In ‘Major Shift,’ Dems Plan To Fight Trump Over Small Business Funding Expansion, ‘Pt. 4’ Stimulus Plan

For hundreds of thousands of small business owners, the early days of the ‘Paycheck Protection Program’ – the $350 billion pool of federal money that the big banks are doling out in low-interest (but not as low as it could have been), essentially risk-free, loans – were marked by frustration, exhaustion and dread, as loan applicants were denied, or told to apply at another bank (one where they had a “lending relationship…as if the Greek immigrant who owns your local diner has a revolving credit line with Goldman).

And even once applications were in, the system was instantly overwhelmed, and it quickly became clear that the amount of money that would be needed would be far more than Congress had allotted (applications received via Bank of America alone during the first couple of days amounts to more than $32 billion in liquidity, roughly 10% of the entire program total).

With both Republicans and Democrats sending signals about a fourth coronavirus relief bill, the administration is once again inexplicably producing what appear to be lowball numbers (the only reason we can see is that they’re once again being influenced by Mark Meadows and the Freedom Caucus types, even though Trump himself has said his reelection is reliant on how he handles this, and should be throwing money at this problem). Yesterday, reports claimed they were seeking a $200-$250 billion to top off the ‘PPP’.

Now, Politic reports that the Democrats have shifted gear, when in reality it looks like they’ve simply laid their cards on the table: For Pt. 4, Pelosi and Schumer want Trump to boost the small biz money to half a trillion, while committing more money to hospitals, states and SNAP benefits.

Per Politico, this is setting the country up for another battle over the contents of the bill.

NEW … PELOSI AND SCHUMER GO BIG … The dem ldrs say they want

— 100 bn for hospitals
— 150bn for state and locals
— 15% more in SNAP benefits
— of the 250bn, they want 125bn targeted for farmers, family, women, minority, vet-owned biz in rural, tribal, suburban and urban areas

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 8, 2020

This is a BIG SHIFT from where Dems were yesterday, and signals issues for getting the straight 250bn in lending TRUMP ADMIN was aiming for this week

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 8, 2020

In sum, DEMS upping from just 250b in small biz relief to at least a half-trillion dollar bill.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 8, 2020

Will we see the same swings in US stocks this time around?