"Tens of millions of Americans who lost their jobs because of the pandemic are now in danger of having their incomes slashed for a second time. The supplemental unemployment benefits of $600 per week that Congress approved four months ago are set to expire at the end of this week in most states — threatening to hurt strapped households and the U.S. economy, as billions of dollars' worth in spending suddenly comes to a halt," NPR's MORNING EDITION reports today.
Aren't we lucky to have a Congress that's on top of it and taking care of the American people -- Oh. Wait. We don't.
They take care of themselves very well. They just don't serve the American people.
Back in June of last year, they were going to give themselves yet another raise but then noticed the public was watching. From POLITICO:
House Democratic leaders are postponing consideration of a bill that would include a pay raise for members of Congress after facing a major backlash from the party's most vulnerable members.
Top Democrats agreed in a closed-door meeting Monday night to pull a key section of this week’s massive funding bill to avoid escalating a clash within their caucus over whether to hike salaries for lawmakers and staff for the first time in a decade, multiple lawmakers confirmed.
At least 15 Democrats — mostly freshmen in competitive districts — had pushed to freeze pay after some Democratic and Republican leaders quietly agreed to the slight pay increase earlier this month.
US House Rep. Betty McCollum Tweeted today, "Millions of Americans are still unemployed & unable to return to work, through no fault of their own – but it's the last week for Minnesotans to receive the federal $600/week unemployment benefit (ending July 25). https://uimn.org/applicants/needtoknow/news-updates/fpuc-ending.jsp"
Is anyone else in Congress paying attention? Because it really doesn't feel that way.
It doesn't feel like the government gives a damn at all. Last week, Andre Damon (WSWS) delivered disturbing news:
Wednesday was a disaster in the United States. There were 71,670 new cases of COVID-19 recorded, the second-worst day on record. Nearly 1,000 people lost their lives to the disease, according to official figures.
With Texas hospitals at 90 percent capacity, dozens of mobile morgues are being dispatched to the state. In Florida, 54 hospitals now have zero available beds in their intensive care units. And, amid a full-on drive to reopen schools, officials said that one third of children who were tested in Florida were positive, adding to the body of evidence that children can play a major role spreading the disease.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington reported that it estimates 224,089 people will die from COVID-19 by November 1, an upward revision of 20,000 from just one week ago.
Meanwhile, the most basic medical supplies, such as masks, gowns, gloves and disinfectants, “simply are not readily available from the usual sources our physicians use,” the American Medical Association reported.
The economic situation is equally disastrous. American Airlines said it would likely furlough 25 , 000 workers later this year, adding to the 36,000 furloughs announced at United Airlines last week. These layoffs are scheduled to take place despite the $25 billion bailout of the airline industry by the federal government.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) now predicts two possible scenarios by the end of 2020. Its “pessimistic” scenario is one in which the unemployment rate remains at 11.3 percent and economic output falls by 7.3 percent, both worse than any other recession since World War II. Its “more pessimistic” scenario is one in which the unemployment rate is 12.9 percent and economic output falls by 8.5 percent.
Amid all of this death and economic devastation, the stock markets surged, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up for the fourth trading day in a row, with an increase totaling over a thousand points. The S&P 500 is now significantly higher than it was one year ago today.
It's all about the money, not about helping Americans. And Americans need help. A lot of people need to be seeing their doctors right now. Many can't afford it but it's also true that many are afraid that they will catch something if they go to a clinic. Sharon Bernstein (REUTERS) reports:
A Texas man who waited until his brain tumor was softball-sized; a baby who suffered an ear infection for six days; a heart patient who died: The resurgence of COVID-19 is creating another health crisis as hospitals fill and patients are fearful or unable to get non-emergency care.
With U.S. coronavirus infections reaching new heights, doctors and hospitals say they are also seeing sharp declines in patients seeking routine medical care and screenings - and a rise in those who have delayed care for so long they are far sicker than they otherwise would be.
“I had one lady who had delayed for five days coming in with abdominal pain that was getting worse and worse,” said Dr. Diana Fite, who practices emergency medicine in Houston. “When she finally came in, she had a ruptured appendix.”
Where is the government? Are they all at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's purging on expensive chocolate ice cream? Is anyone trying to work for the people? Anyone at all?
If so, that $1,200 a month Senator Bernie Sanders said every American adult needs? It's still needed even if he didn't want to fight for it.
Trina's noted all along that we are not all in this together. It's a point others are starting to see as well. Hamilton Nolan (IN THESE TIMES) concludes:
This was a choice. None of this had to happen. There is one, and only
one, entity that has the capability of preventing this horrific chain
reaction of social collapse: the federal government. With the stroke of a
pen, the federal government can appropriate money to everyone to tide
them through their unemployment. It can stop evictions everywhere. It
can expand health insurance, stop businesses from going bankrupt, bail
out city and state governments so they are not forced to cut services,
and take the public health steps necessary to push infection rates low
enough to make it possible to reopen schools, and free parents to work
for a living.
All of these things are possible for the federal government. They
have chosen not to do any of them. (Democrats passed the HEROES Act
through the House in May which would provide some meaningful relief, but
Senate Republicans have refused to take it up.) Therefore, millions of
people are about to experience the falling dominoes of economic disaster
that will engulf their lives, destroy their wealth, and leave them with
nothing. It is impossible to avoid that outcome now. The only question
is how bad it will get. And it is important to understand that this
outcome has been chosen for us by the people who are running the
country.
Hope is an important emotion, and one that’s necessary to carry us
through hard times. But it can stand in the way of our ability to
analyze situations truthfully.
Let’s be honest about our prospects right now. Does anyone really
believe that restaurants, bars, sports, all forms of live entertainment,
many retail establishments, airlines, hotels, travel, tourism, or
commercial real estate—to name a few—are going to resume their baseline
level of business operations at any time in the next 6-12 months? They
will not. The states that tried that a month ago are now facing the
worst coronavirus outbreaks in the entire world. A portion of the jobs
in these industries, and in the associated industries that depend on
them, are going to evaporate. Fifty million unemployment claims have been filed. Forty percent
of people earning less than $40,000 lost their jobs in March. Some
millions of people are, as we speak, seeing their jobs disappear for
good.
Despite the fact that this was entirely predictable months ago, there
has not been any serious attempt to prevent it from happening. (A
serious attempt, as many intelligent people pointed out in March, would
mean the federal government giving citizens enough money not to work and
businesses enough money not to go bankrupt for the amount of time that
it took to take the public health steps necessary to resume a careful
version of normal life. Many other developed countries did this, but we
did not.)
Not only have we failed to prevent this first-order economic crisis,
but we are also failing to even enable the existence of a social safety
net to catch the people who are going to fall into the pit of economic
despair. Our leaders just do not care. They know that people have lost
jobs, and will not be able to find new ones, and will not be able to pay
their rent. But the people occupying positions of power in the federal
government do not care enough to take the steps to save those citizens
from the abyss. These facts do not move them.