Unleash Prosperity Hotline
Issue #38 Written by Stephen Moore
1) No to Wage Subsidy Scheme — Just Cut the Payroll Tax
Key members of both parties have a new plan to move millions of Americans off unemployment by paying employers or workers to get back on the job.
The House plan would give employers enough money to cover up to 80% of their wages and benefits, up to $45,000 per worker, plus a credit for fixed expenses like rent. Eligible companies would simply keep taxes withheld from employees’ paychecks. If that isn’t enough to equal the credit, they could get additional money from the Internal Revenue Service.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri has a similar 80 percent wage subsidy plan that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars Ohio Republican Senator Rob Portman would offer a $450 a week bonus to workers who return to their jobs.
But government using taxpayer dollars to pay private payrolls may be well-intended but will severely distort labor markets. Politicians will inevitably pick winners and losers and micromanage the flow of funds. A better way to incentivize getting workers back on the job would be to stop paying unemployment and related subsidies of more than 100 percent of paychecks to workers who are NOT working.
The payroll tax cut is a reward for work that is administratively simple, benefits all workers, and allows workers to keep their own money. If the GOP is looking for a smart and big new idea, this is it.
2) Non-Stay At Home States Lost Fewer Jobs
Our friend Dave Trabert at the Kansas Policy Institute examined the state by state April jobs report. His findings confirm common sense, but we have lost that during the pandemic crisis.
• The 8 not shut down had a 9.8% decline over March levels, while the other 42 states fell 15.4%.
• Six states had losses less than 10%, and they were all states not shut down by their governors.
3) The Stress Pandemic: Anxiety and Depression Skyrocket During Lockdowns
Our friend Tom Smith invented the phrase “the stress pandemic” by which he means the mounting negative health effects from shutdowns. More evidence that he was right comes from the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
WSJ reports: “Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications, such as Klonopin and Ativan, rose 10.2% in the U.S. to 9.7 million in March 2020 from 8.8 million in March 2019.”
That’s March — the lockdown was just starting. Polling suggests it has gotten much worse: “Among parents with children under 18, 46% rated their average stress level related to the pandemic as 8, 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale, according to a survey the American Psychological Association released May 21.”
4) Europe Admits Shutdowns Were a Mistake
· Norway Health Authority Admits Lockdown was a Mistake: “Our assessment now….is that we could possibly have achieved the same effects and avoided some of the unfortunate impacts by not locking down, but by instead keeping open but with infection control measures,” Camille Stoltenberg, head of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said. “The scientific backing was not good enough,” Stoltenberg said of the decision to close down schools.
https://www.thelocal.no/20200522/norway-could-have-controlled-infection-without-lockdown-health-chief
· Spain Cuts its COVID Death Count by 7,000: “The Spanish Health Ministry on Monday revised downward the official coronavirus death toll in Spain. The total number of victims since the beginning of the pandemic stood on Sunday at 28,752. But on Monday, the figure reported was 26,834. This represents a drop of 1,918, or 7% of the total.”
https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-05-26/spanish-health-ministry-lowers-coronavirus-death-toll-by-nearly-2000.html
5) Mom and Pop Stores Close While Big Boxes Get Bigger
CNBC’s Jim Cramer says that government lockdowns created real casualties among “boutique stores” while big box stores flourished.
“If you were Walmart, the thing you would most want to do is have the government shut down your competition, and that happened,” Cramer noted as Walmart reported a 74 percent surge in sales — fueled by lockdown rules that labeled its stores “essential.”
“Walmart is essential. Walmart’s the biggest grocer in the country. So they deserve all the greatness they have … they’re a good citizen,” Cramer said. “But at the same time, the government was, I thought, a bad actor in the sense that they let some big guys become even bigger.”
6) Churches Again Allowed To Keep The Faith
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota has followed the lead of California’s Gavin Newsom and other governors and allowed churches to reopen.
Governor Walz felt the heat before he saw the light. Several churches had announced last week they would resume in-person worship services despite any ban.
Their argument was simple. Two weeks ago, Walz had allowed malls, shops, and other retailers—from pet-grooming services to medical cannabis operations—to open their doors at 50 percent capacity.
Minnesota, one of the Democratic states that required nursing homes to readmit infectious patients, has had just 167 total COVID deaths outside of long-term care facilities. More than 80% of the state’s COVID deaths, presently 732 have been residents of long-term care, yet Walz has imposed a draconian lockdown on the general population. At least now they can go to church.
After Minnesota’s change of heart, only seven states continue to impose clearly unequal treatment of religious worship during the reopening process, including New York. Also bizarrely in the group is the “Live Free Or Die” state of New Hampshire.
7) Hero Of The Day – Judge McHaney
Chief Judge Michael McHaney of Clay County didn’t undo Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s lockdown orders when he heard a case challenging them last Friday. For now, he ruled narrowly that they didn’t apply to an individual Clay County business. But his statement from the bench made it clear he found Pritzker’s orders “insanity” and “completely devoid of anything approaching common sense.”
Hours later, the U.S. Justice Department intervened to argue that Pritzker’s action “reach far beyond the scope” of any emergency authority he had. Clearly, we will hear more about these legal challenges.
In the meantime, it’s worth savoring Judge McHaney’s takedown of the Illinois lockdown edicts.
“The defendant in this case (Governor Pritzker) orders you to stay home and pronounces that, if you leave the state, you are putting people in danger, but his family members traveled to Florida and Wisconsin because he deems such travel essential. One initial rationale why the rules don’t apply to him is that his family farm had animals that needed fed. Try selling that argument to farmers who have had to slaughter their herds because of disruption in the supply chain.
“When laws do not apply to those who make them, people are not being governed, they are being ruled. Make no mistake, these executive orders are not laws. They are royal decrees. Illinois citizens are not being governed, they are being ruled. The last time I checked, Illinois citizens are also Americans and Americans don’t get ruled. The last time a monarch tried to rule Americans, a shot was fired that was heard around the world. That day led to the birth of a nation consensually governed based upon a document which ensures that on this day in this, any American courtroom tyrannical despotism will always lose and liberty, freedom and the constitution will always win.”
8) Anti-Hero Of The Day: Governor Whitmer – Again
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has defended her virus lockdown orders with either vapid cluelessness or snippy comments about state residents who want to get outside.
Her office thus knew she was in trouble last Friday when reports surfaced that her husband had pulled the “don’t-you-know-who-I-am” card with a vacation boat dock owner.
Just before Memorial Day, Marc Mallory, Governor Whitmer’s husband called NorthShore Dock in upstate Michigan and demanded that he be allowed to put his boat in the water before the weekend. Owner Ted Dowker says that Mallory was told that wasn’t possible given the waiting list. “Our office personnel had explained this to the man and he replied, ‘I am the husband to the governor, will this make a difference?’”
State Sen. Tom Barrett, a Republican who represents the area, says he got a call from Whitmer’s office saying the report was false and he should remove a Facebook post he’s done on the matter. He later confirmed with the dock owner the incident had happened. “It’s 100 percent evidence of a cover-up,” Barrett told the Detroit News.
9) Quote of the Day
“For Steve Moore’s remarkable Unleash Prosperity Hotline go to subscribe at: https://committeetounleashprosperity.com/hotline/
It is brilliantly done and always informative-a remarkable achievement.”
— Speaker Newt Gingrich
Thank you Newt! And remember, public flattery can land you the coveted Quote of the Day spot…
10) The next apocalypse is just Weeks Away!
ABC news reminds us that “millions of cicadas to emerge in parts of the country for first time in 17 years. They will produce an ‘alien-like wail.'” Will Govs Cuomo and Pritzker shutdown their states?
