Daily News Digest May 5, 2020

Cinco de Mayo (pronounced [ˈsiŋko ðe ˈmaʝo] in Mexico, Spanish for “Fifth of May”) is an annual celebration held on May 5. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army‘s victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.[1][2] The victory of the smaller Mexican force against a larger French force was a boost to morale for the Mexicans. Zaragoza died months after the battle due to illness. A year after the battle, a larger French force defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla, and Mexico City soon fell to the invaders.

Daily News Digest Archives

Due to Years of Austerity, Cuts to Public Health Care, And An Anti-Science and Profiteering President, The United States Now Leads the World In  Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in the World! And Now the Total Caronavirs Deaths in the United  States are Over 20%  of the Total Death in the Entire World!

Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Was Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat 4 Years Ago and Did Nothing!

Capitalism Does Not, and Never Has, Worked for the Masses! In Its Death Agony, Capitalism Is Traveling About The World Like The Four Horsemen of the The Apocalypse, Spreading War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!occupy1

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: 1.Austerity, 2.Scapegoat Blacks, Minorities, and ‘Illegal’ Immigrants for Unemployment, and 3.  The Iron Heel!  Always Remember:  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, that the 99% Will Rule, Not the Few!

Images of the Day:

Republicans and Trump Kill Anti-Wage-Theft Rule, Will Funnel Your Taxes to Companies That Rob and Endanger Workers (The Trickle Down Theory)

Julian Assange

Quotes of the Day:

Following is a List of battles of the French intervention in Mexico (1862–1867). The French intervention in Mexico was an invasion of the Republic of Mexico by the army of the Second French Empire in 1862. It resulted in the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire in 1864, which was supported by many conservative Mexicans, under the Austrian Maximilian I of Mexico. Although the Empire established control of the center of the country, the republicans held out in the North and South. With the end of the American Civil War, the USA lent its support to the republicans and put pressure on the French to withdraw in 1866. The Imperial forces fought on, but were defeated in a series of battles, with the republicans regaining control of the City of Mexico on 15 May 1867. Maximilian was captured and then executed on 19 June 1867.[1] History records show that there were all in all 1,020 minor or major battles and sieges in the intervention.[2]:348List of Battles of the French Intervention in Mexico (In 1867Mexicao Became Independent.)

Videos of the Day:

The Money Deluge: How the Rich Get Richer – Money in the World Economy

The Liar Tweets Tonight

United States:

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 Reublicrats 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.

Congress Quietly Boosts Spending on Lawmakers’ Exclusive Concierge Health Clinic  in mid-march, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., became one of the first lawmakers to announce he had Covid-19, after testing positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. He received his diagnosis promptly from congressional doctors employed by the Office of the Attending Physician, and recovered by early April. Coronavirus testing was made available early and often for members of Congress, who enjoy concierge medical services courtesy of a world-class government health clinic. Diaz-Balart, like many other voices on Capitol Hill, has denounced increased public spending on health services as a dangerous “government takeover of healthcare.” But like every lawmaker, he enjoys gold-plated medical care from OAP, which provides on-call services at taxpayer expense — and recently got a boost in funding. By Lee Fang

The 1%’s Robber Baron Government  Usurers: ‘A New Low’: Betsy DeVos Sued for Garnishing Wages of Nearly 300,000 Student Loan Borrowers During Pandemic “The Trump administration is taking money from borrowers who are living on the edge of poverty, in the middle of a pandemic, and in violation of the law.” A home health aide who earns just under $13 per hour is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed Thursday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, whose department has continued garnishing the wages of hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The CARES Act, which was signed into law in late March, prohibits the Education Department from seizing the wages and tax refunds of student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loans.  By Julia Conley

What if, instead of less, the Postal Ofice was allowed to do more? It could offer consumer banking, the way that it once did—and the way that China, Japan, and more than a hundred other countries still do—with low-fee check-cashing and checking accounts, so that the millions of Americans who cannot afford traditional banking have an alternative to payday lenders and loan sharks. It could allow its carriers to provide regular, formal welfare checks and elder care for senior citizens, the way that French mail carriers already do (and that many American ones, including my mother, likewise do on an informal basis). It could supply public broadband around the country, meeting the overdue needs of rural and remote communities languishing without high-speed internet, making it a public utility the way that the city of Chattanooga has done for its citizens. U.S.P.S. employees could become notary publics for document signings, sell hunting and fishing licenses, and renew driver’s licenses and vehicle registration, as a kind of extension of other state and federal agencies. There are plenty of ways for the U.S.P.S. to bring in additional revenue, and this—along with being liberated from the pre-funding mandate for retirement benefits—would allow the agency to become profitable again. But it’s worth remembering that, when the founders established the Postal Service, profitability was not the goal. . . . . President Trump may deride the U.S.P.S. as “a joke,” but, in fact, it is one of our most important accomplishments. The founders were right to realize that the Postal Service isn’t only a way of moving thoughts and goods from every corner of America to any other, but also a way of uniting one of the largest and most diverse nations in the world. At a time when too few things connect us as a country, and too few of us have faith in our public institutions, we can’t afford to lose the one we trust the most. We Can’t Afford to Lose the Postal Service

