This jumps out at me from a CNBC report on a poll on current public attitudes during the coronavirus crisis:
While voters overwhelmingly approve of the $2 trillion aid package Congress passed last month, they mostly oppose the $500 billion fund for loans and grants to corporations.
This finding comes from a CNBC/Change Research poll of what Americans living in battlegrounds states (Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) are concerned about right now.
The survey also revealed this:
- 81% said they had significant concerns about a recession, a jump from 57% last month.
- Fears about lost wages spiked, with 65% now seeing it as a very or somewhat serious concern in April, versus 35% in March.
- 39% said the same about losing a job, an increase from 16% last month.
Ordinarily, many of us who support these grants and loans to corporations would not favor handing out a lot of taxpayer money.
There is a reason that even small government Scrooges such as your humble blogger swallow hard and support these grants. They are aimed at preserving jobs.
There is something of a disconnect in worrying about the future of jobs in the U.S. and the overwhelmingly negative attitude towards grants and loans for business found in the survey.
What does it take to be employed? An employer. Corporations are employers. The impulse to preserve corporations is not based on a love of so-called Fat Cats. The impulse is to preserve jobs.
There is lots of interesting stuff in the poll, but the misunderstanding as to where jobs come from needed to be noted.