This piece was originally published in the August 12, 2020 edition of CAP Action’s daily newsletter, the Progress Report. Subscribe to the Progress Report here.
“Nothing’s risk-free in life.”
— Ron DeSantis, who is actively putting the lives of Florida’s kids, teachers, and families at risk
Who would cut Social Security in the middle of a pandemic after promising he wouldn’t?
Answer: Donald Trump.
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IN THE NEWS
- The veepstakes is finally over, and the Democratic ticket has its number two: California Senator Kamala Harris. In anticipation of the racism and sexism Senator Harris is likely to face as a Black woman on the national stage, our friends at Supermajority put together this helpful brief detailing her background and experience. They also discuss where she stands on the issues that matter to women, including her work to combat the Black maternal mortality crisis.
- A new report from NBC News lays out how Trump’s flip-flopping and aversion to face masks has had a deadly price. According to some health experts, Trump’s mixed messaging on mask-wearing likely cost lives. “People have died because we haven’t had consistent messaging on mask-wearing,” said Dr. Gregory Kirk, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. “I don’t think that’s really up to debate.” Check out the full article for a timeline on Trump’s various takes on face masks over the course of the pandemic thus far.
- As Trump and Ron DeSantis continue advocating for in-person school reopenings without a sufficient safety plan, coronavirus cases among children in Florida are rising. According to the state’s data, cases in children more than doubled over the past month. Florida’s total number of cases in children 17 and under rose from 16,797 on July 9 to 39,735 on August 9 — an increase of 137%. And as more and more of Florida’s schools begin to reopen for in-person learning, it’s only going to get worse. New outbreaks are popping up in schools across the country, and Florida is likely to follow suit if they don’t get a handle on the situation soon.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Texas surpassed half a million confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday. The infection rate in the state has been rising steadily recently despite a drop in hospitalizations after they hit a high point last month. On top of this, Texas has recently experienced a drop in testing, which some have suggested is due to long, burdensome wait times at testing sites and days-long waits for results once a test is completed.
- According to data from the New York Fed, nearly half of America’s Black-owned small businesses were wiped out by the end of April. These closures came as the pandemic ramped up and Trump’s failed response ravaged the American economy. The report found that Black-owned businesses were more than twice as likely to shutter as their white counterparts.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- Ambition Has Always Been ‘Ladylike’ by Jessica Bennet (New York Times)
- CAP’s “White Elephant Watch” series profiles projects that demonstrate the failures of the current U.S. policy approach to transportation infrastructure. In the latest edition, Kevin DeGood profiles Ohio’s Portsmouth Bypass, which represents a broken theory of economic development that prioritizes vehicular travel time over the needs of communities.
- The Black-White Wealth Gap Will Widen Educational Disparities During the Coronavirus Pandemic by Dania Francis and Christian E. Weller (CAP)
- Untangling the Gun Lobby’s Web of Self-Defense and Human Rights by Rukmani Bhatia (CAP)
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