[The Soup Nazi]

Stolen post from another site:

Congress, unveiling the new stimulus:

 

[tw2113]

This year, we're all Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation

[The Soup Nazi]

From Paste:

Indie Theaters/Concert Venues to Receive $15 Billion in Stimulus Package

Music venues and independent movie theaters that have been hanging on for dear life during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic should finally receive some relief when Congress votes on the second pandemic stimulus act, as they are expected to Monday. The $900 billion overall deal sends aid to Americans in a bevy of ways (including stimulus checks, albeit smaller than they were the first time around), but it also includes a special carve-out for our beloved music venues and theaters, in the form of the Save Our Stages act. In total, this portion of the stimulus will provide around $15 billion to both independent music venues and independent movie theaters in the coming months—desperately needed funds, given that the live performance/exhibition business has been practically nonexistent in many market since March of 2020.

We don’t yet have specific figures for how all of those funds will be divvied up, but it’s important to note that these funds are specifically earmarked for independent theaters and venues, rather than large corporate chains. That seems to suggest that major movie theater chains such as AMC or Cinemark won’t be included in those receiving funds via Save Our Stages, with the focus instead being on thousands of independent concert venues and movie theaters. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi described the act in these terms, making a statement on the compromise bill that had been reached Sunday night:

“Democrats secured critical funding and policy changes to help small businesses, including minority-owned businesses, and nonprofits recover from the pandemic,” Pelosi wrote. “The agreement includes over $284 billion for first and second forgivable PPP loans, expanded PPP eligibility for nonprofits and local newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters, key modifications to PPP to serve the smallest businesses and struggling non-profits and better assist independent restaurants, and includes $15 billion in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions. The agreement also includes $20 billion for targeted EIDL Grants which are critical to many smaller businesses on Main Street.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a cosponsor of Save Our Stages, also said the following: “I am especially pleased that this bill will provide money for bars and restaurants, and $15 billion in SBA grants for theatre operators and small venue owners through the Save Our Stages Act. These venues are so important to my state and many states across the country —they are the lifeblood of our communities. They were first to close, and will be the last to open. The bill gives them a fighting chance.”

Ultimately, even this aid package amounts to exactly that—just a fighting chance for these venues, given their almost total inability to generate revenue during the pandemic. Some independent theaters have managed to set up “digital screening rooms” to digitally sell movie rentals during recent months, but that kind of revenue only replaces a tiny fraction of what they would be making otherwise. Music venues have arguably been hit even worse, something that Paste was trying to highlight in our recent, 7-day series of live sessions in Nashville, Paste Studio on the Road. You can watch all of those sessions here, or via YouTube. The National Independent Venue Association estimates that 90% of the country’s independent venues were only weeks away from closing without aid, so we should likely be thankful this holiday season that Congress has at least managed to give our beloved venues some hope.

We’ll bring you more information on the Save Our Stages act and its impact on the venue/theater community as more details emerge.

ETA: Under The Radar also covered the story, but with an awesome pic.

 

Independent Music Venues and Movie Theaters to Get $15 Billion in Federal Stimulus Aid

[The Soup Nazi]

Excellent column by Max Boot above, even if we're familiar with the facts.

[The Soup Nazi]

From Demand Progress:

$2000 stimulus checks

We have a golden opportunity to deliver a $2000 stimulus check to American households -- more than $600, which is woefully insufficient -- but we need your help right now to make it happen.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she wants the House to pass $2000 checks.(1) Even Donald Trump wants it too. But for $2000 checks to become reality, we need to flood Congressional offices with messages right now, before a possible vote on Christmas Eve. Can you help?

Sign and send the petition: Tell Congress to vote for $2000 economic stimulus checks!

With rent due next week and the coronavirus spiraling out of control across America, it's clear that a $600 check is not going to be anywhere near enough to meet families' desperate need in this moment of crisis.

Trump's threat to veto a stimulus bill that doesn't include a $2000 check has created a new opportunity to make it happen in Congress. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib already have an amendment ready to go. Pelosi needs to bring back the House to make sure it can happen.

Mitch McConnell remains strongly opposed to $2000 stimulus checks. But Trump's support for that larger check means Senate Republicans may be willing to overcome McConnell's objections -- especially if they and their Democratic colleagues hear a groundswell of public support for it right now.

Demand Progress delivers your petition signatures electronically to Congress, so when you sign the petition urging them to pass $2000 stimulus checks, they'll receive that message today. And there's not a moment to lose before a possible vote on Thursday. Will you speak up in this crucial moment?

Tell Congress: Vote for $2000 stimulus checks!

Thanks for taking action,

Robert Cruickshank and the team at Demand Progress

DONATE

Sources:
1. Washington Post, "Democrats pressure McConnell to give in to Trump’s demand for $2,000 stimulus checks: ‘Let’s do it!’," December 23, 2020.

PAID FOR BY DEMAND PROGRESS (DemandProgress.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Join our online community on Facebook or Twitter.

[tw2113]

Yes, I'd like more of my taxes back so that I can apply it as I see fit to my own other bills and debt. I'm thinking further attacking my car loan. Less than $3.5k left,

[The Soup Nazi]

 

[The Soup Nazi]

House GOP kills bid for $2,000 stimulus checks

Shocking, huh. More: https://news.google.com/stories/CAAq...S&ceid=US%3Aen

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

House GOP kills bid for $2,000 stimulus checks

Shocking, huh. More: https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqOQgKIjNDQklTSURvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoTUtFUWk4aV 9qQ2tZQU1FZDhzbkxnSEpWU2tLQUFQAQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Opinion piece in The Washington Post published before this ^ (which doesn't make it outdated in the least, since it stated what was going to fucking happen anyway):

Donald Trump doesn’t really care about you

Opinion by Helaine Olen
Columnist
Dec. 23, 2020 at 9:41 p.m. GMT-3

On Tuesday, President Trump tossed what headline writers like to call a “last-minute wrench” into plans to help millions of Americans navigate the financial pain of the coronavirus pandemic. The aid bill Congress passed this week, he declared via a four-minute video released on Twitter, was not enough. Americans, he said, should receive more than a one-time $600 stimulus check. They deserved $2,000.

Let’s be clear: On that important point, Trump is right. The bill is inadequate: Americans need more money and lots of it. The $600 bonus payment the bill offers is half of what they received in the aid package in March. While welcome, the amount is so insignificant that it doesn’t even cover one month’s rent on the average one-bedroom apartment. The unemployment boost is stingier, too — offering up an extra $300 a week instead of the $600 Americans received in the spring. But the bill is also necessary. Without the president’s signature, millions of Americans are at risk of everything from losing unemployment benefits to eviction — yes, the proposed stimulus package extends federal eviction moratoriums.

If Trump doesn’t sign off on the existing bill, the new Congress will need to start from scratch after the first of the year. And despite immediate appearances, implicitly threatening to veto the only federal help Americans are likely to receive for some time to come is not exactly helpful to citizens in need. But the fact is, he was never actually trying to help you or me. And we should expect nothing less from Trump, whose inability to think about anyone other than Trump is well-established.

The Democratic-controlled House, lest you forget, passed a more than $3 trillion successor to the Cares Act in May. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made sure it went nowhere, and did the same for all other efforts to offer increasingly desperate Americans a financial lifeline. As I am forever pointing out, McConnell was so contemptuous of Democratic attempts to get money out that, during his reelection campaign, he laughed on a debate stage when confronted about it by Democratic challenger Amy McGrath.

Trump had almost nothing to say about all this. He maintained a low profile in the months-long stimulus negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in Congress, allowing Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to take the lead for the White House. Yes, Trump tweeted out this fall he would like to see Americans receive $1,200 checks, and that he would sign a bill offering that up, but he didn’t bother to follow up in a meaningful way.

