I spoke with a small business owner this morning. It was a heartbreaking story. The owner’s business is an “essential” business, so they are still open. But they rely on customers coming in for service. Because many people are afraid of venturing out, their business is down 80%.
Like most small businesses, the owner doesn’t have a giant capital reserve other than private assets like a house and cars. According to the owner, they paid the rent for this month and are taking it day by day. They can take out a SBA or personal loan to float the business, but they would have to use their personal assets as collateral. If they do that and the business never recovers, the result would be loan default and personal bankruptcy. The other choice is to close the doors at the end of the month, minimize personal expenses, and try to get a job to pay the bills. That would be tough, but at least they could maybe stave off bankruptcy. Would they ever have the money to restart the business? Maybe, but not for a while.
I suspect that this is a story being repeated thousands of times across Wisconsin and the nation. The longer the shutdown lasts, the more sustained the economic damage will be. This one owner can maybe hang on until the end of the month – if business starts to recover – but not until June.
Please, if you are still working and still have some disposable income, consider supporting some local businesses. They don’t want charity. They want customers. Be one.
We have been trying to go out and pickup a meal at least once every other day. I would like to hit more single owned restaurants, but so many have already closed instead of trying to get by on pickups.
Small Business Paycheck Protection Program is active. Good for eight weeks of 2019 average monthly payroll plus 25%. It could take 6-8 weeks to get the first check for the loan, but if at the end of the term you can prove you spent it appropriately the “loan” is forgiven. You don’t have to have work for your employees. You just have to pay them full time compensation and use the “plus 25%” correctly for approved expenses.
This program is likely to be extended. Talk to your business banker. If they’re not a SBA agent they can certainly turn you on to one.
Good notes, Merlin. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a small business owner can use it to pay themselves. Do you know? Many small businesses are just a person or couple and maybe a couple of helpers.
https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP%20–%20Overview.pdf
This program is front end triage. The Treasury is essentially offering to make your payroll in full, plus 25% for eight weeks. What revenue you can generate in those eight weeks need not go to payroll at all. If business owners cut legitimate payroll checks and paid themselves as employees in any capacity in 2019 it counts. Even if you’re a sole proprietor and keep legitimate business tax records it’s worth giving a try. The whole purpose of this program is to help keep small businesses afloat.
The PPP is a good program, but I am snagging on the application process and I have to get political help to undo the snag.
I agree PPP does not help if the business has no employees.
That is where the flaw is in PPP.
It looks more and more we should have taken the approach in Sweden. We have destroyed many small businesses.
“Political help.” The invisible hand! The free market in action!
Jjf,
It is a technical snag, not getting me anything anyone else isn’t qualified for.
Why didn’t you have savings, a cushion for the coming bad times? Isn’t there some asset you could sell to cover this?
Who would want to do anything like Sweden, those nasty socialists?
Jjf,
If 800lbs of pork is put at my doorstep and government screams “eat”…i dig in with both hands.
This is different, Business was forced to close or curtail operation. Government cause tge problem wuth their overreaction.
I know, Kevin, I know. Free-marketers always deeply deserve their tax breaks and subsidies. If you don’t have a balance sheet and don’t count what you get from the government, and you’re resentful of any taxes you pay, you can always justify any handout while simultaneously saying handouts and pork are eeeeeevil awwwwful sooocialism commmmunism. Ron Johnson does it, Trump does it, heck, even Ayn Rand did it.
jjf,
The government “handout” is part of the marketplace now. If my competitors do it, but I don’t, I am at a competitive disadvantage, especially when competing for staff!
I didn’t ask for this program to be implemented. Like regulation, it is now part of the business landscape I need to deal with. It is a paperwork headache from my standpoint, but not participating puts me behind my competitors.
This program is out there because government ordered part of my business closed! I do not feel bad in slightest taking advantage of a program I qualify for. This means I will, maybe, get back 2% of all the taxes I have ever paid in by comparison.
If government did not interfere in free market operations….but you were acreaming for interference to stop the virus…we would not have this economic issue. So stop your fake incredulity, it bores me.
Kevin S.
