Daily News Digest February 22, 2019

Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, under banner headline: “There Is No Peace”

During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three Point Political Program: Austerity, Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and  The Iron Heel.

Democracy?:  As the Capitalist Robber Barons Steal from the 99%: Only the 1% Voted For Austerity — The 99% Should Decide On Austerity — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From Austerity!  Under Austerity, All of the World Will Eventually Be Pauperized, Humbled, and Desecrated Like Greece and Puerto Rico.

Image of the Day:

Carlos Latuff: Isreal Lobby

Same Shit Different PresidentQuotes of the Day:

Responding to a 15 percent wage cut, women textile workers in Lowell, Massachusetts organized a “turn-out” (a strike), in protest. The action failed. Two years later they formed the Factory Girl’s Association in response to a rent hike in company boarding houses and the increase was rescinded. One worker’s diary recounts a “stirring speech” of resistance by a co-worker, 11-year-old Harriet Hanson Robinson. – 1834 — Today in Labor History – February 20th

The very ‘cure’ for the last Depression has led to the present crisis. As we enter this crisis, which French Premier François Fillon described as “the edge of the abyss”, there is no New Deal solution for capitalism — it cannot longer afford The New Deal. To paraphrase Leon Trotsky: The New Deal despite its first period of pretentious resoluteness, represents but a special form of political perplexity, possible only in a country where the bourgeoisie succeeded in accumulating incalculable wealth. The present crisis, far from having run its full course, has already succeeded in showing that New Deal politics, pens no new exit from the economic blind alley. — Occupy Wall Street Demonstrates The Need To Build An Organization of All Anti-Capitalist Forces!

 Malcolm X

Videos of the Day:

Are the Deaths of These Black Men in Police Custody Really Accidents?

 U.S.:

America at War: This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism The infographic reveals for the first time that the U.S. is now operating in 40 percent of the world’s nations Less than a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, U.S. troops—with support from British, Canadian, French, German and Australian forces—invaded Afghanistan to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban. More than 17 years later, the Global War on Terrorism initiated by President George W. Bush is truly global, with Americans actively engaged in countering terrorism in 80 nations on six continents. By Stephanie Savell and 5W Infographics

Trump’s “National Emergency” Power Grab President Trump declared a “national emergency” to stop what he calls an “invasion” of drugs, sex traffickers, murderers and other criminals at the border with Mexico by building a wall between both countries. Trump says he will use the national emergency to allocate over $8 billion to begin to build his wall, which Congress has explicitly denied him. This is a direct challenge to the constitutional power of Congress to say how federal funds it authorizes are spent, the “power of the purse”. It is part of his drive to further his personal power – to move toward an increasingly authoritarian presidency. By Barry Sheppard

The Arms Trade Is Intensifying Under TrumpThe revolving door between public officials and defense contractors has long distorted U.S. foreign policy to serve war profiteers at the expense of the public interest and basic humanitarian norms. From U.S. weaponry ending up in the hands of ISIS, to supplying arms fueling civil conflict and therefore contributing to the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, the lack of oversight on arms deals has enabled human rights atrocities. The global arms trade is experiencing its greatest boom since the Cold War, fueled by horrific wars in the Middle East and revitalized power rivalries among China, Russia and the United States.  By Peter Castagno

The Bill and Melinda Gates’ Fair Taxation Scaremongering Tour  When told that the very existence of billionaires was a signal that capitalism doesn’t work for the many, and that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had mused that America could do without billionaires, the Gates laughed politely and talked vaguely and approvingly of raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy. To those who are given much, much is expected, Melinda Gates said. By Chris Orlet

Environment:

This Historical Moment Demands Transformation of Our Institutions. The Green New Deal Won’t Do That  The Green New Deal now taking shape in Washington will aim to address climate change through economic policies. While many of the potential policies being discussed, including a more steeply progressive income tax, would in themselves be positive developments, none of them would reduce greenhouse emissions as deeply as is required. To understand why, we should first look back at the economic foundatios of the Depression-era New Deal, which is serving as inspiration for the Green New Deal (GND) By Lisi Krall

With Monsanto and Glyphosate on the Run AAAS Revokes Award to Scientists Whose Studies Led to Ban on Weedkiller in Sri Lanka and Other Countries  The popular weedkiller glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup, is on the run.  Congresswoman and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) last week called for a ban. “We need to ban all products containing glyphosate, including Roundup,” Gabbard tweeted on February 16. “It’s poisoning our people, butterflies and other insects, the land and the water.” And then again today, Gabbard tweeted: “Monsanto proves they’ll do anything to pad their pockets, including manufacturing ‘scientific studies’ to influence the EPA while destroying small farmers. They unleashed the scourge of Roundup on us and should be held accountable for the consequences.” By Russell Mokhiber

‘Moment of reckoning’: US cities burn recyclables after China bans imports Residents of cities like Chester, outside Philadelphia, fear a rise in pollution from incinerators after China’s recycling ban The conscientious citizens of Philadelphia continue to put their pizza boxes, plastic bottles, yoghurt containers and other items into recycling bins.

FYI: Environmental Racism: Chester Pa.

Big Energy:

Civil Rights/Black Liberation

Bernie Tries to Steal the Rich Man’s Party  The plutocrats did not invest billions of dollars every election cycle in the Democratic Party to see it used as a tool of their disempowerment. “Here comes Bernie Sanders — again — threatening to mobilize millions to seize control of the oligarchs’ favored party of governance.” Having launched  his second campaign for the presidency on Tuesday, Bernie Sanders is now the recurring nightmare of corporate Democrats: an old lefty who speaks the language of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in the age of endless capitalist austerity and war. Sanders’ signature proposals on Medicare for All, free higher education, a $15 an hour minimum wage, and dramatically higher taxes on the rich, are supportd by super-majorities of the Democratic electorate, most independent voters, and even about half of Republicans. On top of that winning array of issues, younger self-styled “socialists” have put forward a Green New Deal  that is both wildly popular and potentially transformative of the oligarchic order. By Glen Ford, BAR executive editor

Labor:

Latest to Join Nationwide Uprising, Oakland Teachers Strike to Defend Public Education “It’s time for the Oakland Unified School District to pick a side. Are you on the side of billionaires who fund our school board races, or the side of teachers, students, parents, and community?” Nearly 3,000 teachers and other school staffers in Oakland, California are joining the nationwide wave of #RedForEd strikes on Thursday, demanding greater investment in the district’s public schools, students, and teachers—instead of a continuation of the recent unregulated growth of charter schools in the area.  By Julia Conley

Economy: