Tillis Pushed Deregulation That Helps His Top Donor, Blackstone Group, Bilk Small Investors

Besides being Tillis’ top campaign donor, Blackstone’s CEO has given $20 million to a super PAC attacking Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham.


Donald Shaw

@donnydonny



https://readsludge.com/2020/10/30/tillis-pushed-deregulation-that-helps-his-top-donor-blackstone-group-bilk-small-investors/




The private equity industry has spent more money on the 2020 elections than ever before, and no politician has benefitted more than North Carolina’s Republican senator Thom Tillis, whose race against Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, a dead heat, could determine which party controls the upper chamber.

Keeping Republicans in control of the Senate would benefit the industry in many ways, including helping their billionaire executives hold onto lucrative tax breaks, but they also have reason to try and keep Tillis around in particular. Tillis has been a leader in helping to deliver regulatory benefits for the industry, including his repeated efforts to secure a new rule that weakens the position of smaller American investors to the benefit of big corporations and private equity firms.

In 2018, Tillis introduced legislation to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to expand the definition of accredited investors so that private funds can raise money from less-wealthy investors. The accredited investor definition is used to determine who is allowed to participate in investments that are not available to the general public, including offers by private equity firms, hedge funds, and venture funds. For years, accredited investors were required to have a net worth of at least $1 million, but Tillis wanted to expand that to include people with certain educational backgrounds, job experience, and a lower net worth.

The SEC kicked off a rulemaking to expand the definition in December 2019 and finalized it earlier this year after Tillis and a few of his Republican colleagues filed a comment to the agency’s chair, Jay Clayton, asking him to be even more expansive with their changes to the definition. When the SEC voted to change the definition, Tillis put out a statement applauding the effort and saying that he “has led Congressional efforts to amend the definition of accredited investor.”

The definition now allows for holders of entry-level stockbroker’s licenses, “knowledgeable employees” of nonpublic firms, and other new categories of investors to participate in financial offerings like leveraged buyouts and angel funds that are far less transparent than those offered to the general public.

In his letter, Tillis calls the change “a win for the American people,” but financial reform advocates see the SEC’s move as an industry victory that helps giant firms exploit small investors.

“The SEC did the bidding of private equity in particular by enlarging the pool of money from which this industry, which already has trillions on hand, can draw,” said Carter Dougherty, communications director with consumer group Americans for Financial Reform. “The result will surely be that private equity firms will prey on less-informed investors, who will not have the benefit of information available in public securities markets, and will pay higher fees for mediocre returns on their money.”

These investments and fees will benefit billionaire fund managers, several of whom have spent tens of millions of dollars this election cycle to support Tillis and other vulnerable Republicans.

The CEO of private equity behemoth Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman, who is worth $18.1 billion, has donated $20 million since January 2019 to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

Tillis has been the biggest beneficiary of Senate Leadership Fund support this election cycle. The super PAC has spent $47 million on television ads and other communications opposing his opponent Cal Cunningham as of Oct. 30. The group’s ads have attacked Cunningham over flirtatious texts he sent to a woman who is not his wife.

Another top donor to Senate Leadership Fund is Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of investment firm Citadel, which could benefit from an expanded pool of potential investors. Griffin gave the super PAC $25 million this cycle.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Blackstone sent letters to the SEC praising their proposal to expand the accredited investor definition and urging it to go further.

Blackstone Group is also Tillis’ top campaign donor this election cycle, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics, with many of the firm’s executives and employees chipping in the legal maximum of $5,600 for a combined total of $67,611, including Schwarzman, Global Head of Private Equity Joseph Baratta, and Senior Managing Director Prakash Melwani. Securities and investments is Tillis’ top donor industry, with investment firms like Elliot Management, Apollo Global Management, and Capital Group all among his top 20 donors.

The North Carolina Senate race is one of a handful that will determine which party controls the Senate, along with races in Maine, Colorado, and Arizona. Most polls have Tillis trailing his Democratic opponent by a few percentage points, with the race having tightened dramatically in the past two weeks.

