Now that Congress has proven utterly incapable of performing its most basic duties in the face of a protracted national crisis, President Trump has stepped in to deliver the proper response.
President Trump Saturday signed four executive actions to provide Americans financial relief from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
America is currently suffering from record unemployment and the worst recession in our history. This suffering is the direct result of government-imposed restrictions. Taking drastic measures to protect its citizens’ lives in drastic circumstances is a valid function of government. But at the same time, the government must take responsibility for the secondary evils its acts cause and work to mitigate them.
That legislators of both houses and parties cannot bestir themselves to relieve the severe burdens they themselves imposed on ordinary Americans shows their seething contempt for us.
When the people cannot have relief due to the legislative process breaking down, it is incumbent upon the executive to make up for Congress’ failure.
Here are the relief measures President Trump has ordered:
$400 weekly federal unemployment aid
Trump’s executive action calls for $400-per-week in supplemental unemployment aid. Unemployed people were getting $600-a-week extra until the federal program expired at the end of July.
Trump’s action would require states to pay for 25 percent of the $400 weekly benefit, while the federal government would pick up 75 percent.
Trump would divert up to $44 billion from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to cover the unemployment program.
The extra unemployment help would last until Dec. 6 or until the Disaster Relief Fund balance drops to $25 billion, “whichever occurs first,” according to the White House memo.
This supplemental aid is on top of existing state unemployment benefits. State payments vary widely, from $235 a week maximum in Mississippi to $1,234 in Massachusetts.
This is where the Mammon Mob will clutch their pearls and shriek about “Moral hazard” and “Paying people not to work.” The fatal flaw in those knee-jerk gripes is that they assume it’s still 1988 and our rulers don’t openly hate us.
If the government insists on economic strictures that put 40 million Americans out of work while at the same time continuing to import foreign workers, then the government has a moral imperative to make the workers they’ve wronged whole.
Assistance to Renters and Homeowners
Congress passed the CARES Act in March that issued a 120-day temporary eviction moratorium on renters in federal housing assistance programs or those who live in a property with a federally backed mortgage. That eviction moratorium expired in July.
Trump’s executive action would encourage federal efforts to help renters and homeowners avoid eviction or foreclosure for failing to make their monthly payments. He directs his administration to identify available funds to “provide temporary financial assistance to renters and homeowners who, as a result of the financial hardships caused by COVID-19, are struggling to meet their monthly rental or mortgage obligations.”
Payroll Tax holiday
Trump defers the payroll tax from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, for employees making $100,000 or less a year. The tax, deducted from workers’ paychecks, funds Social Security and Medicare. Employees would need to repay the federal government once the tax holiday ends without further action.
Millennials and Zoomers are never going to get a dime of Social Security or Medicare. Subjecting them to the payroll tax is forcing their participation in a pyramid scheme wherein their money is confiscated and transferred to members of older, far wealthier generations.
Trump’s order is a step in the right direction. Next he should absolve taxpayers of having to repay the government after the tax holiday and suspend payroll taxes indefinitely.
Extension of Student Loan Relief
The executive action suspends federal student loan payments and sets interest rates to 0 percent through Dec. 31, 2020. The current student loan relief programs were to expire on Sept. 30.
The federal student loan program is a con game that has duped multiple generations of youth into lifelong debt slavery. It also gives official sanction to the mortal sin of usury.
If oppose the federal funding of Planned Parenthood but insist that student debtors must cooperate with government-enforced usury, your morality is gravely inconsistent.
Forgiving all federal student loans is a moral imperative. Again, Trump is headed in the right direction. If he does enact student loan forgiveness, he will win the election with a groundswell of Millennial support.
Even if Trump’s orders don’t survive the inevitable Democrat legal challenge, the President’s clear populist sympathies are encouraging.
Never forget how much the Death Cult that runs most of the government and the whole entertainment industry hates you. Don’t give them money.
