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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Joe Biden’s campaign said today that he is against the notion of defunding the police, which is a pretty good indicator of how much things would actually change for black people under his presidency.

Meanwhile, Propublica reports that Capital One and other major debt collectors are still coming after thousands of Americans, despite the economy-crushing pandemic.

And lastly, the much-needed aid set aside in the coronavirus relief CARES act for food banks and other key social welfare programs is way, way delayed: billions of dollars are still sitting around while needy people and programs starve.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Joe Biden’s campaign was never going to be on the far left of police reform, but a spokesperson for the presumptive Democratic nominee made it official on Monday: Biden opposes defunding the police.

This is slightly more coherent, but still consistent with Biden’s past comments on the subject, in which he suggested that the police perhaps shoot people in the leg instead of killing them. On Monday, campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates offered up this absolutely nothingburger of a statement to NPR. QUOTE:

“Vice President Biden does not believe that police should be defunded. He hears and shares the deep grief and frustration of those calling out for change, and is driven to ensure that justice is done and that we put a stop to this terrible pain." ENDQUOTE.

Great, glad that’s out of the way. But what would Biden support? Probably something along the lines of the new legislation introduced on Monday by Democrats in Congress, who marked the occasion by doing a photoshoot wearing traditional Kente cloth.

The package is definitely a step further than democrats have proposed before, calling for widespread reforms that include removing legal protections that enable police abuses, new restrictions on cops using deadly force, among others. But the key word there is still reforms -- the bill stops short of meaningfully changing the way police departments are funded and run in America. On the surface, things would probably get a little better, but all the systems that got us to this point stay right in place. Can’t think of a better analogy for the Biden campaign than that!

Capital One Keeps Chasing Debt

Working Americans have had a hard go of it during the coronavirus pandemic, which created an economic recession that has destroyed service industry jobs and forced layoffs in so many other industries.

But according to a Propublica report, the predators at the top of the capitalist food chain haven’t stopped hunting: lenders like Capital One are continuing to garnish hurting Americans’ wages, if they’re lucky enough to still have a job.

They’re helped along by a court system they created, which allows credit card companies and other lenders to exact millions of dollars in judgements which are then paid out by seizing debtors wages.

According to ProPublica, states like New York passed down orders that suspended new wage garnishments, but have failed to give relief for ones leveled before the virus hit. The New York City Bar urged Governor Cuomo for a moratorium, but so far he hasn’t done it.

The New York State courts told Propublica that wage garnishments continued because they were quote “existing orders were considered essential matters.” endquote. That’s right -- credit card companies managed to make taking people’s wages an essential service.

The Propublica story has several testimonies from people affected by this practice, and shows how a credit card balance of a little as $1,900 can hang over people’s heads for years with the big banks breathing down your neck.

The banks and collection agencies made generic comments to Propublica that they were trying to go easy on people affected by COVID-19, but it’s pretty clear where their priorities lie: in getting back what they’re owed no matter what it does to people struggling to pay the bills.

Congressional Relief Going Nowhere Fast

The federal government was supposed to help during all of this -- but like most things passed down through Congress, it hasn’t exactly gone smoothly.

According to the Washington Post, food banks, nursing homes, childcare facilities, firefighters, and a whole list of other essential social programs have only received shreds of the money ostensibly allocated to them by the CARES act.

Let’s look at some numbers, per the Post. Congress allocated $850 million for food banks, but less than $300 million has made it to them yet. It allocated 9 billion for community development block grants that can fund elder care, child care, health facilities and the like. So far, only $250 million has made it to specific programs. Of the $100 million of that was earmarked specifically for nursing homes not a penny has gotten spent. Same thing for the $100 million FEMA was supposed to use to get more PPE for firefighters.

It’s a little unclear what the specific problem is here: Democrats aren’t saying that the Trump admin is slowing down the funds on purpose, just that the federal bureaucracy in general is really bad at getting things done on time. What’s missing, they say, is any sense of urgency -- while the meager stimulus checks with Trump’s name on them got out the door quickly, the nuts and bolts of actual economic stimulation is still mostly just sitting around.

Who knows, maybe by November we’ll have someone new in charge who can get the wheels turning. Hopefully by then it won’t be too late.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The leadership council for the Writer’s Guild of America, East, a major union that represents workers at many of the biggest digital media organizations, voted unanimously on Monday to urge the AFL-CIO to disassociate itself from the International Union of Police Associations, arguing that organized labor shouldn’t put up with the abuses of cop unions any longer.

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd, appeared in court for the first time on Monday, where his bail was set at $1.25 million. He’s charged with second degree murder and second degree manslaughter, and faces 40 years in prison.

Add another line to the protests’ list of incremental accomplishments: the New York State Assembly passed the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act 140-3 on Monday. While we’re waiting for systematic reform, the more bills passed the better.

And finally, the upheaval in media continues, as both the editors in chief of Bon Appetit Magazine and Refinery 29 stepped down on Monday. The former was pictured in blackface at a party, and both had been accused of running organizations that were hostile to non-white employees for years.

June 9, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn