Ever-Growing Millions of Americans Face Eviction and Hunger. Will Congress Act?

 

Sasha Abramsky  November 21, 2020 Truthout As a result of Congressional inaction, in the last weeks of 2020 and with the pandemic raging worse than ever, millions of Americans are staring into an economic abyss. People stand in line at a food distribution event ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on November 20, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City., ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images   Back in May, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act. It was aimed at delivering trillions of dollars of additional federal funds to support health care systems, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, nutritional programs, as well as money to keep cities and states, public transit systems, schools, and other vital infrastructure functioning. Since then, the House has passed several updated versions of the Act. And yet, with Trump and the Senate GOP hostile to federal programs that they misleadingly claim will benefit only “blue states and cities,” the HEROES Act has languished. Through the late spring and summer, the GOP apparently hoped the pandemic would simply vanish, and the tens of millions of unemployed people would all be able to return to work. Opposing expanded unemployment systems, senators such as Lindsey Graham argued that support-oriented measures would sabotage the labor market by providing people with disincentives to re-enter the workforce. Once it became clear that the pandemic wouldn’t simply vanish of its own accord, the GOP pivoted, and, embracing much smaller financial stimulus packages, reframed its opposition to the HEROES Act as fiscal responsibility in the face of a Democratic legislative effort to use the pandemic as an excuse to fund all of the party’s favorite programs. Thus, legislative stalemate.

Hunger in Sacramento

Week #3 Poverty: Hunger & Food Insecurity Follow-up:

• Ready To Make A Difference?: Take Action >

Ø  River City Food Bank - Thank you to last week’s speaker Eileen Thomas, Executive Director of the River City Food Bank. If you’re interested in knowing more about her organization, please see the links below:

• River City Food Bank > http://rivercityfoodbank.org/
• Get Involved > https://rivercityfoodbank.org/get-involved/

• 8 myths about hunger in America https://mazon.org/what-we-do/articles-and-op-eds/8-myths-about-hunger-in-america

• Capitol Public Radio: The View From Here http://www.capradio.org/news/the-view-from-here/2017/09/05/place-and-privilege/ Capital Public Radio’s latest multimedia documentary project The View From Here: Place And Privilege explores the history, politics and economics of housing affordability in California's capital. We map the crisis through the personal stories of neighbors who are hit the hardest and living on the edge. 

Place and Privilege is an hour-long radio documentary, an eight-part podcast and an interactive website featuring exclusive web stories, community voices, photos, videos and graphics, which explore the data in compelling ways. The project also involves on-the-ground community engagement activities that bring diverse residents together to share stories, listen to one another and problem solve.

• CALmatters: Californians: Here’s Why Your Housing Costs Are So High by Ben Christoper and Matt Levin >https://calmatters.org/articles/housing-costs-high-california/

• McKinsey Global Institute: Closing California’s housing gap by Jonathan Wetzel, Jan Mischke, Shannon Peloquin, and Daniel Weisfield > http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/urbanization/closing-californias-housing-gap

• Week #3 Poverty MS Power Point presentation slides: Please see the attached slides from Week #3.

• Forum Sept. 21^st Speaker Bob Erlenbusch’s Homeless slideshow: Please see the attached slideshow form last by SRCEH (Sacramento regional Coalition to End Homelessness) Executive Director Bob Erlenbusch.