Business Insider maps out the unemployment pandemic:
There are troubling signs that while employment has improved from the depths of spring, ongoing economic pain could be felt. While the unemployment rate improved in August, the number of people who permanently lost a job increased and the number of temporary layoffs decreased. It suggests that many jobs that were furloughed could now be permanently eliminated, leading to a longer and harder recovery. The Congressional Budget Office predicted in April that unemployment could be above 10% on average throughout 2021, far higher than the prepandemic rate of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2020
Business Insider has interviewed unemployed Americans in 50 states.
Robin Kavanagh interviews a man in South Carolina who has been waiting for unemployment assistance for months:
I'm a lead lube technician with 25 years of experience, and I've been waiting 13 weeks for unemployment benefits. In May, when our governor was opening up the economy after a month of living under a "work or home" order, I was laid off from my job as a lube supervisor at Florence Toyota. Eleven of my friends also lost their jobs around that time.
I filed for unemployment and started looking for work. I haven't found anything that pays well for someone with my level of skill. I also haven't gotten any financial support from the state or federal government.
I'm struggling badly financially. I have no money, no job, barely any food, and no gas money to find work. I lost my health insurance, which I relied upon to help manage my depression. Without prescription coverage, the cost of a single medication alone has jumped from $10 per month to $307.
Meanwhile, the scandal regarding Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about military heroes continues. David Frum gives us the latest:
Amid the clamor, it’s easy to overlook those who are not yelling, those who are keeping silent. Where are the senior officers of the United States armed forces, serving and retired—the men and women who worked most closely on military affairs with President Trump? Has any one of them stepped forward to say, “That’s not the man I know”?
How many wounded warriors have stepped forward to attest to Trump’s care and concern for them? How many Gold Star families have stepped forward on Trump’s behalf? How many service families?
The silence is resounding. And when such voices do speak, they typically describe a president utterly lacking in empathy to grieving families, wholly uncomprehending of sacrifice and suffering.
Chas Danner gives us the latest on the Louis DeJoy’s campaign finance corruption:
The political consequences for DeJoy are another matter, particularly since he is already facing significant scrutiny over his leadership of the U.S. Postal Service and possible mishandling of voting by mail. On Sunday, many Democratic lawmakers, including Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, began calling for a probe into the new allegations. That call was answered by House Democrats, who announced that the Committee on Oversight and Reform is opening an inquiry into DeJoy’s reimbursements.
On a final note, Russell Berman at The Atlantic interviews experts to explain why voting is safer than we think (just make sure to make a plan to vote!):
In-person voting is no more risky than going to the grocery store, Emanuel argues, as long as certain safeguards are in place, the same measures many Americans have become accustomed to since the spring: Wear a mask and line up at least six feet apart. Voting locations should have plexiglass barriers separating poll workers from voters, as well as disinfectant to wipe down commonly used surfaces and objects. (In the risk-assessment chart—which Emanuel created with James P. Phillips, the chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University, and Saskia Popescu, an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona—voting would also go in the same low-medium risk category as playing golf or tennis.)