Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (2020)
Justice Dept. Charges 48 in Brazen Pandemic Aid Fraud in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it had charged 48 people with running a brazen fraud against anti-hunger programs in the coronavirus pandemic, stealing $240 million by billing the government for meals they did not serve to children who did not exist. The case, in Minnesota, is the largest fraud uncovered in […]
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If Biden’s Plan Is Like a ‘New Deal,’ Why Don’t Voters Care?
RICHMOND, Va. — As Chris Frelke surveyed the Thomas B. Smith Community Center, he conceded that the beige-and-green cinder block structure was not much to look at. But Mr. Frelke, the parks director in Virginia’s capital, spoke with excitement describing the image in his mind’s eye: One day, there would be a pristine new complex […]
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Covid Stimulus Money Brings Clashes Within Cities and Counties
Dutchess County residents were similarly agitated, if less rowdy, at their June 14 meeting about the stadium. Guidance on using the funds issued by the Treasury Department specifically cited stadiums as “generally not reasonably proportional to addressing the negative economic impacts of the pandemic.” So why, those in attendance asked, was this happening? Marc Molinaro, […]
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Modern Monetary Theory Got a Pandemic Tryout. Inflation Is Now Testing It.
The problem is that the alternative to a Fed response is, at the moment, not obvious. The Biden administration’s attempts at tamping down price increases — longer port hours, release of strategic petroleum reserves, calling out corporate price gouging — have mostly tinkered around the edges of the issue. Those kinds of precise moves to […]
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Democrats Blast Corporate Profits as Inflation Surges
Inflation remains rapid as the economy enters 2022, and Democrats have begun pointing to a new culprit for the high and lasting price increases: Greedy corporations. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and the White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, have been among those pointing to excessive profits in certain industries as […]
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Fed’s Moves in 2022 Could End the Stock Market’s Pandemic Run
For two years, the stock market has been largely able to ignore the lived reality of Americans during the pandemic — the mounting coronavirus cases, the loss of lives and livelihoods, the lockdowns — because of underlying policies that kept it buoyant. Investors can now say goodbye to all that. Come 2022, the Federal Reserve […]
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Biden Administration Extends Pause on Student Loan Payments Until May 1
In recent months, pleas to take sweeping action on student loans have gone unanswered by Mr. Biden, who has said he has been reluctant to explore executive action to forgive large amounts of student loan debt, lest that relief go to people attending elite colleges. But last week, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke publicly about […]
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Billions in Amtrak Funding Could Modernize Aging Rail System
WASHINGTON — Officials up and down the East Coast have long agitated for money to help replace crumbling bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, the heavily traveled route between Washington and Boston. After decades of underinvestment, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Biden signed last month is poised to deliver much-needed improvements. The […]
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How the $4 Trillion Flood of Covid Relief Is Funding the Future
Infrastructure, conjuring as it does images of potholes and rusted water pipes, often goes overlooked; politicians would rather be associated with cutting ribbons than maintaining systems. Paradoxically, that has meant the great leaps in American infrastructure often come from moments of great lack: the greater the crisis, the larger the possible investment. The Great Depression […]
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