All of a sudden, Americans overwhelmingly support the principle of federal payments to the poor and middle class alike to establish a floor below which they cannot sink. Thus, the status pf the middle class is protected, and, in the case of the poor, the necessities of life are assured. Americans are now coming to recognize that the economic straitjacket in which most of them find themselves is not their fault, but rather is the result of a fickle and rapidly changing economy, along with tax policies unfavorable to them. Thus there is no moral issue involved in receiving these payments. In fact, with economic pressure relieved, Americans will be freer to pursue advances in their lives, educationally and vocationally. Nobody is going to live off the fat of the land under this modest stipend. Rather, it will serve as an investment in our country's most precious resource: human capital. And for the poor, this will mean the dismantling of the humiliating welfare bureaucracy, with its rules and regulations that have always smacked of a plantation mentality. Additionally, this reform will help heal the tension between the middle class and the poor, which has always been used by unscrupulous politicians who profit from dividing these two groups that belong on the same page. It will also raise the level of basic consumer demand, which is the chief vehicle on which our economy depends. Additionally it will provide desperately needed permanent relief to state and local governments - which have been devastated financially by the Virus Depression - by abolishing the requirement that they appropriate money for welfare, as under the present system. Building on the latter point, we should seize this opportunity to combine Medicare and Medicaid, so both are financed exclusively by the federal government.This would alleviate the longtime Achilles heal of state finances, Medicaid. Not only will this help fill the immediate financial pit the virus has created for the states, but as a permanent feature will free up more state funds for education and other essential local services. Additionally, the new expanded Medicare will give to the poor the dignity that the program has brought for the last half century to seniors of all income brackets. This proposal does not seek government expansion into any area of medical finance it does not presently control. It simply makes uniform the programs it already runs, both in their coverage and in the source of their funding. With the economy collapsing, the federal government is able to find $2 trillion to shore it up. This means that in more prosperous times, it would surely be able to do so on a continuous basis. Tell former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump to support making the $1200 payments a permanent monthly feature of American life and to combine Medicaid and Medicare.

None of us have ever seen anything like the coronavirus crisis. The whole world, all at once, has been brought to its knees, is shut down, and individual governments are working, sometimes together, to defeat the global pandemic. Most of the news right now is soul crushing, but it’s also heartening to see so many people doing things big and small to try and make it through this. Because the truth is, it’s going to take all of us, everywhere, doing our part. That’s what every doctor, every scientist, and every public health official is telling us. Yet in far too many corners of the world, some of us are still trying to kill one another on the battlefield. And we are seeing before how the military-first approach responds to global health crises — it deprioritizes human needs. So let’s do something BIG. Add your name NOW and join the chorus for peace and tell U.S. leaders that YOU support a global ceasefire!

