This week in OtherWords, Shailly Gupta Barnes reflects on a central contradiction of the coronavirus crisis era: It’s workers who’ve proved themselves essential during this crisis, but it’s the rich who keep getting bailed out.
Even those modest $1,200 stimulus checks often aren’t arriving on time. That’s one reason, Raul Carrillo explains, why Americans need a public option for banking.
Not only are the poor not getting bailed out, Jill Richardson adds, but the Trump administration is still trying to slash critical programs like food stamps — even in a recession and a pandemic. Meanwhile figures like Betsy DeVos are trying to shift coronavirus aid from poor public school districts to rich private schools, Jim Hightower reports.
Finally, cartoonist Khalil Bendib wonders aloud if Trump is actually trying to kill his own voters.
New This Week…
Even Now, Our Leaders Are Still Putting Their Faith in the Rich | Shailly Gupta Barnes
It has become crystal clear during this pandemic that working people fuel this economy, but they’re the ones bearing the cost.
We Need a Public Option for Banking | Raul Carrillo
As families struggle to get stimulus checks, it’s time to fix the rusty pipes of our inequitable financial system.
It’s Absolutely Not Time to Cut Food Stamps | Jill Richardson
Tens of millions of us are out of work. Why on earth is Trump trying to cut food aid.
Betsy DeVos Wants to Rob Poor School Districts | Jim Hightower
Trump’s education secretary is trying to funnel coronavirus aid away from poor public schools to rich private ones.
Prescriptions from a Stable Genius | Khalil Bendib
Is Trump literally trying to kill his supporters?
In Case You Missed It…
A Simple Solution for the Coronavirus Crisis in Prisons | Robert P. Alvarez
Releasing low-risk inmates would ease the risk that sky-high prison infection rates pose to all of us.
To Save Lives — and Democracy — We Need to Vote by Mail | Bernie Horn
We need tens of millions of fewer Americans voting at the polls. Sending ballots in the mail is the simplest solution.
Elon Musk and the Billionaire War on Public Health | Sam Pizzigati
The billionaire Tesla CEO made hundreds of millions more by illegally forcing his employees back to work in a pandemic.
Whatever Your Survival Strategy Is, Do That | Jill Richardson
Feel proud of yourself for getting through this — don’t beat yourself up for not getting through it “better.”
