Thread by @RealBankReform

#WallStreet sees a public health crisis as an opportunity to profit, and it shows in the McConnell #bailout plan, a multi-trillion-dollar giveaway to corporate America that @GoldmanSachs may actually run! Check it out and fight back: THREAD 1/10 washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…

The plan envisions two pots of money for the bailout, $75 billion pot and a $425 billion pot. The smaller pot (for airlines and industries deemed important for national security) has some restrictions on it, but they are minimal 2/10

Executives couldn’t earn more than what they did the previous year (a record year for airline bosses) the restrictions last only 2 years, even though the loans from the $75 billion pot would last 5 years. No requirement to give taxpayers equity. Minimal buyback limitations 3/10

Companies would be permitted to lay off workers at will. The bill simply asks them to keep workers on “to the extent practicable,” a massive loophole. And there are no reporting requirements. What happens, happens. #BailOutPeopleNotCorporations 4/10

And what about the $425 billion pot of cash? That’d be a fund for loans, created by the @federalreserve, that @stevenmnuchin1 @USTreasury would administer to companies, cities and states. And it could be leveraged up to ten times 5/10

There are no meaningful restrictions on stock #buybacks in the big pot and REMEMBER this is what @realDonaldTrump said he wanted just a day ago. Yet another lie? 6/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

CRUCIALLY: There are NO RESTRICTIONS on who gets money, or what they do with it (buybacks allowed), or if workers are laid off. It’s a #slushfund for Mnuchin to administer. Might Trump megadonors get money at knock-down prices? Entirely possible. It’s pretty opaque. 7/10

Would the @Trump organization be eligible? Trump’s response to whether his own properties would take bailout money? “Let’s just see what happens.” Yes, during this grave public health crisis, Mar-a-Lago may be saved. 8/10
vice.com/en_us/article/…

Now, why does the bill include $100 million in administrative fees? Government agencies are funded through appropriations? Only makes sense if you intend to give a slice of the bailout to #WallStreet, which is what @stevenmnuchin1 plans 9/10
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

McConnell had a chance to craft legislation that would treat the #COVID19 challenge as a public health crisis that is already creating massive financial distress for ordinary people. Instead, he treated it as a chance to do favors for corporations. 10/END