This piece was originally published in the July 27, 2020 edition of CAP Action’s daily newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.
This week marks the first time in months that unemployed Americans won’t receive federal support.
It’s also the first week without a federal moratorium on evictions.
We were in a housing crisis BEFORE the pandemic. Now, Trump’s failed coronavirus response has thrown gas on the fire.
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IN THE NEWS
- It’s been 5 months since Trump uttered one of his most egregious lies of the pandemic. “You have 15 people,” he said, “and the 15, within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero. That’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” (Fact check: Wrong.) As of today, at least 4.2 million people in the U.S. have been infected with the coronavirus. Over 146,000 people have died from it. And now, even after all the pain this crisis has already inflicted on Americans, Trump is still ignoring the facts for his own political gain.
- Republicans announced their “plan” for unemployed Americans today, and it’s just as bad as we expected. Mitch McConnell is again refusing to offer adequate support for out-of-work Americans — instead, he’s reportedly proposing to cut the weekly supplemental unemployment checks down from $600 to just $200. McConnell has shown no interest in passing the HEROES Act, which has been sitting on his desk for more than two months and which would, among other things, extend the $600 checks until January 2021.
- More people in the U.S. are hospitalized right now than at almost any other point during the pandemic. According to a report from Vox, 59,846 people across the U.S. were in the hospital on July 23 after testing positive for the coronavirus, just a handful fewer than the April 15 peak. More coronavirus hospitalizations will inevitably result in more deaths, as well as long-term health impacts for many of the people who do survive the virus. This crisis is not over, and it’s on Trump to start taking it seriously — or face the consequences for abandoning the American people.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- As millions of renters face evictions and Republicans refuse to do anything about the nationwide housing crisis, the market for extravagant home sales is booming. The wealthy are taking advantage of the cheapest mortgage rates in history to buy bigger homes, according to a new report from the Washington Post. Some are even acquiring second homes, presumably for a change of pace during the pandemic.
- Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Check out this piece from CAPAF’s Rebecca Cokley about the legacy of the ADA and the work that still lies ahead of us. “While disability issues have become more mainstream in our culture,” Cokley writes, “we still have a long way to go to reach true equality and justice — especially in light of the disproportionate impact both coronavirus and the recession have had on our communities. Simply put, there are structures put in place with the intention of keeping people with disabilities poor, even at the most prosperous times in our country’s history.”
WHAT WE’RE READING
Got plans for happy hour this Friday? We do. Join Stacey Abrams and Cory Booker for a virtual discussion on where progressive priorities lie during the pandemic.