Environment:

Civil Rights/ Black Liberation:

Malcolm X’s Assassination: Be on the lookout for Case 993 Another African-American story, notably directed by a person of color, Shareef Nasir’s project received the top First Look Prize of $75,000 as the film looks to shore up financing for a 2020 completion date. A gripping citizen-detective story following the filmmaker’s quest to resolve the contested history surrounding the assassination of Malcolm X, the project was sought by a bevy of broadcasters, including Independent Lens, Arte France, NDR, and Canada’s TVO, who all praised the pitch as “compelling,” with Marie Nelson specifically praising Nasir as the right person to tell the story as “someone who understands the intersection of history and political science and why this investigation is important.”

Labor:

Trump Has A History of Not Paying Workers!: Hundreds of workers and contractors have accused Donald Trump of not paying his bills over the years, according to an investigation by USA Today. The report found hundreds of liens, judgments and at least 60 lawsuits against Trump and his businesses alleging that he has not fully paid workers for their labor and in some instances refused to pay commissions for his own lawyers and real estate brokers. — Report: Trump Has Refused to Pay Hundreds of Workers

Following His History— Trump Stiffs Workers Again!: Trump Says He Won’t Approve Covid-19 Package Without Tax Cut That Offers Zero Relief for 30 Million Newly Unemployed  “‘Payroll tax cut’ is code for ‘gut Social Security and Medicare’s dedicated funding, then demand benefit cuts.’ Democrats must stand strong and continue blocking Trump’s terrible idea.” By Jake Johnson

In the First Place, Workers Fought, Won, and Earned Their Health Insurance, Which The 1% and The Employers Did Not Willingly Provide!

12.7 Million Workers Have Likely Lost Employer-Provided Health Insurance Since the Coronavirus Shock Began Since the economic fallout of the coronavirus shock began in early March, the number of workers laid-off or furloughed—as measured by new claims for unemployment insurance (UI)—has skyrocketed. We have used data from states that track UI claims by industry to get a rough estimate of how many workers are at high risk of losing their employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) over this as well. The methodology is described in this blog post, and the underlying data (which has begun to include more and more states tracking UI claims by industry) can be found here. Table 1 below shows UI claims by industry across states that collect this data, and also shows employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) coverage rates in those industries in 2018. As of April 30, just under 28 million workers had been laid off or furloughed since early March. We find that this translates into likely EPHI losses of 12.7 million.

In The War at the Point of Production: The ‘Killing Fields’ of the United States, Workers Are Treated Like Cannon Fodder!:     They Were Warned Not To Take Sick Days — Then Six Workers At Their Warehouse Died Of Coronavirus The workers also expressed concerns that delays in the provision of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves made an outbreak inevitable. t least six people who worked in a Long Island, New York, warehouse leased by Broadridge Financial Solutions have died of Covid-19, according to their family members and news reports.  By Gabriel Thompson

Economy:

After the lockdown: what will capitalism look like? The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the underlying contradictions of capitalism, triggering a deep crisis on the scale of the 1930s. There will be no rebound after the lockdown ends, but a prolonged economic depression The world has been turned upside down and inside out by the coronavirus pandemic. We have truly gone through the looking glass. The market system is in meltdown. The laws of capitalism have broken. With production paralysed, supply has collapsed. But with people locked indoors, so has demand. The ‘invisible hand’ doesn’t know which way to point. By Adam Booth

Shadow Government Statistic s Flash Commentary, Issue No. 1434 First-Quarter 2020 GDP, New Claims for Unemployment, FOMC and Money Supply

  • S. Economy Already Was in Trouble Before the Pandemic, Because of Intensifying Federal Reserve Policy Malfeasance and Federal Government Fiscal Malpractice
  • The COVID-19 Pandemic Shutdown Has Overwritten that Developing Recession With an Economic Collapse and Surging Headline Unemployment That Will Rival the Great Depression in the Week Ahead and Anything Seen in Modern U.S. Economic History in the Months Ahead
  • Initial First-Quarter 2020 GDP Quarterly Contraction of 4.78% (-4.78%) Was the Worst Since the Depths of the Great Recession; It Likely Will Deepen to About 7% (-7%) in Its Monthly Revisions
  • Second-Quarter 2020 GDP Remains on Track to Rival or Surpass the Deepest Contraction in the Great Depression
  • Latest New Claims for Unemployment Insurance Indicate: April 2020 U.3 Unemployment Around 21% – Worst Since Great Depression Depths May 2020 U.3 Likely to Top 30% – Worst in Modern Economic History
  • Federal Reserve Will Hold Its Current Expansive Policies in Place, Including Fed Funds at 0.00% to 0.25% and Unlimited Creation of Money and Liquidity, For the Duration of the Pandemic Downturn
  • Money Supply Annual Growth Pushes to Record Highs With Each New Weekly Report

Graph 16: Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Through Week-Ended April 25, 2020

JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Fossil Fuel Industry Get Bailed Out Under Fed’s “Main Street” Lending Program U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have apparently never walked down a Main Street in America. We make that statement because there is a huge disconnect between what’s really located on a typical Main Street and what’s in the bailout program they’ve designed and are calling the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP).  Americans need to sit up and pay attention to what’s going on here because the U.S. Treasury has committed $75 billion of taxpayers’ money to support this program under the illusion that it’s going to mom and pop operations on a typical Main Street in America. That initial $75 billion will be levered up to $750 billion under the Fed’s ability to create money out of thin air, with taxpayers eating the first $75 billion of losses. Once the loans are originated by a lender, they will then be bought up by a Fed-created Special Purpose Vehicle, thus removing bad loans from the balance sheets of banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and the like.  The banks will only have to retain 5 percent of the exposure. By Pam Martens and Russ Martens

World:

Israel’s New Government Is Exploiting Pandemic to Annex 30 Percent of West Bank After three indecisive elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponent Benny Gantz agreed to form a unity government in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the central pillars of this new regime is the unlawful annexation of the Jordan Valley and illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The annexation has the full backing of U.S. President Donald Trump.“Using the time when the world has been busy confronting the COVID-19 pandemic to commit more war crimes is immoral and poses new challenges for the rule of law and human rights,” Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), told Truthout. By Marjorie Cohn

Health, Science, Education, 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 to be,  a democracy and part of the democratic way. — Roland Sheppard, Let the People  Vote on Healthcare!

White House to Oust DHHS Inspector General Whose Report Drew Trump Fury “Don’t let anyone tell you that the Trump administration is wholly incompetent. They are really good at undermining independent oversight and democratic norms.” By Andrea Germanos

The nomination was the latest effort by Mr. Trump against watchdog offices around his administration that have defied him. In recent weeks, he fired an inspector general involved in the inquiry that led to the president’s impeachment, nominated a White House aide to another key inspector general post overseeing virus relief spending and moved to block still another inspector general from taking over as chairman of a pandemic spending oversight panel. The DHHS inspector general’s office released a report on April 6, which, as Politico reported, “casts a different light on conditions Trump administration officials have portrayed as improving thanks to their response to the pandemic.” The document reflects the results of a March 23–27 survey from 323 U.S. hospitals — Trump Moves to Replace Watchdog Who Identified Critical Medical Shortages

From The Report That Got Her Fired: Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 23–27, 2020

Findings

  1. Hospitals reported that severe shortages of testing supplies and extended waits for test results limited hospitals’ ability to monitor the health of patients and staff.   Hospitals reported that they were unable to keep up with COVID-19 testing demands because they lacked complete kits and/or the individual components and supplies needed to complete tests. Additionally, hospitals reported frequently waiting 7 days or longer for test results. When patient stays were extended while awaiting test results, this strained bed availability, personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies, and staffing.

  2. Widespread Shortages of PPE   Hospitals reported that widespread shortages of PPE put staff and patients at risk. Hospitals reported that heavier use of PPE than normal was contributing to the shortage and that the lack of a robust supply chain was delaying or preventing them from restocking PPE needed to protect staff. Hospitals also expressed uncertainty about availability of PPE from Federal and State sources and noted sharp increases in prices for PPE from some vendors.

  3. Difficulty Maintaining Adequate Staffing and Supporting Staff  Hospitals reported that they were not always able to maintain adequate staffing levels or offer staff adequate support. Hospitals reported a shortage of specialized providers needed to meet the anticipated patient surge and raised concerns that staff exposure to the virus may exacerbate staffing shortages and overwork. Hospital administrators also expressed concern that fear and uncertainty were taking an emotional toll on staff, both professionally and personally.

  4. Difficulty Maintaining and Expanding Hospital Capacity to Treat Patients  Capacity concerns emerged as hospitals anticipated being overwhelmed if they experienced a surge of patients, who may require special beds and rooms to treat and contain infection. Many hospitals reported that post-acute-care facilities were requiring negative COVID-19 tests before accepting patients discharged from hospitals, meaning that some patients who no longer required acute care were taking up valuable bed space while waiting to be discharged.

  5. Shortages of Critical Supplies, Materials, and Logistic Support Hospitals reported that shortages of critical supplies, materials, and logistic support that accompany more beds affected hospitals’ ability to care for patients. Hospitals reported needing items that support a patient room, such as intravenous therapy (IV) poles, medical gas, linens, toilet paper, and food. Others reported shortages of no-touch infrared thermometers, disinfectants, and cleaning supplies. Isolated and smaller hospitals faced special challenges maintaining the supplies they needed and restocking quickly when they ran out of supplies.