- The video discusses the impact of the coronavirus on workers, specifically the unemployed and essential workers.
- The Paycheck Protection Program, designed to help small businesses, has had a flawed rollout with substantial glitches.
- Many banks were not prepared to take loan applications due to delayed government documents.
- Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, downplayed complaints about the program.
- Unemployment insurance has been expanded, but many people are having difficulty accessing it due to overwhelmed systems.
- Essential workers are facing dangerous work environments and the loss of health insurance.
- The video also mentions TikTok and Amazon's treatment of essential workers.

- The video criticizes Amazon's treatment of its essential workers during the pandemic
- Workers have reported concerns about social distancing, lack of protective gear, and inadequate time for hand hygiene
- The video argues that companies should prioritize the safety and well-being of their workers, including offering paid sick leave
- Many companies, including Amazon, have policies that are less generous than what the government established for small businesses
- The video calls for Congress to mandate paid sick leave and hazard pay for all workers in the next coronavirus aid bill
- The pandemic has highlighted flaws in the healthcare system, employment system, and treatment of marginalized groups
- Some conservatives are resistant to permanent changes or expansions of the welfare state in response to the crisis.

The current crisis has highlighted the need for a permanent welfare state and raises questions about the kind of country we want to be in the future.

The video discusses the impact of the coronavirus on workers, including the unemployed and essential workers. It highlights issues with the Paycheck Protection Program and the challenges of accessing unemployment insurance. It criticizes Amazon's treatment of essential workers and calls for better safety measures and paid sick leave. The video argues for Congress to mandate paid sick leave and hazard pay for all workers. The pandemic has exposed flaws in the healthcare and employment systems and raises questions about the future of the welfare state.

John Oliver discusses how Coronavirus is impacting the US workforce, from mass unemployment to the problems faced by essential workers.

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Welcome once again to our show, still taking place inside this white void.

Honestly, I've been calling it a white void, but it's actually just this zoomed-in picture of Snoopy's dick.

Yeah, for 3 weeks now, you've been staring at a cartoon dog's dong.

Sorry for not telling you sooner, but hey, I'm telling you now.

Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race, Boris Johnson dropped in, then out of intensive care, and the coronavirus continued to cause widespread havoc, including forcing some of us to deal with the difficulties of working at home, as this local news reporter learned when his cat pulled focus during a live shot.

Another Valley business is making changes to ensure the customer and worker's safety.

Starting today, White House Fruit Farm in Canfield is temporarily closing to walk-in traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic.

I was, and this is true, not paying attention to a single word that man just said.

Probably because he broke the cardinal rule of broadcast journalism, never report the news while sitting next to a cat who's making a five-course meal out of its own asshole.

I hope the story that he was trying to break there was about how his cat's butthole is clean as a whistle, because that's all the information I got from that.

That clip actually points to our main story, though, tonight, which is how the coronavirus has impacted workers.

Not so much those who are lucky enough, like that man, and that cat, and our staff, to be able to work from home.

That's something only around a third of people are able to do in this country.

Instead, I'd like to talk about 2 groups.

The unemployed and those currently having to leave the house because they work essential jobs.

Because each is facing a different set of challenges.

More than 1 in 10 workers have lost their jobs in the past 3 weeks.

And the federal government has taken some big steps to protect those people and to try and slow down job loss.

Unfortunately, the execution has been less than ideal.

Take the Paycheck Protection Program, which offers loans of up to 10000000 dollars to small businesses.

Loans which don't have to be repaid if they keep their workers on the payroll.

To hear Trump tell it, the rollout has been pretty great.

It's really a tribute to government, really well-run government.

And there are few glitches, very few, any little glitch we had worked out within minutes, within hours.

That is just classic Trump, to try and brag about how in-demand an emergency bailout system is.

If he was captain of the Titanic, you just know he'd be saying, I just want to congratulate everyone.

It's really a tribute to a well-run ship.

And I know this won't shock you, but the situation the president just said was going great and makes him look good isn't and doesn't.

Because the glitches he just tried to brush off were pretty substantial.

