the oligarchy, horribly increasing the US debt

30M+ unemployed? Eat shit, the debt is too big

[boutons_deux]

Trash prepares EO(s) to suspend payroll taxes, as the oligarchy wants to kill SS and force everybody into BigFinance's vampire squid tentacles.

[Blake]

TB, I don't disagree with you on this post, but wanted to ask you if you feel that democrats share in the "face of corruption" and if so how much?

That meme was about Mitch. If you have some politicians you know are blatantly corrupt, please share.

[boutons_deux]

the biggest beneficiaries of payroll tax cuts are the wealthy, up to +$50K/year

[Winehole23]

The GOP thinks tuffness requires shitting on people and states who need help through no fault of their own; wasn't it our government that asked us to shelter in place in March and April?

The GOP is still apparently hell bent on shafting states and the unemployed -- and COVID 19 relief -- if it isn't allowed to load the money cannon for Wall Street and specially targeted sectors, one more time.Or, seeing the writing on the wall that they'll lose in November, the GOP is seeking to undermine economic recovery. It's of a piece with the ongoing GOP avoidance of developing a national strategy for COVID-19, qua public health emergency.

[boutons_deux]

Trump Says He’ll Take Executive Action

‘If Democrats Continue to Hold This Critical Relief Hostage’
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-says-hell-take-executive-action-if-democrats-continue-to-hold-this-critical-relief-hostage/

Trash, Repugs blaming the Dems

Fuck Trash, fuck Repug, fuck ALL their supporters to hell. THEY are the problem, not the solution.

[boutons_deux]

Pelosi and Schumer only interested in Bailout Money for poorly run Democrat cities and states.

Nothing to do with China Virus!

Want one trillion dollars. No interest.

We are going a different way!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2020 (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1291842540023558146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

:lol Trash typically never knows WTF is going on, so just spews lies and slander.

None of the Trash cult mob to be evicted, homeless, lose their homes, cars, utilities, phones?

[boutons_deux]

https://images.theweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/4_handelsman_1.jpg?itok=hVU6QSnp

https://images.theweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/1_breen.jpg?itok=ipgG9Wbe

[Nbadan]

Republican Senators not wanting you to get $600 per week while they make $3k per week, plus free flights, free health-care and a nice golden parachute when they retire

[TimDunkem]

Republican Senators not wanting you to get $600 per week while they make $3k per week, plus free flights, free health-care and a nice golden parachute when they retire
I bet their lunch is free too.

[baseline bum]

Republican Senators not wanting you to get $600 per week while they make $3k per week, plus free flights, free health-care and a nice golden parachute when they retire

They should get free trips to the guillotine too

[Winehole23]

chippity-choppity, your heads are my property

[ElNono]

Trash prepares EO(s) to suspend payroll taxes, as the oligarchy wants to kill SS and force everybody into BigFinance's vampire squid tentacles.

#freeshit2020

[MultiTroll]

Is this a scheme by Bitch McConnel and Trash to have some executive order "I Saved The Day" incoming spout by Trash? :lmao

As he signs a bill making the 600 a week good for one or two weeks?

[ElNono]

Is this a scheme by Bitch McConnel and Trash to have some executive order "I Saved The Day" incoming spout by Trash? :lmao

As he signs a bill making the 600 a week good for one or two weeks?

He will pretty much going to try to buy up the election, that's how desperate things have gotten...

$600/week until the end of the year, suspend student loans until the end of the year, basically #freeshit everywhere...

Then he's going to get sued because only Congress can actually manage spending, and play the victim card on Joe and "the radical left".

Thankfully, elections are 90 days away.

[Winehole23]

five days ago Grassley said Trump didn't have the power to do this.

1292208100389289984

[Winehole23]

declared states of emergency make the situation murky


A close read of the core emergency statutes makes apparent that Congress has delegated considerable power to the president in times of national crisis. Thus far, the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic has been characterized by broad presidential invocations of statutes without full enumerations of their potentially applicable provisions, as well as delegation of discretionary decision-making authority to agencies. But many more emergency authorities remain at its disposal.https://www.lawfareblog.com/federal-executive-emergency-authorities-address-covid-19

[boutons_deux]

Trash 2nd term vote-buying :

$300/week Federal + $100/week state for unemployed through year end.

The stupid fuck doesn't know the states cannot supply $100/week, cannot run deficits.

Where is Trash gonna get $300 x 21M = $6B/week? x 20 weeks?

no payroll taxes for $100K salary or less (oligarchy strategy to kill FDR SS and LBJ Medicare), totally useless to people making less that $15/hour, the very people who will need SS and Medicare at retirement

eviction moratorium extended

student loan payments deferred

[Trill Clinton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCLZ-WQLMag

[ElNono]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCLZ-WQLMag

don't monetize hacks... anything we didn't already hear about?

[CosmicCowboy]

Trash 2nd term vote-buying :

$300/week Federal + $100/week state for unemployed through year end.

The stupid fuck doesn't know the states cannot supply $100/week, cannot run deficits.

Where is Trash gonna get $300 x 21M = $6B/week? x 20 weeks?

no payroll taxes for $100K salary or less (oligarchy strategy to kill FDR SS and LBJ Medicare), totally useless to people making less that $15/hour, the very people who will need SS and Medicare at retirement

eviction moratorium extended

student loan payments deferred

Sounds like a decent short term solution till congress gets their shit together.

[ElNono]

The payroll taxes is a gimmick though... notice how it's a deferral, he has no authority to stop collection.

In other words, companies are not going to stop collecting from paychecks since the bulk is due come January. This basically gives companies a bundle of money to invest with for 4 months, doesn't help the employees at all, and obviously doesn't help the unemployed whatsoever.

[CosmicCowboy]

The payroll taxes is a gimmick though... notice how it's a deferral, he has no authority to stop collection.

In other words, companies are not going to stop collecting from paychecks since the bulk is due come January. This basically gives companies a bundle of money to invest with for 4 months, doesn't help the employees at all, and obviously doesn't help the unemployed whatsoever.

boy, those companies are gonna make a freaking windfall bundle investing that money at basically zero percent. Sorry, I haven't read the details. Is it really deferred a not eliminated for x amount of time?

[ElNono]

boy, those companies are gonna make a freaking windfall bundle investing that money at basically zero percent. Sorry, I haven't read the details. Is it really deferred a not eliminated for x amount of time?

It's deferred. Only Congress can eliminate taxes.

[Will Hunting]

Sounds like a decent short term solution till congress gets their shit together.
The house passed a bill I May, and Cocaine Mitch said last week he’d support anything in the senate that Trump and Pelosi can agree to.

Republicans would be going ballistic if Obama signed executive orders to avoid having to compromise with Congress.

[ElNono]

The house passed a bill I May, and Cocaine Mitch said last week he’d support anything in the senate that Trump and Pelosi can agree to.

Republicans would be going ballistic if Obama signed executive orders to avoid having to compromise with Congress.

He was black and hated America tho

[Will Hunting]

Trump knew that most American voters wanted what the house passed, not what his administration was peddling, thus Pelosi would have ultimately won the Mexican standoff. Anyone should see his bullshit executive orders as a threat to democracy, a standoff between congress/the president where one side eventually caves to political pressure is how Democracy is supposed to work.

[Reck]

Trump knew that most American voters wanted what the house passed, not what his administration was peddling, thus Pelosi would have ultimately won the Mexican standoff. Anyone should see his bullshit executive orders as a threat to democracy, a standoff between congress/the president where one side eventually caves to political pressure is how Democracy is supposed to work.

Also puts extra burden on each states to pony up the extra 100.

This guy is such a piece of shit monster.

[Will Hunting]

Also puts extra burden on each states to pony up the extra 100.

This guy is such a piece of shit monster.
A lot of the states just won’t put it up because they can’t afford it - including most of his red states. You really think West Virginia has the budget to pay its unemployed white trash an extra $100 a month :lol

[TimDunkem]

What a shit show.

[Winehole23]

Sounds like a decent short term solution till congress gets their shit together.CC ready to let Trump govern by diktat. So much for enumerated powers.

[Reck]

1292447930855677952

:lmao

[boutons_deux]

Krugman:

helping the unemployed during an economic downturn not only helps those who are out of work — it also benefits the economy on the whole.

the “coronavirus recession of 2020 (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/opinion/coronavirus-us-recession.html?referringSource=articleShare)” will become even worse if unemployed Americans don’t receive the help that they need.

“I’m not sure how many people realize just how much deeper the coronavirus recession of 2020 could have been,” Krugman explains.

“Obviously it was terrible:
employment plunged, and
real GDP fell by around 10%.

Almost all of that, however, reflected the direct effects of the pandemic, which forced much of the economy into lockdown.

What didn’t happen was a major second round of job losses driven by plunging consumer demand.

Millions of workers lost their regular incomes;

without federal aid, they would have been forced to slash spending, causing millions more to lose their jobs.”

with that federal aid having expired, Krugman adds, the “coronavirus slump” could deepen and go from bad to worse.

“The suffering among cut-off families will be immense,

“How big will this damage be? I’ve been doing the math, and it’s terrifying.”

the mostly low-wage workers whose benefits have just been terminated can’t blunt the impact by drawing on savings or borrowing against assets.

So, their spending will fall by a lot.

Evidence on the initial effects of emergency aid suggests that

the end of benefits will push overall consumer spending — the main driver of the economy — down by more than 4 %….

The expiration of emergency aid could produce a 4% to 5% fall in GDP.

the coronavirus pandemic decreased GDP by “around 10%” in the U.S. — and without help for the unemployed, it will fall even more.

another shock, a sort of economic second wave, almost as severe in monetary terms as the first,”

unlike the pandemic,

this shock will be entirely self-generated, brought on by the fecklessness of President Trump and —

let’s give credit where it’s due — Mitch McConnell,

the “coronavirus recession” might inflict more long-term damage on the U.S. economy.

we seem to be headed for a Greater Recession — a worse slump than 2007-2009, overlaid on the coronavirus slump.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/nobel-economist-says-hes-done-the-math-and-the-risk-trump-and-mcconnell-pose-to-the-economy-is-terrifying/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5149 (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/nobel-economist-says-hes-done-the-math-and-the-risk-trump-and-mcconnell-pose-to-the-economy-is-terrifying/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5149)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/opinion/coronavirus-us-recession.html?referringSource=articleShare

[CosmicCowboy]

CC ready to let Trump govern by diktat. So much for enumerated powers.

Winehole ready to starve millions of unemployed people to make a message board point. Congress is dysfunctional.

[CosmicCowboy]

BTw, for those that didn't know, state unemployment benefits are funded by a tax on employers.

[boutons_deux]

the TX DUA seems to be continuing after the Federal $600 has stopped.

[Will Hunting]

BTw, for those that didn't know, state unemployment benefits are funded by a tax on employers.
Right, but that tax doesn’t cover the extra $100 that Trump says the states need to fund. The $100 is in excess of normal unemployment benefits.

[boutons_deux]

Mnuchin threatens to make taxpayers pay back COVID money unless Trump is reelected



https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/mnuchin-threatens-to-make-taxpayers-pay-back-money-unless-trump-is-reelected/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[Will Hunting]

Winehole ready to starve millions of unemployed people to make a message board point. Congress is dysfunctional.
So Trump gets to ignore the constitution because Congress has been subjectively deemed dysfunctional? The house passed a bill that McConnell said he’d get behind as long as Trump was behind it.

