Trump’s latest bigly idea is a really bad one.
He wants to eliminate or reduce the Social Security/Medicare payroll tax, which would provide relief for those who still have jobs. The current official unemployment rate stands at 11.1% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or 17.8 million people.
What seems obvious to most is that if you don’t currently have a job, payroll tax cuts are not putting extra money in your pocket. However, if you are working, the more you make, the more tax relief benefit you are gifted.
The legislation is expected to include a new round of direct payments to individual Americans, potentially at the same $1,200-per-person level in the Cares Act. Presuming a payroll tax cut is included, it’s possible the structure or amount of the direct payments could change.
According to the stable genius, “we’re not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut.”
Also in the GOP plan, states would get money for schools — but it will be explicitly tied to schools reopening. Some 10% of the funding would be set aside for non-public schools.
Other expected provisions include a workplace tax credit to help businesses with costs associated with testing and protective equipment, and an employee retention tax credit.
Over the weekend it was reported by the Washington Post that the administration was prepared to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing, as well as billions for the CDC. Reportedly, some of the GOP were angered about this.
One person involved in the talks said Senate Republicans were seeking to allocate $25 billion for states to conduct testing and contact tracing, but that certain administration officials want to zero out the testing and tracing money entirely. Some White House officials believe they have already approved billions of dollars in assistance for testing and that some of that money remains unspent.
The $600 federal unemployment benefit under the CARES act is set to expire at the end of the month. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed that the $600 benefit would likely be reduced.
See more from the Washington Post here and here.
Yahoo News here.