Friday, April 24, 2020
'This Is Unbelievable': Citing Need for GOP Input, Pelosi Yanks Remote Voting Rule at Last Minute
"Forgive me for asking, but who won control of the US House in the 2018 election?"
by
Eoin Higgins, staff writer
65 Comments
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/23/unbelievable-citing-need-gop-input-pelosi-yanks-remote-voting-rule-last-minute
Progressive frustration with Democratic leadership continued to mount this week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday tabled a rules change that would have allowed members to use proxy voting to legislate during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pelosi indicated that the House would take the matter up when it reconvenes on May 4 after Republicans, the minority party in the House, objected to the change.
"This is unbelievable," tweeted Lindsey Boylan, a candidate for Congress in New York's 10th District, running against incumbent Rep. Jerry Nadler in the Democratic primary.
The abrupt about-face came days after House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), as Common Dreams reported, expressed in a letter to the caucus Tuesday his vocal support for the rule change and for a more substantive change to allow remote voting.
"Beyond implementing the proxy voting as a first step, we ought to use this time as an opportunity to prepare for Congress to be able to work according to its full capabilities even with social and physical distancing guidelines in place," Hoyer wrote.
Hoyer later on Tuesday told reporters that he wanted a bipartisan solution.
Pelosi pulled the change Wednesday morning, claiming that the change needed bipartisan approval and citing an hour-long conversation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Tuesday on the proposal as changing her mind on proceeding with a vote.
On Thursday, Pelosi told members on the floor that she hoped that the chamber would decide to vote on a solution to the problem on May 4—if they return that early.
"Hopefully about the time we return, if that's May 4th, we'll have an opportunity to vote in bipartisan way on how we can do that," Pelosi said.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), chair of the House Rules Committee, said Thursday that while he respected the wishes of the Speaker, the clock is ticking.
"The status quo, in my opinion, is unacceptable and dangerous," said McGovern.
The creation of a biparitsan committee to look into the matter did not fill The Week's Ryan Cooper with confidence, who said it was "where legislation goes to die."
In a tweet, Demand Progress campaign director Robert Cruickshank questioned why Pelosi was allowing Republicans to dictate the terms of rule changes in the House.
"Forgive me for asking, but who won control of the US House in the 2018 election?" Cruickshank asked sarcastically.
A few hours after it was revealed that the Speaker had reversed her caucus on a rule change because of objections from the minority party, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne published an opinion piece claiming that "From now on, Pelosi is playing hardball."
For journalist Jeff Spross, the sentiment that this time—after capitulating on the rule change and Democratic priorities in coronavirus relief legislation—Pelosi would fight was one that just didn't pass muster.
"I mean, I hope so," said Spross. "But I'm not holding my breath."
'Lowest of the Low': McConnell and Trump Ripped for Blocking Food Assistance in Covid-19 Package
"McConnell and Trump don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from—but they don't think others should be afforded the same right."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/23/lowest-low-mcconnell-and-trump-ripped-blocking-food-assistance-covid-19-package
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump are under fire after blocking a proposed increase in funding for federal nutrition assistance at a time when millions of people across the U.S. are relying on food banks to survive the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump ought to be ashamed," Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said in a statement Wednesday after the Senate passed a $480 billion "interim" coronavirus relief bill that did not include the modest increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding that Democrats requested. The interim package is expected to pass the House on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that SNAP enrollment has jumped by 40% since last month as millions report being out of work. As Common Dreams reported Thursday, more than 26 million people have filed jobless claims since mid-March.McConnell and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin informed Republican senators in a conference call Sunday that the additional SNAP funding would not be included in the final legislation.
"A record number of Americans have filed for unemployment," said McGovern. "Food pantry lines in some states stretch miles down the road. We are experiencing a crisis of food insecurity not seen in the United States in decades."
McConnell and Trump "don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from," said McGovern, "but they don't think other families should be afforded the same right."
In negotiations over the interim bill, congressional Democrats pushed for a 15% increase in the maximum SNAP benefit, which would have amounted to an additional $25 monthly per person, or $100 monthly for a family of four.
Overall, the increase likely would have cost around $5 billion for the rest of 2020—a small fraction of the $500 billion in funding for small businesses, hospitals, and Covid-19 testing that the Senate approved Tuesday.
"Denying people SNAP benefits while unemployment and food insecurity are on the rise is cruel," Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, tweeted Thursday.
The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it would delay implementation of punitive work requirements for SNAP recipients—a decision that came only after the rule change was blocked by a federal judge. The rule would have kicked more than a million people off federal nutritional assistance.
The CARES Act, which Trump signed into law on March 27, included $15.8 billion in funding for SNAP. But as Dottie Rosenbaum of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities wrote in a blog post last month, "rather than expand eligibility or increase benefits, that appropriation is a technical fix to ensure that the government can pay for existing benefits."
Rosenbaum expressed support for a 15% increase in the maximum SNAP benefit as well as an expansion of eligibility "to address the effects of Covid-19 until the economy shows solid signs of recovering from the downturn."
"SNAP is one of the most effective mechanisms both to help low-income families afford food and to provide counter-cyclical help in a recession, thereby boosting the economy," wrote Rosenbaum. "We must protect families' ability to afford nutritious food in an unprecedented public health emergency and time of economic shock."
'It Is a Joke': AOC Uses 30-Second Floor Speech to Rip GOP Over Inadequate Covid-19 Relief Efforts
"If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1st and make sure that we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents," said New York Democrat ahead of vote.
by
Jon Queally, staff writer
47 Comments
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/23/it-joke-aoc-uses-30-second-floor-speech-rip-gop-over-inadequate-covid-19-relief
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only had 30 seconds on Thursday afternoon to share her frustration with her opponents on the Republican side of the aisle as the U.S. House of Representatives debated the next phase of federal legislation aimed at providing economic relief for the crisis spurred by the coronavirus outbreak.
While the package passed Tuesday by the Senate is expected to also receive approval in the House later in the day, the Democrat from New York is among those progressives who have expressed deep criticism of the bill. In her brief remarks Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said it was laughable for GOP lawmakers to claim they are doing anything other than serving the wealthy and corporate interests of large companies as they continue to fight against meaningful economic proposals that would center the needs of working-class families, low-income people, small business owners, and others suffering most from the pandemic.
"It is a joke when Republicans say that they have urgency around this bill," she said. "The only folks that they urgency around are Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Shake Shack—those are the people getting assistance in this bill. You are not trying fix this bill for mom and pops."
While referencing large restaurant chains that will benefit disproportionately from the new relief package that includes over $300 billion in additional funding for a flawed small business loan program, Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation does little to help those struggling to make ends meet.
"If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1st and make sure that we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents," she said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also rose ahead of the vote to decry its inadequacies.
Ahead of the vote in the House, a broad coalition of progressive groups on Wednesday sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers urging them to vote against the Senate approved legislation, known as COVID 3.5, as it fails key tests in terms of putting the needs of people, families, and Main Street businesses ahead of corporate interests and the greed of industry.
"We call on all progressive House members to make clear now that you will oppose any bill in the next round that does not put the majority of focus on the People's agenda that Americans desperately need and expect from our elected leaders," the letter stated. "To achieve this, we believe it's critical that the House go first and pass a Democratic bill early in the next round to set the terms of debate, maximize leverage, and honor all the voters who turned out in 2018 to elect a Democratic House."
Key nose cells identified as likely COVID-19 virus entry points
Human Cell Atlas study could help understand transmission of the virus
April 23, 2020
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Two specific nose cell types have been identified as likely initial infection points for COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists discovered that goblet and ciliated cells in the nose have high levels of the entry proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to get into our cells, which could help explain the high rate of transmission. The study with Human Cell Atlas Lung Biological Network found cells in the eye and some other organs also contain the viral-entry proteins
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200423130420.htm
Two specific cell types in the nose have been identified as likely initial infection points for COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists discovered that goblet and ciliated cells in the nose have high levels of the entry proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to get into our cells. The identification of these cells by researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University Medical Centre Groningen, University Cote d'Azur and CNRS, Nice and their collaborators, as part of the Human Cell Atlas Lung Biological Network, could help explain the high transmission rate of COVID-19.
