Tag Archives: coronavirus relief package

The Wrong Solution

Posted on by

The coronavirus has devastated America’s economy. Small businesses have closed while certain large businesses have prospered–Amazon, WalMart, Loews, etc. Many restaurants are holding on by a thread. So how do you undo the damage? There seems to be some disagreement on the answer to that question.

Issues & Insights posted an article today about the stimulus package proposed by the Democrats. Simply put, the proposed package is nothing more than a bunch of goodies unrelated to the coronavirus. The package represents a wish list of spending the Democrats have wanted for years. The Republican attempts at reaching a compromise have been rebuffed.

The article reports:

In rejecting compromise, Biden gave Congress a green light to totally ignore Republican input by passing a stimulus package through reconciliation, not the normal budget process. That will require a simple majority of 51 senators, not a supermajority of 60, to pass.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed this Tuesday, saying: “Joe Biden is totally on board with using reconciliation” to pass the bill.

So, just as with Obamacare, the fix is in on the Democrats’ all-or-nothing bill, loaded with goodies for far-left interest groups, teachers unions and Blue State governors.

But a few points need to be made here, not just about this bill, but about stimulus in general.

First, the economy is already recovering. It grew 33.4% in the third quarter and 4% in the fourth, following 2020’s disastrous 31.4% second quarter plunge. Unemployment peaked a 14.8% last April, but fell to 6.7% in December, far better than any official forecasts.

We’ve already committed $4 trillion in spending on COVID-19 over the past 10 months, but still have an estimated $1 trillion left unspent. Add another $1.9 trillion, and you see that COVID-19 adds to our already massive pile of federal debt, which, at $28 trillion, amounts to well over $200,000 per family.

Such reckless stimulus spending will impoverish the next generation. Yet, the fact is, the pandemic didn’t shut down the economy. Politicians did. Now they’re preening over their own generosity while piling up more debt that you, your kids, your grandkids and your great-grandkids will be paying off for decades to come.

Worse still, much of the Democrats’ “stimulus” bill will actually damage the economy.

The damage to the economy will be in the form of lost jobs due to the increase in the minimum wage. The Democrat plan will also extend unemployment benefits, which historically decreases the incentive for Americans to look for work.

The article also notes:

Helping fiscally troubled states is a huge mistake. Most are Blue States that have spent and taxed their way into trouble, and now want to use the pandemic as a cover for a bailout. It was bad policies by elected officials and bad decisions by voters that got these states into trouble, not the Chinese virus. Bailing out profligate states only encourages more of the same behavior.

And, sure, increased spending on schools sounds great, but that money won’t go to students. It will line greedy teachers unions’ pockets. Meanwhile, education standards and test scores will continue to slide as schools remain closed.

Instead of indiscriminately spending more money on bogus stimulus with checks for all, and irrelevant spending on Democrats’ far-left wish lists, we should target aid to the truly desperate and needy in our economy, those who were blindsided by some states’ destructive lockdowns and are now jobless.

So how do we grow our economy? First of all, we open up the country. Secondly, we do what President Trump did–cut taxes, decrease regulation, follow the rule of law, and protect property rights. Those things will get us back on track.

 

Just Amazing

Posted on by

We heard a lot from Congressional Democrats that President Trump did not act fast enough to provide the coronavirus relief that was needed to save small businesses. That means that now that Democrats have control of all three branches of government, we can expect swift action, right? Well, not so fast.

Yesterday Ed Morrissey at Hot Air posted an article with the following headline, “Wait, what happened to “no time to waste” on “immediate relief”? Dems to send Biden a COVID relief bill in … March.”

The article reports:

…The Biden administration has already sent its proposal to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Supposedly, that’s part of their ready on Day One agenda. Not that it had to be, since we just passed a trillion-dollar relief package less than four weeks ago. However, Democrats ever since have complained that it was insufficient, and those insufficiencies amounted to a crisis.

CNet followed up this morning by reading tea leaves in Schumer’s floor speech yesterday. What has become a “little clearer,” as CNet puts it, are Schumer’s priorities — and right now Donald Trump is Priority One:

Now that Joe Biden has been officially sworn in as US president, his framework for a $1.9 trillion stimulus package has taken on a new, official gravity. When could it pass, and when could the IRS send the third stimulus check, which Biden has proposed for up to $1,400 per qualified adult? The answers became a little clearer on Tuesday, after incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reaffirmed his agenda for the new Senate.

“Over the next several weeks, the Senate must accomplish three essential items: A second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The confirmation of President Biden’s cabinet and other key officials. And legislation to provide much-needed, almost desperately needed COVID relief,” Schumer said from the Senate floor. …

Right now, Biden’s stimulus proposal is just that — a framework. It will have to begin to transforming into a law, with all the legal language that can come under extraordinary scrutiny and debate. We know that Biden’s first 10 days in office will focus on a raft of executive actions. Biden can’t send stimulus checks by executive order.

According to a Jan. 19 newsletter from Punchbowl News, a Capitol Hill-based publication founded in January by former Politico journalists: “House Democrats now tell us they are aiming to pass Joe Biden’s massive Covid relief package by late February or early March, according to multiple sources involved in the effort.”

So it’s more important to impeach a President who is no longer in office than to provide relief for Americans dealing with the coronavirus. Way to go, Democrats. If 2022 is an honest election, many of you may be looking for jobs in 2023.

The Impact Of Brexit And The Signed Stimulus Package

Posted on by

MSN is reporting the following today:

Global shares rose and U.S. bond yields ticked higher on Monday after President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion spending package and as investors continued to celebrate a last-minute trade deal clinched between Britain and the European Union.

By backing down from his earlier threat to block the bipartisan bill, Trump allowed millions of Americans to continue receiving unemployment benefits and averted a federal government shutdown.

“As the coronavirus pandemic has shown little sign of abating, the emergency aid was needed to avoid a sharp slowdown in the economy during the first quarter,” said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, market strategist at Mizuho Securities.

“It would have been unsettling if we hadn’t had it by the end of year,” he added.

…Germany’s export-oriented DAX surged to a fresh record high, reflecting relief over the Brexit deal, while the British market was closed for the Boxing Day holiday.

“We can finally move on from the Brexit drama,” said Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.

“After the last-minute deal was struck last week, the UK parliament will vote on the deal Wednesday. With (opposition party) Labour promising its support, it should pass handily,” he added.

Earlier Japan’s Nikkei advanced 0.7% and China stocks also rose, helped by strong industrial profit data. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1%.

The rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines were also bolstering hopes of more economic normalisation next year, with Europe launching a mass vaccination drive on Sunday.

There is some downward pressure on the financial markets as a result of the new strain of the coronavirus. However, I wonder if we have reached the point of reliving ‘the boy who cried wolf.’ The coronavirus is serious, and it does represent a major health threat. However, it is time to replace fear with logical thinking–protect the vulnerable and let the rest of us go on with our lives.

When You Give A Mouse A Cookie…

Posted on by

If any of you haven’t read If You Give A Mouse A Cookie I strongly suggest that you find a copy and read it. It is a children’s book, but it contains a powerful message. It also offers tremendous insight into what Congress just did with the coronavirus relief package and omnibus spending bill they just passed. Remember when Congress had to pass a separate spending bill for various areas of the budget and had to negotiate to keep spending under control? I don’t either. The coronavirus relief package is nothing more than a Christmas tree of spending on pet projects, many of which have nothing to do with the impact of the coronavirus.

Breitbart posted an article today about one item in the bill.

The article reports:

The coronavirus relief bill released Monday includes $250 million in investment aid for the Palestinians and for encouraging Israeli-Palestinian dialogue in a provision titled the “Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020.”

The provision, named for retiring Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), is buried deep within the nearly 6,000-page legislative text.

First al all, the only reason a bill is 6,000 pages long is that the people supporting it don’t want it read carefully.

The article continues:

Citing economic stagnation in the Palestinian Territories, and the potential for economic development to encourage peace, the Lowey Act would spend $50 million per year for the next five years. A version of the act passed the House in July.

The act would create the “People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund,” run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to “provide funding for projects to help build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians and for a sustainable two-state solution.”

It would also support projects that foster dialogue between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel. The fund would have an advisory board of 13 members, plus two members “who are representatives of foreign governments or international organizations for renewable periods of 3 years.”

The act would also create the “Joint Investment for Peace Initiative,” which would provide investment funding for “projects that contribute to the development of the Palestinian private sector economy in the West Bank and Gaza.”

The act prohibits the funding from being used to aid any foreign government, including the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It also prohibits funds from being given to any group deemed to be involved in, or encouraging, terrorist activity.

Congress limited funding to the Palestinian Authority in 2018 under the Taylor Force Act, which prevents U.S. taxpayer dollars from going to the Palestinian government while it continues to pay stipends to terrorists and their families.

Has it occurred to anyone that maybe the Palestinians don’t want a two-state solution–they want a one-state solution without Israel. Sending them money is not going to change that.