[Snorlax94]

What concerns me most are the bailouts. 

According to a CNBC Article:
"The hotel industry wants $150 billion. The restaurant industry wants $145 billion. The National Association of Manufacturers wants $1.4 trillion. The International Council of Shopping Centers wants a guarantee of up to $1 trillion."

Of course the bailout is $2 trillion+, if not $4 trillion. All the employees have been sent home by discretionary decision.  No employee was asked if they wanted to go or stay.  They were told to go home.  Soon they'll be told they have a smaller paycheck.  Or they'll be told they're out of a job.

The term bailout should not be used interchangeably with stimulus, spending and help for workers. Bailout is a type of spending (or loan guarantee), and a type of stimulus, but it is a form that is less likely to actually go to unemployed workers or sick Americans.

Bailouts go to industries and business owners. If hotels get the $150 billion bailout they request, there is no guarantee a penny of that will go to hotel employees. They could pocket the money, then lay off employees anyway  because there will be no travel. The best way to help the hospitality industry workers is to send the money directly to the workers. That is not an industry bailout. That is unemployment insurance.

Expanding and extending unemployment, expanding the Affordable Care Act, giving loans or tax credits to small businesses (or even straight payments to all small closed businesses, like neighborhood restaurants and shops), shoring up the finances for state governments, providing funding for tests, expanding spending for hospitals and medical supplies, helping cover the ballooning health expenses for Americans, even sending checks to everyone -- these are examples of actions that help people and employees. 

There should be a massive fund to compensate any retail presence that is closed in a lockdown. It's easy to do -- all businesses report rent payments in a 1099, so the federal government could easily see what rents businesses reported on their taxes and send checks based on that. These are examples of normal Stimulus spending. These are NOT examples of industry bailouts, and it is inaccurate to conflate industry bailouts with sending money to laid off employees.

And then $150 billion to be handed out as business bailouts at the Treasury's discretion??? We are in a crisis and the Senate takes this as an opportunity to become even more  blatantly corrupt.  Any bailout needs to be decided by the Congress (as it is their Constitutional power), it should be done in the open, and, except in true emergencies, it should be done after the bill is made public for at least a week so people can see what their Congress is up to. They can pass the other stimulus spending quickly, but whenever they pick industries to get bailouts using public funds, that should be done in the open, and by Congress.

[Snorlax94]

What concerns me most are the bailouts. 

According to a CNBC Article:
"The hotel industry wants $150 billion. The restaurant industry wants $145 billion. The National Association of Manufacturers wants $1.4 trillion. The International Council of Shopping Centers wants a guarantee of up to $1 trillion."

Of course the bailout is $2 trillion+, if not $4 trillion. All the employees have been sent home by discretionary decision.  No employee was asked if they wanted to go or stay.  They were told to go home.  Soon they'll be told they have a smaller paycheck.  Or they'll be told they're out of a job.

The term bailout should not be used interchangeably with stimulus, spending and help for workers. Bailout is a type of spending (or loan guarantee), and a type of stimulus, but it is a form that is less likely to actually go to unemployed workers or sick Americans.

Bailouts go to industries and business owners. If hotels get the $150 billion bailout they request, there is no guarantee a penny of that will go to hotel employees. They could pocket the money, then lay off employees anyway  because there will be no travel. The best way to help the hospitality industry workers is to send the money directly to the workers. That is not an industry bailout. That is unemployment insurance.

Expanding and extending unemployment, expanding the Affordable Care Act, giving loans or tax credits to small businesses (or even straight payments to all small closed businesses, like neighborhood restaurants and shops), shoring up the finances for state governments, providing funding for tests, expanding spending for hospitals and medical supplies, helping cover the ballooning health expenses for Americans, even sending checks to everyone -- these are examples of actions that help people and employees. 

There should be a massive fund to compensate any retail presence that is closed in a lockdown. It's easy to do -- all businesses report rent payments in a 1099, so the federal government could easily see what rents businesses reported on their taxes and send checks based on that. These are examples of normal Stimulus spending. These are NOT examples of industry bailouts, and it is inaccurate to conflate industry bailouts with sending money to laid off employees.

And then $150 billion to be handed out as business bailouts at the Treasury's discretion??? We are in a crisis and the Senate takes this as an opportunity to become even more  blatantly corrupt.  Any bailout needs to be decided by the Congress (as it is their Constitutional power), it should be done in the open, and, except in true emergencies, it should be done after the bill is made public for at least a week so people can see what their Congress is up to. They can pass the other stimulus spending quickly, but whenever they pick industries to get bailouts using public funds, that should be done in the open, and by Congress.