Trump went around Congress because he knows the American people would blame him and not Congress if nothing was done. That’s why Pelosi didn’t budge and McConnell was more agreeable than he normally is, all the political pressure is on Trump. He shouldn’t get to sidestep Democracy with executive orders when he has nowhere else to turn.

Imo most of your posts since 2016 relating to Trump have actually been fair and unbiased, I’m surprised to see you defending this of all things when it’s one of his most egregious oversteps since taking office.

[CosmicCowboy]

Ahhh...now you are a strict constitutionalist. Ill remind you of that next time we are discussing a Supreme Court case. The unemployed desperately need the money and a partisan and dysfunctional congress didn't give it to them. Any president has been given the power from congress to act in a crisis and this probably qualifies as millions were about to be thrown out on the streets. Hopefully the threat gives congress an incentive to get a compromise solution done

[Will Hunting]

Ahhh...now you are a strict constitutionalist. Ill remind you of that next time we are discussing a Supreme Court case. The unemployed desperately need the money and a partisan and dysfunctional congress didn't give it to them. Any president has been given the power from congress to act in a crisis and this probably qualifies as millions were about to be thrown out on the streets. Hopefully the threat gives congress an incentive to get a compromise solution done
You don’t exactly need to be a strict constitutionalist to recognize basic separation of powers and checks and balances.

I also think him extending the eviction moratorium and deferring student loan interest was within his executive powers during a crisis. Changing unemployment benefits and adding an additional burden at the state level (without any sources of funding) is what needs legislative approval.

If the American people want the HEROES Act that was passed by the house, it shouldn’t have to compromise. The president is supposed to do what American people want him to do. His belief that $600 a week is too much isn’t something voters agree with. Notto mention how offensive it is that a billionaire trust fund baby is telling people they should be able to survive on $400 (really $300 since the states have no money) a week.

[Winehole23]

Winehole ready to starve millions of unemployed people to make a message board point. Congress is dysfunctional.The Dems passed a relief bill 85 days ago. Mitch McConnell hid in his bunker and refused to negotiate. All Trump just did, at best, was kick the can a few weeks into the future. The states have to pay 25% and set up the program on top.

Trump's Rube Goldberg EOs won't even protect renters/homeowners from eviction.

[Will Hunting]

The Dems passed a relief bill 85 days ago. Mitch McConnell hid in his bunker and refused to negotiate. All Trump just did, at best, was kick the can a few weeks into the future.

Because McConnell and the GOP refused to play marbles until they were up against the UI expiration deadling, it's they who've playing chicken with the lives of millions of Americans.
It also begs the question - if Trump really had the executive power to extend unemmployment benefits, why did he let them lapse in the first place? He could have signed an executive order to keep them going and simultaneously kept negotiating with Congress for a longer term solution. Kinda a dick move by him to let people lose their benefits when all it ostensibly takes is a stroke of the pen from him to keep $400 of the $600 going.

[CosmicCowboy]

Personally, as an employer I think the SS/MC deferral is stupid.

[boutons_deux]

In Interview Disaster Trump Trade Adviser Appears To Admit Executive Orders Are Toothless

https://www.politicususa.com/2020/08/09/peter-navarro-trump-executive-orders.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+politicususa%2FfJAl+%28Politi cus+USA+%29

[CosmicCowboy]

I'm not defending trump but somebody needs to get money and eviction moratorium to the people that need it.

[Winehole23]

It also begs the question - if Trump really had the executive power to extend unemmployment benefits, why did he let them lapse in the first place? He could have signed an executive order to keep them going and simultaneously kept negotiating with Congress for a longer term solution. Kinda a dick move by him to let people lose their benefits when all it ostensibly takes is a stroke of the pen from him to keep $400 of the $600 going.Yep.

Republicans wanted people to lose their UI benefits. They probably feel guilty about passing them in the first place, but that was the price for the mega-bailout of Wall Street.

The only thing that bothers our government about mass unemployment, homelessness and hunger is the political consequences. If they actually gave a fuck about people, they would have prioritized stopping COVID-19 instead of insisting on a hasty (and delusional) return to the social and economic status quo ante.
,
We represent economic fodder and votes to politicians. As people, we're worse than useless. Our needs represent an odious burden in normal times, why should it be any different when our government's incompetence has made the USA the global epicenter of a pandemic that has thrown 10s of millions of people out of work?

[Will Hunting]

I'm not defending trump but somebody needs to get money and eviction moratorium to the people that need it.
Which Trump’s EOs don’t do. They require states that are already broke and running out of money to put up $100 a week in order for the government to contribute $300. For states that don’t have the money to pony up the extra $100 (which at this point is most of them) the expanded unemployment insurance is gone.

Regarding evictions, I don’t think people understand that even if Trump/Pelosi agree on something, a federal moratorium only protects people in federally financed homes and apartments. If you live in an apartment with a private mortgage, you’re at the mercy of state law. Imo we’re going to see an eviction crisis in the coming months regardless of anything Trump and Congress do.

[Winehole23]

It is going to take states weeks to set up Trump's new UI, if they are even able to contribute; many may not be able to.

[Winehole23]

A commercial real estate bust could leave a lot of banks insolvent:

1292310260129046528

[boutons_deux]

I read months ago R-MBS disaster of 2009 being emulating in 2021 by C-MBS, just as the preceding tweet says.

[Will Hunting]

A commercial real estate bust could leave a lot of banks insolvent:

1292310260129046528
To be fair, the decline in value of office and retail was going to happen anyway and shitty retailers like Jos. A. Bank were never going to survive long term, COVID-19 just accelerated the trend. Real Estate investors and banks saw it coming with retail but missed it with office. The industries that have historically needed the most office space were already downsizing for one reason or another. Law firms no longer needed huge libraries or file cabinets, trading floor style with more people in less space is more common than ever in financing services, etc. The banks with too much credit exposure to office buildings shouldn’t have needed the COVID pandemic to see the long term fall in demand.

[Winehole23]

To be fair, the decline in value of office and retail was going to happen anyway and shitty retailers like Jos. A. Bank were never going to survive long term, COVID-19 just accelerated the trend. Real Estate investors and banks saw it coming with retail but missed it with office. The industries that have historically needed the most office space were already downsizing for one reason or another. Law firms no longer needed huge libraries or file cabinets, trading floor style with more people in less space is more common than ever in financing services, etc. The banks with too much credit exposure to office buildings shouldn’t have needed the COVID pandemic to see the long term fall in demand.All true. The concern here with a concomitant pandemic/depression would be bank insolvency. In the 1900s we had an orderly system for receivership and reorganization, but it would seem Obama broke that mold and threw it away.

Hard to see where the incentive is for banks to clean up their act if the USG backstops all their bullshit.

[Will Hunting]

All true. The concern here with a concomitant pandemic/depression would be bank insolvency. In the 1900s we had an orderly system for receivership and reorganization, but it would seem Obama broke that mold and threw it away.

Hard to see where the incentive is for banks to clean up their act if the USG backstops all their bullshit.
The tweet isn’t entirely accurate, REITs typically have less leverage and it’s through corporate debt, not mortgage debt. They don’t try to max out leverage on their assets the way equity funds do. There are some mortgage REITs that have too much leverage (see MITT or IVR for example) and their stock prices reflects as much. There are always exceptions, but banks shouldn’t have too much distressed exposure to REITs.

Fortunately banks don’t have as much commercial real estate exposure on their balance sheet as they had in RMBS exposure 15 years ago. There might be some smaller regional banks that have overextended their CRE lending, but I don’t think any of the larger banks have solvency issues driven by commercial real estate exposure.

[Winehole23]

The tweet isn’t entirely accurate, REITs typically have less leverage and it’s through corporate debt, not mortgage debt. They don’t try to max out leverage on their assets the way equity funds do. There are some mortgage REITs that have too much leverage (see MITT or IVR for example) and their stock prices reflects as much. There are always exceptions, but banks shouldn’t have too much distressed exposure to REITs.

Fortunately banks don’t have as much commercial real estate exposure on their balance sheet as they had in RMBS exposure 15 years ago. There might be some smaller regional banks that have overextended their CRE lending, but I don’t think any of the larger banks have solvency issues driven by commercial real estate exposure.I don't disbelieve you, but I am curious why you think so.

[Will Hunting]

I don't disbelieve you, but I am curious why you think so.
Banks don't hold CMBS exposure on their balance sheet the way they were holding RMBS exposure in the years leading up to the crisis. Up until the pandemic hit (and since the pandemic hit CMBS lending has basically come to a halt), banks could make a CMBS loan, securitize it and get it off their books in a month or less. CMBS products are just inherently less risky than the extremely complicated RMBS products from 15 years ago that S&P didn't even understand enough to rate.

Don't get me wrong, there's going to be plenty of CMBS defaults once servicers stop giving forbearance (IMO that's going to hit in Q4 of this year), I just don't think the banks have that much exposure on their balance sheet.

[spurraider21]

i might even feel differently if congress was completely sitting still and not doing shit, but the house already passed a relief bill and cocaine mitch basically punted and said i'll agree with whatever the dems/trump want. at that point it was all in trump's hands. house passed a bill, mitch said he'd be ready to support it. its trump who decided to skip the negotiation process or do what is popular and instead issue an EO that directly competes with the bill

[boutons_deux]

1.2 million seek jobless aid after $600 federal check ends

Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week,

evidence that

the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs

just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired.

It is the 20th straight week that at least 1 million people have sought jobless aid.

Before the pandemic hit hard in March,

the number of Americans seeking unemployment checks had never surpassed 700,000 in a week,

not even during the Great Recession of 2007-2009.

Without effective virus containment,

the recovery remains at risk from ongoing job losses that could further restrain incomes and spending.″

https://apnews.com/f3caeadfc8c7f88900470ac96820a36c?fbclid=IwAR3tcr_6 C0ACRA-3kCTiVXryLm5oPh1CQ3hIahYhRIcXWzKi8qm2JOmjogc (https://apnews.com/f3caeadfc8c7f88900470ac96820a36c?fbclid=IwAR3tcr_6 C0ACRA-3kCTiVXryLm5oPh1CQ3hIahYhRIcXWzKi8qm2JOmjogc)

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/117386234_1000309547065306_5235099995401559657_n.j pg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=6xcd9t_xetEAX-nlIre&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=102374174d9915bce1c84964562a58ee&oe=5F565320

[ElNono]

I'm not defending trump but somebody needs to get money and eviction moratorium to the people that need it.

The eviction moratorium is also a red herring... due to his (lack of) authority, he can only prevent evictions for tenants on buildings backed by federally guaranteed loans. That's about 25% of buildings out there, which leaves 75% with no eviction protection.

The other solution is to actually have the HUD hand out rental assistance money. This is probably what will need to happen, but how much money the HUD actually has on hand, and how long it'll take to get that set up?

[Winehole23]

The eviction moratorium is also a red herring... due to his (lack of) authority, he can only prevent evictions for tenants on buildings backed by federally guaranteed loans. That's about 25% of buildings out there, which leaves 75% with no eviction protection.

The other solution is to actually have the HUD hand out rental assistance money. This is probably what will need to happen, but how much money the HUD actually has on hand, and how long it'll take to get that set up?Diverting money from FEMA during hurricane season seems counterintuitive, but Trump is obliged to rob Peter to pay Paul in this situation.

