(2020-07-19). Homeless in Portland, Oregon. zcomm.org Old Town Portland looks like a huge refugee settlement. I deliver lunches to 4 homeless encampments three days a week. It is like walking into a poverty war zone…
(2020-07-19). The simplest way to close the racial wealth gap? Direct cash payments. zcomm.org Here's my proposal: give $20,000 to every American with an enslaved ancestor, every year, for 20 years. We can afford it…
(2020-07-18). What Lies Ahead: Permanent Job Losses, Poverty in America, Financial and Political Instability. globalresearch.ca On July 6, 2020 I posted my extended view and analysis why the 3rd quarter US GDP would falter—and lead to a W-shape recovery, as it typical of all Great Recessions. The current recession's scenario was compared with 1929-30 and …
(2020-07-18). 'Inequality defines our time': UN chief delivers hard-hitting Mandela day message. news.un.org Inequality, an issue which "defines our time", risks destroying the world's economies and societies, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a hard-hitting speech on Saturday.
(2020-07-18). The $600 is essential for the unemployed, extend FPUC now! fightbacknews.org San José, CA – In less than two weeks the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation or FPUC, which provides an extra $600 a week to those who are unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will end. The FPUC was part of CARES act passed back in March as disaster relief as the pandemic began to ravage the U.S. economy. | In addition to the $600 a week in extra unemployment benefits, another part of the CARES act protecting tenants is about to expire. There has been an eviction ban on all apartment buildings that are part of federal assistance programs, or whose landlords have federally insured mortgages. These…
(2020-07-17). History and Black Consciousness: The Political Culture of Black America. mronline.org 
Many people from divergent ethnic backgrounds, speaking various languages, and possessing different cultures now share a common experience of inequality in the United States. Yet there is an absence of unity among these constituencies, in part because their leaders are imprisoned ideologically and theoretically by the assumptions and realities of the past.
(2020-07-17). WATCH: Immigrant workers camp outside Bezos' NYC apartment as part of AOC-sponsored campaign to tax billionaires. rt.com 
Dozens of immigrant workers have begun a joint 24-hour fast and sleep-out outside billionaire Jeff Bezos' $16 million penthouse in Manhattan, to lobby New York authorities to tax the wealthy to help the pandemic-affected poor. | High-profile Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is among those behind a campaign to push New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to further tax the mega-rich in the state and use the revenue generated to help workers in need of assistance during the pandemic. | Eyewitness footage from the scene shows the workers, joined by city council members, set up camp on Fifth Avenue near the Amazon-o…
(2020-07-17). Dems and GOP to Debate Extended Stimulus Benefits Next Week. globalresearch.ca Current federal unemployment benefits expire in days. | In May, House-controlled Dems narrowly passed a new $3 trillion stimulus package. | So-called Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) legislation extends current federal benefits through at least yearend. | Senate Majority Leader …
(2020-07-17). Recovering Fully From the Coronavirus Shock Will Require Large Increases in Federal Debt—and There's Nothing Wrong With That. commondreams.org It is important to note that right now, and for the foreseeable future, we are in a demand-constrained economy, not a supply-constrained economy. (Photo: Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/unemployment_3_0.jpg …
(2020-07-17). Michigan workers rally and march for unemployment extensions. fightbacknews.org Lansing, MI – 120 union members and supporters marched through downtown Lansing, July 15, chanting, "They say cut back! We say fight back!" The march stopped at a union worker statue where Nick Eaton of IATSE Local 247 spoke, "This statue represents the workers who built the new buildings you see in front of you. It also reflects the history of factory workers before deindustrialization left ugly scenes and empty lots, like many cities in the Midwest." | The marchers returned to the State Capitol building chanting about unemployment, "Extend to the end!" and "HEROES Act now!" Josh Roskamp with IATSE Local 26 expl…
(2020-07-17). Now Is the Time for Free College. zcomm.org With youth unemployment and student debt skyrocketing, young people need free higher education…
(2020-07-17). The US Economy to Shrink Up to -6,6% in 2020, IMF Predicts. telesurenglish.net The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Friday predicted that the U.S. economy would drop to -6.6 percent by 2020 and that the unemployment rate would be 9.7 percent. | RELATED: | "Washington needs to deploy as soon as possible a new fiscal stimulus proposal to accelerate its economic recovery," IMF warned in a statement. | To prevent the new predictions, the U.S. administration must also promote its social safety net and it shoul…
(2020-07-17). France: Macron Steps Back, Postpones Pension Reform Until 2021. telesurenglish.net During a meeting with employers and workers in Paris, France's Prime Minister Jean Castex Friday proposed delaying pension reform negotiations until 2021. | RELATED: | Arguing the existence of an economic crisis and a health emergency, he proposed also to postpone the reform of unemployment insurance until next year. | The new public pension system law, which was approved on Nov. 1, 2019, was expected to take effect in September…
(2020-07-17). G20 Must Act, Say Hundreds of Religious, Labor, Human Rights, Environmental and Developmen. indybay.org Washington DC – Ahead of Saturday's G20 Finance Minister meetings, a wide range of 213 organizations is pressing for more action to confront the global health and economic impacts of the coronavirus. The largest religious bodies in the United States and Africa were joined by the biggest labor unions, human rights, environmental and anti-poverty groups in letters sent to the G20, IMF and White House.
