One of the only federal checks on campaign contributions is being done away with by the Trump administration. The new policy will allow some nonprofits to conceal who their biggest money donors are.
Marty Wulfe
Sunday, May 31, 2020
McConnell, Koch brothers, and NRA get their wish: Trump ends nonprofit requirement to disclose cash
Detailed analysis of unemployment claims and logjams
“There are still well over a dozen states – including the big one, Florida – that have not yet started processing PUA claims [i.e. the special program from gig workers who are not normally eligible for state-based unemployment insurance].”
Charlie Cooper
As the Fed starts using CARES Act loans, BlackRock gains
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-blackrock-buyer-and-seller-federal-reserve-bailout/
BlackRock is the agent for the Special Purpose Vehicle that the Federal Reserve System created to buy bonds and exchange-traded funds of bonds (ETFs) on the secondary market. They are primary trading ETFs that they themselves issue!
“Of the $1.58 billion in holdings, $746 million come from BlackRock ETFs. That’s about 47 percent of the total. So BlackRock, as the sponsor for the Fed, made 47 percent of its purchases in BlackRock ETFs. A separate chart lists aggregate holdings of $1.31 billion. BlackRock ETFs make up about 48 percent of them."
Charlie Cooper
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Fed Tapered QE Helicopter Money for Wall Street Further: MBS Fell. Treasuries Barely Rose. Liquidity Swaps & Repos Stalled. | Wolf Street
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/05/29/fed-tapered-helicopter-money-for-wall-street-further-mbs-fell-treasuries-barely-rose-liquidity-swaps-repos-stalled/
Good summary of Fed actions.
Charlie Cooper
Congressional Oversight Panel Member says that requirements for business aid are exactly backward
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/governments-misplaced-trust-in-big-business-cares-act/
Bharat Ramamurti represents the Senate Democrats on the COP. He writes that the bigger the business, the fewer accountability requirements imposed by the CARES Act. But the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the Federal Reserve Board can remedy this problem with rulemaking.
Charlie Cooper
Friday, May 29, 2020
GOP congressman says lobbyists give him 'good input' on legislation
The best lobbyists are the ones with checkbooks
Marty Wulfe
Baltimore City Council member Schleifer has huge campaign war chest
“Much of the first-term councilman’s money comes from developers"
Charlie Cooper
U.S. taxpayers' virus relief went to firms that avoided U.S. taxes
The fund is giving millions of dollars in American taxpayer money to a number of firms that have avoided paying U.S. tax.
Marty Wulfe
Save our democracy - get big money out of our elections
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Debate on how best to support workers' incomes
In Corruption Busters, we have criticized the use of unemployment insurance and favored maintaining employer-employee relationships. This article features dueling approaches. One by Rep. Jayapal who wants to maintain employer-employee relationships (requiring them to keep paying workers) and another that argues that the $600 weekly bonus in the expanded unemployment (PUA/PUC) in the CARES Act stenghthens the bargaining power of low-wage workers, thus correcting a major injustice and imbalance in U.S. labor markets.
Andrew Cuomo Gave Immunity to Nursing-Home Execs After Big Campaign Donations - Now People Are Dying
Marty Wulfe
Save our democracy - get big money out of our elections
Europe announces Green Deal
The approx. trillion-euro announcement starts negotiations in the 27-state region about how/whether to proceed.
Charlie Cooper
Despite Fed Chair's promise, no names of borrowers or amounts of loans have been revealed
‘The Primary Dealer Credit Facility and Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility showed up on the Fed’s balance sheet on March 25 of this year, with balances of $27.7 billion and $30.6 billion, respectively. As of yesterday, the Fed showed the following balances for those two programs: $7.5 billion and $36.4 billion, respectively.
“But when the Fed released its March 25 and April 24 reports on these two programs, there was not a scintilla of information on the names of borrowers or amounts borrowed.”
NOTE: These are not CARES Act Facilities but ones the Fed set up on its own under 13(3) prior to CARES enactment.
