ABC News: In late-night tweets, Trump changes course on coronavirus relief talks. “In a pair of late-night tweets, President Donald Trump, changed course on negotiating coronavirus relief that he had earlier announced he was calling off until after the election.”
government assistance
‘Doomed to fail’: Why a $4 trillion bailout couldn’t revive the American economy (Washington Post)
Washington Post: ‘Doomed to fail’: Why a $4 trillion bailout couldn’t revive the American economy. “The U.S. response to the coronavirus has already been the costliest economic relief effort in modern history. At $4 trillion, the assortment of grants, loans and tax breaks exceeded the cost of the Afghanistan war. More than half, or $2.3 trillion, went to businesses which in many cases were not required to show they were impacted by the pandemic or keep workers employed.”
DCist: D.C. Gave Cash Assistance To Undocumented Workers. It Barely Covered Essentials
DCist: D.C. Gave Cash Assistance To Undocumented Workers. It Barely Covered Essentials. “In June, Silvia Cordon heard about a new city program from her youngest son’s teacher. The program, called DC Cares, would provide undocumented workers left unemployed by the pandemic $1,000 in direct cash assistance. Cordon, a 42-year-old single mother who emigrated from Guatemala in 2017, was intrigued: She’d been laid off as a hotel housekeeper after COVID-19 hit and was struggling to pay her bills, including her $600 monthly rent for a room she shares with her 14-year-old son. So, with the teacher’s help, she applied for the program online.”
Washington Post: Marylanders are still calling about stalled unemployment benefits. And no one is answering the phone.
Washington Post: Marylanders are still calling about stalled unemployment benefits. And no one is answering the phone.. “More than six months after the coronavirus pandemic triggered a deluge of unemployment claims in the Washington region, some jobless Marylanders are still experiencing major problems getting benefits and have endured weeks — or months — without the payments they are supposed to receive. The main frustration, they say, is they cannot get anyone to answer their calls.”
Politico: Pelosi says House will return to Washington if Covid deal reached
Politico: Pelosi says House will return to Washington if Covid deal reached. “Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the House would return to Washington if a long-stalled coronavirus deal can be reached, although a growing number of her members say they shouldn’t leave town at all without an agreement.”
Washington Post: Medicaid rolls swell amid the pandemic’s historic job losses, straining state budgets
Washington Post: Medicaid rolls swell amid the pandemic’s historic job losses, straining state budgets. “The unlikely portrait of Medicaid in the time of coronavirus looks like Jonathan Chapin, living with his wife and 11-year-old daughter in a gated community in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Chapin had a thriving Reno, Nev., production company, We Ain’t Saints, booking bands, managing weddings, hosting 600-strong karaoke nights at the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino. When the novel coronavirus came, forcing northern Nevada’s entertainment industry to go dark, he said, ‘everything I knew all disappeared’.”
Politico: Odds shrink for a coronavirus relief deal
Politico: Odds shrink for a coronavirus relief deal. “The prospect of Congress and the White House providing much needed coronavirus relief to millions of Americans is getting worse by the day, despite leaders in both parties saying they’re open to a deal.”
Washington Post: Trump’s $300 unemployment funding is already running out, leaving millions in crisis again
Washington Post: Trump’s $300 unemployment funding is already running out, leaving millions in crisis again. “The emergency unemployment benefits approved by President Trump last month are already running out, leaving millions of Americans without extra support as prospects dim for a congressional deal to provide more relief for jobless Americans. The Trump administration has begun telling states that the federal government will stop providing them the temporary $300 weekly jobless benefit, which had been a part of a White House executive directive in the weeks after the enhanced federal unemployment benefit of $600 ran out.”
Route Fifty: Senate to Vote on Slimmed-Down Coronavirus Relief Bill This Week
Route Fifty: Senate to Vote on Slimmed-Down Coronavirus Relief Bill This Week. “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a ‘targeted’ coronavirus relief proposal Tuesday that he will force a vote on as soon as this week, even as broader negotiations between Democrats and the Trump administration have stalled.”
CNET: Phones for low-income users hacked before they’re turned on, research finds
CNET: Phones for low-income users hacked before they’re turned on, research finds. “Adware isn’t a problem just for [Rameez] Anwar and other users who have the same phone model, made by American Network Solutions. Because the phones and their service plans were subsidized by a US program, taxpayers were funding the data that was used to display the promotional campaigns. On top of that, the adware prevented the phones doing their intended job: keeping low-income people connected to vital services via phone and internet.”
Washington Post: Treasury sent more than 1 million coronavirus stimulus payments to dead people, congressional watchdog finds
Washington Post: Treasury sent more than 1 million coronavirus stimulus payments to dead people, congressional watchdog finds. “The federal government sent coronavirus stimulus payments to almost 1.1 million dead people totaling nearly $1.4 billion, Congress’ independent watchdog reported Thursday. The Washington Post previously reported that the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service disbursed some payments of up to $1,200 each to dead people. But the astonishing scope of the problem had not been known.”
Route Fifty: Federal Officials Detail Preparations for ‘Inevitable’ Coronavirus Surge This Fall
Route Fifty: Federal Officials Detail Preparations for ‘Inevitable’ Coronavirus Surge This Fall. “Agencies are working to ramp up the production and distribution of personal protective equipment, exponentially increase testing capacity and develop treatments and vaccines, officials told the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday. The leaders repeatedly emphasized they will follow the data and science presented by experts, seeking to set aside politically motivated statements from the White House and elsewhere.”
Investment Executive: New tool helps navigate Covid-19 relief benefits
Investment Executive: New tool helps navigate Covid-19 relief benefits. This is for Canada. “Toronto-based Prosper Canada has launched a new tool to help people access government relief benefits related to Covid-19. The Financial Relief Navigator is a bilingual online tool designed to help individuals access pandemic-related financial benefits from governments, financial institutions, utility, telecom and internet providers.”
Columbia University: COVID-19 Will Affect Food and Financial Security of Many for Years to Come
Columbia University: COVID-19 Will Affect Food and Financial Security of Many for Years to Come. “The complex food shopping patterns that financially insecure families employ have been upended by the COVID-19 crisis. While increasing the maximum benefit for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) is an essential step in addressing the current food insecurity crisis, this policy change alone will not address many of the barriers low-income families are facing in acquiring food during the pandemic. To facilitate advocacy and policy change around this food insecurity crisis among children and families, researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health developed a web mapping tool that details states where SNAP shoppers can purchase groceries online and key SNAP policies related to food shopping during the pandemic.”
Courthouse News: Government Claims Native American Lawsuit Over Covid-19 Funds Too Late
Courthouse News: Government Claims Native American Lawsuit Over Covid-19 Funds Too Late. “The Trump administration blamed a Native American tribe for waiting until the eleventh hour to challenge the distribution metrics for Covid-19 relief funds in federal court on Thursday, as the government gears up to send billions of dollars out the door over the next week.”