This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue - it’s a moral issue
Ron Busby, Sr.
President and CEO @ U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. | Black Business Advocacy & Expansion
President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, and quite frankly, the entire nation, are quickly approaching a challenging crossroad at the hands of a President who refuses to accept his responsibility to lead the transition of power to the incoming administration. There are just over 60 days until the President-elect is sworn in, and with each passing day of no collaboration, Trump and those within his circle are placing themselves before the health, safety, and economic well-being of millions of Americans, including those hit the hardest by the pandemic, namely Black-owned businesses. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue - it’s a moral issue that if improperly managed could have long-standing implications on the socioeconomic progression of this nation.
The GSA's refusal to recognize the results of the election and ascertain Joe Biden as the president-elect has the potential to impact the daily lives of Americans across our country. With every day that passes, the consequences of the Administration preventing the Transition Team from obtaining critical information from government officials become more severe. Here are some examples of how delayed ascertainment may harm the American people:
Delay in the vaccine. As Dr. Fauci said, the inability to speak to agency officials will slow the national COVID vaccination program. Every day lost in the US vaccination effort means thousands more will be at risk of serious illness or death from COVID. The Transition has not been able to access this critical information, resulting in an inability to effectively troubleshoot problems that arise in vaccine manufacturing, the inability to effectively prepare for vaccine distribution, and the inability to effectively prepare for and manage the vaccine rollout.
Delay the delivery of stimulus checks to the lowest-income Americans. 9 million of the lowest income Americans -- those who make too little income to have to file taxes -- have still not received their stimulus check. The Treasury agency review team is planning to obtain information from agency officials to make preparations to speed up the delivery of these checks so families aren’t waiting. No ascertainment could further delay families getting these checks.
Delay in support for small and medium-sized businesses. Without access to Treasury, Federal Reserve, and SBA officials, the Transition lacks critical information on the ability to use CARES Act facilities to provide support to small and medium-sized businesses through the crisis. Delivery of funds already in the system will be delayed if the Transition team is unable to obtain this critical information and develop a plan.
Inability to ensure that food assistance continues to be available for struggling families. Due to the disaster declaration, most states are receiving emergency supplemental SNAP funds, but their emergency plans need to be extended every month. The Transition needs access to the agencies to begin planning to take over this process and ensure that food assistance continues to be made available to struggling families.
Delay in eviction and foreclosure moratoria. Various eviction and foreclosure moratoria are set to expire by the end of 2020. An estimated 5.5 million to 6.5 million renter households may be at risk of eviction by January 2020 if no additional action is taken. The Transition will not be able to access the latest HUD and CDC data on the number of households that could be affected by the expiration or develop plans to extend the moratoria. In the absence of this information, there could be a delay in planning efforts to extend the moratoria.
Delay in putting together federal guidance for state, local governments, schools, and businesses. At a time when we are facing a deadly surge in COVID19, local and state government leaders need evidence-based recommendations from the federal government on when to issue and rescind different COVID19 restrictions. There are career officials at the CDC and other agencies who are evaluating these same questions - but the Transition cannot work with them. Our team can look at publicly available data - but we don’t have access to the full range of information that the federal government has to prepare for January 20. This may delay issuing guidance in January after the president-elect takes the oath of office.
Delay in setting up personal protective equipment (PPE) and critical materials processes as scarcity becomes an issue again. Without ascertainment, the Transition cannot work with career officials in the federal government to discern the depth of the problem and their recommendations for how to address it. The transition team is putting together plans to implement the president-elect’s proposals to increase the national stockpile and hire a supply commander, but lack of ascertainment may delay our ability to execute these plans.
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Ron Busby is the president and CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.
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IGS Design Consultant: High-End Logos, Brand Identity, AE Signage, Interiors; Large Scale Commerical. Business Dev.
3 年Time for US ALL to UNITE: USBCOFC NBCC VP USA US DEPT OF TREAS. SECY #ADOS #NCOBRA #CWBAWORLD For #ReparationsNOW!
IGS Design Consultant: High-End Logos, Brand Identity, AE Signage, Interiors; Large Scale Commerical. Business Dev.
3 年https://whitesconfrontingracism.org
Archer Developer, Archer Administrator, Consultant
4 年So what you are saying is, there is no problem. Biden's team will be in place Jan 20. That is when they get to make decisions. That is when they get to be in charge. That is when they get to change policy. If they want power now, then they should have been elected 4 years ago. Stop making excuses for the power grab. Start asking yourself what are the long term ramifications of the decisions made by the Biden team. Now THAT is a moral issue. Biden's team has no legal or ethical right to the information you spell out, at this time. They are acting like petulant children and you are making excuses for them. They want what they want and they want it now. Who cares? Of course there will delays. That is expected when you transfer power from one president to another. This is not new. President Trump and those within his circle are placing all American needs as related to health, safety, and economic well-being above the wants of a power hungry communist party. If the black community has been hardest hit, then put the blame where it needs to be. On the dems who run the states and cities of those hit hardest. When you shutdown the economy, then you hurt people's income. Blacks are not excluded from that equations simply because they are black. No one is. But instead of writing a positive article that calls out the media and the dems for making this worse that it should have been, you try to blame President Trump. He was the one that tried to close the borders and was forced by dems lawsuits to open them again. He seems to be more concerned about the black community than you are. You are more about your party than your community. I guess the slave masters always needed help keeping the slaves in line. You sir, are helping keep the slaves on the plantation with your nonsense.
Operations Manager at Tech Electric
4 年Say what you want... but as a American that served his country and fought to preserve the the freedoms that we all enjoy, I feel no matter what party you feel is the best for the country, we all as Americans should be demanding an investigation of the elections. Both sides knew that no matter the out come would be doing what is going on right now. Just because the apparent outcome is what you personally wanted don't pretend that there is not a problem with the voting process. You have to have a drivers license to prove that you can drive a car, you have to show ID to prove that you are old enough the buy alcohol or tobacco products. You have to show ID be able to use your credit card or board a plane to travel. However you do not have to show a proper ID to vote?????? There is just something extremely wrong with that. I feel that there is so much corruption in politics on all sides that we the people are no longer in control of this country. If there is no wrong doings then the elections are what they are. If an investigation shows that there was fraud by anyone no matter how large or small they should be charged with the crimes that they committed and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Here is our chance to demand that a full investigation be done of the entire process and fix it once and for all, so that there is no question of what the final outcome is in any election is.