What A Day - Relief Reloaded with Rep. Pramila Jayapal

Episode Date: April 8, 2020

Lawmakers are considering a second relief package to provide assistance to people who were left out of the last bill. Some also want to add a rent moratorium, Medicare and Medicaid expansion, and more. We talk to Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) to learn about those efforts.And in headlines: a naval secretary steps down after comments about commander Brett Cozier, the UFC moves its octagon to a private island, and historians uncover one of the earliest uses of the F-bomb.

It's Wednesday, April 8th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we will never stop celebrating the 25th anniversary of a Goofy movie. Yeah, it's just not in my nature to stop standing out above the crowd, even if I got a shout out loud. You know, I'm still seeing everything eye to eye. On today's show, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal weighs in on the coronavirus crisis and the latest planned response from Congress, then some headlines. But first, the latest planned response from Congress, then some headlines. But first, the latest. You'll be pleased to know that we do consider both the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny to be essential workers.

But as you can imagine at this time, of course, they're going to be potentially quite busy at home with their family as well and their own bunnies. And so the Easter Bunny might not get everywhere this year. Aw, I mean, very sad and sweet from the prime minister of New Zealand talking about an important announcement regarding Easter bunnies. All right. Well, in news, we have a lot to cover out of D.C. where conversations about the next coronavirus relief package are gaining traction. But in the meantime, there's been a hiccup with the current relief package are gaining traction. But in the meantime, there's been a hiccup with the current relief package. Yesterday, President Trump ousted the inspector general who was in charge of

overseeing that package. Gideon, take us through what we even know about this. Okay, so there's a new oversight committee that was formed as part of the CARES Act, and that's the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill. The committee is meant to watch over how the administration actually doles out the money from the bill to businesses and other recipients. Democrats had put that oversight in and Trump had already been pushing back on it. And then yesterday he pushed out the guy that was supposed to be in charge of the oversight committee and put someone else in. Yikes. Now, all of this comes days after Trump removed another watchdog, Michael Atkinson, who was the inspector general that reported the whistleblower complaint on Ukraine that led to Trump's impeachment.

So obviously, Democrats have rightful concerns about the intent behind this and how far it will go. I spoke to Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, yesterday after the news broke. It's outrageous. And I think we have to build into the next package a set of requirements that he can't do that. And, you know, and I think that we're going to have to have some real guts to continue to push for it and get some Republicans to understand that that undermines all of the bipartisan work when we come to agreement on a bipartisan package. And then the president unilaterally says, well, I'm not going to pay attention to anything that you have in the package. Once again, he's acting like a king or a dictator. And we don't have that. We're supposed

to have a president. And we need Republicans to understand that this moment is far beyond any petty political things that he wants to put forward. Yeah, absolutely. So that brings us then to the next coronavirus bill. Jayapal is saying there needs to be more oversight built in. What else is actually being talked about for that bill, though? So there are differing ideas about what all is going to actually make it in there. But the gist of it right now is that House Democrats are trying to extend unemployment aid, add in more assistance for small businesses, and do another round of direct payments. Now, most of those checks from the prior bill haven't even gone out yet. So it's something that people are really looking for. Now, according to Jayapal, when I talked to her,

the Congressional Progressive Caucus is set to release a list of their own priorities in the coming days. And there are a lot of big items in there. They want to make sure that people who were left out of the last bill, like dependents or people who are undocumented or people who made too little income to file a tax return, actually get assistance and get it on time. They also want to make sure that aid is ongoing rather than having to pass new bills every few months as everybody reassesses the economy. Specifically, there's also talk of a rent moratorium, a paycheck guarantee program, and expanding Medicare and Medicaid to cover the treatment and testing of COVID-19. But finally, there's an interesting proposal around essential workers to make sure that they

receive hazard pay for the work that they're doing. Jayapal, like many, has also been concerned about working conditions at Amazon, which just so happens to be headquartered in her state. Here's what she had to say on that. It is important to recognize that Amazon is providing an essential function. I mean, when these businesses can't operate, a lot of people are getting what they need through the mail, and Amazon is providing that. However, we can't put workers' lives at risk. Amazon should be making sure that they are complying with all the CDC guidelines, which until yesterday, I didn't have an answer on whether that was the case. Now I'm being told that they are working to comply with those guidelines. They should be providing widespread testing and allowing workers to stay home because it's not enough to just say, well, if you're not feeling well, stay home.

