Stimulus & Bailout Watch Thread

[boutons_deux]

I don’t know how to survive:

Hundreds line up for pro bono eviction aid in Houston

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/I-don-t-know-how-to-survive-Hundreds-15708004.php

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/124172383_3464510133595272_9193217221054090079_n.p ng?_nc_cat=101&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=nWfgUOgbTTIAX9shFxr&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=dbfce0114f7dea377cf4f3b7aebd3dba&oe=5FD18307

[DMX7]

https://images.dailykos.com/images/874601/story_image/102620.McConnellSandcastle.jpg?1603733791

what's interesting is that republican judges signaled they aren't going to strike down all of the ACA -- possibly they strike down only the part that is already dead

[boutons_deux]

The economy as we knew it might be over, Fed Chairman says

The Covid-19 pandemic brought the economy to a screeching halt, and while it has started its long road to recovery (https://www.cnn.com/business/us-economic-recovery-coronavirus), the economy we knew is probably a thing of the past, said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/05/economy/federal-reserve-meeting-powell/index.html)

"We're recovering, but to a different economy,"

accelerated existing trends in the economy and society,

including the increasing use of technology, telework (https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10/success/pay-cuts-relocation-remote-working/index.html) and automation, he said.

This will have lasting effects on how people live and work.

it's likely that lower-paid workers, as well as those in jobs requiring face-to-face interactions, such as retail or restaurant workers, will shoulder most of the burden of this shift.

These groups, heavily skewed towards women and minorities, have already been among those most affected by pandemic layoffs,

risk of being less productive:

women have been forced to quit their jobs (https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/07/economy/women-workforce-coronavirus/index.html) due to child care responsibilities during the crisis, and

children aren't getting the education they deserve,

Generally speaking, inequality holds the economy back, :lol oligarchy doesn't care

there's going to be a probably substantial group of workers who are going to need support as they're finding their way in the post-pandemic economy,

because it's going to be different in some fundamental ways,"

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/12/economy/economy-after-covid-powell/index.html

[Winehole23]

Idea: Reverse auction closure subsidies to bars, gyms, restaurants, theaters, entertainment sector, etc..


Governments have instinctively reacted with mandated closures, but this step might not be needed if one considers the alternative of taxes or subsidies. Taxes or subsidies have so far played no role in the so-called non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), although they could achieve the same target in terms of social distancing.

In concrete terms, this could mean the following. The government could announce a subsidy to any store or restaurant owner willing to close their establishment for a certain time (e.g. 1-3 months). A longer period of closure would be better because it would help keeping infections low for the rest of the winter.

One needs to avoid the problem of remaining stores becoming more crowded once a large proportion close. Overcrowding was already regulated prior to the new second wave restrictions as customers were asked to keep a minimum distance apart. This type or regulation should be maintained in the simplest form possible: no more than a certain number of customers on the premises per square metre.

The government could thus start with a subsidy offer which could be specified in terms of a lump sum per square metre, paid up front to the owner of any retail establishment willing to close (for in-store shopping or dining) for a number of months. Take-away and internet sales would still be permitted. Each individual operator will then calculate herself the opportunities from other sales channels. For those least able to adapt, accepting the subsidy might be the best option.

In principle, it would be preferable to conduct a reverse auction under which retailers could submit the price at which they would be willing to close.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/11/dealing-with-the-second-wave-subsidies-instead-of-ordering-closures.html

[Winehole23]

Coase (1960) argues that provided transaction costs can be neglected, the efficient solution to a problem involving a difference between social and private cost should be independent of the allocation of property rights. In pandemic control, the interests of society are represented by the government, which keeps transaction costs low. The key question, then, is whether the right to keep a store open is held by the owner or whether it belongs to society. The fact that governments provide compensation indicates that they recognise that the right to stay open should belong to the owner. It follows that a subsidy for closure would be more appropriate than a tax on restaurants.2

[Winehole23]

The economy as we knew it might be over, Fed Chairman says

The Covid-19 pandemic brought the economy to a screeching halt, and while it has started its long road to recovery (https://www.cnn.com/business/us-economic-recovery-coronavirus), the economy we knew is probably a thing of the past, said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/05/economy/federal-reserve-meeting-powell/index.html)

"We're recovering, but to a different economy,"

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/12/economy/economy-after-covid-powell/index.htmlThere isn't even a murmur out there about helping out regular people who lost their homes and their jobs because of the plague or are about to. Direct assistance to US citizens is not to found the Biden/Harris transition plan for COVID-19, btw. That's a big oversight.

[boutons_deux]

There isn't even a murmur out there about helping out regular people who lost their homes and their jobs because of the plague or are about to. Direct assistance to US citizens is not to found the Biden/Harris transition plan for COVID-19, btw. That's a big oversight.

McConnell said some weeks ago that many shitbag Repug Senators said not one more $ to unemployed.

I'm sure the dickless Dems are fully intimidated into trashing their HEROES and its cut-down version.

The plutocracy, both parties, doesn't give a tiny shit about citizens, esp now with no elections for 2 years (as if elections had any impact on govt policy which is fully defined by BigDonor).

[spurraider21]

https://images.dailykos.com/images/874601/story_image/102620.McConnellSandcastle.jpg?1603733791
what i dont get about this is...

wouldnt the maga people also love the fact that they're secured the courts?

[boutons_deux]

"The governor of Wyoming, Mark Gordon, has decided

to spend $15 million in coronavirus relief funds (https://go.grist.org/e/399522/nd-gas-industry-boost-stream-0/wpgv4j/686858997?h=ukttkf4KI2dl4FQ2NhiJdt8GDBzoUO79RPup1Q-saac) to boost oil and gas activity in the state.

Operators will be eligible for up to $500,000 to complete production on wells that had to shut down due to the pandemic,

or to plug and abandon idle wells.

That adds to the billions of dollars in CARES Act recovery funds that have already gone to the oil and gas industry (https://go.grist.org/e/399522/-06-cares-act-money-companies-/wpgv4l/686858997?h=ukttkf4KI2dl4FQ2NhiJdt8GDBzoUO79RPup1Q-saac) nationwide."

-- Grist.org email

[Winehole23]

great timing

[Winehole23]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Emv2bQ3WMAYyp1k?format=jpg&name=small

[Winehole23]

In a recent interview with Eater (https://www.eater.com/21401244/the-restaurant-industry-is-in-desperate-need-of-a-federal-bailout), San Francisco restaurant owner Pim Techamuanvivit articulated the bind she currently finds herself in: The pandemic has cratered her business at the same time that it’s made her staff’s continued employment—their salaries, their health insurance—that much more urgent. It’s an impossible situation. “I don’t understand why it’s up to me as a small-business owner to search my conscience every month to decide whether or not to support my employees,” she said. “Where is the conscience of this government, of this social system to support people? Where is the conscience of the country?”

Her point applies beyond just her industry. There is no way that business owners, or individual workers or consumers, can fix the crisis. We’ve been forced into this untenable situation by government incompetence and outright malice. And things are about to get much, much worse.
https://newrepublic.com/article/160175/republican-malice-turned-pandemic-deadly-loop

[Winehole23]

what a "v-shaped" recovery looks like

1328042487001346049

[Winehole23]

1328016148416356352

[boutons_deux]

Raging virus triggers new shutdown orders and economy braces for fresh wave of pain

Containing raging disease is key to healing the economy

The uncontrolled coronavirus (https://www.washingtonpost.com/coronavirus/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) outbreak is prompting government officials across the nation

to impose new restrictions on consumers and businesses,

sapping the economy’s momentum and

delaying the recovery of millions of jobs lost during the recession

“We’re hitting a bit of a tipping point,” Jerome said.

“People are getting to the point where they’re pretty stretched. People are vulnerable.”

Eight months into a historic crisis, the United States appears to be suspended in a sort of economic purgatory.

But the virus outlook is grim and getting grimmer.

Within the next week, the daily total will top 200,000 and is likely to reach 300,000 by early December,

Spending by 30 million Chase credit and debit cardholders through Nov. 9 was 7.4 percent below last year’s level and had “fallen notably” over the past two weeks,

Investors are profiting despite the worsening health situation

Between the end of September and the end of October, the number of Americans saying it was “very difficult” to pay their usual household expenses rose by more than 2.3 million, to 34.8 million,

“The risk of dying has gone down considerably relative to the spring. People may be willing to take more risks.”

The resurgent virus may depress activity no matter what government officials do. :lol so do nothing

“More businesses will be at risk of permanently going out of business,

which would dampen labor demand and potentially spur new rounds of layoffs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/14/coronavirus-shutdown-orders-economy/

America is a failed country, operated by the increasingly wealthy and powerful oligarchy that is immune to the pandemic and doesn't give a shit about anything or anybody except amassing more Capital

[TimDunkem]

Mitch McConnell is one sick bastard, tbh.

[boutons_deux]

Mitch McConnell is one sick bastard, tbh.

Economists Say US Needs 400 Percent More COVID Relief Than McConnell Is Offering

The next coronavirus stimulus bill needs to be at least four times larger than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) $500 billion proposal,

McConnell repeatedly rejected (https://www.salon.com/2020/08/08/mitch-mcconnells-republicans-are-destroying-america_partner/) the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act passed by the House back in May, and

the $2.2 trillion compromise offer (https://www.salon.com/2020/10/16/mcconnell-expects-trump-to-lose-mitch-shoots-down-stimulus-compromise-between-trump-and-democrats/) House Democrats approved last month.

McConnell said this week that a bill “dramatically larger” (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/12/congress-stimulus-deadlock-436294) than his $500 billion proposal is “not a place I think we’re willing to go.”

“The delay in providing the stimulus almost surely will increase the amount of money necessary to restore the economy,”

“Balance sheets of households and firms get eroded and firms go bankrupt.

Digging yourself out of a deep hole is much more expensive

than preventing a decline into a deep hole — ”

there are still more people unemployed than at any point since the Great Depression.

additional loans and grants to keep businesses open, enough money to provide

at least $300 to $400 per week in federal unemployment benefits,

funding to help struggling hospitals,

another round of $1,200 checks to help people pay rent, and

funding to help state and local governments that have “run out of money.”

the path to recovery would take years and far more funding than is being discussed for the next round of relief.

Restoring the unemployment rate to the 3.5% it was before the pandemic would require about $800 billion per year in stimulus funding totaling between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion if it was for “very effective” stimulus measures like federal unemployment benefits and state and local aid

Republicans have argued that the higher number is a disincentive to workers to return to their jobs even though studies have repeatedly found (https://www.salon.com/2020/08/04/studies-debunk-mnuchin-claim-that-600-benefit-is-a-disincentive-to-work/) that the generous federal boost had no impact on the labor market.

“Their households are at stake. If you can’t get $600, you have to accept $400.

The American democratic system is built on compromise.” :lol Moscow Mitch compromise? :lol

the areas where hospitals are now filling up are in “Republican states.”

“Republicans governors need money as much as the Democratic governors do,” he said.

“This is not a red state-blue state divide when it comes to addressing this problem.”

“The pre-Covid low unemployment rate basically disguised just

how rotted our economy had become in its potential to deliver genuine security for all,”

https://truthout.org/articles/economists-say-us-needs-400-percent-more-covid-relief-than-mcconnell-is-offering/

Capitalism, the Fed rigs the economy to provide cheap labor, economic precarity drives workers to accept shitty jobs.

[boutons_deux]

Thousands of cars form lines to collect food in Texas

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p180x540/125761463_10222080288969003_465540285425549109_n.j pg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=2&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=QxQqbZGRQxQAX_Bpt6n&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&tp=6&oh=5d0627f6fe1c5d9d8f30cd4d8a5f0607&oe=5FD6C84E

Thousands of people lined up for groceries at a food bank distribution event in Dallas, Texas, this weekend, with organizers saying the Covid-19 pandemic has increased need in the city.

North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) (https://ntfb.org/) distributed more than 600,000 pounds of food for about 25,000 people on Saturday,

There were 7,280 turkeys distributed to families,

"Forty percent of the folks coming through our partners doors are doing so for the first time,"

"I haven't been working since December. I can't find a job, they cut off my unemployment -- it's a big deal. It's a real big deal."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/15/us/dallas-texas-food-bank-coronavirus/index.html

How many voted for Trash?

America, is a failed state, due to Repug/oligarchy MISgovernance.

Capitalism is for Capitalists, everybody else get sucked dry, gets fucked

[boutons_deux]

If Congress doesn’t act,

12 million Americans could lose unemployment aid after Christmas

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/18/unemployment-expiring-congress-inaction

[TimDunkem]

Stimulus is dead.

[johnsmith]

McConnell REALLY fucked up when he decided to be a conservative again and suddenly worry about spending. What a fucking idiot...read the room man!

[boutons_deux]

McConnell REALLY fucked up when he decided to be a conservative again and suddenly worry about spending. What a fucking idiot...read the room man!

goddamn, you're fucking stupid

The only room McConnell and Repugs read is the room filled with BigDonor,

not with their rabid cult base that will always vote Repug no matter how badly the Repugs screw them.

[TimDunkem]

goddamn, you're fucking stupid

The only room McConnell and Repugs read is the room filled with BigDonor,

not with their rabid cult base that will always vote Repug no matter how badly the Repugs screw them.
Few groups have done more to hurt their fellow Americans than the Repugs voting McConnell in Kentucky.

[johnsmith]

goddamn, you're fucking stupid

The only room McConnell and Repugs read is the room filled with BigDonor,

not with their rabid cult base that will always vote Repug no matter how badly the Repugs screw them.


I honestly hope you join your mom soon.

[boutons_deux]

Obviously, transparently, the Repugs intend to fuck up the economy even worse for Biden's first year, Trash in "Nero Decree" mode, "burning it all down"

Trump’s Treasury pulls the plug on pandemic relief loans

The Trump administration asked the Federal Reserve to return $429 billion it received from Congress to bolster credit markets during the pandemic,

and argued that the programs should terminate at year-end.

New claims for unemployment began to rise again today (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/latest-initial-weekly-jobless-claims-total-742-000-n1248224),

as coronavirus infections hit new highs, with deaths expected to follow suit (https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/11/coronavirus-death-rate-third-surge/617150/).

Most forecasters expect difficult conditions in the months ahead.

“The Federal Reserve would prefer that the full suite of emergency facilities established during the coronavirus pandemic continue to serve their important role as a backstop for our still-strained and vulnerable economy,”

, Mnuchin argued the Federal Reserve’s lending authority lapses on Dec. 31, citing his own role in writing the law,

is a stretch aka a LIE

what expires (https://twitter.com/BharatRamamurti/status/1325452718115180545) is the Treasury’s ability to give the central bank additional funding, not the Fed’s authority to use what it has on hand.

Mnuchin’s attempt to end the program by blaming the statute is seen by many investors and Washington observers (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/business/economy/federal-reserve-emergency-loans.html) as motivated by the

Trump administration’s desire to sew chaos for president-elect Joe Biden

more businesses were likely to close and more workers would have lost their jobs. Even so, unemployment remains elevated,

with 6.7% of Americans unable to find work.

