Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) has been very vocal about what she thinks needs to be done to battle the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
The senator told Cheddar Monday that postal banking will be able to serve more people during the pandemic, specifically low-income families, who may be unbanked.
"It was instrumental in getting us out of the Depression because post offices were able to sell bonds and it made a difference because it allowed more low-income people to have bank accounts," Gillibrand said.
The senator envisions the U.S. Postal Service re-introduce postal banking through its 30,000 locations in a return to a program that served those impacted the most during the Great Depression, a plan to save both the USPS and economically disadvantaged detailed in an op-ed for The New York Times.
On Friday, President Trump had threatened to withhold aid from the USPS if it doesn't dramatically increase its shipping prices for online retailers. Sen. Gillibrand alleged that his choice to block aid was "fundamentally" related to his resistance to mail-in voting for the November election.
"He is absolutely fighting this because he thinks he will win only if less people are able to vote, which is obviously very cynical and not what we expect from a president," she said.
Previously, a fellow Democrat, New York Governor Cuomo, had criticized Gillibrand and Sen. Charles Schumer, also of New York, for failing to provide enough aid to struggling states like their own, but Gillibrand said they have started negotiating the COVID 4 package that will be geared toward state and local governments.
"Our goal is to allow more cities and states access to federal bailout money," she said. "Hopefully, in this next bill, which will begin in the House and Speaker Pelosi can author it, we will be able to send more money to get the states out of these terrible holes that they can't possibly get out of on their own."
The senator also has an idea for a "health force" job-training program that would put unemployed people to work in the fight against COVID-19 and allow more communities to get tested.
"We would allow for one million workers to be trained in the next two months to do this contact tracing along with testing," Gillibrand said. "We could actually be in the communities testing everyone. If we did that, that's how we can reopen society and schools in the fall."
David Nelson, Chief Strategist at Belpointe, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that Wednesday's market movement shows a rotation back into the industries that were hit hard in January, but says his eyes are firmly fixed on the January CPI data set to be released Thursday.
Russia is preparing alongside Belarus for reportedly one of the largest joint military exercises ever held. Some analysts are concerned this could be a disguise for a real attack, while the Kremlin contends that the exercise is meant to confront potential "unprecedented security threats." Christian Whiton, a former State Department senior advisor, joined Cheddar News to break down the still tense situation. "While it could of course be a prelude to invasion, it seems like the Biden administration is signaling that if you look at Europeans, the Germans and Macron … who just met with Putin, they seem to be thinking that maybe this is a show of force by Russia intended at political intimidation, not actual invasion," said Whiton.
Truckers in Canada have blockaded the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S. protesting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Cheddar News spoke with Samir Kapadia, head of trade practice at the Vogal Group, about how this impacts trade between the two countries.
New York City is not only dealing with the ongoing pandemic, it’s also facing a surge in crime. President Biden recently traveled to New York to meet with the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, to discuss the rise in crime and gun violence.
The president praised Mayor Adams' crimefighting agenda and unveiled a new federal initiative to curb the flow of illegal weapons from the south. Josefa Velásquez, Senior Reporter for THE CITY, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to talk about how the mayor is battling this increase in crime in his first weeks in office.
The Democratic governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon say they will lift mask requirements for schools in the coming weeks, reflecting a nationwide shift away from restrictions. Cheddar News speaks with internist Dr. Vivek Cherian whether it's safe to relax the regulation.
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Daley, author of the book 'Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,' joins Cheddar News to discuss redistricting battles taking place across the U.S.
