OT: anyone else PPP loan/grant

[TheMatador]

The banks are getting hit twofold right now when it comes to business loans specifically.

They are getting overrun with loan deferral requests on existing loans and the SBA doesn't know wtf they're doing with regards to PPP.

The SBA gave some parameters to banks of what the program would look like then did basically a 180 right before the program went live. So all the work the banks did to prepare went to **** and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

As you would imagine, banks are trying to automate some of these processes quickly to handle the demand but that's impossible without any guidelines.

I've lived and worked in D.C. for half a century (almost), took a law school course in small business financing taught by a couple of adjunct professors, one or both of whom worked at the SBA, and I've never really been able to figure out what the SBA does, if anything. Why does anybody expect this sleepy little backwater to wake up and all of a sudden know what to do in a week or two?

 

[TheMatador]

Don't forget Trump gave away 18 tons of PPEs to China, and then blamed 3M for abiding by a contract...you're welcome:

Trump administration sent protective medical gear to China while he minimized the virus threat to US

Dean Obeidallah writes that a week after President Donald Trump told Americans he understood the threat posed by coronavirus, the administration shipped over 35,000 pounds of medical gear to China, showing he failed to comprehend the risk facing the US.

www.cnn.com

Did anybody really explain to him? I know you said Alex Azar tried to talk to him, but do we fully know what was said and when? I know a little about Obedaillah and his political orientation. I wouldn't consider him likely to render an unbiased account.

I don't find the Obedaillah article particularly persuasive. There are a lot of assumptions by the author, not facts. We don't know what information that Trump had, and whether he was arrogant and indifferent, or just not receiving accurate information. (I know he's arrogant, but I'm not convinced he was indifferent--I suspect he was shooting from the hip in a very murky and unclear situation.)

I'd much prefer to have Trump managing this, as long as he has some diverse opinions that are powerful, like Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci, than have Zeke Emanual giving advice to Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. Emanual is a man who derided hydroxychloroquine as "snake oil." He just stated we may have to quarantine for 18 months. I believe Biden just nominated Emanual to be his health policy adviser.

I think that, in the last analysis, Trump has proven that he will listen to experts like Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci, both of whom have considerable expertise in epidemics and pandemics.

Trump is right to express concern over the state of the economy (and this country, and its people) if the shutdown lasts too long.