Last Thursday, the Paycheck Protection Program ran out of funding authorization, and the SBA stopped accepting new loan applications. That halt came because for several days prior to last Thursday, continuing through today, Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi refused a Republican request for an additional $250 in funding.
As we have explained several times, instead Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer demanded an additional $250 billion in unrelated funding. No additional unrelated funding, not expansion of the PPP.
Instead, Pelosi seemed to mock the suffering of tens of millions of people by appearing on the Late Late Show showing off her very expensive kitchen and ice cream cache.
It appear that finally PPP will be expanded, but only because Republicans agreed to a portion (not all) of the additional funding Pelosi wanted. That funding, for hospitals and testing, was not controversial, but Pelosi’s other objectives, such as unrestricted aid to states to help mostly Democratic states dig out of union pension problems.
Fox News reports tonight:
Negotiators from the House, Senate and White House are close to finalizing an accord on the so-called “phase 3.5” response to the coronavirus pandemic and hope to have an agreement late Monday or Tuesday, Fox News is told.
The response will include $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which offers grants to small businesses struggling to make payroll, sources tell Fox News. The $350 billion fund depleted last Thursday.A separate provision worth $60 billion (including $50 billion in loans and $10 billion in grants) would be allocated to economic disaster loans. Also included: $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for coronavirus testing. The total of the package would be north of $470 billion….Speaking on the Senate floor, McConell criticized Democrats for delaying action on replenishing the PPP. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., justified the delay on Sunday by saying she wanted more funding for testing and hospitals — uncontroversial demands that even left-of-center commentators have pointed out that Republicans never opposed.“It’s now been four days since the Paycheck Protection Program ran out of money. Republicans have been trying to secure more funding for this critical program for a week and a half now,” McConnell said. “At this hour, our Democratic colleagues are still prolonging their discussions with the administration, so the Senate, regretfully, will not be able to pass more funding for Americans’ paychecks today.”
Assuming this deal happens, and a bill is passed on Wednesday or Thursday this week, almost an entire week of PPP funding progress will have been lost. That a week in which pending loans, some of which have been sitting at banks since early April, will not be processed and funded, and another week before new applications could be filed.
To a business about to go under, a week is a lifetime. Only someone completely out of touch like Pelosi could fail to understand that.
A Bloomberg reporter summed up on April 16 how dire the situation was:
“I’m having a tough night. Hearing from small business owners who didn’t get PPP and who aren’t going to make it, it’s just brutal.”
Trump’s campaign just released a video about Pelosi. It’s brutal, but not brutal enough. Brad Parscale tweeted:
Americans are losing their jobs since the virus rocked the economy.Nancy Pelosi blocks funding for people to keep getting paychecks.But she’s got a $24K fridge full of ice cream, so she’s cool.
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