Jul 7, 2020
RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)
David Waldman welcomes Tuesday, and Joan McCarter and you and me to KITM:
One day, we won’t have to learn how to pronounce Ayn Rand correctly. Unfortunately, today is not that day. The Ayn Rand Institute, along with the Grover Norquist Group, are paid to be opponents of federal spending, and of course showed up right at the front of the Paycheck Protection Program line.
Florida has announced that it will dispatch public K-12 schools into the maw of coronavirus by August. Donald Trump will describe his easy, one-step method tonight. But you know teachers—always asking questions! About the safety and well-being of their students, their families, themselves, who is responsible, where the materials and money are coming from, etc. Mitch McConnell tells them not to worry, no one important will get in trouble.
Therefore, unless Melania has something to add, the discussion should be short. After all, COVID-19, like a miracle, has almost disappeared. At least the testing has... which is almost as good? In fact, medical PPE has already vanished, again. This should give Donald more time to address the Black problem. About the time Donald Trump learned to talk, he’s been asking why Black people haven’t been more thankful, but still hasn’t received a satisfactory answer. Maybe soon!
People of color are getting much more than their fair share of coronavirus. Dozens of pistachio plant workers are Infected with COVID-19. It would be a lot more, but the others have been fired. A bipartisan handful of lawmakers are pushing a rescue package apart from the Paycheck Protection Program, reconfigured to specifically aid Black-owned businesses. Banks are tired of giving out COVID-19 loans, and would prefer Congress offer more focused direct grants.
Meanwhile, 40 Trump-connected lobbyists, including five former administration officials, are splitting $10 billion in coronavirus aid from the federal government.