Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Bill signing: “President Donald Trump signed a nearly $500 billion interim coronavirus bill into law Friday that includes additional money for the small-business loan program, as well as more funding for hospitals and testing.”
* Paycheck Protection Program: “The government’s $349 billion small business lending program was designed to keep merchants afloat during the COVID-19 crisis. But critics say the structure of the program allowed the haves to scoop up aid meant for the have-nots, shutting out small merchants who were desperate for cash and awarding funds to public companies that could have raised money from investors.”
* Hmm: “Donald Trump is warning ‘China will own the United States’ if Joe Biden is elected president. But Trump himself is tens of millions of dollars in debt to China: In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term, financial records show.”
* DHS: “Domestic terrorists and violent extremists are mobilizing in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and the threat could get more severe ‘until the virus is contained and the normal routine of U.S. societal life resumes,’ according to a Department of Homeland Security intelligence note sent to law enforcement officials around the country.”
* House Republicans opposed this: “The House voted Thursday to establish a new investigative committee to monitor President Donald Trump’s implementation of nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus relief measures, a step they said would safeguard the massive sums flowing to businesses, hospitals and individual taxpayers.”
* Speaking of Capitol Hill: “A key House subcommittee chairwoman said on Thursday that she planned to hold hearings into the departure of Rick Bright, who said he was removed as the head of an agency involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine after he pressed for rigorous vetting of unproven drugs embraced by President Trump to combat the virus.” * National debt: “The usual fear is that high government debt leads to a crisis or excessive inflation. But there’s little risk of the first, and nothing inevitable about the second.” * Good column from Catherine Rampell: “President Trump oh-so-graciously excluded medical workers from his latest executive order suspending immigration. So you might assume that whatever his usual anti-immigrant animus, Trump recognizes the need to make foreign-born health professionals feel welcome in this country. At least during a pandemic. You’d be wrong.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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