Shortly after Trump spoke up on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced plans to bring a bill including $2,000 checks to the floor of the House, allowing it to advance via a unanimous consent vote. “Let’s do it!,” she said. Few think the proposal will go far — the odds of every Republican in the House supporting it are low.

It’s quite possible — nay, make that all but certain — that Trump’s last minute sabotage is a way of punishing McConnell, who is now openly accepting the fact that President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in in less than a month. McConnell only signed off on a stimulus package when it became clear that the lack of another financial aid package for Americans would make it more difficult for Republicans to win the two Senate runoff races set for Jan. 5 in Georgia, costing the party control of the upper chamber.

It’s a rich boy’s privilege to see the poor and downtrodden as pawns in a political game rather than as individual people in desperate need. The idea that Donald Trump actually cares about the financial realities Americans face is ludicrous. Now that he is on his way out, it’s increasingly obvious he’s only loyal to himself.

Jesus Christ Monkeyballs, let's win Georgia, get Biden in charge already, and go back to talking about the goddamn virus itself and its fanfuckingtastic mutations...

[_tunic_]

Back in 2011, I went to Paris for a holiday and I stayed in this hotel

 

I only remembered it again while I was browsing through old pictures. It was a fine hotel, with free car parking which is a rarity in Paris especially in the city centre

[LifeDistortion]

Covid took Mary Ann of Gilligan's Island. Damn.

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/daw...nn-1234876755/

[The Soup Nazi]

 

[Bytor Peltor]

 

[The Soup Nazi]

^ Then why did you vote Republican? And didn't you read this?

Originally Posted by Lee Ranaldo

fuck off and goodbye – Tramp defeated. Amen. Four years of terror, chaos and treason finally coming to an end.

SO YOU FUCK OFF AND GOODBYE TOO, LOSER.

[The Soup Nazi]

Comment by Dimeadozen member TenYearsGone on torrent Ramones 1979-12-06 Vogue Theatre Indianapolis, Indiana:

"I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You" is my new Nashville, Tennessee, USA COVID-19 theme song.

[_slavo_]

Originally Posted by _slavo_

How's the situation in the country where you live?
Although right now I am in a country with 10th highest number of confirmed cases (more than 500) in the world, it's surprisingly calm. Noone is wearing masks, the schools are not closed, not even the work would send us home for homeoffice.


In my home land Slovakia though (only 5 confirmed cases), they closed schools and kindergartens, many companies work homeoffice, etc. Interesting.

how cute.

now we have 3000-4000 new cases every day in Slovakia and people are dying in hundreds every day.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by _slavo_

how cute.

now we have 3000-4000 new cases every day in Slovakia and people are dying in hundreds every day.

How is swisslandia doing by comparison?

[h8kurdt]

Over here in England, that absolute dense weapon that goes by the name of Johnson is to be announcing another lockdown tonight. That includes schools shutting. Last Wednesday the was berating Labour leader Starmer for even suggesting such a thing. Sunday he was saying going back to schools is absolutely safe and they will be kept open. Now he's doing ANOTHER U-turn. How this moron is still ahead in the polls is beyond me.

[g.]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

Over here in England, that absolute dense weapon that goes by the name of Johnson is to be announcing another lockdown tonight. That includes schools shutting. Last Wednesday the was berating Labour leader Starmer for even suggesting such a thing. Sunday he was saying going back to schools is absolutely safe and they will be kept open. Now he's doing ANOTHER U-turn. How this moron is still ahead in the polls is beyond me.

Man is a fucking walking contradiction. Joke.

This last minute change of heart is getting boring and stinks of incompetence and a lack of understanding. Twat.

[_slavo_]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

How is swisslandia doing by comparison?

No idea, wasn't there since October. Working remotely (thank God for technologies).