HI54UNI wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:15 pm
GannonFan wrote: ↑Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:19 pm
The money went to pay their employees, correct? And those employees were not laid off, correct? And if they had they would've been eligible for unemployment, correct? I could be wrong on these, so please let me know if so.
Do you really think people at many of these organizations would have been laid off? They're almost completely funded by donations from left wing or right wing foundations. It's a huge ripoff. It would have been cheaper to pay unemployment because instead they can use PPP for things like utilities or rent. And these organizations do nothing but feed the dumpster fire that is our political system today. It's not like these are restaurants, hardware stores, or other businesses that got shut down.
I agree with you and doubt many, if any people would have been laid off at those places. But people were not laid off at hardware stores, contractors, tile stores, etc. either (at least here, where they were included in essential businesses) and they got PPP money. Although I'm not a fan of Media Matters or Daily Caller, I view this like getting a parade permit - You can't give one to BLM and refuse KKK or LGBTVQMwhatever Pride or Daughters of the American Revolution.
I heard several interviews/read articles with economists and people involved with or who studied previous bailouts/quantitative easing/recessions, etc. back when this was all starting. Virtually all of them said that speed was more important than accuracy for preventing or minimizing the economic fallout of this. You need the money to be circulating in the economy before the job losses or businesses close up, not after, if you want the best bang for your buck.
Say you could have saved 1/3 of the PPP money with a better designed system: Both houses of congress study and debate things, pass something, reconcile, pass the final version. How long would that take in our wonderfully effective congress? Then the amazingly efficient gov't agencies set up the system for that bill, review applications, etc. How long would that take? By the time the stimulus hits the economy, the businesses that applied are already shut down and the workers have used up their unemployment.
So as bad as some of the anecdotes are, IMO this was probably about as good as we could expect for a response given how dysfunctional our government is.