President Biden just nailed it
Although COVID relief is on its way, President Biden is aware that any path to recovery is going to have to require some significant changes beyond the bill being voted on in the Senate. That’s why on Monday, he called for more federal pandemic assistance for some of the nation’s smallest businesses as well as for ventures owned by women and people of color. The changes could take effect as soon as Wednesday, providing forgivable loans to businesses with less than 20 employees, which means the majority of small businesses.
The administration is also looking to set aside $1 billion for people who are sole proprietors of their business – contractors who work from home and beauticians for example, which includes many women and people of color. In addition, the Biden administration is also looking into issues with the Paycheck Protection Program that occurred under the leadership of the previous administration, such as why a number of minority business owners didn’t receive the loans they requested until the final weeks of the program while white business owners were approved right away.
We’re only beginning to realize the damage done by the COVID pandemic and the disastrous response of the last administration. Now it seems that the pandemic was a cover for them to worsen an unimaginable number of problems the country was already facing. On Monday night, President Biden addressed the nation with empathy as he talked about the steps that would be taken in the days ahead, but it’s clear he’s also walking the walk and is determined to use all resources at his disposal to stop the pandemic from getting worse.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making