Former president Donald Trump was obsessed with the gross domestic product. “Nobody’s ever seen a number like this!” Trump declared at a rally last October, referring to the GDP. As it turns out, Trump was right — but not in a good way. Across Trump’s four years in office, the nation recorded its lo…
— Read on www.rawstory.com/trump-gdp-growth/
Economy
Best of Intentions
Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle): WHY I AM CONCERNED ABT HOW #PPP MAY END UP IN THE WRONG HANDS 👇
When they changed the #PPP language from:
borrower must prove revenue loss of 50% or more from same period prior year to –
essentially borrower must attest to future economic uncertainty resulting from coronavirusStephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle): effectively lowered the qualifications to include more business, but in doing so, they may have drastically hurt the ability for closed restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality related small businesses from deriving any benefit from this.
Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle): The clock starts the day of loan origination and the $350bn is being distributed on a first come first serve
basis. By the time the less sophisticated businesses who really need the relief get their applications in, the wrong people will have already absorbed all the $Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle): $350bn is a drop in the bucket.
This results in almost zero benefit to shuttered small businesses such as restaurants and how this immeasurably benefits companies that have NOT been forced to shut or realize substantial economic loss.Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle): I’m talking: law firms, investment advisory firms, trading boutiques, insurance firms, accounting firms etc all with under 500 employees all of which have been loosely impacted by the forced coronavirus shutdown.
Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle): The government had to put this together quickly & with the best of intentions.
This may be a real problem and a major loophole with unintended consequences…….
Crazy Tweets
The President has been busy this morning, firing off a series of crazy tweets, most of which were quickly proven to contain lies. It’s like you put the phone in a kindergartener. Here’s one example. Only one.
Blasting Baltimore
The Presdent does it. For all the wrong reasons.
President Donald Trump launched a multiday Twitter tirade last month directed at U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, sharing video footage of derelict Baltimore neighborhoods and asking why the Democratic congressman wasn’t doing more to address the “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” in his district. Though Trump didn’t say so, some of the responsibility for any such conditions rests with his own administration. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has ultimate oversight of nearly 35,000 public housing and federally subsidized rental units in the city, many of which suffer from the squalor the president decried on social media. HUD has known for years of failing conditions in many of them but hasn’t…
CLICK HERE to read ProPublica’s full story.
A Child Shall Lead Them
This seriously sounds like a child:
Lowe’s is closer and more convenient anyway. I’d pretty much ignored the reports about Marcus, until Trump jumped in. Done
Lining His Pockets
Must be nice to be a President with no boundaries….
In all, his scores of trips have brought his private businesses at least $1.6 million in revenue, from federal officials and GOP campaigns who pay to go where Trump goes, according to a Washington Post analysis. They gave Trump valuable marketing opportunities — to showcase his opulent properties on an…
Quite mind-boggling reporting by The Washington Post. You can CLICK RIGHT HERE to read it all.
How’s Your Economy?
Surprise! It turns out the Trump Tax Cuts aren’t really doing much for the economy. Actually, “not doing much” might be too weak of a statement:
You may remember all the glowing predictions made for the December 2017 tax cuts by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration: Wages would soar for the rank-and-file, corporate investments would surge, and the cuts would pay for themselves. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has just published a deep dive into the economic impact of the cuts in their first year, and emerges from the water with a different picture. The CRS finds that the cuts have had virtually no…
Note the research comes from a nonpartisan group. The LA Times does the reporting on this. CLICK HERE to read the full story.
The Farming Connection
I grew up in Iowa. This is so tragic. My dad’s business worked with farmers, It’s just not right.
Larry Angler, a farmer in Iowa, voted for President Donald Trump in 2016. Now, he says he does not plan to vote for him again because of massive economic losses he expects to incur due to the escalating trade war with China. Speaking to CNN for an interview aired Wednesday, the Iowan said he expects his family will lose about $100,000 to $150,000 as a result of the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing. When asked by the CNN correspondent if he voted for Trump, Angler was quick to respond: ”I did! I’ll never vote for…
It’s a Newsweek story. You can read it RIGHT HERE.
The Great Businessman
The Washington Post does some solid reporting on problems at one key Trump property:
Late last year, in a Miami conference room, a consultant for President Trump’s company said business at his prized 643-room Doral resort was in sharp decline. At Doral, which Trump has listed in federal disclosures as his biggest moneymaker hotel, room rates, banquets, golf and overall revenue were all down since 2015. In two years, the resort’s net operating income — a key figure, representing the amount left over after expenses are paid — had fallen by…
CLICK HERE to find out how large the drop was. It’s a big deal!
Consequences of a Trade War
We’re beginning to feel the consequences of President Trump’s trade wars. I paid $1.50 for an avocado this weekend. A week ago it was on sale for $.89. And then there’s this dairy thing: Dairy farms in Wisconsin are on the brink of vanishing as they struggle to survive falling prices, overproduction and President Trump’s trade war, the New York Times reports. Why it matters: President Trump is managing a delicate balancing act, as he seeks to force concessions through his global trade war without losing…
It’s an Axios report that you can read by CLICKING HERE.
Quote of the Weekend
A classic Trump-ism from a radio interview in Minnesota last week:
Local News Media Finances
Looks like many folks have the wrong impression:
A new Pew Research study highlights a widespread lack of awareness about the revenue challenges facing many local news media operations. Even amid declining revenues and staffing, about seven-in-ten Americans think their local news outlets are doing very or somewhat well financially (71%). When it comes to their own financial support of the industry, just 14% of American adults say…
CLICK HERE for the complete summary via Mediaconfidential.
The Krile Files 