2KNYC, IT'S TOO EARLY TO END UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN PANDEMIC NYC.

Let’s face it, this time last year the vast majority of us thought that this time this year, COVID

would be a rapidly diminishing reflection in the world’s rear-view mirror. The impact of the

pandemic had been nothing shy of brutal – the world seemingly turned on its 2020 head.

Surely 2021 would be the year of recovery, the year of a return to some semblance of pre-

pandemic normality. Sadly, how wrong we were. Now we find ourselves in the midst of

COVID 2.0, aka the Delta version. And while that rages across the country just as bad, or

even worse than last year, the de facto economic punishment of those that can least afford

it is now crushing down upon them

In early September, potentially tens of millions will see their unemployment benefits

evaporate into thin air. At a time of on-going economic insecurity for the many, the

politically privileged few have determined that they will have to endure and suffer

regardless. The cessation of unemployment benefits comes on top of the end of the federal

moratorium on evections. So, buckle up friends, the hammer is about to hit hard and, of

course, the DNC couldn’t give a damn about you as the all starts to ramp up.

Just why it is that those that can least afford life always end up paying way more than those

that can more than afford it, is one of the brutal peculiarities of Western capitalism,

especially so the American version of that. And here’s the thing – when it come to flinging

millions back into abject poverty, it’s not only Black Americans that will feel that pain, it will

be millions of White folk also. That’s the joy of run-away, billionaire sponsored, failed

corporate capitalism – it likes to take out as many as it can in its relentless thirst for yet

more.

There is a taunting battle-cry held by way too many on the right of American politics. And

that cry is that ultimately, if you can’t swim with the strongest, you get to sink. The problem

is, the strongest have tax-breaks, lawyers, accountants and more, all designed to ensure

that they stay afloat and you don’t.

So just where are the DNC when it comes to this critical matter? Maybe we could run the

dilemma by red-neck Joe Manchin or cactus-cowgirl Krystan Sinema. And while those are

two of the most extreme versions of DINOs (Democrats in Name Only), the rot runs deep in

the body-majority of the Democratic party. As we know, the bulk of the Dems are deep in

the pockets of corporate America and are quite content to do so. The disconnect between

the average American and the party that is supposed to have their best interests at heart,

has never been as wide as it is now. The prospect of financial oblivion is now being stared

at in the face by the many, while the majority of the elected Democratic party issue moral

platitude after platitude. Words come easy, right?

Here’s the thing too. If Delta should mutate into something else, then what? Add to that

how winter really isn’t all that far around the corner and the potential for the US to remain

ever-more shackled to COVID continues to loom larger and larger than ever. The Democrats

are supposed to be the political saviors of the many, not the few. And certainly not the

billionaire, corporate classes.

New York City is undoubtedly the beating heart of the USA. It is an unmatched hive of

energy, ingenuity and invention. And when NYC suffers, you can bet your last dollar that the

rest of the country, indeed the world, suffers too. The city, where so many live, work and

play shoulder to shoulder, has been stuck in a COVID hell for over 18 months now, with no

end in sight. The last thing New Yorkers now need is yet more financial misery raining down

upon them while the DNC whistle and look the other way. What a great recipe for turning

off their voters.

As we have noted so many times before, as long as the archaic two-party system of

oscillation between Democrats and Republicans persists, these kinds of travesties will

continue. In the final analysis, the DNC and the bulk of the centrist Democratic party only

care about filling their own pockets at the expense of emptying others. Their refusal to do

the right thing when it comes to extending unemployment benefits through the second

wave of a deadly pandemic will come back to bite them in the ASS

. And rightly so.