You've got to be able to provide the leave so that people can do that. And that needs to be a policy. And they should not be shipping other equipment that isn't essential at this point because the warehouses shouldn't be operating at full capacity. They should be operating for the things that are most necessary. Yeah, so Jayapal really stressed the largeness of this crisis and how Congress needs to meet the moment with big, bold proposals. She also said that a national vote-by-mail requirement and funding for vote-by-mail is an essential piece of any new legislation.

Vote-by-mail, of course, has become all the more urgent given the situation in Wisconsin and the dangerous and insane voting conditions there on Tuesday. Yeah, but the president hates vote by mail. He thinks it's illegal unless he's doing it. I don't really get it, but you're right. So there were, you know, these long lines and tons of reports of people saying they hadn't even received their ballot yet in Wisconsin or that they had COVID-19 and therefore couldn't go to the polls to vote or even get a witness to sign their mail-in ballot because they didn't want to endanger anyone. It was just a shit show. Yeah, that's right. So that's

a quick overview of where things stand in government. But Akilah, what else is happening across the United States? All right. So outside D.C., things are happening. New York hit a new record in deaths for a single day on Monday, but new case numbers are starting to plateau, which is really important because it means that the shelter at home order is actually working. You know, social distancing is actually working. In other words, New York may be reaching their coronavirus peak, which would bode well for the summer. And a lot of people are starting to think about how we come back down from peak and move forward. There was an interesting op-ed in The New York Times authored by doctors that specialize in public health about additional ways to lower case numbers and get out of these lockdowns sooner.

Here's what they said. You know, we've been staying at home and that keeps us from spreading the virus in the community. But that only gets us so far. And we need to be stricter about isolating and quarantining even within our own household units. They call it smart quarantine. And what that means is that anyone who isn't feeling well must be able to get tested for COVID-19 and then remove themselves from the rest of their family or household so they don't spread it at home. And that's just because that's where a lot of contagion ends up taking place. The government may have to set up facilities for this and, of course, ramp up testing and tracing. It would be a really big change from how we're currently doing things. And honestly, who knows, you know, if people would voluntarily go along with it.

But evidence from other countries and in previous epidemics, you know, it just shows that that's a really extremely effective way of going about it. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it would be a really big shift culturally and a big upgrade, you know, perhaps quite quickly in terms of capabilities around testing. And then any other updates from other countries around the world? Yeah. So internationally, China lifted its travel ban on Wuhan. And that's, you know, where the virus originated. And they're also reporting their first day without deaths for the first time since January. Again, data may be incomplete, like we've seen before from China, but also here in America and other countries. It's just we're still figuring out what is true about any of this and how exhaustive all of those bits of information are. Still, I think it's really good to be able to imagine a day where, you know, this isn't killing

us anymore and the news isn't so bleak. But in kind of sad, bleak news, Turkey has become a hotspot for the coronavirus and the growth of new cases there is now the fastest in the world. But if you would like to donate and you can donate to charities that are on the ground and helping out right now during this crisis, visit crooked.com slash coronavirus for more information. It's Wednesday, WOD Squad. We made it to the middle of another week. And look, none of this is natural right now. But one thing that is natural is talking to your friend. So we're just going to check in.

Giddy boy, has anything gone bad in your fridge? And how disappointing was it? Let me take you back to maybe about a week ago now. My voice is cracking with emotion. You're going to cry. I opened a, you know, like the kind of forgotten drawers that are on the bottom of the fridge? Yeah. There was a pretty full thing of sliced cheese, and the color was untoward.

