truthout--2020-08-21--I Participated in the DNC Rules Committee. I Don’t Believe the Party Is United.

The Democrats ’ pandemic convention has been an uncanny spectacle to behold .
Centrally coordinated from Milwaukee but technically distributed across the country through a combination of live and pre-recorded speeches and performances , the Democratic National Convention ( DNC ) has sought to portray a Democratic Party whose members have united around the shared goal of defeating Donald Trump .
But beneath the canned TV relays , there is an ominous edge to the DNC ’ s unity : The technical setup of the convention has foreclosed most avenues for dissent , and the DNC ’ s management of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the goals behind which the party claims to be unified .
I ’ ve witnessed the more insidious edge of such “ unity ” firsthand .
This year , I had the honor of serving on the DNC Rules Committee , as a member appointed by Bernie Sanders ’ s campaign .
I saw my participation as the culmination of over five years of involvement in what is now loosely called the “ Bernie Sanders movement , ” both at the grassroots level and as a former staff member on the campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good faith , as someone who is committed to democratizing decision-making within the DNC .
Given the stability of the United States ’ two-party system , I ’ ve felt that it is imperative for progressives to participate both inside and outside of the Democratic Party , in order to build power and shift the party towards policies that benefit working people rather than corporate interests .
What We Do Is Secret The inner workings of the DNC — a series of virtual meetings that took place in July and decidedly outside of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deck , not only against progressive goals but against party-building itself .
What happens on TV helps to conceal the efforts of the three key committees that work to produce the nominating convention every four years .
The Rules Committee , on which I served , can propose changes to the Democratic Party Charter and Convention Rules , and thus have a big impact over who wins an election , the roles of delegates and superdelegates , and how primary elections are run ( and won ) .
In other words , these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ translates into seats at the convention .
Of the many barriers that voters face when trying to influence the Democratic Party ’ s decisions , caucuses — particularly the Iowa caucuses — stand out .
This past February , I witnessed the failure of the caucus system while serving as a precinct captain for the Bernie 2020 campaign in Iowa .
Issues during the caucuses ranged from lack of accessibility for people with disabilities , parents and second-shift workers , to widespread accuracy and reporting errors , to what amounted to a public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ took over two weeks to be finalized .
But problems with the caucus system are a surprise to no one .
Following some reforms enacted through the Unity Reform Commission in 2017 , including limiting the role of superdelegates to the second ballot at convention , several states abandoned caucuses for primaries .
Voter turnout in these states increased between two- and six-fold .
If we care about expanding Democratic voter participation , why would we not require this change in all 50 states ?
Iowa is the first Democratic contest , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primaries .
After Iowa , and in the midst of a pandemic which makes in-person voting a risk , I thought the party should at least discuss and reflect upon what happened during the caucuses .
I saw this as an opportunity to propose simple , permanent reforms that could be made to avoid issues so catastrophic that they prompted DNC Chair Tom Perez to describe the 2020 Iowa Caucuses as a “ major league failure.
” So , I worked up a proposed amendment to the DNC Charter to require states to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the night before the July 30 Rules Committee meeting , Sanders ’ s campaign lawyer advised me to drop them ; other Bernie-appointed members of the committee were told the same .
It seemed that two members of the committee , former Sanders Campaign Manager and Senior Adviser Jeff Weaver and Chair of Our Revolution Larry Cohen , had been acting as lead negotiators on behalf of the Sanders wing ( unbeknownst to the rest of the committee ) .
A deal was struck ( called the “ Unity Resolution ” ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as either in conflict or antagonistic toward this agreement with the Biden camp .
We were told by Weaver that if we didn ’ t withdraw , we would be going against Sanders ’ s wishes and the progress made by the campaign , and sadly , that they would advise committee members to vote against us .
After careful consideration and negotiations with the campaign , I was able to present one of my amendments , entitled “ Expanding Democracy by Increasing Voter Participation ” in exchange for dropping the others .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not at least raise the issue of the Iowa caucuses , given all the time and effort of those involved and the disgraceful outcome .
But Weaver and company followed through on their threat : Committee members were advised to vote against my amendment in an email sent out just prior to the meeting .
In the end , I received only 15 “ yes ” votes , 148 “ no ” votes and 9 abstentions .
To the cynic , the DNC ’ s attempt to manufacture consent might be unsurprising .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ levels of gaslighting in 2020 .
Maggie Wunderly , a Sanders-appointee to the Rules Committee in 2016 and 2020 , found it disheartening that “ committee members who are all volunteers and worked hard on their proposals and on Bernie ’ s campaign were … told how to vote instead of respecting their contributions.
” “ In 2016 , ” Wunderly told Truthout , “ votes were whipped on Clinton ’ s side , but Bernie committee members were able to present the proposals they wanted and were not dissuaded from voting for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not end there .
Using COVID-19 as a pretext , the DNC moved up standing committee meetings ( allowing less time for proposals to be worked on and coordinated ) , and manipulated the ability of members to communicate and make motions during the meetings .
For example , in our Rules Committee meeting , the chat function was closed .
At one point , when a motion was made to table an important amendment on preventing lobbyists from being DNC members , I had to write my motion to un-table on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to my laptop ’ s camera — and it was still ignored by Chairs Barney Frank and Maria Cardona .
Due to a tech-savvy maneuver by the DNC to place members in a separate Zoom “ breakout room ” where we could not be heard ( unless selectively unmuted by those running the call ) , chaos ensued that was not visible to the public via the livestream .
This violated the very rules set by the parliamentarian at the beginning of the meeting , which stated that the meeting was to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rules Committee was not a fluke ; similar actions took place on both the Platform and Credentials Committees , effectively making each meeting into a “ showpiece ” where no debate took place that wasn ’ t pre-determined , screened and sanitized for public consumption .
“ I submitted nine amendments on climate and some of them were dropped without my consent .
This is both against the rules and undemocratic , ” John Laesch , a Sanders-appointed member of the Platform Committee , told Truthout .
“ I would have understood if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but they wanted to eliminate any reference to eliminating fossil fuel subsidies for enhanced oil recovery , the fossil fuel industry ’ s plan to address the climate crisis.
” Lynn Casey-Maher , a Sanders-appointed member of the Credentials Committee concurred .
“ I felt that all our committee member voices were excluded .
We were supposed to follow Robert ’ s Rules .
A tech person then told us that we were in a separate ‘ room ’ and that the committee chairs could not hear us .
So , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet not in a meeting .
He said he relayed our questions and concerns to the chairs and told us all motions were seconded in advance of the meeting , ” Casey-Maher told Truthout .
“ That is when we knew we were being silenced .
Even though this was a virtual situation that made committee meetings more difficult , shutting down people ’ s work and voices on Rules and Platform is a disservice to the party .
If new ideas are not heard , how else can we grow ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ active within the Democratic party , how are their actions disenfranchising potential voters ?
For a party that is supposed to represent working people , Democrats have been woefully out of touch with working-class interests .
Perhaps the most egregious example was the exclusion of Medicare for All from the Democratic Party platform , which is a policy supported by over 80 percent of Democratic voters and a majority of House Democrats .
The party has also been out of sync with public opinion on legalizing cannabis , notably during one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our nation ’ s history .
Instead , they opted for watered-down language in their platform about decriminalization , relegating decision-making on legalization to the states and only in support of medical marijuana use .
These are popular issues that have great potential to build the party .
Contrast this with the fact that between 2010-2016 , Democrats lost over 1,000 seats nationwide .
Wouldn ’ t now , just before the most crucial presidential election in my lifetime , be the time to increase voter participation among millions of Americans who have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Party-building isn ’ t about the ability of a few high-profile members to “ cut deals.
” It is about listening and engagement , increasing voter participation and cultivating new leadership within the party .
In the weeks since our committee meetings , I have been asked repeatedly about why the Democrats make decisions that harm their ability to grow their base , undermining the public ’ s confidence in the party .
After all my experiences as a progressive who has been active in electoral politics over the past five years , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not attempting to expand — they merely want enough votes to maintain the status quo .
As Wunderly said , “ When your goal is to do the best you can for your voters and have a democratic process that people can truly participate in , you might just find yourself consistently winning elections.
” The DNC ’ s brokenness allows members of the party establishment to remain in power , and control the platform and elections for the benefit of the ruling class .
For them , incorporating more , new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risky .
Once folks begin to understand this twist of logic , this political moment — and the Democrats ’ well-coordinated failures — will become easier to comprehend .

