Daily Archives: April 5, 2020

2020-04-05: News Headlines

RT (2020-04-05). 'Better days will return': Queen Elizabeth compares Covid-19 fight to WWII, but reassures Brits, as coronavirus deaths near 5,000. rt.com Adapting her wartime message for the present, Queen Elizabeth II has assured the UK that by remaining "united and resolute" it will beat the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the virus claimed another 621 lives overnight. | In what was only her fourth special broadcast since her coronation in 1953, the queen thanked healthcare workers "who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all." | Her Majesty The Queen addresses the UK and the Commonwealth in a special broadcast recorded at Windsor Castle.

Staff (2020-04-05). The Billionaires Putting Their Wealth Above Public Health Amid the Pandemic. truthout.org While millions are facing health and financial uncertainty and unemployment rolls are reaching record levels due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, a small group of wealthy elites are thriving. Not only do the rich and powerful seem to have access to otherwise near-impossible to obtain

Fight Back (2020-04-05). Latinos and Asian Americans hit hardest by early COVID-19 job losses. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – The headline news that the unemployment rate for March jumped by almost a full percentage point, to 4.4%, was bad enough. The actual unemployment rate was much higher by the end of March, given that the more 10 million people who lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the last two weeks of March were not counted. Adding in these workers would have increased the unemployment rate by more than 6%, raising the total rate at the end of March to about 10.5%. | The official government unemployment rate also understates the number of jobless workers, as you have to be out of work…

Wolfgang Belitz and Yves Wegelin (2020-04-05). "We do not live in capitalism" indybay.org After the transition to Atlantic turbo-capitgalism, almost nothing can be recognized from the earlier times of the initiatives of the social market economy. In this situation, the counter-factual and fact-immune creed of all conservatives is enmeshed in a deep unconsciousness about the world. We live in a plutocracy where the richest 62 have as much wealth as the poorer half.

The Commonwealth Club (2020-04-05). Livestream: Democracy and COVID-19: What Happens Next? indybay.org Online via livestream…

RT (2020-04-04). Dubai goes on lockdown amid spike in coronavirus cases in UAE. rt.com The UAE's wealthiest emirate, Dubai, has announced a two-week-long lockdown, starting from 8pm (1600 GMT) on Saturday, in order to carry out large scale disinfection and stem the spread of Covid-19. | Mobility in Dubai will be restricted and legal action will be taken against violators, local news agency WAM said. The supermarkets and pharmacies will continue operating as normal. | The number of coronavirus cases has been on the rise in the UAE in the first days of April, with more than 1,500 people infected and ten fatalities so far.

WSWS (2020-04-04). Coronavirus crisis: Hunger and malnutrition spread in Germany. wsws.org Research indicates some 13 million people in Germany are living in poverty or confront hunger, malnutrition and social misery due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

WSWS (2020-04-04). Unemployment surges in Europe amid COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org The catastrophe now unfolding in Europe is rooted not in the biological properties of the coronavirus, but in the political bankruptcy of European capitalism.

Staff (2020-04-04). Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Is Trying to Destroy Airline Workers' Job Protections. truthout.org America's aviation workers won a huge victory in the CARES Act. In the bill, Congress created a grants program that funds paychecks and benefits for two million hourly workers who were going to lose their jobs while planes are grounded. This isn't a no-strings-attached corporate bailout for airlines. The money goes directly to flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, cleaners, caterers, and wheelchair attendants, so that we can stay on the job, on our healthcare, and out of the unemployment l…

Ellen Brown (2020-04-04). Was the Fed Just Nationalized? dissidentvoice.org Did Congress just nationalize the Fed? No. But the door to that result has been cracked open. Mainstream politicians have long insisted that Medicare for all, a universal basic income, student debt relief and a slew of other much-needed public programs are off the table because the federal government cannot afford them. But that was …

WSWS (2020-04-04). Canadian government's bailout increases banks' control over economy and state. wsws.org Canada's Liberal government is funnelling hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks and major corporations to guarantee the wealth of the capitalist elite.

