�������ýҕ�l

Negotiations on the next round of economic recovery legislation will begin in earnest Monday. Posturing on Capitol Hill and White House chaos and veto threats have made it seem plausible that the whole thing will fall apart just as the nationwide explosion in coronavirus cases makes it clear how desperately it will be needed. Ignore the noise: There will be a bill in the near future. The question is what Congress will and should put in it. The forthcoming bill, dubbed “Phase 4” because it follows three other rounds of legislation to address the virus and its economic effects, will build off the $1.8 trillion “Phase 3” Cares Act that Congress passed in March. The Cares Act added a $600 weekly payment from the federal government to supplement standard, state-provided unemployment benefits. This extra payment expires at the end of July. A major point of conflict between Republicans and Democrats will be what to do next with unemployment benefits. (Michael R. Strain, 7/20)

Americans stayed at home and sacrificed for months to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That gave us time to take the steps needed to address the pandemic — but Donald Trump squandered it, refusing to issue national stay-at-home guidelines, failing to set up a national testing operation and fumbling production of personal protective equipment. Now, Congress must again act as this continues to spiral out of control. Those who frame the debate as one of health versus economics are missing the point. It is not possible to fix the economy without first containing the virus. (Sen. Elizabeth Warren, 7/21)

A federal program providing financial aid to 30 million jobless Americans is set to expire this week. The money has helped struggling families pay their bills and put food on the table — and kept many retailers and landlords afloat.Unless Congress acts fast, America’s fragile economic recovery is poised to nosedive off a cliff. (Catherine Rampell, 7/20)

Over the next few weeks, as Congress gets serious about an additional round of pandemic relief, they must dedicate the funds to ensure low-income Americans impacted by COVID-19 do not get cut off from their utilities. Without power, phones, gas, water and other essentials to daily life, we risk deepening the despair for too many of our neighbors. (Mark Wolfe and Cassandra Lovejoy, 7/20)

The next two weeks are critical for our nation’s recovery from the economic symptoms of COVID-19, and Michigan is facing a huge budget deficit and devastating cuts over the next two fiscal years unless leaders in the U.S. Senate make the right moves. To help ensure that happens, we have to make sure Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters are aware of Michigan residents’ needs during and after the COVID crisis. (Gilda Z. Jacobs, 7/17)

Are we doing everything we can to fight the pandemic? Or are we ignoring obvious opportunities to help our communities survive and recover from this disaster? Right now, Congress has a chance to support local communities overwhelmed in the wake of COVID-19 by supporting the CORPS Act, recent legislation that would expand national service programs where they’re needed most. (Jim Balfanz and AnnMaura Connolly, 7/21)

We’re now at the stage of the Covid-19 pandemic where Donald Trump and his allies are trying to suppress information about the coronavirus’s spread — because, of course, they are. True to form, however, they’re far behind the curve. From a political point of view (which is all they care about), their disinformation efforts are too little, too late. Where we are: In just a few days millions of Americans are going to see a drastic fall in their incomes, as enhanced unemployment benefits expire. This calls for urgent action; but avoiding economic calamity was always going to be hard, because Republicans in general have balked at providing the aid workers idled by the pandemic need. (Paul Krugman, 7/20)

Concerned with the recent surge in the state’s COVID-19 case, nearly half of metro leaders say it is time that all Georgians be required to wear face masks in public. Others who responded to the Atlanta Power Poll survey want more drastic action, with one in five saying Georgians should return to full sheltering in place until health conditions improve. “We have become lax and complacent, and we are not doing enough to protect our communities,” Fulton County School Board President Julia Bernath said in comments to Power Poll. “Unfortunately, we are now paying the price.” (Nancy Badertscher, 7/17)

Four years ago, Donald Trump promised to “Make America Great Again.” Today, we’re living with the mirror image of that promise. America is stretched to the breaking point by a president who mismanaged a pandemic raging out of control and an economy teetering on the edge of a new Great Depression. Does Trump’s America feel great to you? His failures are so broad and the damage he inflicted on our nation is so deep that his skeptics could hardly imagine the devastation. Even Trump’s critics couldn’t foresee losing loved ones because of his lackadaisical response to a public health crisis. No one expected this president would invest his political capital in fanning the flames of lurid conspiracy theories, undermine his public health experts or refuse to follow medical professionals’ advice inside and out of government. (Rick Wilson, 7/20)