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Re:CDC declares a federal moratorium on evictions [pdf] by munk-a on Thursday September 24, 2020 @02:15AM (#24575797)
I disagree - I think the US has plenty available to subsidize the economy - rather than having mortgage payments be frozen why don't you just freeze the DoD budget and redirect that money toward economic subsidies - a hundredth of what the DoD eats in a year would float all the social services for like a decade.

Hiding behind the DoD being "politically untouchable" is cowardice when 200k folks are dead.

Re:CDC declares a federal moratorium on evictions [pdf] by slg on Thursday September 24, 2020 @01:16PM (#24580968)
There are two different components to that. Would it be politically possible? And would it be effective ?

The answer to the political feasibility question is a straight no. There is not going to be political support to redirect DoD funds to direct stimulus payments to the population. We can't even agree to print new money to pay for more stimulus checks. This basically kills this conversation until at least November.

Whether it is practical is a more difficult question to answer. You were the one who brought up the whole economy is a circle of life idea. That DoD money doesn't just disappear. It goes to buy good and services and it goes to pay people. Abruptly stopping those payments would cause economic problems just like stopping people from paying mortgages. I would even bet that the multiplier is higher for DoD spending than mortgage spending based on the recipients of the money. Would this mean that DoD spending is better for the economy than mortgage spending? I honestly have no idea. Although I do agree that this country should reduce DoD spending and increase spending on social problems long term, it isn't as easy as making an immediate transition in the middle of a pandemic.