Unions Representing Hundreds of Thousands of Workers Prepare for General Strike If Trump Subverts Election Results

"Paired with people in the streets, a strike could help stop a GOP coup."



Julia Conley, staff writer



https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/30/unions-representing-hundreds-thousands-workers-prepare-general-strike-if-trump




Dozens of labor unions have resolved to consider a general strike after Nov. 3 should President Donald Trump refuse to accept the results of the election or sabotage the counting of ballots, with organizers calling a work stoppage "the most powerful tool the movement has" to protect democracy.

The 100,000-member Rochester-Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation in New York was the first union federation to adopt a resolution this month stating that it would prepare for and hold “a general strike of all working people, if necessary, to ensure a constitutionally mandated peaceful transition of power as a result of the 2020 presidential elections."

The resolution also stated the federation would lobby other labor organizations including the AFL-CIO, which represents 12.5 million workers, to consider a general strike if the president attempts to subvert the election results.


MLK Labor in Seattle, which represents 150 unions and 100,000 members, approved a resolution last week stating it "will take whatever nonviolent actions are necessary up to and including a general strike to protect our democracy, the Constitution, the law, and our nation’s democratic traditions," and Western Mass Area Labor Federation in Western Massachusetts voted on a similar resolution last Monday. The group passed the resolution as Trump has repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the election results if he loses and after several federal court decisions have sparked fears that hundreds of thousands of voters could be disenfranchised.

"We joined a growing number of labor organizations around the country and passed a resolution making clear that should Donald Trump and his administration attempt to obstruct, subvert, sabotage, overturn or reject a fair and complete count of presidential ballots (essentially a coup against democracy), that the labor movements must respond with nonviolent action to defend the democratic process, the Constitution and an orderly transfer of power that is one of the historic hallmarks of American democracy," the federation wrote on its Facebook page last week.

"The labor movement must be ready to defend our democracy and use our collective power to ensure that every vote is counted," the group added.

The AFL-CIO's executive council has so far only committed to "defend our democratic republic," and President Richard Trumka told labor leaders on Oct. 22 that the labor movement's focus up until Election Day is to get out the vote for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. After the election, Trumka said, the AFL-CIO will determine how it will fight back if Trump or the judicial system moves to stop the counting of votes or otherwise stands in the way of a peaceful transition of power.




Even a work stoppage in certain parts of the country would be historic; the last time a general strike took place in the U.S. was in 1946 when workers in Oakland, Calif. staged a walkout over low wages, forcing all businesses except for grocery stores and pharmacies to shut down for one month.

"What we've seen is people going about our business during the day and conducting mass protests at night, and that's not going to be enough to make this president move," Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, told The Guardian on Friday. "[Trump] will use those protests to further divide the country. We will have to do the one thing that takes all power and control from the government or anyone with corporate interests in keeping this person in office, and that is withholding our labor."

As labor leaders across the country are considering a work stoppage, advocacy groups are preparing a growing number of direct actions to demand that election officials protect the results of the election. Led by Indivisible and Stand Up America, the Protect the Results coalition is so far planning at least 435 demonstrations across the country, up from 375 on Tuesday.

"If Trump declares victory prematurely or tries to undermine the results of the election, the American people must be ready to rise up and protect the results," wrote Leah Greenberg of Indivisible and Sean Eldridge of Stand Up America at Talking Points Memo on Friday.

"With a combined membership in the tens of millions, the Protect the Results coalition continues to build a national activist network that could mobilize quickly to demand that election officials, the Electoral College and Congress honor the accurate, final vote count," they added. "By mobilizing across the country, our groups hope to ensure that any corrupt political pressure from Trump is met with far greater pressure from the American people to follow the rules and preserve our democracy."

A work stoppage combined with rallies at government buildings and other public places starting on Nov. 4, should the president sabotage a free and fair election, "could help stop a GOP coup," said organizers.


"Spread the word. Contact your union," tweeted Protect the Results NYC. "And if you haven't, commit to taking the streets."

