Free Republic

Study found that taxpayers shelled out $4 for every $1 in wages and benefits received by workers from the Paycheck Protection Program. Taxpayers paid $4 for every $1 in wages and benefits received by workers in jobs saved by the federal government’s pandemic Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Fed study also found PPP didn’t support jobs at risk of disappearing, and money flowed disproportionately to wealthier households. “The PPP was a very large and very timely fiscal-policy intervention, saving about 3 million jobs at its peak in...

The federal government can’t take our money and give it to Joel Osteen or Robert Jeffress or Paula White—even in the wake of a pandemic,” I wrote back in May. But that’s exactly what Trump’s Small Business Administration has done by giving Paycheck Protection Program funds to churches. Paula White’s church took in between $150,000 and $350,000, Jeffress’s church grabbed between $2 million and $5 million and, now we know that Osteen’s megachurch pocketed $4.4 million. Other megachurches snagged millions of taxpayer dollars. As time passes, the inevitable abuses are coming to light. One megachurch televangelist even bought a private...

Former President George W. Bush congratulated President-elect Joe Biden in a phone call Sunday and said that, while President Donald Trump has the right to pursue legal challenges and recounts, the 2020 race was "fundamentally fair" and "its outcome is clear." The gesture by Bush, the only living former Republican president, was a break from his party's outgoing president, Trump, who has so far refused to concede the race. In the statement, Bush said he had called Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Sunday. "Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who...

Statement by President George W. Bush.

After an arduous 2020 election, it’s looking like we’ll have to wait until 2021 to learn which party is in control of the U.S. Senate. With incumbent Senator David Perdue having just failed to cross the 50 percent barrier necessary in the State of Georgia to claim victory, leadership of the Senate looks to be in limbo until January 5, when the run-off election will take place. The current Senate sits at 53 Republican and 47 Democrat. In the November elections, Democrats were able to gain seats in Colorado, where Bilderberger John Hickenlooper defeated Republican incumbent Cory Gardner, and in...

Hello, it is the Fourth of July 2020. "Independence Day" or "Another Day In The Dictatorship Of Covid-19" There was a bicentennial in 1976 and Bob Hope entertained us for that occasion along with lots of stars..... No Meaningful Republican Party Opposition To DC 19, Instead Distraction With Cultural Warfare.... Burning The Muzzles (Masks) In Boise No tea to throw in the harbor this time around like 200 years ago but how about a mask burning to protest the chains we are in. The protest yesterday Friday over the mask order of the mayor in Boise Idaho...... Newsdump Update: Two...

Today, I have signed into law H.R. 7010, the “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020” (the “Act”).  The Act provides greater flexibility to restaurants, hotels, and other small businesses to use Federal Government loans under the Paycheck Protection Program to pay for payroll, employee benefits, and other expenses while weathering the coronavirus outbreak.  Because the Act is essential to protecting jobs as the Nation begins to reopen the economy, I have signed the Act into law without delay.  Nevertheless, given the uncertain constitutionality of the Act in light of an unprecedented proxy voting system used by the House...

On Friday, June 5, 2020, the President signed into law:H.R. 7010, the “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020,” which modifies certain provisions related to forgiveness of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and allows loan forgiveness recipients to defer their payroll taxes. The White House

Maurice Fayne allegedly used more than $1.5 million on jewelry and child support, according to authorities. Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star Maurice Fayne, aka Arkansas Mo, on Wednesday was charged with federal bank fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The 37-year-old Fayne of Dacula, Georgia, who appeared on nine episodes of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta in season eight, obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan in the name of a trucking company, but allegedly spent the funds on himself. Fayne made his initial court appearance Wednesday. The charge stems from Fayne obtaining the PPP loan for a...

Small businesses in areas hit hardest by the coronavirus epidemic haven't been able to secure loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to a new study released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The study has actually shown a "negative relationship" between a state's COVID-19 cases per capita and its share of small businesses getting PPP funding. Most PPP loans have gone to central and midwestern states that have reported the fewest number of coronavirus cases. "In New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus in the United States, less than 20 percent of small businesses have...

