Your Choice ?

 

What Is- and Is Not in the Infrasture bill ?

  David Dayen,  American Prospect.  july 29,202

Joe Biden got exactly what he wanted on Wednesday: a bipartisan deal on infrastructure that he could analogize as akin to the transcontinental railroad and the interstate highway system, and something that "signals to the world that our democracy can function, deliver, and do big things," as he put it in his press statement. The motion to open debate on the bill passed the Senate by a 67-32 count on Wednesday evening, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats. Is the president exaggerating? Folks, come on, this is Joe Biden we’re talking about. Taken by itself, the bipartisan bill is a nice starting point for public-sector reinvestment. It comes out to an extra $110 billion per year for the next five on a variety of projects, offset by a batch of almost comical revenue ideas, which are fortunately more half-baked than actively harmful (though there’s a bit of that too). It won’t change the world and, importantly, it’s unlikely to reverse a drastic trajectory on climate. But we can say that the legislation would likely return the United States to something closer to an industrialized nation in its built environment. I say "likely" because several senators indicated they were only agreeing to open debate and not yet to support final passage. More important, the bipartisan bill was never supposed to be taken by itself; in fact, numerous House Democrats will not allow it to go forward without that additional budget reconciliation bill for investments in health care, climate, child care, education, and more, currently slated at $3.5 trillion. That makes Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-AZ) statement about the reconciliation package much more important than anything else. Let’s go over the bipartisan bill, or as I’ve been calling it, Portman-Sinema. The original framework came out on June 24, and the agreement a month later honestly not different enough to have wasted a month. I did a little comparison of the topline spending in the two bills, and only two things went away: a $20 billion "infrastructure financing authority" and about $9 billion in transit spending. (The second half of this bill, the surface transportation reauthorization, has been mostly unremarked upon, despite the transit elements being the main sticking point through the weekend.) Read all of our infrastructure coverage here Click to Support The American Prospect The financing authority, also called a national infrastructure bank, ran up against objection from the municipal bond industry, who roared against anyone else being able to finance public-works projects except their rather punitive selves. The transit funding was a Republican objection, and Democrats relented. The White House fact sheet claims that the surface transportation piece has a "larger share" devoted to transit than normal, so Democrats may have gotten their overall 80/20 split on older funding sources. (See here for details).

U.S. military leaders worried Trump might attempt a coup to stay in powe...

"I'm Not Into Coups" Claims Our Fascist Former President

A Coup was Avoided _ What about next time ?

'They're Not Going To F**King Succeed': Top Generals Feared Trump Would Attempt a Coup After Election, According to New Book

For the first time in modern US history the nation's top military officer, whose role is to advise the president, was preparing for a showdown with the commander in chief because he feared a coup attempt after Trump lost the November election.

July 15, 2021 Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, Marshall Co

 

https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/theyre-not-going-to-fking-succeed-top-generals-feared-trump-would-attempt-a-coup-after-election

 

Posted by Duane Campbell 

Moral Mondays - Poor People's Campaign

  

July 12, 2021

 

In a press release on Monday, the Poor People’s Campaign outlined its plans for a “season of nonviolent direct action” over the next month as the Senate GOP’s obstruction—and Democrats’ refusal to take the steps necessary to break it—threatens to derail much of President Joe Biden’s policy agenda:

·         July 12, a massive national call-in to every senator, to shut down the switchboards if necessary.

·         July 19, the anniversary of the Women’s Convention at Seneca Falls, nonviolent moral direct action in D.C. led by women from all over the country.

·         July 26, in all Senate offices, regardless of party, people in at least 45 states, will engage in nonviolent moral direct action.

·         August 2, nonviolent moral direct action focused on the U.S. Senate and led by a mass number of clergy and religious leaders with poor and low-wage workers.

To read more visit: https://www.nationofchange.org/2021/07/06/poor-peoples-campaign-announces-season-of-nonviolent-direct-action-targeting-us-senate/?fbclid=IwAR3DZlCVUC3zNiXdSWkpbWg8CRo3XzVrYMVVJ-o0F2S98mF_JyLkIygO79Q

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is launching a Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct Action

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, joined by dozens of partners, our 40+ state coordinating committees, and thousands of faith leaders, has announced a Season of Nonviolent Moral Direct-ActionJuly 12 - August 8. 

 

We demand: 

1. End the Filibuster!
2. Pass all provisions of the For the People Act
3. Fully restore the 1965 Voting Rights Act
4. Raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hr. 

Join us at 1pm ET/ 11am PT on Monday, July 12 for a press conference live from Washington, D.C. to announce this season of action directly followed with a massive online call-in action.  

 

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/which-side-are-you-on?source=direct_link&&link_id=1&can_id=0d08d38bc967ee68358fec3f39825741&email_referrer=email_1229134&email_subject=launching-a-season-of-nonviolent-moral-direct-action

 

Join us for the Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign’s Meeting Monday, July 19, 2021, from 6:30-8:30PM.  Please RSVP for the July 19 monthly meeting at:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sacramento-poor-peoples-campaign-sac-ppc-monthly-meeting-tickets-162903162745.

Democracy or Fascism ?

