Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Thursday called for "dramatic action" on several economic proposals to guarantee Americans can seek healthcare and prevent the coronavirus outbreak from harming the economy.
"This is not the time for half measures," the congresswoman tweeted Thursday morning. "We need to take dramatic action now to stave off the worst public health & economic affects" of the coronavirus outbreak, which the World Health Organization recently declared a pandemic.
In an earlier tweet Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez wrote, "Right about now would be a great time to weigh emergency measures like: Extending Medicare/Medicaid coverage to all… Eviction freezes… No-strings UBI programs… Eliminating work requirements for SNAP &other assistance… Humanitarian provisions in prisons & decarceral policies," or criminal justice reform.
She added, "Some are taking about [upping] unemployment insurance, & while good it's not nearly enough. There are enormous sectors of our economy (tipped workers, freelance, shift workers) who may not be 'unemployed' but whose lives are still dramatically disrupted to the point of eviction, etc."
House Democrats on Wednesday evening released a bill with various measures for combating the coronavirus, including free testing and funding to states that pledge to help their citizens with economic problems that result from the outbreak, among other provisions.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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