The Democrats’ pandemic convention has been an uncanny spectacle to behold. Centrally coordinated from Milwaukee but technically distributed across the country through a combination of live and pre-recorded speeches and performances, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) has sought to portray a Democratic Party whose members have united around the shared goal of defeating Donald Trump. But beneath the canned TV relays, there is an ominous edge to the DNC’s unity: The technical setup of the convention has foreclosed most avenues for dissent, and the DNC’s management of key decisions is palpably out of step with the goals behind which the party claims to be unified.
I’ve witnessed the more insidious edge of such “unity” firsthand. This year, I had the honor of serving on the DNC Rules Committee, as a member appointed by Bernie Sanders’s campaign. I saw my participation as the culmination of over five years of involvement in what is now loosely called the “Bernie Sanders movement,” both at the grassroots level and as a former staff member on the campaign in 2016. I was there in good faith, as someone who is committed to democratizing decision-making within the DNC. Given the stability of the United States’ two-party system, I’ve felt that it is imperative for progressives to participate both inside and outside of the Democratic Party, in order to build power and shift the party towards policies that benefit working people rather than corporate interests.
What We Do Is Secret
The inner workings of the DNC — a series of virtual meetings that took place in July and decidedly outside of prime-time convention coverage — have stacked the deck, not only against progressive goals but against party-building itself. What happens on TV helps to conceal the efforts of the three key committees that work to produce the nominating convention every four years. The Rules Committee, on which I served, can propose changes to the Democratic Party Charter and Convention Rules, and thus have a big impact over who wins an election, the roles of delegates and superdelegates, and how primary elections are run (and won). In other words, these rules decide how participation in the primaries translates into seats at the convention.
Of the many barriers that voters face when trying to influence the Democratic Party’s decisions, caucuses — particularly the Iowa caucuses — stand out. This past February, I witnessed the failure of the caucus system while serving as a precinct captain for the Bernie 2020 campaign in Iowa.
Issues during the caucuses ranged from lack of accessibility for people with disabilities, parents and second-shift workers, to widespread accuracy and reporting errors, to what amounted to a public relations debacle for the party. Results took over two weeks to be finalized. But problems with the caucus system are a surprise to no one. Following some reforms enacted through the Unity Reform Commission in 2017, including limiting the role of superdelegates to the second ballot at convention, several states abandoned caucuses for primaries. Voter turnout in these states increased between two- and six-fold. If we care about expanding Democratic voter participation, why would we not require this change in all 50 states? Iowa is the first Democratic contest, and what happens there can greatly influence subsequent primaries.
After Iowa, and in the midst of a pandemic which makes in-person voting a risk, I thought the party should at least discuss and reflect upon what happened during the caucuses. I saw this as an opportunity to propose simple, permanent reforms that could be made to avoid issues so catastrophic that they prompted DNC Chair Tom Perez to describe the 2020 Iowa Caucuses as a “major league failure.” So, I worked up a proposed amendment to the DNC Charter to require states to hold primaries rather than caucuses.
Yet on the night before the July 30 Rules Committee meeting, Sanders’s campaign lawyer advised me to drop them; other Bernie-appointed members of the committee were told the same. It seemed that two members of the committee, former Sanders Campaign Manager and Senior Adviser Jeff Weaver and Chair of Our Revolution Larry Cohen, had been acting as lead negotiators on behalf of the Sanders wing (unbeknownst to the rest of the committee).
If new ideas are not heard, how else can we grow?
A deal was struck (called the “Unity Resolution”) and any other progressive proposals were seen as either in conflict or antagonistic toward this agreement with the Biden camp. We were told by Weaver that if we didn’t withdraw, we would be going against Sanders’s wishes and the progress made by the campaign, and sadly, that they would advise committee members to vote against us.
After careful consideration and negotiations with the campaign, I was able to present one of my amendments, entitled “Expanding Democracy by Increasing Voter Participation” in exchange for dropping the others. I thought it would be wrong to not at least raise the issue of the Iowa caucuses, given all the time and effort of those involved and the disgraceful outcome. But Weaver and company followed through on their threat: Committee members were advised to vote against my amendment in an email sent out just prior to the meeting. In the end, I received only 15 “yes” votes, 148 “no” votes and 9 abstentions.
Counterfeit Consensus
To the cynic, the DNC’s attempt to manufacture consent might be unsurprising. But even seasoned committee members saw new levels of gaslighting in 2020.
Maggie Wunderly, a Sanders-appointee to the Rules Committee in 2016 and 2020, found it disheartening that “committee members who are all volunteers and worked hard on their proposals and on Bernie’s campaign were … told how to vote instead of respecting their contributions.”
“In 2016,” Wunderly told Truthout, “votes were whipped on Clinton’s side, but Bernie committee members were able to present the proposals they wanted and were not dissuaded from voting for things they supported.”
The procedural ploys did not end there. Using COVID-19 as a pretext, the DNC moved up standing committee meetings (allowing less time for proposals to be worked on and coordinated), and manipulated the ability of members to communicate and make motions during the meetings.
For example, in our Rules Committee meeting, the chat function was closed. At one point, when a motion was made to table an important amendment on preventing lobbyists from being DNC members, I had to write my motion to un-table on a piece of paper and hold it up to my laptop’s camera — and it was still ignored by Chairs Barney Frank and Maria Cardona.
Due to a tech-savvy maneuver by the DNC to place members in a separate Zoom “breakout room” where we could not be heard (unless selectively unmuted by those running the call), chaos ensued that was not visible to the public via the livestream. This violated the very rules set by the parliamentarian at the beginning of the meeting, which stated that the meeting was to be public.
What happened on the Rules Committee was not a fluke; similar actions took place on both the Platform and Credentials Committees, effectively making each meeting into a “showpiece” where no debate took place that wasn’t pre-determined, screened and sanitized for public consumption.
If the establishment is marginalizing progressives already active within the Democratic party, how are their actions disenfranchising potential voters?
“I submitted nine amendments on climate and some of them were dropped without my consent. This is both against the rules and undemocratic,” John Laesch, a Sanders-appointed member of the Platform Committee, told Truthout. “I would have understood if they wanted to change a few words, but they wanted to eliminate any reference to eliminating fossil fuel subsidies for enhanced oil recovery, the fossil fuel industry’s plan to address the climate crisis.”
Lynn Casey-Maher, a Sanders-appointed member of the Credentials Committee concurred. “I felt that all our committee member voices were excluded. We were supposed to follow Robert’s Rules. A tech person then told us that we were in a separate ‘room’ and that the committee chairs could not hear us. So, in reality we were in a meeting, yet not in a meeting. He said he relayed our questions and concerns to the chairs and told us all motions were seconded in advance of the meeting,” Casey-Maher told Truthout. “That is when we knew we were being silenced. Even though this was a virtual situation that made committee meetings more difficult, shutting down people’s work and voices on Rules and Platform is a disservice to the party. If new ideas are not heard, how else can we grow?”
The Price of Unity
If the establishment is marginalizing progressives already active within the Democratic party, how are their actions disenfranchising potential voters?
For a party that is supposed to represent working people, Democrats have been woefully out of touch with working-class interests. Perhaps the most egregious example was the exclusion of Medicare for All from the Democratic Party platform, which is a policy supported by over 80 percent of Democratic voters and a majority of House Democrats.
The party has also been out of sync with public opinion on legalizing cannabis, notably during one of the largest movements for criminal legal reform in our nation’s history. Instead, they opted for watered-down language in their platform about decriminalization, relegating decision-making on legalization to the states and only in support of medical marijuana use.
These are popular issues that have great potential to build the party. Contrast this with the fact that between 2010-2016, Democrats lost over 1,000 seats nationwide. Wouldn’t now, just before the most crucial presidential election in my lifetime, be the time to increase voter participation among millions of Americans who have felt shut out of electoral politics?
The Democratic Party is not attempting to expand — they merely want enough votes to maintain the status quo.
Party-building isn’t about the ability of a few high-profile members to “cut deals.” It is about listening and engagement, increasing voter participation and cultivating new leadership within the party.
In the weeks since our committee meetings, I have been asked repeatedly about why the Democrats make decisions that harm their ability to grow their base, undermining the public’s confidence in the party. After all my experiences as a progressive who has been active in electoral politics over the past five years, I must conclude that the Democratic Party is not attempting to expand — they merely want enough votes to maintain the status quo.
As Wunderly said, “When your goal is to do the best you can for your voters and have a democratic process that people can truly participate in, you might just find yourself consistently winning elections.”
The DNC’s brokenness allows members of the party establishment to remain in power, and control the platform and elections for the benefit of the ruling class. For them, incorporating more, new and diverse voices would simply be too risky. Once folks begin to understand this twist of logic, this political moment — and the Democrats’ well-coordinated failures — will become easier to comprehend.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-08-21--Trump Boasts About Economy But New Unemployment Claims Surpassed a Million

Despite President Donald Trump ’ s boasts about the America ’ s economy , a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that initial unemployment claims rose to more than 1.1 million last week — suggesting the economy is still far from healthy .
“ In the week ending August 15 , the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,106,000 , an increase of 135,000 from the previous week ’ s revised level , ” the Bureau of Labor Statistics wrote in a report on Thursday .
This constitutes an increase of 135,000 from the rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revised upward in the recent report .
Without being adjusted seasonally , the number of people who filed regular first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending August 15 was 891,510 .
In a similar vein , claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program rose to 542,797 .
This means that , overall , there were 1.4 million unadjusted first-time claims last week .
The agency also noted that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate had dropped by 0.4 percent from the previous week , now hitting 10.2 percent .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statistic that includes people who have filed regular claims for at least two consecutive weeks — is currently at 14.8 million , enough to confirm that America is still experiencing an economic crisis but also the lowest level since the first week in April , near the start of the pandemic in the United States .
Andrew Stettner , senior fellow at The Century Foundation , told CNN that “ it ’ s clear that what is keeping people unemployed is not overly generous benefits , but a lack of job openings.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the University of Michigan , tweeted that “ we are now at 22 weeks in a row in which more people have filed for unemployment benefits than during the single worst week of the Great Recession.
” Despite rising unemployment and economic indicators that supplemental uninsurance benefits were providing the economy with a lifeline , Trump reduced the federal weekly supplement to existing unemployment benefits from $ 600 a week to $ 300 ( which goes up to $ 400 if you include the amount that states have to kick in ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , experts say , did not protect Americans from eviction at all .
The president continues to praise his economy , tweeting on Tuesday that “ my Administration and I built the greatest economy in history , of any country , turned it off , saved millions of lives , and now am building an even greater economy than it was before .
Jobs are flowing , NASDAQ is already at a record high , the rest to follow .
Sit back & watch !
” Speaking to Salon in July — at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be rebounding — American University macroeconomist Dr. Gabriel Mathy said that long-term unemployment could become a serious problem if the pandemic-induced recession drags on .
“ For those that have permanently lost their jobs , if the recession drags on then they face the prospect of long-term unemployment , which will make it harder for these workers to find work again with a large hole in their CVs , ” Mathy explained by email .
Although he said that this would not happen as much if the economy rebounded , he added that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recurrence of a new downturn ( ‘ double-dip recession ’ ) and then unemployment could rise again and job openings would dry up , and those permanent job losses could drag on.
” Mathy also pointed out , “ In terms of government programs that can help them , continuing the spending programs of the CARES Act will help ensure buoyant economic conditions and more job openings available .
”

Despite President Donald Trump’s boasts about the America’s economy, a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that initial unemployment claims rose to more than 1.1 million last week — suggesting the economy is still far from healthy.
“In the week ending August 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 1,106,000, an increase of 135,000 from the previous week’s revised level,” the Bureau of Labor Statistics wrote in a report on Thursday. This constitutes an increase of 135,000 from the rate on the previous week, which was revised upward in the recent report. Without being adjusted seasonally, the number of people who filed regular first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ending August 15 was 891,510. In a similar vein, claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program rose to 542,797.
This means that, overall, there were 1.4 million unadjusted first-time claims last week.
The agency also noted that the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate had dropped by 0.4 percent from the previous week, now hitting 10.2 percent. The number of continued jobless claims — a statistic that includes people who have filed regular claims for at least two consecutive weeks — is currently at 14.8 million, enough to confirm that America is still experiencing an economic crisis but also the lowest level since the first week in April, near the start of the pandemic in the United States.
Andrew Stettner, senior fellow at The Century Foundation, told CNN that “it’s clear that what is keeping people unemployed is not overly generous benefits, but a lack of job openings.” Similarly Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, tweeted that “we are now at 22 weeks in a row in which more people have filed for unemployment benefits than during the single worst week of the Great Recession.”
Despite rising unemployment and economic indicators that supplemental uninsurance benefits were providing the economy with a lifeline, Trump reduced the federal weekly supplement to existing unemployment benefits from $600 a week to $300 (which goes up to $400 if you include the amount that states have to kick in) and passed an eviction protection order that, experts say, did not protect Americans from eviction at all. The president continues to praise his economy, tweeting on Tuesday that “my Administration and I built the greatest economy in history, of any country, turned it off, saved millions of lives, and now am building an even greater economy than it was before. Jobs are flowing, NASDAQ is already at a record high, the rest to follow. Sit back & watch!”
Speaking to Salon in July — at a time when the economy seemed to be rebounding — American University macroeconomist Dr. Gabriel Mathy said that long-term unemployment could become a serious problem if the pandemic-induced recession drags on.
“For those that have permanently lost their jobs, if the recession drags on then they face the prospect of long-term unemployment, which will make it harder for these workers to find work again with a large hole in their CVs,” Mathy explained by email. Although he said that this would not happen as much if the economy rebounded, he added that “there is the prospect for a recurrence of a new downturn (‘double-dip recession’) and then unemployment could rise again and job openings would dry up, and those permanent job losses could drag on.”
Mathy also pointed out, “In terms of government programs that can help them, continuing the spending programs of the CARES Act will help ensure buoyant economic conditions and more job openings available.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-08-22--Black Trans Activists Are Organizing Against Louisiana Law Targeting Trans Women

Please read — we really need your help For the last few months we ’ ve struggled to raise our @ @ @ @ @ top of that , our traffic has taken a huge dive due to changes Facebook @ @ @ @ @ news stories show up .
This is happening at a time when trustworthy journalism is @ @ @ @ @ We can ’ t help but feel like Trump is winning his war against progressive @ @ @ @ @ really worried .
Because of this , we ’ ve needed to increase our August @ @ @ @ @ , to help us stay strong and make up for the shortfall in previous months @ @ @ @ @ , raising $ 75,000 this month is going to be extremely difficult and our campaign @ @ @ @ @ slow start .
We ’ ll need the help of everyone who has ever donated @ @ @ @ @ holding off .
Will you help us out with a small one-time or monthly donation @ @

Black Trans Lives Matters chalk art is seen in Washington Square Park on June 26, 2020, in New York City. Noam Galai / Getty Images
On this episode of Making Contact, we will look at transgender activism and the call for inclusion and intersectionality in the movement for Black lives. We’ll also meet Trans activists in Louisiana who have been organizing against a state law that has been used to unfairly target trans women for decades.
Like this program? Please click here and support our non-profit journalism. Thanks!
Featuring: Sean “Saifa” Wall, intersex activist based in Atlanta, Georgia, co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project
intersex activist based in Atlanta, Georgia, co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project Blossom C. Brown, trans activist based in Los Angeles, California
trans activist based in Los Angeles, California Kae Goode, an activist and Black trans woman based in Atlanta, Georgia
an activist and Black trans woman based in Atlanta, Georgia Wendi Cooper, program coordinator of the community advocacy group Operation Restoration
program coordinator of the community advocacy group Operation Restoration Kenisha Harris, Follow The Light Advocacy and LGBTQ Resource Center
Follow The Light Advocacy and LGBTQ Resource Center Nicholas Hite, Hite Law Group
Hite Law Group Andrea Ritchie, researcher at Barnard University, author of “Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color” Credits: Host: Anita Johnson
Anita Johnson Writer, Producer, Reporter: Anita Johnson and Meg Shutzer
Anita Johnson and Meg Shutzer Show Distribution: Anita Johnson
Anita Johnson Making Contact Staff Producers: Monica Lopez, Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani
Monica Lopez, Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani Executive Director: Sonya Green
Sonya Green Director of Production Initiatives and Distribution: Lisa Rudman Music: Related Story Op-Ed | LGBTQ Rights Economic Justice Is Necessary to Stop Murders of Trans Women of Color Lack of economic opportunities due to discrimination exposes trans women of color to higher rates of violence and death. Truthout Blue Dot Session – Roadside Bunkhouse
Roadside Bunkhouse Blue Dot Session – Kirkus
Kirkus Dave Nelson – Improvisation
Improvisation Blue Dot Session – Highway
Highway Lance Conrad – Tell the story
Tell the story Emanuele Dentoni – Seamless
Seamless Simon Jomphe Lepine – Good Chilling Vibe
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-08-22--Birth Control Deliveries Are Delayed. Thank Trump’s Postmaster General.