More than a third have been unemployed for six months or more,

a group that increased by 1.2 million people last month,

https://qz.com/1935959/trumps-treasury-pulls-the-plug-on-feds-cares-act-pandemic-loans/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-brief&utm_content=10238253

[TimDunkem]

^Jfc. There is literally no reason to do this other than to leave Biden an even worse steaming pile..."Both sides" my ass.

[boutons_deux]

Opposition grows to SBA's PPP loan forgiveness questionnaire

Opposition is building to a new Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness questionnaire unveiled earlier this month among

industry groups who see the documentation as excessive and offering little chance for public comment

The questionnaire asks for significant documentation about how businesses subsequently (https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2020/11/04/sba-ppp-loan-forgiveness-forms-raise-red-flags.html) fared through the pandemic,

but after applying for the loan.

Small businesses that don’t comply could be considered ineligible to have their loans forgiven.

The SBA had sent the form to the Office of Management and Budget for approval.

the Associated General Contractors of America has sent the SBA a cease-and-desist letter, arguing

the process for rolling out the questionnaire is

“badly disregarding the Administrative Procedure Act,

the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), and

fundamentals of due process,”

"They deliberately decided to

ignore their legal responsibility to seek public input and are asking questions,

not about the level of uncertainty that existed when the applicants sought the loan, but what happened after.

When Congress created the PPP program,

it was very clear that the loans should go to firms that faced an uncertain economic future, and

not to firms that could correctly predict the next six months,"

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2020/11/19/sba-ppp-loan-forgiveness-questionnaire.html?ana=e_tno&b=1605816970%5E21818670

If Mnuchin is trying to find fraudsters, then why not follow all the procedures?

As Trash fellator, this is just another way to fuck the economy for the Dems.

[boutons_deux]

‘Monstrous behavior’:

Mnuchin slammed for Biden ‘snub’ that

could sabotage US economic recovery

accused Friday of taking “exactly the wrong policy move right now” and

sabotaging the economy for the incoming Biden administration

after announcing an end-of-year cutoff to several key coronavirus relief lending programs at the Federal Reserve.

likened the move by Mnuchin to stripping a ship of its lifeboats when they’re most needed.

“It’s hard to find an economic rationale for it,”

Steve Mnuchin is

that movie villain who, before closing the orphanage during a blizzard just before Xmas,

also throws the children's coats and mittens into the furnace

because fuck 'em,

with a sinister laugh as he climbs into his Rolls Royce.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/monstrous-behavior-mnuchin-slammed-for-biden-snub-that-could-sabotage-us-economic-recovery

[boutons_deux]

How Steve Mnuchin Snubbed Joe Biden

He terminated emergency-lending programs that will limit the new administration’s options —

and upset the Federal Reserve, too.

Mnuchin has embraced (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1190) a terrible idea

essentially declared “mission accomplished” for programs that have contributed to the economy’s recovery so far and

is allowing them to expire at the end of the year.

those programs helped keep companies and municipalities afloat.

the Treasury secretary has made the reckless political decision to terminate them,

thereby pulling the plug on these vital programs and potentially destabilizing fragile financial markets.

The decision appears intended to limit the incoming Biden administration’s options to deal with the continuing crisis

Mnuchin’s decision also drew an extraordinary and immediate rebuke from the Federal Reserve

as record infection levels have prompted governments to impose new restrictions across the country, this is a grave error. Indeed,

to the extent that the programs have been successful, it is because of what they could potentially do rather that what they actually did.

the Treasury Department has put a premium on minimizing potential losses — with a result that

stricter lending terms have inhibited broader participation.

Given the stakes of the pandemic and its impact on the economy,

the Biden administration deserves to make its own policy decisions

on how best to use the CARES Act funds to stabilize the economy and support a recovery.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/opinion/steve-mnuchin-biden-cares-act.html

With Repugs, it only and always take care ONLY of BigDonor class, and fuck the rest of USA, and above all fuck the Dems.

All Politics, All The Time

Jan 21, Repugs will start the 202 campaign LIES that the economic disaster they refused to address is all the fault of the Dems.

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/p843x403/125876675_3489512014428417_3622562175396517895_o.p ng?_nc_cat=103&ccb=2&_nc_sid=2c4854&_nc_ohc=CIameSZxUPQAX-DB_pQ&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=55e45ad3c048f4684bdffa8eb027a894&oe=5FE09703

[boutons_deux]

1 in 4 Americans are jobless or earning poverty-level wages

[Winehole23]

1 in 4 Americans are jobless or earning poverty-level wages1 in 4 Americans are jobless or earning poverty-level wages1 in 4 Americans are jobless or earning poverty-level wagesThe reserve army of the unemployed helps keep wages competitive for job-creators, why do you hate America, boutans?

[Winehole23]

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

[boutons_deux]

"Without a new stimulus package, a double-dip recession is possible.

In an analysis circulating (https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/HMwyllS8ITlyc21h0wFOOg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhniMsP0TxaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMC 8xMS8yMi9idXNpbmVzcy9lY29ub215L2JpZGVuLWNvcm9uYXZp cnVzLXN0aW11bHVzLXJlY2Vzc2lvbi5odG1sP2NhbXBhaWduX2 lkPTkmZW1jPWVkaXRfbm5fMjAyMDExMjMmaW5zdGFuY2VfaWQ9 MjQzODAmbmw9dGhlLW1vcm5pbmcmcmVnaV9pZD04MDgyMTc5Ny ZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTQ1MjE2JnRlPTEmdXNlcl9pZD05OTJkNjA4 MjE0YjUwNTAwM2FhMDRiZjEwYTU5NTAzMVcDbnl0QgoAQCyeu1 8NQuqLUhNkYXJub2NuZWxAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAA) among President-elect Joe Biden’s aides, the research firm Moody’s Analytics predicted that

the economy would shrink during both the first and second quarters of 2021, and

the unemployment rate would approach 10 percent next summer, up from 6.9 percent last month."

https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/ff4fmQsDVWZfkAZUpfhvXSWGPkUfJsqNKJXblTOgs5vuhMURDS HGVaMuU6d0C-7rXMxq5yUgvqFrGz65VCT50v7zHvNMQOj-R6hGeWYFOlX9hr2bOuJO2hYeakmSNOjyUf4ZlaLwPjHYOqiIfu hZ2ONpTIKPYMwVlvLANshpIxI3MlYbH9Dh-YC3Og=s0-d-e1-ft#https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/11/23/multimedia/23-MORNING-COVIDSPENDING/23-MORNING-COVIDSPENDING-articleLarge.png



Many Americans would draw down their savings or struggle to pay medical bills.

Some would lose their homes and go bankrupt.

Recessions cause permanent damage to people’s lives (https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/1q-qrsEa3_lzH0CfZUS_Fw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhniMsP0TpaHR0cHM6Ly9lcXVpdGFibGVncm93dGgub3JnL3 RoZS1sb25nLXRlcm0tY29uc2VxdWVuY2VzLW9mLXJlY2Vzc2lv bnMtZm9yLXUtcy13b3JrZXJzLz9jYW1wYWlnbl9pZD05JmVtYz 1lZGl0X25uXzIwMjAxMTIzJmluc3RhbmNlX2lkPTI0MzgwJm5s PXRoZS1tb3JuaW5nJnJlZ2lfaWQ9ODA4MjE3OTcmc2VnbWVudF 9pZD00NTIxNiZ0ZT0xJnVzZXJfaWQ9OTkyZDYwODIxNGI1MDUw MDNhYTA0YmYxMGE1OTUwMzFXA255dEIKAEAsnrtfDULqi1ITZG Fybm9jbmVsQGdtYWlsLmNvbVgEAAAAAA~~),

which is one reason that Fed officials and many economists support further stimulus.





A lack of government support, Powell has said (https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/5qT_RxZuPXUan7mReZ-HFw~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhniMsP0T4aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMC 8xMC8wNi9idXNpbmVzcy9lY29ub215L2plcm9tZS1wb3dlbGwt ZWNvbm9taWMtcmVjb3ZlcnktY29yb25hdmlydXMuaHRtbD9jYW 1wYWlnbl9pZD05JmVtYz1lZGl0X25uXzIwMjAxMTIzJmluc3Rh bmNlX2lkPTI0MzgwJm5sPXRoZS1tb3JuaW5nJnJlZ2lfaWQ9OD A4MjE3OTcmc2VnbWVudF9pZD00NTIxNiZ0ZT0xJnVzZXJfaWQ9 OTkyZDYwODIxNGI1MDUwMDNhYTA0YmYxMGE1OTUwMzFXA255dE IKAEAsnrtfDULqi1ITZGFybm9jbmVsQGdtYWlsLmNvbVgEAAAA AA~~), may lead to “tragic” results with “unnecessary hardship.”

Loretta Mester (https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/TBS_fnpCYm9DqD7vKXVXrg~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhniMsP0T_aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlcy 9mZWRzLW1lc3Rlci1tYWtlcy1wbGVhLWZvci1tb3JlLWZpc2Nh bC1haWQtaW4tdGVsZXZpc2lvbi1pbnRlcnZpZXctMTE2MDU4MD E1NjU_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9OSZlbWM9ZWRpdF9ubl8yMDIwMTEy MyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD0yNDM4MCZubD10aGUtbW9ybmluZyZyZW dpX2lkPTgwODIxNzk3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9NDUyMTYmdGU9MSZ1 c2VyX2lkPTk5MmQ2MDgyMTRiNTA1MDAzYWEwNGJmMTBhNTk1MD MxVwNueXRCCgBALJ67Xw1C6otSE2Rhcm5vY25lbEBnbWFpbC5j b21YBAAAAAA~), the president of the Cleveland Fed, has called

the lack of another stimulus package “very concerning.” :lol STRONG WORDS! :lol



-- NY Times email

[boutons_deux]

Women are leaving the labor force in record numbers

An investment in child care could keep women employed and buoy the entire economy.

Piled atop challenges such as pay disparities and expensive child care is

an economic downturn that hit women workers measurably harder than men — the so-called “she-cession.”

One particularly sobering number:

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm),

there were 2.2 million fewer women in the labor force in October 2020 than there were in October 2019.

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/11/22/women-are-leaving-the-labor-force-in-record-numbers

Job quitting women are not counted as "unemployed"

misogynist White Male Supremacy

day care should be paid by taxpayers, not greedy for-profit operators

[Winehole23]

https://qz.com/1935959/trumps-treasury-pulls-the-plug-on-feds-cares-act-pandemic-loans/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=daily-brief&utm_content=10238253I preferred Martin Wolf's take:


But given how small the actual amounts were in these SPVs, and given the magnitude of its QE binge – $3 trillion in three months – it is clear that letting these essentially unused facilities expire as planned isn’t going to matter to the real economy, though it might matter a little to the speculators and investors who got rich off the jawboning, but they had it so good for so long and they shouldn’t complain.


But returning $455 billion to the Treasury and having Congress fashion new fiscal aid programs for Covid relief to small businesses and the unemployed would make a huge difference. Why do bondholders and speculators have to be coddled all the time to further increase the wealth disparity, instead of providing a modicum of fiscal relief to the unemployed and struggling small businesses? Powell didn’t even attempt to explain that.


Those SPVs should have never been concocted in the first place. They’re just another subversion of the credit markets designed to enrich asset holders.
The Fed should have never been allowed to buy corporate bonds and corporate bond ETFs, which trade on the stock market. But it did so anyway for the first time ever. Back during the Financial Crisis, it should have never been allowed to buy mortgage-backed securities, but it did for the first time ever, and now it’s standard policy – and a $2-trillion line-item on the Fed’s balance sheet.


What these asset purchases accomplished was to increase the horrendous wealth disparity – the “wealth effect,” as Bernanke, when he was still Fed chair, rationalized it, and a term Yellen touted when she was president of the San Francisco Fed. But blame for this horrendous wealth disparity via the Fed’s asset purchases lies with Congress which has authority over the Fed.
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/11/21/the-mnuchin-powell-affair-about-the-feds-special-purpose-vehicles-dollars-effects/

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/126361992_3499405353439083_2939872062346721091_n.p ng?_nc_cat=111&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=LtG8KvfwVqwAX86gKQq&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=bdd47be0ddccfed5dc3926e0a1bf5b75&oe=5FE33AEF

[boutons_deux]

‘Flat-out sabotage’ already underway as Mnuchin tries to put $455 billion in COVID funds out of Biden team’s reach

Mnuchin is under fire for attempting to undermine the incoming Biden administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic on his way out the door after his department confirmed Tuesday that

it intends to place $455 billion in unspent coronavirus relief funds into an account that

requires congressional authorization to access. :lol to be blocked by Senate Repugs“As the economy backslides amid skyrocketing Covid-19 cases,

Secretary Mnuchin is engaged in economic sabotage, and

trying to tie the Biden administration’s hands.”

“Mnuchin’ clawback would make it impossible” for Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Treasury Department, to utilize the funds “without lawmakers’ blessing.”

“This is Treasury’s latest ham-handed effort to undermine the Biden administration.

The good news is that it’s illegal and can be reversed next year,”

the Fed should not go along with this attempted sabotage and should retain the CARES Act funds it already has.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/flat-out-sabotage-already-underway-as-mnuchin-tries-to-put-455-billion-in-funds-out-of-biden-teams-reach (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/flat-out-sabotage-already-underway-as-mnuchin-tries-to-put-455-billion-in-funds-out-of-biden-teams-reach/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5945)

[Winehole23]

Hospitals beyond capacity, mass hunger, morbidity, homelessness and death are bad for the incoming administration and therefore good for Republicans.

(The people are just a prop to power. There's no way sour grapes Republicans will do anything to help them now. Sadism toward fellow Americans is the Republican mainstream.)

[Winehole23]

I'll be interested to see what, if anything, Biden tries to do about the coming wave of evictions. The paperwork is already starting to churn in Beantown.


In the five weeks since a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures ended, eviction filings have nearly doubled every week, jumping from 21 on Oct. 19 to 689 last week and housing advocates warn its a trend likely to continue.

“We are now really just at the start of the eviction process being fully open in the wake of the lapse of the moratorium and it remains a real concern to see where this will go,” said Rep. Mike Connolly.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/11/23/massachusetts-evictions-start-to-see-exponential-rise/

[Winehole23]

It's mind-blowing to me that saving American lives and preventing avoidable suffering and social dislocation -- the likes of which we've not seen in this country for 100 years --just isn't a priority in the US Congress right now.

[coyotes_geek]

It's mind-blowing to me that saving American lives and preventing avoidable suffering and social dislocation -- the likes of which we've not seen in this country for 100 years --just isn't a priority in the US Congress right now.

Political theater has always been the higher congressional priority.

[Winehole23]

Political theater has always been the higher congressional priority.And even that performance is donor facing.

[boutons_deux]

It's mind-blowing to me that saving American lives and preventing avoidable suffering and social dislocation -- the likes of which we've not seen in this country for 100 years --just isn't a priority in the US Congress right now.

correction: It's All smash-mouth, kick-head, hardball Politics, All The Time for the Repugs to service Capitalist BigDonor class,

which got wealthier by $1T+ in the Trump-Made Pandemic year. Stock market at 30K

Dems passed the HEROES Act, Repugs blocked it

The parties are not equivalent

Repugs have every intention of maintaining, worsening the American shit storm to pass to the Dems.

