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During This Economic Crisis, Capitalism’s Three-Point Political Program: 1, Austerity,2 Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3. The Iron Heel
Always Remember: That Obama That President Obama, With a Majority Democrat Legislature Supported the Wall Street Bailout and Remember, That he Established, in writing, the United States Capitalist Austerity Program, The Race to the Bottom/Pauperization of the 99%!
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.! Socialism Means True Democracy , thet the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!
Images of the Day:
The mainstream media are carefully sidestepping the method behind America’s seeming madness in assassinating Islamic Revolutionary Guard general Qassim Suleimani to start the New Year. The logic behind the assassination was a long-standing application of U.S. global policy, not just a personality quirk of Donald Trump’s impulsive action. His assassination of Iranian military leader Suleimani was indeed a unilateral act of war in violation of international law, but it was a logical step in a long-standing U.S. strategy. It was explicitly authorized by the Senate in the funding bill for the Pentagon that it passed last year. The assassination was intended to escalate America’s presence in Iraq to keep control of the region’s oil reserves, and to back Saudi Arabia’s Wahabi troops (Isis, Al Quaeda in Iraq, Al Nusra and other divisions of what are actually America’s foreign legion), to support U.S. control of Near Eastern oil as a buttress of the U.S. dollar. That remains the key to understanding this policy, and why it is in the process of escalating, not dying down. — Michael Hudson, America Escalates its “Democratic” Oil War in the Near East
Quotes of the Day:
At a January 3 State Department briefing, where reporters finally got the chance to demand evidence for the claim of an “imminent” threat, one US official erupted in anger. “Jesus, do we have to explain why we do these things?” he barked at the press. Two days later, when Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi addressed his country’s parliament, Trump’s justification for killing Soleimani was exposed as a cynical lie. According to Abdul-Mahdi, he had planned to meet Soleimani on the morning the general was killed to discuss a diplomatic rapproachment that Iraq was brokering between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Abdul-Mahdi said that Trump personally thanked him for the efforts, even as he was planning the hit on Soleimani – thus creating the impression that the Iranian general was safe to travel to Baghdad. — Iraqi PM reveals Soleimani was on peace mission when assassinated, exploding Trump’s lie of ‘imminent attacks’
Videos Of the Day:
U.S.:
The United States is not a Democracy (A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly)! Only the 1%, through their ownership of the Republicrats and who profit from war and the war budget, vote for War and the war budget — A policy, which Gore Vidal called a Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. — The 99% Should Decide On War — Not Just The 1% Who Profit From War! Under a Democracy, The 99% would have the right to vote on the policy of Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace! The United States takes from the poor and gives to the Rich.
United States: What the Impeachment Process Shows About the Democratic Establishment’s Politics They Left Aside the Major Crimes Trump Has Committed Against Humanity Worldwide There are two charges against Trump the Democrats in the House passed in their impeachment of the president. One is that he obstructed the impeachment investigation. The other is that he acted against the interests of the United States by withholding military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to have that country try to get dirt on Joe Biden, who is running to win the Democratic nomination for president. Whenever capitalist politicians evoke the “national interests” of the U.S. concerning foreign policy they mean the interests of U.S. imperialism, not the interests of the majority of the population – the working and middle classes.By focusing on the interests of U.S. imperialism, the Democratic establishment, has left aside the major crimes Trump has committed against humanity worldwide as well as the great majority of the U.S. population. By Barry Sheppard
Not Buying Trump Narrative, Majority of Americans Believe Soleimani Assassination Made US Less Safe: Poll The survey also found that 52% the U.S. public believes the Trump administration’s behavior toward Iran has been “reckless.” By Jake Johnson
Meet the CEOs Cashing In on Trump’s Aggression Against Iran CEOs of major U.S. military contractors stand to reap huge windfalls from the escalation of conflict with Iran. This was evident in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian military official last week. As soon as the news reached financial markets, these companies’ share prices spiked, inflating the value of their executives’ stock-based pay. By Sarah Anderson
Environment:
With 14 ‘Billion-Dollar Disasters’ and Record-Breaking Heat in Alaska and Across South, 2019 Was a Year of Climate Extremes for US Americans are put at risk by the serious consequences of the climate crisis. Underscoring the need for urgent climate action, a new report on the climate of the United States in 2019 sheds light on numerous weather and temperature extremes that were observed throughout the year and the record amounts of money spent on weather disasters. Alaska was among the states which recorded unusually high temperatures in 2019, according to an annual summary released Wednesday by NOAA ahead of its full U.S. Climate Report, which is scheduled to be released next week. “By Julia Conley