[boutons_deux]

Diverting money from FEMA during hurricane season seems counterintuitive, but Trump is obliged to rob Peter to pay Paul in this situation.

bullshit, the Fed + Treasury found $Ts to bail out the oligarchy. Run the printing press.

that USA and Fed govt is "broke" is a fucking lie, can NEVER be true.

[Will Hunting]

The eviction moratorium is also a red herring... due to his (lack of) authority, he can only prevent evictions for tenants on buildings backed by federally guaranteed loans. That's about 25% of buildings out there, which leaves 75% with no eviction protection.

The other solution is to actually have the HUD hand out rental assistance money. This is probably what will need to happen, but how much money the HUD actually has on hand, and how long it'll take to get that set up?
Imo the solution is to pass the heroes Act but make it so each state getting relief is contingent on it disallowing evictions through the end of the year. I know DeathSantis likes seeing poor minorities suffer but it’d be political suicide for someone like him to turn down relief just because Florida wants to allow landlords to evict tenants.

[Winehole23]

bullshit, the Fed + Treasury found $Ts to bail out the oligarchy. Run the printing press.

that USA and Fed govt is "broke" is a fucking lie, can NEVER be true.I only meant that Trump can't originate spending. The money that goes to executive branch is somewhat subject to his discretion, but that's it. Trump can't spend shit without Congress.

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s Executive Orders:

EOs as PR and FUs (https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/10/trump-scuttles-economic-stimulus-negotiations-what-next/)

Almost certainly the legal crafting of the

EOs were written long before negotiations were dramatically ended by Trump’s hatched man

leading his negotiating team, staffer Mark Meadows.

Trump clearly planned the break up and his EOs some time ago.
Trump, Meadows, Mnuchin and McConnell cleverly set up and sucked in Pelosi and Shumer into negotiations last week,

never planning to conclude a deal by Friday,

in the process getting them to reveal their priority demands and securing from them major concessions worth $1 trillion—

for which the Democrat leaders apparently got nothing in return.

A day later, Trump dropped the hammer and issued his EOs, which are

designed more as PR for his election campaign.

the EOs are therefore mostly smoke and mirrors,

designed to produce useful electoral soundbites for his campaign between now and November.

The EOs are more PR for public relations purposes,

while also serving as FUs (F*** You) to the Democrats.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/10/trump-scuttles-economic-stimulus-negotiations-what-next/ (https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/10/trump-scuttles-economic-stimulus-negotiations-what-next/)

[boutons_deux]

Trump aides quickly backpedal to reverse his huge Social Security blunder

https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Screen-Shot-2017-07-27-at-10.19.53-AM.png

Trump vowed that workers would not have to pay back payroll taxes if he is re-elected,
prompting advisers to downplay his comments amid concerns that such a move could defund Social Security and Medicare.

The order would allow workers to defer their payroll tax payments through the end of the year, but

those taxes would still need to be paid back by April 15.

he would make make the cut “permanent” — but only if he’s re-elected.

The president has no authority to unilaterally make changes to the tax code.

Though Congress has the power to do so (https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/taxes/pages/writing.aspx),

Trump’s own Republican Party has repeatedly rejected his proposed payroll tax cut (https://www.salon.com/2020/07/23/trump-blames-democrats-after-republicans-reject-his-payroll-tax-cut-that-benefits-the-rich/),

economists believe the move would do little to help those who need it.

“The people who would be seeing the biggest increase in their paychecks still have jobs, still have earnings . . .

People who lost jobs or retired or get income from other sources would see no help from this.” :lol

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/trump-aides-quickly-backpedal-to-reverse-his-huge-social-security-blunder/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5172

[boutons_deux]

GOP senators are ‘getting the heat’ after McConnell punts on COVID relief package

“Republican Senate incumbents are getting the heat” after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) decided to punt

Democratic challengers have been hammering the GOP incumbents for their inaction during the worst economic crisis in a decade and the worst public health crisis in a century.

they were bewildered why Trump doesn’t want to pump more money into the economy heading into a crucial stretch of the 2020 election.

“The most significant thing Trump could to aid his re-election is to pump over $3 trillion into the economy of the next three months,”

“The fact that we won’t do it when Democrats are ready to give it him is mind boggling.”

the GOP will have “a really hard time defending Donald Trump’s bullsh*t executive orders

when their constituents are being evicted and struggling to pay their bills after he cut the unemployment benefits.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/gop-senators-are-getting-the-heat-after-mcconnell-punts-on-relief-package-report/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5179

[boutons_deux]

Kentuckians turn on McConnell as economy implodes:

‘Mitch better have my money’ :lol CAPITALISM! :lol

Kentucky workers and businesses are losing patience with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as their economic prospect worsens.

its economy continues to sputter amid the coronavirus pandemic,”

“Many unemployed workers say their benefit checks aren’t enough to afford their bills, and

some here simply have stopped looking for jobs.

Businesses say they’re also hemorrhaging cash, and

local governments fear they’re on the precipice of financial ruin, too.”

Business owners, too, are running out of patience.

“everything went south for me” in April and

“I’m scared to death of losing everything.”

He blames McConnell for putting him in this situation.

McConnell has been a key obstacle

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/kentuckians-turn-on-mcconnell-as-economy-implodes-mitch-better-have-my-money/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5179 (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/kentuckians-turn-on-mcconnell-as-economy-implodes-mitch-better-have-my-money/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5179)

[Winehole23]

The GOP not wanting to save voters facing pestilence and economic ruin is a head scratcher.

[Trainwreck2100]

The GOP not wanting to save voters facing pestilence and economic ruin is a head scratcher.

2009 Dems would have given them the liability waiver already. Shoes on the other foot now, and the Dems are letting the R's let the country burn.

[Winehole23]

2009 Dems would have given them the liability waiver already. Shoes on the other foot now, and the Dems are letting the R's let the country burn.
Why do businesses deserve liability waivers?

[Trainwreck2100]

Why do businesses deserve liability waivers?

where did i say they did

[Winehole23]

where did i say they didmy bad, read your post in haste

[Winehole23]

2009 Dems would have given them the liability waiver already. Shoes on the other foot now, and the Dems are letting the R's let the country burn.The Senate has avoided negotiations entirely and Mark Meadows just took a week off, ostensibly on the notion that Trump's EOs bought leverage and time.

[Blake]

Kentuckians turn on McConnell as economy implodes:

‘Mitch better have my money’ :lol CAPITALISM! :lol

Kentucky workers and businesses are losing patience with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as their economic prospect worsens.

its economy continues to sputter amid the coronavirus pandemic,”

“Many unemployed workers say their benefit checks aren’t enough to afford their bills, and

some here simply have stopped looking for jobs.

Businesses say they’re also hemorrhaging cash, and

local governments fear they’re on the precipice of financial ruin, too.”

Business owners, too, are running out of patience.

“everything went south for me” in April and

“I’m scared to death of losing everything.”

He blames McConnell for putting him in this situation.

McConnell has been a key obstacle

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/kentuckians-turn-on-mcconnell-as-economy-implodes-mitch-better-have-my-money/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5179 (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/kentuckians-turn-on-mcconnell-as-economy-implodes-mitch-better-have-my-money/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5179)




:lmao "Mitch better have my money"

[Winehole23]

1293534964324036608


The chart above is a fascinating look at the 3 sources economic stimulus: Congress, the Federal Reserve, and State/Local spending.


The Federal Reserve is projected to continue to stimulate with bond purchases, ultra low rates (ZIRP) and frequent liquidity injections.
States and Localities are a drag: They are busted due to the pandemic lockdown, and unlike the Feds, cannot deficit spend.


Last, Uncle Sam: Huge Congressional spending authorizations have ended; GOP White House is arguing with GOP Senate and DEM House of Reps (to be fair, DEM House of Reps is arguing with GOP Senate, too). Hopefully, all sides recognize that economics should beat politics, given what is at stake economically, and come to terms soon.


I have to imagine the White House does not want to those deep economic drag continue towards November, and will eventually cut a deal.
Here is Brookings (https://www.brookings.edu/interactives/hutchins-center-fiscal-impact-measure/):


“The fiscal policy response to the pandemic had a massive impact on GDP growth in the second quarter, boosting it 14.6 percentage points at an annual rate, according to the latest reading of the Hutchins Center Fiscal Impact Measure (FIM)…


The GDP contracted at an annual rate of 32.9 percent in the quarter, according to the latest government estimates. The FIM illustrates how much worse the decline would have been if not for federal fiscal policy.


Purchases financed by state and local governments, on the other hand, were a restraint—holding down GDP growth by 6.8 percentage points, as state and local governments shed workers in response to school and office closures and tight budget conditions.

https://ritholtz.com/2020/08/fiscal-response-to-the-pandemic/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Winehole23]

The 2017 tax cuts mainly got saved by investors and spent on stock buybacks by publicly traded companies. The predicted explosion in jobs, investment and trickle down wealth didn't happen.

By contrast, direct COVID-19 cash aid to the unemployed and companies got spent and helped the broader economy with a quickness -- an estimated +14% GDP boost in the same fiscal quarter.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/annemarieknott/2019/02/21/why-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-tcja-led-to-buybacks-rather-than-investment/#1cb530f837fb

[Trill Clinton]

smh

1293210715415875584

[Winehole23]

Small businesses routed in the pandemic


. “Big companies are going bankrupt at a record pace, but that’s only part of the carnage. By some accounts, small businesses are disappearing by the thousands amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and the drag on the economy from these failures could be huge. This wave of silent failures goes uncounted in part because real-time data on small business is notoriously scarce, and because owners of small firms often have no debt, and thus no need for bankruptcy court. Yelp Inc., the online reviewer, has data showing more than 80,000 permanently shuttered from March 1 to July 25. About 60,000 were local businesses, or firms with fewer than five locations.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-11/small-firms-die-quietly-leaving-thousands-of-failures-uncounted

[Trill Clinton]

1293928093174956032

[boutons_deux]

"all sides recognize that economics should beat politics"

false hope. For Repugs, politics and politicians are above the economy and the law

I bet Trash/Repugs give a tiny bit fo stimulus to no effect, then roar and boast how they turned the economy around.

Trash, Repugs expect to win in November with 10%+ unemployment? 20M+ unemployed?

[Winehole23]

American Airlines comes to Congress, hat in hand.

The $25 billion AA is asking for to maintain service to 30 smaller US cities is the same amount of money the Dems want to give the USPS, which serves every city and town in the US.


American Airlines is planning to drop flights to up to 30 smaller U.S. cities if a federal requirement to continue those flights expires at the end of next month, an airline executive familiar with the matter said Thursday.

American agreed to keep serving those smaller cities as a condition of receiving $5.8 billion in federal payroll help this spring. However, the money and the requirement to serve those destinations both expire Sept. 30 unless they are extended.https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/american-cutting-flights-smaller-cities-72353884

[Blake]

1293928093174956032

Is the $250k seriously a real number there?

[Winehole23]

House and Senate adjourn until September.

This is a self inflicted wound that's likely to make the recession, the recovery and the pandemic worse.


With the House and Senate essentially closed, and lawmakers on call to return with 24 hours' notice, hopes for a swift compromise have dwindled. Instead, the politics of blame have taken hold, as the parties focus on this month's presidential nominating conventions and lawmakers' own reelection campaigns.