The Repugs Senate (at very weakest 50 Repugs + Manchin) will block all Dem attempts to help The Real Economy.

[baseline bum]

It's mind-blowing to me that saving American lives and preventing avoidable suffering and social dislocation -- the likes of which we've not seen in this country for 100 years --just isn't a priority in the US Congress right now.

Shithole country doing shithole country things

[boutons_deux]

Capital screwing Labor

https://mkus3lurbh3lbztg254fzode-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Wall_Of_Shame_Retail_Profits.jpg

[Winehole23]

Foreshadowing, people protecting people from police trying to evict them

1332242220590665728

[boutons_deux]

Political theater has always been the higher congressional priority.

All smash-mouth, kick-ass, curb-stomp, hardball Politics, All The Time

What about governing, :lol esp For The People? :lol

[boutons_deux]

'Hunger Like They've Never Seen It Before':

US Food Banks Struggle as 1 in 6 Families With Children Don't Have Enough to Eat

"We're now seeing families who had an emergency fund but it's gone and they're at the end of their rope,"


One in six U.S. families with children don't have enough to eat this holiday season,

more than 50 million people will experience food insecurity by the end of the year.

Among U.S. children, the figure rises to one in four.

it distributed over half a billion meals last month alone, a 52% increase from an average pre-pandemic month.

fewer than half of U.S. households with children were "very confident" they could afford to provide enough food for their families in the next month.

Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by the hunger crisis.

"People are seeing hunger like they've never seen it before,"

"We're going to be doing this for a really long time, and

that's frankly terrifying given

the impact hunger has on physical health, learning and development for children, and parents' stress."

the San Antonio Food Bank distributes eight semi-trucks full of food every day, but still was forced to resort to rationing due to soaring need.

"Covid-19 has taken so much, people's jobs, their loved ones, and now we're just trying to stop it from taking Thanksgiving,"

Pre-pandemic we were feeding around 60,000 people a week, and now we're seeing around 120,000...

and most of those are new to the food bank.

They've never had to ask for help before."

among the thousands of cars that lined up starting in the pre-dawn hours for free Thanksgiving meals at Houston's NRG Stadium last weekend, there were more than a few luxury makes.

"We are continuing to see people who have never used our services before,"

NYC president Leslie Gordon told France 24 that "even before the pandemic,

there were 1.5 million residents here across the five boroughs who didn't always know where their next meal was coming from or what it would be,

and that's escalated considerably to nearly two million of our neighbors."

"There's no end in sight, but we can't be the only solution."

"without sustained aid at the federal level, :lol the plutocracy doesn't GIVE A SHIT

we'll be hard-pressed to keep up" with demand.

"We're just bracing for the worst,"

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/27/hunger-theyve-never-seen-it-us-food-banks-struggle-1-6-families-children-dont-have

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/127814486_3510873808958904_2704046220401604713_o.p ng?_nc_cat=104&ccb=2&_nc_sid=2c4854&_nc_ohc=sDFu52xlDy4AX9jOJ03&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=937282d9a111d60c14e238f58c250e59&oe=5FE9504C

[boutons_deux]

19 million Americans could lose their homes as Congress refuses to act before Dec. 31 deadline

6.7 million households could be evicted in the coming months.

That amounts to 19 million people potentially losing their homes,

rivaling the dislocation that foreclosures (https://www.corelogic.com/research/foreclosure-report/national-foreclosure-report-10-year.pdf) caused after the subprime housing bust,”

“Apart from being a humanitarian disaster, the crisis threatens to exacerbate the coronavirus pandemic

11.6 million people indicated they wouldn’t be able to pay the rent or mortgage next month.”

“Among those who report trouble making rent,

“More than half are borrowing from family and friends to meet their spending needs,

one-third are using credit cards,

and one-third are spending down savings,”

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/19-million-americans-could-lose-their-homes-as-congress-refuses-to-act-before-dec-31-line

[boutons_deux]

Is Mnuchin trying to sabotage the economy?

The $650 billion in potential aid put in place by the CARES Act could soon disappear.

That includes two programs that buy corporate bonds and the Main Street lending program for companies with up to 15,000 employees.

The Fed still has significant "lending authority to backstop markets in the event of a disruption."

But a new crisis (:lol it's the SAME crisis!) serious enough that it demands a revival of the emergency programs would require another agreement with the Treasury.

Why take money out of the economy as the country faces a chaotic transition and resurgent pandemic?

It's hard to read Mnuchin's decision "as anything other than an intentional act of sabotage,"

just a month ago Mnuchin said that

"Treasury would consider extending them" based on market conditions.

What changed? Trump lost the election.

Mnuchin's abrupt announcement seems to underline that

"the outgoing administration has little incentive to make life easy" for the president-elect.

deprive President Trump's successor "of crucial tools to sustain and revitalize the economy" suggests that

the tradition of a smooth economic handoff is dangerously breaking down.

https://theweek.com/articles/951932/mnuchin-trying-sabotage-economy

[boutons_deux]

Food Banks Are So Overwhelmed With Demand That

They Are Resorting to Rationing

https://truthout.org/articles/food-banks-are-so-overwhelmed-with-demand-that-they-are-resorting-to-rationing/

[Winehole23]

Judge sidelines Trump's attempt to curtail eligibility for SNAP:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/food-stamps-federal-judge-blocks-trump-administration-cuts/

[boutons_deux]

Judge sidelines Trump's attempt to curtail eligibility for SNAP:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/food-stamps-federal-judge-blocks-trump-administration-cuts/

Cruelty Is The Point

[boutons_deux]

The State of American Restaurants, by City:

The Catastrophe of the Second Wave


At the end of October, the seven-day moving average of the

number of seated diners across the US was down 40% from a year earlier.

For the seven days through November 28, the number of seated diners was down by 56%, the lowest since early August.

The reading of “-100%” in April, meaning essentially no seated diners due to the lockdowns,

is once again playing out in some cities,

https://wolfstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/US-Restaurants-2020-11-29.png


https://wolfstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/US-Restaurants-2020-11-29-West-seated-diners.png
https://wolfstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/US-Restaurants-2020-11-29-Southwest-Rockies-seated-diners.png

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/11/29/the-state-of-american-restaurants-by-city-the-catastrophe-of-the-second-wave/

Thanks, you Freedumberer mask-hating Trash fellators

[boutons_deux]

A Prosecutor Called Jail Time for Renters Who Fall Behind “Cruel.” He Got Fired.

An Arkansas prosecutor has been fired after speaking out against the state’s criminal eviction statute

Arkansas is the only state where landlords can file criminal charges rather than civil complaints against tenants for falling behind on rent.

Under the law, which dates to 1901, :lol

if a tenant’s rent is a day overdue,

they forfeit their right to be in the property.

If they don’t leave their homes within 10 days of getting a notice from their landlords,

they can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined for each day they overstay.

Evictions in the state can snowball from charges to warrants to arrests to jail time,

leaving people with criminal records that hinder their ability to find a new home or get a job.

judges have sentenced at least 37 renters to jail after charges stemming from the law, which is officially known as “failure to pay rent, failure to vacate.”

Women and people of color have disproportionately been charged.
https://truthout.org/articles/a-prosecutor-called-jail-time-for-renters-who-fall-behind-cruel-he-got-fired/

Nasty fucking, sociopathic country

[boutons_deux]

City and state governments are desperate without COVID stimulus — and

cuts are about to be deep

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/city-and-state-governments-are-desperate-without-stimulus-and-cuts-are-about-to-be-deep

Dems have $1T+ in HEROES Act for states and municipality.

McConnell said no.

[ducks]

So Harris tweeting wanting help for riots in June but now tweets so want to bail out black small business

What a racist thing to say

[Winehole23]

If the Dems don't win both Senate runoffs in GA, Joe Biden is essentially dead in the water. The Senate will obstruct any attempt by Democrats to help Americans, and the Dems in turn will be blamed for austerity and a double dip depression.

Intentionally immiserating the whole country and blaming everything on the Dems is a solid strategy for the GOP if they can prevent enough people from voting in the next two elections.

[Winehole23]

Young workers are getting creamed. COVID-19 will have a very long tail, with "scarring effects" for economies and human health.

Socialism won't be a scare word in this country forever, too many people are sick, dying and eating shit financially in the richest country in the world.



Across the United States, millions of workers of all ages suffered job losses in the coronavirus-driven recession, but the economic impact on young workers has been even more intense. Not only have many young people in this country faced the harsh reality of returning to school without in-person classes at their colleges and high schools, the job prospects for those seeking employment have been particularly bleak. Historically, young people are disproportionately disadvantaged in many ways during economic downturns, but this recession has been particularly acute given the sectors of the economy that were hit the hardest. Furthermore, many have been all but blocked from receiving jobless benefits even with meaningful expansions to the unemployment insurance system.


This paper investigates several important questions regarding young workers, defined as workers ages 16 to 24 years old. Our main findings of the experience of these workers in the labor market are summarized below.


Young workers’already-high unemployment rates have jumped much higher.The overall unemployment rate for young workers ages 16–24 jumped from 8.4% to 24.4% from spring 2019 to spring 2020, while unemployment for their counterparts ages 25 and older rose from 2.8% to 11.3%. Spring 2020 unemployment rates were even higher for young Black, Hispanic, and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers (29.6%, 27.5%, and 29.7%, respectively).







Young workers are more likely to be in jobs impacted by COVID-19.Younger workers have had disproportionate job loss, in part, because of their concentration in the industries and occupations that were hardest hit. About a quarter of young workers are employed in leisure and hospitality, where employment declined by 41% between February and May 2020.







The economic effects of the COVID-19 economy on young workers may persist for years.Absent a much more effective policy response than was undertaken following the Great Recession, today’s young workers may experience serious and long-term labor market repercussions.







Young workers have been excluded from certain COVID-19 assistance.The CARES Act provided a vital safety net for many young workers, but others were left out. For example, those who were seeking but had not yet secured employment were not able to take advantage of the unemployment insurance expansions.




An additional disheartening fact: early career jobs have a big impact on lifetime earnings. So early unemployment/sporadic employment has a big individual and societal cost.
https://www.epi.org/publication/young-workers-covid-recession/
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/11/the-scarring-effect-of-covid-19-youth-unemployment-in-europe.html

[boutons_deux]

If the Dems don't win both Senate runoffs in GA, Joe Biden is essentially dead in the water.

No problems solved, no fiscal stimulus, no progress, only regress, at best pausing the ratcheting downward, no progressive federal judges.

I've been seeing several articles about what Biden could do without a Dem Senate.

At minimum, he can re-staff the Exec branch with serious, bona fides people, while burying if not firing all the Trash/Repug kakistocrats.

2nd Amendment and EOs are his main arsenal. Pres can't do anything, but he can do a lot.

As Trash proved, Biden can divert money Congress meant for other purposes.

I doubt Biden, an out-of-energy, frail old man in mental decaline, has the fire and fortitude to do it.

iow, America remains fucked and unfuckable, until the next Repug Admin fucks America deeper and harder, into one-party authoritarianism, while gerrymandering every Repug and purple state into permanent Repug shithole domination.

Even a GA miracle, Manchin will sabotage all Dem projects, even those that help his voters.

[boutons_deux]

SCOTUS ruled Trash can divert $6B towards his wall.

We'll see if Repugs sue Biden if he diverts funds for progressive projects.

[Winehole23]

US doesn't give a shit about small businesses either

1333443931648917504

[boutons_deux]

US doesn't give a shit about small businesses either

1333443931648917504

IRS will tax forgiven PPP loans as income.

[Winehole23]

IRS will tax forgiven PPP loans as income.Yep

[boutons_deux]

That's not clear from recent reporting, I believe there's been a recent rule change.

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/irs-confirms-ppp-loan-forgiveness-not-65075/

typical "zone flooded with shit" so nobody knows what's the truth

[boutons_deux]

Small businesses that took PPP aid may face a tax problem

A recent IRS ruling tying up a loose end in the 2020 economic-relief law could force many small businesses to pay taxes on government aid meant to help through the pandemic.

The agency on Nov. 18 said

the businesses cannot deduct expenses such as payroll and rent,

paid for with money from the Paycheck Protection Program of the CARES Act.

Such deductions are common when those expenses are paid for with revenue from running a business.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/small-businesses-that-took-ppp-aid-may-face-a-tax-problem

[ElNono]

DeSantis urges Congress to pass unemployment relief

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday urged Congress to move quickly to pass an unemployment relief package for people left jobless by the coronavirus pandemic.

DeSantis made his remarks to reporters Monday in Kissimmee, a central Florida city that is home to thousands of Walt Disney World workers. The Walt Disney Co. has announced plans to lay off more than 30,000 employees, including 18,000 at the Orlando theme park.

DeSantis placed blame for the company cutbacks on California, where Disneyland remains closed because of that state’s stricter pandemic policies, and federal guidelines that prompted Disney to close its theme parks.

Congress should have passed a relief package “months ago,” DeSantis said. “The reason why a lot of people are unemployed is because of federal policies.”

Disney closed its doors “because of what these federal experts were saying to do,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis did not mention Florida's own failed unemployment system, which imploded under a wave of coronavirus-prompted jobless claims over the summer. The state needed more than $150 million in emergency spending to boost the system, but thousands of desperate Floridians still could not get assistance.

DeSantis has blamed the system’s flaws on his predecessor, fellow Republican Gov. Rick Scott, but DeSantis himself was warned in June in June that the unemployment portal‘s technology was fragile.

https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/11/30/desantis-urges-congress-to-pass-unemployment-relief-1338611

[boutons_deux]

Second surge: More hotel closures a looming threat

More than a third of hotel operators indicated that their situation is so dire

they may face bankruptcy or

be forced to sell by the end of this year without federal help.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2020/11/30/second-surge-more-hotel-closures-a-looming-threat.html

[boutons_deux]

"DeSantis placed blame for the company cutbacks on California"

:lol EVERY SINGLE FUCKING REPUG IS FUCKING LYING ASSHOLE

[boutons_deux]

Bipartisan Senate group pushes $908 billion COVID-19 relief bill

would repurpose funds from the CARES Act, meaning that less than half the total figure is new money.

The proposal doesn't include (https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1333796830354624513?s=20) another round of stimulus checks, but it does

offer $300 weekly unemployment benefits and

earmarks (https://twitter.com/seungminkim/status/1333801865591439362?s=20) $160B in aid for state, local, and tribal governments, another sticking point in talks.

It remains to be seen (https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1333801598984757258?s=20) whether McConnell will bring the bill to the floor, or if Democratic leadership will be open to the smaller plan.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/952674/bipartisan-senate-group-pushes-908-billion-covid19-relief-bill

Too little, you fucking wealthy plutocratic shitbags

I bet McConnell rejects it, proposes something else, AGAIN indemnifying employers with fuck all for Labor.

$300/40 hours = $7.5/hour, the poverty Federal minimum

[boutons_deux]

https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/22068.jpeg

[Trill Clinton]

Bipartisan Senate group pushes $908 billion COVID-19 relief bill

would repurpose funds from the CARES Act, meaning that less than half the total figure is new money.

