A week used to be a long time in politics, but in the last 24 hours the US Senate reached agreement on an historic $2 trillion stimulus deal to counter the effects of the coronavirus.
Speaking on the Senate floor at 1am, Senate Leader Mitchell McConnell described the deal as a ‘war time level of investment’.
The plan will deliver a massive infusion of aid to the US economy which is currently struggling with rising job losses and the rising threat of recession and even a new depression.
So what’s in the deal?
The full details of the package have yet to be released but over the last 24 hours elements of the proposal have become clearer:
- $500 billion to be made available in loans for distressed companies
- $350 billion for small business loans
- $250 billion in unemployment insurance benefits
- $150 billion for State and local governments that are encountering budget crunches due to Corona
- $130 billion for hospitals struggling under increased demand
- $50 billion in loans for passenger airlines
Praising the deal at his Virtual Town Hall the President married hope and fear, saying ‘I would love to have the country opened up and just rearing to go by Easter’ but warned that unless America reopened soon it could suffer ‘a massive recession’.
