Trump administration seeks roughly $850 billion in emergency stimulus to confront coronavirus

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

The Trump administration is asking Congress to approve a massive economic stimulus package of around $850 billion to stanch the economic free-fall caused by the coronavirus, four officials familiar with the planning said Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will present details to Senate Republicans later Tuesday. The package would be mostly devoted to flooding the economy with cash, through a payroll tax cut or other mechanism, two of the officials said, with some $50 billion directed specifically to helping the airline industry. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Mnuchin would like to see the package pass the Senate by the end of the week, he told senators Monday evening in a meeting at the Capitol. “I think the assumption’s going to be that we’re going to do something, it should be big. Because we can’t assume that we’re just going to keep coming back," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Monday night leaving a meeting with Mnuchin and other administration officials. Rubio said aid to airlines was likely to be included. “We still need to get people around the country. I have no doubt that’s going to be a major feature of the next step.”

The massive injection of capital into the economy is reminiscent of the bailouts and stimulus steps Congress took during the economic crisis more than a decade ago. This time around, with everyday life in America screeching to a halt, the intervention may need to be faster and even more extreme. In 2008, Congress passed a $700 billion package, called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, to try and rescue the financial system. The package the White House is pursuing now would be bigger, not adjusted for inflation, but it would include things like tax cuts that the 2008 program lacked.

Still, the economic fallout from the current crisis only appears to be gaining momentum. Many schools have closed around the country, and the federal government told Americans Monday to limit gatherings of more than 10 people. President Trump warned a recession could be on the horizon.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/03/17/trump-coronavirus-stimulus-package/

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Full headline: Trump administration seeks roughly $850 billion in emergency stimulus to confront coronavirus economic fallout

[jls4561]

1. Stand firm, Nancy!

No more tax cuts for the rich

No bailouts for tRump owned properties - he's already bilked us of enough money

[WePurrsevere]

2. Right! And don't let them mess with Soc Security or Medicare...

With their payroll tax cuts either. Too many seniors, disabled, vets and their dependants depend on those.

[denem]

3. Oh hell no!

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Almost a trillion that we don't have and would have to borrow...

along with the trillions we're already borrowing from the last "stimulus" tax cut.

How much longer can we afford Trump?

[keithbvadu2]

5. That's a lot of money for a hoax.

That's a lot of money for a hoax.

[duforsure]

6. By trump and the GOP doing nothing for these two groups

The poor , and the seniors by ramping up SS payments with a $300-$500 a month increase, and checks for the poor around $2000-$5000 each shows they could care less about the American people ,and represent the wealthy and their businesses first by giving them windfalls first. Trump and the GOP are using this as a weapon now, and do not care about the people, especially knowing there isn't enough medical equipment available , so who dies first becomes the normal from them. They were aware of these critical things needed back in Jan. and trump did nothing.

[nitpicker]

7. His secret tool for reelection

Use taxpayer money to "bail out" his CEO friends.

Who will then turn around and fund his Super PAC.

[ashredux]

8. Operative wording..."through a payroll tax cut "

They are trying to defund Social Security and Medicare

The "Payroll Tax" is how we fund SS and Medicare

Cutting it will do little to help in this crisis, it will just be a way to cut these programs which has been a GOP goal for year



The GOP is NOT a friend of working families.

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. Yes. We have to counter with "What good is a payroll tax cut when people lose their jobs?"

Make them own their stupidity and greed.

[LuvNewcastle]

18. +1

[Bayard]

36. What good is bailing out the airlines,

When no one can travel?

We've got to stop this mentality of---I still have checks, how can I be broke? Take back the billions in billionaire tax cuts to bail out airlines. Give money immediately to the American people themselves.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Democrats would help people

Republicans will help corporations and rich people. Let the people spend, versus let business control people.

I suspect Republicans will be incredibly inept at this task. A massive dump of cash into an economy producing 1/3 fewer goods is a recipe for inflation. Stimulus should be targeted to production, goods and services. Companies coming back online will be irregular, some soon, some slow, and maybe 5% not at all.

They need to help companies with payroll and inputs, and help workers with cash flow. I'd bet Trump hasn't a clue what that criteria might mean.

[cstanleytech]

10. A payroll tax cut would end up causing an even worse situation down the road.

No, what is needed are different things like a massive infrastructure spending for example to repair what we have already as that would put a number of people to work.
Also there is daycare.......if we had a national daycare network setup similar to the schools it can provide care for children so that parents can go to work plus it provides jobs for people to care for the children.

[Sloumeau]

11. Here's how Trump can spend the money...

1. Build hospital capacity with construction crews, including building hospitals, building field hospitals, and setting up hospitals and care units in existing buildings.

2. Buy ventilators and other equipment for hospitals, including surgical masks and surgery gowns.

3. Buy protective suits for the people administering the COVID-19 tests.

4. Buy essential medications with which to stock the expanded hospital capacity.

5. As Governor Andrew M. Cuomo suggests, use the Army Corps of Engineers to build hospital capacity and give them some money to do that.

6. Since you want to move the troops out of Afghanistan anyway, why not pull out all the troops to the U.S. and use them to build ventilators and build hospitals?

7. Why the heck are our troops guarding Saudi Arabian oil refineries? Pull those troops back and have them build hospitals and ventilators.

[aggiesal]

12. That's larger than the $775B Home Mortgage bailout ...

How bad is this economy?
Or is Pendejo looking to make one final grift before being kicked out?

[Igel]

14. It's going to wind up like 2008.

2008 was triggered by a recession that was mostly predicted happening, causing asset value to decline and showing that assets weren't as valuable as originally thought. Liquidity crisis.

This is going to be the same kind of thing. But instead of just a liquidity crisis, it's a forced shutdown of businesses and forced unemployment, so who knows how bad it'll get or how quickly recovery will be.

People look at TARP and say of the current request, "But it's *bigger*!" TARP was also mostly loans, paid back over the next few years (and, as they were paid back, reversing TARP: TARP was counted as government spending and increased the reported deficit without creating an asset, the payback was counted as income, reducing the deficit but not reducing an asset).

The ARRA was nearly $800 billion, on top of the $750 billion TARP and billions in home mortgage assistance. And at that, most (D) featured prominently in the media said that $800 billion wasn't nearly enough. So far the request isn't half of what was used in early 2009.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. A difference from 2008

is that as you note, TARP, after the rejection of Paulson's 3-page nonsense, included what were essentially loans (most paid back with interest). But add to this ARRA, which contained quite a bit of infrastructure stimulus, including replacements of many structurally-deficient overpasses (at least in my area) and highway improvements, as well as major energy-related upgrades for federal facilities (eg., where I worked, we had all of our old drafty windows replaced with energy-efficient ones, the lighting was replaced with energy-efficient bulbs, and the building had a green roof installed).

I can imagine this request will focus on tax-writeoffs and subsidies to big corps who will pocket it and continue to buy back their own stocks.

In any case, this will still have to go through this powerful person -

[yaesu]

15. This will be a wall street bailout redux, its all been going to the banksters so far, $3 trillion?

I lost count

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

16. "stimulus" - for what?? I mean, people arent gonna be buying stuff (except essentials) nor are

employers going to be hiring anyone (exept delivery services) so whats the point of "stimulating" us???

What am I missing?

Maybe thereyre using stimulus as code for "corporate welfare freebie"

[BumRushDaShow]

19. And even if people did "buy", the stuff they would be buying

is coming from... wait for it... CHIIIIIII--NAAAAAA, a place that got "walled off" via various tweets and ridiculous press conferences. So the supply chain is essentially cut off. And when the inventory here runs out, that's it.

[earthside]

25. Fighting the last war.

Exactly ... we don't need 'stimulus' ... we need income maintenance.

This is not like 2008-09.
This is economic threat is fundamentally different.

A payroll tax holiday is the worst idea of all -- it is just a Trump reelection ploy and undercuts the pillars of what little social safety net we have in this country.

I don't want to see airlines fail or fewer airlines thus reducing what little competition there is, so I could go with some bail-out for them ... but only as a bare minimum to help them survive.

[aggiesal]

30. Everything Pendejo does has a hook to benefit himself ...

Why do you think he wants a payroll tax holiday(s)? So he doesn't have to pay payroll taxes.
Also, the Repukes bill has bailout money for corporations.
All the tax breaks will go to the Greedy One Percent (GOP)

The house bill has common sense spending, money going to hospital and workers who were laid off because of the pandemic that Pendejo created in the US, all by himself.

[yaesu]

20. Remember, tRump & the fascists are only concerned with the stock market, in their rich world that is

the scorecard.

[Talitha]

21. And don't let him get any money for that damned wall

[machoneman]

22. 2 things: McTurtle's game now exposed. He's holding hostage the Pelosi House bill, not wanting....

to give us Dems any credit while at the same time, he'll demand passage of his Senate bill, helping only corporations and the rich while mandating the SS/Medicare cuts via the payroll tax elimination, or else.

Crafty he is yet this could badly backfire IF we hold his feet to the fire. We get Pelosi's bill passed first...or else!

[aggiesal]

31. I thought Gohmert was holding up the House bill ...

He's wants the version that has the corrections before the house can vote on the
final bill that gets sent to the Senate.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-louie-gohmert-delays-house-coronavirus-relief-bill-moving-senate-n1160681

He is also 1 of 40 Repubs that voted against this bill.

[Kablooie]

23. So dump money on people who Still get a paycheck.

If you Aren't working because of the virus, tough luck.

[kimbutgar]

24. And how much of that money might end up in his business interests that will be suffering?

[bronxiteforever]

26. Nope. Gohmert the bill.

[ffr]

27. SOCIALISM! SOCIALISM! SOCIALISM!

There's no other way to read this.

[Politicub]

29. This is not socialism

This is corporatism, if that's even a word. Socialism would be funneling funds to the pockets of people or funding necessary services so people don't have to suffer. This is just a business bailout intended to give a little bump to the stock market.

[ffr]

32. Yeah, funneling funds to the pockets of people or services

except instead of to all the masses, it's just to those who are politically connected. Okay, so that's selective socialism.. How about that?

[Politicub]

28. $850 billion should go directly to the people under a certain income threshold

Fuck bailing out businesses. People need help paying for food, utilities, rent and other bills that are piling up.

There will still be airlines once we're beyond the peak. It's stupid to think the whole airline industry is going to go under because it is so poorly managed that Delta will have to close its doors. That's hogwash.

The only thing this administration cares about is propping up the stock market. I'm sick of them. They're ineptitude is going to cause so much suffering and death that it is incomprehensible.

[rickyhall]

33. Money saved on prevention could finance Romney's idea.

We could take money from trump's fence.

[Under The Radar]

34. Smoke and mirrors - show us your books!!!

We are only two weeks into a months long crisis where this stimulus will be misappropriated and further stimulus will be requested in 6 weeks or less.
Not a single industry or company can provide you with quarterly reports that provide data to how deep their losses are. If they are begging for money we must demand that they open their books!
Here is where Trump actually becomes a true Billionaire.

[duforsure]

35. By trump and the GOP stalling aid directly

To the poor, the seniors, and to the middle class , it will only make more people become desperate for help, which will cause them to act with extreme measures for self preservation. I doubt they want that to happen as more things spiral out of control against us while they funnel billions helping themselves first.

[TheFourthMind]

37. "Great." n/t