The proposal doesn't include (https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1333796830354624513?s=20) another round of stimulus checks, but it does

offer $300 weekly unemployment benefits and

earmarks (https://twitter.com/seungminkim/status/1333801865591439362?s=20) $160B in aid for state, local, and tribal governments, another sticking point in talks.

It remains to be seen (https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1333801598984757258?s=20) whether McConnell will bring the bill to the floor, or if Democratic leadership will be open to the smaller plan.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/952674/bipartisan-senate-group-pushes-908-billion-covid19-relief-bill

Too little, you fucking wealthy plutocratic shitbags

I bet McConnell rejects it, proposes something else, AGAIN indemnifying employers with fuck all for Labor.

$300/40 hours = $7.5/hour, the poverty Federal minimum




shitty bill tbh. They are so disconnected with reality its ridiculous. Those food lines aren't fake...people need money. Cut the check.

[Trainwreck2100]

Bipartisan Senate group pushes $908 billion COVID-19 relief bill

would repurpose funds from the CARES Act, meaning that less than half the total figure is new money.

The proposal doesn't include (https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1333796830354624513?s=20) another round of stimulus checks, but it does

offer $300 weekly unemployment benefits and

earmarks (https://twitter.com/seungminkim/status/1333801865591439362?s=20) $160B in aid for state, local, and tribal governments, another sticking point in talks.

It remains to be seen (https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1333801598984757258?s=20) whether McConnell will bring the bill to the floor, or if Democratic leadership will be open to the smaller plan.

https://theweek.com/speedreads/952674/bipartisan-senate-group-pushes-908-billion-covid19-relief-bill

Too little, you fucking wealthy plutocratic shitbags

I bet McConnell rejects it, proposes something else, AGAIN indemnifying employers with fuck all for Labor.

$300/40 hours = $7.5/hour, the poverty Federal minimum



bipartisan? The only Dem i could see putting his name on that piece of shit is Manchin

[Winehole23]

details of the Republican proposal

1333871041236578304

[Winehole23]

Treasury lied about the PPP

1333973966923456512

[ElNono]

details of the Republican proposal

1333871041236578304

So this is dead on arrival, right?

[Winehole23]

So this is dead on arrival, right?It's Mitch McConnell. If the Dems don't gave him everything he wants, the States, the American people and struggling businesses get zilch.

(I don't believe the Dems will sign anything with corporate COVID-19 immunity. I also tend to doubt they'll sign a bill that small, but we'll see. It's not hard to imagine Joe Biden saying half a loaf is better than nothing.)

[ElNono]

It's Mitch McConnell. If the Dems don't gave him everything he wants, the States, the American people and struggling businesses get zilch.

(I don't believe the Dems will sign anything with corporate COVID-19 immunity. I also tend to doubt they'll sign a bill that small, but we'll see. It's not hard to imagine Joe Biden saying half a loaf is better than nothing.)

All sorts of gotchas in there, including ending emergency authority despite the fact that there's still an ongoing health emergency.

Not to mention that while the corporate immunity doesn't have an end date, the relief for the little guy is only one month (which ends Jan 31st).

I can't think this is going anywhere.

[TimDunkem]

Dead on arrival. Mitch the Bitch starting from the bottom as usual.

[TDfan2007]

This 9-month gridlock over a relief package while citizens are dying and going hungry has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen Congress do

[boutons_deux]

So this is dead on arrival, right?

Obviously.

Not a $ for the unemployed.

But $10B to get women back to work, with initial unemployment claims running 800K/week

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

"More than 20,450,000 people claimed benefits from all programs in the week ending on Nov. 7,

which was an increase of nearly 135,300.

The number last year at the same time was 1,487,844."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/new-unemployment-claims-rising-as-states-tighten-restrictions

[boutons_deux]

The State of the American Office:

Suddenly Emptying Out Again Under the Second Wave

Office occupancy plunged by the most in Dallas.

In San Francisco, where it had already been rock-bottom, it dipped into the single digits.

The second wave of the Pandemic is scrambling whatever efforts had been under way to bring workers back to the office.

Companies are back-tracking, and cities are once again trying to keep office workers – those that were still or again going to the office – from going to the office.

Office occupancy fell broadly in the week through November 25, compared to the prior week, but

the steepest deterioration was in the metros of Dallas, Houston, and Austin, where office occupancy had previously recovered the most.

In the 10 largest metros, office occupancy plunged by 8.1 percentage points from the prior week, to just 17.6% of pre-Pandemic occupancy levels, the lowest since May 6,

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/12/01/the-state-of-the-american-office-suddenly-emptying-out-again-under-the-second-wave/

Predictions months ago were for commercial MBS to go bad in 2021. Looks accurate

[Winehole23]

This 9-month gridlock over a relief package while citizens are dying and going hungry has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen Congress doFace it, our government doesn't represent us. We're just mulctable cows on the farm the masters of business and finance run.

The response of the USA to an epochal pandemic makes it clear the system is arranged to serve private profit, not public good. The de facto US policy of undertesting and herd immunity sans vaccination, plus official COVID-19 misinformation, has led to wholly foreseeable outcomes of mass morbidity and mass death. The desultory support provided to the American people so far has guaranteed mass unemployment, hunger and social dislocation. The resulting financial wipeout is yet another boon to the .01%.

It isn't an aberration. Capitalism is working as designed and our government is there to protect it from democracy.

[boutons_deux]

Treasury lied about the PPP



WaPo late to the game

Different Names, Same Address:

How Big Businesses Got Government Loans Meant for Small Businesses

https://www.propublica.org/article/different-names-same-address-how-big-businesses-got-government-loans-meant-for-small-businesses

It's an old scam, long before PPP:

BigCorp creating "independent" smallcorp to snag SBA loans.

[Winehole23]

Fed calls for more fiscal stimulus


Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell praised Congress’s early efforts to stem the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic in Senate testimony on Tuesday (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG2AEbOx1Yo&feature=youtu.be) and suggested that more fiscal stimulus would be needed in addition to the central bank’s monetary support.

“We’ve thought about this collective effort — this government-wide effort — as one that involves getting the people and businesses that constitute the economy across the chasm created by the pandemic,” Powell said in front of the Senate Banking Committee. “I think frankly, the fiscal policy, particularly the CARES Act, deserves the lion's share of the credit in creating that bridge so far.”
Powell, who has repeatedly (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/powell-calls-more-fiscal-support-180356323.html) called for more action (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/powell-warns-of-weak-recovery-if-policymakers-provide-too-little-covid-19-relief-144041053.html) from Congress on relief amid the pandemic, added: “It may be we need more on that front.”

At another point, he stated: “The risk of overdoing it is less than risk of under-doing it ... fiscal support at this point will really move the economy along to guard against those downside risks."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-chair-powell-stimulus-congress-economy-215448453.html

[Winehole23]

1333888185043202051What changed?

[TDfan2007]

Face it, our government doesn't represent us. We're just mulctable cows on the farm the masters of business and finance run.

The response of the USA to an epochal pandemic makes it clear the system is arranged to serve private profit, not public good. The de facto US policy of undertesting and herd immunity sans vaccination, plus official COVID-19 misinformation, has led to wholly foreseeable outcomes of mass morbidity and mass death. The desultory support provided to the American people so far has guaranteed mass unemployment, hunger and social dislocation. The resulting financial wipeout is yet another boon to the .01%.

It isn't an aberration. Capitalism is working as designed and our government is there to protect it from democracy.

This, unfortunately :/

[baseline bum]

shitty bill tbh. They are so disconnected with reality its ridiculous. Those food lines aren't fake...people need money. Cut the check.

The checks in the first round were only bribes to get Mnuchin's $5 trillion slush fund , the proposed checks for the second round were only bribes from Trump for the election. There is no way in hell we're seeing $1200 checks again unless McConnell can get a horrible corporate blowjob that dwarfs the checks put in, as well as employer protection for not protecting their workers from the virus.

[Winehole23]

It's not hard to imagine Joe Biden saying half a loaf is better than nothing.Called it.

If Congress somehow manages to pass a small stimulus before inauguration, it would be foolish to think the US Senate would do a bigger one next year -- unless Warnock and Ossoff both win their runoffs.

In that case, passing a smaller stimulus now would look pretty smart.


Biden told The New York Times that getting a new deal through Congress, even before he takes office, would be a priority....

But Biden told the Times that he was confident he could co-operate with McConnell. "There are a number of things that when McConnell controlled the Senate that people said couldn't get done, and I was able to get them done with [him]. I was able to get them to, you know, raise taxes on the wealthy."
"I think there are trade-offs, that not all compromise is walking away from principle," Biden added. "He knows me. I know him. I don't ask him to embarrass himself to make a deal."
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-stimulus-mitch-mcconnell-embarrass-1551717 (https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-stimulus-mitch-mcconnell-embarrass-1551717?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true)

[ElNono]

Too early to start hating on POTUS Joe yet?

[Winehole23]

Too early to start hating on POTUS Joe yet?Not for me, I didn't like him very much to start with.

[ElNono]

Not for me, I didn't like him very much to start with.

hrm, me neither

[boutons_deux]

shitty bill tbh. They are so disconnected with reality its ridiculous.

So what "reality" do they connect with?

The reality for them, awealth plutocracy, is exclusively the reality defined and financed by their BigDonor class, both parties.

Citizens' vote is meaningless in how govt is operated, only in getting somebody elected, after which the winner must satisfy the preferences of his BigDonors and conform with the rest of his party which beholden to BigDonor class.

Citizens have NO POWER, total disenfranchisement. But they still believe the myth that Every Vote Counts and myth of American democracy which was NEVER true, false since 1789.

[boutons_deux]

McConnell shoots down bipartisan $900 billion coronavirus stimulus plan as stalemate drags on



Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected a new bipartisan $908 billion stimulus plan put forward in an effort to break the legislative stalemate as the coronavirus surges throughout the country.
The plan aims to address the expiration of key economic aid programs, including an unemployment insurance extension.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and McConnell have not held talks on a relief bill since the 2020 election.


https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/01/coronavirus-stimulus-update-senators-to-unveil-relief-bill.html

McConnell was just re-elected by a huge margin approving how he's doing his job.

[boutons_deux]

About seven million freelancers, contract workers and other Americans who don’t qualify for traditional jobless benefits will lose their emergency aid (https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/zaTiLzTdrxK9SEw5W4z_XA~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhq1LpP0T3aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlcy 9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1haWQtd2hhdHMtZXhwaXJpbmctc29vbi1h bmQtd2hhdHMtaW4tdGhlLXdvcmtzLTExNjA2MzExNjk3P2NhbX BhaWduX2lkPTkmZW1jPWVkaXRfbm5fMjAyMDEyMDMmaW5zdGFu Y2VfaWQ9MjQ2NjYmbmw9dGhlLW1vcm5pbmcmcmVnaV9pZD04MD gyMTc5NyZzZWdtZW50X2lkPTQ1OTU3JnRlPTEmdXNlcl9pZD05 OTJkNjA4MjE0YjUwNTAwM2FhMDRiZjEwYTU5NTAzMVcDbnl0Qg oANenNyF97CE15UhNkYXJub2NuZWxAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAA ). On average, it now equals $1,058 a month.









Close to five million more people who have been out of work for at least six months will also be cut off from aid — which now averages $1,253 a month. The usual limit on jobless benefits is 26 weeks, and a provision that extended it to 39 weeks is expiring.









Several million people could face eviction from their homes, because a federal moratorium will expire.









About 21 million people will have to begin making student-loan payments again.









A tax credit that has given more than 125,000 companies an incentive not to lay off workers will expire. Companies will also lose the ability to defer payroll taxes and take deductions for business losses.









Aid to state and local governments — $150 billion — will expire. Without more aid, those governments will likely need to make cuts to schools, police forces, health care and other programs.

-- NYTimes email






So it's the Repugs who are actually doing Defund The Police

[boutons_deux]

Moody’s Analytics forecasts that without more aid,

the economy will fall into a new recession early next year,

with the unemployment rate approaching 10 percent.

And Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, has said that the history of economic crises suggests Congress usually passes too little stimulus, not too much.

“Some fiscal support now would really help,” :lol STRONG WORDS FORCEFULLY STATED! :lol

Powell told a Senate committee this week.



https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/DDzVbjR0-Q7aheUA2IO27ALWYbGmLQKRpPPpNLK6yPTLq7McF2mZOjZtiHz spn049yaCIrhfU4cl-KUx-jwDwwUsFqtrLcIO4WHwyqQzvNZdf4jD8b5GNIRyHeU6EEWGuuj GL99Z1yid-8NKgkVYXgIElZB0wsF-g20WwOfkx2r1tMEH_mWLB0s=s0-d-e1-ft#https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/12/03/multimedia/03-MORNING-UNEMPLOYMENT/03-MORNING-UNEMPLOYMENT-articleLarge.png

-- NYTimes email

[boutons_deux]

In Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, for example,

244 families (https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlUctuwyAQ_Jpws8XLVnrg0Et_w8KwTkkxWLDE8t93SSTELI N2ZhmcRXjkcpkjV2StQlmCN1LzSdwn5o32hHcW6rIVgN2GaLA0 YEdbY3AWQ069QcyzZr9mAy60mPWXndRdfkkv9aqVXLlwm52VZd 1lsc0HSA4MvKBcOQGL5hfxqDf1fZM_tM7zHJ81pxgSjC7vRFWk KQkTnJVAcskJhKBN9SqCrThIrYfN7iEGqAPBadsfwOByS3gN8A oOwQ81kPuw52JJNLQuPyslJq45l3RgwXR9IbkSQkmpRzG-nuizzk9903x_yLG2taJ1f308Voy3JWWXINL1o8f05imlhXBvKe C1QLJrBP8JED-JvwPB6wDTHxYBEcqH7N8gJimEFIzMfCbVRE1Hi7aEtOWyv-P_B5Y6mAM) have been evicted from their homes since September 4.

Just last week, landlords filed 2,358 eviction cases (https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxNUMuOhCAQ_Bq5rQFEZzxwmMv-huHROswiGGjc-PeLetmkk0qqU9VdZRTCEtMht5iRlAxpclZyQXv27ImVwlZ8Epe nOQGsynmJqQDZivbOKHQxnAI2DIK85cjnWanHICgbHlp3g-g0HYECHWg3i5GcVyZVrINgQMIO6YgBiJdvxC033avh33Vgd-a09kq3MS3_mC9Myvy4cHLESU45ZZx2jHWci5a1-wdtFPEjGkHXhbe56IxV0Zq4kiStSiGaAL6ulzPNxdcwU8W1BIf HBEFpD_bOiXcx1994bCAD_GYPiJBu8myL9Zwxzkg9ZmN1DVW0F a-SC3NM69XSH4IPfIc) in 27 cities

"lifting [eviction] moratoriums amounted to an estimated 433,700 excess cases and 10,700 excess deaths" between March 13 and September 3.

The infections and fatalities occurred across "27 states that lifted eviction moratoriums" during the study period.

In Texas alone, the study found there were 4456 excess deaths after the state lifted its eviction moratorium on May 18.

, unpaid rent continues to accrue — once the moratorium expires in January,

renters will be expected to pay back their rent in full along with any late fees.

