Stephan: As readers know I live on a rural island in the Pacific Northwest, just a few miles from a picturesque and historic village of about 1500 people. Today I went in to pick up the mail, and as I walked through the village I noticed yet another shop had closed and would not be reopening, the space is now empty. It made me think of the women who had worked in that shop, and from there I began to count up the number of hourly workers in my one little village who are out of work and have been for some months.
Driving home I listened to commentators on npr talking about how Mitch McConnell and the Republicans had put the senate into recess without passing the acutely need legislation to help these millions of hourly workers. All I could think about was: Mitch and the others how could you be so callous, so lacking in compassion? So indifferent to the suffering that is going on all around you? Of course, you are getting your paychecks, aren't you? No stress for you. There are 23 Republican senators up for re-election. Come on America! Vote everyone of these bastards out of office.
Carlos Ponce joins other demonstrators participating in a protest asking Senators to support the continuation of unemployment benefits on July 16, 2020 in Miami Springs, Florida. Credit: Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty
As Senate Republicans headed home for the weekend without extending unemployment insurance benefits or approving other economic relief programs that could help millions of Americans weather the ongoing financial catastrophe of the coronavirus pandemic, progressives and congressional Democrats warned that disaster is on the horizon.
“This whole house of cards is going to collapse,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) warned during a press conference Friday afternoon.
As Common Dreamsreported, the departure of the GOP-controlled Senate for the weekend without a resolution to the benefits questions earned the upper chamber’s leadership a harsh rebuke in a speech from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who called the decision by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to recess until Monday unacceptable.
“The lapse that is being forced on this country right now is because Senate Republicans would not step up,” said Wyden. “The lapse is going to lead to evictions, it’s going to lead to hunger, it’s going […]
