Our first reaction was to look at this as being over….
It isn’t….
Trump moves on a second look are not as broad as they seemed and Trump himself has acknowledged that they probably won’t stand up in court….They will actually make the feeling about the economy worst….
The executive actions President Trump took on Saturday were pitched as a unilateral jolt for an ailing economy. But there is only one group of workers that seems guaranteed to benefit from them, at least right away: lawyers.
Mr. Trump’s measures include an eviction moratorium, a new benefit to supplement unemployment assistance for workers and a temporary delay in payroll tax liability for low- and middle-income workers. They could give renters a break and ease payments for some student loan borrowers. But they are likely to do little to deliver cash any time soon to Americans hit hard by the recession.
Even conservative groups have warned that suspending payroll tax collections is unlikely to translate into more money for workers. An executive action seeking to essentially create a new unemployment benefit out of thin air will almost certainly be challenged in court. And as Mr. Trump’s own aides concede, the orders will not provide any aid to small businesses, state and local governments or low- and middle-income workers.
If the actions signal the death of a congressional deal to provide that aid, economists warn, the economy will limp toward November without the fiscal support that hastened its recovery after its quick dive into a pandemic-induced recession.
The federal government’s aid to small businesses through the Payroll Protection Program was set to expire on Saturday. Executives, trade groups and business lobbyists had pushed hard for a second round of lending — along with new programs to get money to the businesses and industries hit hardest in the crisis — to be included in any congressional stimulus deal. Mr. Trump’s actions do nothing to help those companies.
Low- and middle-income families’ spending power was bolstered in the spring by direct payments of $1,200 per adult that were included in a relief bill Mr. Trump signed into law in March. Lawmakers were pushing for a second round of those checks in a legislative deal. Mr. Trump’s measures will not provide them.
The orders will not provide aid to states and local governments, whose tax revenues have plunged as a direct result of the contraction in economic activity brought on by the virus. Without more money from the federal government, states and local governments will almost certainly have to cut their budgets and lay off workers, increasing the ranks of the unemployed….
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that “of course there’s room for compromise” on the now-expired $600-per-week unemployment benefit Democrats have advocated keeping.
CNN’s Dana Bash pressed Pelosi on why Democrats have not agreed to a compromise between the previous $600 a week and the Republicans’ proposal of $200 per week in extra benefits.
“Would you do $400 extra?” Bash asked before Pelosi cut in and said, “I’m not negotiating that right here. It depends on what else is in the bill.”
Weeks of negotiations on the next coronavirus relief bill between Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stalled late last week. That prompted President Trump to issue four executive orders, one of which lowered the unemployment benefit to $400 a week, forced states to pay 25 percent and extended it through the end of the year.
Pelosi criticized the Republicans’ proposal for offering a limited amount of funding for food and no funding for elections, among other issues. Republicans, meanwhile, blamed Democrats for refusing to compromise.
Bash counteredm “I understand that you don’t want to negotiate with me, but my question is, are Republicans right when they say you will not come off of your $600 number, you will not come off of other figures, other policy initiatives that you want?”
“No, that’s not why we’re in stalemate,” Pelosi responded. “We’re in stalemate because the Republicans have from the start never understood the gravity of the situation we are in.”….
Note…
Props to Pelosi for not accepting Dana Bash’s simplistic view of what is going on with Trump and the Republicans….
On the Virus/Stimulus Bill?
Nobodies talking ….
But?
Both Pelosi and McConnell are hinting at bringing their chambers back to try and work out a ‘deal’ for a
virus/stimulus billpostal situation after Trump did his ‘executive order’ that he KNOWS is gonna NOT gonna do much of anything…CNN…