Posted on 03/17/2020 11:07:58 AM PDT by Red Badger
Key Points
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to get emergency funds in Americans’ pockets “immediately” amid the coronavirus crisis.
The latest daily briefing came as stocks struggled to recover from one of the worst trading sessions ever.
Markets have shed trillions of dollars amid the coronavirus spread, which has crippled major industries and forced governments around the world to take drastic steps to try to slow the spread of the disease.
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to get emergency funds in Americans’ pockets “immediately” amid the coronavirus crisis.
“Americans need cash now,” Mnuchin said during a White House press briefing on the administration’s latest efforts to combat the disease. “I mean now in the next two weeks.”
“The president has instructed me that we have to do this now,” Mnuchin added.
The latest daily briefing came as stocks struggled to recover from one of the worst trading sessions ever a day earlier.
Markets have shed trillions of dollars amid the coronavirus spread, which has crippled major industries and forced governments around the world to take drastic steps to try to slow transmission of the disease. States and cities have taken sweeping measures to reduce social interaction, including limiting restaurants to delivery and takeout services. Other businesses have had to lay off and furlough employees.
Mnuchin said that an idea of the administration’s plan will come into focus by “the end of the day” Tuesday.
He added that the U.S. is unlikely to send checks to millionaires.
“I think it’s clear, We don’t need to send people who make a million dollars a year checks,” Mnuchin said. “I think we’re going to do something that gets money to them as quickly as possible. That may not be an accurate way of doing it. Some people obviously shouldn’t be getting a check for $1,000 but we’ll have an idea at the end of the day of what we will be doing.”
President Donald Trump said in Monday’s briefing that the U.S. may be able to get the new coronavirus outbreak under control by July or August at the earliest. Equities tanked as Trump delivered those remarks.
But major indexes rose during the coronavirus task force’s briefing Tuesday, as Trump and his officials signaled that the administration was mobilizing a major economic response that would go into effect soon.
“We’re going big,” Trump said at the presser. “We want to go big, go solid.”
“We don’t want airlines going out of business. We don’t people losing their jobs,” the president said.
More than 183,000 people have contracted the COVID-19 virus and at least 7,167 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. In the U.S., more than 5,000 people have caught the coronavirus and at least 85 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins.
Other U.S. politicians have already suggested sending checks to Americans as part of an economic relief package. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, on Monday floated a proposal to give $1,000 to every American to ease the pain caused by the virus.
Meanwhile, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are working to push through more emergency spending plans to respond to the virus. Trump signed an $8.3 billion funding package earlier in March, and a second bill is currently working its way through Congress.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said Monday that he will put forth a third proposal with at least $750 billion in spending to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
-- CNBC’s Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
Ok, OK......
My small business is essentially out of business because the companies I must visit are excluding outside visitors. Maybe I will be eligible
But, the creation of all that money will induce inflation that will devalue the national debt. Meanwhile,the treasury should issue as much debt as it can at 0 interest to replace debt incurred at a higher rate
Breaking Bad is next on my Social Distancing Streaming Self Isolating Things To Do List.
That series is fantastic. Watched it hit and miss when I actually had satellite TV years ago. I only stream now and I have lots of free time coming up.
I hope you WILL be eligible, Bert!!
Spend it on what? Everything is gone or shut down.
Too late, stores are wiped out.
So is everyone getting money or just the unemployed? Better be everyone or Trump will have a lot of angry employed people come November
Title Max? I dont think so
I agree. However, I think he needs to do whatever it takes to get reelected. That is first and foremost. As for me and my house, we’ll be voting for president trump.
It’s one of those places where you can ‘hock’ your car for cash in a pinch by giving them your title until you pay it back..............
I don’t like a lot of his tracts, but I think that “This Was Your Life” is great.
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