Charlie Cooper
Top bank regulator is unwinding Dodd-Frank regulations
“Warren then ran through a list of regulations that a bank lobbying group wanted to roll back to see if Quarles agreed with the laundry list. He had no major disagreements.” He has met 22 times in 21 months on the job with members of his former law firm, which specializes in representing big banks.
Charlie Cooper
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Federal judge strikes down Florida voting restrictions as violating Constitutional ban on poll tax
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article242981366.html
If it stands, more than 1 mllion new voters will be eligible in Florida. The ruling is subject to appeal in courts more favorable to conservtives.
Charlie Cooper
@HonestElections is really a dark money group looking to suppress the vote
Rebranding of a known, conservative vote-suppression group
Charlie Cooper
Monday, May 25, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
3 months in, and we still lack PPE, testing
Written by a nurse practitioner in Baltimore.
Charlie Cooper
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Dem Party Chair Perez committee appointees killed Presidential Climate debate
His appointees had ties to energy industry and lobbyists.
Charlie Cooper
Rick Scott said to be tone deaf on unemployment
As Governor, Rick Scott oversaw “installation of a $77 million [unemployment] processing system that might have been conceived in a Roadrunner cartoon.”
Charlie Cooper
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Biden signals that big donors should contribute to Priorities USA SuperPAC
A competing SuperPAC saw its donations plummet.
Charlie Cooper
Unemployment system bottlenecks
https://getmoneyoutmd.blogspot.com/search?q=unemployment
The author goes through case examples and wonders how a movement could be built to update unemployment policies in the states and also their antiquated processing mechanisms.
Charlie Cooper
Protecting employer-employee link may unite progressives and moderates
Charlie Cooper
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Dark money groups have spent more than 50% of advertising dollars
Liberals are spending more.
Charlie Cooper
Review of real estate market
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-look-at-that-fraud-in-mortgage-markets/
Mortgage forbearance, eviction bans, unemployment insurance boost, and stimulus checks have prevented evictions and foreclosures for now, though risk remains. Hints of fraud in the commercial real estate markets could bring big losses to the Federal Reserve, which has bought CMBS.
Charlie Cooper
Fed balance sheet stands at $7 trillion
The $7 trillion balance sheet is divided among the 12 regional reserve banks. The regional banks that own the regional reserve banks are only responsible (by law and regulation) for about 2% of the balance sheet.
Charlie Cooper
Monday, May 18, 2020
Government accountability NGO advises Congress on how to oversee coronavirus relief money
The Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus will need focus, resolve, staff, subpoena power, a public tipline.
Charlie Cooper
Numbers 1 and 2 at the Federal Reserve came from Carlyle Group, which left bankruptcies in its wake
The author acerbically comments on the various Federal Reserve bailout “facilities” in light of Chair Powell’s and Vice Chair Quarles’s having millions in personal Black Rock accounts and having participated in investments with the Carlyle Group that caused businesses to go bankrupt. They liken the Federal Reserve bailout of certain financial firms as mirroring failed Carlyle strategies. Also, he quotes a Washington Post story that Carlyle bought a chain of nursing homes, ran it into debt, bought its real estate and charged it exorbitant rent. This resulted in a squeeze on operating costs, leading to staff shortages and patients suffering and dying.
Charlie Cooper
Pharmaceutical company board member now heads Administration vaccine effort
Charges of conflict of interest are raised immediately.
Charlie Cooper
Stopping dividends would help a lot
https://nathantankus.substack.com/p/how-important-are-dividends-in-the
Stopping dividends and cutting back executive pay would significantly free up money for [big] businesses to keep paying workers. [Stopping stock buybacks is also important.]
Charlie Cooper
Federal Reserve issues report assessing risks to financial system
https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/financial-stability-report-20200515.pdf
- Financial asset prices are vulnerable significant decline
- Business debt was high before the pandemic
- Many households can no longer support their level of debt due to pandemic
- There is elevated prospect of losses at financial institutions – especially hedge funds
- Federal Reserve response has been unprecedented in its speed and forcefulness
[Needless to say, there are critics who say this assessment is overly optimistic.]
