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Medicare for All could have prevented more than 338,000 US Covid deaths: Study
"Healthcare reform is long overdue in the U.S.," said the lead author of a new study. "Americans are needlessly losing lives and money."
Covid-19 has killed more than one million people in the United States over the past two years, but more than 338,000 of those lives could have been saved if the country had a universal single-payer healthcare system such as Medicare for All. Continue reading
If poverty is a moral issue, then the U.S. is bankrupt
The Poor People’s Campaign, ahead of its June 18 gathering, is calling out the false pro-corporate rhetoric on poverty, wages, and inflation.
Newspaper headlines are warning of rising inflation and the possibility that voters will respond to it by punishing Democrats in the midterm elections this fall. But there are few, if any, headlines about the enormous numbers of Americans who are low-income and poor—a travesty in one of the world’s wealthiest nations. Continue reading
‘People Over Pentagon’ proposal would take $100 billion from Pentagon to fund social programs
"The Lee-Pocan bill disproves the claim that there's not money to feed the hungry, care for the sick, cut child poverty, or protect the planet," said one proponent.
Progressive advocacy groups across the United States on Monday welcomed a new legislative proposal that would cut Pentagon spending for the next fiscal year by $100 billion and reallocate it toward top threats facing the nation that “are not military in nature.” Continue reading
The food shortage solution in your own backyard
While the global food systems we depend on come under increasing strain, there’s a solution to the growing crisis that most Americans can find in their own backyards–or front lawns.
A confluence of crises—lockdowns and business closures, mandates and worker shortages, supply chain disruptions and inflation, sanctions and war—have compounded to trigger food shortages; and we have been warned that they may last longer than the food stored in our pantries. What to do? Continue reading
New revelations show Ginni Thomas ‘very much a part of seditious conspiracy’
New reporting shows wife of Supreme Court Justice pushed at least 29 Arizona lawmakers to overturn 2020 election results.
Ginni Thomas, the right-wing activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, lobbied far more Arizona state lawmakers than previously known to try to overturn the state’s 2020 election results—a revelation that reignited calls on Friday for Justice Thomas to recuse himself from cases related to the election. Continue reading
Bizarro world: Mega-terrorist Turkey accuses Finland and Sweden of supporting terrorists
Welcome to bizarro world. Continue reading
Time for a taxpayer revolt against rich corporate welfarists
It is time for an unusual but long overdue revolt by the 150 million tax-with-held taxpayers. I’m not speaking of rates of taxation that the rich and corporations largely avoid because of the gigantic tax escapes, which they grease through Congress. Today I’m hoping to get your dander up by showing how corporatist politicians make you pay for big corporations to come to their corporate welfare-friendly state and make profits. Continue reading
Warren, Murray lead call for Biden to defend abortion rights via executive order
"With an extremist Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, now is the time to act," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
With the U.S. Supreme Court expected to issue a ruling later this month that could overturn Roe v. Wade and imperil abortion rights nationwide, a group of 25 senators on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to do all he can through executive action to protect reproductive freedoms at the federal level. Continue reading
Storms at the Summit of the Americas
June 7 was a bad day for Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS). During the ninth Summit of the Americas, a young man declared to him what he is: an assassin and puppet of the White House, instigator of the coup in Bolivia. He said that Almagro cannot come to give lessons on democracy when his hands are stained with blood. In another room at the summit in Los Angeles, Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed to be doing no better: several journalists rebuked him for using freedom of the press to provide cover for the murderers of journalists and for sanctioning and excluding certain countries from this meeting. “Democracy or hypocrisy?” could be heard over the loudspeaker that day. Continue reading
U.S. effort to hurt Russia undermines itself and the world
The U.S. drive to dominate creates self-inflicted wounds and self-imposed crises. It also creates suffering around the world with only the most servile vassal states willing to do what Washington wants.
The United States continues to shoot itself in the foot in its futile effort to damage the Russian economy. It is also asking other nations to do likewise and live with inflation, food scarcity, and rising energy prices. European countries have gone along with the sanctions which cut off their natural gas supplies from Russia when there is no logical alternative source for them. However, the rest of the world has refused to join in U.S. and EU condemnations or accept that they must live with privations caused by the reckless actions of other nations. Continue reading
Election subversion is replacing voter suppression as new GOP threat
Pro-Trump Republicans are building new paths to subvert future election results, numerous analyses find.
The language of the voting rights movement is changing. For decades, it had been centered around overcoming voter suppression and Jim Crow, which is shorthand for intentional barriers to stymie voters at the starting line—affecting their voter registration, their voting options, and whether or not their ballots are accepted. But today, thanks to Donald Trump’s 2020 election-denying loyalists, the focus is shifting to the finish line in elections, where counting votes is what matters. Election subversion is the new political buzz phrase. Continue reading
The blood-soaked lie about the Second Amendment
The blood-soaked lie about the Second Amendment is simple. Continue reading
The abortion firestorm is also a white freak-out about the browning of America
The abortion battle is not just about religion. Continue reading
Tucker Carlson’s ‘Great Replacement’ theory comes from an anti-American Nazi
Why has the American far right adopted an anti-American conspiracy theory as its rallying cry?
Before a hate-filled 18-year-old murdered 10 and wounded 3 African Americans in Buffalo on May 14, he penned a rambling screed about replacement theory. Continue reading
America needs to see the reality of assault rifle murders
Decades ago, photos of Emmett Till’s murdered body galvanized action for civil rights. Today, disturbing images could do the same for gun control.
In the days since the Uvalde shooting, media outlets have shared heartbreaking images of the small victims as they were cherished in life. As Americans, we’re forced to look into their young, innocent eyes and accept our shame that we failed to protect them. Continue reading
Our country is trading children’s lives for guns
Guns have become an intimate part of American culture, one that is fed by gun-makers and the gun lobby, the right-wing media and Hollywood, and of course the Republican Party. Our children are paying the price.
Mass shootings are good for gun sales. In the days following the horrific massacre of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, firearm manufacturers’ stock prices predictably rose. Gun owners, who have been conditioned to purchase weapons out of fear of not being able to buy more guns, tend to run out and buy more weapons in anticipation of coming restrictions. That in turn boosts gun profits and stock prices. It is a macabre cycle that appears to be fueled by Republican-led fear-based culture wars. Continue reading
Our original founders were indigenous women who controlled their own bodies
The real Founders of American society were not the 55 rich, white, male interlopers who staged a coup d’etat in 1787-9 … and whose misogynist progeny have always wanted to ban abortion. Continue reading
Your zip code: Your life
The leaked draft of the Supreme Court case against abortion rights authored by Justice Samuel Alito (Politico, May 2, 2022) spread across the US like a destructive forest fire. The case originated in Mississippi and had the potential of returning one half of the women in the US to the days before abortion became legal in New York in 1970 and across the US by way of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Continue reading
Right of Return, Nakba are back on Palestinian agenda
The Nakba is back on the Palestinian agenda. Continue reading
Abortion: Why is the court using religious belief to alter what should be secular law?
Democrats are generally disinclined to discuss religion, much less debate it. Continue reading
Capitalism and baby formula
The baby formula shortage is not a glitch in the system. It actually exemplifies everything that goes wrong when the profit motive rules. Capitalism can't ensure a food supply or anything else that humans need.
“Socialism doesn’t work” is repeated like a mantra. We’re told endlessly that capitalism provides jobs, housing, food, and health care in this country when it does a very bad job of doing all these things. The United States is said to be “the richest country in the world,” a strange statement which implies that the people are prosperous even though they aren’t. Continue reading
The Poor People’s Campaign dishonors Martin Luther King
Some movement leaders say they are inspired by Martin Luther King while also supporting the U.S. proxy war against Russia. King's anti-war stance was uncompromising. He made a choice and didn't waiver in his condemnation of the U.S.
On April 4, 1967 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave one of the most significant speeches of his career. In “Beyond Vietnam – Time to Break Silence ” King declared his unequivocal opposition to the war in Vietnam. His very public break with Lyndon Johnson was greeted with derision, including from his own allies, who believed that the president was an ally who should not be attacked. The NAACP board passed a resolution calling King’s statement a “serious tactical mistake” that would neither “serve the cause of civil rights nor of peace.” The media joined in the condemnation, with the New York Times characterizing his comments as “facile” and “slander.” Even Black newspapers such as The Pittsburgh Courier judged his remarks to be “tragically misleading.” Continue reading
Nothing is more personal than the right to control your own body
Roe doesn’t just protect abortion rights. It’s the keystone that keeps politicians out of the most intimate aspects of our lives.
The personal, as they say, is political. And there’s nothing more personal than the right to control your own body. Continue reading
Community schools were working in Oakland, but the district is shutting them down anyway
The school district was at the forefront of a public education model that is gaining national popularity—but its decision undercuts what the community appreciates about each school’s custom offerings that put students first.
The Oakland, California, school district touts itself as the nation’s first full-service community schools district, committing to a model of school improvement that, according to the model’s most prominent proponents, provides students with “well-rounded educational opportunities” and the “supports” they need to be successful. Community schools attend to the basic needs of the communities they serve, which often entails, according to news reports, such things as access to health and dental care, nutritious food, arts programs, sports and recreation, or after-school activities. But in February 2022, Oakland, despite its commitment to its districtwide reform plan, announced it is shutting down several of its community schools. Continue reading
Bulldozing away the right to tax the rich
A sizeable share of America’s pundits and politicians have—with good reason—been spending the last several days bemoaning and bewailing billionaire Elon Musk’s latest business gambit: a $44-billion annexation of the social media universe known as Twitter. Continue reading
Court’s draft ruling a part of a bigger right-wing strategy
WASHINGTON—A draft U.S. Supreme Court majority opinion eliminating abortion rights angered women and pro-choice advocates and sparked a political war on both sides of what anti-abortionists have made their cultural issue keystone for 49 years. Continue reading
Report from Germany: Refugees welcome—sometimes
Posted on streetlamps all over Germany are stickers showing fleeing silhouettes with the caption, “Refugees welcome—bring your families”. Some have been blacked out with felt markers or ripped partially away. The Germans have mixed feelings about refugees, as demonstrated in the earlier waves from the Mideast and the current one from the Ukraine. Continue reading
Journalism is an endangered species
Journalism’s best days are long gone. And, unless NATO’s journalists have a collective Damascene moment, they too will deservedly go the way of the dodo. Continue reading
Trump puppets seek control of 2024 election by winning key posts
Victories by them this year could position the extreme right to select the next president, regardless of what the electoral college or the popular vote says.
LAS VEGAS—Several months ago, Jim Marchant, a Nevada businessman and Trumpite conspiracy theorist, spilled the beans about how that wing of the Republican Party plans to control all U.S. elections in the future. Continue reading
How young workers are unionizing Starbucks
Starbucks Workers United is racking up victorious union votes in one branch after another of the iconic American coffee chain. A young California-based worker-organizer explains why this organizing campaign is different.
At only 19 years old, Joe Thompson is one of the youngest lead organizers with Starbucks Workers United (SWU), the umbrella organization at the forefront of one of the most exciting labor successes of the last few years. Thompson, who started working at the coffee chain at age 16, told me in a recent interview, “Starbucks likes to claim it’s super-progressive, and a lot of workers there are, but we’re the ones actually holding Starbucks accountable to that standard.” Continue reading
Assange now hostage to ‘triumph of evil’ decision to send him to a U.S. jail but politics can still save him
The argument that Assange operated as a journalist and exercised his right to freedom of speech, has very little gravitas with the western mindset.
Whether you love or loathe Julian Assange, the decision by a British court to allow a U.S. extradition process is morally repugnant and wrong on so many levels. Assange will now have approximately four weeks to wait and see whether the British government itself signs off on his extradition or not – at which point he can decide to appeal. Continue reading
Market God + private profits = public loss
Posted on June 14, 2022 by Frank Scott
All people need food, shelter and health care. In an alleged democracy, none of them need the religion of market forces governing their ability to get them. Nor do those of us temporarily comfortable while enjoying the benefits that come to a minority which does well with capitalism (as it did with slavery) but now face a choking atmosphere that no individual status or identity as glorified house negroes of slavery days will protect us since the house itself, our planet, is under deadly attack. Continue reading →