Trump’s Deadly Bargain, Part 2

What’s really happening which Trump isn’t saying: the failing delivery of appropriated funds to small business is no accident. The administration is helping big business use this opportunity to kill small businesses that compete for their market share.

Yesterday on Trail Mix, Trump’s Deadly Bargain to undermine testing and force opening economy by Election Day.

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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

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patd
4 years ago

.

patd
4 years ago

from the throw a party and nobody comes file

wapo:

President Trump on Tuesday evening issued an executive order that gives the federal government broad powers to ensure that meat and poultry processing plants remain open during the pandemic. The move, designed to avert widespread food shortages, came after the Conference Board reported that consumer confidence had plunged to its lowest mark in six years.
[…]
After 20 meatpacking plants closed in recent weeks following covid-19 outbreaks, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union complained about unsafe working conditions. A worker at a Smithfield Foods plant in Missouri sued the company in federal court, saying it had failed to take action to protect its employees, including altering operations to permit social distancing, providing protective gear and encouraging sick employees to stay home.

patd
4 years ago

i’ve heard of indentured servitude, but what about dentured servitude?  sorta an involuntary slavery for pay?

patd
4 years ago

Responding to reports that Americans might experience meat shortages as soon as this week, President Trump moved to force meat processing plants to keep operating.

patd
4 years ago

fmr Sen Claire McCaskill just said on mojo that u.s. with only 4 per cent of world population has now almost a quarter of the covid deaths.   really???  and why???  what happened to that oft repeated GOPer line about America having the best healthcare in the world?

patd
4 years ago

*

patd
4 years ago

wapo: LONDON — He didn’t quite generate the giddy hysteria of a royal baby, but the BBC broadcaster alerted its viewers Wednesday morning with a “Breaking News” flash that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, had just announced the birth of their son. […] Johnson and Symonds announced in February that they were engaged and expecting their first child. The couple have said they planned to wed in early summer. Johnson is 55, and this will be his third marriage. It will be the first for Symonds, 32, a former communications strategist for the Conservative Party. […] Johnson has four children with Marina Wheeler, a lawyer he was married to for nearly 27 years. They agreed on a divorce settlement in February. He allegedly has another child from an extra-marital affair. Johnson is intensely private when it comes to his family and has refused to answer questions… Read more »

Pogo
4 years ago

To support Poobah’s theme on this, the PPP program requires small businesses to use 75% of the loan funds received for payroll and the remaining money for utilities and mortgage expenses in order to have the loan forgiveness that’s dangled out there to entice borrowers to apply for the loans. Any laid off workers (after 2/15) have to be rehired by 6/30. There are no similar requirements for the $500B in loans available to large businesses. To them it’s just revenue. It’s in a word, bullshit. 

blueINdallas
4 years ago

Didn’t Trump get rid of the oversight of SBA funds?  Those big companies (the ones we know about) say they are returning the funds in order to avoid bad PR.  Will we have proof  that they did so?
Harvard said it got funds it never requested?  The Lakers, too. How did that happen, if it’s true?   
Big Pharma is happy about Trump’s save-the-sausages mandate.  Gotta keep selling statins for cholesterol and BP meds.  
If only there was such a thing as unions to ensure the safety of workers.   OSHA sure isn’t doing it.

patd
4 years ago

ad now running on fox from the repubs for rule of law folk

blueINdallas
4 years ago

And, they only have to keep employees for 8 weeks after rehire, in order to have the loans forgiven.   Eight weeks to see if they can restructure the workload and cross-train folks.   There will be jobs that don’t come back…at least not long term.

Pogo
4 years ago

There is no question about the fact that there will be jobs lost over the long term to a number of changes that occur in the economy as a result of CV19 and changed consumption patterns. Our small office won’t experience that. Other, larger businesses will. The economy won’t come roaring back as SFB predicts. It will improve as restrictions are eased, but businesses that rely on customer volume on site will probably struggle. Others that rely on delivery of goods should prosper, and UPS, FEDEX, DHL etc. might be worth buying into. And Amazon…Bezos’ bottom line is going to look great as it expands into its own deliver system. 

Sturgeone
4 years ago

That “tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth” thing is largely meaningless, as both sides claim the other side is doing all the lying.    

Sturgeone
4 years ago

Meaningless, because while most people accept that premise, there is no information contained in it which could sway the vote of someone belonging to a “base”.

Nash
4 years ago

I doubt that Trump is smart enough to know how eliminate small business competition through legislation.  The careful construction of the “small business” loan program that diverted most of the funds to big businesses was devised by Congressional lobbyists and the members of both parties who wrote the bill.  
 
Don’t just blame the Republicans.  The economically conservative “Establishment” Democrats care more about “Wall Street” than “Main Street” because that’s where they get their biggest campaign contributions.  

blueINdallas
4 years ago

Just received an invite for a hike and brunch with a bunch of church folks.  No!  They do not get it.   Restaurants can open at 25% capacity on Friday.   That does not mean to gather folks from several households to sit together, come into contact with other idiots, and, possibly start the spread, again.   

blueINdallas
4 years ago

It’s not just retail/foot traffic, because so much shopping is online now.  Folks have to have jobs to be able to buy online, too.  I work for a manufacturing company; business was down before I was laid off, due to the shutdowns around the country/world.  We are still up, because we are manufacturing, supplying to essential businesses and direct to consumers online.    What will matter is consumer confidence.   Republicans have fought to keep aide away from everyone but the 1%.   Folks will not only remember that in November,  they will still be feeling it.   The incumbent will lose, because he has done a piss-poor job of handling both the health and economic fallout of the pandemic.   Trump has said he is not responsible.    Use that as a tagline on ads showing all the ways Trump has destroyed America.    No consumer confidence = dump… Read more »

Pogo
4 years ago

Nash, the PPP program (3rd round of stimulus funding) was “negotiated” between House Dems and Repugs with Mnuchin over several days.  Its deficiencies probably were as you say, the fault of Dems and Repugs, Wall Street lobbyists and the admin.  However, there were oversight provisions written into the legislation of the 3rd round of stimulus that were written out by SFB’s Presidential signing statement, and a flat refusal by the WH to allow that oversight by Congress in any timely manner.  By that time the legislation is passed and what is the House to do (it should be Congress as a whole, but GMAFB re McMertle joining any efforts)  but go to Court to try and get the signing statement reversed?  All I can say is good luck with that.  Yes, both parties suck at the money tit from Wall Street, but distribute blame where it is due – in this… Read more »

Bink
4 years ago

Inside the mind of a Republican:
 
”I wonder what will happen if i pour gasoline on a fire?   Maybe something really good!”

tiptoe21
4 years ago

Hey Hey Trump Plague, how many did you kill today?  
 
Hey Hey Trump Plague, how many did you kill today?
 
Hey Hey Trump Plague, how many did you kill today?

tiptoe21
4 years ago

BiD, how many folks are going to need something from a boutique in McKinney?
 
 

Katherine Graham Cracker
4 years ago

How many people have Jar Jar and Ivanker evicted today?

Pogo
4 years ago

Just have to share this comment from NotoriousMD in WaPo re: Pence.:

The head of the Covid virus task force won’t wear a mask. 

In a hospital.

Around sick patients. 

Think about it. 

Stunningly reckless and ignorant. 

RebelliousRenee
4 years ago

Pogo…  OTOH…  maybe Pence will get it… and bring it back to trumpty.  Now THAT would be a thing of beauty!
 
Rick and I went on a BIG adventure this morning.  We went to our local Dunkin Donuts drive-through.  A breakfast sandwich…  big iced coffee… and a vanilla frosted donut.  It felt like heaven!

blueINdallas
4 years ago

The prez of Brazil seems to be as big of a heartless idiot as Trump.   Going to rallies and not taking any responsibility.    Unchecked power is a virus. 

Katherine Graham Cracker
4 years ago

Mike Pence covid19 carrier

Katherine Graham Cracker
4 years ago

Stacey Abrams would be in the attack position for the campaign and she is 1 billion times smarter than Pence and Trump   She would light up the race in the best way possible
 

blueINdallas
4 years ago

TT – There are, without a doubt, ladies-who-lunch whose lives revolves around spending money.   I’ve known a few.  Boutiques are weird and usually not a good credit risk.  They have one or two of many items, so they have no critical suppliers; no need to pay vendors until it’s at the point of being placed for collection. Many just seem to submit purchase orders to see if they can get product shipped with open terms.  If credit isn’t extended, the PO goes away.   Some other sucker will send them something.  
The top is getting richer but smaller.  Many are dropping into the middle, which is also shrinking as those toward the bottom drop into poverty.      
Make America Gasp for Air.

blueINdallas
4 years ago

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/politics/donald-trump-white-house-fox-news/index.html
Maybe he won’t go away after the election, but there is no need for anyone except his base (racists) to pay attention to him, nor is there any reason for anyone other than Fox Noise (the fascist, propaganda arm of the Republican Party) to give him any air time.   Trump will continue to infect America.  Socially distancing from him will be our best defense.  

whskyjack
4 years ago

The small business loan/grants seem to be designed for those who are least hit and can keep their employees working. Maybe that is why construction companies are said to dominate. BTW, whos definition of small business did they use? There are some mghty big “small businesses” out there.
If I was a mom and pop small business that is shut down. I would put a sign in the window “out of business” tell the landlord maybe I’ll be back and maybe not. Then put everything in storage and go shopping for a better location at a cheaper rent. Don’t try to save the current business that way leads to personal bankruptcy, far different from business bankruptcy. 
Jack

Bink
4 years ago

Maybe Pence and Trump don’t use a mask because they have a secret vaccine they are keeping from the public.
 
(see wut i did there😎)

blueINdallas
4 years ago

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/business/starbucks-reopening-coronavirus/index.html
This will be a test of economic bounce-back.   The little luxury of a fancy coffee.  If folks are worried, they won’t be stopping at Starbucks every morning nor even every weekend.   When folks start to feel secure and aren’t worried about how fast those $5 drinks can add up, then you’ll know we’re on the road to recovery. 

blueINdallas
4 years ago

Bink – Ha! I thought the same thing.  And,  were other higher-ups actually sick/recovered?  

blueINdallas
4 years ago

Still no word from Flatus? 

patd
4 years ago

gov Cuomo sounded like a fire & brimstone preacher this morning, calling out the sinners and daring them to repent

https://youtu.be/Jj8y0geRBw8

blueINdallas
4 years ago

Ooooo, starting to see ads on TV from attorneys looking to represent workers who are/were infected with Covid-19 and think that their employers didn’t adequately protect them. 

patd
4 years ago

please note his show and tell on “who do they want to fund” segment starting at 5:17 minutes in on above video.

 

his point of ‘They want to fund corporate America. I say fund working americans” would make a good bumper sticker.

blueINdallas
4 years ago

Boy, I wish Cuomo were the Dem nominee, right now.   

Pogo
4 years ago

Jack, it’s the SBA definition of a small business – less than 500 employees.  HOWEVER, the stimulus program allows subsidiaries to get loans, so the total number of employees when measuring all of them including subsidiaries can exceed 500. I’ve seen nothing that suggests that the value or the cash position of the company is factored in. It’s stupid.  L.A. Lakers is a prime example.  It’s a $4.3B franchise that qualified for the money.  Same for Harvard, which at 16,000 staff and faculty, including 2,400 professors, lecturers, and instructors. and a $40B endowment I have no idea how it could have qualified.

patd
4 years ago

“I have no idea how it could have qualified.”

pogo, just ask their banks (who raked in a big fee) who contacted them and told them they qualified

xrepublican
4 years ago

The Mayo Hospital had various options for dealing with pence. The most sensible would have been to call the police and demand his arrest for tresspass.
More effective would have been to escort the creep into the morgue and drown his big gummint ass in the sink. 
 

xrepublican
4 years ago

The clawback is going to be a non-stop show of bigbiz/ripuplican criminality.

Lock them ALL up.

xrepublican
4 years ago

Hey, hey, donald j, how many grannies did you kill today ?
Also
Just like a turd that’s floating on the wa-a-ter, trump must be removed.

Pogo
4 years ago

XR, grannies?  Harsh. (I like it as a bumper sticker). 

xrepublican
4 years ago

‘Harsh’ is okay. ‘Mauling’ would be better. 
 

xrepublican
4 years ago

In the hospital I lie, thinking mother, dear, of you

And our bright and happy home so far away.

And the tears they fill my eyes, in spite of all that I can do

Though I try to cheer my children and be brave.

[Chorus]
trump, trump, trump! Our country’s dying.

Cheer up, men, for help will come,

And beneath the starry flag, we shall breathe the air again

Of the free land in our own beloved homes