Charlie Cooper
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Progressive analysis of HEROES Act
https://rooseveltinstitute.org/a-progressive-analysis-of-the-heroes-act-three-key-questions/
Nobel-Prize-winning Joseph Stiglitz analyzes the Act for 1) sufficient scale; 2) impact on excessive corporate power; 3) promoting more equitable and resilient economy. There are pros and cons.
Charlie Cooper
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Details of how Black Rock will profit massively from its special role advising Federal Reserve bailout facilities
https://prospect.org/economy/the-dawn-of-the-blackrock-era/
They can advise the facilities to trade securities in a way favorable to BlackRock and can trade on inside information after a “cooling off” period of only two weeks.
Charlie Cooper
NYTimes: DeVos Funnels Coronavirus Relief Funds to Favored Private and Religious Schools
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, using discretion written into the CARES Act, is using millions of dollars to pursue long-sought policy goals that Congress has blocked.
Marty Wulfe
Alabama senate leaders want to use money from $2 billion CARES aid to build new state house
Alabama lawmakers have proposed allocating $200 million of the state's coronavirus relief funding toward construction of a new State House. They were given full spending authority by Governor Kay Ivey
Marty Wulfe
Republican senators Josh Hawley and Cory Gardner want to subsidize paychecks via businesses
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/gardner-joins-hawleys-massive-coronavirus-jobs-bill-257083
They contrast their approach to House HEROES act that sends another direct stimulus check [and creates a new hazard pay benefit].
Charlie Cooper
Big CARES Act tax benefits to oil companies
Did Congress understand what it was doing? Allegedly, the tax break to reap benefits that had been carried forward was supposed to help “the little guy.” But bigger oil companies (that have experienced huge losses) can now receive huge tax benefits. Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. is going through bankruptcy. It received a $9.7 million refund under the new provision and immediately asked the bankruptcy judge for permission to give $9.7 million to 9 executives.
Charlie Cooper
How much has unemployed assistance replaced lost wages?
Brookings Institution analysis as of May 13-14, 2020
Charlie Cooper
unemployment claims still high while some return to work
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/business/economy/coronavirus-unemployment-claims.html
Clear graphic of claims trend.
Charlie Cooper
Friday, May 15, 2020
Automatic stabilizers omitted from HEROES bill
The author advocates eliminating the $1,200 per person payment and also “taxpayer subsidies for COBRA (which would cost taxpayers far more than expanding health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act) and a two-year repeal of the cap on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT). Eliminating these three provisions would free up over half a trillion dollars that could be used to bolster automatic stabilizers without increasing the bill’s total cost.”
Charlie Cooper
Big banks paid dividends; U.S. senators question Fed governor
$11.7 in dividends distributed by banks supported by 13(3) Fed loans.
Charlie Cooper
Federal Reserve household survey shows onset of family financial distress
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/other20200514a.htm
By self-report 19 percent of all adults reported either losing a job or experiencing a reduction in work hours in March. Despite these widespread employment losses, some people took on new or additional employment in March. Seven percent of adults reported that they increased their hours worked or worked overtime.
Charlie Cooper
Sheila Bair speaks out against bank dividends
https://www.ft.com/content/f990f438-c0e5-4b7f-a514-a37f57e5420c
“regulators have given banks permission to go below normal capital minimums so that they can continue to lend through the Covid-19 crisis. ‘The framework we had in place going into this was when you provide that capital relief, you tell banks to stop making shareholder payments,’ she said.”
Charlie Cooper
Steny Hoyer fundraising profile
https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary/steny-hoyer?cid=N00001821&cycle=2020&type=C
Lots of insurance money and muchmore.
Charlie Cooper
Wealth inequality summarized
"...the richest 1% of Americans got essentially all of the benefits of economic growth over the last 40 years," Hanauer explained. "The top 1% got $21 trillion richer, while the bottom 50% got $900 billion poorer." That direct transfer of wealth from the poorest Americans to the wealthiest accounts for the money that used to go to retirement.