The mail slowdown resulting from operational changes implemented by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has doubled the delivery time for birth control prescriptions , a reproductive health company executive told Salon .
Democrats have sounded the alarm over changes by DeJoy , a top donor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party , after the US Postal Service told 46 states it may be unable to meet their mail voting deadlines this fall .
But the focus has increasingly moved to the potential impact on the delivery of medication , which threatens to leave patients without access to life-saving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is reportedly looking for alternatives to the USPS after shipments of medication were delayed .
Meanwhile , there have been a growing number of anecdotal reports of elderly patients being left without critical medications for weeks .
Access to birth control has also been impacted , Carrie SiuButt , the CEO of SimpleHealth , an online birth control company , told Salon .
A “ couple of weeks ago ” the company noticed a few complaints “ trickling in ” but “ now we ’ re seeing up to 5 % of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ What would have been three to five days now can take upwards of seven to 10 days.
” A recent Axios/Ipsos survey also found that about 5 % of respondents who were awaiting a prescription delivery had either not received it , or got it late .
SimpleHealth had seen its business double amid the coronavirus pandemic .
Most of the company ’ s clients use insurance to pay for their prescriptions , so the company is legally prohibited from moving up refill timelines to counteract the effect of the delays @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refills to patients that pay out of pocket .
“ We are writing to patients that we are currently experiencing delays but… this is really frustrating for me because it ’ s another barrier for women to receive proper access to the medication they need , ” SiuButt said .
“ We try to get our patients what they need right away but it ’ s unfortunate that some of the decisions being made are affecting women ’ s health care.
” SiuButt said her own experience has left her worried that her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in time .
“ It ’ s less about the politics , to me it ’ s about human being welfare , ” she said .
“ Medications come in as parcels and we have seen that mail is taking longer , ” Kimberly Karol , an Iowa postal clerk and the president of the state ’ s Postal Workers Union , told Salon .
“ In many cases , it was increasing the delivery time somewhere between three and seven days .
That ’ s a big change.
” Karol warned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rural areas .
“ If it hasn ’ t yet , which I would be surprised if it hasn ’ t , it will , ” she said .
“ We ’ re in many cases the only way they can receive mail .
If the system gets backed up , their mail is going to be included in that… .
We see that there are issues getting items to the final destination.
” Medical groups have also sounded the alarm over the changes .
“ My patients who rely on their insulin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other type of medication can ’ t wait weeks to see whether or not their prescription will be delivered , ” Jacqueline Fincher , president of the American College of Physicians , said in a statement , adding that the organization is “ alarmed ” that these changes will “ exacerbate existing issues.
” DeJoy said on Tuesday that he would suspend further changes to the USPS until after the election but has made clear he has no plans to roll back the ones that have already been implemented .
“ The Postmaster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked , ” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. , said in a statement after meeting with DeJoy .
“ We are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed.
” The VA acknowledged that it has been forced to find alternative ways to deliver medication , like FedEx and UPS , in an email to the Disabled Vets of America .
The VA fills about 80 % of prescriptions by mail , about 120 million prescriptions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now confirmed to us that the United States Postal Service ( USPS ) , which is responsible for delivering about 90 % of all VA mail order prescriptions , has indeed been delayed in delivering these critical medications by an average of almost 25 % over the past year , with many locations experiencing much more significant delays , ” Stephen “ Butch ” Whitehead , who heads the group , said in a statement .
“ To help mitigate these postal delays , the VA has been forced to switch to alternative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the country and is taking other actions to expedite processing and delivery of prescriptions.
” Last week , 31 senators wrote to DeJoy that they ’ ve heard from hundreds of veterans that weeks-long delays are “ causing veterans to miss doses of vital medications.
” The VA ’ s website says that “ prescriptions usually arrive within 3 to 5 days ” but veterans and VA staff told the lawmakers that “ these medications are often taking weeks to be delivered.
” A VA spokeswoman disputed the letter to ABC News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to request refills at least 10 days before they need it .
“ VA always encourages veterans to order routine prescriptions in advance , ” spokeswoman Christina Noel told the outlet .
“ When it comes to emergent prescriptions , VA either fills them onsite or uses commercial carriers to ensure timely delivery.
” Many companies rely on USPS for delivery as well .
CVS , Express Scripts , and OptumRx , the three largest pharmacy benefit managers in the US , all use USPS to send prescriptions , as do startups like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The number of prescriptions sent through the mail has spiked during the pandemic .
HoneyBee Health said that about 20 % of patients whose prescriptions were sent via first-class mail experienced delays though the other companies told BuzzFeed News that they have not been affected by the USPS slowdown .
While UPS and FedEx offer alternatives to the USPS , they do not offer the same low rates and often themselves rely on the USPS for “ last mile ” delivery in rural areas .
“ We tend to use UPS and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Umar Afridi , the founder of the online pharmacy TruePill , told CNBC .
“ USPS is often the lowest cost and they have the biggest reach.
” Sen. Elizabeth Warren , D-Mass.
, and Sen. Bob Casey , D-Pa. , launched an investigation this week into the effect of the USPS on medication delivery , sending out letters to top pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to find out whether their customers have experienced delays as well .
“ Millions of Americans with diabetes , high blood pressure and heart disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , illnesses or health care needs rely on the USPS for delivery of their prescription drugs and are at grave risks if President Trump ’ s efforts to degrade mail service results in delays and disruptions , ” they wrote .
“ These health threats are magnified by the ongoing pandemic.
” Former Rep. John McHugh , who now heads the Package Coalition , a group that advocates for reliable postal delivery service with members like PillPack , Express Scripts , CVS Health , and Amazon , warned that the effects could snowball @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factor to this , ” he told CNBC .
“ Once you are behind , what happens next is you get further behind and then further behind.
” “ Any additional strain will have an impact on patients , ” added Dr. Lakshman Swamy , an associate medical director at Massachusetts ’ state health care system .
“ It ’ s inevitable .
”

The mail slowdown resulting from operational changes implemented by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has doubled the delivery time for birth control prescriptions, a reproductive health company executive told Salon.
Democrats have sounded the alarm over changes by DeJoy, a top donor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, after the US Postal Service told 46 states it may be unable to meet their mail voting deadlines this fall. But the focus has increasingly moved to the potential impact on the delivery of medication, which threatens to leave patients without access to life-saving medicine.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is reportedly looking for alternatives to the USPS after shipments of medication were delayed. Meanwhile, there have been a growing number of anecdotal reports of elderly patients being left without critical medications for weeks.
Access to birth control has also been impacted, Carrie SiuButt, the CEO of SimpleHealth, an online birth control company, told Salon.
A “couple of weeks ago” the company noticed a few complaints “trickling in” but “now we’re seeing up to 5% of people” reporting delays,” she said. “What would have been three to five days now can take upwards of seven to 10 days.”
A recent Axios/Ipsos survey also found that about 5% of respondents who were awaiting a prescription delivery had either not received it, or got it late.
SimpleHealth had seen its business double amid the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the company’s clients use insurance to pay for their prescriptions, so the company is legally prohibited from moving up refill timelines to counteract the effect of the delays, though it is now offering six-month refills to patients that pay out of pocket.
“We are writing to patients that we are currently experiencing delays but… this is really frustrating for me because it’s another barrier for women to receive proper access to the medication they need,” SiuButt said. “We try to get our patients what they need right away but it’s unfortunate that some of the decisions being made are affecting women’s health care.”
SiuButt said her own experience has left her worried that her mother will not receive her diabetes medication in time.
“It’s less about the politics, to me it’s about human being welfare,” she said.
Postal workers have also noticed significant delays.
“Medications come in as parcels and we have seen that mail is taking longer,” Kimberly Karol, an Iowa postal clerk and the president of the state’s Postal Workers Union, told Salon. “In many cases, it was increasing the delivery time somewhere between three and seven days. That’s a big change.”
Karol warned that the delays could particularly impact customers in rural areas.
