Trump’s emergency economic relief is key to Ohio’s recovery

0

President Trump has just done what the Democrats in Congress refused to do — he gave struggling Ohio families the lifeline they need to make it through the coronavirus pandemic.

For weeks, Americans have been watching Capitol Hill with nervous anticipation, waiting for the final round of economic assistance from Washington that we need to get us through the final stages of the crisis.

Congressional Democrats, however, used the negotiations as an opportunity to pursue their radical progressive agenda, demanding more than $3 trillion in new spending — much of it completely unrelated to the pandemic — and refusing to budge an inch despite repeated entreaties by their Republican counterparts to pass a “clean” extension of previous relief measures that enjoy widespread support.

Of course, political stalemates don’t save or create new jobs — and they certainly won’t help America rebuild its economy. Someone in Washington had to take a stand for working families whose lives have been uprooted by this global crisis.

Luckily, our president was up to the challenge.

Instead of allowing Democrats to continue denying the country economic relief, Donald Trump took matters into his own hands by announcing four executive orders to safeguard American workers and businesses.

“I am taking action to provide an additional $400 a week in expanded (unemployment) benefits,” the president said, adding that his administration is also implementing measures to protect households from eviction, postpone repayments of student loans, and provide a payroll tax holiday for the middle class.

“Through these four actions, my administration will provide immediate and vital relief to Americans struggling in this difficult time,” the president added. “We will also ensure that our economic comeback continues full speed ahead.”

He also called the Democrats out for preventing a more robust relief package over “bailout money that has nothing to do with the China virus.”

“In the current negotiations, we have repeatedly stated our willingness to immediately sign legislation providing extended unemployment benefits, protecting Americans from eviction, and providing additional relief payments to families,” he stressed. Unfortunately, Democrats have pursued a strategy of pure obstructionism, as they have for the past three-and-a-half years.

We already know the emergency economic initiatives the White House is seeking are effective — measures such as the Paycheck Protection Program, supplemental unemployment benefits, and direct payments to American workers and families. The Ohio economy is on a record-breaking path to recovery.

Between April and June, the state unemployment rate dropped by an impressive 6.7 percentage points, and Ohio regained nearly 330,000 nonfarm jobs. The recovery is still precarious, but the recent round of executive orders will go a long way toward shoring up our economy while we put out the embers of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democrats thought they could exploit the current crisis to achieve their partisan and ideological objectives, but President Trump outfoxed them once again and delivered crucial relief to the American people.

https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/09/web1_Gesiotto.jpg

By Madison Gesiotto

Guest columnist

Madison Gesiotto is an Ohio attorney, former Miss Ohio USA, and an opinion contributor for The Hill.

No posts to display