'Truly Sociopathic Behavior': After Mother Beaten by Philly Cops, Fraternal Order of Police Use Photo of Terrified Toddler as Propaganda

"The underlying story of Philadelphia police conduct is shocking enough, but the added layer of intentional lies and deception... is unbelievable."


Julia Conley, staff writer



https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/30/truly-sociopathic-behavior-after-mother-beaten-philly-cops-fraternal-order-police




The conduct of Philadelphia police officers and the nation's largest law enforcement association this week amounted to what one journalist called "an extraordinary mix of police violence and disinformation," after it was revealed Friday that officers beat a young mother who had accidentally driven into a protest and then snatched her toddler from the car and later used his image in pro-police propaganda.

Along with several posts urging voters to support President Donald Trump, the Fraternal Order of Police on Thursday night posted a photo of a toddler who the union falsely claimed had been found by Philadelphia police "wandering around barefoot" amid the "lawlessness" of the fourth night of demonstrations over the killing of Walter Wallace, Jr.

But the union soon deleted the post after being confronted by the Philadelphia Inquirer and lawyers for the two-year-old boy's mother, Rickia Young, said the officers forcibly removed the toddler from his mother's vehicle after smashing the car's windows and violently arresting Young after she accidentally drove into an area where protesters were being confronted by lines of riot police.

The reality of what the photo shows, tweeted HuffPost reporter Ryan J. Reilly, offers "a tremendously valuable lesson in why you always need to treat initial police narratives with intense skepticism."



According to attorneys Riley H. Ross III and Kevin Mincey, Young attempted to turn around immediately after she turned down a street where police were clashing with protesters Thursday night, while her son and teenage nephew were in the car with her.

While she was trying to make a three-point turn as directed by officers, the police suddenly surrounded her SUV, smashing Young's windows while the toddler sat in the back seat. The police violently dragged Young out of the car, beat her with batons, and then threw her to the ground.

A nearby resident, Aapril Rice caught the police violence on video:


While Young was left with a bloodied head and badly bruised left side from the police attack and was detained and separated from her son for hours, a female police officer was photographed holding the toddler in what was later used for what Ross called "propaganda."

"Using this kid in a way to say, 'This kid was in danger and the police were only there to save him,' when the police actually caused the danger," Ross told the Washington Post. "That little boy is terrified because of what the police did."

The child was also hurt during the attack and was taken to Children's Hospital to be treated for a head injury after being reunited with his mother. According to the Post, the family still has not been able to locate the SUV or their belongings, including the toddler's hearing aids, which were inside.

Observers on social media expressed shock at the story, with filmmaker Peter Ramsey tweeting that accounts like that of Young and her child are evidence of a police force that is "begging to be defunded."




"This is state sanctioned terror," tweeted Vox journalist Kainaz Amaria.

In Bid to Beat 'Public Health and Economic Crises,' Senate Dems Urge Utilities to Suspend Shutoffs During Pandemic

"Minority and low-income families who have disproportionately borne the brunt of the current economic crisis are particularly at risk."


Brett Wilkins, staff writer



https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/30/bid-beat-public-health-and-economic-crises-senate-dems-urge-utilities-suspend




Voicing support for "legislation that would impose a federal moratorium on all utility shutoffs" during the coronavirus pandemic, a group of Senate Democrats on Friday sent a letter to 21 of the nation's largest utility and telecommunications companies urging them to voluntarily stop terminating services for the duration of the crisis.

"Because of the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic, millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet and are at risk for having their electricity, water, and broadband services terminated," the letter (pdf)—which was led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)—said.


The lawmakers noted that nearly 179 million Americans—"a staggering number of people"—are at risk of electricity shutoffs, and that "minority and low-income families who have disproportionately borne the brunt of the current economic crisis are particularly at risk" for service cancellation or interruption. "In order to effectively address the concurrent public health and economic crises, the families you serve must have uninterrupted access to these essential public services," the senators asserted.

Furthermore, "shutoff moratoriums have expired (or were never implemented) in 33 states, and seven more states have moratoriums that will expire next month."


"Every day more people in our communities become at risk for losing access to the water they need to wash their hands or the electricity they need to keep the lights on," the senators wrote.

