The Senate's Coronavirus Relief Bill Has Less Pork, but it's Still Overloaded with Pork
March 26, 2020 10:51am
The 880 page $2.2 trillion CARES Act ("Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act") unanimously passed the Senate last night. The vote was 96-0 because four Senators, Rand Paul (R-KY), John Thune (R-SD), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Mitt Romney (R-UT) are exiled in a coronavirus quarantine.
Nancy Pelosi expressed support for the Senate bill and predicted the House would also pass it, even though it doesn't contain as much pork and unrelated policies as the proposed House bill did.
But don't think the Senate bill is clean. It isn't. Far from it. I just spent nearly seven hours comparing the passed Senate bill with the proposed House bill. Although the Senate bill is not as bad as what Democrats in the House wanted, it also has many bad elements:
Most American adults will receive direct, tax-free payments of $1200 that gets paid EVEN IF THE PEOPLE DID NOT LOSE THEIR JOBS OR SUFFER AN INCOME LOSS. Most children will receive $500.
$600 per week in ADDITIONAL unemployment compensation for a duration of four months that is above and beyond what the unemployed would have already received. Depending on the state, current unemployment benefits range from $200 - $550 per week; Florida is near the low end of that at $275/week. The $600 weekly bonus will boost unemployment checks to a total of $800 - $1150 per week. That translates to a weekly pay of $20 - $29 per hour based on a 40 hour work week. Annualized, that's $40,000 - $58,000! Many people will get more money for not working than they did for working! Senator Chuck Schumer touted the $600 weekly bonus as “unemployment insurance on steroids.” I call it “unemployment insurance on heroin."
OTHER UNNECESSARY PORK SPENDING:
$15.8 BILLION for more SNAP food stamps [p. 614]. If people who lost their jobs are getting regular unemployment PLUS $600/week, why can't they buy food with that money??? And that $15.8 billion is IN ADDITION to the $8.8 BILLION for other nutrition programs appropriated on page 613.
$75 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting [p. 770] (down from the $300 million the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$25 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts [p. 722] (down from the $35 million the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts [p. 723] (down from the $300 million the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities [p. 724] (down from the $300 million the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$258 million in FOREIGN AID via "International Disaster Assistance" [p.817] (down from the $300 million the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$3 BILLION for FOREIGN AID via the International Development Association [p.825] (the same amount the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$7.2 BILLION for the African Development Bank [p. 827] (the same amount the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$900 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance program [p. 735] (down from the $1.4 BILLION the Democrats' House bill proposed).
$3.5 BILLION for child care [p. 736] (down from the $6 BILLION the Democrats' House bill proposed).
$300 million for Native American Housing Block Grants [p. 851] (up from the $250 million the Democrats' House bill proposed).
$65 million for "Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS" [p.855] (half of the $130 million the Democrats' House bill proposed).
$4 BILLION for "Homeless Assistance Grants" [p. 862] (down from the $5 BILLION the Democrats' House bill proposed).
$2.5 million for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program [p. 872] (down from the $55 million the Democrats' House bill proposed).
$13 million specifically earmarked to Howard University [p. 768] (the same amount the Democrats' House bill proposed)
$7 million specifically earmarked to Gallaudet University [p. 767] (the same amount the Democrats' House bill proposed). It should be noted that the bill already had $30.7 BILLION for schools, including universities [p. 753], so why were Howard and Gallaudet allocated their own special appropriations?
$88 million for the Peace Corps [p. 817] (down from the $90 million the Democrats' House bill proposed). But the Peace Corps has suspended operations and returned their employees to the United States, so what the hell do they need an additional $88 million for???
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) got his $400 billion small business "loan" program included in the bill. It would make "loans" of up to $10 million to small businesses. I put "loans" in quotation marks because they're probably really grants. If the businesses use that "loan" money to continue paying employee salaries, benefits, rent, utilities, etc., the money would not have to be repaid.
If businesses elect to do so, they may defer paying the 6.2% Social Security tax match until 2021 and 2022 (with half the deferred amount being due by the end of each year).
The bill properly prohibits corporations who take relief money from buying back their stock or paying dividends for the duration of the outstanding loan or loan guarantee plus 12 months.
Homeowners with federally-backed mortgage loans can suspend payments for up to six months. Fees, penalties, and additional interest may not be charged as a result of delayed payments.
Renters living in buildings with federally-backed mortgage loans may not be evicted for failure to pay rent for four months. While I understand the reasons for this, I also predict a massive number of eviction proceedings beginning five months from now.
The law prohibits any businesses owned 20% or more by the President, Vice-President, Member of Congress, or their families from receiving any government aid from this law. I don't like this provision. Elected officials are just as entitled to equal treatment under the law as any other citizen. But Democrats insisted on this provision specifically to hurt President Trump's businesses, which are in sectors hardest hit by the Coronavirus Closure.
Keep in mind that Congress has already passed two smaller coronavirus relief bills that spent over $100 billion. And I'll wager any amount you want that there are more coronavirus relief spending bills to come. But, hey, we're already in debt $23,551,586,033,384. What's another $2,200,000,000,000?
For list of the pork and unrelated policies the Democrats initially wanted, see my post from March 24th at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/blog/200324-1133
Please don’t take my word for any of this. Go read the Senate CARES Act that passed at https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6819239/FINAL-FINAL-CARES-ACT.pdf. I included page numbers to save you time.
Mike Bates
mike@TheMikeBatesShow.com