In other words, without rental assistance, the moratorium will end with an avalanche of evictions.

Come January, many may find themselves homeless in the middle of the still-raging pandemic.

an estimated “8.4 million renter households, which include 20.1 million individual renters, could experience an eviction filing” in January.

there has been a “70% percent increase from last year in people paying rent on a credit card,” reports NPR (https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkMuOwyAMRb-m7IiAkNeCxWzmNyICTkqHR2RIo_z9kFZCXGNsXzhGF9gSXmpPu ZAjA87OKiFZx8eOWCVt1ZG4PK8IELTzquABZD8W74wuLsW7gfe 9JE8FMLK2n6ScugWYWft2EmyQko_AB8s1uV1mfVgH0YCCN-CVIhCvnqXs-dH-PMRvXed5NnHHJuFWT4IJVoXzurV3NLXj2A9iuOOQEKgOgPU1Md NdXxQhFpoiNQjWFWo02kx1pl6fQf8BZrrWf9CSanXOtdw7WOni vCdO3WZcsJbzVgjZ8Ob9KjbJ9JIPycImmnwsuWjz15gUCCqrMS YTwdfr7ebzyVc8c9VwRFeuGaJePNgvufJF_SFRrh1UhDN7KAXw m7z5805wLjipZjbVqbE27YfX6OKaMHy4_wMOh5YZ).

“If you're putting your rent payments on to a credit card, that shows you're really at risk of eviction.

That means you've run out of savings; you've probably run out of calls to family members to get them to loan you money,”

-- Popular Information email

... and paying 20% interest on your rent bill paid on credit

[boutons_deux]

November Job Cuts Rise 45% From Last Year

For the year to date, nearly 2.23 million job cuts have been announced, almost four times the 592,556 jobs lost in all of 2019.

U.S. employers announced 64,797 job cuts in November, a decline of nearly 20% from October’s total of 80,666 job losses.

disposable income decreased [by] over $130 billion in October, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Undoubtedly, the millions of Americans who remain out of work will have an impact on spending, which will lead to further cuts.”

https://247wallst.com/jobs/2020/12/03/november-job-cuts-rise-45-from-last-year

[Winehole23]

one time bailout to LA restaurant workers

https://abc7.com/business/los-angeles-to-pay-%24800-to-out-of-work-restaurant-employees-garcetti-says/8452814/

[Winehole23]

New York's fiscal cliff

1334529892541550593

[spurraider21]

one time bailout to LA restaurant workers

https://abc7.com/business/los-angeles-to-pay-%24800-to-out-of-work-restaurant-employees-garcetti-says/8452814/
city scraping for money doing what they can while the feds sit on their asses to make sure businesses are protected

[coyotes_geek]

1333888185043202051What changed?

Sept 8: Mitch doesn't like Trump, but had to give appearances that he was trying to help.

Dec 1: Mitch doesn't like Biden either, and no longer cares about appearances because voters just gave him a 6 year contract extension.

[Winehole23]

Sept 8: Mitch doesn't like Trump, but had to give appearances that he was trying to help.

Dec 1: Mitch doesn't like Biden either, and no longer cares about appearances because voters just gave him a 6 year contract extension.Sure.

(The question was a rhetorical meant to promote reflection, but your reply is surely correct, and it always welcome.:tu)

[boutons_deux]

This 9-month gridlock over a relief package while citizens are dying and going hungry has to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen Congress do

Congress is the best that Christian, family values USA can manage.

"Maybe something else sucks around here" -- G Carlin

[boutons_deux]

Gov't reports a million more Americans file for jobless benefits

as GAO finds flawed counting

the Department of Labor reported (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20202198.pdf) Thursday that

another million of them had filed applications for initial benefits in the week ending Saturday, Nov. 28.

That makes 37 weeks in a row that more than a million people have filed.

at least 4 million jobs have gone away permanently,

the Government Accountability Office reported (https://www.gao.gov/reports/GAO-21-191/#appendix23) earlier this week that

the DOL’s count of how many people are receiving unemployment benefits isn’t accurate

because the unprecedented deluge of applications created backlogs and

double-counting due to repeat applications over time by the same individuals.

https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/ui-claims/20202198.pdf

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/128687478_3524167334296218_3431754722691739204_n.p ng?_nc_cat=1&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=amFkZ1dGEGwAX_gIY-U&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=4f61c84806b0afa9e7a2c1dc3a430502&oe=5FEF5A71

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/128272717_174273951016197_4267521757003792213_n.jp g?_nc_cat=107&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=ntxEdvuj79cAX-Twcjz&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=ca22abbae4ee9164b2712c9606586bac&oe=5FEFC0E9

[boutons_deux]

McConnell’s COVID plan has business tax breaks (BigDonor class) —

but $0 for unemployment boost and direct payments

McConnell, who has already

rejected a $3.4 trillion offer and

a $2.2 trillion compromise (https://www.salon.com/2020/11/15/to-truly-recover-us-needs-400-more-coronavirus-relief-than-mcconnell-is-offering-economists-say/) from House Democrats,

shot down a $900 billion short-term deal u

alternatively presented another $500 billion proposal providing

even less relief for jobless Americans than his previous offers,

which will be dead-on-arrival in the House of Representatives.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/relief-bill-2649141229/

The Bitch, with support of the Repug party, is just fucking around trolling the Dems

[boutons_deux]

The oligarchy, MIC division, bribes $740B from Congress. What fucked up, perverted society.

Congress Is Deadlocked on Covid Relief

But Came Together

to Fund the Pentagon for $740 Billion

https://inthesetimes.com/article/ndaa-congress-pentagon-covid-relief-package-stimulus

[boutons_deux]

'What the hell are they doing?'

outrage as GOP tries to adjourn House with millions going hungry and COVID surging

With mass layoffs (https://www.epi.org/blog/one-million-people-applied-for-unemployment-insurance-last-week-unless-congress-acts-millions-of-people-will-soon-be-left-without-a-safety-net/) persisting at an unprecedented clip,

coronavirus deaths surging (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/03/us-logs-a-record-3157-coronavirus-deaths-in-one-day), and

hunger on the rise (https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/hunger-coronavirus-economy/) nationwide,

a group of House Republicans on Thursday attempted to pass a motion to adjourn the chamber

another telling example of the GOP's refusal to take seriously the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis.

. "What makes it outrageous is a single vote

now takes well over an hour to occur with Covid-19 restrictions in place.

Then the chamber must be sanitized.

These are final days of Congress.

It's like pulling the fire alarm during a final exam."

https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/house-adjourned/

[boutons_deux]

I'm sure the "Repug group" didn't pull this adjourn-the-House stunt w/o knowledge and encouragement of the Repug leadership, both chambers.

[boutons_deux]

...

[boutons_deux]

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez blows up deceitful Project Veritas for taking more than $500,000 in PPP funds

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/3/1999771/-Rep-Ocasio-Cortez-blows-up-deceitful-Project-Veritas-for-taking-more-than-500-000-in-PPP-funds

[boutons_deux]

Gripped by surging pandemic,
US employers cut back on hiring

With the viral pandemic accelerating across the country,

America’s employers sharply scaled back their hiring last month,

adding 245,000 jobs, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown.

many people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed,

the Labor Department said (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf).

November’s job gain was down drastically from a 610,000 gain in October.

the economy and job market won’t be able to fully recover until the virus can be controlled with an effective and widely used vaccine.

And the picture could worsen before it improves.

https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-health-coronavirus-pandemic-economy-17b58d8673d61754b5a85da3e53d5a07

[boutons_deux]

Biden now backs this POS bill with no support for unemployed

http://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-908-billion-bipartisan-stimulus-proposal

[boutons_deux]

Millions of Americans are heading into the holidays

unemployed and

over $5,000 behind on rent

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/07/unemployed-debt-rent-utilities

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/129954839_3537145846331700_8382301658159007858_o.j pg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=2&_nc_sid=2c4854&_nc_ohc=r4kIGLuSeJ4AX_BFwgx&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=ac8926fa28cf32e6250661789858ab94&oe=5FF64EBB

[ElNono]

Liability reform compromise remains elusive
The discussions are part of the efforts to pass legislation offering coronavirus relief.

As a bipartisan group of lawmakers races to unveil a $908 billion coronavirus relief proposal they hope can pass Congress, Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over how to resolve their differences on a key sticking point: liability reform.

Emerging from a closed-door meeting Monday evening, senators said they have yet to reach a solution on the matter, but they exchanged competing proposals. The senators are expected to meet again Tuesday.

Sen. John Cornyn described Monday evening’s conversation in the Senate’s Mansfield Room as a “robust exchange of ideas” but added “there’s no consensus yet.” The Texas Republican said he suggested removing language related to liability reform and state and local aid, another sticking point, but that his proposal “went over like a lead balloon.”

While a bipartisan cohort of senators, led by Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), is working to finalize language for the $908 billion package, the Senate is also facing an imminent deadline to fund the government. Congress is expected to pass a one-week continuing resolution, as it works out the details of an omnibus package. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said coronavirus relief should be attached to the omnibus.

As he was leaving the Senate on Monday night, McConnell told reporters: “I’m optimistic we’re going to get somewhere, but I have no report at the moment about how.”

McConnell, for months, has made clear that any coronavirus relief package will need to include liability reform to protect businesses and schools from lawsuits related to the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Democrats are calling for robust funding for struggling state and local governments. The bipartisan group has yet to reach a final decision on how to address the issue.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/07/congress-liability-compromise-coronavirus-relief-elusive-443560

---

Good news, IMHO. Though I expect Mitch to bend the Dems over on liability when the dust settles.

[Winehole23]

L

---

Good news, IMHO. Though I expect Mitch to bend the Dems over on liability when the dust settles.Wha? :wow

[Winehole23]

JP Morgan/Chase lobbies Biden for fiscal stimulus:


In a set of new recommendations reportedly shared with the Biden transition team, Heather Higginbottom, President of the Chase PolicyCenter, wrote that although “the unemployed roughly doubled their liquid savings over the four-month period between March and July 2020, they spent two-thirds of the accumulated savings in August alone.”

That might seem like common sense, but it contrasts a bit with suggestions in some corners that the cash buffers built during the crisis months are not only sufficient to sustain spending until vaccine distribution is complete, but in fact large enough to allow for lower- and middle-income families to invest in financial assets.

“Absent additional government stimulus, lower-income households and those who faced job loss may exhaust their accumulated savings buffer and be forced to further cut spending or fall behind on debt or rent payments,” Higginbottom went on to warn.

She also recommended that policymakers move to address what she calls “large racial gaps in take-home income and liquid assets that persist across age, income, gender, and geography.”
https://heisenbergreport.com/2020/12/07/real-households-are-going-to-be-in-dire-straits-jpmorgan-liaises-with-biden-on-stimulus/

[Winehole23]

Mitch and the GOP want to give employers immunity from sickening and killing their employees. That's their red line.

1336356076242018306

[spurraider21]

immunity is absurd. just hold them to a specific standard of care, ie as long as they adhere to state/local guidelines/ordinances, they can't be held liable. but an employer who cuts corners and needlessly exposes workers absolutely should be held liable if they get sick

[Trainwreck2100]

immunity is absurd. just hold them to a specific standard of care, ie as long as they adhere to state/local guidelines/ordinances, they can't be held liable. but an employer who cuts corners and needlessly exposes workers absolutely should be held liable if they get sick

not how it works

"hey boss I had close contact with someone who has COVID, i can't come in"

boss

"come in or your're fired"

[spurraider21]

not how it works

"hey boss I had close contact with someone who has COVID, i can't come in"

boss

"come in or your're fired"
ok. then 3 other coworkers get sick because the boss forced him in. boss should be on the hook

[Trainwreck2100]

ok. then 3 other coworkers get sick because the boss forced him in. boss should be on the hook

and he won't be if they have immunity based if you hold them to "strict standard of care" they aren't the ones who put the coworkers in harm's way it was the one who came in that did it.

[spurraider21]

and he won't be if they have immunity based if you hold them to "strict standard of care" they aren't the ones who put the coworkers in harm's way it was the one who came in that did it.
if the boss forced an employee to come into work at the threat of termination, i think it would be fair to consider that to be a breach of his standard of care

[Trill Clinton]

1336128456409706496


TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will compile a fresh 73.6 trillion yen ($708 billion) economic stimulus package to speed up the country’s recovery from its deep coronavirus slump, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday.

The new package will include about 40 trillion yen in direct fiscal spending and initiatives targeted at reducing carbon emissions and boosting digital technologies, Suga said in a meeting with ruling party executives.

Policymakers globally have unleashed a wall of monetary and fiscal stimulus to prevent a deep and prolonged recession as the coronavirus closed international borders and sent millions out of work. In the United States, a $908 billion coronavirus aid plan is currently under debate in Congress.


Suga’s cabinet is set to endorse the stimulus package later on Tuesday, which would bring the combined value of coronavirus-related stimulus to about $3 trillion.

Two previous packages this year worth a combined $2.2 trillion focused on dealing with the immediate strain on households and business from the pandemic.

“We have compiled these measures to maintain employment, sustain business and restore the economy and open a way to achieve new growth in green and digital areas, so as to protect people’s lives and livelihoods,” Suga said at the meeting.


The plan includes a 2-trillion yen fund to promote carbon neutrality by 2050, 1 trillion yen to accelerate digital transformation and 1.5 trillion yen in subsidies to support restaurants hurt by shortened trading hours due to COVID-19.

Investment in digital and green initiatives is an area Suga has laid out as his key priorities.

Japan’s economy, the world’s third-largest, rebounded in July-September from its worst postwar contraction in the second quarter, though many analysts expect a third wave of COVID-19 infections to keep any recovery modest.

[Trainwreck2100]

if the boss forced an employee to come into work at the threat of termination, i think it would be fair to consider that to be a breach of his standard of care

In a retail or service setting you'd have to prove that those coworkers got it from the employee and not the customer, in a different setting you'd have to prove that the patient zero was the one who came in sick.

[spurraider21]

In a retail or service setting you'd have to prove that those coworkers got it from the employee and not the customer, in a different setting you'd have to prove that the patient zero was the one who came in sick.
thats why you hold them to a strict liability standard of care. if the employer did everything right but somebody gets sick at work, no liability. if the employer decides to cut corners, they'd be knowingly putting themself at risk

[Winehole23]

1336480997450407948

[TimDunkem]

^DOA

[Winehole23]

mutual aid

1336771688927735818

[boutons_deux]

THE BLACKLIST


Screened out by automated background checks,

tenants who face eviction can be denied housing for years to come.

Last year, Jona Perales was evicted from an apartment they shared with their stepdad in southwest Dallas after failing to pay rent.

Since then,

Perales has applied at hundreds of places—apartments, second-chance housing, rooms for rent—only to be denied.

“The landlord must have put my name somewhere else or something, like a blacklist,” they say. “Like some sort of blacklist that I don’t know about.”

In February, they moved into an extended-stay motel in Arlington.

they couldn’t qualify for sick pay from their employer, Uber, and their account was suspended.

As the pandemic spread across Texas, some cities passed eviction moratoriums intended to keep people like Perales sheltered—

but those protections didn’t extend to motels.

