After many contentions this year over a second covid relief bill, Congress was finally able to agree upon something. The newest package comes in at the tune of $900 billion dollars.
As reported by ZeroHedge, here are some of the things included in this new stimulus package:
- Direct payments of $600 to most Americans ($600 per adult and $600 per child); the amounts decrease for individuals with more than $75,000 in income and $150,000 for couples.
- $300-per-week in enhanced unemployment benefits through March. Expiring programs for gig workers and the long-term unemployed also would continue.
- $284 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program that provides
grantsforgivable loans to small businesses, arguably the most successful and also most abused program of the CARES act. This represents the bulk of the $325 billion the bill puts toward small businesses - $82 billion for education: includes $54.3 billion for K-12 schools and $22.7 billion for colleges; governors would get $4.05 billion to spend on education aid at their discretion. For-profit colleges would get $908 million for grants to students, and another $1.7 billion would be set aside for historically black colleges, tribal colleges, minority-serving institutions
- $10 billion for child care.
- 15 billion in grants for theater operators and owners of small performance venues.
- $25 billion in rental assistance and an extension of the moratorium on evictions
- $13 billion in funds for food-stamp and child-nutrition benefits.
- $30 billion for the procurement and distribution of a Covid vaccine, as well as testing and tracing.
- $1.8 billion in tax credits for businesses to provide paid leave.
On top of all of that the package also includes $15 billion in payroll assistance to airlines. In theory, this is supposed to help the tens of thousands of airline workers that have been furloughed or laid off return to work. However, it is important to note that the airlines have already received other bailouts this year as well, even after they told the government that they would not layoff anymore workers – to which they then proceeded to furlough more staff. Expect more of the same as they will more than likely very subtly layoff more workers, as they continue to buy back their own stock shares.
U.S. airlines furloughed more than 32,000 workers in October, after a six-month $25 billion bailout measure expired on Sept. 30. According to Reuters, airline workers would be paid retroactive to Dec. 1 and airlines would have to resume flying some routes they stopped after the aid package expired, congressional aides briefed on the talks said earlier. While airline workers could not be furloughed through March 31 as a condition of the assistance, airline lawyers will find countless loopholes around this contingency in the next 24 hours.
Unfortunately, even if it is used as intended, it won’t last airlines even 3 months at current cash burn rates: US carriers are losing $180 million in cash daily, with passenger volumes down 65% to 70% and cancellations rising, industry lobby Airlines for America said.
The new assistance program is expected to mirror the $25 billion program approved by Congress in March, which required larger airlines to repay 30% of the payroll grants over time and offer the government warrants. It is also expected to include minimum flight requirements. The aviation assistance comes after five months of furious lobbying – first by aviation unions and later by airline executives – who argued the industry (which repurchased over $50 billion of its own stock in recent years) desperately needed new government help as travel demand remains devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $45 billion COVID-19 transportation package is also set to include $1.75 billion for airports and $200 million for airport concessionaires and $2 billion for the private motorcoach, school bus and ferry industries. Aside from airlines, the stimulus will include $1 billion to the Amtrak railroad, $14 billion for public transit systems and $10 billion for state highways. It is also expected to include significant changes to how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new airplanes following two fatal Boeing Co 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people.
In addition to a $15 billion airlines rescue bridge line, the draft language of the emergency coronavirus relief package includes a tax break for corporate meal expenses. President Trump has talked about securing the deduction – derisively referred to as the “three-martini lunch” by critics – as a way to revive the restaurant industry badly battered by the pandemic; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin included the meal deduction as a White House priority in negotiations. But critics said it would do little to help struggling restaurants and would largely benefit business executives who do not urgently need help at this time.
While Democrats opposed the proposal, during negotiations Democratic leaders agreed to the provision in exchange for Republicans agreeing to expand tax credits for low income families and the working poor in the final package.
Since the 1980s, businesses have only been able to deduct 50% of their meal expenses off their federal taxes. A proposal championed by the White House and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) would increase that deduction to 100% allowing companies to deduct the full cost of a business meal off their federal taxes.
The cost to taxpayers of the proposal is not known, though tax experts expect it to not exceed a few billion dollars a year.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
BOONDOGGLE: A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations. Noun: work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value. a public project of questionable merit that typically involves political patronage and graft. Verb: waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.
As pretty as those boondoggles are, they will not save America. If you do not know the history of the boondoggle, click the link above.
