IRS Says Thousands Of Americans Will Not Receive Full Stimulus Payments Until Spring 2021; White House Refuses To Let Dr. Fauci Testify About Coronavirus Response; Millionaire CEOs Cashing Checks Meant For Nation's Small Businesses

Thousands of Americans who have not received the full stimulus payment due to them have been told by the IRS they will have to wait until 2021 for the rest of their money.

Many parents have complained that while they received $1,200 by direct deposit, they did not receive the extra $500 promised for each dependent child under the age of 17. Other have complained that payments were either missing or short.

The idea that a one-time payment (which is less than most rents and mortgage payments) can alleviate financial hardship during a pandemic likely to last more than a year (because of the US's refusal to adhere to safety guidelines and test the population adequately) is ridiculous.

Jamie Jones, a Virginia widow and mother of three receiving Social Security survivor benefits, stid her stimulus payment did not include $1,500 for her three children, ages 8, 10 and 12. The pandemic has put Jones out of work and she needs the additional money to pay for groceries. But she will not receive what she was promised until she files a federal tax return next year.

The system is deeply flawed and Jones says "we are punished for it".

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The White House has refused to let Dr. Anthony Fauci testify next week before a House subcommittee investigating the coronavirus outbreak and response. After the Washington Post reported the news, the White House released a statement:

While the Trump Administration continues its whole-of-government response to COVID-19, including safely opening up America again and expediting vaccine development, it is counterproductive to have the very individuals involved in those efforts appearing at congressional hearings. We are committed to working with Congress to offer testimony at the appropriate time.

But a senior administration official admitted that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is scheduled to appear next week at a Senate hearing related to testing.

It's no secret that Donald Trump has grown very annoyed as Fauci has publicly contradicted Trump's numerous lies. One example: As Trump falsely claimed in early March that tests were readily available, Fauci outlined the problems with the nation's system of testing (which still remains grossly inadequate).

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Washington Post, May 1, 2020:

Publicly traded companies have received more than $1 billion in funds meant for small businesses from the federal government's economic stimulus package, according to data from securities filings compiled by The Washington Post.

Nearly 300 public companies have reported receiving money from the fund, called the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the data compiled by The Post. Recipients include 43 companies with more than 500 workers, the maximum typically allowed by the program. Several other recipients were prosperous enough to pay executives $2 million or more.

After the first pool of $349 billion ran dry, leaving more than 80 percent of applicants without funding, outrage over the millions of dollars that went to larger firms prompted some companies to return the money. ...

The Small Business Administration has refused to release the names of companies that have received the loans, despite having released such information on its loan programs for years. ...

Veritone, a company based in Costa Mesa, Calif., that provides artificial intelligence technology, paid chief executive Chad Steelberg $18.7 million in total compensation in 2018, the last year for which data is available. His brother, Ryan Steelberg, the company’s president, made $13.9 million. The company received $6.5 million in funding from the program. ...

Chain restaurants and hotels were able to obtain tens of millions of dollars from the first pool of $349 billion in forgivable loans because Congress and the administration allowed multiple subsidiaries of large owners to each apply separately.

Those recipients include a group of hotel companies chaired by Monty Bennett, a Dallas executive and Republican donor, including Ashford Hospitality Trust and Braemar Hotels & Resorts. The companies used more than 100 filings to seek $126 million total and received $76 million. ...

Some chains that have returned funds have done so at the expense of their workers. AutoNation, the Fortune 500 network of auto dealers, said last week that it would return the $77 million it received. The same day of the announcement, employees there said AutoNation put some workers back on furlough and rescinded wage guarantee deals to commission-based employees.

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An NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, Minnesota, fired meteorologist Sven Sundgaard on Friday for purported "violations of ... news ethics" after he shared a post written by a local rabbi describing "armed extremists" at state capitols as "white nationalist Nazi sympathizer gun fetishist miscreants".

From my desk, it looks like the good rabbi was dead-on accurate in his description.

The TV station posted this to Facebook:

Due to continued violations of KARE 11's news ethics and other policies, we have made the decision to part ways with Sven Sundgaard. We hope you continue to turn to KARE 11 for your news, traffic, weather, and more.

In 2017, KARE-11 leaked a whistleblower's name to police. The whistleblower was fired and later committed suicide. A Minnesota journalist: "Last I checked, the person responsible remained in KARE leadership."

The Good Ol' Liberal Media strikes again.