Welcome to pushback. I'm Marendt. The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of workers without a job and the health care that comes with it.

Over 3.3 million people filed for unemployment benefits in just one week, a national record. The actual number of jobless people is far higher, since this number

does not include self-employed workers, gig workers, undocumented workers, and more. The Federal Reserve

is warning that up to 47 million people could lose their jobs during this crisis, which would bring

the unemployment rate to 32.2%.

The recent congressional aid bill or bailout bill expands unemployment benefits for up to four

months. But other countries are taking a different approach. Instead of putting more government

money into unemployment, governments are nationalizing the

payroll and paying workers' salaries directly.

If this were done in the U.S., this would also mean keeping people in the health insurance

plans that they lost with losing their jobs.

Or to discuss how Congress bailed out big corporations but did not protect workers' jobs,

I spoke earlier to Pavlina Sheneva, Associate Professor at Bard College, an author of the

case for a job guarantee.

Pavlena Cheneva, welcome to pushback.

What is your assessment of the Congressional stimulus bill that was passed to respond to the coronavirus crisis?

Well, the bill was very big, but I'm afraid it's not going to be enough.

And the reason is because we seem to be moving forward with a patchwork of policies rather than a completely

comprehensive, much bolder approach to prevent the fallout from this virus.

What we are seeing right now is a bill that largely focuses on assistance to firms, small,

large corporations, particular sectors, and then income assistance to families in the form

of extended unemployment insurance and some cash, additional cash assistance.

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