Now take all your rationalizations and apply them to the economically disadvantaged person who takes welfare.
What kind of economic issues would you be facing if no lockdown had been imposed?
So you are saying that Gov’t took too much from all the welfare recipients, so they should have no problem taking welfare in return? I can agree with you that welfare is part of the economic landscape(so that agrees with Kevin’s reasons), but the rest of your statement doesn’t really fit as a comparison that: The reasons individuals should take welfare all the time are the same reasons small business operators should take aid from the Government during a Government created shut down of their business. Unless…
If your hypothesis is that Government is working towards the goal of controlling as much of everyone’s lives as possible and is always working towards more control and that is the real reason for both welfare and this shutdown, then I would agree with you that the same reasons are similar enough to apply to both welfare recipients and small business owners with shutdown orders receiving handouts/loans during this epidemic. Is that your belief?
Jjf,
People are economically disadvantaged by poor choices over a long period of time.
How did business owners make any poor choices in a government mandated shut down order? That would be petty tyrant poor choices by liberals in power like Evers.
But what about all those racist policies, Kevin? Doesn’t that affect some people? Are there any policies that make business people make poor choices, too?
jjf,
I may regret asking an SJW, like you, but what racist policies?
Well, Tuerqas, you asked Jiffy a question that he does NOT want to answer.
Don’t get too excited Dad29. Tuerqas asks good questions. And he doesn’t name-call!
My point was that Kevin is using the same rationalizations about taking money that any poor person does… the money’s available, I didn’t create the system, why shouldn’t I take it?
Kevin says the poor folks are poor because of their personal choices. But Kevin’s not poor… and perhaps he’s not prepared for an unexpected financial downturn. Shouldn’t he have salted away more cash? Doesn’t he have an asset or two he can liquidate to tide him over? Can’t he do without that big-screen TV or cell phone or all that bling?
Sure, I’m asking a question about ideological purity. Rock-ribbed self-reliant conservative Dilly Bar-making small businessmen like Kevin are always talking about their firm belief in the free market and that they don’t want government interference… until they’re happy to take it in the form of tax relief or a loan or a subsidy.
I’m very wary of the trillion-dollar coins, too, and I wish there was some oversight or the Orange Grifter in Chief will find a way to divert it to his buddies.
On the other hand, from a personal justice standpoint, if the government shut down your business or told you you can’t go to work, shouldn’t they give compensation?
Jjf,
But there is government interference…we were all or partially forced to shut down.
You have been one in a chorus of over reactionaries screaming “virus” and causing economic damage.
I’m OK if you pay for the damage to business instead.
I do believe that there are major hindrances that minorities face, much of it is from liberal racism.
It starts from the schools. The schools in the inner cities are horrid because this where new teachers start and bad teachers are sent to.
I started my teaching career at Vincent and North Division and I can say the institutionalization of bad teachers lead to poor outcomes. And when people want to help these students, liberal racists like jjf say no, you cannot go to a private school to improve your education, you have to stay at the bad schools.
Then you have the gang element. Some kids are lucky to escape but many do not and these people either die or go to prison.
And the ones who survive all this and go to college, many are not able to much in college because their inner city education sucked so bad they won’t be able to do much in college unless they are an athelte. Of course many college athletes might go to classes but they have someone doing their homework.
So, many minorities do have hurdles to overcome and liberals stand in their way to succeed. Right, jjf?
Mar, racist ideas and racist policies don’t need to be labelled by political parties. One group is simply oppressing the other, and they most often do it to benefit themselves.
It’s not as if the WisGOP is working to raise up poor schools to the level of suburban schools. It’s not as if the WisDems are making laws that take away from poor schools.
These days the WisGOP is mostly about “do this thing we want that helps our favorite religious schools and private schools, and we’ll say the Dems won’t do it because they’re racist and hate freedom.”
jjf,
What are you talking about?
Republicans scream to lift up failing liberal Marxist monopoly schools! We scream for choice, religious values, and a better education, especially for inner city kids!
What do racist liberals do? Prohibit change. Allow WEAC to block all change. Keep kids in awful failing schools.