On the day the program was supposed to launch, many of the nation's biggest banks said they weren't yet ready to take loan applications because the government didn't release final versions of the documents they needed until the night before.

This means many banks have been playing catch-up, as this health food store owner discovered.

Monday morning, I go into my branch to talk to my banker.

He wasn't even informed, so he couldn't even inform us to apply because he didn't know.

Is it frustrating for you when you're hearing, no, no, no, the SBA is gonna get involved and they are going to provide a safety net?

Whether you're a small business owner or a trapeze artist, the 2 questions you always want answered about your safety net are, when will it be there and how big are the holes?

And the obvious problem is, if help takes months to come, that's not going to save a business set to go under in weeks.

Now, to be fair, no program of this size was ever going to have a perfect rollout.

But this is yet another area where this administration could have been preparing for this much, much sooner.

And it definitely doesn't help that the director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, downplayed complaints like this.

My wife, Judy, whom you know, and she is a self-employed artist, painter, a very distinguished 1, some renown.

She could use some help for her operation.

And, she went to a local community bank, up in our place in Connecticut, and apparently it's just a one-page form.

His response was basically, my wife did it, so what's the problem?

1, Judy Cudlow is the wife of a high-ranking White House official, which might have had some impact on her experience at the bank.

2, I'm not sure the phrase, it couldn't be easier, should apply to anyone whose situation includes being married to Larry Cudlow.

And 3, if your ears perked up when you heard him say his wife is an artist of some renown, you're not alone.

So, you might want to lace up some comfy shoes, because we're about to go for a brief walk together through Judith Kudlow's still life work.

It often seems to be focused on her husband's clothes.

That's a real painting titled, 3 Shirts, showcasing what I can only assume are 3 of Larry's shirts.

And that's just part of a larger collection in her Closet series, featuring such pieces as, Summer Shirt, Gray and White, American Shirts, and American Shirts 2013.

But I don't want you to think her art is merely shirt-based.

She also paints her husband's ties, like lots and lots and lots of his ties.

Just when you think she couldn't possibly paint another of Larry Kudlow's ties, she does it again, and then somehow does it again, and then again, and again, and again.

And crucially, Larry Kudlow himself appears to be nowhere in her work.

And I don't mean to make any sweeping judgments about their marriage, I'm just saying, these aren't so much portraits of Larry Kudlow as they are portraits of the absence of Larry Kudlow.

They showcase the beauty of where Larry Kudlow isn't.

And sure, that's a beauty we can all appreciate.

I mean, it's no Stay Up Late by Brian Swords of York, but what is?

And on that note, I actually have another proposition.

If you are the owner of a Judith Cudlow tie painting, I want 1.

You may remember I offered to pay a thousand dollars for Stay Up Late, which is why I'm willing to offer 10 dollars for 1 of these.

Although, that's not all, as this offer also comes with a $20,000 donation to the food bank in your area.

So if you or someone you know owns 1 of these Larry-less masterpieces, just email...

There was no need to make up a new email address when the perfect 1 was already available.

With the Paycheck Protection Program experiencing a bumpy rollout and thousands of businesses laying off staff, millions are now in need of government assistance.

That is why Congress has significantly expanded unemployment insurance for the next few months, which is good, unfortunately.

The sheer magnitude of demand, combined with the fact many states' unemployment systems have been neglected and underfunded for decades, means that too often, people are having real difficulty getting through.

All specialists are busy with other customers.

I've done that 50 times every day for 2 weeks.

You know, I'm curious, would you try the unemployment office again?

We are experiencing an extremely high volume of calls at this time.

With those results, you might as well call 719-266-2837.

It's the Callin' Oats Hotline, an actual number you can dial to hear 1 of 4 possible Hall & Oats songs in an emergency.

Now, sure, they can't help you with your healthcare or finances, but honestly, neither can the Department of Labor right now.

And at least with Callin' Oats, you get to hear Man Eater.

So, claiming unemployment is incredibly difficult right now, and that's not even getting into the fact that for many people who lose their jobs, they then lose their health insurance, and this is, to put it mildly, a very bad time for that to be happening.

So it's frankly no wonder many who can work feel that they have to, even if that means enduring a dangerous work environment.

