Veteran journalist and author Aaron Glantz on Tuesday told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that the Trump administration must take steps to ensure that any economic stimulus implemented as a result of the coronavirus outbreak must benefit the majority of Americans, not just the wealthy.
Glantz said in an interview that most Americans do not have stock portfolios, and that the administration should consider stimulus options that directly affect people who don’t have significant investments or savings.
“It’s important to keep in mind that only 20 percent of Americans own any stock at all, and the average American has just $4,000 in the bank,” Glantz said. “What this means is, people who are living paycheck to paycheck are going to be extremely vulnerable to everything that is coming their way.”
“And so, when we look at the relief package, we need to ask: What is in the relief package for people with no money in the bank, who are losing their jobs and may not have enough money to go out and buy food or pay the rent?” he added.
Glantz criticized Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who, along with President Trump, has been discussing the terms of a possible financial bailout in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Mnuchin, Glantz said, was a “vulture capitalist” who spent the 2008 crash putting “so much money in his pocket from the last disaster relief” package passed to aid the banking industry.
The White House is seeking roughly $850 billion in economic stimulus to fight the economic impacts of the outbreak, a plan which has met resistance from some conservative groups for its price tag.
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