Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

A look inside the unemployment department of the most populous state in the union reveals chaos, as millions await payment of their benefits. California’s broken system forces state workers to rely on the same lousy website as the general public for finding information.

Meanwhile, New York prosecutors are investigating Donald Trump for bank and insurance fraud. It’s an expansion of the hush-money case involving Stormy Daniels.

And lastly: Trump’s never-ending rants against Vote By Mail may backfire on Republicans. At least, that’s the fear of some down-ballot officials and campaign staff.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Tens of millions of Americans who’ve lost their jobs in recent months have no doubt been wondering what could possibly be going wrong inside their state unemployment offices. Thanks to an in-depth report by the Los Angeles Times, we have some answers. California’s Employment Development Department is so overwhelmed that Governor Gavin Newsom has admitted that the backlog of claims won’t be cleared until the end of September. More than nine million claims have been made since March. Of that, nearly one million unpaid claims are in limbo because the state requires more information to process them. Which means all those people who paid into the system and are entitled for benefits won’t get them when they are most in need. Current and former EDD officials spoke not only with the Times about internal problems but with state lawmakers during a hearing last week.

One veteran state worker who transfered to EDD to help out with the claims backlog said her training was carried completely online. She was given an eight-hundred page manual and then left to fend for herself with an outdated computer system. Supervisors change every week, and many are reportedly unwilling to help subordinates resolve problems. The worker quit the agency after nine weeks. She said QUOTE I know I’m part of the problem because I don’t know what I am doing. I really feel bad for anyone trying to deal with EDD — particularly if they obviously do qualify for unemployment funds. ENDQUOTE. Another worker, hired through a temp agency for sixteen bucks an hour, said his training was inadequate. Not only

that, the computer system was designed in such a way that he could not resolve people’s claims. When issues were sent to other departments within EDD, he could not attach notes to let colleagues know what problems needed to be solved. When people reach a benefits worker on the phone, they are often so frustrated that they are in tears, or so angry that they yell down the phone. Wait times for callbacks from EDD are four to six weeks. Some officials say the reliance on low-paid temporary workers is a leading cause of problem. But even experienced staff who know how to resolve claims say they aren’t empowered to act. Some frustrated EDD workers have advised callers to contact their elected officials if they want claims resolved in a more timely manner. Newsom has assembled a so-called strike team to develop a plan to improve the system, but a fix can’t come soon enough. California isn’t the only state with an overwhelmed unemployment system. In Nevada, the Times reported, three top state officials in the employment department have quit in recent months. The Nevada agency’s interim director left her job in June QUOTE due to threats to her personal safety ENDQUOTE. It’s pitchforks and torches out there, folks.

Trump investigated for fraud

New court filings show that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is investigating Donald Trump and his company for bank and insurance fraud. The new federal court filing argues that Trump’s accountants should be made to comply with a subpoena seeking eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns. According to the New York Times, the filings suggest a broader inquiry by New York prosecutors than they have previously acknowledged. Until now, the Times says, Vance’s inquiry appeared focused on hush-money payments by Trump to two women who said they slept with him: Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. Those allegations involved less serious criminal charges than the allegations of financial fraud contained in the filings, made yesterday.

Prosecutors cited newspaper investigations about Trump illegally inflating his net worth and the value of his companies in order to secure loans and insurance. They also cited comments made to Congress by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, alleging Trump committed insurance fraud. Cohen made that admission in response to questions from New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Trump’s new lawyers argue that the subpoena for financial records is illegal because, as a sitting president, Trump is immune from investigation. I guess we’ll see about that.

"Rigged election" rhetoric backfires

State and local Republican officials fear Trump’s constant attacks on mail-in voting may backfire for the party come fall. According to the Washington Post, leading Republicans in battleground states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa are increasingly worried about the effect of Trump’s personal campaign to discredit the integrity of the election before it even takes place. Some, the Post says, are trying to create a false distinciton between mail-in balots and absentee ballots. Whereas mail-in ballots are bad, according to Trump, absentee ballots are supposedly more safe and secure. In reality, they are the same thing. Both go through the mail. Both get counted in the same way.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill told the Post that voters in his state have been deeply confused by such rhetoric. He said feels felt compelled to explain to voters that there is only one kind of mail-in voting in Alabama, and that it is safe and secure. As downballot Republicans promote absentee balloting, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee are fighting the expansion of mail-in balloting during the coronavirus pandemic.

But some Trump advisers have warned him he is going to far in attacking mail-in ballots as rigged. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel and deputy campaign manager Justin Clark have all reportedly encouraged Trump to promote the use of absentee ballots. Nevertheless, Trump has shown no signs of backing off his rhetoric about the election being rigged. Both Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Bill Barr have also warned about what they claim is an increased risk of fraud with mail-in ballots, though they’ve offered no evidence.

At least seventy-seven percent of American voters will be able to vote through the mail in the fall, according to the Post. A Monmouth University poll of Georgia voters taken late last month found that sixty percent of Democrats are at least somewhat likely to vote by mail in the fall, compared to only twenty-eight percent of Republicans. Glen Bolger, a Republican pollster, told the Post that in one swing state he studied, only fifteen percent of voters planning to cast ballots by mail were Trump supporters.

Maybe Republicans will actually listen to their leader, and sit this election out.

And now for some Quicker Quickies.

According to Vice News, Amazon warehouse workers shut down a distribution center in the San Francisco Bay Area for several hours on Saturday. Demands by workers in the apparent wildcat strike included extra pay to cope with the cost of living and additional safety measures during the pandemic. A group called Bay Area Amazonians parked a caravan of cars in the warehouse lot, blocking delivery vans from leaving. Bravo, bellissimo!

Spain’s former king Juan Carlos will soon enter a self-imposed exile, he said in a letter. The decision comes after revelations about his entanglements with secret offshore funds linked to Saudi Arabia. The letter didn’t say where the scandal-prone former king will go, but his decision is expected to take some heat off of his son, the reigning King Felipe.

The Nation magazine reported yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security are targeting antifascist activists and attempting to link them to foreign powers. An intelligence report obtained by the magazine showed the Department built dossiers on several American citizens, including their social security numbers, home addresses, and social media accounts. Targeted individuals included Brace Belden, a journalist and labor organizer who fought against ISIS in Syria alongside a left-wing Kurdish militia. Belden responded QUOTE, the US government has been spying on and smearing communists for a hundred years, but they usually have the decency not to call a Red an anarchist! ENDQUOTE.

At least four people planted mystery seeds that were mailed to addresses in more than a dozen US states from China. The US Department of Agriculture warned people last month not to plant the seeds, fearing invasive species. But not everybody heard the warnings, which went viral on social media. In some cases the seeds failed to grow. But one man in Arkansas said the seeds grew into a plant with orange flowers that produced large white fruit. The USDA is reportedly uncertain what the thing is, though it resembles a squash plant. No magic beanstalk, sorry.

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

August 4, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn