In
the United States, the epicenter of the pandemic, the death toll from
COVID-19 has topped 45,000. On Tuesday, the Senate approved $484
billion in new coronavirus aid on a voice vote, with many senators
remaining at home due to the pandemic.
The
bill adds another $310 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program
providing loans to small businesses, another $75 billion for
hospitals, $25 billion for testing and $60 billion for emergency
disaster loans and grants. The House is expected to vote on the
legislation today. The bill provides no new stimulus checks for U.S.
households, no additional money for food stamps, no limits on fossil
fuel bailouts, no funds for election security, no bailout for the
U.S. Postal Service and no additional funds for hard-hit state and
local governments.
Democratic
Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC Tuesday
that lawmakers are failing to provide for millions of unemployed
people who are unable to pay rent and increasingly at risk of going
hungry.
Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:
“We are abdicating our responsibility. We haven’t legislated for
a month, and thousands of people are dying. Thousands of people are
dying every day. And we aren’t going — and we’re talking about
coming back. And every time we pass one of these bills, we’re
hearing that the real solution is coming in the next bill — and in
the next bill and the next bill. And at some point we have to raise
our hands and say, 'When is the solution coming?' Because two months
of rent are going to pass by before we’re actually even
entertaining a real bill.”
The
House and Senate have extended their recesses another two weeks —
until May 4. Progressive lawmakers are demanding $2,000 monthly
payments to all U.S. households and open enrollment in Medicare for
uninsured and unemployed people, when lawmakers take up another round
of funding, the so-called phase four coronavirus bill.
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