Reported today (23rd April) in Nature Medicine, this first publication with the Lung Biological Network is part of an ongoing international effort to use Human Cell Atlas data to understand infection and disease. It further shows that cells in the eye and some other organs also contain the viral-entry proteins. The study also predicts how a key entry protein is regulated with other immune system genes and reveals potential targets for the development of treatments to reduce transmission.
Novel coronavirus disease -- COVID-19 -- affects the lungs and airways. Patient's symptoms can be flu-like, including fever, coughing and sore throat, while some people may not experience symptoms but still have transmissible virus. In the worst cases, the virus causes pneumonia that can ultimately lead to death. The virus is thought to be spread through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and appears to be easily transmitted within affected areas. So far the virus has spread to more than 184 countries and claimed more than 180,000 lives.
Scientists around the world are trying to understand exactly how the virus spreads, to help prevent transmission and develop a vaccine. While it is known that the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, known as SARS-CoV-2, uses a similar mechanism to infect our cells as a related coronavirus that caused the 2003 SARS epidemic, the exact cell types involved in the nose had not previously been pinpointed.
To discover which cells could be involved in COVID-19 transmission, researchers analysed multiple Human Cell Atlas (HCA) consortium datasets of single cell RNA sequencing, from more than 20 different tissues of non-infected people. These included cells from the lung, nasal cavity, eye, gut, heart, kidney and liver. The researchers looked for which individual cells expressed both of two key entry proteins that are used by the COVID-19 virus to infect our cells.
Dr Waradon Sungnak, the first author on the paper from Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "We found that the receptor protein -- ACE2 -- and the TMPRSS2 protease that can activate SARS-CoV-2 entry are expressed in cells in different organs, including the cells on the inner lining of the nose. We then revealed that mucus-producing goblet cells and ciliated cells in the nose had the highest levels of both these COVID-19 virus proteins, of all cells in the airways. This makes these cells the most likely initial infection route for the virus."
Dr Martijn Nawijn, from the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, said, on behalf of the HCA Lung Biological Network: "This is the first time these particular cells in the nose have been associated with COVID-19. While there are many factors that contribute to virus transmissibility, our findings are consistent with the rapid infection rates of the virus seen so far. The location of these cells on the surface of the inside of the nose make them highly accessible to the virus, and also may assist with transmission to other people."
The two key entry proteins ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were also found in cells in the cornea of the eye and in the lining of the intestine. This suggests another possible route of infection via the eye and tear ducts, and also revealed a potential for fecal-oral transmission.
When cells are damaged or fighting an infection, various immune genes are activated. The study showed that ACE2 receptor production in the nose cells is probably switched on at the same time as these other immune genes.
The work was carried out as part of the global Human Cell Atlas consortium which aims to create reference maps of all human cells to understand health and disease. More than 1,600 people across 70 countries are involved in the HCA community, and the data is openly available to scientists worldwide.
Dr Sarah Teichmann, a senior author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and co-chair of the HCA Organising Committee, said: "As we're building the Human Cell Atlas it is already being used to understand COVID-19 and identify which of our cells are critical for initial infection and transmission. This information can be used to better understand how coronavirus spreads. Knowing which exact cell types are important for virus transmission also provides a basis for developing potential treatments to reduce the spread of the virus."
The global HCA Lung Biological Network continues to analyse the data in order to provide further insights into the cells and targets likely to be involved in COVID-19, and to relate them to patient characteristics.
Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome, said: "By pinpointing the exact characteristics of every single cell type, the Human Cell Atlas is helping scientists to diagnose, monitor and treat diseases including COVID-19 in a completely new way. Researchers around the world are working at an unprecedented pace to deepen our understanding of COVID-19, and this new research is testament to this. Collaborating across borders and openly sharing research is crucial to developing effective diagnostics, treatments and vaccines quickly, ensuring no country is left behind."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Waradon Sungnak, Ni Huang, Christophe Bécavin, Marijn Berg, Rachel Queen, Monika Litvinukova, Carlos Talavera-López, Henrike Maatz, Daniel Reichart, Fotios Sampaziotis, Kaylee B. Worlock, Masahiro Yoshida, Josephine L. Barnes. SARS-CoV-2 entry factors are highly expressed in nasal epithelial cells together with innate immune genes. Nature Medicine, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0868-6
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200423130420.htm
Two specific cell types in the nose have been identified as likely initial infection points for COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists discovered that goblet and ciliated cells in the nose have high levels of the entry proteins that the COVID-19 virus uses to get into our cells. The identification of these cells by researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University Medical Centre Groningen, University Cote d'Azur and CNRS, Nice and their collaborators, as part of the Human Cell Atlas Lung Biological Network, could help explain the high transmission rate of COVID-19.
Reported today (23rd April) in Nature Medicine, this first publication with the Lung Biological Network is part of an ongoing international effort to use Human Cell Atlas data to understand infection and disease. It further shows that cells in the eye and some other organs also contain the viral-entry proteins. The study also predicts how a key entry protein is regulated with other immune system genes and reveals potential targets for the development of treatments to reduce transmission.
Novel coronavirus disease -- COVID-19 -- affects the lungs and airways. Patient's symptoms can be flu-like, including fever, coughing and sore throat, while some people may not experience symptoms but still have transmissible virus. In the worst cases, the virus causes pneumonia that can ultimately lead to death. The virus is thought to be spread through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, and appears to be easily transmitted within affected areas. So far the virus has spread to more than 184 countries and claimed more than 180,000 lives.
Scientists around the world are trying to understand exactly how the virus spreads, to help prevent transmission and develop a vaccine. While it is known that the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, known as SARS-CoV-2, uses a similar mechanism to infect our cells as a related coronavirus that caused the 2003 SARS epidemic, the exact cell types involved in the nose had not previously been pinpointed.
To discover which cells could be involved in COVID-19 transmission, researchers analysed multiple Human Cell Atlas (HCA) consortium datasets of single cell RNA sequencing, from more than 20 different tissues of non-infected people. These included cells from the lung, nasal cavity, eye, gut, heart, kidney and liver. The researchers looked for which individual cells expressed both of two key entry proteins that are used by the COVID-19 virus to infect our cells.
Dr Waradon Sungnak, the first author on the paper from Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: "We found that the receptor protein -- ACE2 -- and the TMPRSS2 protease that can activate SARS-CoV-2 entry are expressed in cells in different organs, including the cells on the inner lining of the nose. We then revealed that mucus-producing goblet cells and ciliated cells in the nose had the highest levels of both these COVID-19 virus proteins, of all cells in the airways. This makes these cells the most likely initial infection route for the virus."
Dr Martijn Nawijn, from the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, said, on behalf of the HCA Lung Biological Network: "This is the first time these particular cells in the nose have been associated with COVID-19. While there are many factors that contribute to virus transmissibility, our findings are consistent with the rapid infection rates of the virus seen so far. The location of these cells on the surface of the inside of the nose make them highly accessible to the virus, and also may assist with transmission to other people."
The two key entry proteins ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were also found in cells in the cornea of the eye and in the lining of the intestine. This suggests another possible route of infection via the eye and tear ducts, and also revealed a potential for fecal-oral transmission.
When cells are damaged or fighting an infection, various immune genes are activated. The study showed that ACE2 receptor production in the nose cells is probably switched on at the same time as these other immune genes.