Mutual aid is defined as a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services. There are already several mutual aid efforts underway, both neighborhood-based and citywide. They are decentralized by necessity, and the organizers are conscious and cautious around the need to practice social distancing and follow safety and health protocols as recommended by the CDC. We would invite the city and county to participate in our collective thinking around making mutual aid safe in this time. Durham has precedent for effective, widespread efforts at mutual aid in times of crisis, including recent successful efforts to get emergency supplies to victims of Hurricane Florence in 2018. Durham was an epicenter of the organizing that led to airdropping shipments of supplies to affected areas, making necessities more accessible, and more quickly, than many official sources of support including cities, counties, and the Red Cross. In addition to our request to protect mutual aid efforts, we fully support the recent call to reduce community harm by rejecting policing and carceral responses to this pandemic. We are also heavily conscious of the real danger of the coronavirus to people incarcerated in the Durham County Jail. We therefore demand that everyone who wants to be released from the jail be allowed to do so immediately, and that the County provide appropriate wellness and safety provisions for those who choose to remain. Mutual aid efforts in Durham are not situated to do casework, but are interested in helping to support the release of prisoners through neighborhood-based mutual aid. The spirit of the Community Safety and Wellness Task Force was to create community systems of care. Even in a time of crisis when we’re encouraged to do social distancing, we can have solidarity even beyond the confines of our families and neighborhoods. Please join us in this collective effort at solidarity by recognizing mutual aid and freeing our incarcerated community members in the jail. Signed, Danielle Purifoy, Mab Segrest & Lewis Wallace Petition Signers: Danielle Purifoy Mab Segrest Lewis Raven Wallace Jesa Rae Richards Faith Holsaert Quisha Mallette Giuliana Morales Catherine Edgerton Hideo Higashibaba Billy Dee Devohn Phillips Fern Hickey Maryam Arain Meghan McDowell China Medel Grace Nichols AJ Williams sumi dutta Beau Cromartie Beth Brockman Anne Wells Leilani Dowell Isaac Villegas Maya Washington Jatoia Potts Kelly Creedon Annie Segrest Andrew Meeker Aman Aberra Eli Meyerhoff Allison Swaim Winston Torrance Jake Stanley Sammy Truong Helen Cane Alejandra Mejia Konstantin Bakhurin Sandra Korn Hannah Ball-Damberg Gann Herman Jeremy Purser Alexandra Chass Ellie Pate Anita Simha Vicki Ryder Tracy S. Feldman Latasha Watts Tracie Minor Links: Durham Mutual Aid guide to neighborhood organizing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10VpieQKeJtsz7suGs0PWCHuFq2y-YVn_6VRnWSVeWMY/edit?fbclid=IwAR3nZIx61Eu5Ac0eLOn2BynH9uUio7faFLoy6iOrxOoRPUGe0asKUtLbNbA#heading=h.4l4cdle0d8sa Durham Mutual Aid Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/durhammutualaid/ Proposal for a Community Led Safety and Wellness Task Force: http://durhambeyondpolicing.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Durham-Beyond-Policing-Budget-Proposal-2019-2020.pdf Durham Mayor Pro Tem Memo, “Durham Community Safety and Wellness Task Force,’ https://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/ViewDocument/Final-Published%20Attachment%20-%2013824%20-%20MEMO%20-%20MEMO%20-%203_2_2020.pdf?meetingId=369&documentType=Agenda&itemId=15078&publishId=64804&isSection=false This includes: “Task Force Objectives: ● Conduct a comprehensive review of existing institutional and community-based public safety and wellness resources. Identify community safety needs that are not currently being served and provide recommendations for how to add new resources to fill these gaps.” Mutual Aid Coverage: https://www.scalawagmagazine.org/2020/03/covid19-community-aid/ The End Money Bail Act https://www.dataforprogress.org/end-money-bail.

Our country and our communities are feeling the economic impact of the coronavirus in the most devastating ways. My family is feeling it as well. I recently overdrew my account due to extra expenses for preparing for my state's "stay at home" order and having just started a new job. Instead of providing relief during this time, Chase charged two overdraft fees for a total of sixty eight dollars. In this time of unprecedented crisis, JP Morgan Chase bank must do their part to ease the financial strain of this pandemic for their customers. They were bailed out in 2008 and again will inevitably reap the reward of the two trillion dollar stimulus package which favors banks and large corporations. The deep economic impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus is just beginning, and we cannot make middle-class and lower-class consumers bear the burden. Ten million people have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks, and we not even through the worst of this global pandemic, let alone the profound longterm economic impact. There is no recourse for consumers, however, as they try to get through this economic turmoil and global pandemic and provide for their families. It's unacceptable that JPMorgan Chase continue to make money off the backs of those that are struggling to make their rent, pay their utilities, and purchase groceries for their loved ones.

Today we are in uncharted territory and the time is now to make the tough decisions for OUR FUTURE; to ensure a brighter future for not just ourselves but for our children and for all the people of the world. In brief, NESARA is the National Economic Security and Recovery Act. It was a set of proposed economic reforms suggested during the 1990s by Dr. Harvey Francis Barnard. While many of the proposals outlined in NESARA may seem drastic, we may need to go even further, if we wish to protect our freedom and true liberties. We are all in this together, in truth we always have been because We Are America and as written in our constitution We The People have the power. It’s our right and our duty to choose our future, and shame on us for have given that power away to politicians. For More Information visit http://nesara2020.com.

