Company Tied to Top Trump Economic Adviser Got $19.9 Million "Small Business" Forgivable COVID-19 Bailout Loan

President Trump awards Arthur Laffer the Presidential Medal of Freedom

A firm where longtime economic adviser to President Trump, Arthur Laffer, sat on the board received a $19.9 million forgivable loan under the COVID-19 bailout Paycheck Protection Program.

Laffer resigned from the board of GEE Group Inc., a professional staffing services firm, in March, which puts his resignation roughly in line with when GEE received the payment.

Just a couple months later, in June, Laffer signed an open letter calling for the end of bailouts.

The letter addressed to Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and signed by 19 prominent Republicans, besides Laffer, said:

There is no limit to worthy causes, but there is a limit to other people's money..The inside-the-Beltway crowd falsely calls these trillions of dollars a "stimulus" to the economy. But government can only give money to some people, as Nobel-prize winning economist Milton Friedman taught all of us many years ago, by taking money from others.

When you have power centers those close to power always seem to benefit and hypocrisy just comes with the territory.

GEE offers professional and commercial staffing services under the names of Access Data Consulting, Agile Resources, Ashley Ellis, General Employment, Omni-One, Paladin Consulting, and Triad; medical staffing services under the Scribe Solutions brand; and contract and direct hire professional staffing services under the Accounting Now, SNI Technology, Legal Now, SNI Financial, Staffing Now, SNI Energy, and SNI Certes brands.

In addition to being a director, Laffer, according to filings, owns about 3% of the company.

-RW

(via Salon)