The work was carried out as part of the global Human Cell Atlas consortium which aims to create reference maps of all human cells to understand health and disease. More than 1,600 people across 70 countries are involved in the HCA community, and the data is openly available to scientists worldwide.
Dr Sarah Teichmann, a senior author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and co-chair of the HCA Organising Committee, said: "As we're building the Human Cell Atlas it is already being used to understand COVID-19 and identify which of our cells are critical for initial infection and transmission. This information can be used to better understand how coronavirus spreads. Knowing which exact cell types are important for virus transmission also provides a basis for developing potential treatments to reduce the spread of the virus."
The global HCA Lung Biological Network continues to analyse the data in order to provide further insights into the cells and targets likely to be involved in COVID-19, and to relate them to patient characteristics.
Professor Sir Jeremy Farrar, Director of Wellcome, said: "By pinpointing the exact characteristics of every single cell type, the Human Cell Atlas is helping scientists to diagnose, monitor and treat diseases including COVID-19 in a completely new way. Researchers around the world are working at an unprecedented pace to deepen our understanding of COVID-19, and this new research is testament to this. Collaborating across borders and openly sharing research is crucial to developing effective diagnostics, treatments and vaccines quickly, ensuring no country is left behind."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Waradon Sungnak, Ni Huang, Christophe Bécavin, Marijn Berg, Rachel Queen, Monika Litvinukova, Carlos Talavera-López, Henrike Maatz, Daniel Reichart, Fotios Sampaziotis, Kaylee B. Worlock, Masahiro Yoshida, Josephine L. Barnes. SARS-CoV-2 entry factors are highly expressed in nasal epithelial cells together with innate immune genes. Nature Medicine, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0868-6
US coronavirus deaths approach 50,000
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/24/pand-a24.html
By Benjamin Mateus
24 April 2020
Between 1955 and 1975, there were 47,424 US combat deaths from the Vietnam War, a defeat that continues to perplex and stigmatize American imperialism. In approximately one month, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed 49,751 people in the United States. Despite all talk about a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, the number of new cases has remained consistently over 25,000 per day while the number of daily deaths has kept pace. This pandemic, like Vietnam, is conflagrating the consciousness of the working class.
In a similarly gruesome vein, Europe’s numbers have continued at a steady pace with nearly 29,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths daily. Italy had been Europe’s epicenter in mid-March, reaching its zenith on March 21. One month later, new cases in Italy are at half their peak. Europe’s fatalities are also declining at a similarly sluggish trend. Spain follows suit while the UK emulates the United States’ trajectory.
Globally, at the speed with which new cases are being tallied, before the month’s end the pandemic will have reach 3 million cases. Over 200,000 people have lost their lives, which could have been prevented had the ruling elites of the global capitalist nation-state system decided to act in concert to heed the warnings of their own World Health Organization.
Presently, the only effective measure to stem the health crisis is to continue to shelter in place, which takes its toll on the flipside by creating economic hardship for the population. On Thursday, an additional 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment, bringing the total to 26 million in the five weeks since lockdowns were imposed in response to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Financial Times, the number of approved claims for unemployment insurance accounts for 11 percent of the entire workforce, approximately 16 million thus far.
Millions more are attempting to navigate the online or telephone application processes that have created a massive gridlock. Up to 17 percent of Michigan’s workforce is receiving unemployment benefits. Florida saw a tripling of unemployment benefit applications last week to 505,000, second only to California with 534,000. The hardest-hit states are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, Alaska and Washington, with estimated unemployment rates exceeding 20 percent.
According to the Federal Reserve Board, in the Divisions of Research & Statistics and Monetary Affairs, the leisure and hospitality sector has seen 4 million job positions lost, accounting for over 30 percent of all employees in that industry. Construction and manufacturing have lost almost 700,000 jobs since mid-March. When the April jobs report is released on May 8, JPMorgan Chase is predicting a loss of 25 million jobs, triple the loss experienced in the 2008–2009 Great Recession. An economist at ING, James Knightley, said, “Less than half of working-age Americans will be earning a wage next month. In an election year, this means that the call for politicians to reopen the economy is only going to get louder, irrespective of the health advice.” This call is arising from the financial sectors.
In a CBS News poll published yesterday, 70 percent agreed that it was essential to slow the spread of the epidemic through social distancing measures, even if the economy was hurt in the short term. Almost two-thirds stated that they are concerned that the outbreak will get worse if stay-at-home restrictions are lifted too fast. The majority said widespread public testing is required before implementing reopening measures. Yet, the United States has lagged behind many countries in adequately ramping up testing. By conservative estimates, the country would need to conduct 500,000 to 700,000 tests per day to begin reopening. And a recent Harvard report calls for at least 5 million tests per day, rising to 20 million a day, “to fully remobilize the economy.”
The National Governors Association (NGA), chaired by Maryland’s Republican Governor Larry Hogan, insists any large-scale plan to return the population to work will require assistance from the federal government to much improve the distribution of testing supplies as well as fortify crumbling public health measures. A report from the NGA states, “Opening prematurely—or opening without the tools in place to rapidly identify and stop the spread of the virus—could send states back into crisis mode, push health systems past capacity and force states back into strict social distancing measures.”
The uncertainty the NGA has voiced in connection to the back-to-work drive underscores not just the public’s psychological concerns. The weight of the evidence and experience that the efforts imposed thus far have only provided temporary breathing room against the onslaught of the last four weeks, which stunned the country as a whole with the terrifying rapidity with which the virus tore through communities. As eagerly as many governors have demonstrated their agreement with Trump’s assessment of the cure being worse than the disease, the disease stands ready on the field.
With a vaccine against the virus, in the best-case scenario potentially available only this time next year, efforts to find a treatment to lessen the impact of the infection on the population have taken on a frenzied state. Despite Trump’s maniacal and negligent attempt to push hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, the drug is proving to be more harmful than doing nothing. The Veterans Affairs study of over 300 people showed the rate of death higher for those on the medication while not impacting the rate of ventilation.
Similarly, Gilead’s Remdesivir, an antiviral medication against RNA viruses, appears not to speed the improvement of patients with COVID-19 nor prevent them from dying. The study results had been inadvertently released, leading to a statement by Dr. Merdad Parsey, chief medical officer of Gilead Sciences, who said, “Today, information from the first clinical study evaluating the investigational antiviral Remdesivir in patients with severe COVID-19 disease in China was prematurely posted on the World Health Organization website. This information has since been removed, as the study investigators did not provide permission for the publication of the results. Furthermore, we believe the post included inappropriate characterizations of the study.” Gilead Sciences Inc. shares fell 4.34 percent on the news.
The utter depravity of the ruling classes was captured in Trump’s remarks during the White House brief yesterday, giving it its most succinct senseless expression. After Bill Bryan, who leads the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology division, presented data that higher temperature, higher humidity, disinfectants and sunlight adversely impact the virus’s ability to survive on surfaces, Trump began to gesticulate and suggest, the sitting press in disbelief, “So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous—whether it’s ultraviolet or just a very powerful light—and I think you said that hadn’t been checked because of the testing … and then I said, suppose you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too … I see the disinfectant knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
The working class faces a threat not only from a pathogen that is highly lethal and infectious, but a capitalist class that is not only disinterested in their welfare, but has also lost the ability to comprehend reality and should be committed to an asylum. Science and scientific socialism are the tools that the working class must use to liberate themselves from the stranglehold of capitalist society.
US unemployment up 26 million in five weeks
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/24/unem-a24.html
By Evan Blake
24 April 2020
An additional 4.4 million Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing the total number of people who have filed jobless claims over the past five weeks to 26 million. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 7.1 million people were already unemployed in the US, meaning that roughly 33 million are now officially unemployed, or over 20 percent of the labor force. The social impact of the pandemic on the US has in some ways already dwarfed that of the 2008 financial crisis, and the unemployment rate is rapidly approaching that of the height of the Great Depression in 1933, roughly 25 percent.