All Congress is doing is just more and more what they have always done with OUR TAXPAYER’S money: boondoggling.
For example, $15 billion is to aid the theaters and small performance venues. What a joke! Let’s be real here, folks: how many “mom and pop” theaters do you know of? I never have because those numbers are few and far between. This is only going to benefit the bigwigs like Mark Cuban, billionaire investor and entrepreneur, owner of AMC theaters, the NBA Dallas Mavericks, and TV celebrity of the hit ABC show “Shark Tank.” AMC has already officially announced this year how much money they have lost. Now Congress gave these people billions of dollars for theaters that continue to remain shutdown, or forced to have low capacity seating; so the people can watch these abominable movies with their masks on! Boondoggling.
Then we have things like more money going to rental assistance and an extended moratorium for those behind on rent payments. What about the landlords? They have not gotten any breaks at all this year. Love ’em or hate ’em, they still have to put bread on the table, too. And just like we all saw with the first wave of stimulus, these people who are way behind on their payments, went out and leased new vehicles, bought new flat screens, smartphones, appliances, etc – will no doubt occur, yet again, digging an even deeper ditch for themselves.
The $82 billion for education is also sickening. Do not EVEN get me started on the corruption of public schooling and the universities. The children are not learning jack-squat and have been brainwashed for decades of the most absolutely useless junk ever. So now the schools will be getting bailed out so the children can learn at home via Zoom calls; sports, music, art, etc, are practically at a stand-still; and those that are physically going to school, the money will aid in the propaganda machine to enslave the children there. Watch this video for proof of what they doing to the children. NOTE: If the video does not want to play, feel free to download it.
Then you have the peasant-check of $600. This will barely get people enough groceries for 2 weeks, maybe 3, because of the cost of goods continually going up – and will be going up even more now because of the easing money printing that lowers the dollar’s buying power, and the price of products and services go up.
Or how about $30 billion for the covid vaccine production and distributing, for a vaccine barely anyone wants it seems? The WinePress released an article explaining how the government, the medical mafia, big-tech, the military, and so on, will be tracking and invading our personal lives even more. The Patriot Act 2.0.
Lastly, I will end it on this: the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) grants loans. The word ‘grants’ continually gets thrown around with these PPP’s. Grants do not have term limits. Grants do not have interest rates. These are LOANS that have more provisions and red tape than IRS tax code.
In a WinePress report several days ago, we documented that it was the big guys who got the bulk of the money, not the little guy who it was intended for. People like Robert de Niro who received almost $28 million dollars, Joel Osteen who received $4 million, and so on. The Washington Post released a report in early December citing that most of the PPP money went to the big businesses, not the small ones it was intended for. On that same day, they also released an article cataloging all the companies that received a loan larger than $150,000. For example, type in the word ‘catholic,’ and look at how much money went to the whore of Babylon (Rev 17-18). Just vile.
Mark it down and remember it: the bigs, just like last time, are going to gobble this up and cut in line leaving the little guy out to dry. This is of course all by design. The more little guys keep biting the dust, the only people that will be left are the big boys, the monopolies, the multinational corporations. The small businesses will be left with virtually nothing. Then the Feds will just keep buying up the debt as they have been for quite some time now.
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
Proverbs 22:7
Regardless, it is a lose-lose situation. Going into debt, in servitude to the government; or forced to shut their doors and desperately look for funds.
Don’t Forget
The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan.
Mein Kampf
Do not forget the first covid stimulus package that was passed. Congress on both sides, Democrat and Republican, passed the CARES Act that tacked on $6.2 trillion dollars that benefited no one but the bigs. Then when you see President Trump sign it in, surrounded by the bankster gangsters and medical mafia goons, all heckling and laughing at this – is just sickening. Watch them for yourselves. Do not forget that these criminals are not looking for your and I’s best interest.
We need to continually stay in constant prayer to the Lord for protection and guidance. If you have a job, if you have a house, if you have clothes, if you have clean food and water, if you have fresh air, if you have an abundance of all these things – you need to be on your hands and knees thanking God daily for all that he has blessed you with. 2021 will be far worse than this one, so we all need to toughen up, and rely on the saving and protecting power of Jesus Christ more so then ever before.
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
The WinePress needs your support! If God has laid it on your heart to want to contribute, please prayerfully consider donating to this ministry. If you cannot gift a monetary donation, then please donate your fervent prayers to keep this ministry going! Thank you and may God bless you.
