In just the past week, more than six million American workers applied for unemployment benefits as the United States entered another month of social distancing and quarantine in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Numbers released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the economy hemorrhaged more than 700,000 jobs in the month of March. The St. Louis Fed recently predicted that unemployment might hit 32 percent, greater than at the height of the Great Depression. These figures are dire.

As many Americans are now realizing, the worst part of working from home is the unsettling feeling that comes with waiting. Our livelihoods and dreams are suspended, and thoughts turn. We’re seeing Congress react with a massive spending binge that may ultimately do more harm than good and the economy is rapidly cratering.

Remember when Paul Krugman predicted a global economic recession with no end in sight?

President Trump launched an initiative called Black Voices for Trump with a speech in Atlanta Friday to recruit and engage the black community. I am proud to be one of the founding members of the group.

The latest Census Bureau Current Population Survey data now show that middle-class incomes, after adjusting for inflation, have surged by $5,003 since Donald Trump became president in January 2017. Median household income has now reached $65,976 – an all-time high and up more than 8 percent in 2019 dollars under the Trump presidency.