FEATURING CHRIS RAMSAROOP – While the spread of the coronavirus has restricted most of us in our homes, those workers whose labor we rely on to feed us, are under increasing strain. Exempt under quarantine laws, workers who grow food, process it, sell it, and deliver it, are considered essential employees. But most have seen increased workloads with no corresponding pay increases. And, most are not receiving the protective equipment needed to stave off infections from the virus as they work feverishly to feed the US. Now, reports of one-day strikes, wildcat strikes, and “sick-outs” are becoming increasingly common. 

Chris Ramsaroop, organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers and a member of Food Chain Workers Alliance.

President Donald Trump has backed off from his earlier insistence that the US economy would be restarted by mid-April, saying in a press briefing on Sunday that federal guidelines on social distancing to combat the spread of Covid-19 would stay in place through the month of April. There are now more than 136,000 confirmed cases of infection nationwide and more than 2,400 deaths. Trump’s about face came hours after his top coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the scenario that the US faces right now could mean 100 to 200,000 deaths from the disease. The President attempted to spin such a dire projection into good news saying during his press briefing that if deaths from the virus were fewer than 200,000, “we all together have done a very good job.” Trump still remains optimistic that the US economy could be back on its feet by June 1st. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House task force response coordinator echoed Dr. Fauci’s projections saying in an interview that she feared, “No state, no metro area will be spared,” from the virus.

During Trump’s press briefing on Sunday he once more lost his temper at reporters for daring to ask him challenging questions. In contrast with the praise he lavished on one reporter for giving him soft-ball questions, this was Trump’s caustic exchange with PBS NewsHour reporter Yamiche Alcindor. During his press briefing Trump also implied that healthcare workers who have been demanding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like masks and gloves might be stealing them. He said, “How do you go from using 10,000 to 20,000 [masks] to 300,000? Even though this is different. Something’s going on. Where are the masks going, are they going out the back door?” The President has made no secret about his glee over high TV ratings now that the virus spread has prevented him from holding political rallies for his reelection. He has even bragged on Twitter about the ratings for his news conferences rivaling those for popular TV shows. 

On Friday Trump said he told his Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the White House virus effort, not to call those state Governors who are not “appreciative” of his efforts.  He said, “If they don’t treat you right, I don’t call.” He pointed to the Governors of Michigan and Washington as not appreciative enough. When asked by a reporter what governors can do, this is what the President said. Meanwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday had harsh words for Trump saying on CNN that “as the President fiddles, people are dying.” Senator Lindsey Graham, who had himself in early March urged Trump to listen to scientists on the virus,

FEATURING AMANDA BALLANTYNE – The economic stimulus plan just passed by Congress includes $350 billion in loans to small businesses. But big businesses like the airline industry are being given grants. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic is forcing massive shutdowns of the entire cities and states, how are small businesses to survive? 

If workers employed by those businesses are forced to stay at home but small business owners are seeing a near-complete zeroing out of revenues, many if not most businesses will be forced to shut down. My next guest worries that we are on the edge of an extinction event for small businesses.

Amanda Ballantyne, Executive Director of the Main Street Alliance, a national network of 30,000 small business owners.

FEATURING DERRICK JOHNSON – The stimulus bill that both the Senate and House just passed includes several hundred million dollars to fund the expansion of voting by mail and other election safeguards. The final amount that is in legislation is just a fifth of what the original House version of the bill had sought. The Brennan Center for Justice has estimated that at least $2 billion are needed to safeguard the general election in November. 

Given the lengths that incumbent President Donald Trump appears to be capable of going to in order to win an election, the coronavirus pandemic could serve to thwart election participation and undermine the strength of American democracy – at a time when it is needed more than ever. 

Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP. Johnson had previously served as the vice chairman of the NAACP’s national board of directors and the president of the Mississippi state chapter of the NAACP.

The United States now leads the world in confirmed cases of coronavirus infections with the total being at least 81,321 people. So far just over 1,000 people have died of the Covid-19 virus. The US is the world’s third most populous country, behind India and China. The news of the grim milestone comes as hospitals are overwhelmed with patients, particularly in New York City where the need for ventilators is so great that hospitals have now begun sharing a single machine between two patients. A Detroit physician named Dr. Charlene Babcock created a video tutorial of how to split a single ventilator four ways — her method of sharing ventilators for Covid-19 patients whose airways are shutting down amid a massive national shortage. On Thursday President Donald Trump in an interview with Sean Hannity responded to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desperate plea for 30,000 ventilators. On Thursday the New York Times reported that the federal government was on the verge of cutting a deal with General Motors and Ventec Life Systems to manufacture as many as 80,000 ventilators at a cost of about $1 billion but at the last minute the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) backed out of the plan. The Times explained that, “The only thing missing was clarity from the government about how many ventilators they needed — and who would be paid to build them.” 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House coronavirus task force has warned that other states ought to take heed from what is unfolding in New York – the current epicenter of the coronavirus in the US. He explained in an interview with NPR that, “the testing situation is infinitely better than what it was a few weeks ago. We now have hundreds of thousands of tests out there. And in the next week or so, we’ll be having like a million a week.” While the US has indeed tested more people than any other nation so far, it’s per capita testing still falls far short of other countries. According to the New York Times, “About 65,000 coronavirus tests are being performed on Americans each day — a meteoric rise from just 10 days ago.” But, “about 150,000 tests are needed every day.” 

President Trump could invoke the full power of the Defense Production Act to compel private industries to ramp up production of necessary equipment but has so far refused to do so. On Thursday Brett Giroir of the White House Coronavirus Task Force defended the President’s inaction saying, “industry is pouring in with offers. Everything we have asked, they have done. And they come every single day to provide more and more goods.” Earlier in the week Trump had compared the use of the DPA to what the government of Venezuela is doing. He said, ““We’re a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, how did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.” But Trump has ignored or not been challenged by Fox News with the stories of equipment shortages that are already costing lives. In New York,

FEATURING MICHAEL POWELSON – As the US Senate unanimously passed a $2.2 trillion package to respond to the economic crisis from the Coronavirus pandemic, direct help for ordinary Americans appears to be close. But critics point out that the financial assistance for corporate America is outrageous and reveals the double standards that Congress applies to corporate responsibility versus personal responsibility.

Meanwhile, a well-timed academic study published in the Journal of Finance reveals how a massive government program in the wake of the 2008-2009 recession spurred massive insider trading among politically connected people. Already Senators Richard Burr and others are facing accusations of selling of stocks ahead of the full scale of the virus becoming publicly known. 

Will there be a similar feeding frenzy this time around as well?

Michael Powelson, teaches at LA Valley College and Cal State University Channel Islands. His new book is Swindlers All, a Brief History of Government Business Frauds from Alexander Hamilton to AIG.

FEATURING TRINITY TRAN – As the numbers of Americans being laid off in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic skyrockets into the millions, food insecurity for the most vulnerable people is rising just as fast. Stepping in to the vacuum of government-assistance are local food banks, who are now facing the challenge of mobilizing volunteers at a time of required social distancing. 

In Los Angeles, California, the organization Urban Partners LA is leading the way with a weekly food distribution program that puts 25,000 pounds of food into the hands of those who need it. 

Trinity Tran, volunteer with Urban Partners Los Angeles and Lead Organizer at California Public Banking Alliance.

The US Labor Department on Thursday announced a historic jump in unemployment as a whopping 3.3 million Americans filed for benefits last week. The number far surpasses the last record-breaking weekly jump when nearly 700,000 Americans lost their jobs in 1982. According to the Washington Post, “Many economists say this is the beginning of a massive spike in unemployment that could result in over 40 million Americans losing their jobs by April.” So many people applied for unemployment benefits that in several states websites crashed with the flood of online applications and those applying over the phone had hours long wait-times. In February the rate of unemployment was 3.5% and now it has jumped to 5.5 percent. The Post further explained that, “A lot of workers are not allowed to apply for unemployment benefits, meaning the true number of layoffs so far due to the coronavirus is likely far higher than 3.3 million. Self-employed workers, gig workers, undocumented workers, students, and people who worked fewer than six months last year are typically not eligible to apply for unemployment insurance in most states.” 

The disturbing numbers of unemployed came just after US Senate finally voted on and unanimously passed a massive economic stimulus package to the tune of $2.2 trillion – a number that was previously so unimaginable that most lawmakers scoffed at the price tag for a Medicare-for-All program that ran into trillions of dollars over ten years. The Senate bill includes, among other things, assistance to State governments, $350 billion in loans for small businesses, emergency unemployment insurance, assistance for hospitals and healthcare organizations, and payouts to Americans who make less than $75,000 a year. On Wednesday, as debate over the bill went late into the evening, Senator Bernie Sanders slammed a proposed amendment by four Republican Senators who attempted to reduce benefits to low-wage workers because it may result in them bringing home slightly higher amounts than their normal pay. The Senators were Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Rick Scott (Fla.) and Tim Scott (S.C.). Here is Sanders on the floor of the Senate denouncing the amendment. The House will now take up the Senate bill and expects to vote on it by Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi predicts that it will pass with, “a strong bi-partisan vote.”

Meanwhile the Covid-19 virus continues to ravage the United States with nearly 70,000 people confirmed to be infected and 1,046 deaths. Of the deaths, more than a quarter – 280 – were attributed to New York state alone, mostly in New York city. The New York City convention center is being turned into a makeshift hospital and in Louisiana hotels are being converted while state parks are being used as isolation sites. According to Associated Press in New York city, “A makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital, and the city’s police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly empty streets to enforce social distancing.

FEATURING KANIELA ING – As the Senate votes on its historic $2 trillion stimulus package to counter the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, progressives are demanding accountability for the billions of dollars in handouts to the corporate sector including $25 billion in grants to the airline industry alone. 

A large coalition of groups is now demanding a “People’s Bailout” to demand that the health and wellbeing of people and our environment is front and center on any bailout package. 

A number of progressive members of Congress have echoed this sentiment writing in a letter, “As we work to advance further spending packages to ensure immediate relief and long-term recovery, we need to consider the interrelated crises of income and wealth inequality, racism, and ecological decline, which were in place long before COVID-19, and now risk being intensified.”

For more information visit ThePeoplesBailout.org.

Kaniela Ing, Climate Justice Campaign Director with People’s Action.

FEATURING JULLIE MILLICAN – President Donald Trump’s raucous and frequent political rallies have come to a standstill in the era of the coronavirus. Now he has turned to frequent press briefings from the White House with his coronavirus task force” in order to remain in the public eye as he eyes reelection this November. But, after getting uncomfortable scrutiny from reporters, Trump has settled on his favorite media outlet, Fox News, where his perpetually incorrect and deadly notions about the virus are being amplified. 

For information on how you can stop funding the Fox News network on your Cable visit www.unfoxmycablebox.com.

Julie Millican, Vice President of Media Matters for America.