"- $58 billion is allocated to help airlines cover employee wages, salaries and benefits divided up as up to $25 billion for passenger air carriers, up to $4 billion for cargo air carriers, and up to $3 billion for airline contractors.
"- $500 billion for big corporations in loans and grants, which are required to be paid back and subject to public disclosures and other requirements. Any corporation receiving a loan under the program is barred from making stock buybacks for the term of the loan plus one year. All loans, their terms and any investments or other assistance provided by the federal government must be publicly disclosed.
The $500 billion is in addition to the $6 trillion the Federal Reserve thus far has poured into the bankers (investment banks, equity firms, hedge funds, mutual funds, etc.) and as well non-bank corporations -- all of which further subsidizes and enriches the wealthy capital ownership class.
The Federal Reserve is effectively engaged in unlimited "emergency" quantitative easing (new money creation), in which the national debt, will swell to over $30 trillion, with United States Treasury securities that never are paid off but extended from year to year. That said, the interest rate must be paid.
A Federal Reserve that is citizen-owned and governed could fund viable growth projects to stimulate the economy's resurgence and capital productivity that is broadly owned EVERY citizen.
The CARES Act creates a special inspector general and a special committee to oversee pandemic recovery and provide oversight of all loans and other uses of taxpayer dollars.
Once the full bill is publicly scrutinized, there are certain to be numerous provisions accruing to the benefit of the already wealthy capital asset ownership class, the businesses they own, and Wall Street speculators.
According to the Joint Committee On Taxation (JCT), millionaires and billionaires are set to reap more than 80 percent of the benefits from a change to the tax law Republicans put in the economic relief CARES Act. The change, which suspends a restriction introduced in the 2017 tax bill, alters what certain business owners (known as pass-through entities) are allowed to deduct from their taxes. The suspension will allow some of the nation's wealthiest to avoid nearly $82 billion of tax liability in 2020. Nearly 82 percent of the benefits from the tax law change will go to people making $1 million or more annually in 2020. Overall, 95 percent of individuals who benefit from the change make $200,000 or more annually. Because of the suspension, the JCT estimates 43,000 people making $1 million or more would owe a total of $70.3 billion less in taxes in 2020.
Is what is known to benefit ordinary Americans enough? Hardly.
As part of the April 24 interim $484 billion funding bill that provides an additional $320 billion for forgivable SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, the package includes $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for COVID-19 testing. A further provision establishes a new committee on virus oversight.
The next "Phase IV" of the coronavirus response, "CARES 2", could be priced at another $2+ trillion and may or may not include sweeping job-creating public works infrastructure improvements. Should infrastructure legislation pass, provisions should include the requirement that companies bidding and awarded construction contracts be broadly owned, including ALL employees.
On April 14, Rep. Tim Ryan and Rep. Ro Khanna introduced the Emergency Money for the People Act, under which every citizen 16 years old or older -- and make less than $130,000 a year -- would receive $2,000 per month cash payments from the federal government for at least six months and until unemployment falls to pre-pandemic levels. In addition to the $2,000 payments to adults, qualifying families would receive $500 for each child.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced it will purchase crops and livestock from farmers and ranchers facing a steep decline in orders and massive supply chain disruption. Funding will come from the $2.3 trillion CARES Act economic relief bill and separate USDA funds to support commodity prices. USDA will offer $16 billion in direct grants to farmers and ranchers to compensate for short-term drops in demand and oversupply driven by the pandemic. The department will also purchase $3 billion in fresh produce, dairy, and meat to distribute to food banks, community organizations, and other service non-profits.
On April 17, Rep. Ilhan Omar unveiled legislation that would cancel all rent and home mortgage payments for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
On May 12, House Democrats released a $3-trillion proposal known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or HEROES Act. The legislation would provide payments to local governments and another round of $1,200 checks to individuals to help them weather the impact of the coronavirus, among other measures.
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