US Politics, March 2020 — There’s a very good chance you’re not going to die.

Evil, petty shit. There’s easy and already proposed workarounds. The obvious goal of this is minimize payouts to struggling people while claiming the PR victory of a cash handout https://t.co/2XxHjjxM19

— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) March 25, 2020

4.5 trillion dollars for Steve Mnuchin to spend at his own discretion

the rest of us: four months thank you may I have another

what an utter fucking joke

General Strike 2021

people will starve but at least we'll be proud of up-front means testing.

too little too late takes on a horrifying meaning.

— Zephyr Teachout (@ZephyrTeachout) March 25, 2020

So this is what all we need read from the article:

Final text of the bill has not been released, but according to a legislative draft, the new law would establish a $4.5 trillion corporate bailout fund overseen by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, with few substantive constraints. Some outlets are reporting this as a $500 billion fund, but $425 billion of that can be leveraged 10 times over by the Federal Reserve, resulting in a multi-trillion-dollar program.

The bill permits bailed out companies to lay off up to 10% of their workforce over the next six months, with no restrictions thereafter. Mnuchin would have authority to waive any upside for the public in its new investments, and the bill’s restrictions on stock buybacks at bailed-out firms are too temporary to be significant. Bailed out companies could even pay dividends to their shareholders.

Bailout money will flow to the shareholders of large corporations, otherwise known as rich people. The oversight terms that Democrats secured are purely cosmetic, replicating the toothless provisions of the 2008 bank bailout that enabled watchdogs to report abuse but not actually prevent or rectify it.

Yet Monday's bill was far worse.

wait, what? everything I read yesterday said Mnuchin is not in charge of the fund, and instead a tribunal was being installed.

are we sure this is accurate, this is HuffPo

the crux of that critique is this:

Final text of the bill has not been released, but according to a legislative draft, the new law would establish a $4.5 trillion corporate bailout fund overseen by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, with few substantive constraints. Some outlets are reporting this as a $500 billion fund, but $425 billion of that can be leveraged 10 times over by the Federal Reserve, resulting in a multi-trillion-dollar program.

if that's true - that it really is $4.5 trillion rather than a $500 billion fund - then that means it's a $5.8 trillion deal, not a $1.8 trillion deal, as everyone else has been reporting it. it would be nice to know some details on this.

I don't trust Huff Post's reporting.

You don't think Bernie Sanders wouldn't have been all over this?

yep, it's wrong about the Mnuchin oversight part, right about other parts. he's gotta be looking at the first draft Republicans put together.

from CNN:

The Treasury Department can provide $500 billion in loans, loan guarantees and investments.
That specifically includes $25 billion for passenger air carriers, $4 billion for cargo air carriers and $17 billion for businesses that work in national security. The rest of the funds, $454 billion, are given wide latitude to provide loans to businesses, states and municipalities.
The measure includes restrictions on businesses who receive the loans. Those businesses may not issue dividends for up to a year after the loan is no longer outstanding, and must retain 90% of employment levels as of March 24, "to the extent practicable," through September 30. The loans also cannot last longer than five years.
There's a specific provision in the program for direct loans to mid-sized businesses, defined as between 500 and 10,000 employees, as well as non-profit organizations, where no payments will be due for the first six months after the loan is issued.
A congressional oversight commission will monitor how the money is spent.

the whole "Mnuchin being in charge" thing is why Democrats voted against it to begin with on Monday. one of the reasons at least.

also, why no mention of the furlough program at all? Some of the complaints about $1,200 not being enough would...probably be addressed there?

like this is still way too much a WAll STreet bill but there are outright inaccuracies in that HuffPo story, almost looks like a story written two days ago that's been updated patchwork style as new data came in.

oops it did mention the furlough benefit, but briefly.

HuffPo article also incorrectly states bailed out companies can pay dividends, which the bill explicitly restricts up until one year after the loan is repaid.

Morbs was ecstatic he had a reason to loathe Dems again.

trump is actually slowly dying as he speaks right now, more noticeably than the rest of us are slowly dying as we speak

it's like he has a xx% over his head that decreases a tick every few minutes

uh

why are you watching?

what do you mean "again"

I don't live in fucking Florida, ive hated em since 1984

I know!

so is it a onetime payment of $1200? and it's the UI padding that goes for 4 months?

xpost

i want to see the moment he grinds to a halt. it seems near. the end of trump is near. this is a trump prophecy

he's doing another episode?

why can't posters watch these press conferences of their own free will w/o being interrogated every time as to why

i love the serial nature of this series - like the running gag where they all continue to stand next to each other, so close that they're touching, even though the subject matter is coronavirus! it's so obvious but so good

but $425 billion of that can be leveraged 10 times over by the Federal Reserve, resulting in a multi-trillion-dollar program.

This is not the worst thing about this bailout fund. Having Mnuchin oversee it with only a fig leaf of pretended oversight is what will immediately turn this into a huge slush fund. Because Trump is corrupt to the core and will certainly demand corrupt uses of this fund. If Mnuchin doesn't do as Trump instructs him to do, Trump will just replace him with someone who will gladly suck Trump's toes until he squeals with joy.

ew

it's too bleak

the bailout fund has congressional oversight, that article is old/innacurate

christ nowhere is safe from the vast amounts of misinformation sloshing around the internet

remember when we just wanted to see the tax returns?

i also appreciate the way they continually break the 4th wall in a subtle way, like the recurring arguments with the press. "you write fake news, YOU write fake news" he just said, pointing specifically toward two different reporters. then interrupting the next question with "WHO ARE YOU WITH??" and upon hearing the reply (CBN) solemnly bowing his head and going silent, nodding. this is the good shit, this is the golden era

indeed it's all readymade Vic Berger

but lethal

and when you express incredulity and shock and express that on ilx you get scolded. that's the best part.

this is how it feels to be into the good shit while it's still happening. you're basically at cbgb's watching patti smith in 1975. sometimes you just gotta wear the ramones pants and huff paint, no matter what people say

oh i've been huffing paint guys. compare my posts from 2013 to now.

it's the only way to experience modern life

Solidarity With The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory tells landlords it will not be paying rents on April 1 https://t.co/AHjWusegPa pic.twitter.com/XlAevQxwWm

— Eater (@Eater) March 25, 2020

here's the fucking white house's take:

A global crisis like the Coronavirus pandemic separates the real leaders from the pundits.

Real leaders know that every decision in Washington affects millions of Americans. Pundits, on the other hand, aren’t accountable to anyone except the media execs who sign their paychecks. They don’t have real jobs, so they don’t suffer when Democrats in Congress block a relief bill—or when politicians say it’s OK to shut down our entire economy indefinitely.

President Trump understands that when officials close down businesses to safeguard public health, there must be an ambitious recovery plan ready. Part one of that plan is immediate relief for millions of affected American workers. Part two is aggressive action to make sure America can open for business again the moment it is safe to do so.

Part one is nearly complete. Working late last night and into the early morning hours, Trump Administration officials and Senate lawmakers came together on a deal. “The legislation developed in the Senate is the first step to restoring confidence and stability to America’s economy,” the President said yesterday.

The next step is preparing to get America back to work as soon as possible. Once again, the pundit class lined up to attack common sense—they say it’s too soon to even think about how our economy recovers once the threat passes.

Easy for them to say, of course. A mass quarantine doesn’t risk their paychecks, their families’ futures, or their ability to retire the same way it threatens millions of small businesses and workers. Most pundits don’t know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck; they don’t have to fear not being able to put food on the table.

Leaders, however, don’t have the “luxury of being one-dimensional,” as Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) said this week. Public health is essential, but “we also have to start to plan the pivot back to economic functionality. You can't stop the economy forever.”

Gov. Cuomo also thanked President Trump and his team for their full cooperation and creative private-sector involvement during the outbreak. As President Trump says, bipartisan cooperation right now is crucial to get every American the support they need.

America’s future shines bright. No country on Earth is better prepared to handle this pandemic than we are. We will beat this virus together. And when we do, our economy will pick up right where it left off—with high wages, job growth, and rising 401(k)s.

Maybe that’s what the pundits are really worried about.

Only caught part of the press thing today. The fake-news detour was par for the course; was actually somewhat shocked he was so equanimous about the money going to the Kennedy Center. I mean, that place must be viewed as the seventh ring of hell by his 35%.

Has Garth Brooks played the Kennedy Center, yet?

i didn't watch this press conference though it was playing on fb in the background; didn't see faluci. has he been sent to a basement?

wall street bailout $1,500,000,000,000
military $652,225,000,000
amazon's untaxed income $11,200,000,000
Candles $3,600
pandemic response team salaries $0
someone who is good at the economy please help me pretend I don't understand why people are dying

— Eric Allen Hatch (@ericallenhatch) March 25, 2020

You don't think Bernie Sanders wouldn't have been all over this?

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, March 25, 2020 5:53 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

he was and is. idg why people are not watching Bernie's town halls

That's my point; the Huff Post story is horse shit.

shit, even the candles would be more useful, people can self-monitor for anosmia

(by posting that I am a bit worried that I have triggered cosmic irony and the relief checks will turn into yankee candle gift cards, dipthyque if you make >$100,000)

"You don't think Bernie Sanders wouldn't have been all over this?"

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/489525-last-minute-complaints-threaten-2t-senate-coronavirus-emergency-aid

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, warned that unless a group of GOP senators back down from their demand for changes to the unemployment insurance benefits, he would slow walk the bill until stronger guardrails were put on hundreds of billions in funding for corporations.

"In my view, it would be an outrage to prevent working-class Americans to receive the emergency unemployment assistance included in this legislation," Sanders said in a statement.

"Unless these Republican senators drop their objection, I am prepared to put a hold on this bill until stronger conditions are imposed on the $500 billion corporate welfare fund to make sure that any corporation receiving financial assistance under this legislation does not lay off workers, cut wages or benefits, ship jobs overseas or pay workers poverty wages," Sanders continued.

Re: Kennedy center — the memes my father in law has been sharing on FB the last few days specifically highlighted this as one of the unconscionable things the radical dems were holding up relief for hard working Americans over

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Democrats will press for another wave of direct payments to Americans as Congress begins weighing the next round of emergency relief in response to the coronavirus crisis.

House Democrats had proposed a $1,500 cash infusion for all Americans in their stimulus bill, up to a certain income level — a $300 increase over the Senate package, which is expected to reach the president's desk in the coming days.

Pelosi suggested Wednesday that neither figure is high enough, calling for another round of checks in the next wave of stimulus — the fourth since the crisis began — to be considered in the weeks and months ahead.

"We had bigger direct payments in our bill, and we think we'll get more direct payments in another bill," she said in an interview with CNN.

She did not say how much.

A short time later, speaking to reporters in the Capitol, Pelosi offered a broader preview of some of the provisions Democrats will seek in a phase four package, including more funding to protect pensions, tougher work safety provisions under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and funding to provide free medical care — not just testing — to coronavirus victims.