Author: danelabonte

“Automatic payments are guaranteed only to those whose information is already in the computers at the Internal Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration. Everyone else must follow instructions posted by the I.R.S., which says many low-income people and others who aren’t usually required to file tax returns will need to do so if they want their payments.

“Until an abrupt reversal on Wednesday night, the guidance also applied to Social Security recipients who did not submit tax returns. That had been a surprise to policy experts and advocates for seniors, because the legislation signed by President Trump gave the Treasury explicit permission to use Social Security databases — and the payment information they contain — to push payments to people automatically, without their needing to do anything else.

“The Treasury Department backtracked on Wednesday and said Social Security beneficiaries who did not typically file returns would receive their payments automatically after all.”

(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/business/coronavirus-stimulus-social-security.html)

“While Indian Country was responding to the growing number of coronavirus cases in its communities late Friday, the Trump administration was busy revoking the reservation status of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts. By taking their 321 acres of land out of federal trust, the Interior Department’s order also removes the tribe’s ability to govern on its land. This process has been done only one other time since the Termination Policy in the 1950s.”

“On its reservation land, Mashpee Wampanoag was developing a casino that was opposed by allies of Trump who were lobbying for nearby casinos in Rhode Island.”

(https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/4/2/21204113/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-trump-reservation-native-land)

“…the government’s own estimates show big costs, too — more Americans dying from air pollution, more climate-damaging tailpipe exhaust and more expense for drivers at the gas pumps.”

(https://apnews.com/98f311a6d4275334a9e4d3a804cd2e1a)

“More than 6.6 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — doubling a record high set just one week earlier — a sign that layoffs are accelerating in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Combined with last week’s report that 3.3 million people sought unemployment aid two weeks ago, the U.S. economy has now suffered nearly 10 million layoffs in just the past few weeks — far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record.”

“Further signs of a surging wave of layoffs are likely in the coming weeks.”

“The magnitude of the layoffs has led many economists to envision as many as 20 million lost jobs by the end of April. That would be more than double the 8.7 million jobs lost during the Great Recession. The unemployment rate could spike to as high as 15% this month, above the previous record of 10.8% set during a deep recession in 1982.”

“Roughly 90% of the U.S. population is now under stay-at-home orders, which have been imposed by most U.S. states.”

“The reversal in the job market has been dizzying. Four weeks ago, weekly unemployment claims amounted to only 211,000, near a 50-year low. Since then, they have jumped 30-fold.”

(https://apnews.com/6bc13d999a9693bd11e13286ec7655f0)

“Much of the suffering and death coming was preventable. The president has blood on his hands.”

“As the American public braces itself for the worst of this crisis, it’s worth remembering that the reach of the virus here is not attributable to an act of God or a foreign invasion, but a colossal failure of leadership.”

(https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/30/opinion/president-unfit-pandemic/)