Trump is a Criminal, But the Democrats Belong to the Same Mafia The Republicans and Democrats are united under the American imperial banner, and only differ on details of strategy to maintain Washington’s global domination. “None can be free of the scourge of war – the ultimate crime against humanity, from which all others flow – while the warmakers are in power in the Citadel of Capital.” The grievously wronged Iranians have apparently fired a purposely harmless salvo of missiles into several U.S.-occupied bases in Iraq to avenge last Friday ’s U.S. drone assassination of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassi Suleimani. Although the Fars news agency claimed, for Iranian popular consumption, that “at least 80 US armed personnel have been killed and around 200 others wounded,” American and other NATO forces in Iraq report no casualties, giving Trump an opportunity to claim victory and back off from further aggressions. Trump followed the Iranian lead, holding a press conference to dance away from continued armed hostilities, on Wednesday. By Glen Ford , BAR executive editor
Freedom Rider: Iran and the Need for Black Activism Black Americans, as perpetual targets of US lies and attacks, should be the first to reject Washington’s rationales for war with Iran. “The days of outspoken progressives in the Congressional Black Caucus are long gone.” Even the most disparaging Donald Trump critic, such as this columnist, can still be shocked by the president’s rash behavior and inexplicable decision making. Such was the case when Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian Quds general Qassem Soleimani and Abd Mahdi al-Muhandis, commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces. By Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Sheep-Dogging on Steroids: The New Democratic Party Anti-War Activists The rhetoric of the Democratic “progressives” only gives cover to the ongoing criminality of the U.S. state and its commitment to permanent war – with congressional approval. “Progressives are not taking comprehensive anti-war positions and certainly have not embraced anti-imperialist positions.” In the cynical spectacle that is called politics in the United States, the latest insult to the intelligence of the people is the Democrats who are posturing as anti-war champions in reaction to the Trump Administration’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani and the possibility of further attacks on Iran. By Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor
In the Year Ahead, Both Perils and Prospects Exist for the American Left There may be two political parties in the United States, but there is only one ruling class agenda. “Will the Black struggle for self-determination and socialism regain its prominence in the U.S.?” It is difficult to have optimism for the future when you live in the United States. A large section of the population is completely alienated from the truth about the unjust system that dictates their lives. Corporate media lies protect a class society which is dedicated to the impoverishment of over half of the planet. The violence of white supremacy, endless war, and economic catastrophe is coupled with the ongoing destruction of the natural world. Michelle Obama recently expressed deep unity with the “values” of George W. Bush and her husband followed suit by expressing that any woman, regardless of whether they sport a pro-war and pro-austerity agenda, is equipped to change the world for the better. U.S. imperial domination cannot be voted out of power, but it can undergo a facelift to become a more effective evil. That is the central mission of the ruling class at this time and a very dangerous one at that. By Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
Beware Imperialist Gaslighting – Assassination is Not Legal The U.S. government has been in the business of killing foreign leaders for a long time – but it’s still a crime. “Trump has boasted of the Soleimani assassination and the corporate media has been his biggest cheerleader.” Although analysts will endlessly debate the legality of the recent assassination of Iran’s Qasem Soleimani by drone strike, the law has no place for crimes of this kind. Of all people, Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333 that reads in part: “No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination.” Later moves to make exceptions for terrorists cannot erase the original intent of the order. By Mark P. Fancher
The Anti-War Movement is Fired Up! It is imperative that the antiwar movement grows exponentially very quickly and becomes a major force in 2020. “The US is losing imperial power and cannot continue to be a bully that violates international law.” The reckless and dangerous act of war committed by Donald Trump and the Pentagon in killing Major General Qasem Soleimani of Iran and the Iraqi leader of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, has brought the conflict in the Middle East (aka West Asia) to a new level. The conflagration of war is growing with the United States making this direct attack on a top Iranian official in violation of Iraqi sovereignty. By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers 
