Trump's looking out for the super-rich during coronavirus — at the expense of the newly unemployed

This bizarre turn of events means the economy will plunge even deeper into recession during coronavirus

How this goes will affect how people vote in November (AFP/Getty)

If national polls released this week can be trusted, voters are convinced President Donald Trump is mishandling both America’s Covid-19 response and its far-reaching economic turmoil. Now Republicans are digging their favorability hole even deeper with a bizarre promise to kill a broadly popular $600-per-week unemployment supplement.

On Tuesday afternoon, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows finally told the country what Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had been whispering about for weeks: Instead of passing an extension of the weekly $600 unemployment supplement included in the CARES Act, Washington Republicans would reward Trump’s big business donors with a sought-after payroll tax cut.

Meadows’ argument is that extending emergency unemployment benefits would encourage too many able-bodied Americans to stay on federal assistance instead of returning to work. There’s just one problem: the federal government’s inexcusable bumbling of its coronavirus response means many unemployed Americans are literally unable to return to their jobs.

Meadows’ attempt to attack a relief program that passed Congress with unanimous, bipartisan support is an indicator of just how divorced the Trump White House has become from sobering events on the ground in states like Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. It also led to a revolt among congressional Republicans up for re-election this November.

Just a day after announcing their legislative path, Senate Republicans declared the payroll tax cut dead on arrival. For now. But just because Americans won’t be fleeced by another handout to the rich doesn’t mean Republicans are restoring the $600 weekly unemployment benefit: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnunchin told reporters on Thursday morning that the GOP planned to cut that essential support down to just $100 per week.

Trump’s election-year manoeuvring minimizes the very real threat facing the 30 million Americans still filing unemployment claims. For many, the CARES Act’s $600 weekly benefit is the difference between meeting family needs and making unconscionable choices like delaying medical treatment or going hungry at night.

For Nevada, ending the CARES Act’s weekly benefit would be the equivalent of setting off a second economic bomb in a state already suffering record levels of Covid-related unemployment. According to reporting by Ryan Derousseau of Forbes, the risk of an economic crash extends far beyond Nevada: those CARES Act payments are keeping the entire American economy out of a brutal recession.

Refusing to re-authorize emergency unemployment insurance would strip about $19 billion per week in spending power from the American economy at a time when our economy remains perched on a cliff of unknown and terrifying depth. Philadelphia has already canceled all large events into 2021. Events hubs like New York and Los Angeles also don’t anticipate reopening in earnest until next year.

For New York and Los Angeles, the problem is particularly acute. Broadway, the country’s premier theater and cultural hub, closed down in March. Last month, the Broadway League announced its record closure would continue through at least January 3, 2021. That extended closure will likely prove fatal not only to current productions and several major theaters, but also to hundreds of thousands of hairdressers, stage technicians, carpenters, welders, caterers, printers, ushers, promoters, public relations firms, lawyers and tradesmen that support Broadway’s $12 billion contribution to New York’s economy.

That’s why the CARES Act’s $600 supplemental unemployment insurance is unique among federal unemployment regimes. Its goal isn’t — and shouldn’t be — to funnel as many Americans back into unsafe workplaces as quickly as possible. Its goal is far more important: to keep tens of millions Americans healthy, safe and supported until the time comes when their jobs exist again.

Until public health experts advise that returning to public workplaces is safe, those displaced workers are counting on Washington to help keep their heads above water. Instead, Trump and McConnell are raiding the program in a cynical effort to drive Americans back into dangerous jobs. And they aren’t ruling out bringing that payroll tax cut back up for discussion later in the year.

If that doesn’t make sense to you, congratulations: you’re in the majority of Americans who think cutting emergency unemployment payments is just another raw deal from the Trump administration. Trump’s dream of a tax holiday for the elite is tranquilized for now, but it won’t stay asleep forever. It’s going to take more than criticism to win this fight. It takes action.

You can join the millions of Americans fighting to protect the CARES Act supplemental unemployment benefit by contacting your member of Congress and telling them millions of Americans are united in extending unemployment benefits. How our members of Congress act today will determine how tens of millions of Americans vote in November.

Max Burns is a veteran Democratic strategist and senior contributor at Millennial Politics. He regularly appears on NBC News Now, Fox News, and Bloomberg Radio. Follow him on Twitter @TheMaxBurns