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, New York Gov. Cuomo is exploiting the forced labor of incarcerated people to make hand sanitizer but is doing nothing to protect them. In his proud announcement that Corcraft, a state-run corporation operating in state prisons, is manufacturing hand sanitizer scented like a "very nice floral bouquet," he casually left out the fact that the people work for Corcraft are paid less than one dollar per day. And to add insult, people in prison may not even be able to use the hand sanitizer themselves because, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, anything with alcohol content is contraband.  The virus has already made its way into jails and prisons across the state and is wreaking havoc. Riker's Island has at least 40+ cases, an employee at Sing Sing prison tested positive, and the first incarcerated person to test positive is at Long Island county jail. And these are just the cases we know of. Incarcerated people need protection, not exploitation! People locked in prisons deserve safety and wellness just as much as every other New Yorker. Yet, instead of ensuring that, Cuomo has been doing everything to treat incarcerated people with complete disdain -- undeserving of basic rights and human dignity. He has refused to take up the vast majority of clemency petitions and expand parole and medical release for elderly incarcerated people personally blocked the passage of the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, allowed New York State to continue to operate under a Jim Crow-era voting law that prohibits incarcerated people from voting, and is currently championing rollbacks to recently enacted bail reforms that would expand the jail population.  Prisons and jails are places where a vulnerable population is forced into close quarters, healthcare is poor, and access to soap, sanitizer, toilet paper is limited at best. Inside a prison or jail, it is near impossible to contain an outbreak of infectious disease. This puts both incarcerated people and the people who work in jails at health risk.  We need your support to make sure Cuomo hears this message loud and clear. People locked in prisons and jails are extremely vulnerable in times like this--but with the power of people like you, we can ensure that they aren't forgotten nor exploited. Sign the petition.

Due to COVID-19, there is an overwhelming amount of unemployment, benefits, food and personal and household necessities. Help needed for travel expenses to those workers who are still on the front line during these devastating times to help America and Wisconsinites become and stay healthy.

We are tenants, workers, poor and marginalized people, young and old. We applaud the efforts and initiative taken thus far by Governor Dunleavy, the Alaska Legislature, the Municipality of Anchorage, the Alaska Judiciary, and various utility companies to mitigate the economic and public health impacts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we believe further measures must be taken to properly address the severity of the crisis we are in. With COVID-19, we are already seeing unprecedented economic impacts around the world and here in Alaska. People are being laid off or experiencing loss of hours or wages as we are being asked to self-isolate during this time, and all schools and non-essential businesses are closing for the safety of our community. If we hope to contain the virus and flatten the curve, no one should lose their home during this crisis. Everyone must have access to food, shelter, electricity, heat, information, and clean water throughout this pandemic. While COVID-19 created this growing humanitarian crisis, the reality is that many of us have been living in crisis even before this pandemic. Multitudes of tenants are already incapable of paying next month’s rent and bills, and inaction from our elected officials will exacerbate these circumstances. If our government fails to act on the solutions proposed, we call on all tenants to resist evictions, and organize to withhold their rent payments for the entirety of the crisis and use their limited resources on the necessities—such as groceries, prescriptions, diapers, and mental health services—to maintain the well-being of themselves and their communities. We are committed to protecting everyone’s right to stay in their homes and not face evictions as we collectively take on the impacts of this crisis.

The spread of Covid 19 is still rising at an ever increasing pace across the country. We are nowhere near the peak of this outbreak. Prematurely removing the controls now in place will be disastrous and result in a far greater spread of the desease, with far greater numbers of deaths. And that will have an even greater negative impact on the economy as well. PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. THANK YOU.