 

A new phase of America's endless civil war was launched six months ago. We don't yet know how or when it will end   By Chauncey Devega Salon.com   JULY 9, 2021 - Six months have passed since the historic and horrible events of Jan. 6, 2021. What have we learned since then?   More than 550 members of Donald Trump's attack force have been arrested, including nearly 40 charged with conspiracy. The ringleaders, including Donald Trump and his inner circle, who instigated, funded and organized the attack on the Capitol have not been punished. Given the Department of Justice's timid approach to investigating and prosecuting the Trump regime's many obvious crimes, it is unlikely they ever will be.   Trump and his Republican Party's plot to overthrow the government by nullifying the results of the 2020 presidential election were far more extensive — and far more likely to succeed — than was previously known.   Public opinion polls show that a growing number of Americans simply want to "move on" from the events of Jan. 6. Predictably, this is especially true of Republicans.   There will be no bipartisan committee to investigate what happened that day. The Republican Party has obstructed such investigations because of its obvious guilt and complicity. Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will convene a select committee, which will presumably have less power and authority than a proper commission.   Those who want to move on have deluded themselves into the fantastic belief that climbing into the memory well will magically keep them safe. In reality, the memory well is a type of purgatory or prison.   In keeping with how fascism spreads in a failing democracy, Trump and his propagandists are now elevating rightwing terrorists into "heroes" and "political prisoners" who should be freed from prison immediately. But the most important fact remains unchanged: The events of Jan. 6 were a trial run, and proof of concept. If the Republican Party loses a presidential election in the future, we will in all probability see a second coup — and it will likely be successful.   These last six months have also been a time of public events, commemorations and other important dates that signal to an American story of violence, freedom won in blood, racism and white supremacy, destruction and creation, freedom dreams and authoritarian nightmares — with the color line intersecting it all.   Specifically, in that time we have seen the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa whiteonblack race massacre, the oneyear anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd and the nationwide protests that followed, the first Juneteenth to be a national holiday, and the first Memorial Day and Fourth of July since the Capitol attack.     On this, James Baldwin wrote in 1963 that "American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it."   In total, America's unresolved history and its accompanying need for a moral reckoning gave birth to the befouled creature that is Trumpism and American neofascism — and continues to give it life. In the maelstrom of this half year there was an important moment that received little attention, but that explains much about the events of Jan. 6, the motivations of the attackers and coup plotters, and the likelihood that such political violence will happen again.    On June 29, the House of Representatives voted to remove Confederate statues on display in the Capitol. All Democrats voted in support of the bill. Most Republicans voted against it. It will now go to the Senate where the Republicans will almost certainly kill it with the filibuster.   Of course, those who defend displaying Confederate statues in the home of American democracy, and in public places more generally, will summon up intellectually dishonest claims about how such objects represent "history" and "heritage," perhaps even a "noble cause." They may also offer nonsense claims that the treasonous cause of the Confederacy was about "states' rights" instead of about protecting the vile institution of white on black chattel slavery.   The Confederacy was dedicated to white supremacy, racial authoritarianism and a particular kind of "white freedom" in which the human rights of Black and brown people were not to be respected. Today's Republican Party — in which the Southern slaveocracy and Jim Crow South have been reborn — largely shares the same values and beliefs, albeit presented in a different (and less honest) form.   When Trump's followers launched their lethal attack on the Capitol, some waved Confederate flags, which are symbols of white supremacy and hatred. The Trump attack force wore and displayed other white supremacist symbols and regalia. Many carried crosses to symbolize their commitment to the fascist "Christian identity" movement. It is no coincidence that open white supremacists including Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and other rightwing paramilitary groups played such a prominent role on Jan. 6.   Trump's attack force was not just attacking the rule of law and the Constitution, but also the idea of multiracial democracy itself. Those who have been arrested have repeatedly told law enforcement that they were acting out of "patriotism". The traitors in the old Confederacy used similar language.   Because it can no longer win free and fair elections, the Jim Crow Republican Party is trying to keep Black and brown people from voting. To that end, in nearly all states Republicans have proposed antidemocracy laws that disproportionately target Black and brown people and other members of the Democratic Party's base. This new Jim Crow apartheid is explicitly designed to subvert the people's will and to rig elections so that Republicans — the world's largest white supremacist political organization — literally cannot lose. As in the old Confederacy, the ultimate goal is to create a type of white "Christian" plutocracy and racial authoritarian state.   The Republican Party and the larger white right's moral panic about "critical race theory" (which in practice means any substantive and truthful discussions of racial and social inequality) is an attempt to literally whitewash American history in the service of white supremacist fantasies. The Confederacy and its loyalists did much the same thing. That project continues in the present.  ...Read More

 

Afghan Corruption

 The U.S. military is withdrawing from Afghanistan after twenty years of war. The U.S. spent some  $ 2.26 trillion dollars propping up the regimes. There is great sadness and danger in the present situation. 

One issue being ignored by our press is that the failure of the Afghan government to establish a viable state was caused in major part by the looting of the country by the Afghan elite along with the  US based  merchants of military arms sales.   They stole over half of all the $ 2.26 trillion to build their lives in Qatar, Doha, Abu Dhabi,  and similar areas. See the research in , Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security by Sarah Chayes. (2015).  Bribes, bribery, and capitalism ruined the state. Now, it is collapsing.  The refugees will suffer, women will suffer, the poor will suffer. And, to a large extent, the suffering was created by corruption.

Now, what should the U.S. do? 

The case is similar in Honduras and Guatemala, the refugees are coming to our borders.

There Are No Mass Migrations Without U.S. Meddling and Militarism

Despite its pledges to aid Central America, the Biden administration continues to deny the United States’ role in destabilizing the region.

BY AZADEH SHAHSHAHANI AND RHONDA RAMIRO

 

https://inthesetimes.com/article/there-are-no-mass-migrations-without-u-s-meddling-and-militarism?