Why Can’t We Pay People to Preserve Jobs?

FEATURING SARAH ANDERSON – Nearly 17 million Americans have lost their jobs since the Covid-19 pandemic was declared. The unemployment rate has already reached the levels it was during the Great Depression of the 1930s. And yet all that the administration of President Donald Trump has achieved along with Congress is a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package that will give Americans up to $1,200 in a single direct payment that has yet to be sent out.

Now, some lawmakers are asking why can’t the government simply put money directly into the hands of workers to stave off unemployment? Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has introduced a new bill called the Paycheck Guarantee Act that will preserve paychecks until the Covid-19 emergency is over, thereby reducing the need for layoffs. The gist of Jayapal’s legislation was echoed in an op-ed by Republican Senator Josh Hawley.

Read Sarah Anderson’s article ‘Trump: Postal Workers Don’t Deserve a Financial Lifeline,’ HERE.

Sarah Anderson, Director of the Global Economy Project Co-editor of Inequality.org at the Institute for Policy Studies.