As of Thursday, there were 880,204 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 49,845 deaths in the US, with cases and deaths continuing to grow rapidly.
The official unemployment figures, while staggering in themselves, are known to be a significant underestimation of the true levels of unemployment in the US. Approximately 11.3 million undocumented immigrants live in the US and are barred from applying for unemployment benefits. An untold number of these workers have been laid off, cast into destitution without any supports whatsoever.
In addition, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of workers have been unable to navigate the complicated online application process, which in some states such as Michigan is the only possible way to apply, as phone applications have halted. It can take days and hundreds of call attempts just to speak with someone. For those whose claims are denied, there is no simple appeals process in most states, and little if any assistance is provided to help these workers.
Millions of workers whose claims have been approved have yet to receive any actual payments. In this regard, the most egregious state has been Florida, where less than 16 percent of all claimants who filed since March 15 have received benefits.
In Ohio, claims for the supplemental $600 provided by the federal government through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program will not be processed until May 15. Pennsylvania only began accepting applicants for this program a few days ago and has not said when benefits will be paid.
For the millions of Americans that have yet to receive unemployment benefits, most are facing financial ruin. A January survey by Bankrate found that only 41 percent of Americans had enough saved to cover a $1,000 emergency. Millions face the prospect of eviction or sliding deeper into debt, which will only compound the immense suffering wrought by the pandemic.
A particularly stark expression of the rapid growth of mass poverty in the US has been the miles-long lines at food banks in cities across the country, as millions now struggle to afford food for their families.
Similar processes are unfolding on a global scale, with the number of unemployed rising astronomically in every country. On Tuesday, the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) warned that up to 265 million people around the world are in danger of starvation and death stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jay Bryson, acting chief economist at Wells Fargo & Co, told Bloomberg News that the number of weekly unemployment claims is beginning to slow down, but “if we open up too soon and this coronavirus comes roaring back then we may in fact see those sorts of numbers again.”
As states such as South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Minnesota and Montana already begin to reopen their economies, amid growing calls by sections of the media and political establishment for a nationwide reopening without adequate safety measures in place, the ruling class is pursuing policies that threaten to produce a mass upsurge in the number of cases in May, with ensuing mass deaths shortly thereafter.
Efforts to quickly reopen the economy are driven solely by the profit motive, and the mass unemployment levels are being used as a cudgel to try to force workers to toil in unsafe conditions. In most states, if workers refuse work that is available, they become ineligible for unemployment benefits, placing enormous pressure on them to return to work despite facing unsafe conditions.
In the White House press conference Thursday, in response to a question about mass unemployment in the US, Trump stated, “I think our economy will start to pick up very substantially as soon as the states start to open.” He went on to make the threat, “They’re going to get back to work, and very fast.” At Monday’s press conference, Trump acknowledged that his administration is working to exempt corporations from legal liability for workers that contract COVID-19.
Georgia began to reopen barbershops, nail salons, tattoo parlors, gyms and other businesses today, with restaurants scheduled to reopen on Monday, under orders from Republican Governor Brian Kemp. More than 860,000 unemployment claims have been filed in the state since mid-March, costing over $500 million.
Employment lawyer James Radford commented to Reuters, “I think that one of the big drivers of this decision by Kemp is to get people off unemployment rolls and having the private sector keeping these people afloat.”
In the drive to restart the economy, capitalism is presenting the working class with the false dichotomy: return to work facing lethal conditions that put you and your family at risk or accept economic ruin with no social safety net whatsoever.
Workers in the US and internationally must reject the mounting calls for them to either return to work facing unsafe conditions or be thrust into abject poverty without any future. The only alternative path, which will become ever clearer in the eyes of millions, is that of socialist revolution. By taking control of the situation and seizing the wealth of the financial aristocracy, the working class can rapidly implement the measures necessary to contain the pandemic globally, provide safe working conditions to all essential workers, and ensure the health and well-being of all those whose labor is not essential.
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