It's a story that surfaced during the first few months of the pandemic, after the Government paid out billions in generous loans intended for struggling mom-and-pop business, but millions of which ended up with big companies. Launched in April 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program allocated at least $243 million to publicly traded companies which had other sources of revenue that small businesses didn't.
After a public outcry when it was revealed that a number of large companies received the loans, the corrupt and inept Trump regime belatedly issued revised guidance to block companies with access to capital markets. Some of the shamed companies returned the loan money. However, an investigative report by ProPublica released today indicates that at least 120 greedhead companies have kept the loaned money, and actually had the loans forgiven:
"The ProPublica analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings found at least 120 publicly traded companies that received loans of more than $500,000, grew their revenues last year and have been allowed to keep the money.
In addition, at least 30 companies announced plans to go public after receiving their loans, bringing in truckloads of investor cash that they often used to pay off other debts — but not the ones they owed to the federal government, all of which were forgiven.
Overall, ProPublica found at least $250 million that went to publicly traded companies with growing revenues and that has already been forgiven by the government." (our emphasis)
As the report indicates, that $250 million is an undercount, given the fact that it excludes the loans to companies backed by private equity companies that don't disclose their finances. It's a perfect emblem of the way the Trump regime viewed its big businesses and investor allies: take the money and run, remember to donate to our campaigns, and let the taxpayers foot the bill.
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