John Nichols (2020-04-04). 'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'. thenation.com 'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'

John Whitlow (2020-04-03). Slumlord Capitalism v. Global Pandemic. counterpunch.org The poet Langston Hughes once wrote, "I wish the rent was heaven sent." With 10 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Hughes' words resonate now more than ever. As we hurtle toward a public health and economic catastrophe, we must reckon with the sobering fact that our federal government is helmed by landlords, real estate developers, and financiers whose fortunes have been made — and whose worldview has been shaped — by years of predatory and extractive business practices. These practices prefigured the federal response to the pandemic and overde…

RT (2020-04-03). AOC slammed for blaming coronavirus deaths on inequality… after championing shutdown that accelerated it. rt.com Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demanded minority-focused "reparations" for coronavirus, insisting "inequality is a comorbidity" exacerbating the deaths — after calling for shutdowns that impoverished millions. | The New York Democrat called for coronavirus relief to be "drafted with a lens of reparations," insisting that deaths from the virus were "disproportionately spiking in Black [and] Brown communities" in a tweet on Friday. | Blaming "the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap," she smoothly conflated economic inequality — a problem in white and nonwhite commun…

Stephen Lendman (2020-04-03). US Unemployment to Exceed 40% by End of April? globalresearch.ca Official US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) numbers have been rigged since the neoliberal 90s to conceal the dismal state of the US labor market. | New millennium low unemployment in the US is a myth. | Based on how unemployment was …

Patrick Bond (2020-04-03). Covid-19 Attacks the Down-and-Out in Ultra-Unequal South Africa. counterpunch.org It's hard to imagine a more worrying place to watch Covid-19 hit a society than Johannesburg, South Africa. This is, after all, the world's most unequal major city, serving as economic headquarters for the most unequal country. In spite of a poverty rate (at $2.80/day) of more than 60 percent and a national unemployment rate of 40

Robert L. Borosage, The Nation (2020-04-03). We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout. thenation.com We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout…

Heidi Shierholz (2020-04-03). A Portrait of Disaster: Rising Unemployment Insurance Claims (UI), After the Lockdown, The Great Depression of 2020? globalresearch.ca This morning, the Department of Labor (DOL) released data on This …

teleSUR (2020-04-03). The United States to Lose 7 Percent of Its Domestic Product. telesurenglish.net The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts that the United States might experience a 12 percent unemployment rate and a 7 percent loss of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of this year's second quarter. | RELATED: | "GDP is expected to decline by more than 7 percent during the second quarter. If that happened, the decline in the annualized growth rate… would exceed 28 percent. Those declines could…

teleSUR (2020-04-03). US Economy Lost 701,000 Jobs in March, Figures Will Rise. telesurenglish.net The U.S. economy lost 701,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent amid the new coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Friday. | RELATED: | This is the most significant job loss since March 2009, when the financial crisis sank the world's economies. | In February, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, the lowest level in almost 50 years. | The m…

Fight Back (2020-04-03). Unemployment Insurance claims double in one week. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – New claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits doubled from record numbers just a week earlier. On Thursday, April 2, the Department of Labor reported that more than 6.6 million people applied for state unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending March 28. This means that almost 10 MILLION people lost their jobs and applied for UI benefits in just the last two weeks of March. This economic crisis has caused more job losses in two weeks than the entire 2007 to 2009 recession, where 8 million jobs were lost. | Like the week before, Wall Street rallied, with the broad S&P 500 Index up 2.2…

Janine Jackson (2020-04-03). 'These Devices Making the Super-Wealthy Super-Wealthier Will Have to Come Apart' – CounterSpin interview with David Cay Johnston on the 2008 bailout. fair.org The Media…

Staff (2020-04-02). "Social Distancing Is a Privilege": Pandemic Highlights India's Class Divide as 1.3 Billion Lock Down. democracynow.org In India, 1.3 billion people have been locked down for more than a week to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The country reports nearly 2,000 cases and at least 50 deaths. Millions living in poverty and migrant workers were stranded far from home when the lockdown was announced, and some have reportedly died making the perilous journey home. More than 80% of India's workforce is informal, with most living off daily wages often less than $2 or $3 a day — wages they cannot earn under the present curfew — and more than 4 million Indians are homeless. We speak with Indian journalist Rana Ayyub, a contri…

Staff (2020-04-02). As U.S. Reels from COVID-19, Trump Backs Gilead's Exclusive Patent on Treatment & Suspends EPA Rules. democracynow.org As the United States leads the world in coronavirus cases, the nation's healthcare system is already stretched to capacity and protective gear in short supply. President Trump and his health advisors say more than 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, millions of people have lost their jobs, and a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed this week, on top of last week's 3.3 million claims. For more on the economic impacts of the coronavirus, and how Trump has responded to the pandemic by rewarding pharmaceutical corporations like Gilead Sciences and indefinite…