The Soul Will Find a Way Even in the era of the “African-American” tag, there’s no shaking black – because James Brown made it cool to be black. “Brown made bad good and then declared himself ‘Superbad.’” At the start of the 1960s, my father Paul moved my mom Geneva, three older brothers, younger sister and me from Boston to rural Spartanburg County in upstate South Carolina. He’d fled the South in the 1940s, enlisting in the Navy. Twenty years later, he returned to an inheritance of eleven shotgun houses and a juke joint at the foot of a hill in a tiny, segregated, one-way-in one-way-out community called Freyline. By Kevin Alexander Gray
Will the Assassination of Gen. Soleimani Be Trump’s 1914 Moment? It appears that lies and/or false narratives are being used to rationalize this latest heinous act that may also result in another senseless war. “One must ask Speaker Pelosi and the 188 Democrats that joined the GOP about handing Trump a $738B military budget devoid of the bipartisan amendment to stop the war in Iran.” “Last night, at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed a number one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qassem Soleimani…We took action last night to stop a war…We did not take action to start a war.” — President Donald Trump On Friday, January 3, General Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most beloved military commander and leader of its elite Quds force, was assassinated in a targeted US drone air strike outside Baghdad International Airport. Soleimani had relentlessly defended Iran and its interests in the Middle East for more than two decades. By Wilmer J. Leon III
Assange and Manning are Being Persecuted for Speaking Truth to Power Had WikiLeaks existed in 2002, a patriotic officer like Chelsea Manning might have leaked the official intelligence reports and stopped a war. “Assange’s actions were no different than the actions of the New York Times and the Guardian.” The most important stories of the year for those who care about a free press involve the arrest of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy at the request of the U.S. government, and the rearrest of the whistleblower Chelsea Manning. By Leonard C. Goodman
The US Surges Into A Police State While Media White Out Structural Racism Trump wants to “surge” against urban Black and brown Americans in the same way that the US surged against Iraq and Afghanistan. “No matter how many cases of murderous police brutality there are, each is treated like an isolated incident.” If withholding US military aid from a neo-Nazi friendly government in Ukraine is unacceptable, then it is only logical that a fascist police surge on Black and Brown communities in the US is acceptable. Until the threat of war between the US and Iran stole what had been central in media attention, the power elite worked to keep the public fixated on the antics of a useless partisan impeachment. All the while career politicians in the Democratic Party have been betraying their constituents with their typical and deafening silence about a police crackdown by the Trump administration that Donald Trump himself dubbed “The Surge.”By Netfa Freeman
Two Views on Queen & Slim The film is either “a meditation on a system of justice that treats innocent people as outlaws,” or “a bourgeois representation of the struggle against police oppression.” The Problem With Queen & Slim by Enzo Calandra “After the death (of great revolutionaries), attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, to canonize them, so to say, and to hallow their names to a certain extent for the “consolation” of the oppressed classes and with the object of duping the latter, while at the same time robbing revolutionary theory of its substance, blunting its revolutionary edge and vulgarizing it.” – V.I. Lenin Queen & Slim, the debut film from screenwriter Lena Waithe and director Melina Matsoukas, betrays its potentially revolutionary subject matter and instead delivers a predictable, uninspired, and fatalistic melodrama. The film is a bourgeois representation of the struggle against police oppression which portrays police violence as an immutable and unchangeable reality. Queen evokes past revolutionaries’ successful plights against the police (figures such as Assata Shakur and Huey P. Newton who have either evaded capture or taken their case to trial and won) yet vulgarizes theirand won) yet vulgarizes their legacies, extinguishing the audience’s hope in the potential for victory against the police apparatus. From Enzo Calandra and Jelani Cobb
The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism Author Gerald Horne demonstrates that modernity arrived in the 17th century on the three horsemen of the apocalypse: slavery, white supremacy, and capitalism.“Horne makes clear that transnational solidarity is as old as colonialism and remains the greatest opponent of transnational settler colonialism and imperialism.” Gerald Horne. The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in Seventeenth-Century North America and the Caribbean. Monthly Review Press, 2018. 