Karen Greenberg (2020-05-18). So Long to American Exceptionalism. commondreams.org The virus has put the realities of wealth inequality, health insecurity, and poor work conditions under a high-powered microscope. (Photo: Shutterstock) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/whitehouse_2_1_0.jpeg …

Alison P. Galvani, Alyssa S. Parpia, Abhishek Pandey, Charlotte Zimmer, James G. Kahn, Meagan C. Fitzpatrick (2020-05-17). [Commentary] The imperative for universal healthcare to curtail the COVID-19 outbreak in the USA. thelancet.com The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States is growing steeply and spreading widely. As of March 26, national incidence surpassed every other country, and as of April 28 has reported over a million cases. The COVID-19 crisis is exposing the systemic frailties in our healthcare system. More than 78 million people in America do not have access to adequate health insurance [1]. Given that health insurance in the US is typically provided by employers, millions more are at risk of losing their healthcare coverage as unemployment surges.

Fight Back (2020-05-16). Wisconsin FRSO condemns state Supreme Court ruling that ends 'safer-at-home'. fightbacknews.org Milwaukee, WI – Ryan Hamann, a Wisconsin Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) leader stated, "The Wisconsin Supreme Court – meeting virtually, I might add – voted 4-3 to strike down the 'safer-at-home' order. While this is disappointing, it is not a surprise. The judicial system, much like the government, is intricately tied to the wealthy business owners and their anti-people agenda. What it proves is that the ruling class in this state is willing to sacrifice the lives of the working class just to maintain a higher rate of profit." | Hamann continued, "Governor Evers' order itself was fairl…

Eds. (2020-05-16). U.S. jobless rate broke depression-era record—but most media missed it. mronline.org The Bureau of Labor Statistics' eagerly awaited Friday morning Official Unemployment Rate report for April—what editors generally call the BLS's "headline" rate of unemployment—was definitely headline-worthy.

Stewart Lansley (2020-05-16). It's time for a basic, guaranteed income for all. thecanary.co The pandemic crisis has laid bare the multiple flaws in the British system of social support. With the economy shrinking and unemployment soaring, the government has been forced to support falling incomes through wage subsidies and the easing of

Alan Macleod (2020-05-15). Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America's Billionaires. mintpressnews.com A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country's super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes.

Mark Gruenberg (2020-05-15). Back to work, or else: Trump administration tells states to pull unemployment benefits. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—GOP President Donald Trump's Labor Secretary, Eugene Scalia, and his #2 who runs the agency that oversees jobless benefits want employers to report—and states to bar benefits from—workers who fear returning to their old jobs because their employers won't protect them against the coronavirus. The memo, from John Pallasch, a GOP operative, an advocate for …

news.un (2020-05-15). Millions of migrants across Russia, Central Asia, 'teetering on the brink', as UN launches urgent appeal. news.un.org The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched an urgent $7 million appeal on Thursday, to ease the impact of COVID-19 on migrant communities in five Central Asian countries and the Russian Federation, where the pandemic is pushing a growing number of migrant workers into poverty.

Conn Hallinan (2020-05-15). War and Plagues: Military Spending During a Pandemic. counterpunch.org Welcome to the world of the hypersonic weapons, devices that are not only superfluous, but which will almost certainly not work, They will, however, cost enormous amounts of money. At a time when countries across the globe are facing economic chaos, financial deficits and unemployment at Great Depression levels, arms manufacturers are set to cash in big.