And that brings us to the second group we're gonna look at tonight, essential workers.

It's a broad term that can include any job, from health care professionals, to custodians, to grocery store clerks, to, I would argue, TikTok stars teaching me how to dance.

In the Venn diagram of how I'm spending my time during quarantine, the absolute dead center is the overlap of TikTok, learning a brand new skill, and Tiger King.

I'm gonna be such a good fucking dancer slash Carole Baskin truther when I get out of here.

And companies who employ essential workers have openly waxed poetic about how much they value them, few in more glowing terms than Amazon.

To all of our Amazon retail heroes, on the floor, in the air, and behind the wheel, We want to thank you.

We'll continue to do everything we can to keep you healthy, safe, and protected.

The work you are doing means everything right now.

It's hard to say what I like least about that.

Maybe it's the schmaltzy piano music, maybe it's Amazon patronizingly claiming they care about the well-being of their heroes, or maybe it's just the fact that, out of context, the Amazon smile logo is a quick sketch of a circumcised dick.

And while the company claims it's keeping workers safe by distributing masks and conducting temperature checks, many Amazon workers paint a much different picture, citing concerns like an inability to maintain social distancing guidelines, a lack of protective gear and hand sanitizer, and lack of time to clean their hands.

And if you feel you're not working in safe conditions, it can be even more infuriating to know the items you're packing can sometimes be anything but essential.

They should not be selling non-essential items.

If you go on the website, all the essential items are sold out.

Until you restock and until you close this building, shut it down.

Risking your life to get someone a sex toy probably doesn't feel fair.

There's a reason 1917 wasn't about 2 soldiers trying to bring Benedict Cumberbatch a dildo he wanted.

Although, yes, the cinematography would still have been impressive.

The continuous shot of George MacKay sprinting through the trenches, followed by Benedict Cumberbatch masturbating with a dildo to completion.

In Deakin's hands, it would have been a masterpiece.

And look, determining what constitutes an essential product clearly isn't straightforward.

If dildos make it easy for people to stay inside, you could argue they might literally save lives.

But if we're depending on those workers for both our survival and to a certain extent, our comfort.

And companies should be doing everything they can to lower the risks to workers, which can mean offering protective gear, changing workflow to allow for more distance, or putting up plexiglass shields in grocery stores.

And 1 thing every company should be doing is offering paid sick leave.

Congress actually required employers to temporarily provide 2 weeks of that in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

But Unfortunately, that requirement only applies to businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

The thinking was that larger companies were either already offering paid sick leave or would do it on their own.

Sadly, that has not always been the case.

BuzzFeed found that all these companies currently have policies less generous than the 1 the government established for small businesses, or have set unreasonably high bars to qualify.

For example, Amazon's initial policy was that it would give 2 weeks paid time off for anyone who's diagnosed with COVID or who's been quarantined, which sounds good, but there's a big problem with requiring a positive test, as 1 worker pointed out.

Good luck getting the test in the state of New York right now.

The time you get the test, it's days later.

The time you get the results is days later.

Testing in New York is so scarce, Amazon's plan may as well have been you get double pay and free health care for your whole family if you can guess what number Jeff Bezos is thinking.

That man's name is Chris Smalls, and he was fired just 2 hours after he helped organize an employee walkout in Amazon's Staten Island facility last week.

According to Amazon, he was let go for putting the health and safety of others at risk by violating social distancing guidelines and an order to quarantine.

But leaked notes from an internal meeting days later, which Bezos himself was present, showed the company's leadership discussing plans to make Smalls the face of the entire union organizing movement since he is not smart or articulate, which, holy shit!

That is so racist, I can't even point out how smart and articulate Smalls is without also sounding racist.

And Amazon will say they've now made their sick leave policy more lenient for their heroes, which is true.

What's also true is that only came after they got a letter from 14 state attorneys general saying their initial policy was inadequate to protect the public health.

And this clearly isn't just about Amazon.

Again, many companies have chosen not to offer paid sick leave, possibly because the U.S.

Is 1 of the few wealthy democracies that does not mandate that they do that.

