Inane protesters, small business loans, and Biden’s rhetoric.
4/20 on a Monday, hooo-ah!
Hey there friends. We’ve got a whole weekend of frustrating weekend news for you to catch up on here so let’s get crackin’:
Coronavirus protests around the country, incited by the sitting president: it’s not looking pretty. Between Trump saying we need to “LIBERATE MINNESOTA” and protests happening country-wide, things are feeling pretty tense right about now.
The small business loans that were part of the CARES package got totally botched: and you know it’s bad because Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse somehow managed to snatch $20 million.
Joe Biden’s new ad is kinda offensive: and other blunders that should be unsettling. Trump is peddling enough sinophobia, we don’t need Biden to pile onto it.
That’s right: we’ve entered a whole new level of our hellworld. Let’s break it all down.
CORONAVIRUS
Countrywide Coronavirus Protests (And Trump Egged Them On)
Protests. They’re usually something we root for as they indicate the kinds of unrest we can get behind, but what we saw this past weekend was, well, disturbing. We saw protests (some of which involved armed protests like those in Michigan) across the nation, including Texas, Nevada, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, Idaho, California, New Hampshire, and Minnesota. These protests are aimed at ending coronavirus lockdowns—and worse yet, the sitting president is egging them on.
Just Absolutely Depraved
Are stay-at-home orders and other coronavirus lockdown measures infringing upon your rights or is that a uniquely stupid and awful American idea?
Seeing the balancing act some of these protests are engaging in is as hilarious as it is scary. In Annapolis, Maryland, we saw anti-lockdown protests going on—but all of the protestors remained in their vehicles. Brave enough to be American, scared enough to remain seated.
As funny as that may be, scarier yet are the protests that aren’t happening from vehicles. In Austin, Texas and St. Paul, Minnesota, for example, protestors disregarded social distancing practices and packed into spaces like delusional sardines. Are those spaces essentially hot zones for coronavirus and did a ton of protestors get exposed in the process? Only time will tell.
While many of these protests are encouraged by the same kind of disconnect from reality peddled by Alex Jones (who showed up in Austin) and QAnon (whose imagery was used in some protests as well), some people are just more concerned about their financial futures than their health. Maybe if the CARES Act had gone further, people may be less inclined to demand to go back to work?
The kicker: Trump responded to some of these protests on Twitter, posting “LIBERATE MINNESOTA,” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN,” and “LIBERATE VIRGINIA.” This is a continuation of Trump’s power struggle with (mostly Democratic) governors, and while he’s teetered between bipartisanship and seemingly allowing that power to be decided by states, there’s no denying that this dangerous and reckless behavior will encourage a movement of protests and potentially even violence.
Bottom line: we typically try to do some kind of guess as to what the implications of a story will be and what could happen from here on out, but these protests have left us feeling pretty grim. We can only hope that Trumpian zealots don’t resort to actual violence and keep the harm they’re creating mostly relegated to themselves.
CARES ACT
Small Business Loans Fumble Hard
Small businesses. Supposedly, or at least so we’ve heard, they’re a pretty big part of the economy. “Entrepreneurs” love to throw around inspirational quotes like Richard Branson having said that “a big business starts small,” but when it comes to bailing out businesses in the wake of the coronavirus, the CARES Act seemed more catered towards massive corporations than helping out small mom and pop shops.
Left to Fight For Scraps
The $350 billion federal crisis fund intended to keep small businesses up and running has already run out. That, unfortunately, leaves a huge number of small businesses waiting at least another week for any further action from Capitol Hill.
Consider that these Paycheck Protection Program loans—intended to avert mass layoffs—are forgiven if a business agrees to keep their payrolls. Without funding, though, banks and the Small Business Administration can’t doll out more of those loans, which were quickly snatched up by more business-savvy companies. We don’t know about you, but it seems like a not-so-great thing that those with access to more forward-thinking accountants end up getting to siphon off more of those loans.
Right now, Congress is deadlocked on funding the program. The GOP wants to throw another $250 billion into the fund but Democrats are pushing for equal funding for hospitals and local governments.
The kickoff of the program was plagued with issues. From the unstable SBA system used to approve loans to unclear instructions on what was required to process an application, it wasn’t a hot start.
Keeping Small Businesses Afloat
With more than 22 million Americans filing for unemployment, it’s clear that Congress acted far too slowly when doling out these loans in the first place.
The law also provided some flexibility on what qualifies a “small business.” For example, restaurant and hotel groups could apply provided they don’t have more than 500 workers at a single location. We don’t know about you but that seems to open some windows it shouldn’t.
Like sandwich maker Potbelly, who obtained $10 million in loans, or Ruth’s Chris Steak House, who grabbed $20 million. These companies certainly have employees that shouldn’t be laid off in the wake of coronavirus, but then again, Potbelly’s CEO made more than $1.6 million in salary and bonuses in 2018, whereas the CEO and president of Ruth’s Chris made more than $6 million. Advocacy groups aren’t happy.
As important as small businesses are, Congressional Democrats are right on the money here: states and hospitals need to be bailed out, too.
Bottom line: this certainly feels like a continuation of protecting big business. You’d think that the mishandling of these loans and the 22 million unemployment claims would spell big trouble for the economy but the stock market is actually rebounding pretty well—for now. The way the pandemic has impacted small businesses could spell massive damages down the line.
ELECTION 2020
Joe Biden Is Not Good At Campaigning
Joe Biden. He really just can’t help himself when it comes to running an awful campaign. Recently, Biden’s team released a new attack ad—but man, was the messaging bad. In it, the ad claims that Trump “rolled over for the Chinese.” The ad continues to criticize Trump for praising China and for letting travelers from China into the country after signing the travel ban.
Even Accidental Racism Is Bad
There’s no doubt that Trump’s language has fueled hate and contributed to the uptick in anti-Asian attacks. Biden’s language here isn’t very helpful, either.
Trump made so many mistakes regarding the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, why choose being overly friendly to China as his biggest blunder, especially when Trump has already been accused of encouraging anti-Asian sentiments?
There’s no need to praise the CCP: we acknowledge just how awful China’s government is. Scapegoating the country for that pandemic is a bad move though. The virus could have originated anywhere and the U.S. hasn’t done a stellar job in acting either. If you think we need to hold China accountable, who’s going to hold us accountable?
It’s important to note the distinction here. It’s one thing to criticize the Chinese government, it’s another thing to, as Biden did, just say “the Chinese.”
This may not lead us barreling towards World War 3 with China, but it seems to have clear implications on inciting hate crimes.
Does Biden Like, Get It?
This isn’t the only instance of Biden’s campaign seemingly missing the point.
Before posting the ad, the official Biden Twitter posted that “Donald Trump says he’s a wartime president — it’s time for him to act like one.” Uh, when did anyone ask for that? Since when does anyone want that?
Trump is a colossal fuckup but encouraging him to be more hawkish is not the route to go.
If now’s the time to push Biden to where we want him to be, these are important conversations to have.
Bottom line: is it racist to talk about China the way that Biden’s ad did? You be the judge. What we think seems obvious is that much like the aftermath of 9/11, though, we need to be careful when throwing blame around and consider the implications of our language. If attacking China isn’t necessary to make Trump look bad, why bother doing it at all when it very well may contribute to hate crimes around the country?
END OF THE LINE...
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The Bread Line
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