(2020-07-17). Nicaragua: The Revolution Won't Be Stopped. popularresistance.org 2019 was an amazing year in the search for peace in Nicaragua with The Amnesty Law and the promotion of reconciliation between neighbors in every corner of the nation. It was a year of life-giving advances in all aspects of wellbeing: poverty reduction, health, education, gender equity, recreation, culture and infrastructure; strengthened food security, and a new highway that joins Bluefields to the rest of the nation making the first paved transit route from the Caribbean to the Pacific. | And all this despite cruel US unconventional warfare against the Sandinistas that has gone on for decades and reached a peak…
(2020-07-16). Video: The COVID-19 Lockdown: Economic and Social Impacts. globalresearch.ca The unspoken truth is that the novel coronavirus provides a pretext to powerful financial interests and corrupt politicians to trigger the entire World into a spiral of mass unemployment, bankruptcy, extreme poverty and despair. | Michel Chossudovsky interviews Economist and Geopolitical …
(2020-07-16). 'Not Him… Us': On the Ultimate Meaning of the Bernie Sanders Campaign. commondreams.org Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) addresses supporters during a campaign rally on March 8, 2020 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Sanders covered his policy agendas for immigration, women's rights, healthcare and economic inequality. (Photo by Brittany Greeson/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/bernie_not_him_us.jpg …
(2020-07-16). Republicans Roll Out Resolution Accusing Ilhan Omar of 'Anti-American' Remarks. sputniknews.com Minnesota House of Representatives Democrat Ilhan Omar has been accused by members the Republican party of violating her oath to defend the US Constitution, following a speech earlier this month in which she called on the US public to tear down "systems of oppression" and fight racism and inequality.
(2020-07-16). Despite Trump's happy talk, 2.4 million more claim jobless benefits. peoplesworld.org 
WASHINGTON — Another 2,432,380 people filed for unemployment insurance benefits last week, the Labor Department reported, pushing the official total of jobless above 32 million, and the unofficial total far beyond that. Just over 1.5 million (1,503,892) newly jobless sought state-paid benefits, funded by employers' contributions and payroll taxes—sources that are rapidly running out of …
(2020-07-16). Ocasio-Cortez, NY State Progressives Call on Cuomo to Pass Billionaires' Tax to Support Immigrants Left Out of Covid-19 Relief. commondreams.org Progressive lawmakers in New York on Thursday demanded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo impose a tax on the few wealthy New Yorkers who have benefited financially from the coronavirus pandemic in order to support immigrant workers who have been excluded from relief measures. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1222279641_1_0.jpg …
(2020-07-16). COVID-19: UN relief chief urges G20 to step up to avert 'cascading crises' in fragile countries. news.un.org The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession are set to trigger the first increase in global poverty in three decades, pushing 265 million people to the point of starvation by the end of the year, the UN's top humanitarian official warned on Friday.
(2020-07-16). With Unemployment at Historic Heights, Congress Must Extend $600 Lifeline to Workers. commondreams.org Letting the $600 expire won't just hurt UI recipients and their families, it would hurt millions more. (Photo: Andrew Cashin / MTA New York City Transit / flickr / cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/coronavirus_workers_0_0.jpg …
(2020-07-16). It's Going to be a Long, Hard Recession. counterpunch.org When the unemployment rate goes up, a standard theme in the media is that workers don't have the right skills. We saw that yesterday in the New York Times when an article told us "The Pandemic Has Accelerated Demands for a More Skilled Workforce." It tells us how the growth of telecommuting in response to
(2020-07-16). Bolstering Case for Extending Unemployment Relief—and Higher Wages Overall—Study Shows Recipients Spent More During Pandemic. commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/unemployment_0.jpg …
(2020-07-15). Can romance transcend class? Hochschild's 'Rebel Cinderella' in review. peoplesworld.org 
Can romance transcend class? The answer, based on Adam Hochschild's latest book, Rebel Cinderella: From Rags to Riches to Radical, the Epic Journey of Rose Pastor Stokes, seems to be yes—for a while. Hochschild, author of King Leopold's Ghost and Spain in Our Hearts, tells the life story of Rose Pastor Stokes, a Jewish woman born into poverty in …
(2020-07-15). Independent rights expert says emerging technologies entrenching racism, discrimination. news.un.org An independent UN human rights expert is calling for greater scrutiny of emerging digital technologies which she said are being used to uphold racial inequality, discrimination and intolerance.
(2020-07-15). Economic Collapse, Pandemic: There Is No Plan (For You). popularresistance.org In the midst of an enormous, unavoidable increase in national unemployment, the $600 per week unemployment benefit increase that has sustained millions is set to run out at the end of this month, and is unlikely to be renewed at its current level, if at all. Eviction moratoriums are expiring, and more than 20 million Americans could be in danger of eviction in the next four months. Many small businesses, their resources exhausted, are closing for good, and bankruptcies of large businesses are accelerating. Millions have already lost their employer-based health insurance, and millions more will. At the same time t…