The Payroll Protection Program, funded with $350 billion dollars, is gone, probably not to be renewed, and the smallest possible number of people it was intended to keep employed will benefit.
Smallest?
Here is how it worked. The Bank of America was the largest lender. On the first day, within hours of the start, Bank of America had tapped 10% of the entire amount available. For their preferred business customers they contacted them before the start and guided them to the loans.
Preferred Customers? Not all their business customers?
As a smirking Bank of America branch manager explained to me, my business was not a preferred customer because we did not have a business loan with Bank of America, and therefore was of no interest to the Bank of America. As the manager suggested, the Bank of America simply saw the Payroll Protection Program as a way to ensure hat its expected loan payments will be made. To the extent that small business paid employees, they were not paying the Bank of America.
There is an inverse relationship between Bank of America profits and paying small business employees, who would otherwise lose their jobs. That is, the less jobs saved, the better for the Bank of America.
Moreover, through a series of extra obstacles placed in the way of small businesses by the Bank of America, the “non-preferred” small business customers were never even allowed to complete applications for the Payroll Protection Program.
Bank of America gutted the Payroll Protection Program, throwing at least tens of thousands of Americans out of work, in order to increase their profits. Is anyone surprised?
(From a correspondent)
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