The letter also called the internet "an essential public service"—especially "as millions of children are forced to learn remotely" during the pandemic—and warned that "without a moratorium on electricity and broadband disconnections, many more children, in particular those in minority, low-income, and rural communities, are at risk of falling behind."

In addition to Brown and Merkley, the letter was signed by six other Democratic senators: Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Edward Markey (Mass.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), and Chris Van Hollen (Md.). Bernie Sanders (Vt.), an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, is also a signatory.

Earlier this week, over 120 advocacy organizations sent a letter to Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urging him to declare a national moratorium on water shutoffs—echoing a similar message from Reps. Harley Rouda (D-Calif.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) earlier this month.

'Banking for the People': Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez Unveil Bill to Foster Creation of Public Banks Across US

"It's time for an option that works for the people and not solely privatized profits."


Jessica Corbett, staff writer



https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/30/banking-people-tlaib-and-ocasio-cortez-unveil-bill-foster-creation-public-banks




"It's long past time to open doors for people who have been systematically shut out and provide a better option for those grappling with the costs of simply trying to participate in an economy they have every right to—but has been rigged against them."

That's according to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and a handful of other progressives in Congress introduced legislation on Friday they say "would provide a much-needed financial lifeline to states and municipalities, as well as unbanked and underbanked residents, that have been left in dire straits by the Covid-19 pandemic."

Specifically, as a joint statement from the congresswomen explains, the Public Banking Act (pdf) would enable "the creation of state and locally administered public banks by establishing the Public Bank Grant program administered by the secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board which would provide grants for the formation, chartering, and capitalization of public banks."

"We spent $30 trillion in the global crisis from 2007-2009 propping up financial institutions that held the country hostage for their reckless behavior. Only $8 trillion dollars has been committed thus far in the Covid-19 pandemic," Tlaib noted. "These banks have been, are, and will continue to depend on the public dollar. It is time for this relationship to be reciprocated and have the banks work for the people and not solely privatized profits wreaking havoc on communities of color."


In addition to allowing the Treasury secretary and the Fed's board to give grants to public banks for "bank formation, capitalization, developing financial market infrastructure, supporter operations, covering unexpected losses, and more without the requirement to provide matching funds," the bill:
Allows the Federal Reserve to charter and grant membership to public banks, and in conjunction with the appropriate federal agencies, establish a separate regulatory scheme with respect to these.
Establishes public banking incubator program to provide technical assistance to public member banks to develop technologies, practices, and data that promote public welfare.
Establishes new liquidity and credit facilities at the Federal Reserve to provide direct federal support to state and local public banks and their communities;
Prohibits investment in fossil fuel projects.

Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez argue that public banks not only would benefit city and state governments and aspiring entrepreneurs due to lower interest rates and fees, but also could result in broader community benefits by, for example, funding public infrastructure projects. Ocasio-Cortez called their legislation "monumental."

"Public banks are uniquely able to address the economic inequality and structural racism exacerbated by the banking industry's discriminatory policies and predatory practices," she said. "The creation of public banks will also facilitate the use of public resources to construct a myriad of public goods including affordable housing and local renewable energy projects. Public banks empower states and municipalities to establish new channels of public investment to help solve systemic crises."


The other half of the Squad—Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)—and Reps. Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Al Green (D-Texas), Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) are backing the bill, as are 29 outside groups.

Organizations supporting the measure include the California Public Banking Alliance (CBPA), Take on Wall Street, Americans for Financial Reform, Beneficial State Foundation, Communications Workers of America, Friends of the Earth, Food & Water Action, Americans for Financial Reform, California Reinvestment Coalition, Center for Popular Democracy, Community Change, Farm Aid, Institute for Policy Studies, Jobs With Justice, NJ Citizen Action, Oil Change International, Oil Change International, People's Action, Strong Economy for All, UNITE HERE, Working Families Party, Democracy Collaborative, ACRE, and Public Citizen.