“If it hasn’t yet, which I would be surprised if it hasn’t, it will,” she said. “We’re in many cases the only way they can receive mail. If the system gets backed up, their mail is going to be included in that…. We see that there are issues getting items to the final destination.”
Medical groups have also sounded the alarm over the changes.
“My patients who rely on their insulin, or their inhalers, or any other type of medication can’t wait weeks to see whether or not their prescription will be delivered,” Jacqueline Fincher, president of the American College of Physicians, said in a statement, adding that the organization is “alarmed” that these changes will “exacerbate existing issues.”
DeJoy said on Tuesday that he would suspend further changes to the USPS until after the election but has made clear he has no plans to roll back the ones that have already been implemented.
“The Postmaster General’s alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement after meeting with DeJoy. “We are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed.”
The VA acknowledged that it has been forced to find alternative ways to deliver medication, like FedEx and UPS, in an email to the Disabled Vets of America. The VA fills about 80% of prescriptions by mail, about 120 million prescriptions per year.
“The VA has now confirmed to us that the United States Postal Service (USPS), which is responsible for delivering about 90% of all VA mail order prescriptions, has indeed been delayed in delivering these critical medications by an average of almost 25% over the past year, with many locations experiencing much more significant delays,” Stephen “Butch” Whitehead, who heads the group, said in a statement. “To help mitigate these postal delays, the VA has been forced to switch to alternative delivery services in a number of areas across the country and is taking other actions to expedite processing and delivery of prescriptions.”
Last week, 31 senators wrote to DeJoy that they’ve heard from hundreds of veterans that weeks-long delays are “causing veterans to miss doses of vital medications.”
The VA’s website says that “prescriptions usually arrive within 3 to 5 days” but veterans and VA staff told the lawmakers that “these medications are often taking weeks to be delivered.”
A VA spokeswoman disputed the letter to ABC News, noting that the website urges veterans to request refills at least 10 days before they need it.
“VA always encourages veterans to order routine prescriptions in advance,” spokeswoman Christina Noel told the outlet. “When it comes to emergent prescriptions, VA either fills them onsite or uses commercial carriers to ensure timely delivery.”
Many companies rely on USPS for delivery as well. CVS, Express Scripts, and OptumRx, the three largest pharmacy benefit managers in the US, all use USPS to send prescriptions, as do startups like Honeybee Health and Amazon’s PillPack. The number of prescriptions sent through the mail has spiked during the pandemic.
HoneyBee Health said that about 20% of patients whose prescriptions were sent via first-class mail experienced delays though the other companies told BuzzFeed News that they have not been affected by the USPS slowdown.
While UPS and FedEx offer alternatives to the USPS, they do not offer the same low rates and often themselves rely on the USPS for “last mile” delivery in rural areas.
“We tend to use UPS and FedEx more for time-sensitive and expensive drugs,” Umar Afridi, the founder of the online pharmacy TruePill, told CNBC. “USPS is often the lowest cost and they have the biggest reach.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., launched an investigation this week into the effect of the USPS on medication delivery, sending out letters to top pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to find out whether their customers have experienced delays as well.
“Millions of Americans with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, asthma, and other chronic conditions, illnesses or health care needs rely on the USPS for delivery of their prescription drugs and are at grave risks if President Trump’s efforts to degrade mail service results in delays and disruptions,” they wrote. “These health threats are magnified by the ongoing pandemic.”
Former Rep. John McHugh, who now heads the Package Coalition, a group that advocates for reliable postal delivery service with members like PillPack, Express Scripts, CVS Health, and Amazon, warned that the effects could snowball.
“There’s an exponential factor to this,” he told CNBC. “Once you are behind, what happens next is you get further behind and then further behind.”
“Any additional strain will have an impact on patients,” added Dr. Lakshman Swamy, an associate medical director at Massachusetts’ state health care system. “It’s inevitable.”


truthout--2020-08-22--Families and Advocates Call for Evacuation of Prisons Amid California Wildfires

As wildfires rage in California , advocates are pushing for Gov .
Gavin Newsom to evacuate prisons in the line of the fires .
“ It ’ s disaster on top of disaster on top of disaster , ” Kirsten Roehler , whose 78-year-old father , Fred Roehler , is imprisoned in Lancaster , California , told The Guardian .
The 2020 wildfire season is especially difficult for multiple reasons , including record high temperatures and extreme weather and , of course , Covid-19 .
Flames burned through more than 770,000 acres in the Golden State within just one week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaving five people dead and air quality continually decreasing .
Some of the state ’ s prisons are located in areas under evacuation orders , including the California Medical Facility ( CMF ) and Solano State Prison , which are outside of Vacaville , California .
“ They are breathing in fire and smoke , and they have nowhere to run , ” Sophia Murillo , 39 , whose brother is incarcerated at CMF in Vacaville told The Guardian .
“ Everyone has evacuated but they were left there in prison .
Are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minute to get them out ?
” Civil rights advocates have called on the governor to release incarcerated people since the COVID-19 outbreak began ravaging prison populations and staff throughout the United States .
Newsom and other governors have released thousands of people from prison in light of the pandemic , but with the fires raging closer and closer to physical prison structures , the calls for more action are growing .
In Vacaville , instead of releasing people from prison , officials moved 80 people “ to sleep in outdoor tents instead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meant to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in its facility , The Guardian reported .
But the wildfires have damaged air quality , prompting authorities to move incarcerated people back inside .
“ I ’ m furious at the incompetence and severe inhumanity of this , ” Kate Chatfield , policy director with the Justice Collaborative , a group that fights mass incarceration , told The Guardian .
“ Covid is allowed to rage through the prison system and kill people , and then they have tent hospitals set up … and now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tents and put these people back in the Covid-infected building ?
” In lieu of evacuating the Solano State Prison , authorities Thursday issued N95 masks to incarcerated people and staff .
Aaron Francis , a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ( CDCR ) , told the Guardian Thursday that officials were monitoring the Vacaville fires but that the two prisons were “ not in immediate danger ” and had no current orders to evacuate .
“ It shouldn ’ t come down to [ Covid-19 ] , uncontrollable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crises for us to start releasing people , ” Adbab Khan , founder of Re : Store Justice , an advocacy organization tweeted Friday .
“ Mass incarceration is the disaster .
”

As wildfires rage in California, advocates are pushing for Gov. Gavin Newsom to evacuate prisons in the line of the fires.
“It’s disaster on top of disaster on top of disaster,” Kirsten Roehler, whose 78-year-old father, Fred Roehler, is imprisoned in Lancaster, California, told The Guardian.
The 2020 wildfire season is especially difficult for multiple reasons, including record high temperatures and extreme weather and, of course, Covid-19.
Flames burned through more than 770,000 acres in the Golden State within just one week, the Washington Post reported Friday, leaving five people dead and air quality continually decreasing. Some of the state’s prisons are located in areas under evacuation orders, including the California Medical Facility (CMF) and Solano State Prison, which are outside of Vacaville, California.
“They are breathing in fire and smoke, and they have nowhere to run,” Sophia Murillo, 39, whose brother is incarcerated at CMF in Vacaville told The Guardian. “Everyone has evacuated but they were left there in prison. Are they going to wait until the last minute to get them out?”
Civil rights advocates have called on the governor to release incarcerated people since the COVID-19 outbreak began ravaging prison populations and staff throughout the United States. Newsom and other governors have released thousands of people from prison in light of the pandemic, but with the fires raging closer and closer to physical prison structures, the calls for more action are growing.
In Vacaville, instead of releasing people from prison, officials moved 80 people “to sleep in outdoor tents instead of indoor cells” in a move meant to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in its facility, The Guardian reported. But the wildfires have damaged air quality, prompting authorities to move incarcerated people back inside.
“I’m furious at the incompetence and severe inhumanity of this,” Kate Chatfield, policy director with the Justice Collaborative, a group that fights mass incarceration, told The Guardian. “Covid is allowed to rage through the prison system and kill people, and then they have tent hospitals set up … and now with wildfires, they take down the tents and put these people back in the Covid-infected building?”
As wildfires burn and neighborhoods evacuate, California prison officials have declined to evacuate Solano State Prison in Vacaville. Instead, they will reportedly give incarcerated people N95 masks to protect against poor air quality. https://t.co/CBKUvS2ddk — The Appeal (@theappeal) August 20, 2020
In lieu of evacuating the Solano State Prison, authorities Thursday issued N95 masks to incarcerated people and staff. Aaron Francis, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), told the Guardian Thursday that officials were monitoring the Vacaville fires but that the two prisons were “not in immediate danger” and had no current orders to evacuate.