So Perales moved out of their room and began living in their car.

In Texas, tenants who are evicted—because they cannot pay rent, because they don’t show up to court, or because they don’t know their rights—have

little recourse when it comes to clearing their rental history.

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act allows tenant screening companies to access and report

eviction court records for up to seven years,

which means long after someone has moved out and gotten a new job or otherwise started to rebuild their financial life,

an eviction will continue to haunt them.

(https://www.texasobserver.org/evictions-texas-housing)https://www.texasobserver.org/evictions-texas-housing

[boutons_deux]

Occupancy Plunges to 70% at San Francisco Luxury Apartment Towers across from Twitter Headquarters: a Broad Phenomenon

the occupancy rate of the iconic wrinkled-appearing “New York by Gehry” tower with 899 apartments in Manhattan had plunged from 98% in 2019 to 74% by September (https://wolfstreet.com/2020/11/30/vacancy-rate-at-iconic-manhattan-tower-with-899-apartments-hits-26-this-example-shows-how-fast-massive-the-exodus-has-been/).

This plunge in occupancy rate was the reason the $550 million loan, the only asset backing a “private-label” CMBS, had been put on the “servicers watchlist.”

“Private label” means the CMBS are not guaranteed by taxpayers via Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac that after the Financial Crisis have waltzed energetically into issuing multifamily CMBS

The taxpayer-guaranteed CMBS that are backed by high-rise apartment properties have the same problems as private label CMBS: plunging occupancy rates in certain markets.

hotel and mall CMBS delinquency rates, despite widespread forbearance agreements, have shot up to 19.7% and 14.2% respectively.

with occupancy rates this low and potentially still falling, landlords who want to sell and potential buyers appear to be too far apart, and lenders won’t lend.

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/12/10/occupancy-rate-plunges-to-70-at-san-francisco-luxury-apartment-towers-across-from-twitter-headquarters-the-broader-phenomenon/

[Winehole23]

The PPP was operated concierge-style by banks for established customers.

https://thecounter.org/mcdonalds-taco-bell-wendys-ppp-loans-covid-19/

[Winehole23]

4 in 10 households report lower income than pre-pandemic

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/new-research-shows-virus-stifling-consumer-business-optimism-n1250604

[boutons_deux]

Mnuchin throws monkey wrench in COVID-19 relief negotiations with paltry, cruel offer

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and two-time popular vote sore loser Donald Trump decided to step in and completely blow up ongoing congressional negotiations on coronavirus relief Tuesday

, they would slash the federal unemployment benefits Congress has been talking about, and toss in a measly one-time $600 stimulus check per person.

What we're seeing now from McConnell and from Mnuchin is nothing more than

meddling, attempting to distract and

delay to make sure things get as desperate as possible

to try to

force Democrats to swallow a shit sandwich at the last minute.

All the while blaming Democrats (https://twitter.com/CraigCaplan/status/1336692292216893443).

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/12/9/2000846/-Mnuchin-throws-monkey-wrench-in-COVID-19-relief-negotiations-with-paltry-cruel-offer

[boutons_deux]

Why shielding businesses from coronavirus liability is a bad idea

the modest liability exposure that does exist is important to ensuring businesses take reasonable coronavirus precautions as they resume normal operations.

How not to be careless

As a general matter, businesses are subject to civil liability for carelessness (https://injury.findlaw.com/accident-injury-law/proving-fault-what-is-negligence.html) that causes injury to others.

The law defines carelessness as a failure to exercise “reasonable care.”

In applying this standard, courts consider several factors:



Did the business take available cost-effective precautions (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/negligence) to prevent injury?
Did the business comply with laws or regulations (https://www.nolo.com/dictionary/negligence-per-se-term.html) designed to protect public health and safety?
Did the business conform to industry standards (http://www.kohlerlaw.com/CustomasProofofNegligence) for health and safety?
Did the business exercise common sense (https://www.lawnow.org/the-reasonable-person/)?


If the answer to one or more of the questions is no,

then a court may conclude that the business was careless and

is subject to liability for damages to customers who suffered harm.

https://theconversation.com/why-shielding-businesses-from-coronavirus-liability-is-a-bad-idea-151823

[baseline bum]

I wouldn't give McConnell that corporate immunity shield for anything less than a $1000 a month UBI for every citizen for all of 2021.

[Trainwreck2100]

I wouldn't give McConnell that corporate immunity shield for anything less than a $1000 a month UBI for every citizen for all of 2021.

And he'll happily lock us all out in the cold during a blizzard

[boutons_deux]

I wouldn't give McConnell that corporate immunity shield for anything less than a $1000 a month UBI for every citizen for all of 2021.

Make 2000/month and I agree

650 USA billionaires now worth $4T

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/131039317_1110682682694658_6073476940319296584_n.j pg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=h9I8KSkJkxQAX-L8MD7&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=490027ff960b1f0a9d7cf5a491a82208&oe=5FF8C873

[baseline bum]

And he'll happily lock us all out in the cold during a blizzard

He's going to do that anyways, what's the difference?

[DMX7]

4 in 10 households report lower income than pre-pandemic

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/new-research-shows-virus-stifling-consumer-business-optimism-n1250604

The cruelty of this pandemic is that the people who were struggling before the pandemic have mostly been hit the hardest, and people who were doing really well before it have largely recovered if not actually benefitted from it.

[DMX7]

The PPP was operated concierge-style by banks for established customers.

https://thecounter.org/mcdonalds-taco-bell-wendys-ppp-loans-covid-19/

Geewhiz, who could have seen that coming? LOL

[CosmicCowboy]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/131039317_1110682682694658_6073476940319296584_n.j pg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=2&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=h9I8KSkJkxQAX-L8MD7&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=490027ff960b1f0a9d7cf5a491a82208&oe=5FF8C873

That's a crock of shit. The bottom 44% don't pay any income tax. The top 10% (over $145,000) pay 70% of the income tax.

[ChumpDumper]

Baby formula tax is not income tax.

[CosmicCowboy]

Baby formula tax is not income tax.

Baby formula is exempt from sales tax along with other food.

[ChumpDumper]

Baby formula is exempt from sales tax along with other food.In every state?

That would be great.

[spurraider21]

That's a crock of shit. The bottom 44% don't pay any income tax. The top 10% (over $145,000) pay 70% of the income tax.
did she specify federal income tax?

[CosmicCowboy]

did she specify federal income tax?

Income tax is the only practical way to "tax the rich".

Duh

[boutons_deux]

medically necessary tampons have sales taxes in some states.

[spurraider21]

Income tax is the only practical way to "tax the rich".

Duh
when she said "tax the middle class and poor" did she specify that it was federal income tax?

[CosmicCowboy]

when she said "tax the middle class and poor" did she specify that it was federal income tax?

Trying to play semantic gotcha?

The poor clearly don't pay more tax than the "rich" either in percentage of income or dollars, so her meme is total bullshit.

[boutons_deux]

shoplifting of food and other essentials on the rise, as Ms become desperate while the bribed, corrupt plutocracy fucks them over playing dick-measuring games.

[spurraider21]

Trying to play semantic gotcha?

The poor clearly don't pay more tax than the "rich" so her meme is total bullshit.
she didnt say they paid more taxes than the rich

you're the one who inserted "income tax" into the equation, not her.

[ChumpDumper]

:lol CC's gettin' upset.

[spurraider21]

this puts it all into a nice 11 minute nutshell


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-_A2yw4RPU

[CosmicCowboy]

:lol CC's gettin' upset.

i'm not upset. Just calling bullshit on the meme Boukaki posted.


Are you just butthurt because I called your bullshit on baby formula being taxed?

[ChumpDumper]

i'm not upset. Just calling bullshit on the meme Boukaki posted.


Are you just butthurt because I called your bullshit on baby formula being taxed?You didn't answer my question about that-- you're too busy gettin' upset.

[boutons_deux]

Did CC, with his towering financial expertise, gotcha The Great Boutons?

[CosmicCowboy]

Did CC, with his towering financial expertise, gotcha The Great Boutons?

Yep. And the Chump too.

[ChumpDumper]

Yep. And the Chump too.Not really, but if you need to soothe yourself....

[Winehole23]

We are just the sort of society to allow mass evictions in the winterime, during an pandemic, despite the known outcomes.

Because "muh property"


Twenty-seven states lifted eviction moratoriums during the study period. COVID-19 incidence in states that lifted their moratoriums was 1.6 (95% CI 1.0,2.3) times the incidence of states that maintained their moratoriums at 10 weeks post-lifting and grew to a ratio of 2.1 (CI 1.1,3.9) at ≥16 weeks. Mortality in states that lifted their moratoriums was 1.6 (CI 1.2,2.3) times the mortality of states that maintained their moratoriums at 7 weeks post-lifting and grew to a ratio of 5.4 (CI 3.1,9.3) at ≥16 weeks. These results translate to an estimated 433,700 excess cases (CI 365200,502200) and 10,700 excess deaths (CI 8900,12500) nationally.


Interpretation: Lifting eviction moratoriums was associated with increased COVID-19 incidence and mortality, supporting the public health rationale for use of eviction moratoriums to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3739576

[Winehole23]

Congress has waited too long to pass more help. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see Pelosi and McConnell swinging from lampposts, it would tend to focus lawmakers on their proper job of work, to serve the people.


Anything Congress includes in the next round of aid that is even modestly different from the programs implemented earlier this year “is going to take time to reprogram,” said Elizabeth Pancotti, a policy adviser at the pro-worker Employ America. “In some states that might be a week or two; in other states, we've seen it [take] five, six, seven weeks.”https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/11/coronavirus-relief-unemployment-444645

[baseline bum]

Congress has waited too long to pass more help. It wouldn't hurt my feelings to see Pelosi and McConnell swinging from lampposts, it would tend to focus lawmakers on their proper job of work, to serve the people.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/11/coronavirus-relief-unemployment-444645

False equivalence. Pelosi passed an aid bill 7 months ago and McConnell never even pretended to bring it up until the election.

[Winehole23]

False equivalence. Pelosi passed an aid bill 7 months ago and McConnell never even pretended to bring it up until the election.Didn't Pelosi pass on a stimulus bill a few months back for her own political reasons?

[boutons_deux]

focus lawmakers on their proper job of work, to serve the people.



The job of Congress politicians is to serve big donor

So the Dems put corporatist vilsack at USDA instead of fudge who would help with the food stamp and social safety net

[baseline bum]

Didn't Pelosi pass on a stimulus bill a few months back for her own political reasons?

You mean the one time check with Trump's name to bribe voters right before the election in exchange for McConnell's plan to absolve everyone of the responsibility of doing even minimal steps to protect their workers?

[Winehole23]

You mean the one time check with Trump's name to bribe voters right before the election in exchange for McConnell's plan to absolve everyone of the responsibility of doing even minimal steps to protect their workers?It didn't include the Trump checks but it did include liability protection -- a legit poison pill. The bill was a piece of shit.

It was hasty of me to say Pelosi should hang, I apologize for that.

I'm just really pissed off at the prospect of no help this year and none next year if the GOP wins one Senate seat in GA.

[Winehole23]

Our government is broken.

1338345406715973632

[Winehole23]

Where was the debate over the $740 billion dollar defense bill?

Oh right, there wasn't any.

1338178579385917440

[Winehole23]

If Biden expanded Medicare by executive order that would be huge.

Not holding my breath. I don't think he would do it.

Sirota has a few more suggestions of things to do that wouldn't be empty posturing (except for the resolution) at the Daily Poster link, to wit:

- Remove the Medicare for All opponent who chairs the key committee
- Schedule a vote on existing legislation to let states create single-payer health care systems
- Schedule a vote on a resolution demanding Biden use executive authority to expand Medicare
- Author a discharge petition to force a vote on Medicare for All

1338519489848070145

https://prospect.org/day-one-agenda/how-biden-could-give-everyone-medicare-on-his-own/

[Winehole23]

Private equity is conducting a reverse bailout from public pension funds and university endowments to millionaires and billionaires.


CalPERS and other public pension funds cling so doggedly to private equity despite ever-increasing evidence that the strategy doesn’t beat simple stock investing, when it needs to do a lot better than that to compensate for its much higher risk that one has to wonder why. As a wag in the Financial Times comment section put it (https://www.ft.com/content/0640d664-083e-4439-8fe4-faa06eee6e17#comments-anchor):


There a strange but widely held assumption here that PE is operated to enrich people other than the general partners.



Another nail in the private equity hype coffin comes via a new study by CEM Benchmarking, Benchmarking the Performance of Private Equity Portfolios of the World’s Largest Institutional Investors in The Journal of investing. The article is paywalled but Chris Flood provided a detailed write-up in the Financial Times and supplied more detail about the article in the comments section.




Cheap tracker funds trounce private equity

https://www.ft.com/content/0640d664-083e-4439-8fe4-faa06eee6e17#comments-anchor




Nevertheless, this salvo by CEM will be hard for limited partners to shrug off. CEM took a simple small cap index and lagged it from three to five months as a basis of comparison.1 CEM then compared that performance to the results achieved by 330 private equity limited partners, including any co-investments, from 1996 to 2018.


The choice of time frame is damning. More and more studies have found poor performance of private equity for the last ten years or so, starting with just before or just after the financial crisis, when investors started reaching for yield. Private equity as a share of global equity more than doubled from 2004 to 2013, for instance.

Thus one explanation for private equity’s flagging performance is too much money chasing too few deals. And that hasn’t gotten any better with pension funds like CalPERS trying to throw even more dollars at private equity, much like a rat desperately hitting the lever of a machine that once dispensed treats but is now empty.

The CEM study demonstrates that private equity underperformance is far more fundamental. 1996 was during the glory years of 1995 to 1999, when private equity was coming out of a period of disfavor and was trying to distance itself from its earlier “leveraged buyout” branding, which produced a lot of terrible end of cycle deals in the late 1980s that blew up in the 1990-1991 recession. The industry story line has been that if you participated in those “vintage years,” you reaped outsized results. CEM has demonstrated you would have done even better in a simple stock index, a full 67 basis points, which over the long investing horizon of pension funds and life insurers, adds up.



Keep in mind that there are “public market replication of private equity” strategies that have been modeled, of buying the kind of public companies that private equity firms like, and selling/rebalancing quarterly using pre-set rules. That has produced even better results than a simple small cap index; it would be useful if someone could update those models and see if the outperformance continues to hold.

Doing deals in house is an even better strategy. CEM found those investors beat private equity funds by 1.44% per annum over this timeframe.



From the Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/0640d664-083e-4439-8fe4-faa06eee6e17):


Cheap index tracking funds beat the returns of private equity investments over the past two decades, according to a survey of pension schemes…

CEM chose a mix of small-cap indices as a test of skill for private equity managers because it provided a robust benchmark that could be recreated easily by investors.

Alex Beath, a senior analyst at CEM, said the mix of small-cap indices had comparable risk and was highly correlated, but was “hard to beat” for private equity funds.

