Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, governments around the world are struggling with dealing with the medical crisis and economic impacts at the same time. Clearly, some are leading by impressive example (Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, to name a few) and, well, some are less than impressive in action.
In the United States, the combined anti-science and corruption of Trump (and his Republican enablers) is providing glaring examples, on both fronts, of just how not to do things. Exemplifying this, when Trump opens his mount and lies about actions and contradicts leading medical advice, markets crash. In Congress, Mitch McConnell seems more intent on leveraging the crisis to provide a piggy-bank for Republican-supporting Corporations and donors than in actually saving lives, keeping Americans afloat amid economic shutdown, and fostering a better functioning society into the future.
While a believer that Democracy is about checks and balances, about compromising, about …, the situation is too urgent for those seeking to save lives, keep Americans afloat, and work for a better tomorrow to engage in pre-compromising and allowing McConnell to set the agenda.
The power of the purse resides with Congress. And, in this, the House has the primary role, with responsibility for all legislation that raises revenue to originate in the House. Considering the Corporate-friendly, average American-hating legislation that the Senate Republicans under Mitch McConnell are trying to drive through, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should call Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin and Senator McConnell with a three word message:
“We’ve got it”.
Then, come up with a series of 3-5 bills (or so) that are based on a three-bullet, five-word set of principles: Main Street; Clean; Future Building.
Here, in bullet form, are some basic thoughts about how and where resources should go.
- Main Street
- not Wall Street
- eg.
- Support (ASAP and continuing) medical responsiveness and society sustaining
- Resources for hospitals, first responders
- Sustain/support essential services (from water works to grocery clerks, from remote educators to postal/delivery services)
- get money into people’s hands in both ASAP & sustained
- Some money to ‘everyone’ right away to ‘shock’ system and keep people afloat
- Perhaps initial check of $750/adult, $250/child
- then a month of $250/$100 per week
- Do it via credit cards that enable/foster rapid spending
- Expansion/extension of unemployment/food stamps/medicaid support
- cover gig economy, loosen paperwork requirements, raise payment levels, extend duration
- Student loans
- Refinance all student loans to 1.5%
- Some money to ‘everyone’ right away to ‘shock’ system and keep people afloat
- figure out how to keep communities, families, small businesses afloat
- A month’s moratorium on loan / rental / etc payments nation wide (for renters, home owners, businesses), penalties for late payment on any bills / contracts within the United States, etc …
- with path for rapid infusion of cash to ‘unable to function without money flow’
- including some share of ‘salaries’ for firms that are putting workers (especially small businesses) so that ‘salaries’ are paid (even if, let’s say: 100% to 25k/year, 75% to $96k/year) amid shutdowns & workforce going back to work when/if firms/businesses restart
- Offer low-interest loans/refinancing for businesses, home mortgages (let’s say a 2% 15-year loan from the Fed for first mortgages up to $150k, 2.5% up to $350k), etc
- A month’s moratorium on loan / rental / etc payments nation wide (for renters, home owners, businesses), penalties for late payment on any bills / contracts within the United States, etc …
- for the moment, let Fed deal with Corporations & Wall Street
- Support (ASAP and continuing) medical responsiveness and society sustaining
- Clean
- not dirty
- E.g.,
- No financing for coal, oil & natural gas
- especially not dirty deals like exempting coal industry from black lung obligations, any fossil fuel from clean-up responsibilities, etc …
- Leverage 0% loans for clean-energy investments/projects
- from solar on roof to offshore wind — low-interest rates drive down delivered electricity projects
- Clean infrastructure
- No financing for coal, oil & natural gas
- Future building
- rather than past recreating
- E.g.,
- Don’t throw money at sectors unlikely to come back for an extended period at anything close to pre-crisis levels (cruise ships) nor at sectors that shouldn’t come back no matter what (coal)
- E.g., when it comes to some, Let Them Eat Bankruptcy
- Think through the Disaster 4Rs (Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction, & Resiliency) throughout process — so that resources/projects flow through from helping people survive to helping communities/society thrive
- From climate to boosting health care infrastructure to fostering/enabling changed education/work to … leverage crisis as opportunity to enable a better functioning society & economy
- Democracy: Vote By Mail improves Democracy while protecting health
- Etc …
- Don’t throw money at sectors unlikely to come back for an extended period at anything close to pre-crisis levels (cruise ships) nor at sectors that shouldn’t come back no matter what (coal)
Notes
The above are ‘thoughts’, seeking to articulate how ‘we’ might respond to the current crises in (more) productive ways. For overlapping concepts, for example, see:
- A green stimulus to rebuild our economy lays down examples and principles for a multi-$trillion, multi-year stimulus path to dig our way out of the Coronavirus pandemic (and worsened by Trump) economic devastation while addressing climate risks and economic/environmental injustices.
The United States confronts the danger of an economic stimulus that restores?-?or even deepens?-?our reliance on fossil fuels. This danger comes from explicit proposals to bail out the fossil fuel sector and roll back workers’ rights, and also from generic general stimulus policies that do not take climate into account. Indeed, infrastructure spending as usual?-?e.g. highway expansion?-?will lock in more carbon pollution for decades. We can avoid these problems by crafting a recovery that accelerates the creation of a 21st century green economy.
- 5 Principles for Just COVID-19 Relief and Stimulus has been signed by some 300 groups.
call for COVID-19 relief and stimulus packages to contribute to a just recovery by upholding these five principles:
(1) HEALTH IS THE TOP PRIORITY, FOR ALL PEOPLE, WITH NO EXCEPTIONS
(2) PROVIDE ECONOMIC RELIEF DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE
(3) RESCUE WORKERS AND COMMUNITIES, NOT CORPORATE EXECUTIVES
(4) MAKE A DOWN PAYMENT ON A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY, WHILE PREVENTING FUTURE CRISES
(5) PROTECT OUR DEMOCRATIC PROCESS WHILE PROTECTING EACH OTHER