Proponents of the Green New Deal have argued that addressing the climate crisis at scale has the opportunity to create millions of good jobs in the clean energy sector and beyond. With 17 million people filing for unemployment insurance in the last three weeks alone, the coronavirus pandemic is proving just how necessary massive investment in green jobs might become.
Read MoreAs coronavirus has torn through the United States, it has struck the labor market like few crises in American history. The weekly job reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics have come to punctuate in dramatic fashion with huge numbers each week of massive waves of unemployment claims filed throughout the country.
Read MoreWhile other developed countries have mobilized national resources to directly pay for workers’ wages and business expenses, Democrat and Republican leadership seem to have accepted the inevitability of mass unemployment and small business failures in response to the Coronavirus crisis.
Read MoreThe Covid crisis has highlighted the madness of many aspects of the US healthcare system. As millions of people are being put out of work, they are being kicked off their health insurance. Even worse, the loss of income that these workers have experienced makes it much harder to buy private insurance, which is an extraordinarily expensive product.
Read MoreCOVID-19 has revealed stark inequities in our society. My district, which is overwhelmingly working-class and one of the most diverse in the country, is also one of the districts hardest hit by the virus. The neighborhood of Corona, Queens has the highest number of positive COVID-19 tests of any zip code in the country. Bronx residents are twice as likely to die from the virus than other New York City residents.
Read MoreOur new research set out to see how accurate Trump and his allies’ claims are about whether the media is ideologically biased in its role as political gatekeepers.
Read MoreWith all of the attention, and money, flowing into the Presidential primary, it can be easy to lose track of the many down ballot races progressives are fighting in. The outcome of these races have potentially massive consequences for the types of legislation that is able to get passed and the future of the Democratic party.
Read MoreThe escalating number of cases of coronavirus in the United States, combined with widespread shortages of necessary medical supplies and limited hospital capacities, has exposed state policies that would explicitly discriminate against people with intellectual disabilities when rationing healthcare. This is only the latest instance in a long history of discrimination and stigmatization of people with disabilities.
Read MoreTo get through this crisis, we need more than just stimulus checks to households—we need consumer debt forgiveness for a real stimulus and recovery. As the chant from Occupy Wall Street went: “We got sold out, banks got bailed out.”
Read MoreYesterday afternoon, the New York State Senate caved to weeks of pressure from Governor Andrew Cuomo, passing a budget that made cuts to Medicaid, underfunded our schools, and rolled back crucial reforms on bail and discovery processes that were successfully curbing pre-trial detention. The State Assembly followed soon after, passing the same bill in the early-morning hours while New Yorkers slept. In the midst of a global pandemic, in which our state has been the epicenter of a virus that does not discriminate, our elected leadership in Albany chose to pass a budget that does.
Read MoreLast week, Congress passed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act--a stimulus plan to assist individuals and businesses, boost unemployment, and increase funding for state and local governments during the coronavirus pandemic. As many have already noted, this legislation does not do enough for individuals suffering during this time.
Read MoreAmerica is facing an unprecedented public health crisis which will soon become an unprecedented economic and housing crisis. With rents due April 1st and jobless claims expected to pass 3.5 million this week, we could see millions evicted from apartments, homes foreclosed upon, and small businesses permanently shuttered – leaving even more people out of work.
Read More
