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

Advocates plead for housing aid as eviction cliff looms

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A potentially dire housing crisis could erupt if the Trump administration and Congress fail to reach a deal on further coronavirus relief that includes eviction protections and substantial rent assistance, experts warn.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a sweeping eviction ban last month in an unprecedented flex of its emergency authorities, but the moratorium stands on shaky legal ground — and only runs through the end of the year.

Uneven interpretations of the CDC’s ban among judges across the U.S. have hobbled its effectiveness, forcing thousands of families out of their rental homes already. Millions more could face the same fate when the ban expires on Jan. 1. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans rip new White House coronavirus proposal

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Senate Republicans on Saturday offered fierce pushback against the administration’s latest coronavirus relief proposal during a call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Senate Republicans raised concerns about the $1.8 trillion price tag of the White House’s latest offer to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), multiple sources familiar with the call told The Hill.

One source familiar with the call said that there were “significant concerns raised with the price tag.” Continue reading.

Trump Sneezes, GOP Catches the Virus

The president’s coronavirus diagnosis added another layer of volatility to competitive down-ballot races that will determine which party controls the upper chamber next year.

The president’s coronavirus diagnosis added another layer of volatility to competitive down-ballot races that will determine which party controls the upper chamber next year.

Trump’s diagnosis adds another layer of volatility not just to the presidential race but to competitive down-ballot races that will determine which party controls the upper chamber next year. Republicans, who hope to continue reshaping the federal judiciary in a second Trump term, hold a 53-47 seat majority but are mostly on defense with a Senate map that continues to widen for Democrats less than one month out from Election Day.

Democrats, eyeing control of both chambers of Congress under a President Joe Biden, need to win at least four seats to take back the Senate majority for the first time since 2014. With an expanding map, Democrats have more than half a dozen opportunities, though they still need to protect a couple of their own vulnerable seats, like in Alabama and Michigan. And one of their top targets – North Carolina – has been roiled by revelations of their nominee’s extramarital relationship. The battle for the Senate remains fluid and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has put Republican chances of holding the chamber at “50-50.” Continue reading.

‘Trump has abandoned them’: 1.3 million unemployment claims loom after the president shot down stimulus

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Just two days after President Donald Trump abruptly blew up bipartisan coronavirus relief talks, the Labor Department reported Thursday that around 1.3 million additional Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy continues to falter without the kind of stimulus that experts say is necessary to stem the crisis and relieve widespread hunger, housing insecurity, and joblessness.

“Terribly high numbers of jobless claims point to a slowing recovery, with over 25 million collecting benefits,” tweeted Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “Trump has abandoned them.”

The president’s sudden decision Tuesday to end coronavirus negotiations via Twitter a day after he departed Walter Reed National Military Medical Center imperiled the prospect that any additional stimulus checks, unemployment benefits, state and local aid, and rental assistance will be approved ahead of next month’s presidential election. Continue reading.

Trump’s one-word tweet made people question his mental health — here’s what seems to be going on

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As President Donald Trump continues the struggle to recover from his case of COVID-19, he sent entirely mixed messages on Tuesday that left some questioning whether he retained full control of his faculties.

First, as I reported earlier, Trump torpedoed negotiations with congressional Democrats over a potential stimulus bill on Tuesday afternoon, saying that he would wait until after the election until trying again. This was, as I argued, a major blow to his own hopes for re-election, but the move itself could be coherently explained on ideological or tactical grounds, even if they’re not compelling or persuasive.

But just a few hours later, he seemed to completely reverse himself in a one-word tweet: Continue reading.

Fed chairman says more stimulus crucial to avoid even more ‘unnecessary hardship’

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Bolstering progressive demands for policymakers to provide greater stimulus to avoid worsening the already catastrophic economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Tuesday that insufficient government intervention “would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.”

In a speech delivered virtually at the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics, Powell said that public support and financial aid has helped soften some of the negative impacts of the coronavirus crisis on households and businesses, with the “infusion of funds” preventing “a downward spiral in which layoffs lead to still lower demand, and subsequent additional layoffs.”

While the unemployment rate has fallen from nearly 15% in April to just under 8% now, Powell explained that a “broader measure that better captures current labor market conditions—by adjusting for mistaken characterizations of job status, and for the decline in labor force participation since February—is running around 11 percent,” signaling the “need for further support.” Continue reading.

‘A Republican Party unraveling’: GOP plunged into crisis as Trump abruptly ends economic relief talks, dismisses virus

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Vulnerable Republicans are beginning to distance themselves from President Trump’s dismissive response to the coronavirus pandemic and his dramatic termination of negotiations with congressional Democrats over federal economic relief, with the latest cracks carrying enormous implications for Trump and the party with just four weeks until Election Day.

Facing a political reckoning as Trump’s support plummets and a possible blue tsunami looms, it is now conservatives and Trump allies who are showing flashes of discomfort with the president, straining to stay in the good graces of his core voters without being wholly defined by an erratic incumbent.

For some Republicans, the 11th-hour repositioning may not be enough to stave off defeat. But the criticism, however muted, illuminates the extent of the crisis inside a party that is growing alarmed about its political fate and confused by Trump’s tweets and decision-making. Continue reading.

Anxious for a Lifeline, the U.S. Economy Is Left to Sink or Swim

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President Trump cut off negotiations over a new aid package on Tuesday. Economists of all stripes agree that could be a costly mistake.

Here is the situation the U.S. economy faces, a month before Election Day: Job growth is stalling. Layoffs are mounting. And no more help is coming, at least not right away.

American households and businesses have gone two months without the enhanced unemployment benefits, low-interest loans and other programs that helped prop up the economy in the spring. And now, after President Trump’s announcement Tuesday that he was cutting off stimulus negotiations until after the election, the wait will go on at least another month — and very likely until the next presidential term starts in 2021.

It could be a dangerous delay. Continue reading.

Rep. Phillips responds to Trump’s ending of COVID negotiations

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) released the following statement on Trump’s decision to end COVID relief negotiations:

“Given President Trump’s own COVID diagnosis and his earlier comments in support of a bill with ‘much higher numbers’ it is confounding and unconscionable that he would suddenly order a cessation of negotiations over a much-needed COVID-19 relief bill. American families and America’s small businesses are hurting and cannot afford even more delays — especially when a deal is within reach. I worked together with my Republican colleague Rep. Dusty Johnson to lead a working group that crafted a bipartisan framework for such a deal that has been widely supported, including by the Administration. I cannot overstate how important it is that leaders in both parties — along with the President — return to the table and agree on a package that will provide immediate relief to families and businesses. Inaction is not an option.”

‘Doomed to fail’: Why a $4 trillion bailout couldn’t revive the American economy

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An avalanche of U.S. grants and loans helped the wealthy and companies
that laid off workers. Individuals received about one-fifth of the aid.

The four spending bills that Congress passed earlier this year to address the coronavirus crisis amounted to one of the costliest relief efforts in U.S. history, and the undertaking soon won praise across the political spectrum for its size and speed.

The $4 trillion total of government grants and loans exceeded the cost of 18 years of war in Afghanistan.

“We’re going to win this battle in the very near future,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said after the Senate approved the Cares Act, the largest of the four measures. Continue reading.