Saturday, April 11, 2020

Tara Reade -- the name US corporate media continues to avoid

In the US, the media has crowned Joe Biden the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. THE DAILY MAIL notes:

Tara Reade, who served on Joe Biden's senate staff, filed a criminal complaint against him with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department
The complaint comes after Reade alleged Biden sexually assaulted her in a Senate corridor on Capitol Hill in 1993
Reade accused Biden of shoving his hand under her skirt and penetrating her with his fingers
She tweeted on Friday that the statute of limitations on the allegation had passed, but that 'there is justice in just being heard in a dignified way.'
The woman first made the allegation on a podcast last month and Biden has denied the claims

Jace King (THE JOURNAL) explains:

The story begins in 1993. Then-senator Biden was enjoying his fourth term, and the #MeToo movement was only a dream amongst sexual assault survivors. Tara Reade was working as a staffer for his Senate office, and was dictated by her superior to bring a gym bag to the Russell Building of the Capitol for Biden. Once she arrived to deliver the bag to Biden, the incident that occurred should exclusively be described in her own words. “And then he — it was one, as I described, fluid moment. He was talking to me, and he said some things that I don’t recall. And I was up against the wall. And he — I remember the coldness of the wall. And I remember his hands underneath my blouse and underneath my skirt, and his fingers penetrating me as he was trying to kiss me and I was pulling away. And he pulled back, and he said, ‘Come on, man. I heard you liked me.’ But he was angry. It was like a tight voice. And he tended to smile when he was angry. And he isn’t like the Uncle Joe like everybody talks about now. He was younger. He was my dad’s age at that time and very strong. And he looked insulted and angry. And I remember feeling like I had done something wrong when he said that statement. And then I was standing there when he said — he was still near me. He said — pointed his finger and said, ‘You’re nothing to me. You’re nothing.’ And he walked away.”

THE ARMENIAN REPORTER notes this Tweet from Tara:

Thank you to the endure reporters @ryangrim @kthalps @RichMcHugh and also
And stars that have actually waited me @SusanSarandon @johncusack @rosemcgowan I submitted an authorities record for security factors just. All crim statistics past restrictions. Gratitude for all that have actually waited me. https://t.co/VpdUF8jez1
— taratweets (Alexandra Tara Reade) (@ReadeAlexandra) April 11, 2020

Renia Sulton (WEAR YOUR VOICE) offers:

Look, I get it. I was once a Vote Blue No Matter Who girl myself—and thankfully Allah is the Most Forgiving. I reluctantly mailed in my ballot to vote for Hillary Clinton from f**king France to try to save this God-forsaken country from a Donald Trump presidency. I supported a warmongering racist who never supported me for one second because I thought it was my Patriotic American Duty™ to vote for the lesser of two evils. But how f**ked up is it that seemingly every four years, we as a country do a collective sigh and cast a vote for whatever person we’ve deemed least likely to ruin our g**damned lives?
It’s so f**ked up that I simply refuse to do it anymore. I will no longer subscribe to the idea that choosing between two alleged—I say alleged to not get sued, but I believe Tara Reade and all of Trump’s accusers—rapists is democracy. It’s not. You’re trying to tell me the will of the people is Trump versus Biden in the year 2020? IT’S. NOT.

Here’s a cute listicle of the reasons why I won’t be voting for Joe Biden. I don’t have all day and I’m honestly not sure the WYV website can handle an article long enough to delineate everything bad he’s ever done, so consider this f**ks**t which is just the tip of the giant iceberg:

4. He’s Been Credibly Accused of Sexual Assault

The Alyssa Milanos of the world might only care about rape allegations when they involve Republicans, but EYE believe Tara Reade. I am horrified by the fact that many of the same people who championed the #MeToo movement and highlighted the allegations against Trump are pretending they don’t know what Tara Reade so bravely shared.

Every single time I say I’m a prison abolitionist, people ask me what we’ll do with the rapists. We’ll let them run for president, Karen. And we’ll shame the people who don’t unite behind the Democratic rapist to beat the Republican rapist.

Turning to Iraq . . .

