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Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) characterized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's opposition to using federal money to bail out New Jersey's government as "utterly irresponsible." McConnell suggested that "rather than try to sponge off federal taxpayers, states in financial trouble should file for bankruptcy." Murphy started off by threatening to lay off state employees. "Let's see how McConnell and the Republicans like it when thousands of essential government workers join the ranks of the unemployed," he said. "The booming economy that Trump and the GOP are counting on to win the election would be further set back." Murphy also chastised McConnell's...

HBO's Bill Maher pressed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on trillions of federal spending on the coronavirus pandemic, with the "Real Time" host saying a "house of cards" will eventually collapse, resulting in a depression. The back-and-forth comes as President Trump signed off on a $484 billion package on Friday to replenish a small business lending program prompted by the pandemic. The package also provides $100 billion for hospitals and COVID-19 testing as some states slowly reopen their economies. "I know we can bail out certain sectors as we have done in the past, I don't know how you can...

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., had some harsh words for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., after the latter suggested that state governments should be able to declare bankruptcy during the coronavirus pandemic. ".@senatemajldr McConnell’s dismissive remark that States devastated by Coronavirus should go bankrupt rather than get the federal assistance they need and deserve is shameful and indefensible," King tweeted Wednesday. "To say that it is 'free money' to provide funds for [...] cops, firefighters and healthcare workers makes McConnell the Marie Antoinette of the Senate," he added.

I received a call from my brother this evening with an interesting quandary. Our mother passed at age 92 in April of 2018. Today he received a check for $1,200. The check clearly states: (My Mothers Name) DECD % (My brothers name) (My brothers address) It is also labeled as: "Economic impact payment" My brother, the executor of the very modest 'estate', was asking my advice. I suggested, depositing it, while we seek further information or consultation from an attorney (my BIL). Neither of us need the $600 bucks (after the split), nor do we feel it should have been...

Democratic governors and mayors are going around Congress to put money into the pockets of illegal immigrants who were excluded from receiving the $1,200 coronavirus relief checks that are part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus plan approved last month, according to a report. California Gov. Gavin Newsom created a private-public $125 million fund that illegal immigrants would be able to draw from and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot expanded city benefits, including money from the city’s Small Business Resiliency Program, for illegal immigrants. Minneapolis, run by Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey, is creating a $5 million funding package that would be available...

3 Reasons Why States Shouldn’t Get a Congressional Bailout Rachel Greszler / April 19, 2020 Illinois State Senate President Don Harmon sent a letter April 14 on behalf of the Illinois Senate Democratic Caucus to members of Congress requesting $40 billion in federal funds for the beleaguered state. Although the letter comes under the guise of unprecedented COVID-19 disruptions, the purposes for which Illinois and other states seek additional federal funds are anything but unprecedented. Opening the floodgates to federal taxpayer dollars to cover states’ self-imposed fiscal woes would only lead to even further fiscal recklessness. Here are three ways...

However, it's unclear whether any of the news outlets intend to repay the money, or how much they'll repay. The Tampa Bay newspaper, which received an $8.5 million loan, told Just the News on Thursday that its chairman and CEO, Paul Tash, says the federal government will "likely forgive much of the loan" and that the "remaining balance" will carry an interest rate of 1 percent. The Seattle Times received a $9.9 million PPP forgivable loan from the federal government. In its voluntary announcement of the loan, the Seattle Times stated that the loan is forgivable but didn't specify whether...

The university and school district ripoff of loan funds is the tip of the iceberg. I just observed temp employment agencies and payroll service companies getting the loans that should have gone to the actual employer. The actual situation I observed was a Company with 65 employees, all paid through a payroll service company. The payroll service company writes the payroll checks and is reimbursed weekly for all wages, taxes, and a premium to cover processing costs. The payroll service Company got a PPP loan for all the wages FOR THE 65 employee wages paid indirectly by my client. The...

Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday launched into a fiery takedown of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for saying state and local governments with cratered finances because of the coronavirus pandemic should be allowed to file for bankruptcy rather than rely on federal aid. “My breath is taken away,” Murphy, a Democrat, said of the Kentucky Republican during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Trenton.