Charlie Cooper
Thursday, May 14, 2020
A private jet company founded by a donor to President Donald Trump received nearly $27 million in government funding under a program run by the Treasury Department, according to government filings.
Clay Lacy Aviation, a private jet charter company based in Van Nuys, California, that serves wealthy executives and celebrities, received the government grant as part of the CARES Act, a $2 trillion federal stimulus package aimed at supporting jobs during the coronavirus crisis.
Marty Wulfe
[The Washington Post] Aspen Institute think tank receives $8 million federal small-business loan
Decision to accept funds despite $115 million endowment and billionaire board members divides group’s leadership
Marty Wulfe
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin named to select panel
https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/05/12/same-president-new-watchdog-role-for-raskin/
He was among the seven House Democrats named to a new select committee set up by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to monitor the federal response to the pandemic.
Charlie Cooper
The Washington Post is among five news organizations suing Small Business Administration for access to loan data
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/12/sba-foia-lawsuit/
The Small Business Administration has disbursed hundreds of billions of dollars through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program during the COVID-19 crisis, but it has refused to disclose who is receiving the funds and in what amounts.
Marty Wulfe
U. S. Senator from Georgia cops millions in stock options
Cardlytics modified a compensation packager after David Perdue was elected to the U.S. Senate so he could get millions for which he would not otherwise be eligible.
Charlie Cooper
Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility will start operations
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1007
Most of the authorized Federal Reserve rescue programs to be backstopped by $454 in U.S. Treasury funds have not started, but the Fed Reserve will begin operations in this $250 billion program (backstopped by $25 billion in Treasury appropriations). It will purchase secondary market corporate bonds that were listed as “investment-grade” as of March 22, 2020, although some of them may now by rated junk. It also can by ETFs of these types of securities.
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
M: 410-624-6095
Get Money Out – Maryland (GMOM) 
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
Pelosi-approved bill would bail out lobbyists, chambers of commerce, and other 501(c)(6) trade groups
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-k-street-bailout-practically-every-trade-group/
Bill benefits the very influence groups that have had so much power in the pay-to-play era.
Charlie Cooper
PPP funds now going unused
Demand for Paycheck Protect Program loans has fallen off dramatically because 1) firms are already out of business; 2) firms with high overhead have declined to take loans because of the limitation that 75% must be used for payroll; 3) delay in disbursement means it’s not practical to hire back workers who are already on unemployment; 4) misplaced anger at mid-size restaurant and hotel chains has meant they can’t use it. The average loan size in the second round of funding dropped substantially.
Charlie Cooper
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Mortgage servicing industry under strain; chaos may ensue
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-bailout-miscalculation-that-could
One of the innovations from Wall Street is that the holder of a mortgage doesn’t collect the payments. The firms that do collect the payments cheat borrowers and are poorly regulated. A CARES Act provision granting 180 days forbearance for many million of borrowers threatens to break these firms. That will hurt borrowers unless it is carefully managed.
Charlie Cooper
Monday, May 11, 2020
Observer catalogues outstanding Federal Reserve loan balances in crisis response
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/05/meet-the-feds-global-plunge-protection-team/
Foreign central bank swaps had by far the most impact on Fed’s balance sheet at almost $450 billion.
Charlie Cooper
GOP PAC slamming Trump accused of self-dealing
The Lincoln PAC doesn't actually spend much on ads. It may be a vehicle to funnel money to its board members.
Saturday, May 9, 2020
Friday, May 8, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Fed Chair Powell has millions invested with BlackRock that just got huge contract with Fed
BlackRock is advisor for the $4 trillion loan program in the CARES Act that is backed by $454 billion in U.S. Treasury funds.
Charlie Cooper
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
Congress members own real estate investments and tucked a big real estate tax break into the CARES Act
Trump, Pelosi, McConnell and many more will probably benefit.
Charlie Cooper
Federal court upholds Michigan's redistricting reform
Michigan commissioners are selected at random to draw district boundaries. Republicans lost an appeal.
Charlie Cooper
Nurses union calls on Pelosi to convene House
“the nurses expressed their anger and frustration at the failure of Congress to take action to protect the health and safety of nurses and other frontline health care workers."
