Background Briefing: July 21, 2020
One of the Moms From the “Wall of Moms” in Portland Protecting the Protesters
We begin with one of the moms who formed a “Wall Of Moms” in Portland to protect protesters as they chanted at a phalanx of attacking federal troops, “the feds stay clear, the moms are here”. Dressed in white and wearing helmets they stood arm-in-arm forming a human chain between the demonstrators and the federal troops who fired tear gas at them. Joining us is Sharon Meieran, a member of the Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners representing District 1 in Oregon who is also an Emergency Room physician who practices in the Portland area. She joins us to discuss how the intervention by Trump’s federal stormtroopers has revived the demonstrations which were fading and the determination of the moms who are now 2,000 strong to protect the demonstrators. She also addresses the medical consequences of repeated gassing by tear gas and pepper spray and the extent to which demonstrators and now moms in Portland are suffering from PTSD due to the violence of the police and the unidentified federal troops who viciously beat protesters and shoot tear gas at the moms.
Families About to Lose Their Unemployment Money Face Eviction and Foreclosure
Then with Mnuchin and Meadows meeting today with Republican senators to try to sell Trump’s plans to cut the payroll tax and eliminate entirely funding for testing and contact tracing for coronavirus, we speak with economist Heather Boushey, President and CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth whose latest book is Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do About It. She joins us to discuss the one trillion dollar Republican stimulus plan compared to the three trillion dollar Democratic plan and the urgency to get help to families about to lose their unemployment money next week before millions or renters are evicted and millions of homeowners can’t make mortgage payments.