Mitch McConnell is effectively telling New York and other coronavirus-stricken states to drop dead. The iron-fisted Senate majority leader announced Wednesday that his Republican caucus won’t support federal bailouts for New York and other states under enormous economic pressure because of the coronavirus pandemic, drawing harsh backlash from Democrats. “My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don’t have to do that. That’s not something I’m going to be in favor of," McConnell (R-Ky.) said of hard-hit states like New York...

Julia Chatterley's lover: Harvard? The CNN International anchor does seem to express an excessive fondness for the Cambridge institution—coupled with a raging animus toward President Trump. On this morning's New Day, Chatterley trashed as a "total fabrication" Trump's criticism of the $9 million in bailout money that Harvard somehow managed to score.Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

A top U.S. regulator is considering taking steps to ease strains on mortgage companies facing a cash crunch as millions of Americans struggling with fallout from the coronavirus suspend their monthly payments, according to people familiar with the matter. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is weighing whether to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage-finance giants, to buy home loans that recently entered forbearance, meaning borrowers have stopped making payments, the people said. That would help nonbank mortgage companies that lend to home buyers and then quickly sell the loans to Fannie and Freddie. The strategy was upended...

llinois Democrats are demanding $41 billion from the federal government for coronavirus relief, including $10 billion for Illinois's cash-strapped and underfunded public pension plan. The most fiscally mismanaged state in the union, which has criminally neglected funding its public pension fund for two decades, wants Washington to pull its chestnuts out of the fire? Certainly, states should get something. But what Illinois is asking for is shocking. “I realize I’ve asked for a lot, but this is an unprecedented situation, and we face the reality that there likely will be additional, unanticipated costs that could result in future requests for...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers called on Sunday for expanding payroll assistance to struggling local newspapers and broadcast stations that have seen advertising revenue plummet during the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic Senators Maria Cantwell and Amy Klobuchar and Republicans John Kennedy and John Boozman urged Senate leaders to revise the rules to make thousands of local newspapers, TV and radio stations eligible for assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program. Many local outlets are ineligible because they are owned by parent companies too large to qualify.

The president of the State Senate asked for $40 billion to help the pension system, fund unemployment insurance and aid hospitals and cities. Illinois needs more than $40 billion in relief from the federal government because of the coronavirus pandemic — including $10 billion to help bail out its beleaguered pension system, according to a letter the Illinois Senate president sent to members of Congress. The letter, sent this week by State Senator Don Harmon, also seeks a $15 billion grant to “stabilize the state’s budget,” $9.6 billion in direct aid to Illinois’s cities, $6 billion for the state’s unemployment...

Why Churches Should NOT Take The PPP Loan From The Government! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NhKH91nvJg

The Treasury Department has requested that the largest U.S. airlines pay back 30% of the payroll grants, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s decision to essentially convert some of the grants to loans comes as he wants to make clear that he is not offering ailing industries a bailout as they struggle with the coronavirus pandemic. It comes amid the backdrop of the presidential election and memories of bank bailouts during the financial crisis. The Treasury Department is sending a message to large companies weighing government aid to weather the coronavirus pandemic: No free...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz unloaded on his Democratic colleagues on Friday in response to Sen. Dianne Feinstein sending a letter to President Trump declaring that she is “disappointed” in his administration’s plan to block funding to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran. The Democrats’ demand of Trump to help Iran get $5 billion in aid, Cruz noted, comes “at the exact same time” that they are “blocking desperately need relief to small businesses in America.” In late March, a group of Democratic lawmakers — among them Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), and Rashida Tlaib (MI), and...

Probably few hospital systems need the emergency federal grants announced this week to handle the coronavirus crisis as badly as Florida’s Jackson Health does. Miami, its base of operations, is the worst COVID-19 hot spot in one of the most severely hit states. Even in normal years, the system sometimes barely makes money. At least two of its staff members have died of the virus. But in a scathing letter to policymakers, system CEO Carlos Migoya said the way Washington has handled the bailout “could jeopardize the very existence” of Jackson, one of the nation’s largest public health systems, and...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Appearing before the cameras coughing and sweating profusely, the man leading Iran's response to the new coronavirus outbreak promised it was of no danger to his country. "Quarantines belong to the Stone Age," Iraj Harirchi insisted. A day later, he himself would be in quarantine from the virus. Harirchi's story is a microcosm of what has happened in Iran amid the coronavirus pandemic. Roughly nine out of 10 cases in the Middle East come from the Islamic Republic, which has reported over 16,000 people infected and at least 988 deaths amid fears that cases...