256 pp. ISBN:9781583676639. In The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism, Gerald Horne once again earns his reputation as a nuanced transnational historian of race and class. In this, his thirtieth book, Horne demonstrates that modernity arrived in the seventeenth century on the three horsemen of the apocalypse: slavery, white supremacy, and capitalism. Through a focus on English colonial projects, Horne proves these phenomena to be inseparable and interlocking, rather than, for instance, separate pillars of a single structure. Horne’s deft archival work reveals rebellion to be a powerful and primary historical force, and clarifies whiteness as a category of convenience used to quell the vibrant cross-class and cross-racial revolutions which erupted throughout the seventeenth century—from England to Jamaica, Barbados to Boston—rebellions that reverberated through the formation of the United States forward to this day. In Horne’s adroit analysis, seventeenth-century merchant class revolts against the monarchy, long thought to be paeans to democracy and liberalism, are shown to be inextricable from the violent enslavement of Africans and Native Americans. For example, Horne shows how the American revolution of 1776, often understood as a liberal democratic rebellion, was less laudable: a merchant class of capitalists used the “democratic” spread of white supremacy to wrest wealth from a divinely ordained monarchy’s monopoly on slavery. White supremacy, as Horne’s historical research shows, is a tool of capital accumulation. Whiteness was used to justify the opening up of slave markets, the accelerated brutality of colonial and settler colonial genocide and extraction economies, and the solidification of a categorical Other underwriting the war logic that continues to define modernity. The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism makes essential interventions into existing scholarship on the history of racial formation, the emergence of liberal democracy, and the Transnational dynamics of settler capitalism. By April Anson
Labor:
Economy:
The Fed Protects Gamblers at the Expense of the Economy
Although the repo market is little known to most people, it is a $1-trillion-a-day credit machine, in which not just banks but hedge funds and other “shadow banks” borrow to finance their trades. Under the Federal Reserve Act, the central bank’s lending window is open only to licensed depository banks; but the Fed is now pouring billions of dollars into the repo (repurchase agreements) market, in effect making risk-free loans to speculators at less than 2%. This does not serve the real economy, in which products, services and jobs are created. However, the Fed is trapped into this speculative monetary expansion to avoid a cascade of defaults of the sort it was facing with the long-term capital management crisis in 1998 and the Lehman crisis in 2008. The repo market is a fragile house of cards waiting for a strong wind to blow it down, propped up by misguided monetary policies that have forced central banks to underwrite its highly risky ventures. By Ellen Brown
Shadow Government Statistics:
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Ratio of Nominal Gross Federal Debt to GDP Is at Levels Last Seen in World War II
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Current Surge Coincided With the Banking System Bailout and Excessive Deficit
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Spending Where Do the Debt Ratio and Global Perceptions of U.S. Solvency Go in the Event of War?
World Bank Releases Bleak Outlook for U.S. Growth this Year through 2022 Yesterday the World Bank released a report forecasting a decidedly bleak outlook for GDP growth in advanced economies. The U.S. is expected to grow at just 1.8 percent this year and a further drop to 1.7 percent in 2021 and 2022. That forecast throws extremely cold water on what Donald Trump promised just two years ago. On December 6, 2017 President Donald Trump stated at a news conference that his giant corporate tax cut (which Congress ended up passing later that same month) could boost GDP growth to “4, 5 and even 6 percent.” (See video clip below.) In 2018, U.S. GDP registered 2.9 percent and GDP growth for 2019 is expected to drop to approximately 2.2 percent, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest forecast. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
World:
Lessons of the Brexit saga Brexit was central to the election defeat. Consessions to the right-wing and their ‘people’s vote’ alienated working class voters in the north and midlands. The crisis will only deepen under this government. The fightback will require leadership. The scale of Labour’s election defeat has prompted a debate over the future direction of the party. It is essential that we learn the lessons of this defeat – of which there are many. Whilst the lower turnout and the hysterical smear campaign waged by the Tory Party and the media clearly damaged Labour’s prospects, the central issue of this election was Brexit. We must therefore examine the party’s position in relation to Brexit – how it evolved and why it failed – and also clarify what a clear, socialist position on the EU and Brexit should be. By Josh Holroyd
Education, Health, Science, and Welfare:
The government of the United States can pass laws in a few days to spend tens of trillions of dollars for war and the bailout of Wall Street and the bankers. Yet, those who ‘governn’, pass universal healthcare for themselves, but they cannot spend even one trillion dollars for universal health for those who are ‘governed’! This is what is considered, by the powers the to be, a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People Vote on Healthcare!
Black Agenda Report January 9, 2020