Aid package flawed
Dear editor:
I wrote two weeks ago predicting that the $2.2 trillion (and growing) stimulus/ coronavirus aid package would be laden with bad policy and money for primarily the wealthy. I stand by that assertion and can give you a local example.
My neighbor is a car salesman at a major local dealership. Other than that, I like the guy. In all seriousness, he’s an honest, hardworking man. Out of fairness, I won’t name the dealership, because it’s likely all of them are using the same program, as well as a lot of other sales-related businesses.
He works strictly on commission, which means a $400 a week draw (advance), and at the end of the month, a check based on all commissions exceeding that. He told me last year he made a little over $60,000. All checks he receives have taxes taken out. Under the current package Congress passed, his dealership qualified as a small business, and based on their 2019 sales, received a little over a million dollars, which will turn into a forgiven grant as long as they maintain payroll.
Car sales, however, have plummeted. So he is getting his $400 a week, and struggling to sell enough automobiles to even break even. His employer is not obligated to take the stimulus money and compensate him for what he averaged last year, and is choosing not to do so, as probably are most business owners in this situation. So for the duration of this crisis, he is going to work every day, receiving the equivalent of a $20,800 annual income versus his $60,000 from last year. As well as hoping when this does pass, he won’t be in the hole, something that’s entirely possible. While the owners of the dealership will simply pocket the rest for keeping the lights on.
I’m quite certain as time passes, we’ll discover much more egregious examples of the type of inequality and just plain poor policy that is in the legislation. For now, thank you Donald Trump and Congress (including our own Bruce Westerman and Tom Cotton) for passing this horrible bill — $23 trillion in debt and still counting, while the rich get richer.
Semper Fi. Gunnery Sgt. Ron Collins, USMC, retired Hot Springs