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The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen, with 1.48 million more Americans filing for unemployment insurance in the last week alone. This brings the total number of workers who are currently drawing benefits to a staggering 19.5 million.
This dire situation is the direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And with the continued lack of a reliable, national testing system — and a surge of infections in multiple states — the outlook is grim. With so much uncertainty and lingering danger in our nation, it’s never been more imperative that the individuals who are leading it are acting in the best interest of the public.
We want you to stay informed with the most up-to-date and accurate information. To receive all of the latest daily breaking news, updates on our government’s response to COVID-19, and the actions Accountable.US taking in response, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Your support makes the important work we do possible.
Thank you and please, stay safe.
— Accountable.US
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How you can help this week
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As COVID-19 outbreaks continue — and spike in several states — Accountable.US is relaunching WhereAreTheTests.com. Please share this site with your Twitter followers to help spread the word! |
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We’re continuing our “100 Days Since…” campaign, reflecting on the pivotal first days of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. and the administration’s disastrous failures that continue to put Americans’ health and well-being at risk. Learn more here, here, and here. |
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Donald Trump has tried to rewrite his history of downplaying the threat of COVID-19. But Accountable.US has documented the facts here. |
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Our new investigation found that at least five recipients of an essential federal COVID-19 aid program, the Provider Relief Fund, recently had to settle with the government for false claims, Medicare fraud, and other allegations. This comes as non-Medicare providers continue to struggle to obtain funds during the ongoing crisis. Read our full report and our reaction here. |
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Our new report revealed that record-high one-day increases in new COVID-19 cases in Arizona, Florida, and Texas have come less than a month after state leaders hastily pushed businesses to reopen and refused to require face masks to be worn in public. Read our full report and our comments here. |
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We released new information on Bermuda-based TransAtlantic Petroleum after the corporation’s SEC filings revealed that it had been awarded a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) bailout despite selling all its U.S. assets in 2007 and relocating to Bermuda. Our research also found discrepancies in the amount reported by the oil corporation and that it had also doubled-dipped after receiving an additional windfall from the Turkish government. More details here. |
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Our research showed that a cargo airline received over $400 million meant for struggling businesses while the airline was in the midst of a business boom, as one of Amazon’s contractors. Check out Business Insider for the full story. |
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Our research also found that Art Laffler, a longtime Trump economic advisor who also popularized “trickle-down economics,” argued that Trump should stop the stimulus spending, all the while serving as a board member and shareholder in a company that received nearly $20 million in PPP funding. Our research was covered in Salon. |
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Mexican company Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) got expedited approval to expand its Colorado mine after its CEO publicly promised to support the construction of President Trump’s controversial border wall. The company also employs a lobbying firm with close ties to the Trump family. Read more in Salon. |
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We also found that an airline secured $67 million in coronavirus bailout money from the CARES Act, and has charged the federal government “exorbitant prices” for deportation flights for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Our research was covered in Yahoo News. |
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Last week our project Patients Over Pharma filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Trump administration’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) following reporting that BARDA quietly and abruptly cut off funding for research into treatments for the most severe forms of COVID-19 that attack the lungs. This surprising move by BARDA comes as the president is dialing up pressure for a vaccine to be ready in time to help his reelection, which public health experts worry could lead to rushed and unsafe development and politicized prioritization of federal funding. Read more and Patients Over Pharma’s response here. |
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And after we called on Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to stop playing games and bring full transparency to the American people in regard to the Trump administration’s Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), he offered a “compromise” — but one that will still leave the public in the dark on all but 14 percent of forgivable PPP loans. Because anything less than the full transparency that was promised in this program is unacceptable, this is simply not enough. Read more and our statement here. |
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The Trump administration planned to end its support for community based COVID-19 testing sites at the end of the month — demonstrating a further retreat by the administration from addressing the ongoing pandemic even as new hotspots continue to arise across the country. They later walked this decision back for sites in Texas. More information and our reaction here. |
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The Trump administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, which was established to help small businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis, has been a catastrophe, as proven by new facts and statistics that come out every day. More details and our response here. |
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A new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows more evidence of what we already know: the Trump administration systematically mismanaged its COVID-19 response, risking public health and leaving Americans struggling to pay for food, housing, and medicine they need. More details and the GAO’s full report here. |
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As the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve prepare to launch their $600 billion Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) meant to help “small and medium-sized” businesses weather the COVID-19 crisis, stakeholders are already raising red flags as to the program’s effectiveness. Read more and our statement here. |
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And it’s bad enough that the Trump administration has failed to make COVID-19 tests widely accessible — but now it’s using taxpayer money to buy faulty equipment from an unproven contractor with no background in medical supplies production. The full story here. |
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Congress must turn the page on the secretive, corrupt, mismanaged Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) program — and ensure a fairer and more transparent system for getting relief to the small businesses and communities that need it most. Here’s why. |
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Last week, the Congressional Oversight Commission released their second report on the implementation of the CARES Act, and the federal response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis. The report lays out in stark terms how the federal response has helped big businesses stay afloat while “there is less evidence that the actions of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have been as beneficial for small and mid-sized businesses and state and local governments.” Read the full report and our response here. |
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And in his testimony to Congress last week, Trump administration Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci indicated that he is hopeful that a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready by the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021. If that is the case, then it’s yet another reason why we need transparency from the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine and treatment development program, in order to ensure that political pressure isn’t once again impacting the government’s COVID-19 response efforts. Additional background and Patients Over Pharma’s statement here. |
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