Personal Income and Outlays: Current-dollar personal income increased $1.39 trillion in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $193.4 billion in the first quarter. The increase in personal income was more than accounted for by an increase in personal current transfer receipts (notably, government social benefits) that was partly offset by declines in compensation and proprietors' income (table 8). ... Disposable personal income increased $1.53 trillion, or 42.1 percent, in the second quarter, compared with an increase of $157.8 billion, or 3.9 percent, in the first quarter. Real disposable personal income increased 44.9 percent, compared with an increase of 2.6 percent.

For years, most over-the-counter drugs followed requirements called "monographs" for each category of drugs (e.g., sunscreen or cough and cold medicine). To update a monograph, FDA followed the federal rulemaking process, which could take years. FDA said this process and insufficient resources limited its ability to quickly respond to safety issues. In March 2020, the CARES Act gave FDA new tools to regulate these over-the-counter drugs, such as a new process for updating and finalizing requirements, authority for FDA to collect user fees to support its activities, an expedited process for addressing serious safety issues.

Words from Rep. John L. Lewis: Over the last several decades, Congress has addressed some of our most pressing civil rights concerns by passing bipartisan legislation that protects American workers from discrimination on the basis of color, race, religion, age, disability and sex.  Our civil rights laws have strengthened our country, and brought us closer to the Beloved Community where all people are able to succeed based on their abilities, not on the labels used to limit them. We have taken some stumbles backward in recent years. The Supreme Court has weakened some of these basic protections in ways that Congress never intended. They have undermined the protections for workers, for older Americans, for the disabled, for racial and ethnic minorities, for women and for those in the military.  We must work together to restore those rights.

Ferida Wolff writes: [A] duality of beauty and pain is a reminder to me of what is going on nowadays. Underneath the beauty of our country lie the spines that effect so many of us. The pain caused by conquering, slavery, exclusion, and racism that has resurfaced in recent times all over America has been in us from the beginning but we haven’t been addressing the causes – until now. I hope that we are finally becoming able to appreciate our incredible diversity, to value the beauty that all people bring and to take out the spines that discrimination has implanted in our country’s body. Only then will we be able to truly appreciate our amazing American garden.

Attorney General William Barr testified on the Justice Department’s mission and programs in an oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. House Judiciary member, Rep. Jamie Raskin was quoted saying about the peaceful protest at Lafayette Park on June 1st: "The Episcopal Archbishop of Washington wrote: 'Using police force to clear non-violent protesters without notice in order to conduct this grotesque photo opportunity was antithetical to the principles of Christianity.' Time Magazine commented: The account of National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco challenges the Trump administration’s explanation that vicious attacks by protesters led federal forces to turn on what appeared to be a largely peaceful crowd June 1 in the square in front of the White House. Law enforcement and security officers that night clubbed and punched protesters and unleashed mounted officers and chemical agents against them in one of the most controversial confrontations at the height of this year’s nationwide protests over the killing of Black people at the hands of police.'

The lack of restrooms has become an issue for delivery workers, taxi and ride-hailing drivers and others who make their living outside of a fixed office building. For the city’s homeless, it’s part of an ongoing problem that preceded COVID-19. “It’s gone from bad to worse,” said Eric, who lives in an encampment near Interstate 5. (Eric asked to be identified only by his first name.) “It’s definitely much, much harder.” A nearby pet supply store used to let homeless people use the restroom, but that changed during the pandemic. Conditions improved markedly when the city placed a portable restroom and handwashing station near the camp, but Eric said many more parts of town still lack similar amenities.

For the first time, most Americans (53%) now say that stress and worry related to the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health – an increase of 14 percentage points since May.... This includes about one in four who say it has had a “major” negative impact.As state and local officials prepare for the new school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, parents with children who normally attend school overwhelmingly prefer that schools wait to restart in-person classes to reduce infection risk (60%) rather than open sooner so parents can work and students can return to the classroom (34%), the latest KFF tracking poll finds.

For mothers who continue to work, earnings fall by an average of $1,861 in the first quarter after birth relative to earnings pre-pregnancy or in early pregnancy (three quarters before the birth). But earnings recover to pre-birth levels by the fifth quarter after birth, and rise by an average of $101 per quarter for the next six years. While this recovery is encouraging, it is not large enough to return women to their pre-birth earnings path. There are no major differences in earnings between working mothers with just one child and those with multiple children.

Joan Cannon Writes: Think of the poets and novelists and playwrights whose words sink into the consciousness of thousands and even millions and remain there, as emblems, guides, beacons of hope or warnings of disasters, and the excuse (as if one is needed) presents itself. Maybe there’s information or a revelation for some unknown viewer that you can provide, even if it's not earth-shaking. Besides, we all know more about ourselves than we do about anyone else. I've lived a life that is unique in the sense that every single one, like every single snowflake, is singular, but without any outstanding characteristics. In spite of that, I want to talk about it.

Representative John Lewis (D-GA) spoke to high school students about the value of public service, his life and career, and his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement. Often called "one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced," John Lewis has dedicated his life to protecting human rights, securing civil liberties, and building what he calls "The Beloved Community” in America. His dedication to the highest ethical standards and moral principles has won him the admiration of many of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the United States Congress.

Gaining the franchise was just the beginning. Over six weeks, distinguished speakers will discuss the impact of women in American government and public life over the last century. Weekly sessions will begin on August 27. Registration will open soon — newsletters! No matter where you are, you can attend our 2020 symposium! The rescheduled program will be conducted as a virtual series, and will cover all of the topics planned for the original event.

The more than thirty thousand baseball cards collected by Jefferson R. Burdick represent the most comprehensive collection outside of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The cards also illustrate the history of the game — from the dead-ball era at the turn of the nineteenth century to the golden age and modern era of the sport. Baseball cards were first used as advertising inserts by tobacco companies beginning in the late 1800s. Through Burdick's collection, one can chart the careers of many of the silver screen's most notorious stars as well as learn about the lesser-known personalities that populated early films.  

Julia Sneden writes: The tendency to pair older, male anchormen with pretty young women is almost universal. I will concede that TV has done a good job of hiring women of color or of differing ethnicity. It seems to me that what's really missing is female newscasters who are over 40. Once they hit that magic mark, they are relegated to interview shows, or TV news magazines like "60 Minutes" or "Dateline NBC." I mean no disrespect to those very accomplished women, but I can't help noting that not a one of them has let her hair go honestly gray.

Trump and his attorneys had argued that he is shielded from criminal investigations while in office. But the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has the right to see tax and financial records as part of an investigation into the role of Trump and the Trump Organization in paying hush funds to two women who claimed they had affairs with him before he was elected president. Chermerinsky: "I am very skeptical of trying to guess what the framers intended, as to situations and a world that they could not have imagined. But we know that the framers were very distrustful of executive power. If they could be asked, I think they overall would be pleased with today’s decisions."