A $46 billion emergency supplemental funding proposal the White House budget office submitted to Congress last week to battle the coronavirus outbreak has ballooned to $242 billion in the Senate amid frenzied negotiations. Lawmakers remain deadlocked on several key provisions.
Via The Hill.
A summary of the supplemental spending legislation provided to stakeholders by the Senate Appropriations Committee says it would provide $75 billion for hospitals, $20 billion for veterans’ health care, $11 billion for vaccines, therapies and diagnostics and $4.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 75 percent of the $242 package — approximately $186 billion — will go to state and local governments, fulfilling a central Democratic demand to bail out cash-strapped states such as New York.
The supplemental would also provide $20 billion for public transportation emergency relief, $10 billion for airports and $5 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster relief fund, according to the summary document.
Other items include $12 billion to the Pentagon, $10 billion in block grants to states, $12 billion for K-12 education and $6 billion for higher education.
The pending Senate appropriations measure is significantly larger than the $45.8 billion request the Office of Management and Budget submitted earlier this week to “address ongoing preparedness and response efforts.”
A huge chunk of the money, $119.4 billion, would go to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies.
The Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and related agencies would receive $48.5 billion.
– The US budget deficit is growing and growing while at the same time the Trade Deficit is already in the process of shrinking over the last say 6 months.
– Since say mid 2008 the US Trade Deficit has been smaller than the US Budget Deficit and that’s VERY detrimental for the US.
– Anyone who has some knowledge of Balance of Payments issues knows
WHY the combination of a shrinking Trade Deficit and a growing Budget Deficit is so detrimental. Or ask Mr. Michael Hudson !!!