RT (2020-04-02). Red states 'slower to respond' to Covid-19 as they listened to Trump, Axios founder claims…except blue states have been worst hit. rt.com Axios co-founder Jim VanderHei politicized the coronavirus crisis by claiming red states have been "slower" responding because they've been "listening to President Trump," but he ignores why blue states have been hit harder. | Speaking to MSNBC's Morning Joe and name-dropping Georgia and Florida as states that waited longer than others to implement stay-at-home orders, VanderHei said "information inequality" is to blame for states not acting as one in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus. | "It's because they were listening to President Trump up until the last five or six days. They were watching Fo…

John Nichols (2020-04-02). 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'. thenation.com 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'

Staff (2020-04-01). #CancelRent: Tenants Demand Rent Relief & Organize Strikes as Unemployment Surges Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org Today is April 1, and millions across the country don't have the money to pay rent. But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California, Washington and New York, no rent freeze has been ordered. In response, tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation. Some are planning to "rent strike." Meanwhile, many workers who lost their income due to the pandemic haven't even been able to file for unemployment in New York state, with the unemployment website continually crashing and phone lines jammed. Seven-point-eight million people called the New…

Staff (2020-04-01). Headlines for April 1, 2020. democracynow.org No Longer Downplaying Virus, Trump Says Up to 240,000 Will Die in U.S. from COVID-19, FEMA Sends 85 Refrigerated Trucks to NYC as Makeshift Morgues as COVID-19 Deaths Grow, As Confirmed U.S. Cases Top 188,000, Unhoused People Forced to Sleep in Las Vegas Parking Lot, Chicago COVID-19 Nurse Quits over Critical Lack of Personal Protective Equipment, Fed Economists: U.S. Unemployment Could Reach Record 32% in June, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Demands Release of All Jailed Immigrants Amid Pandemic, Captain Calls for Evacuation of Infected U.S. Aircraft Carrier: "Sailors Do Not Need to Die", Governor Won't Allow Sic…

news.un (2020-04-01). Coronavirus pandemic threatens to plunge millions in Arab region into poverty and food insecurity. news.un.org COVID-19 will be responsible for pushing a further 8.3 million people in the Arab region into poverty, according to a new policy brief issued on Wednesday by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

Staff (2020-03-31). Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19. democracynow.org As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…

Staff (2020-03-30). We Need a Public Health New Deal: Neoliberal Austerity & Private Healthcare Worsened U.S. Pandemic. democracynow.org It's been described as the public health failure of the century. As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections, a record number of Americans file for unemployment. Gasping for air, gasping for care; what does global health justice look like? We speak with two Yale professors who say decades of neoliberal austerity make it harder to fight the pandemic. They propose a New Deal for public health. Gregg Gonsalves is assistant professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health; Amy Kapczynski is professor of law at Yale Law School and co-founder of the Law and Political Ec…

splcenter (2020-03-30). The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan. splcenter.org The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.

Staff (2020-03-27). U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism" democracynow.org As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response t…

2020-04-05: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media!

"We do not live in capitalism"
Wolfgang Belitz and Yves Wegelin | indybay.org | 2020-04-05
After the transition to Atlantic turbo-capitgalism, almost nothing can be recognized from the earlier times of the initiatives of the social market economy. In this situation, the counter-factual and fact-immune creed of all conservatives is enmeshed in a deep unconsciousness about the world. We live in a plutocracy where the richest 62 have as much wealth as the poorer half.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/05/18832117.php

The Billionaires Putting Their Wealth Above Public Health Amid the Pandemic
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-05
While millions are facing health and financial uncertainty and unemployment rolls are reaching record levels due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, a small group of wealthy elites are thriving. Not only do the rich and powerful seem to have access to otherwise near-impossible to obtain COVID-19 testing and enjoy better access to healthcare, they are also self-isolating at swanky vacation esta…
truthout.org/articles/the-billionaires-putting-their-wealth-above-public-health-amid-the-pandemic/

The Billionaires Putting Their Wealth Above Public Health Amid the Pandemic
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-04-05
While millions are facing health and financial uncertainty and unemployment rolls are reaching record levels due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, a small group of wealthy elites are thriving. Not only do the rich and powerful seem to have access to otherwise near-impossible to obtain COVID-19 testing and enjoy better access to healthcare, they are also self-isolating at swanky vacation esta…
truthout.org/articles/the-billionaires-putting-their-wealth-above-public-health-amid-the-pandemic/