And that does a disservice not just to workers, but also to customers, as this McDonald's employee will tell you.

I've worked at McDonald's for over 10 years.

I'm that face that you see that serves you your hash brown for breakfast, maybe a quarter pounder for lunch, and they even gave you a McFlurry to top off your dinner menu.

So I ask you, if I caught the coronavirus, would you want me making your next meal?

I wouldn't want anyone with the coronavirus serving me my next meal, unless, of course, that person was Adam Driver, because infecting me with dessert is very much on my running list of things Adam Driver can do to me.

You thought I'd stop the Adam Driver bit, because I'm stuck at home now?

And yes, I know my wife can hear me, that's part of it.

Sneeze in my McFlurry, you pensive bison.

Look, Congress absolutely needs to mandate all businesses provide paid sick leave in their next coronavirus aid bill on a permanent basis, as well as require they provide significant hazard pay for any worker being asked to risk their lives.

Grocery store workers are dying of this disease right now.

And so far, we've lost 41 transit workers in New York City alone.

And this is the least of what essential workers, and indeed, all workers, need right now.

They need protection financially, physically, and otherwise, because there are some truly indefensible situations being thrown into plain view.

Take this EMT in New York State, who is doing incredible, dangerous work without something you might assume he has.

Right now, I'm doing all of this with no health insurance.

Founder, The Health Insurance Company, Inc.: How is that possible?

ANTHONY FAUCI, CEO, The Health Insurance Company, Inc.: The job doesn't offer it.

And our affordable marketplaces aren't very affordable.

If I get sick, and, OK, I go get tested positive, I can't go to the hospital.

You know, people come out and they show us their support, and I love it, I love...

I've eaten so much pizza in the last 2 weeks, it's been Great.

I need to be able to work a 40-hour work week and live like a normal human being.

It's like that old saying about pizza and sex.

Even when they're bad, they're still pretty good.

And even when they're really good, you still need fucking health care.

And obviously, his work should give him health insurance, but more broadly, we need to seriously think about whether having our health insurance system so tied to employment is a good idea, because I would argue it emphatically isn't.

In fact, while many of the problems we're being forced to confront right now weren't created by the coronavirus, it has thrown a spotlight on some of the biggest flaws in how our system operates.

Things like paid sick leave and hazard pay are essentially Band-Aids, and we absolutely need them right now because we're bleeding.

But when this is over, this country's gonna need more than Band-Aids.

Things need to change and not go back to normal.

Control-Z, us back to how we were in 2016, is simply not gonna cut it.

And honestly, it shouldn't have taken a pandemic to prove our unemployment system is a mess, that we need universal healthcare, and that workers need benefits, the right to organize, and wages that reflect how essential they really are.

And we also shouldn't have needed a pandemic to consider whether mass incarceration is tolerable as prisons and jails become petri dishes for the coronavirus, or whether our treatment of the homeless is adequate when we've seen photos of them sleeping in a parking lot 6 feet apart.

Or what we do about the multiple underlying inequalities that are making this virus in some places twice as deadly for Black and Latino people as whites.

And what's been infuriating is that some conservatives have seemed worried that we might do too much.

The extension of paid sick leave opens the door.

You know what's gonna happen on the Democratic side?

Schumer's gonna want a permanent program.

They're gonna try to get another social program out of this.

That argument basically boils down to, well, if we help people today, the Democrats are just gonna wanna help more people tomorrow.

And while dollar store Bill Nye here has moderated his stance since then, others are still adamant that nothing should permanently change because of this.

Florida Senator Rick Scott, seen here, having just learned that enough money was raised at the talent show, and he won't be able to shut down the orphanage after all.

He put out a statement arguing that this crisis shouldn't be an opportunity for members of Congress to permanently expand the welfare state.

Which is weird, because there is no better argument for a permanent welfare state than watching your government desperately try to build 1 when it's already too late.

Because make no mistake, the real test here isn't whether or not our country will get through this, it will.

The question is how we get through this and what kind of country we want to be on the other side.

And if nothing else, this crisis has done what any great Judith Cudlow painting does.

Make painfully clear what we've been missing all along.

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