With Relief Measures Set to Phase Out, Some Face Economic Ruin

Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that he has little interest in additional economic relief bills being passed by Congress, preferring instead to focus on the appointment of extreme right wing judges, and Donald Trump's main obsession - when not seeking to punish those who call out his lies - is "reopening" the economy with seemingly no thoughts about the reality that an economic comeback is likely to be a long process.  Faced with GOP "let them eat cake" mentality (something wrongfully attributed to Marie Antoinette, but accurate with respect Congressional Republicans), many of the 40 million Americans who have lost their jobs since March are likely to face economic hardship, if not ruin.  Do Trump and McConnell care about them?  Of course not!  A piece in the New York Times looks at the frightening prospect facing far too many Americans.  Here are excerpts:

About 1 in 4 American workers have filed for unemployment since March.

For millions of Americans left out of work by the pandemic, government assistance has been a lifeline preventing a plunge into poverty, hunger and financial ruin.

This summer, that lifeline could snap, reports Ben Casselman.

The $1,200 checks sent to most households are long gone, at least for those who needed them most, with little imminent prospect for a second round. The lending program that helped millions of small businesses keep workers on the payroll will wind down if Congress does not extend it. Eviction moratoriums that kept people in their homes are expiring in many cities.

And the $600 per week in extra unemployment benefits that have allowed tens of millions of laid-off workers to pay rent and buy groceries will expire at the end of July.

More than 40 million people have filed for benefits since the crisis began, and some 30 million are receiving them.

The multitrillion-dollar patchwork of federal and state programs hasn’t kept bills from piling up or prevented long lines at food banks, but it has mitigated the damage. Now the expiration of those programs represents a cliff they are hurtling toward, for individuals and for the economy.

“The CARES Act was massive, but it was a very short-term offset to what is likely to be a long-term problem,” said Aneta Markowska, the chief financial economist for the investment bank Jefferies, referring to the legislative centerpiece of the federal rescue. “This economy is clearly going to need more support.”

Even the possibility that the programs will be allowed to expire could have economic consequences, Ms. Markowska said, as consumers and businesses brace for the loss of federal assistance.

President Trump and other Republicans have played down the need for more spending, saying the solution is for states to reopen businesses and allow companies to bring people back to work. So despite pleas from economists across the political spectrum — including Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman — any federal action is likely to be limited.

The House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to give businesses more time to use money borrowed under the Paycheck Protection Program, which offers forgivable loans to small businesses that retain or rehire their workers. The bill’s fate in the Senate is uncertain, but a deal seems likely to be reached.