“It shouldn’t come down to [Covid-19], uncontrollable fires, earthquakes, or other major crises for us to start releasing people,” Adbab Khan, founder of Re:Store Justice, an advocacy organization tweeted Friday. “Mass incarceration is the disaster.”
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truthout--2020-08-22--Corporate Landlords Get Big Tax Breaks. They Should Pay Our Rent During COVID.

The Covid-19 crisis has both exposed and exacerbated racial and wealth inequality in the United States .
As unemployment skyrockets and tens of millions of Americans struggle with a sudden loss of income , many are unable to pay rents or mortgages and are facing eviction , foreclosure , and possible homelessness .
We ’ ve seen this eviction crisis brewing for months , and despite platitudes about racial justice , our elected officials and corporate landlords haven ’ t taken any meaningful action to prevent it from hitting poor people of color hardest .
Latinx and Black workers have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are more likely to suffer evictions .
In July 2020 , Latinx unemployment was 12.9 percent , and Black unemployment was 14.6 percent , compared to 9.2 percent for white Americans .
Given this , it ’ s not surprising that an Urban Institute analysis of U.S. Census survey data indicates about 44 percent and 41 percent of adult Latinx and Black renters , respectively , had little to no confidence they could pay next month ’ s rent , compared with about 21 percent of white renters who felt the same .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in addition to historic housing segregation and environmental racism , have contributed to greater risk of contracting Covid-19 for communities of color .
While so many of us struggle to survive , some of the richest billionaires in the world dominate the residential real estate industry in the United States .
These corporate landlords are companies owned by extremely wealthy individuals , Wall Street entities like private equity firms and hedge funds , and institutional investors .
At least six leading residential property owners — Essex Property Trust , Brookfield Property Partners , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Company , and Blackstone — have top executives on the Forbes billionaires list .
Other prominent corporate landlords include Kushner Companies , Mosser Capital , Starwood Capital , and CBRE .
Across the country , these companies own large apartment complexes , office buildings , hotels , single family homes , and a significant chunk of our mortgage debt .
Corporate landlords do not pay their fair share in taxes at the local , state or federal level .
Here ’ s why : for decades , they have successfully lobbied City Halls @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put their needs first , to create loopholes , special statuses , corporate welfare programs and other schemes to avoid taxes and regulation and boost their profits .
Amid the current crisis , some of these obscenely wealthy companies and individuals , many of which profited immensely during the Great Recession , are lobbying aggressively for taxpayer funded assistance programs and making plans to exploit the pain of so many to grow even wealthier .
With millions of tenants , homeowners , and small property owners struggling to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organized by low income people of color , are taking action across the country to demand that Congress and state governments act immediately to require corporate landlords to pay for the cancellation of rent , mortgages , and utilities , and to provide financial relief to small property owners facing foreclosure .
These corporations are sitting on billions of dollars and will keep getting richer through tax breaks and giveaways , including in the federal stimulus packages .
They can easily afford to cancel monthly housing-related expenses and debts for millions of Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Covid-19 .
Making them pay will help stabilize the housing market , the national economy , and communities across the country .
Relief can ’ t come soon enough .
This is the fairest and most pragmatic way to address the financial crisis that so many households face right now .
It ’ s likely that many Americans will have no ability to pay rent , mortgages , and utilities for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic .
Those who can ’ t afford housing-related costs today won ’ t be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Well before the Covid-19 crisis hit , many American households , especially households of color , were spending huge proportions of their income on housing , leaving little left over for other necessities , and nothing for savings .
For example , one in four Black households spent more than half their income on housing ( compared to one in ten white households ) .
Many cities were already experiencing housing affordability crises , with renters and owners struggling to pay rents and mortgages and homelessness skyrocketing , while corporate landlords and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the housing affordability crisis into a national catastrophe .
That ’ s why the full cancellation of housing-related expenses and debt is so important .
Low-income Americans can ’ t afford to stay home from work , even if they ’ re feeling sick , unless their rent , mortgages , and utilities are canceled .
And if low-income and unemployed people lose their homes to eviction or foreclosure , they will not be able to “ stay home ” at all .
Corporate Landlords Must Provide the Relief Millions Need With Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump attempted to give the impression that he ’ d taken executive action to extend the current eviction moratorium .
In reality , his memorandum merely directs federal agencies to “ consider ” measures to prevent evictions .
But even extending the moratorium wouldn ’ t be enough .
Moratoriums do not alleviate the growing financial burden of unpaid rent , mortgage , utility , and other housing-related bills that will come due in the near future .
Tenants are demanding that Congress and state governments instead make corporate landlords pay for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during this pandemic , so households — and the economy more generally — can begin to recover financially .
That ’ s the real policy response and solution to the current crisis .
Anything short of full cancellation will continue to trigger mass evictions and an explosion in predatory debt , both of which hit communities of color hardest before Covid-19 , and will only be compounded .
And wealthy corporate landlords can afford it .
The largest corporate landlords have siphoned money out of public budgets at all levels of government and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expand their riches even further .
The stimulus package Congress passed in March gives $ 170 billion in immediate tax benefits to real estate and millionaires .
The CARES Act permits all businesses ’ losses to be carried back — which allows immediate tax refunds — for five years from 2018 , 2019 , and 2020 .
Losses carried back to years before 2018 will generate refunds of already paid income taxes at the older , higher rates — previously 35 percent maximum for corporations ( compared to current 21 percent ) and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent today ) .
The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation ( JCT ) estimates that owners of pass-through businesses will receive $ 170 billion in tax benefits over the next 10 years .
For 2020 , the JCT estimates that roughly 43,000 taxpayers with at least $ 1 million in annual income will reap 82 percent of the benefits , with an average tax cut of more than $ 1.6 million .
Which millionaires will come out on top ?
According to the Tax Policy Center , the key groups include real estate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ developers — in other words , corporate landlords .
Real estate companies had already received nearly $ 50 billion from President Trump ’ s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ( TCJA ) .
The TCJA allowed real estate investors to deduct 20 percent of pass-through business income to lower the effective tax rate on income if they have sufficient real estate assets .
This benefits real estate companies as well as those investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts ( REITs ) .
Experts estimate this is worth $ 29 billion over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ created “ opportunity zones ” — zip codes where one can invest capital gains in real estate and businesses through designated opportunity funds and receive huge tax breaks .
The tax cut was purportedly aimed at fostering economic rejuvenation of lower income areas but was so poorly designed and implemented that it provides tax breaks for developments that were already underway or in rapidly gentrifying areas , including corporate landlords like Related Companies and Stephen Ross .
Real estate firms and developers are raising up to $ 5 billion for each opportunity fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost $ 3.5 billion a year from 2019 through 2022 , for a total of $ 14 billion over those 4 years .
The TCJA also allowed real estate investors to deduct all of their interest payments on buildings from their income while other large businesses could only deduct 30 percent of their interest payments .
Experts estimate this tax break is worth $ 16 billion over the next 10 years .
Even before the corporate tax giveaway of 2017 , the federal tax code included real estate industry tax benefits that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next 10 years .
For example , real estate investors have a special loophole , “ like-kind exchanges , ” to avoid paying capital gains taxes on profits from the sale of assets as long as these profits were reinvested in comparable assets .
Essentially , profits from the sale of a building can be used to buy another building without paying any taxes .
Experts believe this tax break is worth almost $ 134 billion over the next 10 years .
In 1986 , tax reform prohibited businesses from investing in other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reduce their income for tax purposes .
But in 1993 , the real estate industry lobbied to exempt rental income from these passive loss rules , creating a tax benefit for these “ money-losing ” real estate investments .
The Treasury estimates this tax break is worth $ 79 billion over 10 years .
Businesses can depreciate assets that lose value over time as the assets age , reflecting declining value of things like machinery or vehicles .
Real estate investors can depreciate their assets and reduce their taxes even though real estate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in more expensive or rising markets .
This depreciation is counted against the value of the property when it is sold , reducing the capital gains taxes .
The JCT estimates rental and other real estate at $ 21 billion over 5 years .
With a standard corporate structure , the government levies taxes twice—on the corporation ’ s profits and on employees ’ incomes .
But nearly all real estate operations are run through limited liability corporations ( LLCs ) , which are allowed to pass profits to the owners who then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while the corporation does not pay any taxes on the money at all .
