As Bolivian Regime Delays Elections a Third Time, Media Continue to Ignore Coup

BRYCE GREENE

https://fair.org/home/as-bolivian-regime-delays-elections-a-third-time-media-continue-to-ignore-coup/




In the Bolivian elections last October 20, incumbent President Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism party (MAS in Spanish) won a 10-point victory over his nearest challenger, as pre-election polls predicted. The next day, the Organization of American States issued a statement challenging the legitimacy of the elections, asserting a “hard-to-explain change in the trend of the preliminary results.” Immediately, right wingers violently took to the streets to protest the president. The OAS issued a followup statement confirming their analysis on November 10. The same day, the military forced Morales to step down.

Senator Jeanine Añez declared herself president with the support of high-ranking members of the Bolivian military, as well as the US State Department—despite the fact that her conservative party earned a mere 4% of the vote during the elections.

This military coup was immediately decried by observers who have seen this familiar pattern of toppling governments. Mark Weisbrot, director of the Center for Economic & Policy Research, debunked the OAS statement, noting that it provided “absolutely no evidence — no statistics, numbers, or facts of any kind,” to support its conclusions. The CEPR objections were largely ignored by corporate media (FAIR.org, 11/18/19).

Immediately after Añez took power, security forces unleashed deadly violence against those who resisted. Añez began to sell off public resources and take loans from international creditors.

When a country’s military forces the ouster of a sitting president, that is a military coup. Referring to it simply as a “resignation”—as in the Washington Post’s “Bolivia’s Morales Resigns Amid Scathing Election Report, Rising Protests” (11/10/19)—fails to capture the nature of the overthrow. Describing Morales’ ouster as merely happening “amid widespread unrest” is a way of telling readers: “This sort of thing happens all the time in this part of the world. No need to look into it.”

US media ignored dissenters from the OAS throughout this period, and endorsed the coup, as FAIR (3/5/20) has previously reported. Even when dissenting views were brought up, there was little discussion of the implication: that the US had supported yet another unlawful coup.


Añez came into power as an “interim” president, with a mandate to hold elections as soon as possible. The government instead delayed elections in March, then again in May, both times citing concerns about coronavirus. Notably, polls show that the MAS candidate, Luis Arce, has been leading in the polls for some time and would win fair elections.Four months after the coup was a done deal, with Morales and others forced from the country, the Washington Post published a research piece (2/27/20) that found that “the OAS’s statistical analysis and conclusions would appear deeply flawed.” The piece opened by explicitly describing the November 10 ouster of Morales as a “military-backed coup.” There was still no mention of the US role.

Even the New York Times (3/30/20) acknowledged that this delay was a way of consolidating power, publishing a piece headlined, “For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power” that included the (first) delay of Bolivia’s “much anticipated” elections. It’s unclear whether Añez is meant to be considered an “autocrat” or one of the “others”; the piece only mentions that “a disputed election last year set off violent protests and forced President Evo Morales to resign.”

The New York Times (6/7/20) has since reported its own analysis of the Bolivian election results, concluding that “the Organization of American States’ statistical analysis was itself flawed.” The irregularities the OAS found were “an artifact of the analysts’ error,” the academic paper cited by the Times found.

FAIR (7/8/20) has previously reported on the Times’ belated admission. Glenn Greenwald, writing for the Intercept (7/8/20), put a fine point on the subject in a piece headlined “The New York Times Admits Key Falsehoods That Drove Last Year’s Coup in Bolivia: Falsehoods Peddled by the US, Its Media and the Times.”

Yet after both of the nation’s leading papers admitted that the reason for declaring the October election a fraud was itself a fraud, few have asked the critical questions about why the OAS and the United States were so quick to have Morales removed from office. In fact, few media outlets altered their coverage of Bolivia at all.

Reuters (7/9/20) described how “a disputed election led to widespread protests that eventually toppled…Evo Morales,” with a later piece (7/15/20) reporting that Añez “took power in a political vacuum.” A CNN segment (7/17/20) on the COVID crisis in Bolivia described how “widespread unrest last year led to the resignation of longtime leader Evo Morales.” None of these gave any hint that the complaints about the election had been debunked, and that the shift in power amounted to a coup.

Last week, the Bolivian government announced that elections would be delayed for a third time. Critics again claim that the crisis is being used to further consolidate power. Former President Morales, who is currently living in exile in Argentina, said that “the de facto government wants to gain more time to continue the persecution of social leaders and against MAS candidates. It’s yet another form of persecution.” One of the coup leaders, far-right leader Fernando Comacho, is calling for elections to be canceled altogether.

In Western reporting on the latest election delay, outlets consistently failed to place it in the context of the coup. It is as if the Times and Post’s admissions never happened.

A Reuters piece (7/23/20) headlined “Bolivia Election Delayed to October as Pandemic Bites, Opposition Cries Foul,” described how the current government came to power: “A fraught election last year sparked widespread protests and led to the resignation of the country’s long-term leftist leader.” They kept to the official narrative of a “fraught election,” rather than the reality of a right-wing usurpation, given cover by false OAS proclamations. There was no indication that the delay could be a form of power consolidation.

The Associated Press (republished by Washington Post, 7/23/20) not only ignored the context of the coup, it also whitewashed the opposition’s criticism of the delay. Morales was cited as objecting to the delay on procedural grounds, and worrying about the “country’s crisis of legitimacy.” No direct quotes from the former president were used.

US media have a well-documented history of supporting right-wing coups and regimes around the world, and not much seems to be changing. It is abundantly clear that Morales was unlawfully overthrown by his country’s military on false pretexts. The United States supported and continues to support this coup. That media narratives remain unchanged even after the release and acknowledgment of new evidence indicates that it is official dogma, and not reality, that sets the tone of journalistic coverage.

Outraised 250-1, Progressive Marquita Bradshaw Upsets Establishment Opponent in Tennessee Primary for US Senate

"The progressive movement is undeniable!" Bradshaw said following her win. "Thank you all so much for your support and this victory. It's time to put hardworking people first. Onward."


by
Jake Johnson, staff writer




https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/outraised-250-1-progressive-marquita-bradshaw-upsets-establishment-opponent




Despite being outraised 250-1 by her establishment-backed opponent, progressive environmentalist Marquita Bradshaw scored a stunning upset victory in the Tennessee Democratic primary for an open U.S. Senate seat on Thursday after running on a platform that included Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

James Mackler, one of Bradshaw's four primary competitors, was endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and raised more than $2 million over the course of the campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Bradshaw, by contrast, had the backing of the Memphis-Midsouth chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and raised just over $8,400.

"The progressive movement is undeniable!" Bradshaw, whose campaign consisted entirely of volunteers, tweeted following her win. "Thank you all so much for your support and this victory. It's time to put hardworking people first. Onward."


The youth-led Sunrise Movement celebrated Bradshaw's win as a testament to the power of her vision of a Green New Deal that "puts racial justice at its core."




"She took down the party-backed candidate who raised millions of dollars," the group tweeted. "It's 2020 and big things are happening y'all."


In November, Bradshaw will face off against former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty, who prevailed in a close Republican primary race Thursday with the backing of President Donald Trump. No Democrat has won a Senate election in Tennessee since 1990.

"This is a network that has reached across Tennessee," Bradshaw said of her campaign. "Now it's time to move forward to flip this U.S. Senate seat. And we can do it by working together, by staying true to the principles... by listening to voters."

"I don't have an opponent. We have issues to solve," Bradshaw added. "And that's the reason why we're leading in the state right now. And that's how we're going to flip this U.S. Senate seat."

Trump Blasted for Naming 'War Criminal' and Iran-Contra Convict Elliott Abrams as Iran Envoy

"Elliott Abrams has made a career of lying and committing criminal acts that have led to the death and suffering of innocent people from Guatemala to Iraq."

by
Jake Johnson, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/trump-blasted-naming-war-criminal-and-iran-contra-convict-elliott-abrams-iran-envoy

Following the resignation Thursday of State Department Iran envoy Brian Hook, President Donald Trump named as his replacement current special representative for Venezuela Elliott Abrams, a notorious warmonger and supporter of Latin American death squads who was convicted in 1991 of withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal.