Climate Justice Alliance policy coordinator Anthony Rogers-Wright expressed excitement that "our values regarding the need for a rapid Fossil Fuel phaseout" are represented in the bill, highlighting evidence that economically, "Big Oil is in big trouble and the people don't want the money they keep in their banks utilized to bailout or finance an industry that's killing people and planet."

Take on Wall Street campaign director Porter McConnell explained that her group supports the Public Banking Act "because public banks can create jobs and boost the local economy, save cities and states money, and lend counter-cyclically to blunt the impact of Wall Street booms and busts."

"As we learned recently from the Paycheck Protection Program, when you pay big Wall Street banks to provide public goods, they inevitably reward themselves and their friends at the expense of white, Black, and brown working families," McConnell said, referencing the business loan program established in March by Congress' last Covid-19 relief measure. "We deserve a financial system for working families, not the big banks."

Experts Warn Trump HHS 'Endangering People' by Covering Up Key Covid-19 Hospitalization Data

"We're now in the third wave, and I think our only way out is really open, transparent, and actionable information."

Jake Johnson, staff writer





https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/30/experts-warn-trump-hhs-endangering-people-covering-key-covid-19-hospitalization-data




As surging coronavirus hospitalizations across the U.S. push already-strained medical facilities to the brink of full capacity, internal documents obtained by NPR show that the Trump administration is withholding from the public critical hospital data that experts say would be extremely useful in helping communities prepare for, track, and overcome Covid-19 outbreaks.

NPR reported Friday that the documents—which are based on hospital data collected and analyzed daily by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—"highlight trends in hospitalizations and pinpoint cities nearing full hospital capacity and facilities under stress. They paint a granular picture of the strain on hospitals across the country that could help local citizens decide when to take extra precautions against Covid-19."


Dated October 27, the most recent internal report obtained by NPR shows that around 24% of the nation's hospitals—including facilities in major cities like Atlanta and Minneapolis—are utilizing more than 80% of their intensive care unit capacity and names specific hospitals that are over 95% capacity. The document also shows an uptick in ventilator usage over the past month as coronavirus infections continue to rise at a record-shattering rate."The documents show that detailed information hospitals report to HHS every day is reviewed and analyzed—but circulation seems to be limited to a few dozen government staffers from HHS and its agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health," NPR noted. "Only one member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Adm. Brett Giroir, appears to receive the documents directly."

Experts said the detailed local data currently only circulated among a small group of Trump administration officials would, if made widely available, play a significant role in better informing Americans and health officials about nearby hotspots and encouraging greater safety precautions.

"The neighborhood data, the county data, and metro-area data can be really helpful for people to say, 'Whoa, they're not kidding, this is right here,'" Lisa Lee, former chief science officer for public health surveillance at the CDC, told NPR. "It can help public health prevention folks get their messages across and get people to change their behavior."

While some state officials are able to access HHS reports for their own state, the inability to view broader regional data leaves them without potentially crucial information.

"Hospitals in Tennessee serve patients who are from Arkansas and Mississippi and Kentucky and Georgia and vice versa, and so we're a little bit blind to what's going on there," said Melissa McPheeters, adjunct research professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "When we see hospitals that are particularly near those state borders having increases, one of the things we can't tell is: Is that because hospitals in an adjacent state are full? What's going on there? And that could be a really important piece of the picture."






Ryan Panchadsaram, co-founder of the website Covid Exit Strategy and a former data official in the Obama administration, said the decision to keep the detailed hospitalization data out of public view is "reckless," particularly in the face of soaring coronavirus cases and hospitalizations nationwide.

"It's endangering people," Panchadsaram told NPR. "We're now in the third wave, and I think our only way out is really open, transparent, and actionable information."

In a tweet Friday, Panchadsaram wrote that "there's a mismatch: the rigorous work that's happening internally by the rank and file at HHS/CDC/USDS [United States Digital Service] and what is being shared externally by the administration."

According to publicly available data analyzed by the Covid Tracking Project, more than 46,000 people in the U.S. are currently hospitalized due to the coronavirus as of Thursday, which saw a daily record of 90,400-plus new cases.