All indications are talks will not resume in full until Congress resumes in September, despite the mounting coronavirus death toll.https://www.wbir.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/congress-aid-negotiations-adjourn/507-3c557a17-c037-4240-ace2-de3837a38004

[TimDunkem]

Fucked and unfuckable.

[Will Hunting]

House and Senate adjourn until September.

This is a self inflicted wound that's likely to make the recession, the recovery and the pandemic worse.

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/congress-aid-negotiations-adjourn/507-3c557a17-c037-4240-ace2-de3837a38004
It sucks how painful this is going to be for a lot of people, but I’d rather this then Pelosi and Schumer give in to a bullshit stimulus package and get bent over by McConnell. Trump and GOP aren’t convincing anyone beyond their 40% that this is the Dems’ fault.

[boutons_deux]

"Of all the ways to quantify the impact of the pandemic, here’s one that’s striking in part because of what might be still ahead.

For the first half of the year, about 3,600 companies nationwide filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (http://click.bizjournals.com/JW2xUq0J3Y08hHgcPA008U0), more than any year since 2012

Experts say that number could swell in the second half of the year if the pandemic lingers and the federal government’s stimulus programs run their course.

“Another stimulus could depress the number of filings, but if you don’t see one

you are going to see a flood of failures and filings,”

"I think you also will see a lot of small businesses just walk away.

They’ll turn the keys back to the landlord and be done with things.”

-- The National Observer email

[Winehole23]

Cory Doctorow on the shock doctrine

1294307865436385280

[boutons_deux]

Small Businesses Are Dying by the Thousands — And No One Is Tracking the Carnage



They simply close down and never show up in bankruptcy tallies
More than half of owners are worried their firm won’t survive


small businesses are disappearing by the thousands amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and

the drag on the economy from these failures could be huge.

This wave of silent failures goes uncounted in part because

real--time data on small business is notoriously scarce, and

because owners of small firms often have no debt, and thus no need for bankruptcy court.

Yelp Inc. (https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/YELP:US), the online reviewer, has data showing more than 80,000 permanently shuttered from March 1 to July 25.

About 60,000 were local businesses, or firms with fewer than five locations.

About 800 small businesses did indeed file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy from mid-February to July 31,

trade group expects the 2020 total could be up 36% from last year.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-11/small-firms-die-quietly-leaving-thousands-of-failures-uncounted?fbclid=IwAR1tnzaUSajkenzyhFEDdNW2hitkPzj af6vDmPfBPxSASdIKBLSwqAK7wi8 (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-11/small-firms-die-quietly-leaving-thousands-of-failures-uncounted?fbclid=IwAR1tnzaUSajkenzyhFEDdNW2hitkPzj af6vDmPfBPxSASdIKBLSwqAK7wi8)

[boutons_deux]

State and Local Budget Pain Looms Over Economy’s Future

Providing more aid to struggling governments has become one of the biggest issues tangling up the debate over another pandemic rescue package.

States could face a gap of at least $555 billion through the 2022 fiscalyear, according to one estimate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/business/economy/state-local-budget-pain.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/business/economy/state-local-budget-pain.html)

Dems' HEROES Act helped states, municipalities, hospitals.

McConnell says "fuck 'em. My BigDonor class is paid off"

[boutons_deux]

Small businesses that took PPP face huge, unexpected tax hits


https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2020/08/17/ppp-small-business-face-irs-taxes-congress-help.html (https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2020/08/17/ppp-small-business-face-irs-taxes-congress-help.html?ana=e_sant_bn_editorschoice_editorschoic e&j=90524272&t=Breaking%20News&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT0RBNVl6Z3hOamszTWpabCIsInQiOiJ4eD dqWDE5ZkREbWhvZW44dE1GcFkrZ0d0QVJLMHdSZkxSY2MzeExY dUo5VUZROVA3QWM5VitZVUNzMUdNSDF6TEJyRnJJTk5RNXN3Zk Jjb09tWUJqVVFpN09BT1wvYUtBWTNPSjg5ZGR2cEprbk9jOUtt RXpJRCtzR3h3UkE2TWxtRTFQdFNld0czV0NSTlZ1R2UzWmxBPT 0ifQ%3D%3D)

[ElNono]

Businesses warn they won't participate in Trump's payroll tax plan
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and the National Association of Manufacturers urged policymakers to return to negotiating a coronavirus relief package.

A raft of big-name business groups is warning many employers won’t participate in President Donald Trump’s payroll tax deferral plan.

Calling it “unworkable,” they said in a letter Tuesday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that it risks saddling their workers with large postponed tax bills they could have trouble paying back.

Someone earning $35,000 would see their biweekly pay go up by $83 this year, the groups wrote, but would owe $751 next year. People earning $75,000 would see a $178-per-paycheck bump now, but would face a $1,609 tax bill next year.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and the National Association of Manufacturers, among more than two dozen others, urged policymakers to instead to return to negotiating over a stalled coronavirus relief package in Congress.

“Many of our members consider it unfair to employees to make a decision that would force a big tax bill on them next year,” they said. “It would also be unworkable to implement a system where employees make this decision.”

“Therefore, many of our members will likely decline to implement deferral.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/18/businesses-payroll-tax-397777

---

:lol who couldn't see this one coming?

[Trill Clinton]

Its getting real out here


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMit-U7cxA&feature=emb_logo

[Winehole23]

Sylvester Turner rejects eviction forbearance

[Winehole23]

American Airlines to cut service to 15 cities next month


American is hoping to get payroll support to save about 20,000 employees that would need to be furloughed due to low demand in the fall. The company has already cut its administrative staff by 5,000 workers.

Below is a full list of cities that would lose service and their respective airport codes.

Del Rio, Texas, DRT
Dubuque, Iowa, DBQ
Florence, S.C., FLO
Greenville, N.C., PGV
Huntington, W.Va., HTS
Joplin, Mo., JLN
Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, Mich., AZO
Lake Charles, La., LCH
New Haven, Conn., HVN
New Windsor, N.Y., SWF
Roswell, N.M., ROW
Sioux City, Iowa, SUX
Springfield, Ill., SPI
Stillwater, Okla., SWO
Williamsport, Pa., IPT
https://www.aviationpros.com/airlines/news/21151034/american-airlines-lists-15-cities-that-will-lose-service-when-stimulus-money-expires

[Winehole23]

based on research by Goldman Sachs, what shape is that?

1296375273710145536

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/118255602_3216247228421565_4513578205522904325_o.j pg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=0baKjZUjhtoAX-q1wdo&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=1b09d1332b70ceb103d51fd20a9c0149&oe=5F67021C

[boutons_deux]

the Department of Labor reported (https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf) new unemployment claims for the week ending August 15 zigged up by 135,000, to over 1.1 million.

[boutons_deux]

Paul Krugman explains how life is getting ‘rapidly worse’ for millions of Americans as the GOP cheers the stock market
some affluent Americans are continuing to prosper in the stock market.

how the wide gap between the haves and have-nots continues during the pandemic.

“the economy probably doesn’t feel so great to the millions of workers who still haven’t gotten their jobs back and who have just seen their unemployment benefits slashed.”

“Even before the aid cutoff, the number of parents reporting that they were having trouble giving their children enough to eat was rising rapidly.

That number will surely soar in the next few weeks.

And we’re also about to see a huge wave of evictions, both because

families are no longer getting the money they need to pay rent and

because a temporary ban on evictions, like supplemental unemployment benefits, has just expired.”

“The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s weekly economic index suggests that

the economy, although off its low point a few months ago, is still more deeply depressed than it was at any point during the recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis,”

Krugman observes. “And this time around,

job losses are concentrated among lower-paid workers

— that is, precisely those Americans without the financial resources to ride out bad times.”





https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/paul-krugman-explains-how-life-is-getting-rapidly-worse-for-millions-of-americans-as-the-gop-cheers-the-stock-market (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/paul-krugman-explains-how-life-is-getting-rapidly-worse-for-millions-of-americans-as-the-gop-cheers-the-stock-market/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/opinion/stock-market-unemployment.html

[TimDunkem]

Texans will start getting the $300 of extra unemployment starting on 8/23.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/08/21/texans-to-receive-300-per-week-in-additional-unemployment-benefits/

[Trainwreck2100]

Texans will start getting the $300 of extra unemployment starting on 8/23.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2020/08/21/texans-to-receive-300-per-week-in-additional-unemployment-benefits/

taking money from FEMA right when we're about to be hit by 2 hurricanes

[TimDunkem]

taking money from FEMA right when we're about to be hit by 2 hurricanes
Seems deliberate. Abbot rejoices and thanks Trump per par.

[Winehole23]

taking money from FEMA right when we're about to be hit by 2 hurricanesA wrong solution can cause the problem to cascade, but what the hell. Take a big chance and don't fuck up.

At least Abbott is smart enough to see the need to do something for people now. I guess Texans are lucky, other states appear to be less well situated to receive the help Trump is offering.

[Winehole23]

PPP pelf

https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/08/nj-nursing-homes-got-hundreds-of-millions-of-tax-dollars-to-pay-workers-so-why-are-some-cutting-staff.html

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/118139956_3235508129828808_4239808823820615207_o.p ng?_nc_cat=102&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=r8XTL70fJ0cAX-IRyAE&_nc_oc=AQlodKexYf-5JAP5Ommtma9jO9qrN4bgdGCyknFsXXku2kDfo01CAV4G2166S 4bE5RI&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=e9c30afb69f4fddfe47e8c023585cfc8&oe=5F68091D

[boutons_deux]

The Pandemic Recession Is Approaching a Dire Turning Point

Without an extra $600 a week in unemployment assistance, many Americans are

on the brink of not being able to pay rent or put food on the table.

American families face “a looming hunger crisis and a looming eviction crisis,” Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard,

Beth Mattingly, an assistant vice president in regional and community outreach at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

“Absent federal policy, we’re going to see more housing instability as well as food insecurity,

probably some utility shutoffs,” Mattingly said.

“I’m frankly terrified.”

the share of households reporting that they couldn’t afford food during the pandemic has been more than one in six, and

roughly a tenth of adults have said they haven’t been able to pay rent or their mortgage on time.

These amount to millions of family-level catastrophes.

Black and Hispanic workers, who as a group have suffered bigger employment hits than white ones (https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm).

“There’s no possibility of a robust recovery until the virus is under control.”

many Americans are now on the brink of not being able to pay rent or put food on the table—and all it’d take to stop that is money.

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/08/600-week-pandemic-unemployment-families/615580 (https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/08/600-week-pandemic-unemployment-families/615580/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20200824&silverid=NjMwMjkwNjYyOTQ2S0)

[Winehole23]

pucker factor

1297854682849841152

[boutons_deux]

where is "parabolic spike" ? :lol

[Winehole23]

“It’s a sick sad world where the fact that rich people are doing well is evidence that no more help is needed.”

[boutons_deux]

As big box stores thrive,

1 in 5 small businesses expect to close in next 6 months

without urgent federal aid

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/as-big-box-stores-thrive-1-in-5-small-businesses-expect-to-close-in-next-6-months-without-urgent-federal-aid (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/as-big-box-stores-thrive-1-in-5-small-businesses-expect-to-close-in-next-6-months-without-urgent-federal-aid/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29)

[Winehole23]

1298353094011625476

[Winehole23]

I hope the help comes before the riots


About 19 to 23 million people are estimated to be at risk of being evicted after federal programs to help 30 million unemployed Americans expired in Julyhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/25/millions-of-americans-face-evictions-crisis

[Winehole23]

An estimated one-third of job losses since February are permanent, and that share is growing.

