The vast majority in Washington are indifferent toward public health, safety and welfare.
Dems and Republicans share guilt, two sides of the same dirty business as usual coin.
Ahead of the November presidential and congressional elections, Dems pretend concern about ordinary Americans whose interests they long ago abandoned to prioritized wars, suffocating neoliberal harshness, and deference to privileged interests over the public welfare.
Previous articles discussed the GOP HEALS Act from hell.
US dark forces engineered economic collapse, a diabolical plot I addressed in previous articles.
Then Congress pretended concern about helping ordinary Americans to cope by handing trillions of dollars to privileged interests, crumbs alone to the unemployed and needy, nothing for jobs creation by initiating public programs similar to New Deal ones.
The GOP HEALS Act aims to perpetuate human misery. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) slammed it, saying, It “fails miserably (to help) people most harmed by” economic crisis conditions and offers nothing to aid “economic recovery,” adding, “The Senate’s proposed cut in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits from $600 to $200 weekly will “cost 3.4 million jobs.”
The measure omits vitally needed aid to state and local governments.
“This intentional oversight threatens vital public services just when they are needed most and could result in an additional 5.3 million public and private sector service workers losing their jobs by the end of 2021,” EPI stressed.
Without large-scale federal aid to states, cities, and other local governments, “deep cuts in healthcare and education” are coming.
When hard times occur, America’s most disadvantaged suffer most, notably people of color and small business.
EPI also explained that the GOP measure “ends all federal expansions of UI at the end of this year—not just the extra payment, but also Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which expands eligibility to people who are not eligible for regular state UI, like gig workers, and the additional 13-week extension of regular state benefits.”
When prioritizing help for the nation’s unemployed and needy is essential, along with large-scale initiatives to stimulate economic recovery, the misnamed HEALS Act should be called the Public Health, Safety, and Welfare Harms Act.
A further GOP affront is omission of extending a moratorium on evictions from residences with federally guaranteed mortgages, EPI explaining:
The Senate “heighten(ed) the approaching eviction crisis by cutting benefits at a critical juncture.”
“The bill also neglects to put crucial provisions in place to reopen the economy successfully: there is not enough money for testing, tracing, and childcare.”
“The bill fails to mandate an emergency workplace health and safety standard to protect workers from the virus.”
Like the so-called congressionally passed CARES Act months earlier, the Senate bill is long on corporate benefits, woefully short on helping tens of millions of Americans in need.
EPI: The misnamed HEALS Act “will lead to deep and prolonged pain. Congressional leaders should reject it and immediately act to pass a package that will actually provide relief to the economy and the people and families who comprise it.”
RSS
The diabolical GOP HEALS Act
Posted on July 31, 2020 by Stephen Lendman
The vast majority in Washington are indifferent toward public health, safety and welfare.
Dems and Republicans share guilt, two sides of the same dirty business as usual coin.
Ahead of the November presidential and congressional elections, Dems pretend concern about ordinary Americans whose interests they long ago abandoned to prioritized wars, suffocating neoliberal harshness, and deference to privileged interests over the public welfare.
Previous articles discussed the GOP HEALS Act from hell.
US dark forces engineered economic collapse, a diabolical plot I addressed in previous articles.
Then Congress pretended concern about helping ordinary Americans to cope by handing trillions of dollars to privileged interests, crumbs alone to the unemployed and needy, nothing for jobs creation by initiating public programs similar to New Deal ones.
The GOP HEALS Act aims to perpetuate human misery. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) slammed it, saying, It “fails miserably (to help) people most harmed by” economic crisis conditions and offers nothing to aid “economic recovery,” adding, “The Senate’s proposed cut in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits from $600 to $200 weekly will “cost 3.4 million jobs.”
The measure omits vitally needed aid to state and local governments.
“This intentional oversight threatens vital public services just when they are needed most and could result in an additional 5.3 million public and private sector service workers losing their jobs by the end of 2021,” EPI stressed.
Without large-scale federal aid to states, cities, and other local governments, “deep cuts in healthcare and education” are coming.
When hard times occur, America’s most disadvantaged suffer most, notably people of color and small business.
EPI also explained that the GOP measure “ends all federal expansions of UI at the end of this year—not just the extra payment, but also Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which expands eligibility to people who are not eligible for regular state UI, like gig workers, and the additional 13-week extension of regular state benefits.”
When prioritizing help for the nation’s unemployed and needy is essential, along with large-scale initiatives to stimulate economic recovery, the misnamed HEALS Act should be called the Public Health, Safety, and Welfare Harms Act.
A further GOP affront is omission of extending a moratorium on evictions from residences with federally guaranteed mortgages, EPI explaining:
The Senate “heighten(ed) the approaching eviction crisis by cutting benefits at a critical juncture.”
“The bill also neglects to put crucial provisions in place to reopen the economy successfully: there is not enough money for testing, tracing, and childcare.”
“The bill fails to mandate an emergency workplace health and safety standard to protect workers from the virus.”
Like the so-called congressionally passed CARES Act months earlier, the Senate bill is long on corporate benefits, woefully short on helping tens of millions of Americans in need.
EPI: The misnamed HEALS Act “will lead to deep and prolonged pain. Congressional leaders should reject it and immediately act to pass a package that will actually provide relief to the economy and the people and families who comprise it.”
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.