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

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The GOP is seeking to obliterate expanded unemployment benefits from the next coronavirus aid package, asking for a two-thirds cut to the past plan of $600 a week as millions of Americans face the possibility of eviction at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez continues to push back against the military’s student to soldier pipeline by introducing a proposal that would end federal funding for military recruitment in middle and high schools around the country.

And lastly, The DNC held a virtual meeting on Monday afternoon to approve a party platform before the national convention, and you’ll never guess what happened to an amendment supporting Medicare for All.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The GOP is looking for a major, drastic cut in unemployment benefits in the height of the pandemic, seeking to reduce the $600 a week keeping millions of Americans afloat to only $200.

The GOP cuts will, of course, hit low-income Americans the hardest. Their replacement plan is just $200 a week, or a payment that caps at 70 percent of a person’s prior income before they lost their job. The current unemployment benefits end on Friday.

All of this is coming as millions of renters stare down the barrel of another month’s rent, this time with no restrictions on evictions after the federal moratorium expired on Friday.

According to CNBC, one estimate found that up to 40 million Americans could be evicted during the crisis. John Pollock, coordinator of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel told CNBC quote: “It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen.” endquote. Pollock said there were 2.6 million evictions in 2016, and we could be looking at that many in August of this year alone.

One study found that up to 40 percent of renters could be in danger of eviction if the unemployment benefits vanish. In states like West Virginia, where large low-income populations are already living on the edge, that number jumps to as much as 60 percent.

All of this now goes into the crapshoot of negotiations between the Administration, the GOP Senate, and Nancy Pelosi’s House Democrats. The Democrats claim they’ve been ready to negotiate for weeks, but the GOP is pushing things down to the wire.

Military Recruiting Could Change

For the past week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has been firing shots in a new legislative war on predatory military recruiters. The process is playing out in the fine print of a House appropriations bill on military funding. On Monday, AOC proposed an amendment to the bill that would bar the military from using federally designated funding to conduct recruitment in middle and high schools.

Multiple studies and reports have show over the years that the military disproportionately targets poorer communities for recruitment, and has since 9/11 drastically stepped up recruitment in schools thanks to a series of laws passed in the Bush administration.

Last week, AOC introduced a similar bill that would prevent the military from using congressional funds to maintain a presence on video game livestreaming platforms like Twitch, where multiple branches had recently started esports teams aimed at enticing young gamers.

These amendments are a long way from laws -- it’s unclear now if they’ll even get a vote on the full House floor.

But they do show that elements of the progressive wing are starting to look critically at the way the military gets its manpower, and how its current practices often only further inequality in our society as a whole.

DNC Ditches Medicare for All

The DNC held a virtual meeting on Monday to approve a policy platform ahead of the planned convention in Milwaulkee.

The platform itself isn’t much of a surprise -- it’s largely a middle-of-the-road jaunt that makes nods to some progressive points of view without actually endorsing them in any way.

Where the drama played out, however, is when progressive elements of the party tried to push for explicit endorsements of the causes they favor -- and got shot down, hard.

An amendment to the platform to fully support Medicare for All was sunk 125 to 36, with 3 abstentions among committee delegates. The body also shot down language that was more forceful in condemning Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

One of the strangest examples, however, came with an amendment proposing marijuana legalization, something that is massively popular among Democratic voters. The committee, however, doesn’t appear to represent those voters, and shot down the amendment.

The DNC claims the platform is the most progressive it’s ever put forward, but that’s clearly a pretty low bar.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Major League Baseball’s season, which pushed ahead despite widespread problems with coronavirus, is already falling apart: after just four days, a team had a major outbreak, with 14 members of the Marlins testing positive. Maybe... we’re really not ready for sports.

For an update on Portland: the Trump administration is sending more federal agents to the city to reinforce the multi-agency force currently battling Portland residents outside the city’s federal courthouse every night.

Legendary civil rights icon John Lewis is lying in state at the U.S. Capitol. Trump has told reporters he won’t be attending the memorial events, after publicly feuding with Lewis during his life. Remember that next time the Right starts to cry about civility!

California’s Attorney General is investigating Amazon’s labor practices, according to a new court filing, taking a closer look at the company’s policies for safeguarding workers from coronavirus. Per the LA Times, San Francisco Department of Public Health and California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health have also opened investigations.

July 28, 2020 - AM Quickie

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn