March 10, 2020
Okay, we know that logic has pretty much gone out the window in the Trump years, but this one sets new records. Donald Trump and the Republicans have been criticizing Democrats and the FAKE NEWS for exaggerating the threat from the coronavirus. Trump has insisted it is no big deal, nothing for us to be very concerned about.
However, according to NYT reporter Jim Tankersley, he asked Senate Republicans for a stimulus measure that would zero out the payroll tax for the rest of the year. This would cost $900 billion, or more than 4.0 percent of GDP in 2020. By contrast, President Obama’s stimulus came to less than 2.0 percent of GDP in 2009 and 2010.
This means that Trump apparently believes that the coronavirus is going to require a stimulus that is more than twice as large as what Obama sought (and the Republicans complained about) to lift the economy out of the Great Recession caused by the collapse of the housing bubble.
But hey, it’s no big deal!
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