Trump Issues Executive Order on Unemployment, Evictions, More

Aug. 8, 2020 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump today signed four Executive Orders to implement the next round of stimulus proposals, after the talks between Congressional Republicans and Democrats for a new package broke down yesterday. The Democrats were demanding a $3 trillion-plus bill, the Republicans only $1 trillion, rejecting the Democratic $1 trillion for local governments , and an extension of the $600 extra unemployment benefits.

One of Trump’s Executive Orders extends the extra unemployment benefits, but at $400 rather than $600, the argument being that $600 was a disincentive to return to work. He is calling for the states to pay 25% of this, although the states are mostly totally broke at this point and cannot print money as the Fed does. Trump did not explain where the federal funds for the unemployment extension will come from, although there are unspent funds from the earlier stimulus packages.

The other three Orders will: direct the U.S. Treasury to allow employers to defer payment of employee payroll taxes through the end of 2020 for Americans earning less than $100,000 annually, retroactive to Aug. 1; a ban on evictions in federal housing; and a postponement of student loan repayments until the end of the year.

In other comments today, Trump said his administration was looking at additional income tax and capital gains tax cuts. “We are going to be looking at capital gains for the purpose of creating jobs, and income taxes is self-explanatory, and it will be income tax for middle income and lower income people, but middle income people who pay a lot of income tax, you have tax inequality. I’m saying that as a Republican, and you do have tax inequality,” Trump said.

Democrats will certainly challenge Trump’s legal right to make these executive decisions. There will likely be screaming and yelling on the Sunday morning talk shows.