He added private equity presented a “double edged sword” as a pension fund might earn a 20 per cent outperformance over a public market from a top performing PE portfolio or a 20 per cent loss if its bets soured.




a recent study slammed public pension funds’ investments in private equity and real estate as drags on performance. From a July post (https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/07/new-study-slams-public-pension-funds-alternative-investments-as-drag-on-performance-identifies-calpers-as-one-of-the-worst-negative-alphas-shows-folly-of-calpers-desperate-plan-to-increase-p.html):


We are embedding an important new study by Richard Ennis, in the authoritative Journal of Portfolio Management,1 on the performance of 46 public pension funds, including CalPERS, as well as of educational endowments.

Ennis’ conclusions are damning. Both the pension funds and the endowments generated negative alpha, meaning their investment programs destroyed value compared to purely passive investing.

Educational endowments did even worse than public pension funds due to their higher commitment level to “alternative” investments like private equity and real estate. Ennis explains that these types of investments merely resulted in “overdiversification.” Since 2009, they have become so highly correlated with stock and bond markets that they have not added value to investment portfolios. From the article:


Alternative investments ceased to be diversifiers in the 2000s and have become a significant drag on institutional fund performance. Public pension funds underperformed passive investment by 1.0% a year over a recent decade.<.blockquote>








Even as evidence keeps growing that private equity is a poor choice on a risk adjusted and even an absolute basis, investors keep sticking their heads in the sand. As the pink paper concludes:


A survey by the data provider [Preqin] also found investors expected pension plans and other large investors to further increase PE allocations…

It showed 23 per cent of respondents expected a significant increase in their PE allocations with a further 56 per cent planning a slight expansion. Just 4 per cent of the investors planned to reduce their PE allocation.



So the transfers from taxpayers to billionaires are set to increase.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2020/12/authoritative-consultant-slams-private-equity-in-journal-article-cheap-index-funds-and-in-house-buys-beat-funds.html

[boutons_deux]

Sanders on Manchin-Romney Deal: Congress Cannot Go Home Until Working Class Receives $1,200 Direct Payments

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/12/14/sanders-manchin-romney-deal-congress-cannot-go-home-until-working-class-receives?cd-origin=rss

$1200 is one months' rent when Ms are in debt for months of rent

and these two clowns won't get it, anyway

[Winehole23]

(sorry, baseline bum, I'm wheeling the guillotine back out for Pelosi)

1338475634172026883

1338481117293371394

[baseline bum]

(sorry, baseline bum, I'm wheeling the guillotine back out for Pelosi)

1338475634172026883

1338481117293371394

Pelosi's a crooked piece of shit who deserves the guillotine, just didn't want to distract from McConnell being the overriding reason there is no stimulus.

[Winehole23]

Oh ffs


The stimulus legislation released by Republican and Democratic senators this afternoon includes an extension of a program to replace the wages of certain government contractors who miss work due to COVID-19. The program, Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, allows federal agencies to reimburse contractors who are unable to work in person due to the pandemic, and whose jobs do not allow telework, for up to 40 hours per week of lost wages. In effect, the program uses government money to reimburse defense contractors for giving paid leave to their employees (https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/USA001612-20-DPC.pdf).


The provision was added to the last page of the 525-page bill after defense contractors sent a letter to congressional lawmakers lobbying for the language. The same bill does not authorize direct payments to millions of Americans — nor does it reimburse small businesses for providing paid leave benefits to their workers.


Guillotine watch: Joe Manchin


"This is about need and not greed,” said (https://www.axios.com/bipartisan-group-748-billion-stimulus-package-f513b0ba-b664-4bc3-8edd-3d2e3be4f7d1.html) Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., one of the Democratic sponsors of the bill who has called (https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhansen/2020/12/13/sen-manchin-trumps-push-for-stimulus-checks-without-renewing-jobless-benefits-is-bad-idea/?sh=601eb15a3e23) new direct payments to families “a bad idea.” Nearly 12 million U.S. renters will be behind $5,850 in rent by January, according to the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/07/unemployed-debt-rent-utilities/).https://www.dailyposter.com/p/stimulus-bill-bails-out-defense-contractors

[baseline bum]

Oh ffs



Guillotine watch: Joe Manchin

https://www.dailyposter.com/p/stimulus-bill-bails-out-defense-contractors

Shitty oligarchy nation doing shitty oligarchy nation things. Citizen's United just cemented something that was 98% there already.

[Winehole23]

if they're sticking with the summer version of business immunity, it is a fucking insane screwjob


1338556508355825667

1338561472587313154

[Trill Clinton]

if they're sticking with the summer version of business immunity, it is a fucking insane screwjob


1338556508355825667

1338561472587313154

What do you think happens with the unspent cares act money?

[Winehole23]

tl;dr

CBO working paper: Medicare for All would be a money saver. Big time. (Exhibit 1-1, p.12)


How CBO Analyzes the Costs of Proposals for Single-Payer Health Care Systems That Are Based on Medicare’s Fee-for-Service Program: Working Paper 2020-08



https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Screen-Shot-2020-12-11-at-10.17.32-AM-1024x974.png

https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-12/56811-Single-Payer.pdf

[Winehole23]

The draft legislation is even worse than I thought: where is Guy Fawkes when you need him?



The unprecedented proposal to gut legal protections — which is being depicted as moderate compromise legislation and potentially attached to badly-needed state and local aid — follows a Harvard study (https://www.dailyposter.com/p/trump-reduced-enforcement-as-workers) showing a surge in worker COVID deaths following their requests for government regulators’ help.


The Huffington Post (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-relief-liability-shield_n_5fd7d150c5b689a6230d0b28) reported on Monday that Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is joining GOP senators in backing corporate immunity legislation. A draft of the legislative language obtained by The Daily Poster includes provisions that would:




Shield companies from all coronavirus-related actions retroactively — for at least one year, or until the pandemic is over — except in cases of “gross negligence.” Most coronavirus-related lawsuits would be forced into federal courts, which are considered more friendly to business interests.



Restrict the enforcement of longstanding laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when companies say they are attempting to comply with governments’ coronavirus guidance.



Empower the United States Attorney General to deem coronavirus-related lawsuits from workers, customers and attorneys “meritless” and then file civil actions against them as retribution. In order to “vindicate the public interest,” courts would be allowed to fine respondents up to $50,000.



Shield health care executives from lawsuits through language copied word-for-word (https://www.dailyposter.com/p/scoop-senate-gop-copied-and-pasted-25d) from a statute passed in New York by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid a spate of COVID deaths in that state’s nursing homes.

https://www.dailyposter.com/p/senate-proposal-would-retroactively

[boutons_deux]

Medicare for All's "money saved" is investor Capital not amassed,

so, if MfA ever gets any air time, the Capitalist for-profit health care scammers will simply dump $100Ms on for-sale, bribe-able, cheap, corrupt Congress to block MfA and protect their Capital flows

(Biden, Schumer, Pelosi are all against MfA. So,"Who ya gonna call?" ),

while "Harry and Louise-ing" Americans with defensive propaganda and lies about the mortal "horrors" of MfA.

That a significant majority of Americans support MfA to escape the Capitalists blood suckers is blatantly, hilariously irrelevant.

Americans don't make national policy For The People.

Capitalists own and operate govt for For The Capitalists.

MfA ain't never gonna happen.

[Winehole23]

What do you think happens with the unspent cares act money?Good question, i know Mnuchin has already tried to claw some of it back for Treasury -- I do not know.

[Winehole23]

Guillotine watch: Private equity landlords

(Obama's Geithner-led,-banker/non-bank facing bailout in 2009 resulted in this state of affairs. Instead of saving renters and landlords, the fraud-based financial sector got the goodies)


“You always have winners and losers — Blackstone was a huge winner coming out of the global financial crisis, and I think something similar is going to happen,” he said (https://event.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1405616&tp_key=3d2348097d).

He then discussed how his firm is generating big revenues today.

“About half of the firm’s earnings are from a real estate business. Just to give you some idea how this breaks, we pick the good neighborhoods, if you will. Real estate has a lot of different sub-asset classes. And we’ve concentrated in logistics. It’s about 36 percent of all the real estate we own,” he said. “We’re the largest owner of real estate in the private world. And that asset class has boomed with huge increases in rents, almost no occupancies, rent collections from almost everyone.”
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/12/blackstone-rent-stephen-schwarzman-pandemic

[Winehole23]

link to the draft legislation for the new COVID-19 stimulus bill, h/t Daily Poster (https://www.dailyposter.com/p/stimulus-bill-bails-out-defense-contractors):

https://www.scribd.com/document/488254843/Draft-Senate-Emergency-Stimulus

[boutons_deux]

Congress to Pass $17 Billion Bailout of Airline Shareholders & Bondholders, to Top Off Prior Bailout.

Industry Applauds, Airline Stocks Jump


Top 4 airlines burned $45 billion on share buybacks since 2012.

If airlines run out of money, Chapter 11 bankruptcy works. Airlines proved it.

Many items that either party wanted but that the other refused to yield on

have been trimmed out of this proposal, including the $1,200 stimulus checks.

But their airline bailout is in it.

they both love to bail out airline shareholders and bondholders.

And that’s what this is –

dressed up as payroll protection and airline support program.

This new bailout comes on top of the original stimulus bill, which was passed in March and which

came with $25 billion in so-called payroll support for the airlines,

an additional $25 billion in loans for passenger airlines, and

over $10 billion in grants and loans for cargo airlines and aviation contractors.

https://wolfstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/US-TSA-screenings-daily-2020-12-15-number-passengers.png


https://wolfstreet.com/2020/12/15/congress-to-pass-17-billion-bailout-of-airline-shareholders-bondholders-to-top-off-prior-bailout-industry-applauds-airline-stocks-jump/

[Winehole23]

Tax their greedy asses

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-16/fifty-years-of-tax-cuts-for-rich-didn-t-trickle-down-study-says?srnd=premium-middle-east

[boutons_deux]

Guillotine watch: Private equity landlords

(Obama's Geithner-led,-banker/non-bank facing bailout in 2009 resulted in this state of affairs. Instead of saving renters and landlords, the fraud-based financial sector got the goodies)

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/12/blackstone-rent-stephen-schwarzman-pandemic

Wall Street Titan Gloats Over Pandemic Profits From Rentals as Eviction Tsunami Looms

https://www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_large/public/headlines/blackstone_evictions.png?itok=cx_-vlKs

much of Blackstone's rental income comes from commercial real estate, especially the logistics sector,

with warehouse space (https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/the-rise-of-the-e-commerce-industrial-revolution/) accounting for over one-third of the property owned by the investment firm.

As Sirota and Perez explained,

"that gives Blackstone enormous power to jack up rents and

potentially bankrupt pandemic-battered small businesses."

the company has been accused (https://www.ft.com/content/7f49558c-6eb9-11ea-89df-41bea055720b) of jeopardizing the viability of those businesses by

refusing to waive rent when they were forced to shut down during the pandemic."

there are "congressional proposals (https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/10/van-taylor-real-estate-loans-covid-texas) to use government money to bail out the commercial real estate industry," the private equity firm could benefit even further.

the financial giant has since ventured into apartment buildings (https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2020/12/02/blackstone-atlanta-apartment-deal.html) and mobile homes (https://therealdeal.com/2020/09/15/blackstone-bets-550m-on-mobile-homes/), in addition to making an August return (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-27/blackstone-gets-back-into-rental-houses-with-tricon-investment) to the suburban housing market.

Blackstone does "buy up even more residential real estate to try to squeeze even more revenue out of renters in the pandemic-ravaged economy,"

working people across the country will pay a hefty price—with both their pocketbooks and health taking a hit.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/15/wall-street-titan-gloats-over-pandemic-profits-rentals-eviction-tsunami-looms

Ain't capitalism fantastic. Floats every billionaire's boat, while scuttling every non-billionaires boat.

[Winehole23]

Might be kinda ok if consistent with the scuttlebutt?

I wonder what all is in there that would get McConnell to give up corporate immunity, which has been his security blanket ever since the CARES Act passed.

1339198458457100288

[TimDunkem]

Might be kinda ok if consistent with the scuttlebutt?

I wonder what all is in there that would get McConnell to give up corporate immunity, which has been his security blanket ever since the CARES Act passed.

1339198458457100288

I'm sure there is some corporate bailout, but maybe Mitch finally declared victory after making the Dems sweat so much they went from 3+ trillion to less than 1 and all without the state and local aid they were holding out for. :lol

[boutons_deux]

Congressional leaders add stimulus checks to $900 billion relief package as they near deal

New direct payments will likely be included,

but leaders are scrapping aid to states and cities

as well as liability protections for companies

as they try to finish negotiations.

The package emerging is expected to include

hundreds of billions of dollars in aid for ailing small businesses and jobless Americans; ?????

tens of billions of dollars in aid for other critical needs, such as vaccine distribution and schools; and

a one-time check of between $600 and $700 :lol
for millions of Americans below a certain income threshold.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/12/16/congress-stimulus-checks-relief

/

[boutons_deux]

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott donates at least $40M to local nonprofits

Scott, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife,

donated more than $4.1 billion over the past four months for pandemic relief to groups in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.

Included in that sum is $10 million to local nonprofit small business lender LiftFund,

$20 million to United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County,

and an undisclosed “eight-figure gift” to Palo Alto College.

https://sanantonioreport.org/mackenzie-scott-san-antonio-donations

[Winehole23]

No sick leave money this time.

[boutons_deux]

Nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since the summer

Nation’s poverty rate has risen at the fastest pace ever this year after aid for the unemployed declined.

The poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November, up 2.4 percentage points since June,

the increase in poverty this year has been swift.

It is the biggest jump in a single year since the government began tracking poverty 60 years ago.

It is nearly double the next-largest rise, which occurred in 1979-1980 during the oil crisis,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/16/poverty-rising

http://povertymeasurement.org/covid-19-poverty-dashboard/

[boutons_deux]

https://scontent-dfw5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/131318489_3559408520772099_1790081600466115106_n.p ng?_nc_cat=1&ccb=2&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=HY5-D9x6IcgAX83a5yf&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=26f5016fe586b4bf259271b9e0709b77&oe=6001D71B

[boutons_deux]

America’s biggest companies are
flourishing during the pandemic and
putting thousands of people out of work

45 of the 50 biggest U.S. companies turned a profit since
March.

The majority of firms cut staff and gave the bulk of profits to shareholders.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/business/50-biggest-companies-coronavirus-layoffs

Capitalists before Labor, always.

[Winehole23]

I've got an idea, let's tax free lunch rentiers. Billionaires and trillionaires need to start paying more than their fair share.

1339375643264495618 (https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1339375643264495618?s=20)

[boutons_deux]

I've got an idea, let's tax free lunch rentiers. Billionaires and trillionaires need to start paying more than their fair share.

1339375643264495618 (https://twitter.com/ryanstruyk/status/1339375643264495618?s=20)

Rick Scott also ran a criminal enterprise and walked away with $100Ms

[Winehole23]

the stimulus check will be welcome, but face it, it's a joke and so is our government.

1339223619818450944

[Winehole23]

it doesn't trickle down. it never did.


1339424817351573508

[benefactor]

This is embarrassing tbh

[boutons_deux]

the stimulus check will be welcome, but face it, it's a joke and so is our government.