Well over half of all employees' hours have been cut or completely gutted during the pandemic. Many have openly cited concerns regarding paying monthly rent and bills, working through rigorous protocols in at-risk conditions, and lack of efficiency and communication from YMCA-CW administration. Receiving hazard pay and paid leave are the only equitable solutions right now. Paid-Time Leave for all employees who are not being scheduled: Due to COVID-19, employees have lost work hours and are not given paid-time leave. Our licensing has changed protocol and has resulted in very few employees being scheduled. We are being forced to use our PTO when many of us have little or no PTO to use. The YMCA is refusing to support their employees with paid-time leave in this uncertain time. Many of us have built relationships with our co-workers, program families, and other peers at our sites. We should be able to feel secure that we will not be put in a position that can potentially affect us in our return to work. We are being expected to wait until the pandemic plays out with no pay. Although we are highly trained and experienced, we simply cannot afford to continue with the YMCA unless we receive a living wage. Hazard Pay for all employees that are working regardless of position or location: In order to keep everyone safe, there are additional and significantly more rigorous protocols employees must now take to protect the health of everyone in the program. Not only are we caring for the children, but we’re also rigorously cleaning and sanitizing. While we are happy to help the families of first responders, emergency workers, healthcare professionals, and other families - this is still a large and uncertain risk and is putting the lives of employees, their loved ones, and everyone they come in contact with in danger while risking their health and overall well-being. It is our job to care for these families, and we want to do it the best we can with extra support. The YMCA has 5 core values: caring, honesty, respect, inclusion, and responsibility. Please help YMCA employees urge CEOs Tyler Wright and Kevin Washington to publicly support this petition and give their staff Paid-time leave and Hazard Pay. YMCA employees dedicate their physical and emotional labor caring for the well being of others. If we are not financially stable or physically in good health, it will be more difficult to do so. We deserve stability and good livelihood, not marginalization. Many companies have taken care of their employees during this hard time, and YMCA is a very well known nonprofit alongside these businesses (Starbucks, Willamette Dental, New Seasons, Home Forward, Vision Works, and Target to name a few). We are ready to see YMCA on this list. It's time to live up to the core values and show their employees that they care and will support their employees. Are you with us? UPDATE: Most employees got furloughed on 04/03. Salary employees are still working. Some employees also got paid their regular hours for the first week of the PPS shutdown — but if an employee could not come in for a shift that an employee was technically scheduled for (obvious COVID-19 reasons), that employee will NOT get paid like everyone else. -Simrat Mann, Maria Vu, Tullia Fusco, Faith Lao, Daniel A. Zepeda, Mike White, and Nayantara A. Johnson.

Access to child care is in crisis right now and possibly far into the future with disastrous consequences. Parents unable to make copayments due to loss of income. Providers who are in a real and present danger of closing permanently without financial relief. Emergency workers who can’t access much needed child care. Something has to be done. As a nation, we are on the verge of losing more than half (yes you read that right - MORE THAN HALF) of our child care programs in the next week IF there isn’t significant public investment and support. There are over 2 million paid providers and educators in the U.S., and we cannot afford to lose them! Without child care, frontline workers won't be able to continue doing their essential jobs and, as we emerge from this crisis, we may find there is no child care system to return to as families go back to work and school. Providers who are open are struggling without support for public health training, and working in hazardous conditions for long hours. We need to support them in their critical role in our public health infrastructure. And families -- including frontline workers -- shouldn't have to worry about how they will afford child care in this time. SIGN NOW to urge Congress to provide at least $50 billion in child care funding to ensure the stability of our child care system so parents and caregivers have child care to return to when this crisis is over!

Landlords across Houston are refusing to respond to their tenants’ pleas and/or offering zero abatement options and imposing late fees with talks of tenants defaulting. We are speaking on behalf of dozens of small business owners in Houston. Many of us ARE NOT in the food and beverage industry and were ordered to completely shut down by Governor Abbott on March 19. We do not have take-out options for our clientele and are generating zero income. We have wholly contributed to these properties in improvement and continuously paid taxes on properties we do not own. There has been zero substantial ruling on commercial tenants - small business owners - and we've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the improvement and build-out of our landlords properties. We've also paid our proportionate share of their property taxes for the duration of our leases. PLEASE SIGN because without legislature, thousands of small businesses in Houston will close.