"Approaching the eve of the election, President Trump has downplayed the steep rise in cases, attributing much of it to increased testing," the New York Times noted earlier this week. "But the number of people hospitalized for the virus tells a different story, climbing an estimated 46 percent from a month ago and raising fears about the capacity of regional healthcare systems to respond to overwhelming demand."

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University's Milken School of Public Health, tweeted Friday that the HHS hospitalization data "needs to be available to the public."

"It is critical to hospital surge planning and guiding local and state policies," said Wen.

As Covid-19 Infections Skyrocket, House Report Slams Trump's Pandemic Response as Among "Worst Failures of Leadership" in U.S. History

"This report exhaustively documents what has long been clear: the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis has been a tragic failure."

Kenny Stancil, staff writer





https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/30/covid-19-infections-skyrocket-house-report-slams-trumps-pandemic-response-among




One day after the United States reported a record high of more than 90,400 Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period—equivalent to one new infection every second—the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Friday denounced President Donald Trump's disastrous response to the pandemic, describing it as one of the "worst failures of leadership" in the country's history.

In a new report (pdf) entitled Inefficient, Ineffective, and Inequitable, the panel detailed how the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis has caused a public health catastrophe, failed to alleviate the ongoing economic hardships endured by millions of U.S. households, and prioritized Wall Street recovery over Main Street relief.

"The virus is a global scourge," said the report, "but it has been an American fiasco, killing more people in the U.S. than in any other country."


The subcommittee's most recent publication compiled and summarized key findings from dozens of investigations it has conducted since being established on April 23.

"This report exhaustively documents what has long been clear," said subcommittee Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.) in a statement released Friday. "The Trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis has been a tragic failure."

According to the analysis, Trump's "decision to mislead the public about the severity of the crisis, his failure to listen to scientists about how to keep Americans healthy, and his refusal to implement a coordinated national plan to stop the coronavirus have all contributed to devastating results: more than 227,000 Americans dead, more than 8.8 million Americans infected, and a dangerous virus that continues to spread out of control nine months after it reached our nation's shores."

In addition, the report noted that the White House failed to protect millions of economically distressed households experiencing material deprivation and financial freefall.

Instead of extending enhanced unemployment insurance benefits and providing housing relief, for instance, the Trump aministration "exacerbated and extended an economic collapse of historic proportions, with tens of millions of Americans losing their jobs and at least six million Americans falling into poverty."




To the extent that the Trump administration did respond to the economic crisis, the report noted that it intervened in ways that "benefited larger companies and wealthy Americans, while leaving behind many disadvantaged communities and struggling small businesses."

The report pointed to the Federal Reserve's practice of purchasing corporate debt while leaving workers out to dry. It also stated that the Trump administration's "implementation of relief programs passed by Congress has... been marred by fraud, waste, and abuse."

Trump "has refused to do what is necessary to control the virus and mitigate its economic damage," said Clyburn.

"While we cannot bring back the nearly 230,000 Americans we have lost to this disease, I hope that this report will serve as a wake-up call to make the improvements needed to prevent further unnecessary deaths and deprivation that will occur if the response continues on its current course," he added.

To that end, the subcommittee made several recommendations:
The administration must create and implement a coordinated national plan to defeat the coronavirus, save American lives, and revive our economy;
A coordinated national plan must be guided by the best available science, not political expediency;
Americans need the Senate to pass and the president to sign comprehensive relief legislation to tackle the virus and support workers, families, and communities; and
Economic relief legislation must be implemented in a manner consistent with Congress's intent to target assistance to the most vulnerable Americans rather than wealthy corporations.

These recommendations contrast sharply with recent stances taken by the White House. As Accountable.US president Kyle Herring said Friday, the Trump administration appears "to have thrown their hands up in surrender, ramping up rhetoric around 'herd immunity' and publicly announcing that they 'are not going to control the virus.'"

"As cases surge," Herring added, "the Trump administration should be doubling down on resources to ensure communities have the support they need."

Failing to do so "is an abdication of responsibility to the American people on a massive scale," he said.