Donald Trump, cheering on his “warriors” who demand that states lift their lockdown and distancing orders (where they have them), would have you believe this is about bringing the economy back to life so ordinary people can get their jobs and normal lives back. Elitist liberals who work from home and have country estates to retreat to don’t care, but “real” people do.
The reality is different. The shuttering of stores, restaurants, hotels and workplaces didn’t begin with government orders and won’t end with them. If the rate of new infection and death is too high, a lot of people won’t go along. Not everyone, but enough to make a huge economic difference. Ask any small business owner what it would mean for demand to drop by 25-50%. Lifting government orders won’t magically restore the economic conditions of mid-winter.
So what’s it about? Even as it makes a big PR show of supporting state by state “liberation” in America, the Trump administration is advising state governments on how to remove workers from unemployment insurance once orders are lifted. Without government directives, employers can demand workers show up, and if they refuse they no longer qualify. And why might workers refuse? Perhaps because their workplaces are still unsafe and they have vulnerable family members they want to keep from getting infected? Not good enough—once the state has been “liberated”.
How should we respond to this travesty? First, of course, by telling the truth that an anti-worker, anti-human campaign is being conducted under the guise of defending workers. If the Democrats weren’t themselves such a tool of business interests we might hear that narrative from them, but the rest of us are free to speak out and should start doing it, loudly, wherever we can.
Second, one of the laws of the land is the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, which gives workers the
right to refuse imminently hazardous work. This hasn’t been used very often, nor is there much case law around it, but the current pandemic is a good reason to pull it out of storage. If there are public interest law firms looking for something useful to do during distancing, they could advertise their willingness to defend workers who need to stay home until work is safe—while still getting their paycheck. If employers thought the choice was between public support for workers sitting out the pandemic or their support for them we might hear less about “liberation”.
It was transparently obvious from the start that this is what was going on. The “right to work” is now a mandate to die. The Republicans in the Senate, Lindsey Graham etc told us. That extra $600 was going to make the disposables sit at home and we can’t have that. Donald has dreams of firing the economy up again before the election. For that he is going to have to throw a lot of peasants on the fire. They will resist any more aid because there is a reluctance on the part of the population to jump into the flames. Therefore they are going to have to rely on hunger to motivate the masses. If you feed them, they won’t light themselves on fire for peanuts.
I have said this before and I will rattle it off again. In Michigan and since 1990:
– The Michigan House has been controlled by Repubs 2/3rds of the time
– The Michigan Senate has been controlled by Repubs.
– Michigan has had a Repub Governor 2 of 3 times till Whitmer took office.
– Michigan Repubs have had a trifecta under Repub governors two of three times.
The infrastructure is crumbling, the roads are in poor shape needing massive and expensive rebuilds, K-12 is underfunded, higher education funds have been reduced 60% which used to keep pace with inflation, Medicaid is under attack, Unemployment is also a target, etc.
There has always been room for tax breaks to the upper 10% and there has always been room for business tax cuts. Michigan was #4 for corporate welfare. For some reason there is always the blame to be laid upon minorities for unemployment and healthcare costs. The advent of the MIDAS unemployment system came into being due to an emphasis of preventing unemployment fraud. The same as the cuts to Medicaid this was meant for those were on the bottom half of the income brackets. There was no human intervention and the MIDAS algorithm falsely accused 40,000 applicants of fraud and penalized them monetarily for years.
Former Governor Scott in Florida created an unemployment system which few of the unemployed can get past leaving many with little or no funds in a short period of time. Governor Kemp in Georgia’s is curtailing its generous unemployment system of 14 weeks (/s) and forcing more people back to work. Michigan and other states are cutting back on Medicaid benefits and enrollment due to lack of funding, due to the low taxes rates, and due to not squirreling away rainy day funds.
Unemployment and Medicaid are state issues and who gets what and for what length of time is controlled by the states of which most are under Repub control. SCOTUS even affirmed their right to who gets Medicaid with its ruling on state Medicaid expansion. States without the Medicaid expansion stop at 100% FPL. State Medicaid Expansion starts at 138% FPL. There is a gap of 38% where people may not qualify.
Yes this is about Unemployment and getting people off of the State Dole called Unemployment. The argument here is this issue of bumping people off Medicaid is for the same reason . . . to cut payments. States must balance their budgets yearly by law and states like Michigan and Georgia have constitutional limits to tax increases. It is here where the Federal Government needs to step in and assist states with funding whether it assists Repub or McConnell’s big concern Dem – controlled states. The latest is there is no hope for this to occur till June and by that time the roles and insured will be reduced.
Enough said.
I’m very impressed with the strategic thinking of the very rich. They clearly foresee that if 40% of America’s workers (before the pandemic) aren’t making a living, this 40% would have no way of saving anything for retirement. Looking down the road, that’s some 60 million a year that are going to need supplemental income from the Federal Govt. and that, (someday after Grover Norquist is dead and gone?) eventually the US is going to have to close the tax loop holes and raise taxes on the rich.
Well, we can’t have the lazy lumpen proletariat just sitting on their fat asses, can we?
You know what would coal king again? Sending children to work in the mines. Teach them the value of a dollar.
It is not called the GOP: Party of Hate® for nothing.
A historian I like described unemployment insurance as “a meager dole situated at the top of a greased flagpole with sharpened spikes all around it”. Quite so. But now that the genuine need is more obvious we’re subjected to a “spirited debate” on how desperate and hungry our fellow citizens should be. Don’t worry, it’s bipartisan.
Welcome to the Pelosi-Trump depression.
Robert Reich:
“The GOP Playbook 101:
1) Bail out corporations with no strings attached in an economic crisis.
2) Collect campaign funds from the same companies and execs.
3) Complain about the deficit.
4) Demand cuts to programs that benefit the American people.
5) Repeat.”
Pelosi has achieved every single thing on this list. Cuomo is using the same playbook in NY.