Daily News Digest March 29, 2023
Capitalism is Now a Worldwide Threat to Humanity! It is on the Fast Track to Global Warming and/or Nuclear War Catastrophes!
Images of the Day:
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!
Capitalism as a Failed System: World Capitalism Has Been Aware of the Comming Catastrophe of Global Warming Over 5 Decades 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 very future of Humanity Is Now At stake!
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!
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:
In The Part Played by Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man, Friedrich Engels wrote: “Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expected, but in the second and third places it has quite different, unforeseen effects which only too often cancel the first.
Videos/Podcasts of the Day:
Warter for Fracking, But not for Drincking!
Navajo Nation Fights for Water Rights & Access to Colorado River as West Battles Historic Drought
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. Tax the Rich! — They Can Afford To Pay! Both Parties Support U.S. Capitalism’s Wars! (The Only War the Democrats Opposed was the Civil War!)
We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. — Louis D. Brandeis Quotes
The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. MLK, Beyond Vietnam
Who Rules ‘America’! — The Billionaires! ‘The Billionaire Bailout’: FDIC Chair Says the Biggest Deposit Accounts at SVB Held $13 Billion “The bailout really did protect billionaires from taking a modest haircut,” one observer wrote in response to the FDIC chief. In prepared testimony for a Senate Banking Committee hearing slated for Tuesday morning, the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reveals that the 10 largest deposit accounts at Silicon Valley Bank held a combined $13.3 billion, a detail that’s likely to intensify criticism of federal regulators’ intervention in the firm’s recent collapse. When SVB was spiraling earlier this month, the FDIC, Treasury Department, and Federal Reserve rushed in to backstop the financial system and make all depositors at the California bank whole, including those with accounts over $250,000—the total amount typically covered by FDIC insurance.
Congress Has Been Captured by the Arms Industry It’s important to note that the $842 billion proposed price tag for the Pentagon next year will only be the beginning of what taxpayers will be asked to shell out in the name of “defense.” If you add in nuclear weapons work at the Department of Energy and small amounts of military spending spread across other agencies, you’re already at a total military budget of $886 billion. And if last year is any guide, Congress will add tens of billions of dollars extra to that sum, while yet more billions will go for emergency aid to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s brutal invasion.
‘Fiscal Resposibility’? Since The Pentagon Has Never Passed An Audit, More Money is Going Down the Pentagon Rabbit Hole of Death: Pentagon’s Proposed 2024 Budget Reflects Arms Industry’s Capture of Congress Pentagon wants $842 billion for next fiscal year. Reining in this spending is essential to the safety of the world. On March 13th, the Pentagon rolled out its proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The results were — or at least should have been — stunning, even by the standards of a department that’s used to getting what it wants when it wants it. The new Pentagon budget would come in at $842 billion. That’s the highest level requested since World War II, except for the peak moment of the Afghan and Iraq wars, when the United States ” —$1 Trillion for the Pentagon? — It’s important to note that the $842 billion proposed price tag for the Pentagon next year will only be the beginning of what taxpayers will be asked to shell out in the name of “defense.” If you add in nuclear weapons work at the Department of Energy and small amounts of military spending spread across other agencies, you’re already at a total military budget of $886 billion. And if last year is any guide, Congress will add tens of billions of dollars extra to that sum, while yet more billions will go for emergency aid to Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s brutal invasion. In short, we’re talking about possible total spending of well over $950 billion on war and preparations for more of it — within striking distance, in other words, of the $1 trillion mark that hawkish officials and pundits could only dream about a few short years ago.
The Outrageous Price We Pay for a Pentagon Budget From Hell As of now, the Pentagon consumes more than half of the federal government’s discretionary budget. That, in turn, means the funds needed to prevent pandemics, address climate change, and reduce poverty and inequality have taken a back seat.
‘Huge Blow to the Rule of Law,’ Donziger Says of Supreme Court Decision on Chevron Case “The three liberal Supreme Court justices decided to let Donziger’s absurd contempt conviction stand,” said one observer. Environmental attorney Steven Donziger was joined by a number of U.S. Supreme Court observers on Monday in denouncing a decision by seven of the nine justices, who refused to consider Donziger’s case regarding the appointment of three special prosecutors after he was charged with criminal contempt of court. A number of observers noted that a dissent was signed by two conservative judges, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh—suggesting that the three liberal justices on the high court refused to give Donziger a hearing of his appeal, essentially siding with oil giant Chevron.
Chris Hedges: The Donald Trump Problem Donald Trump is not being targeted for the misdemeanors and serious felonies he appears to have committed but for discrediting and undermining the entrenched power of the ruling duopoly.
Train carrying hazardous materials derails in North Dakota A Canada Pacific train derailed on Sunday night, affecting 31 of its 70 cars, and spilling petroleum used to make asphalt. A train carrying hazardous materials derailed in North Dakota late on Sunday night in the latest toxic railway accident to hit the US. The incident happened less than two months after a train derailed near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, causing a raging fire and leaking cancerous chemicals near the small town of East Palestine.
Environment — Ecosocialism of Ecocide!:
Never mind the H20: this scheme to move water from Severn to Thames could be the new HS2 England’s water woes have a solution. But trying to move vast volumes of water from west to east is not it. England’s water woes have a solution. But trying to move vast volumes of water from west to east is not it. England’s water woes have a solution. But trying to move vast volumes of water from west to east is not it. It’s a classic end-of-pipe solution. Rather than addressing the problem at source, it piles one problem upon another. Yet, like so many disastrous schemes, it is now developing a momentum of its own. The political capital being invested in this project threatens to make it the next HS2. The south-east of England is permanently threatened by water shortages. A shocking lack of planning and investment by the water companies, alongside their gross failure to reduce demand and conserve supplies, ensure that as drought looms again the stupidest of all solutions begins to look attractive. Rather than properly managing its supplies, Thames Water wants to pipe huge volumes across the country from another catchment: the Severn.
Philadelphians Rush to Buy Bottled Water Despite Officials Claiming Water is Safe After Spill Residents show skepticism to officials insisting tap water is uncontaminated after chemical spill in the Delaware River.
Civil Rights Black Liberation:
The Deadly Results of Economic Inequality Inequality is not just an abstract concept or a set of numbers—it’s a real-world phenomenon that has tangible effects on the way that ordinary people live (or don’t live) their lives.
Labor:
The Labor Bureaucary’s Betrayal Of Workers!:Corbyn Gives Strong Hint He Will Stand Against Labour as Independent Ex-Labour leader says he has ‘no intention of stopping the fight’ as Keir Starmer faces fierce criticism from left. Corbyn gives strong hint he will stand against Labour as independent Ex-Labour leader says he has ‘no intention of stopping the fight’ as Keir Starmer faces fierce criticism from left Jeremy Corbyn has given his strongest hint yet that he will stand as an independent candidate, saying he has “no intention of stopping the fight” to represent his north London constituents.
Economy:
Shadow Government Statistics Daily Update March 27th to 28th
- NEW AND PENDING: In the two weeks through the March 22nd FOMC, the Federal Reserve boosted Reserve Balances with Federal Reserve Banks by 14.2%, and, correspondingly, the aggregate Monetary by Base by 8.2%.
- Such reversed recent tightening, given the need to address mounting banking system woes. That put the March 2023 Monetary Base on track for its first monthly gain in 5 months, with both Reserves and the Monetary Base at 11-Month highs.
- Currency continued relatively flat, at record highs. PENDING: Commentary No. 1461has been Shifted to the April 1st weekend so as to assess better the unfolding monetary circumstances, including tomorrow’s release of new Money Supply detail through February 2023.
- March 21st to 22nd FOMC: As previously reviewed, the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised its targeted Fed-Funds Rate by a minimal 0.25%, to 5.00%, citing hopes that the Banking-System Crisis would dampen the Economy and the FOMC-driven Inflation.
- Yet, with the new Fed Funds Rate at a 15-plus-year high (since July 2007), the earlier FOMC rate hikes already are pummeling the economy, but again, not relieving inflation.
- Surging prices still reflect the extraordinary Money Supply stimulus following the Pandemic-driven collapse. Extended Fed coverage follows in the later SYSTEMIC RISK SECTION — FEDERAL RESERVE as well as a full review in this weekend’s pending April 1st Commentary No. 1461.
As Senate Banking Committee Convenes Hearing on Exploding Banks, an FDIC Chart Shows the Banking Crisis Is Far from Over , , , The two banks that failed and were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) were Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. Both had experienced bank runs in March and both had extreme exposure to uninsured deposits. One of the witnesses at today’s hearing, Martin Gruenberg, Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), explains as follows in his written testimony for today’s hearing:
World:
Britain: NHS strikes – Reject Rotten Deals! For Fighting Union Leadership! Following backroom negotiations with Tory ministers, union leaders in Britain are recommending acceptance of a paltry pay offer for health workers. Grassroots members should mobilise to reject this deal – and demand fighting leadership and militant action.
Britain: RMT Network Rail Workers Win – But the Struggle Continues In Britain, members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) at Network Rail – the body which runs most of Britain’s railway network – have voted to accept an improved pay deal, secured thanks to months of determined strike action. But the threat of attacks on jobs and conditions still looms. Workers must remain vigilant and fight for nationalisation. The deal represents a wage rise of 14.4% for the lowest-paid, down to 9.2% for higher grades. By contrast, at the start of the dispute, Network Rail were offering a 2-3% increase. At the same time, apprentices on minimum (poverty) wages will receive a boost of between 30-85%.
Political Democracies, Economic Dictatorships Countries are held hostage by big capital that migrates from one country to another in a matter of hours, terrorizing populations with the threat of another economic crisis and forcing their rulers, democratic or not, to kneel before these feudal lords.
Germany: Mega-Strike On 27 March – All Wheels Stand Still! Fully Enforce Wage Demands! Since the beginning of the year, there have been more strikes in Germany than for a long time. First the postal workers, then the public sector workers, and now the rail workers have taken action. The reasons for this are obvious: economic crisis, massively increased prices and the real wage losses of the last few years. On 27 March, a major strike is taking place, organised by ver.di (Germany’s second largest union) and the railway and transport union (EVG). This will involve bus and train drivers, as well as motorway and airport workers. Note: this article was published last Thursday, before the strike commenced. We will have further coverage soon!
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 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
Exxon in the Classroom: How Big Oil Money Influences US Universities The lecturer looked, and sounded, the part. Sporting a pale blue shirt and Princeton University ID badge, he had his own office on campus, a short stroll from the room where several dozen students were gathered to hear him confidently talk about the challenges in moving away from fossil fuels. Tim Barckholtz is not a Princeton professor, however. He is a senior scientific adviser at ExxonMobil, the oil giant that has done so much to both perpetuate and downplay the climate crisis. Barckholtz, an affable figure who has fronted adverts for Exxon touting its emissions reduction research, spent around six months sitting in and contributing to lectures and research groups, based in his own office space at the elite university.