Pam Martens, Russ Martens (2020-05-15). The Fed Hasn't Spent a Dime Yet for Main Street Versus $735 Billion for Wall Street. counterpunch.org The stimulus bill known as the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27. Among its many features (such as direct checks to struggling Americans and enhancing unemployment compensation by $600 per week for four months to unemployed workers so they could pay

Fight Back (2020-05-15). Almost 3 million more applied for Unemployment Insurance last week. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – On Thursday, May 14, the Labor Department reported more bad news, saying that almost 3 million people applied for unemployment insurance in the previous week ending May 9. This means that over the last eight weeks more than 36 million people applied after losing jobs and income. Another 3.5 million are collecting the federal government's Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, which goes to the self-employed. This brings the total number of recently unemployed people to about 40 million. | This report was worse than mainstream economists expected, with a drop of only 200,000 from the week before,…

PAI (2020-05-14). U.S. pandemic unemployment grows again, but so does the number of billionaires. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—Some 2.981 million more people filed for jobless benefits in the week ending May 7, the Labor Department said Thursday, bringing total unemployment insurance claims since the coronavirus pandemic-caused shutdowns began to 36.5 million. Progressive analysts at the Economic Policy Institute predict jobless figures will only get worse, especially for low-wage workers, women workers, and …

news.un (2020-05-14). Workers and COVID-19: Access to healthcare, now 'a matter of life and death'. news.un.org The spread of COVID-19 in developing countries has exposed gaps in social protection coverage which could compromise recovery plans, expose millions of people to poverty and affect global readiness to cope with similar crises, according to two policy briefs issued Thursday by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Trudy Hess (2020-05-14). ideas that are lying around … peoplesparty.org | LYING AROUND … | During a crisis, when people are disoriented, afraid and focused on survival, it is much easier to push through horrific policies that will punish working and poor people with austerity, further privatize our commons, and transfer wealth from the bottom to the top. | But Friedman's legacy didn't end with his own work. We see the Shock Doctrine playbook everywhere in US policy. | We saw it in the "rebuilding" of Iraq, the responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Maria, and of course,…

Dave Lindorff (2020-05-13). US Jobless Rate Broke Depression-Era Record—but Most Media Missed It. fair.org The New York Times (5/9/20) featured a chart of job losses that stretched all the way down the front page. | The Bureau of Labor Statistics' eagerly awaited Friday morning Official Unemployment Rate report for April—what editors generally call the BLS's "headline" rate of unemployment —was definitely headline-worthy. This was especially evident in the next day's New York Times (5/9/20), which ran a bar chart of historic unemployment going back to 1946 across the top of the front page, and then a long red bar down the right-hand column of the entire page showing job losses for April. | It was a drama…

news.un (2020-05-13). COVID-19 threatens to undo global health progress. news.un.org While more people are living longer and healthier lives, the rate of progress is too slow to realize global efforts to stamp out poverty and inequality by 2030, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

H. Patricia Hynes (2020-05-13). Trump Budget Winners and Losers. zcomm.org Thanks to this tax cut—the rich get richer: 72 percent of the tax cuts were directed to the wealthiest 20 percent of households…

ISDBICC (2020-05-12). [Research Paper] Mapping of variations in child stunting, wasting and underweight within the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2000—2017. thelancet.com CGF indicators have improved in India, but there are substantial variations between the districts in their magnitude and rate of decline, and the inequality between districts has increased in a large proportion of the states. The poor correlation between the national surveys for CGF estimates highlights the need to standardise collection of anthropometric data in India. The district-level trends in this report provide a useful reference for targeting the efforts under NNM to reduce CGF across India and meet the Indian and global targets.

Project Censored (2020-05-12). The Censorship of Inequality in the Covid-19 Era: How Corporate and Market-Based Metrics Rule the News, and Why it Matters. projectcensored.org By Anthony DiMaggio The old adage that "the more things change the more they stay the same" seems particularly appropriate to media coverage in the Covid-19 crisis. Old patterns of media…

Vincent Tsai and Camden Goetz (2020-05-10). New York pandemic spending favors wealthy over workers. liberationnews.org New York politicians have recently barreled forward with plans for massive cuts to public spending.

