Paul Krugman explains how the GOP's disdain for workers will tank the economy

[turbinetree]

Written by Alex Henderson May 11, 2020

There was no shortage of terrible news coming from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, May 8, when the BLS reported that unemployment had reached 14.7% in the United States in April and that the country had lost 20.5 million more jobs last month — that is, in addition to all the jobs lost in March thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. And Friday’s jobs report doesn’t take into account the jobs that have been lost in May so far. Despite all that, Republicans are hardly going out of their way to help all the Americans who are struggling badly — and liberal economist Paul Krugman calls them out for it in his New York Times column.

“COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on workers,” Krugman explains. “The economy has plunged so quickly that official statistics can’t keep up, but the available data suggest that tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, with more job losses to come and full recovery probably years away. But Republicans adamantly oppose extending enhanced unemployment benefits.”

Krugman adds that because “most working-age Americans receive health insurance through their employers,” millions of Americans are — during a deadly pandemic — losing their health insurance when they lose their jobs.

“The only mitigating factor is the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, which will allow many — though by no means all — of the newly uninsured to find alternative coverage,” Krugman observes. “But the Trump Administration is still trying to have the Affordable Care Act ruled unconstitutional. ‘We want to terminate health care under Obamacare,’ declared Donald Trump — even though the Administration has never offered a serious alternative.”

https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/paul-krugman-explains-how-the-gops-disdain-for-workers-will-tank-the-economy-trump-and-his-allies-are-in-the-process-of-condemning-tens-of-millions-to-unnecessary-hardship/

[SWBTATTReg]

1. The GOP has slammed the door shut on worker rights and benefits, immigration, etc.

Where are businesses going to hire workers from, then? When they cut (listening to the idiot in the WH) immigration down to a pinpoint, crops in the fields literally rotted, being that there was no one to pick them. Inflation is eating into everyday Americans' budgets when we go to the grocery store, so we're getting less and less.

And to top it off, I'm seriously wondering if I should ever buy any meat anymore, being that it seems like the CV is knocking off meat plant workers right and left. Don't the meat plants have any safety protocols in place for their workers?

If the workers are all getting sick so easily while on the front lines of these meat plants, then just how safe is our sliced meats, cold cuts, steaks, etc. (all meat products)? The GOP is to blame here too, being that they cut USDA inspections of our food supply all through the supply chain, not in response that it was unneeded, but in response to pure profit motives on the part of meat plant owners.

Again, representing the 1%ers/owners, and not us. This is another reason why political donations should be outlawed totally and elections be strictly monitored to ensure fair compliance by all. Enough of the free speech BS nonsense, we're seeing the end run of this so called 'free speech' nonsense, especially when moneyed interests take dominance over data and logic.

[turbinetree]

2. This is not a comforting thought because the "guy's in charge of the USDA and the traitor in

the white house want to privatize the meat inspections.............

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. Trickle-down NEVER works; time for some bubble-up!