President Trump and America have withstood so much organized opposition, just this year to date. And yet, he and we still stand. Her is the list so far for 2020: the Chinese Communist Party plague, Russia and our good friends the Saudis crashing the global oil market, and clearly organized destruction by arson, smashing, and large scale theft. Today, President Trump stood smiling in the Rose Garden telling the good news for America, and the very bad news for the Democrat-Media complex, that jobs are coming back much faster than the “experts” expected. Small business owners had cause to smile, as well, because the president signed a one-page law improving the Paycheck Protection Program; see the bottom of this post for the full text.

A series of unfortunate events:

Remember where we have recently been. To start, the Chinese Communist Party unleashing the Wuhan virus on the globe. Health agency bureaucrats bungled and then panicked with a dangerous experimental prescription that crashed the economy. Local leaders, who American voters had long ignored as unimportant, became little dictators. They revealed the true human nature that the Framers warned and sought to guard against in the construction of our Constitution. Their contempt for religion, for small business people, for ordinary Americans, was nakedly on display.

In the midst of the Chinese Communist Party plague, the Russians and the House of Saud sought to kill off the American oil industry that had capped the prices they could command by unleashing oceans of American energy into the global market. The Russians and Saudis both need higher prices to keep power and finance their domestic and foreign programs. There was great concern that there would be lasting damage to our economy, jobs, and energy independence, as our oilmen were driven out of the market by prices so low it cost more to pump than they would earn.

Most recently, organized crime and coordinated radical leftist groups, abetted by our media and the Democrat Party, turned the death of a man handcuffed in police custody into an opportunity to stop recovery and smash the very urban areas that President Trump had focussed on assisting for the past three years. There was nothing spontaneous about this. The massive campaign of destruction was in desperation after senior Democrat Party officials were anonymously quoted fearing the economy would be sufficiently recovered to allow the reelection of President Trump.

Schemes fail:

The first Friday of June, President Trump strode to the lectern in the Rose Garden. The sun was shining and the birds were singing as President Trump spoke doom on the Democrats and their media jackals. He got to issue a huge “I told you so.” He had been saying for a month that he believed we would be back much faster than the usual experts projected. Now he had numbers to back his hopes and dreams.

The health experts, Democrat dictators, and their media wing, who had attacked young people gathering on beaches, people gathering to worship in obedience to a much higher Authority, were first silent and then actually tried justifying mass demonstrations, rioting, and property destruction. This past week has completely negated Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx as any kind of authoritative voices. They were silent on New York killing off the elderly in nursing homes with criminally reckless edicts. Now they have been silent on much larger gatherings than those they have told us we must not have. Their silence, then and now, is eloquent. We are entitled to input all the bad motives or cowardice we like.

John Roberts has been beclowned in his attack on Christianity. The Democrats he counted on keeping to his friendly guidance, to continue suppressing the biblical command to gather in worship and prayer, did not cooperate. They have allowed mass political marches that serve their interests, while prohibiting religious gatherings that do not serve their interests. The end result is a stronger case for President Trump’s reelection, to include shoving Bush’s judge into irrelevance on the center-left side of the bench.*

At the same time, the economy is roaring back. Unemployment was supposed to be over 20 percent in May, instead, it was falling, reaching just under 15 percent. The Washington Post’s headline wailed “Experts predicted 20 percent unemployment in May, how did they get it so wrong?” Here is the beginning of the Department of Labor report:

In the week ending May 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,877,000, a decrease of 249,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 3,000 from 2,123,000 to 2,126,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,284,000, a decrease of 324,750 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 750 from 2,608,000 to 2,608,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 14.8 percent for the week ending May 23, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from the previous week’s revised rate. The previous week’s rate was revised down by 0.2 from 14.5 to 14.3 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 23 was 21,487,000, an increase of 649,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised down by 214,000 from 21,052,000 to 20,838,000. The 4-week moving average was 22,446,250, a decrease of 222,500 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised down by 53,500 from 22,722,250 to 22,668,750.

[. . .]

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 1,603,000 in the week ending May 30, a decrease of 314,604 (or -16.4 percent) from the previous week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 102,045 (or -5.3 percent) from the previous week. There were 189,577 initial claims in the comparable week in 2019. In addition, for the week ending May 30, 36 states reported 623,073 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 13.2 percent during the week ending May 23, an increase of 0.3 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 19,295,200, an increase of 437,072 (or 2.3 percent) from the preceding week. The seasonal factors had expected a decrease of 145,864 (or -0.8 percent) from the previous week. A year earlier the rate was 1.1 percent and the volume was 1,521,741.

Over the past two days, Governor Abbot, Republican of Texas, has trumpeted on Twitter that Texas is leading in getting out of COVID-19 infections and now leading in economic recovery. Democrat governors’ failure on multiple levels is coming into stark contrast with Republican-led states. President Trump was happy to make the point, while not rubbing it in too hard in the Rose Garden.

Unemployment claims filed in Bexar County have been cut in half.

Similar trends can be seen across Texas.

Texans are getting back to work.

Texas will lead the way!#txlegehttps://t.co/jyk13edYL4

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 5, 2020

Meanwhile, oil stocks surged, as the price of crude rose and American producers look more likely to restart their wells.

Fueling today’s rally in the oil market was a report by Bloomberg that OPEC and its partners will extend the current supply curtailment rate until the end of July. The group had planned to curb its combined output by 9.7 million barrels per day (BPD) in May, the reduction to taper off to 8 million BPD through the end of this year. However, OPEC now appears poised to extend the higher reduction for at least the next two months.

