美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why the high forgiveness rate of PPP loans is troubling to many people

Why the high forgiveness rate of PPP loans is troubling to many people

Transcript¹

The majority of Paycheck Protection Program loans given to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic have been forgiven, but new data show the program was rampant² with fraud.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Interesting new data is out on the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP for short. It gave potentially forgivable government loans to small businesses during COVID, and the data shows the vast majority of those loans have been forgiven. Sacha Pfeiffer of NPR's investigations³ team is here to explain why that high forgiveness rate is troubling to many people. So, Sacha, people who got these loans were hoping they'd be forgiven. What's not to like about these new numbers, then?

SACHA PFEIFFER, BYLINE⁴: So there is no doubt that these loans were a lifesaver for many companies. And anyone who got PPP funding is probably relieved to hear that 92% of all the loans have been granted full or partial forgiveness so far. That's according to Small Business Administration data released this month. But a lot of that money went to businesses that didn't need it - wealthy celebrities⁵ like Khloe Kardashian and Tom Brady, for example. They have companies that each got a PPP loan of about $1,000,000 entirely⁶ forgiven. Also, many businesses that thrived during COVID got their loans forgiven, like some manufacturing and construction firms.

MART?NEZ: But was it legal for them to take that money?

PFEIFFER: Yes, it was. To qualify for a loan, you just had to say you thought you needed it and to get it forgiven, you did not have to prove the money was necessary. So that meant not only did people get loans they didn't truly need, it also attracted scam artists. Here's how University of Texas finance professor Sam Kruger puts it.

SAM KRUGER: The PPP program seems to have resulted in billions of dollars of fraudulent loans that have ultimately turned into grants.

PFEIFFER: He estimates that $64 billion of the nearly $800 billion in loans show signs of fraud.

MART?NEZ: OK, so then why wasn't the government stricter with forgiveness? I mean, couldn't they have tried a little bit harder to weed out fraudsters or told businesses that prosper⁷ during COVID to actually just repay the money?

PFEIFFER: I spent a lot of time asking those questions. The simple answer is the government wanted to get a lot of money out there very quickly, and it was willing to accept some waste. It also made forgiveness easy because that's what businesses lobbied Congress for. So auditors⁸ have manually reviewed only about 2% of the more than 11 million loans issued. And of that small number of loans reviewed, just 0.2% were denied forgiveness - minuscule⁹. But I want to play something a former Treasury¹⁰ official under President Trump¹¹ said to me. His name is Michael Faulkender.

MICHAEL FAULKENDER: Because PPP got up and running, we did not realize the catastrophe¹² that could have taken place had we failed. What would breadlines during a pandemic have looked like? Do we want to know? I didn't. And so we were going to get that program up and running.

PFEIFFER: He says the government prioritized speed over accuracy when giving out loans.

MART?NEZ: And is it just me, Sacha, or did he sound a little testy¹³?

PFEIFFER: He sounded testy to me, too. I would say he definitely was. And so was an SBA official in the Biden administration named Patrick Kelley. He told me it frustrates¹⁴ him when his agency is criticized over the program because it was just carrying out a law passed by Congress. And he pointed¹⁵ out that Congress voted repeatedly to issue more loans and make them increasingly easy to forgive, even when problems with the program became obvious. Here's Patrick Kelley.

PATRICK KELLEY: It's an easy sentiment to say, well, there goes the government again. Why didn't they do it right? But to me, it ignores the awesomeness¹⁶ of what did get done right. I've met many, many, many, many, many more people who are thankful for their PPP loan.

MART?NEZ: OK. So he's focusing on the good the money did. But can any of the PPP loans that went astray be recovered?

PFEIFFER: Well, prosecutors¹⁷ have up to 10 years to chase pandemic fraud, but no one will be asking rich people who didn't need a loan to please give it back. That money is theirs to keep. Meanwhile, PPP has contributed to the federal debt, which recently hit $31 trillion. Paying that down could eventually lead to higher taxes and fewer government services, even for future generations. That's really disappointing to business owners I interviewed, like Roy Thurston. He owns a Cape¹⁸ Cod¹⁹ art gallery that got $14,000 in PPP loans all forgiven. And he said this.

ROY THURSTON: What bothers me is the people that took money that should have known better than to take money. It should have been for people who really needed it.

PFEIFFER: And by the way, that 92% forgiveness rate - it's expected to keep getting higher as more forgiveness requests are processed.

MART?NEZ: All right. That's NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer. Sacha, thanks.

PFEIFFER: You're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

3 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

8 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

9 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。

10 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

11 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

12 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

13 testy   

adj.易怒的；暴躁的

参考例句：

• Ben's getting a little testy in his old age.上了年纪后本变得有点性急了。
• A doctor was called in to see a rather testy aristocrat.一个性格相当暴躁的贵族召来了一位医生为他检查。

14 frustrates   

v.使不成功( frustrate的第三人称单数 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• What frustrates him is that there's too little money to spend on the project. 使他懊恼的是，可用于这个项目的资金太少。
• His trouble is that he frustrates much easily. 他的毛病是很容易泄气。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 awesomeness   

可怕的

参考例句：

• Dominion and awesomeness are his who brings about harmony in his heavens. 权能和威严为他所有，他在高天缔造和平。 来自互联网
• There is no charge?for awesomeness, or attractiveness. 彪悍不求回报，迷人更无所需。 来自互联网

17 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

18 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

19 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。