'Better days will return': Queen Elizabeth compares Covid-19 fight to WWII, but reassures Brits, as coronavirus deaths near 5,000
rt.com | 2020-04-05
Adapting her wartime message for the present, Queen Elizabeth II has assured the UK that by remaining "united and resolute" it will beat the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the virus claimed another 621 lives overnight. | In what was only her fourth special broadcast since her coronation in 1953, the queen thanked healthcare workers "who selflessly continue their day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all." | Her Majesty The Queen addresses the UK and the Commonwealth in a special broadcast recorded at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/HjO1uiV1Tm– The Roy…
rt.com/uk/485036-queen-elizabeth-covid-pandemic-address/

Livestream: Democracy and COVID-19: What Happens Next?
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-04-05
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/04/02/18832076.php

Latinos and Asian Americans hit hardest by early COVID-19 job losses
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-05
San José, CA – The headline news that the unemployment rate for March jumped by almost a full percentage point, to 4.4%, was bad enough. The actual unemployment rate was much higher by the end of March, given that the more 10 million people who lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the last two weeks of March were not counted. Adding in these workers would have increased the unemployment rate by more than 6%, raising the total rate at the end of March to about 10.5%. | The official government unemployment rate also understates the number of jobless workers, as you have to be out of work…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/5/latinos-and-asian-americans-hit-hardest-early-covid-19-job-losses

Coronavirus crisis: Hunger and malnutrition spread in Germany
wsws.org | 2020-04-04
Research indicates some 13 million people in Germany are living in poverty or confront hunger, malnutrition and social misery due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/04/hung-a04.html

Canadian government's bailout increases banks' control over economy and state
wsws.org | 2020-04-04
Canada's Liberal government is funnelling hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks and major corporations to guarantee the wealth of the capitalist elite.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/04/caba-a04.html

Canadian government's bailout increases banks' control over economy and state
wsws.org | 2020-04-04
Canada's Liberal government is funnelling hundreds of billions of dollars to the banks and major corporations to guarantee the wealth of the capitalist elite.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/04/caba-a04.html

Unemployment surges in Europe amid COVID-19 pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-04-04
The catastrophe now unfolding in Europe is rooted not in the biological properties of the coronavirus, but in the political bankruptcy of European capitalism.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/04/euro-a04.html

'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-04
'We Will Not Sit Back and Let Transit Workers Be Treated Like Cannon Fodder'…
thenation.com/article/activism/public-transportation-worker-covid/

US Unemployment to Exceed 40% by End of April?
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-03
Official US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) numbers have been rigged since the neoliberal 90s to conceal the dismal state of the US labor market. | New millennium low unemployment in the US is a myth. | Based on how unemployment was …
globalresearch.ca/us-unemployment-exceed-40-end-april/5708594

AOC slammed for blaming coronavirus deaths on inequality… after championing shutdown that accelerated it
rt.com | 2020-04-03
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demanded minority-focused "reparations" for coronavirus, insisting "inequality is a comorbidity" exacerbating the deaths

AOC slammed for blaming coronavirus deaths on inequality… after championing shutdown that accelerated it
rt.com | 2020-04-03
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has demanded minority-focused "reparations" for coronavirus, insisting "inequality is a comorbidity" exacerbating the deaths

Covid-19 Attacks the Down-and-Out in Ultra-Unequal South Africa
Patrick Bond | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
It's hard to imagine a more worrying place to watch Covid-19 hit a society than Johannesburg, South Africa. This is, after all, the world's most unequal major city, serving as economic headquarters for the most unequal country. In spite of a poverty rate (at $2.80/day) of more than 60 percent and a national unemployment rate of 40…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/03/covid-19-attacks-the-down-and-out-in-ultra-unequal-south-africa/

'These Devices Making the Super-Wealthy Super-Wealthier Will Have to Come Apart' – CounterSpin interview with David Cay Johnston on the 2008 bailout
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2020-04-03
The March 27, 2020, episode of CounterSpin included an archival interview with David Cay Johnston about the 2008 bailout, which originally aired October 10, 2008. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/these-devices-making-the-super-wealthy-super-wealthier-will-have-to-come-apart/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=these-devices-making-the-super-wealthy-super-wealthier-will-have-to-come-apart