Real Estate investment Trusts ( REITs ) , created in the 1980s to encourage investment in real estate , are also treated as pass-through entities for tax purposes , which means they pay no corporate taxes in exchange for paying 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends .
As described above , the TCJA also allowed those that do have to pay tax on this “ income ” to deduct 20 percent .
Many federal tax @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been or will be enacted at the state level as well .
For example , the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities ( CBPP ) describes how , because nearly all states piggyback on the federal tax code ’ s definition of “ gross income , ” the opportunity zone tax breaks outlined above will automatically flow through to state individual and corporate income taxes unless states proactively “ decouple ” their law from these provisions .
Corporate landlords and real estate investors are likely to see billions more at the state level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well as others they have lobbied to create in each state .
Corporate landlords frequently also benefit from Tax Increment Financing ( TIF ) , Payment in Lieu of Taxes ( PILOT ) , bonding , and other schemes at the municipal and local level connected both to single projects and broader development work .
One example of this is Related Companies ’ Hudson Yards in New York City .
Research shows that Related ’ s project cost the city $ 2.2 billion , through a combination of subsidies , including over $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residential developers .
The tax breaks and schemes described above are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the myriad ways that corporate landlords , real estate investors , private equity and financial actors are and will continue to profit off the rental housing market in the U.S. Debt and mortgages are other key areas the industry exploits , including through government financed agencies and programs , to maximize profit margins .
These schemes are all the more galling in a moment when people don ’ t have enough money just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced from their homes as a result .
On top of these many handouts , industry lobbyists are using Covid-19 to ask for even more support .
The National Multifamily Housing Council and National Apartment Association , which corporate landlords dominate , are pushing their wish-list of measures , including taxpayer funded rental assistance , narrowing the already limited eviction moratorium criteria , expanding Payment Protection Program eligibility to all multifamily businesses , including the largest corporate landlords , and increasing tax relief for all multifamily residential businesses , which could go to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need it .
Their pitch also calls for expanding low-income housing tax credits , creating middle-income housing tax credits , increasing the breadth of opportunity zones , and enacting legislation to clear regulatory barriers for construction of more multi-family housing irrespective of cost .
All of these would be immensely lucrative for the industry overall and corporate landlords in particular .
They are examples of the broken “ trickle down ” housing models that enrich those dominating residential real estate while exploiting our racialized housing system , hurting workers and families , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
How Corporate Landlords Are Planning to Capitalize on COVID-19 Corporate landlords amassed enormous fortunes during the Great Recession and are now expressing excitement about the potential for profiteering post-pandemic .
The president of a division of Fortress Investment Group said of the coming pain , “ It ’ s kind of exciting times .
I mean , this is what you live for.
” These landlords certainly have the resources to exploit this new crisis—according to the Wall Street Journal , at the end of December 2019 , real estate investment funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on distressed and opportunistic real estate investments .
The Blackstone Group , Inc. , Brookfield Asset Management , and Starwood Capital Group are “ sitting on billions of dollars in cash and capital commitments they have raised from pensions , sovereign wealth funds and other big institutions ” as the industry eyes hotels , retail properties , mortgage backed securities , and defaulting borrowers .
On a 2020 Q1 Earnings call , Starwood Capital CEO Barry Stenlicht said “ when it ’ s really ugly , it ’ s a good time to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real estate fund ever in September with $ 20.5 billion , and as of December 2019 Brookfield held $ 15 billion .
People within the industry are saying “ many [ real estate investors ] have been waiting for this for a decade.
” The Kushner family has announced they are putting together a fund through Cadre , their real estate investment vehicle , to take advantage of “ opportunities ” during the pandemic .
While Jared Kushner himself formally divested from the fund in February of 2020 , it ’ s clear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close ties to the White House is gearing up to profit from the crisis and its effect on the real estate market .
The U.S. real estate industry is led by some of the richest , most powerful people in the world .
They have profited handsomely from the last foreclosure crisis , the commodification of housing , and decades of racist housing policy , all while actively lobbying to avoid paying their fair share in taxes .
The Covid-19 pandemic has magnified what we already knew : Corporate landlords ’ bill is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to make them pay for the cancellation of rent , mortgages , and utilities for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic .
Making them pay will help millions of tenants , homeowners , and struggling property owners who are struggling to survive .

The real estate industry, led by some of the richest people in the world, can’t be allowed to further exploit renters.
The Covid-19 crisis has both exposed and exacerbated racial and wealth inequality in the United States. As unemployment skyrockets and tens of millions of Americans struggle with a sudden loss of income, many are unable to pay rents or mortgages and are facing eviction, foreclosure, and possible homelessness.
We’ve seen this eviction crisis brewing for months, and despite platitudes about racial justice, our elected officials and corporate landlords haven’t taken any meaningful action to prevent it from hitting poor people of color hardest.
Latinx and Black workers have been hit hardest by job losses and are more likely to suffer evictions. In July 2020, Latinx unemployment was 12.9 percent, and Black unemployment was 14.6 percent, compared to 9.2 percent for white Americans. Given this, it’s not surprising that an Urban Institute analysis of U.S. Census survey data indicates about 44 percent and 41 percent of adult Latinx and Black renters, respectively, had little to no confidence they could pay next month’s rent, compared with about 21 percent of white renters who felt the same.
These job losses and higher eviction risk in addition to historic housing segregation and environmental racism, have contributed to greater risk of contracting Covid-19 for communities of color.
While so many of us struggle to survive, some of the richest billionaires in the world dominate the residential real estate industry in the United States. These corporate landlords are companies owned by extremely wealthy individuals, Wall Street entities like private equity firms and hedge funds, and institutional investors. At least six leading residential property owners — Essex Property Trust, Brookfield Property Partners, Equity Residential, Related Companies, Irvine Company, and Blackstone — have top executives on the Forbes billionaires list.
Other prominent corporate landlords include Kushner Companies, Mosser Capital, Starwood Capital, and CBRE. Across the country, these companies own large apartment complexes, office buildings, hotels, single family homes, and a significant chunk of our mortgage debt. Corporate landlords do not pay their fair share in taxes at the local, state or federal level. Here’s why: for decades, they have successfully lobbied City Halls, state legislatures, and Congress to put their needs first, to create loopholes, special statuses, corporate welfare programs and other schemes to avoid taxes and regulation and boost their profits.
Amid the current crisis, some of these obscenely wealthy companies and individuals, many of which profited immensely during the Great Recession, are lobbying aggressively for taxpayer funded assistance programs and making plans to exploit the pain of so many to grow even wealthier.
It’s Time to Make Them Pay
With millions of tenants, homeowners, and small property owners struggling to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of thousands of tenants, organized by low income people of color, are taking action across the country to demand that Congress and state governments act immediately to require corporate landlords to pay for the cancellation of rent, mortgages, and utilities, and to provide financial relief to small property owners facing foreclosure.
These corporations are sitting on billions of dollars and will keep getting richer through tax breaks and giveaways, including in the federal stimulus packages. They can easily afford to cancel monthly housing-related expenses and debts for millions of Americans whose jobs and incomes have been destroyed by Covid-19. Making them pay will help stabilize the housing market, the national economy, and communities across the country. Relief can’t come soon enough.
This is the fairest and most pragmatic way to address the financial crisis that so many households face right now. It’s likely that many Americans will have no ability to pay rent, mortgages, and utilities for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. Those who can’t afford housing-related costs today won’t be able to afford them for the foreseeable future.
Well before the Covid-19 crisis hit, many American households, especially households of color, were spending huge proportions of their income on housing, leaving little left over for other necessities, and nothing for savings. For example, one in four Black households spent more than half their income on housing (compared to one in ten white households). Many cities were already experiencing housing affordability crises, with renters and owners struggling to pay rents and mortgages and homelessness skyrocketing, while corporate landlords and lenders prospered. The pandemic is turning the housing affordability crisis into a national catastrophe.
That’s why the full cancellation of housing-related expenses and debt is so important. Low-income Americans can’t afford to stay home from work, even if they’re feeling sick, unless their rent, mortgages, and utilities are canceled. And if low-income and unemployed people lose their homes to eviction or foreclosure, they will not be able to “stay home” at all.
Corporate Landlords Must Provide the Relief Millions Need
With Congress deadlocked on a new stimulus package, President Trump attempted to give the impression that he’d taken executive action to extend the current eviction moratorium. In reality, his memorandum merely directs federal agencies to “consider” measures to prevent evictions.
