Tag: Trump botched COVID-19 response tanked the U.S. economy

Management company owned by Jared Kushner files to evict hundreds of families as moratoriums expire

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White House adviser’s company, Westminster Management, and other landlords prepare to remove tenants behind on rent during the pandemic.

Westminster Management, an apartment company owned in part by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, has submitted hundreds of eviction filings in court against tenants with past due rent during the pandemic, according to interviews with more than a dozen tenants and a review of hundreds of the company’s filings.

A state eviction moratorium currently bars Maryland courts from removing tenants from their homes, and a federal moratorium offers renters additional protection. But like other landlords around the country, Westminster has been sending letters to tenants threatening legal fees and then filing eviction notices in court ― a first legal step toward removing tenants. Those notices are now piling up in local courthouses as part of a national backlog of tens of thousands of cases that experts warn could lead to a surge in displaced renters across the country as eviction bans expire and courts resume processing cases.

Many of the Westminster tenants facing eviction live on low or middle incomes in modest apartments in the Baltimore area, according to tenants. Some of them told The Washington Post they fell behind on rent after losing jobs or wages due to the pandemic. Continue reading.

What a contested election means for the economy — and your wallet

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It looks increasingly likely that the United States is going to keep experiencing a ‘K-shaped recovery’

Americans woke up Wednesday morning to an undecided presidential election, which could be the case for some time, depending on legal challenges and recounts. For the economy, that means uncertainty is here to stay in 2020.

Business leaders and investors tend to hate uncertainty, and this political situation adds more of it as the nation is already dealing with a second big wave of coronavirus cases and a contentious battle in Congress over another stimulus package.

The early read among economists and Wall Street analysts is to buckle up for a wild few weeks. Continue reading.

U.S. economy faces severe strains after election with Washington potentially paralyzed

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Political gridlock looms over possibly turbulent period for economy amid spike in coronavirus cases, expiration of federal benefits

America’s economy faces severe new strains in the two months between Tuesday’s election and January, a period when Washington could be consumed by political paralysis and gridlock.

This window is typically used by successful presidential candidates to plan for the outset of their administration, but several large economic sectors are bracing to be hit by both an increase in coronavirus cases and the arrival of winter weather.

These factors could exacerbate extreme slowdowns in the travel, restaurant and hospitality industries and further depress an oil industry already roiled by low prices. Continue reading.

Economists warn against deceptive White House spin on new GDP figures: ‘Don’t be fooled’

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With the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis set to release third-quarter economic growth estimates Thursday that are expected to show a historic surge in GDP following the worst contraction on record in the previous quarter, experts and Democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm about President Donald Trump’s election-minded efforts to portray the deceptive numbers as proof that the economy is roaring back under his leadership.

Even though the numbers have not yet officially been released, the Trump reelection campaign is already running Facebook ads touting the “fastest GDP growth in history” and celebrating the “Great American Comeback” that the figures supposedly show.

“The economic calamity threatening American households is largely self-inflicted, and will get even more dire unless Congress takes bipartisan action soon.”
—Rep. Don Beyer

Continue reading.

Senate packs up with coronavirus relief bill on ice until after elections

Mnuchin, Pelosi still talking, but little sign of a breakthrough

Senators prepared to leave town Monday night for their October recess with virtually no prospect of passing new COVID-19 aid legislation before the Nov. 3 elections.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone for 52 minutes on Monday in what has become a near-daily attempt to narrow differences on pandemic relief between Democrats and the Trump administration. But there was no indication of any major progress.

Democrats “continue to eagerly await the Administration’s acceptance of our health language, which includes a national strategic plan on testing and tracing,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted after the call. And Hammill suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has resisted a large-scale aid deal, would need to show a greater willingness to compromise. Continue reading.

Dow plunges 650 points as coronavirus cases flare up, stimulus hopes fade

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Rising infections and dimming stimulus optimism compound uncertainty in the run-up to the election.

U.S. markets slumped Monday as investors grappled with uncertainty about economic stimulus negotiations and soaring coronavirus cases across the country.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 650 points, or 2.3 percent, to 27,686. The S&P 500-stock index tumbled nearly 1.9 percent, to 3,401, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 1.6 percent, to 11,359. The sell-off erased all of the blue-chip index’s gains for October.

The United States hit a record high in new coronavirus cases Friday, with more than 83,700 reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The resurgence is compounding volatility in the countdown to the presidential election, said Craig Erlam, an analyst with OANDA. Continue reading.

Finger-pointing picks up in COVID-19 relief fight

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The blame game is heating up as it becomes increasingly clear there will be no new COVID-19 relief deal before the elections.

Even as party leaders inch closer to a deal on another huge package, both sides are girding for the near-certain prospect that it won’t be enacted before Election Day. 

In a barrage of rhetorical broadsides, both parties are jabbing across the aisle, accusing the other of blocking the compromise that might otherwise bring emergency health and economic relief to millions of Americans before Nov. 3.  Continue reading.

Iowa Never Locked Down. Its Economy Is Struggling Anyway.

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President Trump has blamed Democratic officials’ rules for impeding the recovery. But even where restrictions are few, business is far from normal.

As far as the law is concerned, there is no reason that Amedeo Rossi can’t reopen his martini bar in downtown Des Moines, or resume shows at his concert venue two doors down. Yet Mr. Rossi’s businesses remain dark, and one has closed for good.

There are no restrictions keeping Denver Foote from carrying on with her work at the salon where she styles hair. But Ms. Foote is picking up only two shifts a week, and is often sent home early because there are so few customers.

No lockdown stood in the way of the city’s Oktoberfest, but the celebration was canceled. “We could have done it, absolutely,” said Mindy Toyne, whose company has produced the event for 17 years. “We just couldn’t fathom a way that we could produce a festival that was safe.” Continue reading.

On The Trail: A third coronavirus wave builds just before Election Day

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A new wave of viral infections is washing over the nation just weeks before Election Day, putting a new spotlight on a crisis that has come to define President Trump’s struggle for reelection.

For months, public health experts have warned of an increase in the number of cases that would accompany lower temperatures in the fall and winter. As people move inside more, they said, the coronavirus was likely to spread.

Those predictions have come true — earlier and more significantly than expected. Continue reading.

Trump’s Insistence On ‘Herd Immunity’ Means Mass Murder

Let us examine the Great Barrington Declaration with the respect it deserves, which is very little. The advocates, who include Dr. Scott Atlas, President Donald Trump’s preferred pandemic expert, argue that all these shutdowns are causing economic and psychological havoc that’s worse than the disease. Better to let the coronavirus infect the young and healthy, thus building immunity in numbers large enough to nearly stop the virus’ spread. The elderly and other vulnerable Americans can lock themselves away.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, most other Americans’ preferred pandemic expert, has called the idea “total nonsense.”

It’s true that the economy can’t be shut forever. But with a vaccine on the horizon, letting the virus just rip is idiotic. Why can’t we just minimize the transmission of the disease for a few months more until there’s an effective shot? Continue reading.