The pandemic is a job killer.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/25/permanent-economic-damage-piles-up-covid-crisis-is-looking-more-like-great-recession/

[Winehole23]

Fed to allow inflation to rise above 2%


Neil Williams, senior economic adviser at Federated Hermes, said that by pursuing an average, rather than fixed, inflation target, the bank could allow inflation "to travel beyond its preferred 2% destination before tightening rates".
"This should give the recovery extra room to breathe. The challenge, though, will be getting the inflation train to get that far."https://www.courthousenews.com/us-bombing-of-afghanistan-hits-10-year-high/

[Winehole23]

limber up your bootstraps

https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/27/texas-public-utility-commission/

[TimDunkem]

Easier to get those late renters out when the AC and lights are off.

[Winehole23]

Easier to get those late renters out when the AC and lights are off.yah

[Winehole23]

A good thumbnail sketch of the dilemma and the parties


Before juxtaposing the U.S. and alternative responses to the coronavirus’s economic effects, I would like to step back in time to show how the pandemic has revealed a deep underlying problem. We are seeing the consequences of Western societies painting themselves into a debt corner by their creditor-oriented philosophy of law. Neoliberal anti-government (or more accurately, anti-democratic) ideology has centralized social planning and state power in “the market,” meaning specifically the financial market on Wall Street and in other financial centers.

At issue is who will lose when employment and business activity are disrupted. Will it be creditors and landlords at the top of the economic scale, or debtors and renters at the bottom? This age-old confrontation over how to deal with the unpaid rents, mortgages and other debt service is at the heart of today’s virus pandemic as large and small businesses, farms, restaurants and neighborhood stores have fallen into arrears, leaving businesses and households – along with their employees who have no wage income to pay these carrying charges that accrue each month.https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/09/michael-hudson-how-an-act-of-god-pandemic-is-destroying-the-west-the-u-s-is-saving-the-financial-sector-not-the-economy.html

[Winehole23]

Western civilization distinguishes itself from its Near Eastern predecessors in the way it has responded to “acts of God” that disrupt the means of support and leave debts in their wake. The United States has taken the lead in rejecting the path by which China, and even social democratic European nations have prevented the coronavirus from causing widespread insolvency and polarizing their economies. The U.S. coronavirus lockdown is turning rent and debt arrears into an opportunity to impoverish the indebted economy and transfer mortgaged property and its income to creditors.

[Winehole23]

Having given $10 trillion dollars to support financial and mortgage markets, neoliberals in both the Republican and Democratic parties announced that the government had created so large a budget deficit as a result of bailing out the banking and landlord class that it lacked any more room for money creation for actual social spending programs. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell advised states to solve their budget squeeze by raiding their pension funds to pay their bondholders.

For many decades, public employees accepted low wage growth in exchange for pensions. Their patient choice was to defer demands for wage increases in order to secure good pensions for their retirement. But now that they have worked at stagnant wages for many years, the money ostensibly saved for their pensions is to be given to bondholders. Likewise at the federal level, pressure was renewed by both parties to cut back Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, with Obama’s 2010 Simpson-Bowles Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform to reduce the deficit at the expense of retirees and the poor.

In sum, money is being created to fuel the financial sector and its stock and bond markets, not to increase the economy’s solvency, employment and living standards. The coronavirus pandemic did not create this shift, but it catalyzed and accelerated the power grab, not least by pushing public-sector budgets into crisis.

[boutons_deux]

Terminating payroll tax could end Social Security benefits in 2023, chief actuary warns

Trump, however, wouldn’t be able to terminate the payroll tax unilaterally. Congress would have to pass legislation for that to happen.

The federal government’s

ability to pay Social Security benefits could stop by mid-2023

if President Donald Trump were to permanently terminate the payroll tax (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-proposes-payroll-tax-cut-through-end-year-n1154656) and not offer another revenue source,

the Social Security Administration estimates that the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund “asset reserves would become permanently depleted in about the middle of calendar year 2021, with no ability to pay DI benefits thereafter,”

For the main Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund for retired workers,

they predict reserves “would become permanently depleted by the middle of calendar year 2023, with no ability to pay OASI benefits thereafter.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/terminating-payroll-tax-could-end-social-security-benefits-2023-chief-n1238021?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&fbclid=IwAR03l6OiCmVzrj0bWD-4G9aMhdHJc-3bEus2h2cKu6koWOvXCjU66ybDGZw

[Winehole23]

The underlying problem is finance capitalism. Its roots lie at the heart of Western civilization itself, rejecting the “circular time” permitting economic renewal by Clean Slates in favor of “linear time” in which debts are permanent and irreversible, without public oversight to manage finance and credit in the economy’s overall long-term interest.

It often is easier to get rich in such times of disaster and need than in times of normal prosperity. While the U.S. economy polarizes between creditors and debtors, the stock market anticipates fortunes being made quickly from the insolvency of business with assets and property to be grabbed. Coupled with the Federal Reserve’s credit creation to support the financial and real estate markets, asset prices are soaring (as of June 2020) for companies that expect to get even richer from the widespread distress to come in autumn 2020 when evictions and foreclosures ae scheduled to begin again.

In that respect, the coronavirus’ effect has been to help defeat the financial sector’s enemy, governments strong enough to regulate it. The fiscal squeeze resulting from widespread unemployment, business closedowns, rent and tax arrears is being seized upon as a means of dismantling and privatizing government at the federal, state and local levels, at the expense of the citizenry at large.

[boutons_deux]

Unprecedented Inverse Correlation



https://ritholtz.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Messages-Image3524397320.png


a chart from EddyElfenbein (https://twitter.com/EddyElfenbein/status/1296472691487264768), showing the general lack of correlation between markets and the economy (and me confirming my priors).

In an offline discussion with my alter ego, TBPInvictus (https://twitter.com/TBPInvictus), he pointed out that the chart was annual through 2019. The suggestion was made to look at it quarterly up to the present, and that chart above is his handiwork.

The unprecedented occurs all the time,

but if you want to see something that is orders of magnitude off the scale of the usual non-correlation between stocks and the economy,

that negative correlation is really something else.

Man, Q2 2020 is the outlier of all outliers.

https://ritholtz.com/2020/09/unprecedented/

[Winehole23]

Wall Street's bailout was robust, and is ongoing through the BlackRock-managed Fed lending facilities and uh, accomodative monetary conditions.

By contrast, Main Street is being left to twist in the wind. Pretty soon Wall Street will be buying up it's distressed property for a fraction of its value.

[rmt]

Terminating payroll tax could end Social Security benefits in 2023, chief actuary warns

Trump, however, wouldn’t be able to terminate the payroll tax unilaterally. Congress would have to pass legislation for that to happen.

The federal government’s

ability to pay Social Security benefits could stop by mid-2023

if President Donald Trump were to permanently terminate the payroll tax (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-proposes-payroll-tax-cut-through-end-year-n1154656) and not offer another revenue source,

the Social Security Administration estimates that the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund “asset reserves would become permanently depleted in about the middle of calendar year 2021, with no ability to pay DI benefits thereafter,”

For the main Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund for retired workers,

they predict reserves “would become permanently depleted by the middle of calendar year 2023, with no ability to pay OASI benefits thereafter.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/terminating-payroll-tax-could-end-social-security-benefits-2023-chief-n1238021?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&fbclid=IwAR03l6OiCmVzrj0bWD-4G9aMhdHJc-3bEus2h2cKu6koWOvXCjU66ybDGZw




Email from hubby's employer says it's optional and is only a deferral of taxes - they will not be changing their payroll tax withholding method in Sept 2020.

[ChumpDumper]

Email from hubby's employer says it's optional and is only a deferral of taxes - they will not be changing their payroll tax withholding method in Sept 2020.

if President Donald Trump were to permanently terminate the payroll tax and not offer another revenue source

It's what he says he wants.

[BSfromTX]

Wall Street's bailout was robust, and is ongoing through the BlackRock-managed Fed lending facilities and uh, accomodative monetary conditions.

By contrast, Main Street is being left to twist in the wind. Pretty soon Wall Street will be buying up it's distressed property for a fraction of its value.


Like it always has been. The Fed and their corporations will always be the beneficiaries and we will be the ones to cover their losses regardless of who is president. The corruption of our system is the federal reserve and the share holders of it. Every puppet in the oval office bows to the cabal.

[boutons_deux]

[QUOTE=ChumpDumper;10247314]if President Donald Trump were to permanently terminate the payroll tax and not offer another revenue source

It's what he say he wants.[/QUOTE

Trash spouts inconsistent BS, but he did say PERMANENTALLY end payroll taxes and get those $Ts from another (unspecified,mythical, never-to-found)source, having thought through the issue carefully.

Just more bullshit spewing out his pie hole

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/118700202_3268115273234760_6997728912317027059_n.p ng?_nc_cat=105&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ICG7H5OsPhcAX-d8Soo&_nc_oc=AQl_KQ2Vx4vFM_bZIkKcDGvUe8pqZ6c5zens7ACZ_m5 Ja-RdEa4-E4lCwE17Pw5X4YQ&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=0385625c8f82e171598559c262606d5e&oe=5F78A552

[boutons_deux]

Email from hubby's employer says it's optional and is only a deferral of taxes - they will not be changing their payroll tax withholding method in Sept 2020.

yep, next year, employees will have to payback ALL the $100s or $1000s of deferred payroll taxes.

For stimulus purposes, it's totally ineffective.

Nothing but fucking Elect-Me Trash campaign tactic.

[boutons_deux]

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tears into

'completely inadequate' GOP stimulus proposal

the GOP to make "another unacceptable and ineffective attempt at providing relief,"

"Republicans may call their proposal 'skinny,' but it would be more appropriate to call it 'emaciated,'"

"Their proposal appears to be completely inadequate and, by every measure, fails to meet the needs of the American people."

Schumer derided the slim proposal's

lack of funding for rental assistance,

safe elections, and

food assistance,

among other omissions.

Republicans' proposal tries to "'check the box' and

give the appearance of action

rather than actually meet the truly profound needs of the American people,"

" The parties' joint front on

the CARES Act "allowed for significant improvements to be made" that ultimately helped the economy,

https://www.businessinsider.com/chuck-schumer-senate-leader-rips-republican-economic-stimulus-bill-proposal-2020-9

the multi-millionaire plutocratic Repugs have protected/bailed out BigCorp, Capitalists, BigDonor,

but say "Fuck All y'ALL" Labor.

[Winehole23]

https://i2.wp.com/financialsamurai.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/median-net-worth.png?fit=1456,9999

[Winehole23]

Depicting credit and the financial business plan as having only positive economic effects produces a travesty of history. Viewing debt and its interest charges simply as a bargain between individuals fails to recognize how the economy-wide debt burden tends to grow beyond the ability to be paid. It casts a blind eye toward how financial oligarchies act in the absence of public checks. Money-greed is applauded as if securing creditor claims is the most rational way to organize an economy. The implication is that there is no need for government action from ‘outside’ the market, e.g., by Clean Slates to reverse the effects of the rural usury that eroded traditional land tenure in the Old Babylonian period (2000-1600 BC).


Throughout history debt has been the major lever privatizing land and reducing populations to bondage. Mesopotamia managed to delay this polarizing dynamic by subordinating creditor rights to the aim of dynastic survival. But classical Greece and Rome lacked the tradition of royal Clean Slates. That was the great turning point. Livy, Plutarch and Diodorus described how debt disenfranchised the Roman population, yet a modern survey citing a seemingly comprehensive list of 210 causes on which posterity has blamed Rome’s decline and fall at one time or another does not even include debt. (Demandt, 1984)



The inherent conflict between rulers seeking to keep their citizens free of debt bondage on the one hand, and creditors seeking their own gains at the palace’s expense, has been a thread running down the history of civilization. The distinctive feature of Western economies is privatization of credit, land natural and public infrastructure. That is the real detour from earlier millennia. Archaic societies treated land required for subsistence as a basic right for their citizenry. Instead of commodifying labor and land ownership to make debt bondage and foreclosure irreversible, Mesopotamian rulers proclaimed Clean Slates so as to avoid the financial polarization between creditors and debtors that later brought on a Dark Age. Today the debt dynamic is imposing austerity on today’s Western world, transferring property to creditors who have gained enough control over government to block protection of debtors.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/09/michael-hudson-debt-land-and-money-from-polanyi-to-the-new-economic-archaeology.html

[boutons_deux]

there is no pressure from the oligarchy/Capitalists to help Labor, because the oligarchy FEELS NO PAIN

The ugly numbers are finally in on the 2017 Trump tax rewrite —
and the rich made out like bandits

More than half of Americans had to make ends meet in 2018 on less money than in 2016, my analysis of new income and tax data shows.

The nearly 87 million taxpayers making less than $50,000 had to get by in 2018 on $307 less per household than in 2016, the year before Trump took office,

That 57% of American households were better off under Obama

contradicts Trump’s often-repeated claim that he had created the best economy ever until the pandemic.

Trump policies help the prosperous and rich including half a million rich people

who are not even filing tax returns yet

are not being pursued as tax cheats.

contradicts Trump’s frequent claims that he is the champion of the “forgotten man” (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/) :lol

and his vow that “every decision” on taxes

“will be made to benefit American workers and American families.” :lol

The Trump tax law, the most significant tax policy change since 1986, was passed without a single public hearing or a single Democratic vote.

Trump policies overwhelmingly favor the top 7% of Americans, my analysis shows.

The number of households enjoying incomes of $200,000 or more soared by more than 20%.

The number of taxpayers making $10 million or more soared 37% to a record 22,112 households.
The Trump/Republican tax savings were highly concentrated up the income ladder with hardly any tax savings going to the working poor and only a smidgen to the middle class.

The number of households making $1 million or more but paying no income taxes soared 41% under the new Trump tax law.

Under Obama, there were just 394 such households.

With Trump, this grew to

556 households making on average $3.5 million without contributing one cent to our government.

, a group that made nine times as much money enjoyed about 125 times as much in income tax savings, thanks to Trump and Congressional Republicans.

This disparity helps explain Trump’s support among money-conscious high-income Americans.

loopholes and Congressional favors allow many rich and superrich Americans to report much less income than they actually enjoy.

Often they get to defer for years or decades reporting income earned today.

, with Trump’s support Congress has cut IRS staffing so deeply that

it cannot even pursue growing armies of rich people

who have stopped filing tax returns.

The sharp decline in IRS auditing (https://trac.syr.edu/tracirs/latest/549/) means tax cheating—always a low-risk crime—has become much less risky.

In the three years ending in 2016, the IRS identified 879,415 high-income Americans who did not even bother to file a tax return. These tax cheats owed an estimated $45.7 billion in taxes

Under Trump more than half a million cases of high-income Americans who didn’t file a tax return “will likely not be pursued,”

One of the Koch brothers was under IRS criminal investigation until Trump assumed office and the service abruptly dropped the case.

William Ingraham Koch, who lives one door away from Mar-a-Lago, is collecting more than $100 million a year without paying income taxes.

Borrowing to Help the Rich

Most of the negative effects will fall on the middle class and poor Americans in the form of Trump’s efforts to reduce government services.

The new tax data also shows a sharp shift away from income from work and toward income from investments,

a trend which bodes poorly for working people

but very nicely for those who control businesses, invest in stocks, and have other sources of income from capital.

Overall the share of American income from wages and salaries fell significantly, from almost 71% in 2016 to less than 68% in 2018.

the slice of the American income pie derived from business ownership and investments,

it expanded by nearly one-tenth in two years.

Income from such investments is highly concentrated among the richest Americans.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/the-ugly-numbers-are-finally-in-on-the-2017-trump-tax-rewrite-and-the-rich-made-out-like-bandits (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/the-ugly-numbers-are-finally-in-on-the-2017-trump-tax-rewrite-and-the-rich-made-out-like-bandits/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5392)

Repugs know that if they don't help Labor now, that they will still get $100Ms in support from Capitalists.

[CosmicCowboy]

if you ever wanted to cheat on your taxes this is the year.

[boutons_deux]

https://uziiw38pmyg1ai60732c4011-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/dropzone/2020/09/word-image-1.png

[boutons_deux]

‘The Situation Is Dire’:

As Trump Takes Victory Lap,

New Jobs Report Reveals

Alarming Surge in Permanent Unemployment

an alarming surge in permanent joblessness that

could portend a prolonged recession

if Congress and the White House fail to quickly approve additional relief.

The total number of workers who are permanently jobless is now 3.4 million,

the new BLS report shows “the pain is nowhere near over for millions of workers and their families across the country.”

the U.S. economy is still down 11.5 million jobs from where it was in February, before the pandemic hit,”

it will take years to return to the pre-pandemic labor market.

And, without the $600 boost to unemployment insurance,

jobs will return even more slowly than had policymakers stepped up and continued that vital support to workers and the economy.”

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EhE6Ng3XgAESseg?format=jpg&name=medium

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/09/the-situation-is-dire-as-trump-takes-victory-lap-new-jobs-report-reveals-alarming-surge-in-permanent-unemployment.html

and the plutocratic, sadistic Repugs say not ONE FUCKING DOLLAR MORE for Labor

[boutons_deux]

but I've read the number on UI benefits is 25M+ ???

[boutons_deux]

Teenage Unemployment Nearly Double National Average

The national figure dropped to 8.4%.

The number of unemployed people dropped 2.8 million to 13.6 million.

It was good news for almost every demographic group measured.

A major exception was the count among teenagers.

At 16.1%, it was 92% above the national average. Teens are defined as people ages 16 through 19.

Teenage unemployment always runs higher than the figure for the total population. However, it fell to 12.7% in July 2019, when the entire nation posted a joblessness rate among the lowest in five decades.

The negative effect of high unemployment among teens can last for years.

“Research shows that workers who are unemployed as young adults

earn lower wages for many years

following their period of unemployment

due to forgone work experience and missed opportunities to develop skills.”

That can translate into tens of billions of dollars in lost wages,

the teen jobless rate is almost certainly not going to drop below 12%.

A large group of Americans will suffer a setback from which they cannot recover.

https://247wallst.com/jobs/2020/09/07/teenage-unemployment-nearly-double-national-average/

[Winehole23]

if you ever wanted to cheat on your taxes this is the year.what, you skipped a year?

[Winehole23]

Jamie Galbreath has OD'd on Hopium, but he might not be wrong to suggest it's time for the government to provide jobs to people rendered supernumerary by this economy.

https://theintercept.com/2020/09/01/biden-economic-policy-us-economy/

[Bogie]

Jamie Galbreath has OD'd on Hopium, but he might not be wrong to suggest it's time for the government to provide jobs to people rendered supernumerary by this economy.

https://theintercept.com/2020/09/01/biden-economic-policy-us-economy/

UBI is going to have to become a part of the American economy, it’s just that simple.

this would have been an opportunity to float that out there to show people how it will actually benefit them, but it was more important to borrow printed money to make sure the rich get more of the ever decreasing pie.

so what’s the over/under on how long it will take pubs to become concerned about the national debt again? One or two minutes after Biden is inaugurated?

[Will Hunting]

UBI is going to have to become a part of the American economy, it’s just that simple.

this would have been an opportunity to float that out there to show people how it will actually benefit them, but it was more important to borrow printed money to make sure the rich get more of the ever decreasing pie.

so what’s the over/under on how long it will take pubs to become concerned about the national debt again? One or two minutes after Biden is inaugurated?
Oh it'll be before he's inaugurated if he wins, you can bet on that. They'll cry about how Biden needs to address the deficit they created but then fight Biden tooth and nail on raising taxes on rich people.

Regarding UBI - He might not win the nomination, but I think if Yang ran again in 2024 he'd definitely be a contender. People already liked him and the pandemic has been a big I told you so in terms of a UBI being necessary.

[boutons_deux]

To repeat

Trump $300 in jobless aid:

Only 5 states so far are paying benefits

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-300-unemployment-benefits-five-states/?fbclid=IwAR38qf_PKSYG3W3hRvo9c0nHIux-nTtod9Xp3MeMnIhhUh89SjJumsrkpfM (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-300-unemployment-benefits-five-states/?fbclid=IwAR38qf_PKSYG3W3hRvo9c0nHIux-nTtod9Xp3MeMnIhhUh89SjJumsrkpfM)

[DMC]

Jamie Galbreath has OD'd on Hopium, but he might not be wrong to suggest it's time for the government to provide jobs to people rendered supernumerary by this economy.

https://theintercept.com/2020/09/01/biden-economic-policy-us-economy/

Laid off, is that too much for you or too boring?

[DMC]

UBI is going to have to become a part of the American economy, it’s just that simple.

this would have been an opportunity to float that out there to show people how it will actually benefit them, but it was more important to borrow printed money to make sure the rich get more of the ever decreasing pie.

so what’s the over/under on how long it will take pubs to become concerned about the national debt again? One or two minutes after Biden is inaugurated?

That's pretty random, guy.

[boutons_deux]

With Washington Deadlocked on Aid, States Face Dire Fiscal Crises

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/business/state-budgets-coronavirus-aid.html

The Dems' HEROES would help state, local govts, health care orgs, but Repugs refuse everything from Dems

[boutons_deux]

COVID-19 WORKERS’ COMP CLAIMS ARE BEING HELD UP OR DENIED

Employers and insurance companies are insisting employees, even those directly exposed to the virus, can’t prove they got sick at work.

Ligi is one of countless front-line workers across the country who contracted Covid-19 at work but are having their workers’ comp claims held up or outright denied.

Employers and insurance companies are instead insisting that employees, even those directly exposed to the virus, can’t prove that they got sick at work and claiming that they were infected outside the workplace.

https://theintercept.com/2020/09/07/coronavirus-workers-compensation-claims-labor/ (https://theintercept.com/2020/09/07/coronavirus-workers-compensation-claims-labor/)

The relentless, sadistic War on Labor by Capital.

[boutons_deux]

BigCarbon bailed out several ways

Trump cuts oil and gas drillers' rent on public lands, as state budgets suffer

Bureau of Land Management accused of

giving a handout to rich corporations

at the expense of (RED) states who depend on oil revenues


four companies leasing the land where drillers got relief have

a history of filing false reports on royalties,

or underpaying or dodging payments, according to an Accountable.

US analysis of BLM’s database (https://reports.blm.gov/reports.cfm?application=LR2000).