1339223619818450944

"The proposed stimulus deal (https://nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter/Y9VRxftcBuoiPjKZ3CGyJQ~~/AAAAAQA~/RgRhvcZOP0TeaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMC 8xMi8xNi91cy9wb2xpdGljcy9jb25ncmVzcy1zdGltdWx1cy1i aWxsLmh0bWw_Y2FtcGFpZ25faWQ9OSZlbWM9ZWRpdF9ubl8yMD IwMTIxNyZpbnN0YW5jZV9pZD0yNTEyOSZubD10aGUtbW9ybmlu ZyZyZWdpX2lkPTgwODIxNzk3JnNlZ21lbnRfaWQ9NDcxOTAmdG U9MSZ1c2VyX2lkPTk5MmQ2MDgyMTRiNTA1MDAzYWEwNGJmMTBh NTk1MDMxVwNueXRCCl_aTkHbX3PvSV1SE2Rhcm5vY25lbEBnbW FpbC5jb21YBAAAAAA~) is expected to include roughly $300 per week in enhanced unemployment benefits,"

-- NY Times email

4 x 300 = $1200 = month bottom-market rent, no help for renters in debt with months of unpaid rent, will still be evicted by wealthy shitbags like Jared

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

Staring Down Deadline, Congress Nears $900 Billion Stimulus Deal

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/us/politics/congress-stimulus-bill.html

[boutons_deux]

‘Gratuitously cruel’:

Outrage as GOP tries to prevent people on unemployment from also receiving stimulus check


Republican negotiators in Congress are reportedly trying to prevent Americans currently receiving federal unemployment insurance from also getting a direct payment under a soon-to-be-finalized relief package,

Senate Majority Whip John Thune :lol (R-S.D. :lol )

told reporters that “there could be language in the deal aimed at addressing

concerns :lol that people who receive both enhanced unemployment benefits and stimulus checks would be getting a ‘double benefit,'”

Robert Reich added that, “funny enough,

[Republicans] never take issue with doubling down on corporate bailouts and tax cuts for the wealthy,”

It's also news to me that Congress isn't in the "double benefit" biz.

In the same bill they're letting businesses take tax deductions for costs paid by PPP.

Corps that got CARES loans didn't forfeit tax cuts. Etc etc etc.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/gratuitously-cruel-outrage-as-gop-tries-to-prevent-people-on-unemployment-from-also-receiving-stimulus-check

74M voted Repug to fuckover themselves, so they can own the libs.

America is fucked and unfuckable

[Winehole23]

Democrats should be telling every journalist in sight they want to give Americans a $1200 check and UI benefits, but that mean Republicans keep trying to screw them while giving the house away to special interests.

Our gutless political culture where Dems act like hostages of the GOP is a stupid joke.

[boutons_deux]

Our gutless political culture where Dems act like hostages of the GOP is a stupid joke.

Dems are as enslaved to the BigDonor class as the Repugs, and the BigDonor class wants to give nothing to Labor, the young, the poor, the disabled.

[MultiTroll]

Phony phucks posing as if they are doing something noble with the XMass holiday approaching.

[boutons_deux]

Phony phucks posing as if they are doing something noble with the XMass holiday approaching.

Congress adjourns tomorrow for two weeks.

Any $900B they pass Friday will be in people hands when?

and of course, thieves will steal $100Ms even $Bs of it because Repugs don't care.

btw, Abbott is "sitting" on $2B of CARES money while food banks are way beyond distressed, depleted.

He must return any unspent CARES $$$ on 1 Jan to Treasury, and he's probably figuring out to give it to his BigDonors. All in secret, no doubt.

[Trainwreck2100]

Democrats should be telling every journalist in sight they want to give Americans a $1200 check and UI benefits, but that mean Republicans keep trying to screw them while giving the house away to special interests.

Our gutless political culture where Dems act like hostages of the GOP is a stupid joke.


At this point even some of the MSM is doing their duty for big Corp. Last month they were interviewing Dems it was all "Is any deal better than no deal, tell that to all the suffering Americans" This is a deal and it does fuck all for the people who need it the most

[Winehole23]

1339727650311516161

[boutons_deux]

hey, shitbag Abbott, get off your ass and spend that remaining CARES $2B on TX food banks

North Texas Food Bank, local pantries prepare to lose millions of pounds of food in 2021

Deep losses from three government programs will result in a deficit of 22 million pounds of food,

according to the North Texas Food Bank.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2020/12/17/north-texas-food-bank-local-pantries-prepar​e-to-lose-millions-of-pounds-of-food-in-2021 (https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2020/12/17/north-texas-food-bank-local-pantries-prepare-to-lose-millions-of-pounds-of-food-in-2021)

[Winehole23]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EoHwcuPXcAAC7Hm?format=jpg&name=small

[Winehole23]

1339661176289058817

[Winehole23]

1339717106569515010

[Winehole23]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpfLLOJVgAITNrB?format=jpg&name=mediumhttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpfWMggVoAAGJnO?format=jpg&name=small

[Winehole23]

1339811774246350848

[Winehole23]

wow, I would have been in favor of Trump interfering this time

1339736253957353472

[boutons_deux]

Return of the Phony Deficit Hawks

Suddenly, Republicans are pretending to care about debt.

the bad guys — Mitch McConnell and company — are clearly doing some of the right things only under political duress, while giving every indication that they’ll systematically undermine the economy once President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Should it go to a majority of the population, like those $1,200 checks (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/04/28/how-many-people-will-get-1200-in-every-state/111604090/) sent out in the spring?

why is there a limit on the amount of aid?

Republicans appear willing to make a deal because they fear that complete stonewalling will hurt them (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/16/mitch-mcconnell-gives-away-game-kelly-david-are-getting-hammered/) in the Georgia Senate runoffs.

That trillion-dollar cap, however, makes no sense.

The amount we spend on emergency relief should be determined by how much aid is needed,

the real interest rate on U.S. debt — the rate adjusted for inflation — has lately been consistently negative (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DFII10), which means that the additional debt won’t even create a major future burden.

it’s appropriate (https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.3.2.37) to run big deficits in the face of national emergencies.

While Republicans have made the political calculation that they must cough up some money while control of the Senate is still in doubt,

they’re clearly getting ready to invoke fear of budget deficits as a reason to block anything and everything Biden proposes once he’s finally sworn in.

the coming G.O.P. pivot to deficit hawkery will be completely insincere.

Republicans had no problem with rising deficits during the pre-pandemic Trump years;

they cheerfully passed a $1.9 trillion (https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-04/53651-outlook-2.pdf) tax cut, mainly for corporations and the wealthy.

shortchanging relief in the name of fiscal prudence would mean

vast, unnecessary hardship for millions of Americans. :lol wealthy Repugs don't fucking care

enhanced benefits for 10 weeks is like building a bridge that goes only a quarter of the way across a chasm.

Republicans will try to stop all of this, claiming that it’s because they’re worried about debt.

They’ll be lying, and we shouldn’t be afraid to say so.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/opinion/coronavirus-stimulus-deficit.html

Repug tax cut scams increase the deficit REPEATEDLY EVERY YEAR,

while The Trump-Made Pandemic economic and health catastrophe will last about one year more, with economic recovery to "full" unemployment taking longer.

850K NEW unemployment claims last week. Merry FUCKING xmas

[boutons_deux]

”Now It’s Totally Dead”:

Can Small Businesses Survive COVID’s Economic Wrecking Ball?

Warren Buffett has called them “collateral damage,”

but small and medium-size businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy—

and a move by Trump’s Treasury secretary could

make their plight even worse. :lol "Hi, Joe, how's YOUR economy doing?"

On December 15, on CNBC,

Warren Buffett said (https://www.reuters.com/article/berkshire-buffett-idUSKBN28P20M)

small businesses became “collateral damage in a war that our country needed to fight.” :lol

Small Business Administration’s 2019 profile (https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/23142719/2019-Small-Business-Profiles-US.pdf),

there were nearly 31 million businesses with fewer than 500 employees,

representing 99.9% of all companies and

47% of private sector employment.

These businesses create more than 1.5 million jobs a year. :lol Buffet says "fuck 'em"

September Goldman Sachs survey (https://www.axios.com/small-business-confidence-goldman-sachs-74ba6e69-ad0e-4cb5-bee3-d03445b2a30e.html),

88% of small business owners said they’d exhausted their PPP loans;

a third had been forced, like Sadlon, to cut wages or lay off employees; and

30% said that without another PPP-like infusion from Congress,

they would run out of cash by the end of the year.

The statistics were even worse for

Black-owned businesses: 43% of owners said they would have no cash by year-end.

In May, Facebook reported (https://dataforgood.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SMBReport.pdf) 31% of small U.S. businesses had “shut down.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/can-small-businesses-survive-covids-economic-wrecking-ball

It's now absolutely clear that the "captured" Federal govt exists exclusively to enable/enrich/protect the Capitalist oligarchy,

which itself has not the tiniest fucking interest in democracy, humanity, the planet.

The oligarchy would, without question, promote and support an authoritarian dictator and a one-party govt that would not touch the oligarchy's only priority of its wealth and power.

"The Fire Next Time" will be a Repug-controlled govt, and SCOTUS, elected by 74M Trash voters, having closely observed how Trash and his mafiya escaped punishment, that will simply destroy the myth of democratic America.

[boutons_deux]

How the Economy Is Actually Doing, in 9 Charts

People have left the work force altogether — and have not come back.

The number of people who have been out of work long-term continues to rise.

Unemployment has fallen from the worst months, but gaps among demographic groups have widened.

More families are unable to meet their basic needs.

Rent and home prices have risen over the course of the pandemic.

Wages and salaries have bounced back quickly.

The economy has been able to shift from services toward goods.

New business applications are way up over last year.

A resilient but increasingly unequal economy.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/17/business/economy/economic-indicator-charts-measures.html

[boutons_deux]

Why Some States Are Predicting Higher Revenue Amid Job Losses

As the pandemic batters the poor, the rich prop up state budgets.

States are still broadly hurting (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/business/economy/state-local-finances.html) from the economic crisis.

Across all of these states, federal stimulus has played a significant role.

It’s not that the crisis was exaggerated;

it’s that the federal aid really worked.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/upshot/pandemic-surprising-state-revenue.html

[boutons_deux]

One of Moscow Mitch's biggest, wealthiest allies in KY owns old folks homes with bad reps and bad covid cases for which the owner would be liable, and the owner also owns the insurers.

So Mitch blocked pandemic relief for the whole country to protect his single BigDonor by requiring any covid bill to have employer immunity from covid law suits.

Is this the real reason Mitch McConnell blocked the relief bill for months?

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/is-this-the-real-reason-mitch-mcconnell-blocked-the-relief-bill-for-months

[Winehole23]

shorter: the inept Dems will be unable to turn this to their advantage and will come away with no deal.

seems like everyone just wants to kick the can and get out of town.

1339940634837303298

[boutons_deux]

"block the FED from helping the economy under Biden"

same as with Obama. keep the economy fucked up, try to fuck it more, unemployed high and steady, homeless increasing, SMBs folding by 10Ks, blame it all on Biden and the Dems, as 2022 campaign strategy

The Fed is supposed to be independent, apart from politics. How can the Repugs control Fed into the future?

Biden can replace the Fed chair just like Trash did.

[Dirks_Finale]

We should have already had a deal. Pelosi didn't want to make Trump look good prior to an election.



shorter: the inept Dems will be unable to turn this to their advantage and will come away with no deal.

seems like everyone just wants to kick the can and get out of town.

1339940634837303298

[Bogie]

We should have already had a deal. Pelosi didn't want to make Trump look good prior to an election.

imagine how fucking stupid you are, you racist shitbag

[boutons_deux]

GOP’s Ron Johnson blocks bipartisan proposal to send Americans $1,200 checks

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/gops-ron-johnson-blocks-bipartisan-proposal-to-send-americans-1200-checks (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/12/gops-ron-johnson-blocks-bipartisan-proposal-to-send-americans-1200-checks/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6146)


fake deficit hawk worried, only now, about "mortgaging our children's futures"

[Winehole23]

We should have already had a deal. Pelosi didn't want to make Trump look good prior to an election.That shoe fits just as well on McConnell, maybe better.

Corporate liability was a poison pill and he knew it. Still is.

[Spurminator]

We should have already had a deal. Pelosi didn't want to make Trump look good prior to an election.

:lol Pelosi and Trump both want higher stimulus checks for people. The GOP has held up approvals.

You should consider offering your thoughts less often.

[Trill Clinton]

I knew the D word was going to become en vogue again but not this soon lol

1340003696839634945

[boutons_deux]

imagine how fucking stupid you are, you racist shitbag

stupidly swallowing the Repug lies and propaganda to cover for Mitch's "red line" of no deal if no immunity for (Mitch's big donor and ally in KY)

[Winehole23]

:lol Pelosi and Trump both want higher stimulus checks for people. The GOP has held up approvals.

You should consider offering your thoughts less often.no, no, it's important that other posters see how deluded mainline Republiicans like Dirks_Finale are.

[Winehole23]

I knew the D word was going to become en vogue again but not this soon lol

1340003696839634945wait til Biden gets on board with austerity next month, then the real fun will start.

might even become a black bloc anarchist myself.

[Splits]

wait til Biden gets on board with austerity next month

this is the real problem

catfood commission incoming

[boutons_deux]

With Dems proposing $3T+ in the HEROES Act, I'd be very surprised if Biden screws Americans with austerity, which has proven to be an inhumane failure everywhere it has been tried.

Of course, if Repugs take one GA Senate runoff seat, then Repug austerity for Labor will be imposed (simply with no more pandemic spendng, and cuts to all kinds of non-pandemic spending), while protecting/enriching Capital.

Even if Dems sweep GA, DINO Manchin will be the power broker if Dems really try something his Fox viewers don't like.

[Winehole23]

Drinks wine, preaches water

1340029890658091008

[Winehole23]

It's worth a try

1339778893952200705

[Winehole23]

*muh Xmas break*

1340043203567886336

[Dirks_Finale]

imagine how fucking stupid you are, you racist shitbagSTFU.

[Dirks_Finale]

What I said is 100% true.


no, no, it's important that other posters see how deluded mainline Republiicans like Dirks_Finale are.

[ElNono]

Not a fan of Nancy, but the House passed a stimulus bill back in May, Senate never took it up.

The notion that the House is stalling is bullshit.

[Dirks_Finale]

Not a fan of Nancy, but the House passed a stimulus bill back in May, Senate never took it up.

The notion that the House is stalling is bullshit.

Yeah loaded with bullsh1t and you guys know that.

I'm not saying the right has not played politics with it either because they have. But we know what this was about - removing orange man.

[Winehole23]

What I said is 100% true.You've got blinders on that help you overlook *any* GOP responsibility.

[Neo.]

What I said is 100% true.

you also said the answer to the nations healthcare issues are to "get a better job"

just because you personally believe it doesnt make it true or even remotely logical.

[Winehole23]

you also said the answer to the nations healthcare issues are to "get a better job"

just because you personally believe it doesnt make it true or even remotely logical.


https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/231/652/5f0.jpg

[Dirks_Finale]

you also said the answer to the nations healthcare issues are to "get a better job"

just because you personally believe it doesnt make it true or even remotely logical.There you go again quoting out of context. I also mentioned the need for better safety nets.