The United States to Lose 7 Percent of Its Domestic Product
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-03
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts that the United States might experience a 12 percent unemployment rate and a 7 percent loss of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of this year's second quarter. | RELATED: | The US Transition Plan for Venezuela Is a Mockery, Russia Says | …
telesurenglish.net/news/The-United-States-to-Lose-7-Percent-of-Its-Domestic-Product-20200403-0003.html

Unemployment Insurance claims double in one week
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-04-03
San José, CA – New claims for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits doubled from record numbers just a week earlier. On Thursday, April 2, the Department of Labor reported that more than 6.6 million people applied for state unemployment insurance benefits for the week ending March 28. This means that almost 10 MILLION people lost their jobs and applied for UI benefits in just the last two weeks of March. This economic crisis has caused more job losses in two weeks than the entire 2007 to 2009 recession, where 8 million jobs were lost. | Like the week before, Wall Street rallied, with the broad S&P 500 Index up 2.2…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/4/3/unemployment-insurance-claims-double-one-week

We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout
Robert L. Borosage, The Nation | thenation.com | 2020-04-03
We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout…
thenation.com/article/economy/coronavirus-bailout-unemployment-editorial/

US Economy Lost 701,000 Jobs in March, Figures Will Rise
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-03
The U.S. economy lost 701,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent amid the new coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced Friday. | RELATED: | ILO: Impact of COVID-19 on Economy Could Affect 25 Million Jobs | This is the most significant job loss since March 2009, when the financial crisis sank the world's economies. | In February, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, the lowest level in almost 50 years. | The m…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Economy-Lost-701000-Jobs-in-March-Figures-Will-Rise-Worse-20200403-0012.html

We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout
Robert L. Borosage, The Nation | thenation.com | 2020-04-03
We're Going to Need a Bigger Bailout…
thenation.com/article/economy/coronavirus-bailout-unemployment-editorial/

A Portrait of Disaster: Rising Unemployment Insurance Claims (UI), After the Lockdown, The Great Depression of 2020?
Heidi Shierholz | globalresearch.ca | 2020-04-03
This morning, the Department of Labor (DOL) released data on initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims, showing that UI claims jumped from 211,000 in the week ending March 7th to 6.6 million in the week ending March 28th. | This …
globalresearch.ca/portrait-disaster/5708572

Chart of the day
David Ruccio | mronline.org | 2020-04-03
Although claims are at record highs, many Americans across the United States have been unable to successfully apply for unemployment insurance because an unprecedented level of claims is overwhelming state labor department websites and jamming up phone lines.
mronline.org/2020/04/03/chart-of-the-day/

Slumlord Capitalism v. Global Pandemic
John Whitlow | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-03
The poet Langston Hughes once wrote, "I wish the rent was heaven sent." With 10 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Hughes' words resonate now more than ever. As we hurtle toward a public health and economic catastrophe, we must reckon with the sobering fact that our federal government is helmed by landlords, real estate developers, and financiers whose fortunes have been made

"Social Distancing Is a Privilege": Pandemic Highlights India's Class Divide as 1.3 Billion Lock Down
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-02
In India, 1.3 billion people have been locked down for more than a week to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The country reports nearly 2,000 cases and at least 50 deaths. Millions living in poverty and migrant workers were stranded far from home when the lockdown was announced, and some have reportedly died making the perilous journey home. More than 80% of India's workforce is informal, with most living off daily wages often less than $2 or $3 a day

As U.S. Reels from COVID-19, Trump Backs Gilead's Exclusive Patent on Treatment & Suspends EPA Rules
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-02
As the United States leads the world in coronavirus cases, the nation's healthcare system is already stretched to capacity and protective gear in short supply. President Trump and his health advisors say more than 100,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, millions of people have lost their jobs, and a record 6.6 million unemployment claims were filed this week, on top of last week's 3.3 million claims. For more on the economic impacts of the coronavirus, and how Trump has responded to the pandemic by rewarding pharmaceutical corporations like Gilead Sciences and indefinite…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/2/robert_weissman_public_citizen_economy_coronavirus

Red states 'slower to respond' to Covid-19 as they listened to Trump, Axios founder claims…except blue states have been worst hit
rt.com | 2020-04-02
Axios co-founder Jim VanderHei politicized the coronavirus crisis by claiming red states have been "slower" responding because they've been "listening to President Trump," but he ignores why blue states have been hit harder. | Speaking to MSNBC's Morning Joe and name-dropping Georgia and Florida as states that waited longer than others to implement stay-at-home orders, VanderHei said "information inequality" is to blame for states not acting as one in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus. | "It's because they were listening to President Trump up until the last five or six days. They were watching Fo…
rt.com/usa/484826-msnbc-red-states-coronavirus/

Red states 'slower to respond' to Covid-19 as they listened to Trump, Axios founder claims…except blue states have been worst hit
rt.com | 2020-04-02
Axios co-founder Jim VanderHei politicized the coronavirus crisis by claiming red states have been "slower" responding because they've been "listening to President Trump," but he ignores why blue states have been hit harder. | Speaking to MSNBC's Morning Joe and name-dropping Georgia and Florida as states that waited longer than others to implement stay-at-home orders, VanderHei said "information inequality" is to blame for states not acting as one in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus. | "It's because they were listening to President Trump up until the last five or six days. They were watching Fo…
rt.com/usa/484826-msnbc-red-states-coronavirus/

'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-02
'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'…
thenation.com/article/politics/wisconsin-democratic-primary/

'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
John Nichols | thenation.com | 2020-04-02
'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'…
thenation.com/article/politics/wisconsin-democratic-primary/

#CancelRent: Tenants Demand Rent Relief & Organize Strikes as Unemployment Surges Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-01
Today is April 1, and millions across the country don't have the money to pay rent. But despite eviction moratoriums and relief on mortgage payments in hard-hit states like California, Washington and New York, no rent freeze has been ordered. In response, tenants around the country are calling for immediate rent cancellation. Some are planning to "rent strike." Meanwhile, many workers who lost their income due to the pandemic haven't even been able to file for unemployment in New York state, with the unemployment website continually crashing and phone lines jammed. Seven-point-eight million people called the New…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/1/coronavirus_renters_relief_rent_strike

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed: Communities Enduring Racism & Poverty Will Suffer Most Due to COVID-19
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-31
As the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States tops 3,100, states are demanding ventilators and medical supplies. Michigan is a growing hot spot and struggling to prepare for a surge in cases, but President Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's governor, calling her "that woman." We speak with the former director of the Detroit Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed. He's a physician and epidemiologist, and his new book is just out today, "Healing Politics: A Doctor's Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic." His recent piece for The Guardian is headlined "Coronavirus is exploiting an underlying…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/31/abul_el_sayed_epidemic_of_insecurity

We Need a Public Health New Deal: Neoliberal Austerity & Private Healthcare Worsened U.S. Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-30
It's been described as the public health failure of the century. As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections, a record number of Americans file for unemployment. Gasping for air, gasping for care; what does global health justice look like? We speak with two Yale professors who say decades of neoliberal austerity make it harder to fight the pandemic. They propose a New Deal for public health. Gregg Gonsalves is assistant professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health; Amy Kapczynski is professor of law at Yale Law School and co-founder of the Law and Political Ec…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/30/coronavirus_public_health

We Need a Public Health New Deal: Neoliberal Austerity & Private Healthcare Worsened U.S. Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-30
It's been described as the public health failure of the century. As the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections, a record number of Americans file for unemployment. Gasping for air, gasping for care; what does global health justice look like? We speak with two Yale professors who say decades of neoliberal austerity make it harder to fight the pandemic. They propose a New Deal for public health. Gregg Gonsalves is assistant professor in epidemiology of microbial diseases at Yale School of Public Health; Amy Kapczynski is professor of law at Yale Law School and co-founder of the Law and Political Ec…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/30/coronavirus_public_health

The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery played key role in launching SPLC's legal battle against Ku Klux Klan
splcenter.org | 2020-03-30
The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who died on Friday at 98 years old, was a longtime friend of the Southern Poverty Law Center and played a leading role in the SPLC's first lawsuit against the Ku Klux Klan in 1980.
splcenter.org/news/2020/03/30/rev-dr-joseph-e-lowery-played-key-role-launching-splcs-legal-battle-against-ku-klux-klan

U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-27
As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response t…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill

U.S. Is #1 in Pandemic: Rep. Omar Blasts Trump for "Wrong Kind of American Exceptionalism"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-27
As much of the United States is under lockdown, the House votes today on a $2 trillion emergency relief package to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. It will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations, and the vote comes as a record 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. We speak with Congressmember Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, the first Somali American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and one of the first Muslim women in Congress, about the bill, Trump's response t…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill