Nearly 30 million Americans reported not having enough food last week

Nearly 30 million people in the United States reported they did not have enough to eat last week in a new peak since May, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s weekly Household Pulse Survey data.

The survey data shows that about 23.9 million of 249 million respondents indicated they had “sometimes not enough to eat” for the week ending July 21 and 5.42 million more indicated they had “often not enough to eat.”

In total, about 12 percent of respondents reported not having enough food.

Lawmakers have talked about extending the moratorium and the unemployment benefits, but have not been able to reach a deal. Senate Republicans are pushing to lower the weekly benefit.

The same survey found that about 51 percent of respondents are experiencing a form of unemployment and over 26 percent are experiencing housing insecurity.



https://thehill.com/homenews/news/509749-nearly-30-million-americans-reported-food-insecurity-last-week-census-data#.XyWxTVjUvqE.twitter

VA-05: Medical doctor calls for healthcare reform in bid for Congress

Dr. Cameron Webb, a 36-year-old from Charlottesville who is running as the Democratic Party nominee for Virginia's Fifth District seat in the US House of Representatives, says healthcare reform is about more than hospitals.

"I'm passionate about serving people and keeping people healthy," Webb said in a phone interview. "I also recognize that health doesn't just happen in hospitals and clinics, but also in our communities."

Webb says his healthcare platform addresses the issue of affordable healthcare, while also addressing other community needs such as food access, education and transportation.

He supports a public health insurance option for Americans which would provide healthcare at a rate that doesn't exceed a percentage of a person's income, as Webb says that even with health insurance, many Americans are burdened by high healthcare costs.

"Everybody should have access to the primary and preventative care that they need to get and stay healthy," Webb said. "Even folks who have coverage right now don't have true access because it's not affordable."



http://www.altavistajournal.com/multimedia/article_f7b6597c-d276-11ea-923f-a781867b5c89.html

Shirley Chisholm blazed the way for every Black woman Biden is considering for VP

On Jan. 25, 1972, Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York stood on a platform in a Baptist church in her congressional district in Brooklyn. Behind a dozen microphones, she waved to the crowd and took a leap into history as she declared her bid for the Democratic nomination for presidency of the United States of America.

“I am not the candidate for Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I’m equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests,” Chisholm said in a clipped voice.

“I stand here now without endorsement from many big name politicians or celebrities or any other kind of prop. I do not intend to offer you the tired and glib cliches that have too long been an accepted part of our political life. I am the candidate of the people of America.”

The first Black woman elected to Congress ran against Sen. George McGovern (S.D.), who would go on to win the Democratic nomination but lose in a dramatic landslide to Republican Richard Nixon.
Chisholm’s presidential bid would be remembered for the power of her speeches, her fortitude, and her brutal honesty about racism, sexism politics and the state of the country. Chisholm’s defiant campaign, which inspired a number of women to run for public office, has received renewed attention, as Joe Biden considers a number of Black women as his running mate.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/08/01/shirley-chisholm-black-women-biden-vp/

Tweet of the Day

Gov. Greg Abbott will skip Republican National Convention to deal with coronavirus

Gov. Greg Abbott will skip the Republican National Convention later this month in North Carolina as he continues to respond to the coronavirus pandemic in Texas, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick will instead chair the state's delegation to the scaled-down gathering.

Abbott announced the plan in a letter dated Friday to the national GOP chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel.

"It was an honor being selected to serve as Chair of the Texas Delegation for the 2020 Republican National Convention," Abbott wrote. "However, as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, my top priority remains focused on protecting the health and safety of Texans."

Later this month, Charlotte will host the national convention, which has been pared down to delegates' official business due to the pandemic. President Donald Trump initially sought to hold a portion of the convention — his renomination acceptance speech — in Jacksonville, Florida, but abandoned that plan late last month amid a rise in coronavirus cases there.

The Republican National Committee decided earlier this summer to limit state's in-person delegations to Charlotte to six members — an especially significant reduction for Texas, which normally sends over 150 delegates to the national convention.


https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/01/greg-abbott-republican-national-convention-coronavirus-texas/

Crump, attorney for George Floyd's family, endorses Harris for Biden VP pick

Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who represents the family of George Floyd and other high-profile victims of police brutality, endorsed Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s (D) running mate.

“This is a time for steely-eyed public servants who play no games and demand results,” Crump wrote in a CNN op-ed. “It's time for Sen. Kamala Harris to join Joe Biden's ticket and, God willing, help him actualize the next phase of this movement from the White House.”

Crump is currently suing the city of Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed by police in custody on May 25.

The death of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, sparked global outrage after bystander video surfaced of a white police officer holding Floyd down on the ground with a knee on his neck. Despite pleas from Floyd that he could not breathe, the officer did not remove his knee. Floyd became unresponsive moments later, and was pronounced dead at the hospital following the incident.

