The GOP plan to cut unemployment benefits this week is clearly heartless, but the less obvious point is that it's also inept. I'm a businessman who's co-founded a large company, invested in others & worked in finance. Here's what @stevenmnuchin1 & company don't understand: (1/8)

First off, Mnuchin seems to think that extending unemployment benefits is somehow bad for business. Well... as a business person, I and others *want* our potential consumers to have more money! That way they can -- wait for it -- actually spend & purchase our products. (2/8)

If folks lose $600 a month, that might mean they don't buy a pair of sneakers this month, which hurts Nike and Dick's Sporting Goods, and all the businesses like them. Same goes for many other goods & services, like books & eating out. This isn't complicated. (3/8)

The other argument from @stevenmnuchin1 & the GOP for cutting unemployment benefits is that if payments are too "high," people won't be motivated to find a job. This is so out of touch. Do they actually know any workers, outside of numbers on an expenditures sheet? (4/8)

Americans want a job to go to, to make money for themselves or a family, to have a sense of purpose and to put their skills to use. No one is happy being home-bound, unable to work -- during this pandemic or ever. This shows that they really think of Americans. (5/8)

Beyond that, though, their logic is totally backwards. If people really *were* motivated to not work because of $600 in benefits, the lesson wouldn't be that the benefits were too high. It'd be that wages are too damn low. Which happens to be a fact in today's America. (6/8)

The truth is we need a $25 minimum wage in this country. Had the min wage grown at the same rate as productivity since 1960, it'd be $22.50 today. Instead, it’s just $7.25. If you're seriously worried that unemployment benefits are "too generous," you might consider this. (7/8)

The bottom line is @stevemnuchin1 & the GOP are clueless -- both when it comes to having a heart & understanding basic economics. Extending unemployment benefits is literally the least we should be doing. As a businessman, that & raising the minimum wage are no-brainers. (/END.)