But even extending the moratorium wouldn’t be enough. Moratoriums do not alleviate the growing financial burden of unpaid rent, mortgage, utility, and other housing-related bills that will come due in the near future.
Tenants are demanding that Congress and state governments instead make corporate landlords pay for the cancellation of all housing-related expenses incurred during this pandemic, so households — and the economy more generally — can begin to recover financially. That’s the real policy response and solution to the current crisis. Anything short of full cancellation will continue to trigger mass evictions and an explosion in predatory debt, both of which hit communities of color hardest before Covid-19, and will only be compounded. And wealthy corporate landlords can afford it.
Federal Handouts and Giveaways to Corporate Landlords
The largest corporate landlords have siphoned money out of public budgets at all levels of government and are using Covid-19 as an opportunity to expand their riches even further.
The stimulus package Congress passed in March gives $170 billion in immediate tax benefits to real estate and millionaires. The CARES Act permits all businesses’ losses to be carried back — which allows immediate tax refunds — for five years from 2018, 2019, and 2020. Losses carried back to years before 2018 will generate refunds of already paid income taxes at the older, higher rates — previously 35 percent maximum for corporations (compared to current 21 percent) and 39.6 percent maximum for individuals (37 percent today).
The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that owners of pass-through businesses will receive $170 billion in tax benefits over the next 10 years. For 2020, the JCT estimates that roughly 43,000 taxpayers with at least $1 million in annual income will reap 82 percent of the benefits, with an average tax cut of more than $1.6 million. Which millionaires will come out on top? According to the Tax Policy Center, the key groups include real estate professionals and hedge fund investors, including developers — in other words, corporate landlords.
Real estate companies had already received nearly $50 billion from President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The TCJA allowed real estate investors to deduct 20 percent of pass-through business income to lower the effective tax rate on income if they have sufficient real estate assets. This benefits real estate companies as well as those investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Experts estimate this is worth $29 billion over the next 10 years.
The TCJA also created “opportunity zones” — zip codes where one can invest capital gains in real estate and businesses through designated opportunity funds and receive huge tax breaks. The tax cut was purportedly aimed at fostering economic rejuvenation of lower income areas but was so poorly designed and implemented that it provides tax breaks for developments that were already underway or in rapidly gentrifying areas, including corporate landlords like Related Companies and Stephen Ross. Real estate firms and developers are raising up to $5 billion for each opportunity fund and the JCT estimates opportunity zones will cost $3.5 billion a year from 2019 through 2022, for a total of $14 billion over those 4 years.
The TCJA also allowed real estate investors to deduct all of their interest payments on buildings from their income while other large businesses could only deduct 30 percent of their interest payments. Experts estimate this tax break is worth $16 billion over the next 10 years.
Even before the corporate tax giveaway of 2017, the federal tax code included real estate industry tax benefits that are worth nearly $250 billion over the next 10 years. For example, real estate investors have a special loophole, “like-kind exchanges,” to avoid paying capital gains taxes on profits from the sale of assets as long as these profits were reinvested in comparable assets. Essentially, profits from the sale of a building can be used to buy another building without paying any taxes. Experts believe this tax break is worth almost $134 billion over the next 10 years.
In 1986, tax reform prohibited businesses from investing in other business which generated losses in order to reduce their income for tax purposes. But in 1993, the real estate industry lobbied to exempt rental income from these passive loss rules, creating a tax benefit for these “money-losing” real estate investments. The Treasury estimates this tax break is worth $79 billion over 10 years.
Businesses can depreciate assets that lose value over time as the assets age, reflecting declining value of things like machinery or vehicles. Real estate investors can depreciate their assets and reduce their taxes even though real estate values often rise over time, especially in more expensive or rising markets. This depreciation is counted against the value of the property when it is sold, reducing the capital gains taxes. The JCT estimates rental and other real estate at $21 billion over 5 years.
With a standard corporate structure, the government levies taxes twice—on the corporation’s profits and on employees’ incomes. But nearly all real estate operations are run through limited liability corporations (LLCs), which are allowed to pass profits to the owners who then pay income taxes on the money, while the corporation does not pay any taxes on the money at all.
Real Estate investment Trusts (REITs), created in the 1980s to encourage investment in real estate, are also treated as pass-through entities for tax purposes, which means they pay no corporate taxes in exchange for paying 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. As described above, the TCJA also allowed those that do have to pay tax on this “income” to deduct 20 percent.
State and Local Giveaways to Corporate Landlords
Many federal tax breaks for real estate firms have already been or will be enacted at the state level as well. For example, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) describes how, because nearly all states piggyback on the federal tax code’s definition of “gross income,” the opportunity zone tax breaks outlined above will automatically flow through to state individual and corporate income taxes unless states proactively “decouple” their law from these provisions. Corporate landlords and real estate investors are likely to see billions more at the state level from the giveaways described above, as well as others they have lobbied to create in each state.
Corporate landlords frequently also benefit from Tax Increment Financing (TIF), Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), bonding, and other schemes at the municipal and local level connected both to single projects and broader development work. One example of this is Related Companies’ Hudson Yards in New York City. Research shows that Related’s project cost the city $2.2 billion, through a combination of subsidies, including over $350 million in property tax breaks for residential developers.
The tax breaks and schemes described above are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the myriad ways that corporate landlords, real estate investors, private equity and financial actors are and will continue to profit off the rental housing market in the U.S. Debt and mortgages are other key areas the industry exploits, including through government financed agencies and programs, to maximize profit margins. These schemes are all the more galling in a moment when people don’t have enough money just to make ends meet and are being forced from their homes as a result.
COVID-Era Tax Breaks and Giveaways for Corporate Landlords
On top of these many handouts, industry lobbyists are using Covid-19 to ask for even more support. The National Multifamily Housing Council and National Apartment Association, which corporate landlords dominate, are pushing their wish-list of measures, including taxpayer funded rental assistance, narrowing the already limited eviction moratorium criteria, expanding Payment Protection Program eligibility to all multifamily businesses, including the largest corporate landlords, and increasing tax relief for all multifamily residential businesses, which could go to corporate landlords that clearly don’t need it.
Their pitch also calls for expanding low-income housing tax credits, creating middle-income housing tax credits, increasing the breadth of opportunity zones, and enacting legislation to clear regulatory barriers for construction of more multi-family housing irrespective of cost. All of these would be immensely lucrative for the industry overall and corporate landlords in particular. They are examples of the broken “trickle down” housing models that enrich those dominating residential real estate while exploiting our racialized housing system, hurting workers and families, and putting communities at risk across the country.
How Corporate Landlords Are Planning to Capitalize on COVID-19
Corporate landlords amassed enormous fortunes during the Great Recession and are now expressing excitement about the potential for profiteering post-pandemic. The president of a division of Fortress Investment Group said of the coming pain, “It’s kind of exciting times. I mean, this is what you live for.” These landlords certainly have the resources to exploit this new crisis—according to the Wall Street Journal, at the end of December 2019, real estate investment funds had $142 billion ready to spend on distressed and opportunistic real estate investments.
The Blackstone Group, Inc., Brookfield Asset Management, and Starwood Capital Group are “sitting on billions of dollars in cash and capital commitments they have raised from pensions, sovereign wealth funds and other big institutions” as the industry eyes hotels, retail properties, mortgage backed securities, and defaulting borrowers. On a 2020 Q1 Earnings call, Starwood Capital CEO Barry Stenlicht said , “when it’s really ugly, it’s a good time to invest.” Blackstone raised the largest commercial real estate fund ever in September with $20.5 billion, and as of December 2019 Brookfield held $15 billion.
People within the industry are saying “many [real estate investors] have been waiting for this for a decade.” The Kushner family has announced they are putting together a fund through Cadre, their real estate investment vehicle, to take advantage of “opportunities” during the pandemic. While Jared Kushner himself formally divested from the fund in February of 2020, it’s clear that a prominent corporate landlord with very close ties to the White House is gearing up to profit from the crisis and its effect on the real estate market.
The U.S. real estate industry is led by some of the richest, most powerful people in the world. They have profited handsomely from the last foreclosure crisis, the commodification of housing, and decades of racist housing policy, all while actively lobbying to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. The Covid-19 pandemic has magnified what we already knew: Corporate landlords’ bill is long past due. It’s time to make them pay for the cancellation of rent, mortgages, and utilities for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. Making them pay will help millions of tenants, homeowners, and struggling property owners who are struggling to survive.
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