Americans don't need a lesson in financial literacy. The Trump administration does.

[Zorro]

Earlier this week, a video of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaking on “Face the Nation” late last month began making the rounds. Mnuchin seemed to imply that the government’s current financial support system — the temporary boost to unemployment benefits, the small business lending program and the $1,200 stimulus check — would be enough to tide American families over until the coronavirus pandemic crisis passed.

This is all ludicrously, offensively inaccurate. But lucky for us, April is Financial Literacy Month. It’s the perfect opportunity to teach Mnuchin — and the rest of the Trump administration — a few realities about the finances of everyday Americans.

There are at least 22 million people who lost their jobs within the past month — and that’s what we know of. Antiquated state unemployment systems cannot keep up with the demand. And despite the fact that gig workers are supposed to be covered — for the first time ever — the Trump administration’s Labor Department is attempting to issue regulations to get around that directive. “We want workers to have work, not to become dependent on the unemployment system,” Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia and Small Business Administration head Jovita Carranza wrote in an op-ed published by Fox Business (where else?) this week.

No surprise, thousands upon thousands of people are lining up at food banks, desperately seeking help — and the cost of staples such as eggs is soaring. Food banks, in turn, are increasingly concerned about running out of food, money or both. Meanwhile, the Trump administration needed to be publicly shamed into backing off an attempt to impose work requirements on food stamp recipients, even as jobs have disappeared.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/17/americans-dont-need-lesson-financial-literacy-trump-administration-does/

Those who have inherited great wealth and those who have made their own fortunes really have little clue about the financial stresses on the average American family.

[Hoyt]

1. To be fair, Mnuchin talked about the stimulus check AND the enhanced unemployment.

That will help most Americans who lost jobs for a few months, but then something else is going to be needed, including healthcare coverage. There are, however, many gaps that have to be filled.