They include:



BP America, which was fined (https://www.onrr.gov/compliance/PDFDocs/2012.pdf) more than $5m for filing false offshore royalty reports in 2009.
ExxonMobil’s subsidiary XTO Energy, which was penalized $890,000 in 2019 for failing to provide information for a royalty audit. (The company operating on an XTO Energy lease – US realm Powder River LLC – went into bankruptcy owing millions of dollars in unpaid taxes (https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_757fdac1-8796-5af5-836f-87502ccd4a2c.html) to two Wyoming counties.) An Exxon spokesman said XTO is not the operator drilling on the land and did not apply for the royalty relief.
Citation 2002, which had previously agreed to pay $2.3m to settle allegations (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/citation-companies-agree-pay-225-million-settle-civil-false-claims-act-allegations) of underpaying royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal public lands in Wyoming. Citation declined to answer specific questions from the Guardian.
Chesapeake Exploration, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy – which has been penalized (https://www.onrr.gov/compliance/PDFDocs/2016.pdf) millions for providing inaccurate royalty information.
QEP Resources, which was fined (https://www.onrr.gov/compliance/PDFDocs/2012.pdf) $1.2m for inaccurate royalty reporting.
Finley Resources, which in 2014 was fined (https://www.onrr.gov/compliance/PDFDocs/2014.pdf) for failing to report production on federal leases.


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/04/trump-cuts-oil-and-gas-drillers-rent-on-public-lands-as-state-budgets-suffer (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/04/trump-cuts-oil-and-gas-drillers-rent-on-public-lands-as-state-budgets-suffer?utm_source=1500+CWP+List+Daily+Clips+and+Up dates&utm_campaign=a1f0d2309e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_08_03_52&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4369a4e737-a1f0d2309e-84306485)

[Winehole23]

Laid off, is that too much for you or too boring?not at all. there's nothing else in the last 100 years to put next to the last 25 weeks or so in the USA, in terms of permanent job losses. but yeah, laid off is accurate.

how many claimed/claiming UI?

[boutons_deux]

Repugs say not one $ more for the unemployed

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/118733952_3283301275049493_6281414710214525825_n.p ng?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=LmQl8U4zVREAX8IH4Rl&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=18ad5477eaef6d285242bcfa836b57a6&oe=5F7F7DDB

[boutons_deux]

Did the extra $600 unemployment benefit stop people from job hunting?

Members of the Trump administration have argued (LIED) that

the extra $600 in unemployment benefits Americans are getting creates a disincentive to search for a new job

”Workers facing larger expansions in unemployment insurance benefits have returned to their previous jobs over time at similar rates as others,” they wrote (https://tobin.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/C-19%20Articles/CARES-UI_identification_vF(1).pdf).

“We find no evidence that more generous benefits disincentivized work either at the onset of the expansion or as firms looked to return to business over time. ”

“The data do not show a relationship between benefit generosity and employment paths after the CARES Act,”

Workers receiving larger increases in unemployment benefits experienced very similar gains in employment by early May relative to workers with less-generous benefit increases

“Those currently collecting benefits search more than twice as intensely as those who have exhausted their benefits,”

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/did-the-600-extra-unemployment-benefit-reduce-employment-a-major-new-study-provides-an-answer-2020-07-28

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/118950686_3282273721818915_2024057241364296260_o.p ng?_nc_cat=101&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=N8X9ut2IZbsAX9-rTB3&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=c6231550793eacc049c51dd86a5d9c50&oe=5F7C08CA

[boutons_deux]

McConnell Pushes Senate to Pass $500 Billion Coronavirus Package;

Omits $1,200 Payments,

Would Give $250 Billion to Small Business
https://www.mediaite.com/news/mcconnell-pushes-senate-to-pass-500-billion-coronavirus-package-omits-1200-payments-would-give-250-billion-to-small-business/

Nothing for Labor, and BigFinance would again, no doubt, $10Bs in fees. and SBA would fuck it up,

[boutons_deux]

Here's what's in the GOP's 'skinny' stimulus bill -- and what's missing

it's unlikely to gain any support from Democrats -- who are unified behind a much larger $3 trillion stimulus package that passed the House in May (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/3-trillion-aid-package-democrats-house/index.html).

federal unemployment benefits of $300 through the week ending December 27, half of what Congress included in its March coronavirus relief package. Payments would be retroactive to the end of July, when the original $600 weekly supplement expired.

Would allow some small businesses to apply for a second loan from the Paycheck Protection Program.

Would provide $105 billion in education funds, about two-thirds of which would be reserved for schools that reopen for in-person instruction. :lol

money for school choice scholarships (https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/04/politics/congress-stimulus-ted-cruz-school-choice-plan/index.html) that parents can use to send their child to a public or private school outside their home district :lol Christian Sharia to destroy public education

Would forgive a $10 billion loan to the US Postal Service under the March CARES Act,

Would provide protections for employers against liability in any coronavirus-related lawsuits brought by workers.

Employers would not be held liable unless workers' claims met a stringent test. The bill states they must provide "clear and convincing evidence" that 1) the employer was not "making reasonable efforts" to comply with the latest pandemic-related safety guidance and standards; 2) that the employer was grossly negligent or willfully did something that caused "actual" exposure to the coronavirus; and 3) that the "actual" exposure caused personal injury to the workers.

In cases where workers allege they contracted Covid-19 through their workplace, they must provide

a list of every place they went and :lol

every person they interacted with :lol

both inside and outside their home :lol

during the 14-day period before their onset of symptoms. :lol

Does not include money for a second round of direct stimulus checks to Americans.

Would not provide additional assistance to state and local governments,

even though they have been pressing lawmakers for months to send them more money to avoid massive spending cuts and layoffs.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/08/politics/whats-in-the-gop-skinny-stimulus-bill/index.html

[TimDunkem]

Doesn't even have full Senate GOP support. :lol

What a shit show.

[Will Hunting]

Doesn't even have full Senate GOP support. :lol

What a shit show.
Which GOP senators aren't backing it? I also heard it doesn't even have 51 votes (regardless of the fact it will die in the house), but curious which Republicans aren't supporting it.

McConnell is losing his edge in terms of the hardball tactics. Introducing this bill was so fucking stupid.

[Will Hunting]

:lmao Republicans wanting to give tax credits to parents who homeschool.

The GOP wants to literally financially incentive raising your child to be stupid :lol

[TimDunkem]

Which GOP senators aren't backing it? I also heard it doesn't even have 51 votes (regardless of the fact it will die in the house), but curious which Republicans aren't supporting it.

McConnell is losing his edge in terms of the hardball tactics. Introducing this bill was so fucking stupid.
Rand Paul was the biggest name I've heard while the rest seem divided between sticking with the tired fiscal argument of it being "too much" while others seeking re-election realize that it's far too little. With the unanimous Dem backlash this shit is D.O.A.

I don't think it's really about passing anything for Emperor McPalpatine, honestly. It's more likely an election tactic to show the base that Democrats are refusing to cooperate while Americans suffer. By introducing yet another anemic D.O.A stimulus to stall the negotiations he can continue to convince the base that Dems are evil because they refuse to get behind Republicans - and McConnell gets to kill two birds with one stone.

I think most people will see through this BS eventually. The Senate is looking more and more winnable every day these morons shoot themselves in the political foot.

[Will Hunting]

Rand Paul was the biggest name I've heard while the rest seem divided between sticking with the tired fiscal argument of it being "too much" while others seeking re-election realize that it's far too little. With the unanimous Dem backlash this shit is D.O.A.

I don't think it's really about passing anything for Emperor McPalpatine, honestly. It's more likely an election tactic to show the base that Democrats are refusing to cooperate while Americans suffer. By introducing yet another anemic D.O.A stimulus to stall the negotiations all while convincing the base that Dems are evil because they refuse to get behind Republicans, McConnell gets to kill two birds with one stone.

I think most people will see through this BS eventually. The Senate is looking more and more winnable everyday these morons shoot themselves in the political foot.
Yeah the McConnell politics have worn off in terms of effectiveness. His approval rating is in the 30s and the failure to pass a relief package isn't going to be blamed on the Democrats. If it was then Pelosi and Schumer would have more urgency, they're political schemers the same way McConnell is. They're playing hardball because they're confident they have the political capital to do so.

[boutons_deux]

So Repugs skinny bill is dead in the House, (if it passes the Senate)

and

The Dems HEROES bill was "grim reaper-ed" in the Senate.

Aid to America might be delayed until Jan 22 2021.

[TimDunkem]

I think negotiations will eventually lead to an agreement, but McConnell is going to scorch-Earth everything before they get there.

[Trainwreck2100]

Yeah the McConnell politics have worn off in terms of effectiveness. His approval rating is in the 30s and the failure to pass a relief package isn't going to be blamed on the Democrats. If it was then Pelosi and Schumer would have more urgency, they're political schemers the same way McConnell is. They're playing hardball because they're confident they have the political capital to do so.

Cocaine mitch finally on the wrong end of the hold out, you hate to see it.

[Will Hunting]

You wonder why McConnell waited a full month after negotiations between Pelosi and Mnuchin + Meadows fizzled out to introduce this bill. Seems like he realized that if there's no stimulus bill between now and election day Republicans are dead in the water so he's trying to flip the script and say it's the Democrats' fault, but he's still overplaying his hand with such a shitty stimulus package.

[TimDunkem]

Shittiness is baked into this one, but this is so shitty even the Senate GOP isn't fully behind him. :lol Moscow Mitch must have had too much vodka during the recess.

[ChumpDumper]

Yeah, all Democrats have to say is "We had our shit together in May and you wouldn't even talk with us. Fuck y'all and pass our four month old bill."

[boutons_deux]

TWC email:

Today, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) notified the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) that the last week of funding for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program was the benefit week ending September 5, 2020.
FEMA previously approved TWC for six weeks of funding from August 1, 2020, through September 5, 2020 for the Lost Wage Assistance $300 benefit program but has now been provided notification that no additional LWA payments will be allowed for weeks subsequent to September 5, 2020.
This is not a TWC decision. Please read useful questions below.
For what weeks did TWC receive funding?
TWC received funding for the weeks of:


August 1, 2020
August 8, 2020
August 15, 2020
August 22, 2020
August 29, 2020
September 5, 2020

TWC will continue to pay eligible claimants for the approved six weeks, for as long as the existing FEMA funds deposited to TWC remain available.
If I have not yet received payment for September 5th will I still be paid even though the September 5th date has passed?

Yes, you may still be paid for that week, as long as funds are available.
Will I continue to receive my state unemployment benefits?
Yes. Claimants will continue to receive normal weekly benefit amount for any benefit weeks for which they are eligible.
Why is LWA funding ending?
This decision was made by FEMA. LWA relies on funds administered by FEMA. TWC cannot provide additional funds without further federal action.
Can I appeal this decision?
No. Since this decision was made by FEMA and not TWC, claimants cannot appeal.

[ChumpDumper]

TWC email:

Today, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) notified the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) that the last week of funding for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program was the benefit week ending September 5, 2020.
FEMA previously approved TWC for six weeks of funding from August 1, 2020, through September 5, 2020 for the Lost Wage Assistance $300 benefit program but has now been provided notification that no additional LWA payments will be allowed for weeks subsequent to September 5, 2020.
This is not a TWC decision. Please read useful questions below.
For what weeks did TWC receive funding?
TWC received funding for the weeks of:


August 1, 2020
August 8, 2020
August 15, 2020
August 22, 2020
August 29, 2020
September 5, 2020

TWC will continue to pay eligible claimants for the approved six weeks, for as long as the existing FEMA funds deposited to TWC remain available.
If I have not yet received payment for September 5th will I still be paid even though the September 5th date has passed?