Deomocrats are the true racist. I think the party is still ticked the Republicans took their slaves away, and Trump is making black america realize they don’t have to be on the failing liberal Democrat plantation anymore.
Kevin, tell me how “choice” improves a poor school. It’ll make them equal to the suburban school?
jjf, school choice partly helps out bad schools by reducing the numbers of the school. Or better yet, it promotes competition to get better. And even better yet it may close that bad school.
But you care more about the building than about the actual child. You should celebrate each child that succeeds through school choice but you would rather have those brown and black children fail as a group.
How sad.
“Promotes competition”? Still sounds pretty vague unequal to me. Not even the ol’ “separate but equal.” Just unequal, and punish the kids and their families for a few years or a decade until competition really takes hold. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t… who cares, they’ll be gone by then, and my kids will be out of school!
No, of course I don’t care about the building – unless it’s in the suburbs, and then somehow the building and the grounds and the swimming pool and the locker rooms matter. Why’s that?
jjf,
You are not going to improve it by insuring monopoly status.
I suggest all tax money for public schools be attached to student as $8000 voucher. Taxpayers will save huge money. Schools will then have to compete to get student and funding! If they don’t get students, school does not funding. Bad schools go away! Liberal Racism cured!
Simple….but Democrats want their precious voting monopoly with failing schools in minority communities. Awful. Just awful. I can’t stand liberal racism.
Still waiting for the Jiffy solution to bad schools.
>One group is simply oppressing the other, and they most often do it to benefit themselves.
Typo on your part of Freudian slip? Shouldn’t you have typed “One race is simply oppressing the other, and they most often do it to benefit themselves”?
That fundamental lack of understanding is really showing your ignorance and stupidity, John Foust.
Dad29 – fund ’em with as much love as you give the military.
Jason – what’s a race?
So, jjf, give the bad schools more money and that will solve the problem?
How?
Do you approve of teacher unions?
“Deomocrats are the true racist”
Absolute and utter nonsense.
5 decades uber liberal welfare policy has taken the black single mother birth rate from less than 2% to 80%+. 84% in Milwaukee.
Racist Democrats have destroyed the black family. Democrats have achieved the KKK’s wildest goals pushed at the 1920s Democrat conventions.
DMOTP Jiffy soldiers on into insanity: “…fund ’em with as much love as you give the military.“
2017 US Military Budget $606 billion
2017 Total US Public School spending $694 billion
k:
And in those 5 decades R’s have been in the WH the majority of the time. Try again.
And yet again history evades you.
>Jason – what’s a race?
What a stupid question. If you don’t know the answer, then stop saying anything is “racist” until you can get the knowledge.
It sure as shit is not this…
>It’s not as if the WisGOP is working to raise up poor schools to the level of suburban schools.
>And in those 5 decades R’s have been in the WH the majority of the time.
That’s your proof that Democrats are not racist? Dumb, even for you.
No, it is fact. If you don’t like it rewrite the history books.
>No, it is fact. If you don’t like it rewrite the history books.
That’s not what I said… hitting the Old Fashioned’s a little early tonight grandpa?
Um, Le Roi, so what? What did the democrats to combat racism? Did things get better when the Dems were in office? When did President Obama go to the inner cities to help the violence when he was president?
Which president grew the economy so much that there is the lowest unemployment figure in history?
How did Jimmy Carter do to solve racism?
How did Bill Clinton solve racism?
Nord,
You are a liberal. Your goal is to continue liberal welfare policies that make black fathers irrelevant.
Supporting policies that destroy the black family makes you a racist.
I think you’re figuring it out, Mar. Not a lot gets done to erase disparities and racist policies.
Jimmy’s still building houses for poor people. Did you know Habitat got its ideas and its start just down the road from Jimmy’s place in Americus, GA?
j: Nope, I don’t care for old fashions, in spite of being a native Badger.
m: That isn’t what I said. You could easily check that out were you interested.
k: No, and no. You are making all that up to make yourself feel more important.
All of you: Not very christian of any of you on your holiest of days. Awful, just awful.
MjM, and your point is? You think the public schools get the same attention as the military?
Nort babbles : ”And in those 5 decades R’s have been in the WH the majority of the time.”
And in those same 5 decades D’s have controlled the House and Senate the majority of the time.
Tell us Nortomous: which R presidents of the last 5 decades called for the the breakup of the black family core? Name the policies they championed that did so.
Nord,
I just believe the poor and most oppressed need to be liberated from the godless, awful. liberal policies that rob kids of their dad, their right to choose a great school, and their right to a two parent family.
When will you renounce your support of awful liberal racism?
Repentance is an excellent thing to do on Easter.
I understand if you don’t, because the godless tend to be unrepentant.
Don’t get all worked up, your fellow comrade, jiffy, wanted to talk racism. I am just exposing the liberal racism he complains about and tries to blame on God fearing conservatives.
It is high time liberals repent of what their racist policies have done to black community.
DMOTP Jiffy can’t comprehend his own rants: “your point is?”
Um…… “Dad29 – fund ’em with as much love as you give the military.”
… or, in reality, more. Capice, somaro?
DMOTP Jiffy blind a a Wuhan bat:”You think the public schools get the same attention as the military?”
No. Of course not. Public schools get a hell of a lot more attention.
WI military spending 2017 : $22 million (National Guard, feds pay into WI NG $60million)
WI Public school spending 2017: $4.6 billion
No MjM, John is talking about the emotion behind the dollars given, not the actual facts! Just like drunk Leroy, talking all over without actually saying anything.
Well, Jason, to liberals (other peoples’) money is the root of all love, so mo’ money = mo’ luv.
MjM, no expense spared, right? Weren’t we talking about why some schools have gold-plated locker rooms and some don’t?
How come you don’t get as turgid about that clause as you do “well-regulated militia?”
Jjf,
Competition insures that, not the liberal racist monopoly.
Jiffy ignores the fact that the gold-plated locker room was a GIFT from a taxpayer. That would mess up his snark somethin’ awful.
Gee. Choice schools are funded at eighty percent of traditional public screwels, Jiffy. Yet they work SO much better!!
We also note that the worst public schools in this State are in school districts governed by Democrat-Union boards for decades. Thankfully, they never installed gold-plated gymnasiums–nor any other significant improvements.
Dad29, yes, I’ve posted and linked here before about the particular gold-plated locker room that we’re both thinking of. But you also know there are many others funded by the taxpayers, and you also know there are Some Schools in Certain Areas where both the academic and athletic facilities aren’t quite as uniform as they could be, when compared to the suburbs. Or for that matter, there’s a lot of rural schools that don’t quite match the Milwaukee suburban schools.
Keep it up, though – tell me more about the union thugs who don’t deserve the cradle-to-grave commie/socialist-level bennies that you give the least grunt (and their families) in the services.
DMOTP Jiffy shows his DMOTP cred: “, which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable;”
Which doesn’t mean what you (barely) think it means.
MjM, obviously it means that the schools should be as different as possible, commensurate to the wealth of the district.
So Dad and MjM, here we have the perfect example of John Foust getting caught up in his stupid argument and then shifting to something new.
First it was Racist policies, which once he learned that racism requires race, ran away from that.
Next it was the public schools not getting as much love as the military. He never responded to that fallacy.
Now it’s some specious argument about “as nearly uniform” with regards to schools.
Just squirming around as much as possible. He will probably close with some more stupid questions that have no bearing on anything he’s posted in this discussion to date.
Anonymous Jason, if it doesn’t matter that there are great schools and poor schools, then why does the right make such a big deal about it, and then do so little about it?
The only suggestions I see here are “cage match of undetermined duration in years, meanwhile F the kids who are in the bad schools now” and “give more money to our religious schools although the religious content is incidental wink wink.”
Racism is a complex subject. If you’d like to learn about it, I could suggest some books. Do you do a lot of reading?
jjf,
Uniform schools will emerge if you attach money to student, not school via vouchers. Only funding the school gets is voucher.
Why are you so against that?
Kevin, that sounds like a faith-based belief. It’s also an expansion of the pork flow to your church school, right-o?