Today on Sojourner Truth, our weekly roundtable is back. Our panelists are Jackie Goldberg, Laura Carlsen and Dr. Gerald Horne. Today, we discuss the stimulus package, voter suppression, Biden-Harris foreign policy, and more.
On Thursday, March 11, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package into law, implementing one of the largest stimulus measures in U.S. history. The bill, known as the American Rescue Package, provides a third round of one-time stimulus payments up to $1,400 for most people in the United States. The stimulus package also extends additional unemployment support to millions still out of work while including an overhaul and expansion of the Child Tax Credit.
Across the United States, following the November 2020 election, there has been a wave of new proposals aimed at restricting voting, which many are describing as forms of voter suppression. In at least 43 states, GOP lawmakers have proposed at least 250 laws that would limit mail, early in-person and Election Day voting. These include stricter ID requirements, limited hours and narrower eligibility to vote absentee. This follows Donald Trumps unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, claiming that the results of the 2020 election were rigged against him.
Informal talks between the U.S. and Iran over the return to the nuclear deal could begin in the coming weeks, according to The New York Times. Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed harsh sanctions on Iran. Biden's administration said it will return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (known as the JCPOA) if Iran first returns to compliance. Iran, however, points out that it has been in compliance and insists the U.S. remove sanctions before it returns to the deals terms. Israel has bombed at least a dozen ships en route to Syria during the past two years, most of which have been carrying Iranian oil, according to the Wall Street Journal.
