Daily News Digest February 17, 2022
Humanity Will Not be Covid Free, Until the Vaccines are Free For the Whole World
Image of the Day:
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!
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!
Quotes of the Day:
Chief Robber Baron: Fed Chair Powell — who is supposed to serve in the public interest and avoid even the appearance of conflicts — traded millions in personal stocks and bonds while obstructing required public disclosures about those trades for years. Yet, the information that has slipped out is damning. It shows Powell made trades *DURING* the restricted blackout period for pivotal Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. This is a shocking revelation and constitutes grave and inexcusable misconduct by a high-ranking U.S. government official. Moreover, Powell directed policy decisions that directly advantaged his personal bond holdings despite longstanding federal conflicts of interest law, 18 U.S.C. § 208. And then he apparently told a brazen lie about it to the press by suggesting the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) said his holdings posed no conflict. FOIA requests confirm that OGE provided no such guidance in writing. Set aside the fact Powell presided over the massive Fed trading scandal. His personal actions plainly bar him from serving in any government position of trust, much less the extremely powerful role of Fed Chair. Why hasn’t the media reported any of this? It seems most financial journalist are some combination of: (1) totally delusional, (2) under gag orders from superiors, or (3) complicit when it comes to systemic corruption at the Federal Reserve and Wall Street. Since mainstream media has failed our country, we are compelled to do what we can to help the cause of smaller outlets like Revolving Door Project and Wall Street on Parade in exposing the truth. — Fed Scandal Bigger Than Watergate?
Videos of the Day:
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 th poor and gives to the Rich. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford to Pay!
Physicians Slam Industry Push to ‘Fix’—Not End—Medicare Privatization Scheme “The industry thinks they can save it with minor tweaks and cosmetic fixes. But we won’t back down until Direct Contracting is shut down, for good,” one doctor said of the Trump-era program. Physicians and progressive advocates on Tuesday urged the Department of Health and Human Services to reject an industry appeal to tweak and rebrand—not end altogether—a Medicare privatization scheme known as Direct Contracting, which the Trump administration launched in 2020.
Environment —Ecosocialism or Ecocide!:
Capitalism Fouls Things Up!: Biden Issues More Gas and Oil Drilling Permits Than Trump in His First Year In the Gulf of Mexico, still recovering from an estimated 134 million gallons of oil spilled by BP in 2010, the Biden administration has leased record-breaking off-shore drilling rights to 33 gas and oil companies including Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron.
What Present Day Capitalism’s Deffered Maintanence Policy Costs!: What is the ‘Social Cost of Carbon’? When an electric company runs a coal- or natural gas-fired power plant, the greenhouse gases it releases cause harm – but the company isn’t paying for the damage. Instead, the costs show up in the billions of tax dollars spent each year to deal with the effects of climate change, such as fighting wildfires and protecting communities from floods, and in rising insurance costs. This damage is what economists call a “negative externality.” It is a cost to society, including to future generations, that is not covered by the price people pay for fossil fuels and other activities that emit greenhouse gases, like agriculture. To try to account for some of the damage, federal policymakers use
Private Equity Executives Hide Behind Philanthropy as Their Firms Ravage the Earth The new report’s co-author says it’s a “serious problem” that executives can invest in fossil fuels and then “greenwash their reputations.” The new report’s co-author says it’s a “serious problem” that executives can invest in fossil fuels and then “greenwash their reputations.” A report published Tuesday by a pair of nonprofits shines a light on the “Wall Street heavyweights” at private equity firms who “burnish their reputations through hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropy, even as their investments help drive climate catastrophe.” The new analysis from LittleSis and Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP)—entitled Private Equity’s Dirty Dozen: 12 Firms Dripping in Oil and the Wealthy Executives Who Run Them—highlights that as asset managers and big banks face rising scrutiny for their climate-wrecking conduct, “private equity firms and the billionaires and multi-millionaires who lead them have largely escaped scrutiny.”
‘Wake-Up Call’: NOAA Predicts One-Foot Sea-Level Rise by 2050 “This decade we’re in right now is one of the most consequential decades for our climate future,” said one scientist. Ocean levels along the U.S. coastline are projected to rise by an average of 10 to 12 inches over the next three decades, worsening the threat of flooding in dozens of highly populated cities, according to a new report released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies.
Civil Rights/BlackLiberation
February Is Black History Month’
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist Terrell Starr and Black Support of Imperialism Report’s analysis of the US instigated crisis in Ukraine makes clear that imperialism is the source of turmoil in that country.
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor Eileen Gu Controversy Exposes the Importance of Racial Loyalty to the American Empire Corporate media used the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics to create endless anti-China screeds. An athlete was even condemned for choosing to affirm her Chinese heritage.
Daniel Melo The Capitalist Imperative Driving Cruel and Bipartisan US Migration Policies Capitalism’s need for labor is the determining factor in immigration policy. Its contradictions create a system that is consistently inhumane.
Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist Ukraine: The Tip of the Spear for the Imperialist Project The U.S. manufactured crisis in Ukraine cannot be separated from the drive for full spectrum dominance all over the world.
Dedan Waicuri and Yusuf Askari wa Watu Why We Need A “Mau Mau” in Amerikkka The liberation struggle in colonial Kenya is a guide for mass mobilization today. Members of the Mapinduzi organization explain.
Labor:
Economy:
Fed Scandal Bigger Than Watergate? Jay Powell traded during restricted blackout period; failed to disclose most trade dates; apparently lied about muni conflict; directed massive Wall St bailouts despite conflicts These are turbulent times not unlike the 1970s. Supply shortages, rampant inflation, domestic upheaval, foreign affairs fiascos. But some inane desire for “continuity” at Fed Chair is not worth sacrificing every principle for which America stands. The Biden administration chose to reward corruption at the highest level of government by renominating Jerome H. Powell to Chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Next week, the U.S. Senate wants to rush a vote to bless corruption and confirm Powell in that powerful role. But reinstalling Powell as Fed Chair, after he presided over and is directly implicated in the biggest government official stock trading scandal ever, will be a permanent stain on American history — a national disgrace from which our country and its real economy will never recover. Fed Chair Powell — who is supposed to serve in the public interest and avoid even the appearance of conflicts — traded millions in personal stocks and bonds while obstructing required public disclosures about those trades for years. Yet, the information that has slipped out is damning. It shows Powell made trades *DURING* the restricted blackout period for pivotal Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings. This is a shocking revelation and constitutes grave and inexcusable misconduct by a high-ranking U.S. government official.
World:
French Elections: Against The Right and All Its Variants! The first round of the French presidential elections will take place on 10 April. We know who most of the candidates will be, but it is impossible to predict which of them will reach the second round. This uncertainty is, in itself, an expression of the deep crisis of French bourgeois democracy. Not long ago, the ruling class knew what to expect from a presidential election, since the whole business could be reduced to two outcomes: a victory for the traditional right-wing party (RPR, then UMP), or a victory for the Parti Socialiste (PS). Of course, the bourgeoisie supported their party: the right. A win for the PS, however, wouldn’t represent a serious threat to their power and privileges, since the ‘socialist’ leaders were themselves devoted – with every ounce of their being – to defending the capitalist system. When the right was defeated, big business sighed and said philosophically: ‘well, what can you do? In a two-party system, they must each take turns.’ They knew that the policies carried out by the PS leaders would disappoint the majority of their voters, paving the way for the right-wing to return to power. https://www.marxist.com/french-elections-against-the-right-and-all-its-variants.htm
Education, Health, 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 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!
Another Example Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capilalism Ws Aware of the Danger of Cornovavirus Threat Over 5 Years Ago and Did Nothing!: Under Capitalism — Human Lives Don’t Matter 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 Racism, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
Since World War I, ‘the war to end all wars’, there have been perpetual wars for perpetual peace, this Laura Gray’s cartoon from the front page of The Militant August 18, 1945, Under the Banner Headline: “There Is No Peace”, is Still True for Today’s World!
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! For Decades, Blacks Have Been Subjected to The Iron Heel! Currently, the US Capitalist Class is Divided Over When — Not If, to Apply It to Everyone!
Black Agenda Report