"From El Salvador to Guatemala, Nicaragua to Panama, Elliott Abrams' life's work has been defined by the worst impulses of U.S. foreign policy: embracing war, ignoring gross human rights abuses, and supporting horrific authoritarian regimes," said Stephen Miles, executive director of Win Without War.Abrams will now serve in both roles simultaneously, alarming anti-war groups who say someone with a record as blood-stained as his "should be barred for life from government positions and recognized as the war criminal that he is."

Abrams' appointment as special envoy to Iran comes days after he confirmed during a Senate hearing that he is still "working hard" to topple Venezuela's democratically-elected President Nicolás Maduro. Sina Toossi, senior research analyst at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), warned that the Trump administration's installation of Abrams as the top U.S. diplomat to Iran shows the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are "doubling down" on their push for regime change in Iran as well.

"Like most Trump appointees," said Toossi, "he is not fit for the position, and will continue to hurt U.S. interests by enacting a failing strategy that will only succeed in spreading chaos and misery."


In a statement late Thursday, anti-war group CodePink provided a snapshot of Abrams' views and record dating back to his time in the Reagan administration:
In the 1980s, he defended the infamous Guatemalan General Efraín Ríos Montt, whose violent crackdown on the indigenous Ixil Mayan people of Guatemala was so brutal that it was classified as genocide by the United Nations.
He denied that the Salvadoran military was responsible for the devastating El Mozote massacre where, in 1981, a U.S.-trained battalion murdered more than 500 civilians, slitting the throats of children along the way. Not only did Abrams deny the massacre and push for continued U.S. support for the notoriously brutal Salvadoran government, but he even claimed in a 1994 interview that "the U.S. administration's record in El Salvador is one of fabulous achievement."
He is vehemently anti-Palestinian and shamelessly supports Israel. As George Bush’s aide on the National Security Council, Abrams did everything he could to thwart peace negotiations. He repeatedly undercut any U.S. pressure on Israel to stop the building of settlements and cited the Holocaust as justification for Israel's killings of Palestinians (Jews are "a people who had learned from history what happens to Jews without security"). In 2015, he applauded then-Speaker John Boehner's decision to invite Netanyahu to address Congress without the approval of President Obama. He lauds Evangelical descriptions of Israel such as the belief that "Israel is connected to the idea that God favors and protects Americans."
In 1991, Abrams pled guilty to withholding information from Congress related to his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal, the secret and illegal scam in the 1980s to siphon profits from Iranian weapons sales to support the right-wing Contra rebels trying to overthrow the Sandinista government.
Abrams was a key supporter of the disastrous invasion of Iraq. In 1998, he submitted a letter to President Clinton encouraging him to depose Saddam Hussein. As Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy during George W. Bush’s second term, Abrams was in charge of promoting Bush's strategy of "advancing democracy abroad.”
Abrams championed the U.S. overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, echoing the tactics used by the neocons for intervention in Iraq.
Abrams' opposition to the Iran Nuclear Deal is epitomized by his attempts to encourage Israel to bomb Iran's nuclear sites before negotiations became too serious. He expressed concern that Israel's capacity to impede the deal was "already being narrowed considerably by the diplomatic thaw, because it is one thing to bomb Iran when it appears hopelessly recalcitrant and isolated and quite another to bomb it when much of the world—especially the United States—is optimistic about the prospect of talks."
In January 2019, Abrams was appointed to be the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela, and used his position to support an attempted coup, quash diplomatic talks, and increase brutal sanctions, even during the pandemic.


"The dangerous conflict resulting from Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement will be exacerbated by a man committed to Washington's failed policies of regime change," CodePink said. "Elliott Abrams has made a career of lying and committing criminal acts that have led to the death and suffering of innocent people from Guatemala to Iraq. He embraces militarism, covers up for gross human rights abuses, and has a history of supporting authoritarian regimes."

"Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn't theoretical, it's happening RIGHT NOW."