Lawrence Wittner (2020-05-08). Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America's Billionaires Thrive and Prosper. zcomm.org Although most Americans currently face hard times, with unemployment surging to the levels of the Great Depression and enormous numbers of people sick or dying from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's super-rich remain a notable exception. Financially, they are doing remarkably well. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March 18 and April 28,

Jeff Jurgens (2020-04-30). U.S. Organizations React to Global Military Spending Report. peaceaction.org Joint Statement: U.S. organizations react to global military spending report April 27, 2020 Our diverse group of 39 think-tanks, non-profits, faith-based organizations, and advocacy groups based in the United States find the exorbitant amount of money spent on militaries worldwide to be an irresponsible and harmful use of global wealth. The Global Military Expenditures Report …

WSWS (2020-05-18). SEIU pushes through sellout contract after blocking strike by Illinois nursing home workers. wsws.org The Service Employees International Union pushed through a deal with poverty wages and no guarantee of health and safety measures as the deadly coronavirus continues its rampage.

Anand Naidoo (2020-05-12). The Heat: Countries face economic fallout from COVID-19. america.cgtn.com In the United States the latest government figures show 20.5 million people lost their jobs in April, raising the unemployment rate to 14.7%. Both are post-World War II records. The European Union is now forecasting the worst economic outlook since the Great Depression. While …

Anand Naidoo (2020-05-05). The Heat: COVID19-U.S. Economy & Mexico battles coronavirus. america.cgtn.com Unemployment claims move past 30 million in the United States as its economy shrinks and Mexico battles the coronavirus pandemic.

The Commonwealth Club (2020-05-18). Halting Bigotry in Its Tracks: History of Prejudice & Racism Against Asians (webinar). indybay.org Online via livestream…

Staff (2020-05-14). Coronavirus Pandemic Prompts Global Mental Health Crisis as Millions Feel Alone, Anxious & Depressed. democracynow.org Is the coronavirus pandemic generating a mental illness crisis? Millions face isolation, poverty and anxiety. We speak with psychology professor and author Andrew Solomon, as the United Nations calls on governments to put mental health "front and center" in their response to the crisis.

Staff (2020-05-14). Headlines for May 14, 2020. democracynow.org World Health Organization Says Novel Coronavirus "May Never Go Away", Whistleblower Warns U.S. Faces "Darkest Winter" Without Urgent Action on COVID-19, Trump Calls Dr. Anthony Fauci's Warning on COVID-19 and Schools "Not an Acceptable Answer", Wisconsin Stay-at-Home Orders Struck Down, Threatening New Wave of COVID-19 Deaths, Fed Reserve Chair Warns of Long Recession as Unemployment Claims Hit 36 Million, Trump Calls Democrats' Coronavirus Relief Bill "Dead on Arrival", Native Americans Make Up Half of New Mexico Coronavirus Deaths; New Orleans Sanitation Workers Strike, China to Test 11 Million Wuhan Residents…

Staff (2020-05-08). Headlines for May 8, 2020. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Pass 75,000 as Trump Sidelines Top Medical Experts, Trump to Be Tested for Coronavirus Daily After Valet Tests Positive, Vigil at White House Honors 88 Who Died from "Trump's Abhorrent Failure to Protect Nurses", U.S. Unemployment Claims Soar to 33.3 Million Amid Pandemic | , Democrats Promise "Rooseveltian" Coronavirus Relief Bill | , Mitch McConnell Prioritizes Judicial Confirmations as Senate Returns Amid Pandemic | , Data Shows 35 of 40 People Arrested in NY for Social Distancing Violations Are Black | , Texas Stops Jailing Lockdown Violators; Nebraska Ends Reporting on Meat Plant COVI…

Susan Price (2020-05-12). Tax-havened companies bailed out while poverty doubles amid pandemic. greenleft.org.au

Anand Naidoo (2020-04-24). The Heat: Economic impact of COVID-19 in the U.S. america.cgtn.com More than 26 million Americans have now filed for unemployment, the highest number since the Great Depression.