Crump has won more than 200 police brutality suits, including those related to Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/510156-crump-attorney-for-george-floyds-family-endorses-harris-for-biden-vp-pick

Ten bucks left, no place to go: How the pandemic and a broken unemployment system are upending peopl

He had five days to move out of the house in Brightwood Park, and now Daniel Vought stood looking at the plastic crates stacked in the living room holding his things. T-shirts. Power cords. Pokémon cards and stuffed animals. His beloved guitar — a Gibson Explorer electric — still hung on the wall. He figured it would be safer staying behind.

A new housemate was coming, one who could actually pay $800 a month for the room Vought, 30, had lived in rent-free since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the Georgetown bar where he worked.

For four months, his unemployment benefits application had been snared in red tape at the D.C. Department of Employment Services, a black hole of unanswered emails, phone holds and automated voice messages offering delays instead of answers.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people in the nation’s capital have been sucked down the same confusing abyss. Through July 29, the employment office has fielded more than 133,000 claims, nearly five times the number processed in all of 2019.

The pileup has led to delays for applicants knocked from their economic perch, many of them reaching for government help for the first time. Although the D.C. Council recently approved a major modernization of the system, implementing it will take years.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/coronavirus-unemployment-delays-dc/2020/08/01/50016264-c522-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html

Official Who Tracked Journalists Pushed Out

senior Department of Homeland Security official whose office compiled “intelligence reports” about journalists and protesters in Portland, Ore., has been removed from his job, according to people familiar with the matter.

Brian Murphy, the acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, was reassigned to a new position in the department’s management directorate, an administrative support office, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter.
Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf made the decision on Friday.

Murphy’s removal follows revelations in The Washington Post that the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I & A) at DHS compiled Open Source Intelligence Reports about the work of two journalists who had published leaked department documents. In a separate intelligence report, the office also analyzed the communications of protesters in Portland.

DHS has been under mounting scrutiny from lawmakers and civil liberties groups over its use of federal law enforcement officers to quell protests in Portland and in light of President Trump’s threat to deploy federal personnel to other cities that he asserts are being overrun by violent criminals.

Members of Congress this week cited I & A’s collection of information about journalists and protesters as an alarming encroachment of government authority into activities protected by the First Amendment.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-official-whose-office-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-and-protesters-has-been-removed-from-his-job/2020/08/01/f01247be-d3ff-11ea-8d32-1ebf4e9d8e0d_story.html?tidr=a_breakingnews&hpid=hp_no-name_hp-breaking-news%3Apage%2Fbreaking-news-bar

GA-SEN: Kelly Loeffler granted interview to pundit associated with white supremacy and Nazism.

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler granted an interview to a TV pundit associated with white supremacy and Nazism.

The interview aired on One America News Network on Thursday and Loeffler promoted it heavily on her Facebook and Twitter accounts Friday, tagging the controversial host.

“I joined @JackPosobiec on @OANN to discuss why I had to call out the BLM political organization — and why the woke mob is trying to cancel me,” she wrote in one tweet. “WATCH the full interview here.”

Jewish groups and media observers pointed out that Posobiec promotes conspiracy theories and once associated with white supremacists including Richard Spencer, who organized the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. Posobiec has been criticized in the past for posting anti-Semitic tweets, including tweets that included the numbers 14 and 88, codes used by neo-Nazis.

White supremacist David Lane, who died in prison, is known for promoting the “14 words” racist slogan: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” The number 88 is code among neo-Nazis for Heil Hitler. (H is the eighth letter in the alphabet.)



https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/kelly-loeffler-takes-blm-criticism-to-host-with-white-supremacist-ties/YFGCMWR3DJD3RCLGFSAK3BXVGE/

Maine bill would help veterans discharged because of sexual orientation

The measure, sponsored by House Speaker Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, enables the state Bureau of Veterans Services to grant state veterans’ benefits to those who received other-than-honorable discharges because of their sexual orientation.

The bill also authorizes the bureau to help those veterans navigate the federal process of upgrading their discharge status, as allowed under the 2011 repeal – possibly making them eligible for federal benefits, including veterans health care programs.

Gideon said more than 100,000 veterans nationwide fall into the category of having received a less-than-honorable discharge based solely on their sexual orientation. It was not clear how many Maine veterans fall into this category but the state has one of the largest populations of veterans per capita in the U.S.

“As this committee well knows, “Gideon said, “the women and men who have served in our military deserve nothing but the recognition and benefits they have earned with their service. Unfortunately for those in the LGBTQ-plus community that hasn’t always been the case. With this measure we are asserting here in Maine, that that will not stand.”

Maine provides its veterans with an array of state benefits, such as free access to state parks, job training programs, emergency financial assistance and burial in state-financed veterans’ cemeteries. Some combat and disabled veterans are also entitled to motor vehicle excise tax waivers and a variety of property tax relief programs, many administered by local municipalities. Most veterans who receive an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable circumstances are eligible for state benefits, under Maine law.


https://www.pressherald.com/2020/07/21/bill-would-help-vets-discharged-because-of-sexual-orientation/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=dlcc&utm_content=25+-+sponsored&utm_campaign=state+of+the+states+20200729&source=state+of+the+states+20200729