'Friday Night Massacre' at US Postal Service as Postmaster General—a Major Trump Donor—Ousts Top Officials

America is in a dead sprint to authoritarianism. The man is pulling out all the stops to prevent the citizens of this country from holding a legitimate election in which he might face removal from office."

by Jon Queally, staff writer

Government watchdogs, Democratic lawmakers, and pro-democracy advocates declared it a "Friday Night Massacre" for the U.S. Postal Service after news broke in a classic end-of-the-week dump that Louis DeJoy—a major GOP donor to President Donald Trump and the recently appointed Postmaster General—had issued a sweeping overhaul of the agency, including the ouster of top executives from key posts and the reshuffling of more than two dozen other officials and operational managers.

According to the Washington Post:


The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections.

Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.

Already under fire for recent policy changes at the USPS that mail carriers from within and outside critics have denounced as a sabotage effort to undermine the Postal Service broadly as well as disrupt efforts to carry out mail-in voting for November's election amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the moves unveiled late Friday were viewed as an overt assault on democracy and a calculated opportunity to boost Republicans' long-held dream of undercutting or privatizing the government-run mail service while also boosting their election prospects in the process.

"Another Friday night massacre by this administration—and this time dealing another devastating blow to our postal service," said Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) "The American people deserve answers and we're going to keep fighting for them."

Scanlon was among more than 80 congressional lawmakers who sent a letter to DeJoy earlier in the day expressing "deep concerns" about operational changes he has made for mail carriers that have delayed deliveries and lowered standards.

"It is vital that the U.S. Postal Service not reduce mail delivery times, which could harm rural communities, seniors, small businesses, and millions of Americans who rely on the mail for critical letters and packages," the letter stated. "Eliminating overtime and directing postal workers to leave mail on the floor of postal facilities will erode confidence in the Postal Service and drive customers away, resulting in even worse financial conditions in the future."

Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, warned what occurred Friday is designed to weak the Postal Service, slow vote-by-mail, and disrupt the 2020 Census.

"We are sounding an alarm regarding personnel changes, policy shifts and service disruptions happening inside the U.S. Postal Service on Louis DeJoy's watch," Clarke said in a statement. "The postal service lies at the heart of our democracy and is critical to the success of an unprecedented vote-by-mail system that is needed for a fair and effective 2020 election season. The postal service helps ensure that our nation's most vulnerable communities are receiving medications and resources during the pandemic. It is also critical to the efforts to achieve a full and accurate 2020 Census."

Clarke said the administration's intentions are clear: "DeJoy, a Trump donor with no experience inside the postal service, has been installed to cause chaos and disruption at a time when the timely delivery of mail could not be more critical."

As Common Dreams reported earlier Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren was among those who signed the letter and also called for DeJoy's efforts to be investigated by the Inspector General of the USPS. Since 2016 alone, DeJoy has donated more than $2.5 million to the Republican Party and candidates. In 2020, prior to his appointment as Postmaster General by the GOP-controlled board of governors, DeJoy had already given approximately $360,000 to a Super PAC supporting Trump's reelection.

As the Post notes in its reporting, the reshuffling of top managers and executives—as well as a hiring freeze and push for early retirements—"worried postal analysts, who say the tone of DeJoy's first eight weeks and his restructuring have recast the nation's mail service as a for-profit arm of the government, rather than an essential service."

In a video posted to Twitter, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Oreg.) characterized DeJoy as a "political crony" of the president's and also denounced the brazen efforts now on display as a "Friday Night Massacre" scenario

Appearing Friday afternoon on Capitol Hill, DeJoy brushed off accusations that he is acting as a political bag man for Trump. "While I certainly have a good relationship with the president of the United States, the notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president or anyone else in the administration is wholly off-base," DeJoy said.

But outside critics like Walter Shaub, former head of the Office of Government Ethics and a fierce critic of Trump's behavior as president, said the latest move should be seen as nothing less than a direct effort by DeJoy to exploit his authority at the Postal Service to further the president's political interests and reelection prospects



According to Brian Tyler Cohen, a liberal commentator and podcast host, "Congressional Democrats need to do something about this" immediately.

"If we wait until October/November, it'll be too late," said Cohen. "Trump is actively sabotaging the election under our noses—this isn't theoretical, it's happening RIGHT NOW." Cohen said this situation should be treated like a "five-alarm fire" and said action must be taken by both lawmakers and the U.S. public without delay



Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chair of the House subcommittee which has oversight for the USPS, said what DeJoy is trying to pass off as simple organizational restructuring is actually "a Trojan Horse" designed to destroy one of the nation's most trusted and valued institutions from within.

Connolly on Friday night called it, "Deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election—an election that hinges on mail-in ballots."

# # #

Leading Demand for IG Probe, Warren Accuses Trump and New Postmaster General of 'Sabotaging' Postal Service

"They are delaying Social Security checks and other mail and potentially disenfranchising millions of voters."


by
Jake Johnson, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/leading-demand-ig-probe-warren-accuses-trump-and-new-postmaster-general-sabotaging?




Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other top Democrats on Friday demanded that the U.S. Postal Service inspector general launch an investigation into recent operational changes implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that threaten the timely delivery of mail-in ballots and "the well-being of millions of Americans."

The call for a probe comes after DeJoy, a major Republican donor to President Donald Trump and a former logistics executive, confirmed in a memo (pdf) Friday that he is pressing ahead with an overhaul of the "organizational structure" of USPS with less than 100 days to go before the November elections.


As Common Dreams reported last week, mail carriers have raised alarm over new policies barring overtime and prohibiting workers from sorting mail ahead of their morning deliveries, warning that the changes could be intended to pave the way for privatization. The policies have already resulted in major mail backlogs across the nation, from Pennsylvania to Michigan to New York.In their letter (pdf) to Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb, the Democratic lawmakers wrote that "given the ongoing concerns about the adverse impacts of Trump administration policies on the quality and efficiency of the Postal Service, we ask that you conduct an audit of all operational changes put in place by Mr. DeJoy and other Trump administration officials in 2020."

The "slower and less reliable mail delivery" caused by DeJoy's policies, the lawmakers warned, endangers "the well-being of millions of Americans that rely on the Postal Service for delivery of Social Security checks, prescriptions, and everyday mail of all kinds."




The lawmakers also urged the inspector general to investigate DeJoy's potential conflicts of interest. As the Washington Post reported, DeJoy and his wife's "holdings include between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in USPS competitors or contractors."

In addition to Warren, the letter was signed by House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.).

On Twitter, Warren declared that "Trump and his postmaster are sabotaging USPS."

"They are delaying Social Security checks and other mail and potentially disenfranchising millions of voters," Warren wrote. "The USPS Inspector General should investigate Trump megadonor Louis DeJoy's bad decisions and personal conflicts of interest."

Dems Rebuke 'Legislative Malpractice' of Trump Team as Talks Crumble and Tens of Millions Face Hunger, Joblessness, Possible Eviction

"Trump and Republicans appear ready to walk away from the negotiating table to do unworkable, weak, and narrow executive orders that barely scratch the surface of what is needed."


by
Jake Johnson, staff writer

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/dems-rebuke-legislative-malpractice-trump-team-talks-crumble-and-tens-millions-face?




More than 20 million Americans don't have enough food to eat, 30 million have seen their incomes cut in half due to the expiration of boosted unemployment benefits, and 40 million could face eviction if Congress and the White House don't act.

But these coronavirus-induced human crises have not yet been enough to break the deadlock between the Trump administration and Democratic congressional leaders as the two sides remain far apart in relief talks that have dragged on for more than a week with little to no progress.

With their end-of-the-week deadline fast approaching, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows met Thursday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and emerged after three hours seemingly no closer to a deal than they were before.


Though Schumer and Pelosi urged that negotiations continue until an agreement is reached on key issues like unemployment aid, money for state and local governments, and nutrition assistance, Mnuchin said Thursday that he is "not going to just keep on coming back every day if we can't get to a deal.""We had what I would call a consequential meeting," Pelosi told reporters. "It was one where we could see the difference in values that we bring to the table. We have always said that the Republicans and the president do not understand the gravity of the situation and every time that we have met, it has been reinforced."

Politico reported this week that the White House offered Democratic leaders several "concessions," including $400-per-week in boosted unemployment benefits—an $800 monthly reduction from the previous level—and $150 billion in aid to state and local governments. Pelosi and Schumer rejected both as insufficient.

By the end of the day Thursday, many senators had already left Washington, D.C. for a long weekend with a green light from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has largely remained on the sidelines throughout the bipartisan negotiations after unveiling a $1 trillion relief proposal that would have slashed boosted unemployment benefits by $1,600 per month.

