Warren Buffett warns Congress that it must stop favoring economic stimulus or risking the future of small American business.
The Oracle of Omaha partnered with Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon on Tuesday morning to put the screws on politicians who have yet to hold a second round of funding for the pandemic, despite the coronavirus it is sweeping the nation and pushing many small businesses to the brink.
“It’s an economic war,” the 90-year-old totemic investor exclaimed during an interview with CNBC. “We’ve locked a lot of people in this induced recession and others are thriving, and I think the country owes it to millions of small business owners.”
Solomon echoed Buffett’s message, which expressed optimism over the release of vaccines this week, but warned that 50% of participants in Goldman’s “10,000 Small Business” program have stopped paying their staff .
“While you can see the goal, I think a lot of these small businesses need help to reach the goal,” Solomon said.
The energy pair is part of an increasingly shrill chorus of Wall Street bigwigs pushing Washington to get a new bill.
JPMorgan Chase, honcho Jamie Dimon, sounded in stagnant stimulus talks during a Nov. 18 appearance at a financial conference.
“Now we have this big debate:‘ Is it $ 2.2 trillion, $ 1.5 trillion? “You have to make fun of me,” Dimon said.
It looks like Congress is listening. On Monday, leaders in both chambers launched a new plan that would expand some of the benefits of first-round relief funding and also put $ 700 million in the hands of small businesses.
But Buffett made it clear Tuesday that immediate action is needed on any proposal.
“It must happen soon,” he warned, “I mean your ship will go down.”