Daily News Digest February 28, 2019

Daily News Digest February 28, 2019

Daily News Digest Archives

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.

Images of the Day:

US Aid?:Building a Wall to Keep Out InvadersQuotes of the Day:

[Audio] “It is for the Venezuelan people to decide who their president is” On Saturday, 23 February, HOV secretary Jorge Martin was interviewed about Venezuela by Andrew Castle on the British LBC radio station, setting the record straight about the attempts of US imperialism and its Latin American agents to impose its will on the country under the cover of providing “humanitarian aid”.

Venezuela: Jorge Martin debates former Director for South America to Obama and Trump Tensions are running high between Venezuela and the US, as the latter is continuing its efforts to topple Venezuela’s democratically elected president, Nicolas Maduro. We publish here a radio debate between, Jorge Martin, secretary of the Hands off Venezuela campaign and editor of www.marxist.com, and Fernando Cutz. Cutz is a former Director for South America to President Obama and President Trump. In fact. he is the only top official to have worked for both the Obama and Trump administrations. He has played a key role in designing the sanctions against Venezuela which started under Obama in 2015.

Videos of the Day:

U.S.:Jared Kushner’s Multibillion-Dollar Plot to Give Saudis Nukes The House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform has issued a report on a plot to make billions of dollars by selling Saudi Arabia sensitive American nuclear technology that could allow the Kingdom to develop nuclear weapons. The scheme required breaking US law, which forbids technology transfers that might allow nuclear proliferation. The plot was pushed by a “company” formed for this express purpose called IP3 International, which doesn’t seem to have actually existed except as a sort of shell for lobbying the Trump administration. IP3 was, according to the committee, helmed by “General Keith Alexander, General Jack Keane, Mr. Bud McFarlane, and Rear Admiral Michael Hewitt, as well as the chief executives of six companies— Exelon Corporation, Toshiba America Energy Systems, Bechtel Corporation, Centrus Energy Corporation, GE Energy Infra structure, and Siemens USA—“ All “signed a letter to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The letter presented ‘the Iron Bridge Program as a 21st Century Marshall Plan for the Middle East.’” By Juan Cole

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 

Environment:

If Emissions Aren’t Curbed, Clouds May Disappear The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which occurred 56 million years ago, was triggered by heat-trapping carbon causing the planet to gain 6°C. (At the time, the Earth was already several degrees Celsius warmer than it is now.)Global mass extinctions resulted, as the oceans warmed dramatically. Horses, monkeys, and other animals migrated northward as they chased vegetation that moved into the higher latitudes. Mammal life miniaturized over many generations as their food became less nutritious due to the warmer carbon-filled air, and flash flooding and increasingly violent storms became the norm. By  Dahr JamailCivil Rights/Black Liberation:

Labor:

Economy:

Memo to Maxine Waters: Wells Fargo Is Far from the Biggest Problem on Wall Street . . .According to the hearing list released yesterday for the month of March, systemic risks at the mega banks has again gone missing. The only mega bank to be grilled in March will be Wells Fargo, and that will focus on its “pattern of consumer abuses.” This lack of attention to the most dangerous, interconnected mega banks on Wall Street — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley — by the newly installed Democratic Chair of the House Financial Services Committee does not bode well for the Democrats — or for the financial health of the country. It was just a decade ago that those same banks and that same systemic risk created the largest economic crash in the United States since the Great Depression. And the same fault lines of that era are still with us today. Waters’ failure to put systemic risk at the top of her priority list will raise suspicions among the electorate. According to a report by CNBC in late January, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon had met separately with Waters shortly after she became the Chair of this powerful oversight Committee. The Wall Street Journal further reported that Waters had planned to call the CEOs of the six largest Wall Street banks to testify at a hearing in March or April. That would have included Dimon and Solomon, who are none too eager to appear before a Congressional Committee.  By Pam Martens

Daily Update (February 26th to 27th): December Housing Starts Collapsed Across the Board, in More Stable than Usual Reporting, Signaling a Faltering Economy and Weaker Than Expected Fourth-Quarter GDP (See Schedule Update)

  • Next Posting of SHADOWSTATS CONCURRENT ANALYSIS OF NEW ECONOMIC DATA: (Feb 28) Fourth-Quarter 2018 Gross Domestic Product (Bureau of Economic Analysis release at 8:30 am ET).

  • ShadowStats Analysis planned for 11:30 am ET.ShadowStats analyses usually post within two-to-three hours of the headline news release.Next Posting of the SHADOWSTATS COMMENTARY, UPDATED NOTE: (Over the March 2nd weekend)

Special Commentary No. 983-Bis near completion, but events are overrunning my writing, with Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s Congressional Testimony, today, and the long-delayed initial fourth-quarter GDP estimate due on Thursday (February 28th). This complex missive will be much stronger with those events in hand and addressed. The ShadowStats outlook has not changed, still looking for fourth-quarter 2018 GDP to come in below consensus expectations, which already have softened to 2.0% to 2.3% (initially around 2.6%), down from third-quarter growth of 3.4%. Fourth-quarter growth should come in closer to 1.5%, as suggested by recent Retail Sales and Production reporting, and today’s December Housing Starts discussed in the LATEST DATA.ShadowStats also expects a formal recession to unfold in first- and second-quarter 2019, which likely will force the Federal Reserve back into an easing mode, irrespective of any current comments offered the FOMC or the Fed Chairman. Commentary posting dates remain targets, subject to change. Actual postings are advised to Subscribers by coincident e-mails.World:

He Who Hesitates Loses:

Britain: Corbyn, no more concessions! Jeremy Corbyn has promised the possibility of a second referendum in an attempt to pacify the Blairites. But such compromises will only embolden the Labour right wing. These careerists must instead be shown the door.Brexit is beginning to take its toll on Britain’s political parties. Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are desperately attempting to hold their parties together in the face of irreconcilable divisions. But neither leader will be able to appease their rebels. Splits and shocks are the order of the day. We live in a period of great instability and uncertainty; an epoch of sharp turns and sudden changes. The last week’s events confirm this, with the formation of the new ‘Independent Group’ in Parliament, which has added further heat to an already volatile and explosive mix. By Adam Booth

Health, Science, Education, and Welfare:

Rightwing Toadies Put “Lies in the Skies” About OEA President As Oakland teachers were striking, the rightwing propaganda machine hired a private plane to spread lies about Keith Brown, the union president. During the teachers’ demonstration, the plane flew over them trailing a banner saying that Brown is paid $350,000 a year. Lie. He makes a teacher’s salary. Maybe the Koch machine confused him with a charter school leader. By Diane Ravitch