"Is this just another Thursday?" Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) asked in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday evening. "You wouldn't know we're in a terrible economic collapse based on the fact that the Majority Leader is treating this period of time like just another Thursday when everything's fine, everything's good in America."

On Twitter, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote that "Americans are dying and going hungry and Mitch McConnell just sent Republicans home for the weekend."

"Our country already has a public health crisis," Wyden added. "We've already got an unemployment crisis. And with Republicans skipping town, now we've got a crisis of legislative malpractice."

Failure by the White House and Congress to reach an agreement on additional relief spending could have catastrophic human consequences as Covid-19 infections continue to soar across the U.S. and the economic recovery sputters.

The Washington Post's Jeff Stein noted on Twitter that no deal means no additional aid to state and local governments, no new round of direct stimulus payments, no money for schools, no emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service, no hazard pay for frontline workers, and no money for Covid-19 testing.


The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Friday that the U.S. added 1.8 million jobs in July, a significant drop compared to 4.8 million in June and 2.7 million in May. Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, noted in a blog post that the U.S. is "still 12.9 million jobs below where we were in February, before the pandemic spread."

"Federal policymakers need to act now to reinstate the $600 unemployment insurance benefits to the 30+ million workers who are desperately trying to make ends meet," Gould wrote. "And, those benefits are supporting a huge amount of spending, which means, without it, the loss of about five million jobs."

"Federal policymakers also need to provide massive fiscal relief to state and local governments," added Gould, "so they can continue to provide necessary services and prevent unnecessary cuts to their budgets as their revenue falls."


In May, the Democrat-controlled House passed a bill proposing $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments and an extension of the $600-per-week unemployment insurance boost through January of next year. McConnell blocked the bill from even being considered on the Senate floor.

"They didn't act in the first week after the House acted," Merkley said of the Republican-controlled Senate. "Just treated it like another week. No concerns. Didn't act in the second week. Now we're 11 weeks since the House acted and still, the Majority Leader says, 'Don't worry, be happy.'"


"The president is not going to do a deal that has a massive amount of money to bail out state and locals," said Mnuchin.Mnuchin and Meadows are planning to meet once more with Pelosi and Schumer Friday afternoon. Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Mnuchin said the two sides remain "very far apart" on aid to state and local governments facing massive budget shortfalls due to the Covid-19 crisis.

If the two sides don't reach a deal, Mnuchin said the president will move ahead with legally dubious executive orders to suspend collection of the payroll tax, extend enhanced unemployment benefits at an unspecified rate, and revive an expired eviction moratorium. Trump said he could sign the orders as early as Friday afternoon.

The Post reported that "any executive actions the president might take would likely provide much narrower relief than what a congressional deal could produce, even if they survived court challenges."

In a joint statement Friday morning, Pelosi and Schumer said they "remain committed to continue negotiating and reaching a fair agreement with the administration, but we will not go along with the meager legislative proposals that fail to address the gravity of the health and economic situation our country faces."

"Millions of Americans are still hurting," the Democratic leaders added. "And yet, despite this reality, President Trump and Republicans appear ready to walk away from the negotiating table to do unworkable, weak, and narrow executive orders that barely scratch the surface of what is needed to defeat the virus and help struggling Americans."

AS NEW YORK EVICTION MORATORIUM ENDS, TENSION ESCALATES

By Popular Resistance.

August 7, 2020

https://popularresistance.org/as-new-york-eviction-moratorium-ends-tension-escalates/




With as many as 14,000 families potentially facing eviction, New Yorkers took to the street in Brooklyn on Wednesday. They marched right into the offices of landlord attorneys and into the Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Rachel Sharp of the Daily Mail reports:


Dozens of New Yorkers marched through the streets of Brooklyn Wednesday morning before entering two landlord attorney firms buildings and Brooklyn Borough Hall calling for a ban on evictions and cancellation of rent in the Big Apple.

The demonstration comes just hours before New York’s residential eviction moratorium expires, leaving thousands of tenants vulnerable to homelessness.

Fears are mounting over how many residents will manage to keep a roof over their heads as dismal research released at the end of July revealed almost half of New York renters were unable to pay rent.

Concerns have been exacerbated further by the reality that jobless Americans will now lose out on the $600-per-week enhanced unemployment benefits from the federal government if a new coronavirus stimulus bill is not urgently reached on Capitol Hill.

A separate protest was held in Manhattan Wednesday calling for an extension to the enhanced benefits that many desperate residents need.

New Yorkers were especially hard hit by the pandemic as the state – once the virus epicenter – endured a longer and stricter lockdown than others and thousands lost their jobs overnight when businesses shuttered back in March.

Swathes of masked protesters gathered with placards reading ‘shut down evictions’ and ‘cancel rent’ in downtown Brooklyn Wednesday.

Several signs called out New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo urging them to extend protections to tenants in the city.

There are steps that the courts could take to slow or halt the evictions. David Brand of the Queens Daily Eagle writes:


A state measure known as the Tenants Safe Harbor Act protects tenants who prove they were financially impacted by the COVID-19 economic fallout, but does not apply to renters whose eviction cases were settled pre-pandemic. Their fate rests with the state court system, which can extend the moratorium, or with individual judges handling each case, further fueling the uncertainty.

“We have no idea what the judges will do,” said Make the Road New York housing attorney Aura Zuniga.

“14,000 households are hanging. It would really be a crisis on many fronts if they lost their homes,” added Judith Goldiner, the top attorney in Legal Aid’s Civil Law Reform Unit. “I’m really worried. And I don’t know what the court is going to do.”

Landlords may be able to begin serving eviction warrants on Aug. 6, which means marshals could in theory execute evictions two weeks after that. But Queens Housing Court Supervising Judge Lansden said he does not expect tenants to get kicked out of their homes that quickly.

“I do not believe that we will see evictions occur two weeks from Thursday,” Lansden said, adding that he expects that the state Office of Court Administration or Gov. Andrew Cuomo will act to once again stay evictions.

For the second time in two weeks, Lansden told the Eagle that the situation was marked by uncertainty, for tenants, landlords and even jurists. “I dislike this phrase, but right now, it’s a fluid situation,” he said.

“I cannot tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow, much less two weeks from Thursday,” Lansden continued. “We are recognizing the court system can’t simply do nothing. We are recognizing the city of New York can’t be at a standstill, but you can rest assured that OCA is proceeding as cautiously and slowly as possible.”

Tenants’ attorneys have suggested that judges could calendar tenants’ final orders to show cause — last gasp attempts to stop evictions — weeks or months into the future to give renters some more breathing room to find a new apartment. Lansden said that was up to the individual judge.

“Each judge can operate in their own way,” he said. “We try to make things appropriate for the situation we’re dealing with and I have no idea what the situation will be.”

Some officials and attorneys have speculated that the state may require landlords to file a motion or take some other action in order to enforce eviction warrants, which would prolong the process and give tenants another chance to fight displacement in court.

New York City has identified the 14,000 families facing eviction and reached out to them to provide information about free legal services, according to the Department of Social Services.

“We’ve been sending targeted mailers this summer to tenants we identified may be at risk and are continuing that outreach, making New Yorkers aware of the resources available to them,” said DSS spokesperson Isaac McGinn. “In these unprecedented times, as our City reopens and New Yorkers get back on their feet, helping New Yorkers remain stably housed is our top priority.”

The impact of COVID-19 has not only prevented many tenants from paying their rent, it has also stopped people who can make their monthly payments from finding new apartments.

Landlords often agree to give tenants a certain amount of time to get their arrangements in order before forcing them to leave.Tenants whose cases were adjudicated prior to the March 16 suspension of proceedings would have found new homes by now, said Goldiner, of Legal Aid.

But COVID has prevented many New Yorkers from venturing outside their homes to hunt for apartments. Brokers were also barred from showing apartments until June.

“They were supposed to move, they could have moved, they agreed to move, but all of a sudden they couldn’t,” Goldiner said. “In the past, relatives or friends would have put them up, but now with the pandemic, people are scared.”

“A lot of folks are going to be homeless for a while.”

An extended eviction moratorium is just a stopgap measure for families families homelessness as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, Goldiner said.