Not how it was purchased. Yeah, so that was a slight bummer, but it could have been a lot worse. The color could not have been a lot worse, but the product could have been a lot worse. Yeah. I mean, cheese is a real commodity right now, but the product could have been a lot worse. Yeah. I mean, cheese is a real commodity right now, so I actually am very sorry for your loss. I know. I'm going to have to start producing on my own.

Are you eating everything, though, in a timely manner? No. We've had a few things go bad. I think that in the beginning, I was so keen on getting produce because I was like, that's what we can still get. We can always get cans down the road. And I just way overbought asparagus. Asparagus is not a vegetable that has a lot of versatility. It is a side item. And so, yeah, it's been like a real asparagus nightmare over here.

But, look, I'm getting better at knowing how much food I need, which I think is maybe one good byproduct of what's happening. Yes. One stock of asparagus a day. Yeah. And you know what? That was another tip check for the record books. So keep washing your hands. Stay the fuck home. Call somebody. Ask them about what's rotting in their fridge. Maybe remind them to take out the trash. And we'll keep letting you know what we're up to. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines.

New data reveals that domestic abuse is on the rise as more and more people are ordered to stay at home. Countries around the world are reporting an increase in calls to domestic violence hotlines and dramatic spikes in cases. Studies have shown that domestic violence goes up whenever families spend more time together, which is the case now for a lot of people practicing social isolation. Over the weekend, the United Nations called on governments to urgently combat the worldwide surge in domestic violence. Experts say governments failed to prepare the resources and services needed to support victims of abuse under new public health measures. If you want to learn more, find resources, or donate to help, visit futureswithoutviolence.org or equalitynow.org. Navy Secretary Thomas Modley stepped down after leaked comments he made about a beloved

naval officer. Modley's comments came during his address to the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on Monday, where he said their former commander, Brett Kosher, was, quote, too naive or too stupid to be in command. For context, their commander, Kosher, sent out a memo warning officials about the spread of COVID-19 on their aircraft carrier, which later got leaked to the media. Modley relieved Kosher of his duty shortly after. He apologized about his comments on Kosher after they drew criticism from the crew and Democratic lawmakers.

His resignation came early yesterday following pressure from the Defense Department. UFC President Dana White has found a secret location in the U.S. to host a planned April 18th pay-per-view tournament. No pandemic is going to stop us from entering the octagon, folks. White's arena will continue hosting fights for at least two months with ample safety precautions and no live audience. Now, for international fights, he secured a private island so athletes can dole out takedowns without having to take down new airborne illnesses. Asked if fighters will know the location of White's Island, he said this. We're going to get the fighters somewhere, and we're going to bring them to this location.

They won't know where they're headed to. But there's going to be, you know, definitely some planes involved and things like that. Okay, it's 2020 and 50% of air travel is confused jacked men going to brawl on private islands. Yeah, I knew the world would end this way. A nearly 500 year old Scottish manuscript has revealed one of the earliest written uses of the word fuck. Nice. It appears in a poem transcribed by a student in 1568. Coincidentally, he was on lockdown at the time because of the plague. So let this inspire you to write your own filthy quarantine swear poems. The poem was A Flighting, which is like

a 16th century Scottish rap battle between two people. And it uses the F word as part of a comeback after one participant suggests the other eats frog spawn from a dirty pond. The earliest use of the F word was found in British legal records from 1310, which described the trial of someone named Roger Fuck-by-the-navel, or seemingly Roger the Naval Fucker. Mr. Fuck-by-the-navel is my father's name. You can call me Roger. Oh, God. And those are the headlines.

That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, send us your swear poems, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just the free shirt from a radio station you've been wearing for three plus days like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And please keep that fridge clean.

Please. That smell, that onion-y, garlic smell is not something you want. Right now, on top of everything. Not everyone can have sliced cheese, so think about them when you're wasting that Swiss. You animal. I'm talking to myself.

What a day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.