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Seeing a lot of discourse of how the Covid package has a lot of corporate giveaways but this isn't really the case. Remembering that only section M and N of the appropriations bill is the Covid package, the only element that could be construed as support to businesses is PPP
While the Payroll Protection Program has been a real mixed bag, it also has definitely done its primary function of keeping people employed. Plus they've shrunk the business size that's eligible for this latest round of PPP and tightened up the terms some.
Its easy to cherrypick examples of PPP going to the "wrong" people but I don't think that accurately represents how the program has functioned and it really has primarily kept up payroll, albeit inadequately.
also, not to be that guy but, there are a lot of small businesses that really do need to make rent in addition to making payroll! It wouldn't actually be a good thing for my local diner or your favorite restaurant to go out of business
Yes its bad this program is administered by banks. Yes there's a history of discrimination in this kind of managed program which has repeated itself. But the fact that the program is a mixed bag doesn't mean its an uncomplicated "giveaway"
The only other part that you can construe this way is the 25 billion for "rental assistance". There are definitely problems with this program and it could be more pro renter (though rulemaking may make it more pro-renter under a Biden administration) however,
it has also genuinely helped renters. This program is similar to the PPP in that yes you can construe it as just a "giveaway" but that is too simple.
This money is also only a portion of the money. The vast majority of the money goes to the checks, unemployment insurance, expanding SNAP ("food stamps"), transportation aid, vaccine distribution (plus healthcare funding more generally) and some odds and ends.
There's a lot to be mad about but the idea that the Covid package was just "giveways" with a 600 dollar check thrown in is just not accurate and I think distracts from the real inadequacies of the legislation e.g. that UI isn't retroactive, extended for longer and $600 a week.