Ali Choukeir (ASIA TIMES) notes:

Iraqi President Barham Saleh nominated spy chief Mustafa Kadhemi on Thursday as the country’s third prime minister-designate this year, moments after his predecessor ended his bid to form a government.
Kadhemi, the 53-year-old head of the National Intelligence Service, has ascended to the role as Iraq faces a budget crisis brought on by the collapse in world oil prices and the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“This is a huge responsibility, and a difficult task,” Saleh said in his nominating speech, describing Kadhemi as someone with integrity and reason.

His nomination was attended by ministers, political rivals and even the United Nations’ representative in Iraq, indicating widespread support for Kadhemi that neither of the previous PM-designates had enjoyed.
[. . .]
Kadhemi was able to secure that support after weeks of lobbying that peaked in a flurry of meetings in Baghdad over the last week, sources close to him told AFP.
Among them were gatherings attended by Iranian General Ismail Qaani, who has headed Iran’s powerful Quds Force foreign operations unit since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed his predecessor Qasem Soleimani in January.
One hardline Iraqi faction accused Kadhemi of conspiring with Washington to carry out the strike, but the spy chief was able to repair his ties to Iran, several political sources close to the talks told AFP.

“Kadhemi recently travelled to Beirut to overcome this obstacle,” said one source close to Lebanon’s pro-Iran movement Hezbollah.

In other news, Lolita C. Baldor (AP) reports, "New air defence systems are now protecting American and allied forces at military bases in Iraq where troops have been attacked by Iranian-backed forces in recent months, according to US officials." SPUTNIK adds, "Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley confirmed Thursday that hundreds of troops from the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division would remain in Iraq due to the threat posed by Shia militias. According to Milley, US troops would remain hunkered down in Iraq 'until such time that we think the threat has subsided'." ALMASDAR NEWS reminds, "The United States has accused Iran and allied armed groups of launching missile attacks on its forces in Iraq."

The following sites updated:

Dissident Voice

A Palestinian Guide to Surviving a Quarantine: On Faith, Humor and “Dutch Candy”

1 hour ago

Oh Boy It Never Ends

That awful Ellen DeGeneres

4 hours ago

The World Today Just Nuts

The Mother of all G-Men

4 hours ago

Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

Dolly Parton's 'new' album

4 hours ago

The Official Jody Watley Website

Have Some Tea. Chill. Stay Home.

4 hours ago

Music

Laura Marling On Maya Angelou And Arming A Younger Generation Of Women

7 hours ago

Trina's Kitchen

Black Eyed Pea Stew and other dried bean recipes in the Kitchen

10 hours ago

SICKOFITRADLZ

Does Melissa Ethridge ever shut her damn mouth?

11 hours ago

Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

dynasty - don't hate blake just yet - or maybe do

11 hours ago

Ruth's Report

THE BLACKLIST

12 hours ago

Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

13 hours ago

Antiwar.com Original

A Palestinian Guide to Surviving a Quarantine: On Faith, Humor, and ‘Dutch Candy’

1 day ago

Ann's Mega Dub

Charmed

1 day ago

Like Maria Said Paz

Expect more of this

1 day ago

Mikey Likes It!

MODERN FAMILY

1 day ago

Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union

Civil Liberties Never Sleep: The ACLU in the Pandemic

1 day ago

Why You Should Never Vote for Joe Biden (David Swanson)

Why You Should Never Vote for Joe Biden

https://davidswanson.org/why-you-should-never-vote-for-joe-biden/

There’s a video of Lawrence O’Donnell, spokesperson for MSNBC, saying in 2020 what he’s paid to say, namely that electing a candidate with a platform you approve of is somehow in conflict with electing a candidate who can win. The logic of this is that most people are expected to vote for a candidate with a less desirable platform, which is only self-fulfilling if nobody shouts out that the hold-your-nose candidate has no clothes before a mysterious substance called “momentum” can be declared to exist and the candidate whom people actually prefer can be persuaded to give up.

There’s a video of Lawrence O’Donnell, years ago, saying something that would get him fired from MSNBC in a heartbeat:

If you want to pull the major party that is closest to the way you’re thinking to what you’re thinking you must show them that you’re capable of not voting for them. If you don’t show them that you’re capable of not voting for them, they don’t have to listen to you. I promise you that. I worked within the Democratic Party. I didn’t listen or have to listen to anything on the left while I was working in the Democratic Party because the left had nowhere to go.

Every four years in the United States since the time of the dinosaurs and Joe Biden’s full mental faculties, millions of people have volunteered for roles in the most often performed play in history. The tickets are free because nobody would pay a dime to see it twice and everybody’s seen it thousands of times. The play is a debate over whether to hold your nose and vote for some awful swamp creature or not.

This year was supposed to be different. I was going to vote for Bernie Sanders in the General Election, as I in fact did in the primary, not because I don’t have strong disagreements with him, but because his platform was so far superior to those of the other candidates as to really give meaning to the concept of “lesser evil.”

The endless arguments for lesser-evil voting that are part of the standard quadrennial performance make sense up to a point. I thought Bernie Sanders fell within that range in which they made sense.
In fact, as I explain at ridiculous length a ridiculous number of times every four years, my chief complaint with lesser-evilism in typical U.S. elections – elections without a candidate like Bernie Sanders in the big-two parties – is not that less evil isn’t less evil than more evil or that my brain simply doesn’t work. It’s that the value even of successfully electing a typical candidate who is in certain ways not as hideous as another candidate is outweighed by two factors. One is the giant diversion of resources away from activism and education and nonviolent strategies for political change and into the election. The other is the nearly universal practice of those who advocate less-evil voting of becoming cheerleaders for evil for periods of four years, not simply voters for it for one day.

Here’s a debate I had many elections back on this with Daniel Ellsberg.

People, with very few exceptions it seems, cannot do lesser-evil voting on a single day without having it take over their identity and influence their behavior. But even if they could, they’d still be telling Democrats: Do not bother with me, I’ll vote for you no matter what.

This could hardly be clearer than with Joe Biden.

If I go out today and advocate electing as U.S. president the neocon, corporatist, safety-net slashing, longtime racist, private health insurance promoting, war mongering, emoluments taking, opponent of public college education, enemy of major wealth taxes, champion of job-destroying corporate trade agreements, opponent of any serious green new deal, . . . the first question has to be: Yeah? Which one? Which of the two?

Here’s a graphic comparison of three candidates:

Here’s an informative video about Biden and the war on Iraq:

Here’s an example of how Biden has talked for years about Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare:

As David Sirota has noted, “Biden has worked with Republicans to push proposals to freeze Social Security funding, cut Social Security benefits and raise the Social Security retirement age. Biden has even been on the floor of the Senate giving speeches bragging that he tried to cut Social Security on four separate occasions.”

Here is Biden talking about his crime bill:

Bernie and Biden did not agree on the crime bill:

Bernie and Biden do not agree on corporate trade deals:

Here’s more from Biden in his own words.

This, too, is Biden in his own words:

Why why why why why you’re getting nervous man.
Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.
And cornpop was a bad dude and he ran a bunch of bad boys.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: all men and women are created by the ko you know the you know the thing.
You’re a lying dogfaced pony soldier.
I’m not sedentary I get up and let let let let them go let them go look the reason I’m running is because I’ve been around a long time.
And I said hey Ester off the board or I’ll come up and drag you off.
And I know more than most people know and I can get things done that’s why I’m running.
Let’s do push ups together let’s run let’s do whatever you want to do.
My greatest accomplishment is the 1994 crime bill.
You may cut me, man, but I’m gonna wrap this chain around your head.
I do not believe this is a rush to war, I believe it is a march to peace and security.
If you agree with me go to Joe three oh three three oh and help me in the fight.
Make sure the television excuse me make sure you have the record player on at night.
It doesn’t matter whether or not they had no background that enabled them to become socialized into the fabric of society.
It doesn’t matter whether or not they’re the victims of society.
In my judgment President Bush is right to be concerned about Saddam Hussein’s relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

I don’t think lesser evilists are evil. I don’t think they’re insane. I don’t think they’re failing to make an argument. I think they’re failing to recognize the side effects of the treatment they’re prescribing for our ills. I think that every four years we get two choices that are more evil than the time before. Here’s Trump four years the worse than last time, versus Biden who’s been repeatedly rejected in the past over his warmongering, corporate prostituting, and general lack of anything positive to offer. And the idea of changing society to get better choices while returning to lesser-evil voting at intervals is immensely impeded by what lesser-evil thinking does to its practitioners. They join the team. They self-censor. They slant. They become partisan. And activism and discourse and policy go down the tubes.

Lesser evilists do think non-lesser evilists are evil. They think they’re simply delicate souls who can’t touch dirt or negotiate or compromise. Bernie Sanders *was* my compromise. Bernie Sanders just backed a corporate bailout. Bernie Sanders has voted for numerous wars. Bernie Sanders thinks the F-35 is a humanitarian jobs program. The question is not whether to compromise. It’s whether to bow face-down in the mud, and whether doing so is strategically smart.

Well, if you shouldn’t vote for Biden, what should you do?

You should get active as an independent policy-based activist engaged in collective self-governance. You should make every possible use of local and state elections. You should move House candidates to commit now to a January 2021 impeachment of Trump for legitimate, non-Russiagating, indisputable charges from among the dozens that have long been ignored or new ones such as negligent killing through coronavirus. You should vote for Howie Hawkins or some other decent candidate or write in Bernie Sanders (whether he likes it or not).

Voting for Joe Biden or Donald Trump would be counter to the goals of every movement for peace, justice, and human and environmental survival.

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook.

Help support DavidSwanson.org, WarIsACrime.org, and TalkNationRadio.org by clicking here: http://davidswanson.org/donate.

Sign up for these emails at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/articles-from-david-swanson.

Senator Hirono Statement on Irene Hirano Inouye

Senator Mazie Hirono's office issued the following:

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Senator Mazie K. Hirono issued the following statement on the passing of Irene Hirano Inouye:

“My thoughts go out to the Yasutake and Inouye ohana today as we mourn the passing of Irene Hirano Inouye. Irene’s passion for serving her community on the local, national and international levels was profoundly evident in her life's work. From her service as the President and founding CEO of the Japanese American National Museum, chair of the Ford and Kresge Foundations, to President of the U.S. Japan Council, Irene was dedicated to the organizations and causes she believed in.

“In the years following the passing of Senator Inouye, Irene worked to establish the Daniel K. Inouye Institute to carry on and preserve the Senator’s legacy and continue the work that he started. Last June, I joined Irene at the Christening of the USS Daniel K. Inouye in Bath, Maine, and we both looked forward to welcoming the destroyer to Pearl Harbor. Like so many others, I will miss her friendship, determination and spirit, but I and others will continue to build upon the strong foundations that she laid.”

###

Rep. Bass joins House Democrats in Arguing Supreme Court Should Protect Birth Control Coverage for Women Across the Country Against Trump Administration Rule

US House Rep Karen Bass' office issued the following:

April 8, 2020

Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) joined a bicameral group of Democratic Members of Congress in sumbitting an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in support of Pennsylvania’s lawsuit challenging a Trump Administration rule that would undermine access to birth control for women across the country.

Since the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit went into effect in 2012, over 60 million women nationwide now have access to birth control at no cost through their insurance. The Trump Administration rule, which the Members argue in their brief should be struck down, would undermine that progress and deny workers and students across the country access to health care like birth control by letting employers and schools ignore the ACA’s requirement that health insurance cover it.

The brief was led by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Representative Judy Chu (D-CA). It was signed by 37 Democratic Senators and 149 Democratic Representatives. While the Supreme Court postponed oral arguments in the case until later this year, the deadline for filing was April 8, 2020.

“More than a decade ago, Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to ensure that every American has access to the health care they need, including birth control. But President Trump and Vice President Pence have made it abundantly clear they will stop at nothing to control women’s choices about their health care, including allowing corporations to decide whether or not women can access birth control,” said Representative Nadler. “This regulation is as unlawful as it is wrong, and I am proud to lead my colleagues in once again bringing this fight to the Supreme Court to protect the right of every woman to access the care she needs regardless of her employer.”

“Women across the country do not need someone else deciding whether or not they can get birth control—not their employer, not their schools, and certainly not President Trump and Vice President Pence.” Said Senator Murray. “It’s infuriating that over a decade after we passed a law to make sure insurance would cover care like birth control, we are still fighting against Republican efforts to bring us backwards, but I will absolutely fight this battle as many times as I have to. If people want a clear look at where Democrats’ and Republicans’ health care priorities lie, they need only watch the Supreme Court where time and again we have argued to protect families’ access to quality, affordable care against Republicans’ political attacks.”

“It is outrageous that the Trump administration continues to try to reverse what has long been settled: no institution should have a say in the reproductive rights of women,” said Senator Schumer. “Every attempt to undermine the birth control benefit provided under the ACA is an attempt to undermine women’s health and equality. Women and families know that Democrats will continue to have their backs, and we will never stop fighting for access to quality health care for all Americans.”

“The Administration’s outrageous rule allowing private employers and health plans to deny women coverage for contraception is an outrageous attack on women’s health, women’s pocketbooks and women’s rights,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Even during an unprecedented health crisis, when access to quality, affordable health care is urgently needed, the Trump Administration and its Republican allies continue their relentless campaign to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and its lifesaving protections for hard-working families. Democrats will never stop fighting to protect the health and safety of women and their families, and we will continue to oppose any actions by the Trump Administration that jeopardizes Americans’ access to the health care they need.”

“President Trump’s rule allowing broad exemptions for employers to deny women access to birth control is yet another cruel and unnecessary attempt by this Administration to take away Americans’ health care,” said Representative Pallone. “We cannot allow this blatant violation of the Affordable Care Act to send us back to a time when women’s access to health care was determined by the ideological beliefs of their employers, which is why Democrats are joining together to once again defend women’s access to comprehensive preventive health care before the highest court in the land.”

“The Trump administration has been working furiously to turn back the clock on women’s rights. By undermining comprehensive contraceptive coverage, this rule puts the health and well-being of millions of women at risk. We cannot let it stand,” said Representative DeGette.

“Going on birth control should be a decision made between a patient and their doctor – not politicians or employers,” said Representative Barbara Lee. “This rule is yet another example of the Trump Administration attacking access to comprehensive reproductive care, and goes directly against the intent of the ACA. Birth control is health care and health care is a human right – period.”

“Birth control is healthcare. But unlike all other healthcare, Republicans want to make access to birth control dependent not on her doctor, but on a woman’s employer. No other medicine requires a boss’s sign off, and this move by Donald Trump and Mike Pence is just another attempt to control women’s bodies,” said Representative Chu. “This attempt to re-interpret the ACA is blatantly discriminatory and an unacceptable interference in a woman’s right to make informed choices about her own body, and interferes with the doctor-patient relationship. I’m proud to support this amicus brief opposing the Administration’s attack on women’s health.”

Read the full amicus brief submitted by the members HERE.

Rep. Susan Davis Cosponsors the All Dependent Children Count Act to cover dependents up to age 24

US House Rep Susan Davis' office issued the following:

Washington, April 8, 2020

Congresswoman Susan Davis (CA-53) cosponsored the All Dependent Children Count Act (H.R. 6420) to expand the definition of a dependent for relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The bill would add children younger than 19, students 24 and younger, and eliminate the age limit for dependents who are disabled.

“I am hearing from many constituents who are discovering that they are not getting the help they hoped,” said Rep. Davis. “While the CARES Act has provided millions of Americans hurting from the coronavirus with relief, we are seeing too many people falling through the cracks. As Congress considers another stimulus bill, we need to expand recovery rebates to include more dependent children.”

The CARES Act provides an economic stimulus payment of $500 per child under 17 for most taxpayers with incomes below $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for married taxpayers.

However, under current law, no credit is allowed for dependents older than 16 despite the taxpayer providing the majority of that dependent’s financial support. These dependents also cannot claim the credit for themselves on their own returns.

Full bill text is here.

Baldwin, Colleagues Call on Federal Labor Agency to Invoke Emergency Protocols to Provide and Enforce Safety Standards for All Essential Businesses and Workers Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Senator Tammy Baldwin's office issued the followingy:

4.9.20

“The current lack of consistency surrounding the monitoring of symptoms, sanitation practices, personal protective equipment standards, and reporting and communication requirements must be addressed.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, Ranking Member of the Senate Employment and Workplace Safety Subcommittee, today joined her colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to utilize its emergency enforcement mechanism to require employers to develop and implement comprehensive plans to keep all essential workers who continue to perform their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic safe. The letter was also signed by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) and Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

The lawmakers asked OSHA to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which would provide employers with a consistent roadmap of standards to follow to ensure all employees who continue to come into work across the country are protected, and eventually develop a permanent standard should another such emergency arise in the future.

“As the number of confirmed cases and fatalities related to COVID-19 continue to rise, frontline workers continue to keep desperately needed services in place – providing food, public transit, emergency services, healthcare, and ensuring construction projects move forward – despite the risks associated with exposure to the virus,” the senators wrote in a letter to DOL Secretary Eugene Scalia. “Many of these workers lack the necessary personal protective equipment and other resources to keep themselves safe. The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the immediate need for OSHA to issue such a standard to protect all those who are required to work during this public health emergency from exposure to the coronavirus.”

The senators also called on OSHA to immediately issue an enforcement memo which would allow the agency to conduct on-site enforcement that ensures businesses are at the very least following current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance before the new ETS takes effect.
They noted the precedent and framework provided by a similar enforcement memo issued in reaction to the H1N1 influenza in November 2009.

The full letter is below and here.
Dear Secretary Scalia:
We write urging the Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring employers to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to protect all essential workers who continue to go to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel strongly that employees need standards in place to keep themselves safe during these unprecedented times. Without explicit direction from OSHA on necessary steps, businesses are left with little direction to instill confidence in their workforce.
As the number of confirmed cases and fatalities related to COVID-19 continue to rise, frontline workers continue to keep desperately needed services in place – providing food, public transit, emergency services, healthcare, and ensuring construction projects move forward – despite the risks associated with exposure to the virus. Many of these workers lack the necessary personal protective equipment and other resources to keep themselves safe. In addition to common sense steps that companies can take on their own, we feel strongly that the federal government has an obligation to protect employees during this public health emergency. The current lack of consistency surrounding the monitoring of symptoms, sanitation practices, personal protective equipment standards, and reporting and communication requirements must be addressed.
OSHA should immediately issue an enforcement memo to establish enforcement policies and ensure uniform procedures to minimize occupational exposure risk to the virus for all essential workers. A similar memo – released in November 2009 in reaction to the H1N1 influenza – provides precedent and a framework for immediate action the administration could take. We strongly urge you to take a similar step to conduct on-site enforcement, at the very least, of the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance plus any additional standards necessary to keep essential workers safe and save lives.
In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 grants OSHA the authority to issue an ETS if workers are at grave risk of danger from a new hazard. The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the immediate need for OSHA to issue such a standard to protect all those who are required to work during this public health emergency from exposure to the coronavirus. In developing such a standard, OSHA should consult with the CDC, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), unions, and worker protection organizations. Additionally, OSHA should work with the CDC and NIOSH to track work-related COVID-19 infections and make recommendations on needed actions or guidance to protect such employees. Finally, any ETS must be followed with a finalized, long-term standard afterwards as the ETS is by nature only temporary.
We implore you to take immediate action – proactively providing workers and their employers with these important protections.
Thank you for your expedited consideration of our request. We ask that you provide a written response to the concerns raised in this letter no later than April 17, 2020.

Sincerely,

Murray, DeLauro Urge Labor Department to Protect and Support Workers, Issue Emergency OSHA Standard

Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:

CARES Act includes $15 million in funding to help DOL respond to coronavirus crisis and enforce worker protection laws

Murray, DeLauro urge Secretary of Labor to ensure this money is used to issue a temporary OSHA standard for coronavirus, implement new paid leave provisions, and help states implement unemployment benefits

ICYMI: April 1 - Murray, DeLauro Urge DOL to Remove Loopholes for Employers from Paid Leave Guidance

Murray, DeLauro to Scalia: “These workers deserve every protection our laws are intended to provide and your commitment to making sure they are available”

(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of Senate Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding the Department of Labor, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding the Department of Labor, urged Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia to use the $15 million provided for the Department of Labor (DOL) in the CARES Act to protect and support workers during the coronavirus crisis. Workers across the country are facing health and safety risks as they continue to provide health care and transportation, stock grocery stores, and carry out other essential services. In a letter to Secretary Scalia, the lawmakers urged DOL to ensure that these workers can access the protections and benefits granted to them under law, and issue an emergency standard to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus.

The CARES Act includes a provision that requires DOL to submit a plan to the House and Senate appropriations committees on how the $15 million will be used. In the letter, the members urged DOL to issue an Emergency Temporary Infectious Disease Standard, fully implement new paid leave provisions, and help states implement new unemployment benefits.

“We write you today to request that you use the $15,000,000 provided in the CARES Act … to protect workers exposed to health and safety risks associated with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus as they deliver health care services, provide transportation services, and make available other essential services the public requires, and to implement new paid leave rights. These workers deserve every protection our laws are intended to provide and your commitment to making sure they are available,” wrote the lawmakers.

In the letter, the lawmakers stressed that in order to fully protect workers, DOL must use the funds to:

Issue an Emergency Temporary Infectious Disease Standard. Clear, effective, comprehensive requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the only way to guarantee that all workers receive protections from the coronavirus that will keep them safe.
Fully implement new paid leave provisions. The FFCRA included important new protections so workers can stay home if they are sick or need to care for a family member, without having to fear the loss of a job or a paycheck. These provisions must be implemented as Congress intended. DOL must also ensure that all eligible workers are aware of their new rights by conducting specific outreach. In many communities, especially low-income communities and communities of color, workers desperately need paid leave but may not know how to take advantage of the new provisions.
Help states implement new unemployment benefits. The CARES Act included new unemployment benefits to provide struggling families a necessary lifeline. DOL must provide clear and consistent information, technical assistance, guidance, and support to the states as they implement the new provisions.

“When you submit this plan, we strongly urge you to do the right thing for the nation’s workers and their families by including the funding necessary to carry out these priorities and help workers across the country access the benefits provided by the CARES Act,” wrote the lawmakers.

Both Senator Murray and Congresswoman DeLauro have already pushed the Department of Labor to protect workers during the coronavirus crisis. On April 1, the lawmakers urged Scalia to rescind guidance on the paid leave provision that created gratuitous loophole for employers. The lawmakers have also introduced the PAID Leave Act with Senator Gillibrand, a comprehensive emergency paid sick days and paid family and medical leave bill that is fully funded by the federal government during this emergency, and continue to push for it to be a part of Congress’ continuing coronavirus response efforts.

The full text of the letter is below and HERE.

April 8, 2020

The Honorable Eugene Scalia

Secretary

U.S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Ave, NW

Washington, DC 20210

Dear Secretary Scalia:

We write you today to request that you use the $15,000,000 provided in the CARES Act for Departmental Management of the Department of Labor (DOL) to protect workers exposed to health and safety risks associated with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus as they deliver health care services, provide transportation services, and make available other essential services the public requires, and to implement new paid leave rights. These workers deserve every protection our laws are intended to provide and your commitment to making sure they are available.

More than three months ago, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency due to the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. The outbreak has only grown worse since that time. As of April 7, 2020, the United States has 387,547 confirmed cases and 12,291 deaths resulting from this pandemic.^[1] The majority of states have issued stay-at-home orders which generally only allow travel for trips to the grocery store, for medical care or other essential services, and limit social interactions.^[2]

That’s why Congress passed several pieces of legislation intended to address the growing health and safety risk of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus and support states, localities, families, and individuals facing this unprecedented challenge. The most recent action was near-unanimous passage of the CARES Act, legislation that provided, among other investments, $15 million for your Department “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including to enforce worker protection laws and regulations”.

The Department is required to use these resources, and all available resources, to fully protect workers. That should start with issuing an Emergency Temporary Infectious Disease Standard. Unfortunately, we have more than ample evidence of the grave danger the 2019 Novel Coronavirus presents to workers. Some states have reported that close to 20 percent of coronavirus cases are health care workers.^[3] Clear, effective, comprehensive requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the only way to guarantee that all workers receive the protections from 2019 Novel Coronavirus that will keep them safe. Fortunately, much work has been done over the past decade on an infectious disease rulemaking that can be used to issue the Emergency Temporary Infectious Disease Standard.

In the interim, to protect workers from coronavirus infection, OSHA should be fully enforcing all applicable standards and directives, including the Personal Protective Equipment standard (29 CFR 1910.132), the Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134), the General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970), and the Bloodborne Pathogens standard (29 CFR 1910.1030). Particular emphasis should be placed on workplaces where workers are deemed essential and also face a higher risk of infection, such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, slaughterhouses, poultry processing plants, and agricultural workplaces.

Workers also need the paid sick and family leave provisions of the recently-enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act. These are important new protections we provided to individuals so they can stay home if they are sick, need to care for a family member, or have other coronavirus-related needs, without having to fear the loss of a job or a paycheck. However, individuals will only benefit from these new provisions if they are implemented as enacted in the legislation passed by Congress, and if they are aware of their new rights. Research on state paid leave programs has shown that usage and awareness is low for workers in low-wage jobs and members of minority communities.^[4] Therefore, you must ensure that specific outreach is conducted to these communities and other individuals who are desperately relying on these provisions.

Additionally, Congress approved several new unemployment benefits for workers impacted by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. As weekly unemployment claims continue to rise, these benefits are a necessary lifeline for struggling individuals and families. While the Employment and Training Administration has recently issued long awaited guidance on these benefits, it must continue to work with States to ensure that claimants are able to access those benefits, removing any barriers or challenges to participation. In this effort, the Department must use the recently enacted appropriation for Departmental Management to oversee and coordinate activities related to these new provisions and to provide clear and consistent information, technical assistance, guidance, and support to all States during this time.

As you are aware, you are required to provide the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations with an operating plan for the use of the $15,000,000 appropriation for Departmental Management not later than 15 days prior to the transfer of the funds to eligible appropriations accounts. When you submit this plan, we strongly urge you to do the right thing for the nation’s workers and their families by including the funding necessary to carry out these priorities and help workers across the country access the benefits provided by the CARES Act.

We appreciate your attention to these issues and look forward to seeing the report. If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Mark Laisch, Minority Staff for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies and Philip Tizzani, Majority Staff for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

Rosa L. DeLauro

Chair, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

United States House of Representatives

###

[1] Tracking COVID cases in the US, CNN Health accessed on April 7, 2020 at 6:30pm EST at https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/health/coronavirus-us-maps-and-cases/

[2] “See Which States and Cities Have Told Residents to Stay at Home”, New York Times accessed on April 2, 2020 at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html

[3] “Health care workers see wave of coronavirus coming in their ranks”, NBC News accessed on April 2, 2020 at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/health-care-workers-see-wave-coronavirus-coming-their-ranks-n1174271

[4] “Passing Paid Leave Laws Is Just the Beginning: Lessons from the Field on Raising Awareness”, Center for Economic and Policy Research accessed at https://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/paid-leave-2019-02.pdf

Bernie's Exit Is an Indictment of Our Broken System | The Future Belongs to the Movement Sparked by Sanders

11 April 2020

The Common Ills

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Tara Reade -- the name US corporate media continues to avoid

4. He’s Been Credibly Accused of Sexual Assault

Why You Should Never Vote for Joe Biden (David Swanson)

Why You Should Never Vote for Joe Biden

Senator Hirono Statement on Irene Hirano Inouye

Rep. Bass joins House Democrats in Arguing Supreme Court Should Protect Birth Control Coverage for Women Across the Country Against Trump Administration Rule

Rep. Susan Davis Cosponsors the All Dependent Children Count Act to cover dependents up to age 24

Baldwin, Colleagues Call on Federal Labor Agency to Invoke Emergency Protocols to Provide and Enforce Safety Standards for All Essential Businesses and Workers Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

“The current lack of consistency surrounding the monitoring of symptoms, sanitation practices, personal protective equipment standards, and reporting and communication requirements must be addressed.”

Murray, DeLauro Urge Labor Department to Protect and Support Workers, Issue Emergency OSHA Standard

Bernie's Exit Is an Indictment of Our Broken System | The Future Belongs to the Movement Sparked by Sanders

About Me

Blog Archive

The Common Ills