Yes, you may still be paid for that week, as long as funds are available.
Will I continue to receive my state unemployment benefits?
Yes. Claimants will continue to receive normal weekly benefit amount for any benefit weeks for which they are eligible.
Why is LWA funding ending?
This decision was made by FEMA. LWA relies on funds administered by FEMA. TWC cannot provide additional funds without further federal action.
Can I appeal this decision?
No. Since this decision was made by FEMA and not TWC, claimants cannot appeal.


Whoopsie! Turns out stealing hurricane money didn't work well at all.

[boutons_deux]

Whoopsie! Turns out stealing hurricane money didn't work well at all.

The LWA halt could be tied to the Repug skinny/shitty stimulus bill which provides $300/week backdated to Sep 5,

but the Repug bill is DOA in the House as hilariously insufficient, and it may not even pass out of the Senate.

[boutons_deux]

Senators blast Trump's plan to force federal workers to be his payroll tax scheme guinea pigs

When most of corporate America refused to take Donald Trump up on his offer to "terminate" the payroll taxes that pay for Social Security and Medicare, at least for the next several months,

Trump decided he had to impose his scheme on someone.

So he forced it on his captive employees (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/1/1974156/-Trump-imposes-his-payroll-tax-scheme-on-his-captive-serfs-federal-employees): federal workers.

Democratic senators—and one Republican!—have told him to back off (https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/09/08/senators-payroll-tax-federal-workers-deferral/).

"We urge you to let federal workers and uniformed service members choose whether to defer their payroll tax obligations …

rather than forcing them to participate," they wrote.

"While some federal employees may want to defer their payroll tax payments," the lawmakers continued,

"unions representing federal workers have made clear that many others do not."

Every employee who gets the benefit of not paying the tax for the next several months ends up seeing

a larger portion of their paycheck withheld next year, because

the full amount has to be paid back by May.

That's a pretty crappy deal.

Trump has said that if he's reelected, he will "terminate" the taxes entirely, so they wouldn't have to be repaid.

He has no plan for funding Social Security and Medicare.

Just like he has no plan for replacing the Affordable Care

Act while he's arguing before the Supreme Court that the whole law should be struck down.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/9/1976224/-Senators-blast-Trump-s-plan-to-force-federal-workers-to-be-his-payroll-tax-scheme-guinea-pigs

================

Top Republican Social Security Expert:

Trump’s Defunding of Social Security Opens the Door to Privatization

https://socialsecurityworks.org/2020/09/09/top-republican-social-security-expert-trumps-defunding-of-social-security-opens-the-door-to-privatization/

[Bogie]

Which GOP senators aren't backing it? I also heard it doesn't even have 51 votes (regardless of the fact it will die in the house), but curious which Republicans aren't supporting it.

McConnell is losing his edge in terms of the hardball tactics. Introducing this bill was so fucking stupid.


this was all done for optics. They want their stupids to flood social media with talking points that they’re trying to do something but the mean old democrats are holding it up.

the truth doesn’t matter.

they don’t really want to help. They are only worried about the election.

also, they will begin to fight against any help in the name of deficit, so they can inflict even more pain in order to run on nothing getting done for mid terms.

it’s the republican way. Rinse lather and repeat.

[Will Hunting]

this was all done for optics. They want their stupids to flood social media with talking points that they’re trying to do something but the mean old democrats are holding it up.

the truth doesn’t matter.

they don’t really want to help. They are only worried about the election.

also, they will begin to fight against any help in the name of deficit, so they can inflict even more pain in order to run on nothing getting done for mid terms.

it’s the republican way. Rinse lather and repeat.
Yeah I agree with all that, wondering which GOP senators got in the way of it getting 51 votes, since the strategy of blaming Democrats falls flat on its face if the GOP doesn't even support the bill.

[boutons_deux]

884,000 Jobless Claims Filed Last Week

September 10, 2020 8:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week at 884,000, a sign that

layoffs are stuck at a historically high level six months after the viral pandemic flattened the economy.

The latest figure released by the Labor Department Thursday still far exceeds the number who sought benefits in any week on record before this year.

Employers have so far added back about half the record 22 million jobs that were lost to the pandemic.

But hiring has slowed since June, and a rising number of laid-off workers say they regard their job loss as permanent.

13.4 million people are continuing to receive traditional jobless benefits, up from 13.3 million the previous week.

The increase suggests that hiring isn’t occurring quickly enough to offset still-widespread layoffs.

roughly 840,000 others sought jobless aid under a federal program that has made self-employed and gig workers eligible for the first time.

29.6 million people are receiving some form of unemployment benefits from the federal government or states,

roughly 2.5 unemployed workers for every available position.

Before the pandemic, there were more openings than unemployed people.

a number of of major corporations have announced mass job cuts.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/884000-jobless-claims-made-last-week

[boutons_deux]

More than half of households in 4 largest U.S. cities struggled financially during pandemic

At least half of all households in those cities —

53 percent in New York City,

56 percent in Los Angeles,

50 percent in Chicago, and

63 percent in Houston —

reported (https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2020/09/poll--half-of-households-in-the-four-largest-us-cities-report-serious-financial-problems.html) facing serious financial problems, including depleted savings, problems paying credit card bills, and affording medical bills.

Black and Latino households in all four cities were particularly vulnerable.

In New York, 62 percent of Black households and 73 percent of Latino households reported (https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2020/09/poll--half-of-households-in-the-four-largest-us-cities-report-serious-financial-problems.html) struggles.

In Los Angeles those numbers are 52 and 71 percent, respectively, while 69 percent of Black households and 63 percent of Latino households in Chicago have faced (https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2020/09/poll--half-of-households-in-the-four-largest-us-cities-report-serious-financial-problems.html) the same.

And, most drastically, in Houston, 81 percent of Black households and 77 percent of Latino households said (https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2020/09/poll--half-of-households-in-the-four-largest-us-cities-report-serious-financial-problems.html) their financial issues were serious.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/936551/more-than-half-households-4-largest-cities-struggled-financially-during-pandemic-poll-shows

[boutons_deux]

Repugs fucked it up, MISgovernance is their name.

Thousands of small-business loans may have been fraudulent, U.S. House panel finds

Tens of thousands of loans worth billions of dollars may have been subject to fraud, waste and abuse in the $659 billion taxpayer-funded program aimed at helping small U.S. businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic,

Over $1 billion from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) went to companies that received multiple loans, in violation of the program's rules,

The PPP provided more than 5.2 million forgivable loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) by the time it ended on Aug. 8.

The SBA did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but its internal watchdog has also found "strong indicators" of potential PPP fraud.

The Democratic-led panel found

more than 600 loans went to companies that should have been ineligible because they had been barred from doing business with the government.

Another 350 loans went to contractors with previous performance problems.

Nearly $3 billion went to businesses that were flagged as potentially problematic by a government-contracting database.

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN25S5IM (https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN25S5IM?fbclid=IwAR3ZurKfxj9_GxTybB6uI05b7qf n90XB5cchShgAfRFEoWyyWPoJh8OkXa8)

[ElNono]

You wonder why McConnell waited a full month after negotiations between Pelosi and Mnuchin + Meadows fizzled out to introduce this bill. Seems like he realized that if there's no stimulus bill between now and election day Republicans are dead in the water so he's trying to flip the script and say it's the Democrats' fault, but he's still overplaying his hand with such a shitty stimulus package.

I'm not even sure it's that or his overlords just telling him they won't 100% reopen without the liability exception get out of jail free card...

[boutons_deux]

Senate Repugs now saying no stimulus until after the election


https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=george+carlin+they+don%27t+ca re+about+you

[johnsmith]

This whole thing is un-fucking-believable. The one time Americans could actually use help from the federal government and Nancy and Mitch are playing politics. Anyone that says either one of them were genuine with their respective bills are being delusional.

Nancy knew her thing wouldn’t pass because it was filled with pet projects and pork, then Mitch sat on it for too long and then proposed a republican version of the exact same thing only conservative pork, knowing it wouldn’t pass. They’re playing games while actual human beings are suffering.

We’re bickering online while they’re getting incredibly wealthy on the backs of tax payers.

Term Limits! And also I’m never voting democrat or republican again. I may throw away my vote but at this point I don’t give a fuck. I’d love five minutes alone with either of these two cocksuckers.

[Winehole23]

This whole thing is un-fucking-believable. The one time Americans could actually use help from the federal government and Nancy and Mitch are playing politics. Anyone that says either one of them were genuine with their respective bills are being delusional.

Nancy knew her thing wouldn’t pass because it was filled with pet projects and pork, then Mitch sat on it for too long and then proposed a republican version of the exact same thing only conservative pork, knowing it wouldn’t pass. They’re playing games while actual human beings are suffering.

We’re bickering online while they’re getting incredibly wealthy on the backs of tax payers.

Term Limits! And also I’m never voting democrat or republican again. I may throw away my vote but at this point I don’t give a fuck. I’d love five minutes alone with either of these two cocksuckers.Our government doesn't care about us. It's clarifying, at least.

[Will Hunting]

McConnell has been doing everything imaginable to create gridlock in congress since 2009. Pelosi and Schumer are done being the adults in the room who cave every time McConnell wants to play hardball. We didn’t have these problems prior to 2009, when McConnell made it his mission to jam up all legislation regardless of what the American people wanted because the GOP’s goal was to make Black President fail regardless of how much it slowed our recovery from a recession.

[boutons_deux]

Trump’s payroll tax stunt has flopped — and some GOP-run states want no part of it

https://www.rawstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/trump-afp-5.jpg

Trump’s effort to spur more hiring by issuing an executive order deferring payroll taxes (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/will-trumps-payroll-tax-deferral-boost-your-paycheck-maybe-for-a-time-if-your-employer-participates-but-its-not-free-money/) has so far been a massive flop, and even some states run by Republicans are staying away from it.

both small and large businesses are opting to not take advantage of the tax deferral because they know they’ll simply have to pay the money back later,

despite the fact that Trump has assured them that he will forgive the money owed if he wins the 2020 presidential election.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/trumps-payroll-tax-stunt-has-flopped-and-some-gop-run-states-want-no-part-of-it

[boutons_deux]

" Nancy and Mitch are playing politics."

false equivalence

Dems passed HEROES Act months ago.

Moscow's Bitch Mitch won't even take it up, just like he blocked 400+ bills from the Dems since 2018.

This fiasco is totally on the Senate Repugs' smash-mouth, hardball, no-compromise politics, not on the Dems.

[johnsmith]

" Nancy and Mitch are playing politics."

false equivalence

Dems passed HEROES Act months ago.

Moscow's Bitch Mitch won't even take it up, just like he blocked 400+ bills from the Dems since 2018.

This fiasco is totally on the Senate Repugs' smash-mouth, hardball, no-compromise politics, not on the Dems.




This right here is a primary example of someone honestly believing that one side of the aisle has our best interest at heart.

NONE OF THEM CARE!

[johnsmith]

Our government doesn't care about us. It's clarifying, at least.

Lol....that’s a silver lining I suppose...way to be positive! I like it!