8 O'Clock Buzz

The Trump appointee as the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, has been on the hot seat lately, and research performed by Inequality.org has documented his sabotage of the USPS by restricting work hours, removing postal deposit boxes, sorting machines, and more, according to Co-Editor Sarah Anderson’s recent publication. With the aim of undermining confidence in the Post Office as the November elections approach, his actions support Trump’s claims that mail-in ballots undermine democracy.

In its 16th year, the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health continues to fight for Wisconsin women to have optimum health, safety, and economic security. Sara Finger, Executive Director, talks about how the current state legislature is so partisan that non-partisan issues, like women’s health, cannot be brought forward. The group compiles an annual legislative sessions in review which detail these failed opportunities, as well as a quick reference to legislative representatives.

On August 11, presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee for President, Joe Biden ended months of speculation by naming California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.   Harris, a former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, will become the first African-American woman to be nominated by a major party for Vice-President.  Joining us once again with a reaction is political scientist Eleanor Neff Powell, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Since the George Floyd protests started just a few months ago, well over 100 statues or memorials in the United States commemorating historical figures of the Confederate States of America have been removed by local governments, or torn down by protestors.  After decades of debate and delay, depictions of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, John C. Calhoun and others have suddenly fallen or been whisked away.  While President Trump has called for a national museum for the fallen icons, others have wondered what, if anything, should replace them.  The University of South Carolina recently grappled with this question, and chose to honor someone who had long been neglected.   Christian K. Anderson is an Associate Professor of Public Education at the University of South Carolina, and he joined the Monday 8 O’ Clock Buzz on August 17, 2020.

A series of new legal challenges are once again threatening the practice of affirmative action in college admissions.  Last year a federal appeals court upheld Harvard University’s use of racial criteria when evaluating new students.  The plaintiffs have appealed that case, which may end up in the Supreme Court.  On August 13, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Yale University of discriminating against white and Asian-Americans in its admission policies.  Anurima Bhargava is a civil rights lawyer with extensive experience in various roles advocating for members of underrepresented communities. Before founding Anthem of Us, where she currently serves as President, Bhargava was the Chief of the Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she led the Division’s efforts to provide equal educational opportunities for all students. She currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom.  Anurima Bhargava joined the Monday Buzz on August 17, 2020.

Trump: Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme — reflected by Nancy Altman of Social Security Works. Trump’s latest comments, that he will stop workers’ contributions to Social Security if re-elected is a death threat to that trust fund. She expands that these contributions are money held in trust to provide for workers, their families, and disabled for the past 85 years, and at an administrative cost of less than 1%.

Export Credit agencies are little known government financial agencies which provide funding to encourage country exports. But they provide a disproportionate support to fossil fuel companies — by a 14:1 ratio in the U.S. — than they provide to clean energy industries, according to Friends of the Earth Policy Analyst Kate DeAngelis. In addition, the COVID crisis has provided a streamlined money flow with fewer checks to the distribution of monies.

“There is a deep seated fear of looking at domestic violence by ‘Heroes'”, military and police, according to Stacy Bannerman, author of Homefront 911: How Families of Veterans are Wounded by Our Wars”. Her research of Department of Veterans Affairs data shows that 40% of law enforcement have at least one domestic violence episode reported in a 12-month period, and 50-80% of veterans diagnosed with PTSD have at least one severe domestic violence incident. She Bannerman discusses the issues in the families and shortfalls of treatment.

Photo Illustration by Lance Cpl. Michelle S. Mattei

Democratic nominees for President of the United States have traditionally been told that they don’t have to work too hard to secure the black vote.  Presumptive nominee Joe Biden illustrated this attitude recently when he commented that African-American voters do not have diverse political views.  Instead of actively catering to African-Americans, the conventional wisdom goes, better to focus on those swing voters — working class whites and suburban soccer moms — who supposedly vacillate between Democrats and Republicans each election cycle.  But that image — if it were ever true — is showing signs of breaking down.  Two research fellows at American University have dug deeper into the supposed monolithic opinion of African-American voters.  Sam Fulwood III is  a fellow at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.  Welcome, Sam.  David C. Barker is the Director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.

On April 7, 2020, Wisconsin held one of its most chaotic elections ever.  The coronavirus pandemic was  peaking, state and local lockdown orders were in place.  As a result, a whopping 60% of all voters in the state turned to absentee ballots as a safer alternative instead of going to the polls in person.  With many people voting absentee for the first time, it’s not surprising that some made mistakes.  Local officials rejected more than 23,000 ballots because they were improperly filled out, or not witnessed appropriately.  If not counting 23,000 votes in a state of 4.4 million people of voting age doesn’t sound like a lot, consider this:  in 2016, Donald Trump won Wisconsin by an almost identical margin.  So, as we gear up for the November election in 2020, and with absentee ballots destined to make up an even larger percentage of the votes cast, the big question is, are we ready?  Dee Hall is the managing editor for the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, which has been covering this story in their Narrow Margin series.