Bail Out Workers, Not Shareholders
“Our economy can survive wealthy investors losing a fraction of their net worth. It cannot survive 30% of Americans going without any form of income for months.”
Washington, DC – Today, as Congress remains split on what provisions to include in a coronavirus-related economic stimulus package, with Democrats blocking a Republican bill this afternoon, Morris Pearl, former managing director at Blackrock, Inc., and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, issued the following statement:
“The only kind of economic relief bill that makes any sense at all is one that focuses on bailing out workers, not shareholders. Our economy can survive wealthy investors losing a fraction of their net worth. It cannot survive 30% of Americans going without any form of income for months.
We’re facing an economic downturn of potentially apocalyptic proportions – we don’t have time for the Trump administration and Senate Republicans to pretend that their trickle-down corporate wellfare package is the answer. Every single dollar of relief needs to be spent with the intention of helping the American people, and every single dollar of corporate relief needs to be tied directly to supporting workers, not investors.
There is no risk of spending too much on the American people. Bailing out American workers will save our economy. Throwing them crumbs while spending hundreds of billions of dollars to protect the investments of millionaires like me is insanity. Even wealthy investors must realize that in the long run, protecting the fundamentals of our economy is better for them than propping up their investments for another few months.”
For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
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About the Patriotic Millionaires
Proud “traitors to their class,” members of the Patriotic Millionaires are high-net worth Americans, business leaders, and investors who are united in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America. The mission of The Patriotic Millionaires organization is to build a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive nation by promoting public policies based on the “first principles” of equal political representation, a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system. You can find out more at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/
The Patriotic Millionaires have appeared on hundreds of media outlets here and abroad, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the PBS NewsHour, The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others. You can find more coverage at https://patrioticmillionaires.org/media
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