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has pushed back on calls to change a key requirement for small businesses to obtain aid under the government’s Paycheck Protection Program, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sounds open to loosening it. Hotel and restaurant groups have criticized a rule that says 75% of the Paycheck Protection Program loan’s proceeds must go toward payroll expenses. Mnuchin on Monday rejected the requests for a change that have come from those groups and other organizations. “This is the way the program was designed by Congress, and we think it has the right intent to get the money to...

East Room 3:16 P.M. EDT  THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much everyone.  This is a great honor.  And I see you have social distance on your mind and that’s a very good thing.  Jovita, congratulations.  Tremendous job you’re doing.I want to thank everyone for being at the White House — a very special house, a very special place.  No matter where you go in the world, they love the White House.  And being here in the East Room of the White House in particular, where so many important functions have taken place over the years.And today, we’re really...

Oval Office12:11 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Thank you very much.  We’re gathered today for a very historic bill signing that will provide vital financial relief to American workers and families.  We’re grateful to be joined by Vice President Mike Pence, and also with us are Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Administrator Jovita Carranza, Senators Roy Blunt, John Cornyn, Dan Sullivan, as well as Leader Kevin McCarthy and Representative Steve Scalise and Liz Cheney.  We appreciate you all coming.  A very big moment.I want to thank Congress for answering my call to pass this critical funding.  And the bill includes, as you...

On Friday, April 24, 2020, the President signed into law: H.R. 266, the “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act,” which provides additional fiscal year (FY) 2020 emergency supplemental funding to increase amounts authorized and appropriated for commitments for the Paycheck Protection Program authorized under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act, economic injury disaster loans and emergency grants under the CARES Act, to fund hospital and provider recovery and testing, and for other purposes.

The Pennsylvania investment firm that owns the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove in Miami has applied for as many as 48 taxpayer-backed loans under an emergency program meant to help the nation’s smallest businesses hang on to their employees through the coronavirus pandemic. A Maryland hotel company that did more than $1.5 billion in revenue last year has applied for more than 50 loans — and been approved for about 10 so far. And Winter Park’s Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. — the parent company of Ruth’s Chris Steak House that made $42 million in profits last year and spent $41 million buying...

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The latest state to challenge monopoly union power is Pennsylvania, where the legislature is debating a "paycheck protection" bill banning automatic dues payments. A political brawl is breaking out, though the Republican Governor has so far offered little support. The SEIU's Pennsylvania State Council says the legislation "threatens collective bargaining rights in Pennsylvania and creates unnecessary and unreasonable restrictions on labor unions." The state AFL-CIO warns the bill "would significantly impair unions' ability to represent their dues and fee paying members." Their real worry is that they'll have less money to spend on politics. The paycheck proposal would prohibit state...

Prop 30: Your Wallet or Your Kids. NO Either approve $36 billion in higher sales and income taxes or else Gov. Brown threatens to shoot the schools. Don't worry, the income taxes are only on the "very wealthy," but it turns out the "very wealthy" include many small businesses filing under sub-chapter S, meaning lower wages, higher prices and fewer jobs. California already has one of the highest overall tax burdens in the country and yet has just approved a budget to spend $8 billion dollars more than it's taking in. Moral of the story: it's the spending stupid. Prop...

November 2012 Statewide Ballot Measures Proposition 30 Initiative Constitutional Amendment 1578. (12-0009) - Final Random Sample Update - 06/20/12 Temporary Taxes to Fund Education. Guaranteed Local Public Safety Funding. Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Qualified: 06/20/12 Proponent: Thomas A. Willis c/o Karen Getman (510) 346-6200 Increases personal income tax on annual earnings over $250,000 for seven years. Increases sales and use tax by ¼ cent for four years. Allocates temporary tax revenues 89 percent to K-12 schools and 11 percent to community colleges. Bars use of funds for administrative costs, but provides local school governing boards discretion to decide, in open meetings...

-the initiative received -- $250,000 last month to support a ballot measure that would ban payroll deductions for raising money for political purposes, ... Two days after the California Faculty Association Political Issues Committee put $350,000 into opposing it. -The initiative will start- a political slugfest that could total $50 million or more in campaign spending by the time voters decide on the measure in November.