Reich writes: "The temporary relief provided by the one-time stimulus checks has long evaporated, and the expanded unemployment benefits giving people a lifeline are set to expire at the end of this month."
Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich. (photo: Steve Russell/Toronto Star)
13 July 20
staggering 32 percent of American households have not made their full housing payments for July yet — up from 30 percent in June and 31 percent in May. That’s the fourth month in a row of “historically high” missed housing payments, a clear sign the economic devastation wreaked by the pandemic isn’t going anywhere, no matter what Trump and Republicans want you to think. Renters, who are more likely to work in industries devastated by coronavirus, are especially vulnerable — 36 percent of them missed their July housing bill, compared to 30 percent of homeowners.
Folks, this is bad. The temporary relief provided by the one-time stimulus checks has long evaporated, and the expanded unemployment benefits giving people a lifeline are set to expire at the end of this month. Local and state eviction and foreclosure protections will begin to expire sporadically across the country — some already have. We are barreling towards a food and housing crisis unlike anything America has seen since the Great Depression. The Senate must take up the House-passed HEROES Act and get Americans emergency relief, before it’s too late.
