Christ Yoder
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President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, has revealed his wife struggled to apply through the Small Business Loan Program to help keep her art business afloat amid the coronavirus crisis, although others report big problems.
“My wife Judy…she’s a very distinguished, sometimes renowned freelance painter, she might need some help with her surgery,” Kudlow said in an interview with POLITICO last week.
Kudlow, whose personal assets are valued at a maximum net worth of $2 million according to a 2018 Bloomberg report, touted how easy it was for his wife to take out a loan for her business under the loans program. of the Small Business Administration.
“She went to a local community bank near us in Connecticut and apparently it’s just a one-page form, that’s all. It couldn’t be easier,” Kudlow said.
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While there’s no indication that Kudlow’s wife received any special treatment, other small business owners have complained in recent days that the process hasn’t been that smooth.
“Larry Kudlow’s wife is a small business owner and private citizen. Any speculation that anything inappropriate or nefarious is happening with his candidacy is simply false and more media fallout,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere said in a statement.
The Paycheck Protection Program, created as part of the $2 trillion stimulus package approved by Congress last month, provides small business owners with federally backed loans that will be forgiven if the money is used to keep employees on the payroll.
But the program, initially funded at $367 billion, did not work as expected. Small business owners reported quick turndowns from banks if they didn’t already have an existing relationship. And the banks, for their part, were unprepared for the massive onslaught of small businesses seeking loans.
In an interview with Fox Business on Friday, Kudlow said more than 660,000 loans have been approved for a total of $168 billion, meaning nearly half of the program’s money has already been committed.
He warned that money for the program was set to run out on April 17.
“These are huge numbers,” Kudlow said. “That’s why we would like Congress to help us with another $250 billion.”
(MORE: Democrats want $500 billion more to ease crisis, by staging Senate showdown)
Congress is actively seeking to add additional funds to the small business loan program, but Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate remain deadlocked.
Late last week, Senate Republicans tried to push through $250 billion in additional funds for the ailing program, but their efforts were blocked by Democrats who wanted to secure $500 billion in legislation that would would go not only to small businesses, but also to local and state communities. governments and hospitals.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy released a joint statement Saturday morning saying they would not agree to the Democrats’ demands.
“Republicans reject Democrats’ irresponsible threat to continue withholding job-saving funding unless we renegotiate unrelated programs that do not face the same peril,” the joint statement read. “This won’t be Congress’s last word on COVID-19, but this crucial program needs funding now. American workers cannot be used as political hostages.
McConnell and McCarthy claimed in their statement that the program “depleted about half of its initial funding in the first week.”
The $2 trillion stimulus package prohibits lawmakers, Cabinet members and President Trump’s family from receiving Treasury Department loans or investments.
It is unclear how Ms Kudlow plans to use the funds given to her company under the scheme and whether she has any employees. ABC News has contacted the White House for comment.
The Paycheck Protection Program allows business owners to take out a loan if they are sole proprietors.
According to her website, Judith Kudlow “splits her time between New York – where she received her artistic training – Washington DC and Redding, CT”. His method of painting, according to his biography, is “based on precise drawing, careful modeling to produce the three-dimensional illusion, harmonious and precise colors and values, and compositions based on age-old rules”.
She charges between $10,000 and $20,000 for commissioned paintings, according to her website.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to indicate that although Larry Kudlow applied for a loan under the program, it is unclear whether she was approved for a loan or received any funds.
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Trump economic adviser’s wife applies for small business loan amid deployment chaos originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