Charlie Cooper
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
U.S. Dept. of Labor puts onerous requirements on non-profits, local governments re: unemployment insurance
Charlie Cooperhttps://www.marylandmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Nonprofit-Local-Government-Unemployment-Letter-to-Gov.-Hogan-4-29-2020.pdf
Oversight of COVID-19 bailout hasn't gotten off the ground
The Senate will hold a hearing with the President’s proposed Special Inspector General. The President is refusing to let some officials testify before Congress.
Charlie Cooper
Background on Project Airbridge
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/25/politics/fema-project-airbridge/index.html
Some governors are criticizing federal approach [and some advocacy groups are charging that Jared Kushner is profiting from this effort.]
Charlie Cooper
Monday, May 4, 2020
Fed still hasn't bought corporate bonds or junk bonds
This audio file explains the Fed was jawboning.
Charlie Cooper
After a spree, the Fed damps down its lending
The balance sheet rose only $86 billion in the week ended 4/29, after rising over $2 trillion in a 6-week period..
Charlie Cooper
We Need a National Investment Authority
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-national-investment-authority-bailouts-infrastructure/
The oversight mechanisms for the corporate bailout are inadequate.
“…we urgently need a permanent institutional mechanism for managing a sustained flow of stimulus funds in a transparent and democratically accountable manner—and for channeling public money into productive enterprise that serves the public’s long-term interests. No such mechanism exists today.”
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
M: 410-624-6095
Get Money Out – Maryland (GMOM) 
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden team up to put pressure on Donna Shalala and Nancy Pelosi
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-biden-and-warren-write-an-op-ed-for-one-person/
Pelosi’s pick for the oversight panel is viewed as not having sufficient ardor for accountability.
Charlie Cooper
Unemployment compensation not being delivered to workers
https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-may-day-brings-rent-strikes-worker-walkouts/
H: 410-578-8291
M: 410-624-6095
Get Money Out – Maryland (GMOM)
"We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." – Louis Brandeis
TREASURY ANNOUNCES MARKETABLE BORROWING ESTIMATES
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm997
Federal government will borrow $3 trillion in this quarter
Pelosi resists opening up the House of Representatives because of COVID-19 fears
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200427a.htm
Republicans in the House are urging a phased opening. The House has not held hearings or floor sessions. Pelosi and Leader McConnell turned down the offer of rapid test kids, saying that essential workers should have access to them, and raising a question of whether Representatives are essential.
Charlie Cooper
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Fed adjusts terms of Main Street Lending Program
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200430a.htm
Banks will keep a bigger share of certain loans.
Oil drillers and frackers lobbied for some of these changes.
Maximum on employees for eligible firms raised from 10,000 to 15,000
The Fed is studying whether to help non-profits.
A start date will be announced soon.
Main Street Lending Program Loan Options | New Loans | Priority Loans | Expanded Loans |
Term | 4 years | 4 years | 4 years |
Minimum Loan Size | $500,000 | $500,000 | $10,000,000 |
Maximum Loan Size* | The lesser of $25M or an amount that, when added to outstanding and undrawn available debt, does not exceed 4.0x adjusted 2019 EBITDA | The lesser of $25M or an amount that, when added to outstanding and undrawn available debt, does not exceed 6.0x adjusted 2019 EBITDA | The lesser of $200M, 35% of existing outstanding and undrawn available debt, or an amount that, when added to outstanding and undrawn available debt, does not exceed 6.0x adjusted 2019 EBITDA |
Risk Retention | 5% | 15% | 5% |
Payment (year one deferred for all) | Years 2-4: 33.33% each year | Years 2-4: 15%, 15%, 70% | Years 2-4: 15%, 15%, 70% |
Rate | LIBOR + 3% | LIBOR + 3% | LIBOR + 3% |
Term sheet: Main Street New Loan Facility (PDF)
Term sheet: Main Street Priority Loan Facility (PDF)
Term sheet: Main Street Expanded Loan Facility (PDF)
Main Street Lending Program Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
Charlie Cooper
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