While OPEC plans to continue choking back production, many producers in the U.S. are restarting idled oil pumps thanks to the recent improvement in pricing. Meanwhile, with WTI approaching $40 a barrel, these companies could soon resume their drilling programs. Because of that, more oil should flow into midstream assets over the next few months, bolstering that sector’s cash flow.

If, indeed, the American people want peace in the land, this president is promising peace through prosperity. He points to real economic justice as rising jobs and wages. He points to renewing neighborhoods through private investment in opportunity. He called the latest economic news “an affirmation of the last three and a half years:”

President Trump concluded the Rose Garden event with a public signing of the bipartisan “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020.” This law modifies certain provisions related to forgiveness of loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and allows loan forgiveness recipients to defer their payroll taxes. The concern over being able to rehire enough employees and to operate under local COVID-19 restrictions led to a prompt and responsive bipartisan act giving small businesses the flexibility they need. President Trump was happy to praise both sides of the aisle in Congress for this.

* No, Alito is not a Bush judge. He was forced on Bush, who wanted his crony, Harriet Miers, on the Supreme Court bench. Conservatives rose up, Laura Ingraham in the lead on the radio, to stop Bush and then force a real conservative on him.

** The whole bill is laudably short and to the point!

An Act

To amend the Small Business Act and the CARES Act to modify certain provisions related to the forgiveness of loans under the paycheck protection program, to allow recipients of loan forgiveness under the paycheck protection program to defer payroll taxes, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020”.

SEC. 2. MATURITY FOR LOANS WITH REMAINING BALANCE AFTER APPLICATION OF FORGIVENESS.

(a) In General.—Section 7(a)(36)(K)(ii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)) is amended by inserting “minimum maturity of 5 years and a” before “maximum maturity”.

(b) Effective Date; Applicability.—The amendment made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to any loan made pursuant to section 7(a)(36) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)) on or after such date. Nothing in this Act, the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136), or the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law 116–139) shall be construed to prohibit lenders and borrowers from mutually agreeing to modify the maturity terms of a covered loan described in subparagraph (K) of such section to conform with requirements of this section.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM LOAN FORGIVENESS.

(a) Extension Of Covered Period.—Section 7(a)(36)(A)(iii) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking “June 30, 2020” and inserting “December 31, 2020”.

(b) Forgiveness.—Section 1106 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) is amended—

(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:

“(3) the term ‘covered period’ means, subject to subsection (l), the period beginning on the date of the origination of a covered loan and ending the earlier of—

“(A) the date that is 24 weeks after such date of origination; or

“(B) December 31, 2020;”;

(2) in subsection (d)—

(A) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking “June 30, 2020” each place it appears and inserting “December 31, 2020”; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:

“(7) EXEMPTION BASED ON EMPLOYEE AVAILABILITY.—During the period beginning on February 15, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020, the amount of loan forgiveness under this section shall be determined without regard to a proportional reduction in the number of full-time equivalent employees if an eligible recipient, in good faith—

“(A) is able to document—

“(i) an inability to rehire individuals who were employees of the eligible recipient on February 15, 2020; and

“(ii) an inability to hire similarly qualified employees for unfilled positions on or before December 31, 2020; or

“(B) is able to document an inability to return to the same level of business activity as such business was operating at before February 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements established or guidance issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration during the period beginning on March 1, 2020, and ending December 31, 2020, related to the maintenance of standards for sanitation, social distancing, or any other worker or customer safety requirement related to COVID–19.

“(8) LIMITATION ON FORGIVENESS.—To receive loan forgiveness under this section, an eligible recipient shall use at least 60 percent of the covered loan amount for payroll costs, and may use up to 40 percent of such amount for any payment of interest on any covered mortgage obligation (which shall not include any prepayment of or payment of principal on a covered mortgage obligation), any payment on any covered rent obligation, or any covered utility payment.”; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(l) Application To Certain Eligible Recipients.—An eligible recipient that received a covered loan before the date of enactment of this subsection may elect for the covered period applicable to such covered loan to end on the date that is 8 weeks after the date of the origination of such covered loan.”.

(c) Extension Of Deferral Period.—Section 7(a)(36)(M) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)(M)) is amended—

(1) in clause (ii)(II), by striking “for a period of not less than 6 months, including payment of principal, interest, and fees, and not more than 1 year.” and inserting the following: “, including payment of principal, interest, and fees, until the date on which the amount of forgiveness determined under section 1106 of the CARES Act is remitted to the lender.”;

(2) in clause (iii), by striking “for a period of not less than 6 months, including payment of principal, interest, and fees, and not more than 1 year.” and inserting the following: “, including payment of principal, interest, and fees, until the date on which the amount of forgiveness determined under section 1106 of the CARES Act is remitted to the lender.”; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new clause:

“(v) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—If an eligible recipient fails to apply for forgiveness of a covered loan within 10 months after the last day of the covered period defined in section 1106(a) of the CARES Act, such eligible recipient shall make payments of principal, interest, and fees on such covered loan beginning on the day that is not earlier than the date that is 10 months after the last day of such covered period.”.

(d) Effective Date; Applicability.—The amendments made by this section shall be effective as if included in the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) and shall apply to any loan made pursuant to section 7(a)(36) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)) or section 1109 of the CARES Act.

SEC. 4. DELAY OF PAYMENT OF EMPLOYER PAYROLL TAXES.

(a) In General.—Section 2302(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) is amended by striking paragraph (3).

(b) Effective Date; Applicability.—The amendments made by this section shall be effective as if included in the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) and shall apply to any loan made pursuant to section 7(a)(36) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(36)) or section 1109 of the CARES Act.

SEC. 5. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION.

(a) In General.—This Act is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 U.S.C. 933(g)).

(b) Designation In Senate.—In the Senate, this Act is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 4112(a) of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress), the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018.