Showing posts with label Ajit Pai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ajit Pai. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Why Can't We Have Nice Things?

Why Can't We Have Nice Things?

Santa Claus has put the U.S. on his "naughty list" this year, or so it seems. That's the theme of this week's blog--where have we gone wrong. The attack on Net Neutrality, along with the Republicans' so-called "tax reform bill" (benefiting billionaires and corporations), and the revelation of widespread sexual harassment by males in position of power give testament to how we as a society have gone the wrong way and allowed "naughty boys" to take charge. The ultimate demonstration of how low we've sunk is our continued drone wars and Trump recently naming Jerusalem as the capital of modern-day Israel, all but guaranteed to stoke the flames of conflict in the Middle East for years to come.

It's high time to stop this naughtiness and allow ordinary Americans to have the nice things we deserve. Our guest contributors discuss important topics that should be on the "shopping list of our conscience" this holiday time. Let's work to make this a season of peace on Earth, goodwill to all mankind and not just the greedy, hateful 1%. Power to the people--not the corporations!

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First, we take a look back and see how far we've...not come.  Our resident historian notes some disturbing parallels with the past that we should all be cognizant of and vow never to repeat.

A Warning from Nuremberg
by Coast Watcher
“I cannot subscribe to the perverted reasoning that society may advance and strengthen the rule of law by the expenditure of morally innocent lives but that progress in law may never be made at the price of morally guilty lives.” ~ Judge Robert H. Jackson, Chief American Prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials.
We have to face the fact that a fascist currently occupies the office once held by Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. That Trump is a fascist is not in doubt; his actions and words point to a philosophy little different to Adolf Hitler's through the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Trump admitted his favorite bedtime reading is Mein Kampf, that flatulent and poorly-written polemic against the Jews and everything else Hitler despised. It even formed Trump’s game plan for his successful campaign to become president in 2016.
 

Wars of aggression did not originate with Trump. American involvement in Vietnam began under the Kennedy administration and continued through those of Johnson and Nixon. It was a war purely of doctrine. Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara convinced Kennedy that the Southeast Asian countries would "fall to Communism like dominoes" if steps weren’t taken. Subsequent events proved McNamara wrong to the point that even he realized his error.

Under Ronald Reagan, concerns over a coup d’etat in the Caribbean island of Granada led to a US invasion on October 25, 1983. Supposedly it was prompted due to concerns over the safety of 600 US medical students on the island and consequent fears of a repeat of the Iran hostage crisis. On November 2, 1983 the United Nations General Assembly condemned the US invasion as "a flagrant violation of international law" with a vote of 108 to 9.

Although a case can be made that the First Gulf War came about as a consequence of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait – the need to punish Iraq for launching a war of aggression aimed at seizing territory and resources – the subsequent Second Gulf War was one purely of acquisition by America. In the objective desire by Big Oil to seize the oilfields of Iraq it’s no better than Hitler’s annexation of Austria, the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia itself, and the later conquest of most European and Scandinavian countries. 


All of Hitler’s acts of conquest, slaughter and pillage were roundly condemned at the Nuremberg Trials – especially by American lawyers – yet the world seems abjectly quiescent on the more recent crimes of the United States.
 

Drone bombings are taking place around the clock in the Middle East and Afghanistan. American hired mercenaries – notably those controlled by the Frontier Services Group, formerly known as the Blackwater Corporation, owned by Secretary of Education DeVos’ brother Erik Prince – are fighting in most theaters of conflict. Note how the establishment has learned its lesson from public revulsion at seeing multitudes of body bags and caskets returning their dead loved ones from Vietnam. Dead mercenaries don’t generate anywhere near as much bad publicity.

American adventures are expanding into Africa and Yemen. Somalia is once again a target for harboring terrorists. Trump is making preparations for war against North Korea, which will probably be launched in March 2018 when the better military campaigning weather arrives in that part of the world. Big Businesses – especially Big Oil and the Military-Industrial Complex are enjoying huge profits from the rape of Middle Eastern countries. They are positively salivating over the prospect of looting North Korea’s substantial reserves of mineral wealth.

All the above begs the question: where did it  go wrong? How did the United States progress from the enlightened desire to prevent further wars of aggression through international law to the current policy of looting whatever it wants from whomever it can bully and beat into the ground?

Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, and now Trump  are all culpable of wars of aggression. Trump in particular is alienating the world at a time when the United States can ill afford to lose international prestige. Perhaps the ghosts of those dead Nazis hanged in Nuremberg are looking on, laughing and shaking their heads at such hypocrisy. 


You can be sure Judge Robert H. Jackson, the champion of international law as a means to peace, is rolling in his grave.

Sources: The Nuremberg Trial, by Ann & John Tusa, Atheneum Press, 1983
Nuremberg Diary, Dr. G M Gilbert, Da Capo Press, 1995 (Gilbert 1947). 



BIO: Coast Watcher studies history and sees way too many parallels between the fascism of WW II Europe and the current American administration's tactics. Let's do all we can to prevent repeating this kind of history!
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Eddie has done his homework on the Trump Administration's FCC head (and former Verizon Wireless attorney) Ajit Pai's  assault on Net Neutrality.  Here's what he's learned.


The War for Net Neutrality
Eddie Alvarado

We’ve gone through a whole summer and a majority of the fall waiting for the Federal Communications Commission to announce its final vote to repeal the Title II status of the internet, assigned during the Obama Administration. As of this writing, that vote date is December 14.

On July 12, 2017, thousands protested to defend internet freedom. In just one day, websites both small and large participated in one of the biggest online protests ever, reaching tens of millions of people, driving over 2 million comments to the FCC and over 5 million emails—and over 124,000 calls—to members of Congress.

I wrote letters and attached a Joint Resolution to the Republican Leadership in Congress. I called to condemn the FCC and their actions almost five months ago and never received a response. Over 22 million people have made comments on their website. (This article will tell you how to make your comments to the FCC.) With that unprecedented amount, you’d expect to see them slowing down or even stopping the proceedings since
the public won't tolerate this motion one bit. But this is the United States, and we’ve legalized this kind of misrepresentation in our government. An overwhelming majority of our nation can be in an uproar in the streets, but we are silenced by less than 1% of the nation due to their lobbying efforts.
 
This is a major test in our history. Are we going to fight for what's right and stop what is wrong with our government? Are we going to take back the power of the people from government over reach, over reach that violates the will of the people, over reach that says f*** it and f*** your opinion--the opinion of tens of millions of Americans in support of internet Title II protections?

Our country was built on the notion of freedom. We were built to stop the government and its actions if they are reprehensible. What’s stopping us now? 

Chairman Pai is using the establishment press to claim those who are concerned about internet neutrality are just conspiracy theorists, and there will always be net neutrality. But he fails to tell people his version of net neutrality is through the ransoming of basic websites. The actual net neutrality we have today is only going to be available to the rich who can afford the exorbitant fees that will be tacked on to access the websites we use daily.

Congress has its own bills regarding Net Neutrality. One of them is S 993, which effectively solidifies the actions the Federal Communications Commission will take on the 14th. It will take a whole Congress to reverse it, but GOP obstruction will prolong any attempt to do so. The bill has stayed dormant since it was introduced, but it can be rushed through like HR 1 was rushed through. There are five Democrats in the House in support of this bill--one of them being my representative, Albio Sires (D/NJ-8), a sucker for the telecommunications industry. He is ready to put a price tag on how we run our lives.

Ajit Pai would make us believe he would encourage states' rights, allowing states to make net neutrality laws of their own. If this vote passes on December 14 the tools we’ve used as progressives to organize, to increase awareness of situations at hand, are most likely going to slip from our reach. People have become more aware about issues affecting our nation since 2016, and all that work will be for nothing if Title II net neutrality protection goes away.

If you’re pissed off at your government for openly trying to sell your life to corporations, and you’re ready to fight, go to http://battleforthenet.com. Whether we win or lose on the 14th, something unprecedented is going to happen in this country, either through the growing  awareness of people disillusioned by politics, or the right wingers who believe in the Trump Administration, or the growing number of activists willing to take to the streets for the issues and causes they support. People are angry, and this shows how the government isn’t working for the common man.

The government has not worked for the people for a long, long time, and they have become comfortable about it. Ajit Pai has openly joked about how he is a Verizon hack. Pornographic sites are more concerned about your rights than the government we actively pay taxes to, and that says something about the state of our nation. We need to stop them in their tracks.

We stopped them on their attempt to destroy health care more than 50 times during the Obama Administration, and we killed their chances to pass HR 1628. We have a chance to stop the final aspects of HR 1, and they are scrambling for votes. But we can’t stop them and their attempts to f*** the nation if we don’t save Title II net neutrality.

This week, make calls like your minutes don’t matter. You might not be able to afford them later. This week send even more emails to Chairman Pai and overload their comments section. Call the FCC, call and email Congress, and tell them we’re not going to let them get away with this. We rise and become vocal and save our futures, or we sit and die, silent
Bio: Eddie, a young adult from New Jersey, is fighting hard for the political revolution. You can read more of his blogs online at Medium.com.
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Tips on how to stop the #GOPTaxScam:

First, call 1-855-980-2350 to be connected to your Representative and tell them to vote to go to conference on the tax bill. We want to make sure that the House does not pass the Senate version as-is. If we can delay the process, we increase our chances of defeating the tax scam.

Then, write a letter to the editor expressing how the Tax Scam will affect your life and be a detriment to our economy, healthcare and social systems. Media coverage of the bill so far has highlighted what a scam it is, and we need that to continue. Our Senators didn't listen to the hundreds of thousands of phone calls made in the last few weeks, but they cannot continue to ignore the avalanche of bad press. It's our job to keep that going!

***

Tell Congress:
"A new Americans for Tax Fairness report shows how the pharmaceutical industry will get an $80 billion tax break under the Trump tax scam while continuing to price gouge the American people. Tell Congress to reject a tax plan that rewards Big Pharma while doing nothing to rein in skyrocketing drug prices."

Sign the petition
If Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans pass their massive tax cuts largely benefiting the richest 1% and wealthy corporations, a big winner will be the pharmaceutical industry, which wields enormous power through a small army of corporate lobbyists.
A new report by Americans for Tax Fairness highlights how Big Pharma has price gouged all of us while stashing billions of dollars in untaxed profits offshore. The report describes how, between 2011 and 2015, the Pharma Big 10 (the nation's 10 largest drug companies) jacked up the prices charged to consumers, Medicare and Medicaid, for 31 of their most widely-prescribed drugs by an average of 40% to 70%!
And, in 2016, the Pharma Big 10 had $506 billion in untaxed profits stashed offshore. These profits soared by two-thirds since 2011, as drug prices skyrocketed.
If Congress passes Trump’s terrible tax plan, the Pharma Big 10 would get an estimated tax cut of $80 BILLION on their offshore profits.
Sign the petition! Stand with Americans for Tax Fairness and demand that instead of handing the Pharma Big 10 an $80 billion tax break, Congress should rein in drug prices and ensure that drug companies pay their fair share of taxes.
Senator Bernie Sanders said:
“This important new report highlights what we already know—pharmaceutical companies are gouging the public with outrageous prescription drug prices, while dodging tens of billions of dollars in U.S. taxes on their offshore profits. But instead of doing anything to rein in these tax dodgers, the Republican tax plan rewards drug companies with massive tax cuts on their current and future offshore profits. These corporations can no longer be allowed to rip off Americans, who already pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world. Instead of giving big pharmaceutical companies that are sheltering their profits overseas a massive tax break, we must demand that they pay their fair share of taxes so that we can rebuild the disappearing middle class.”

The Pharma Big 10 shouldn’t receive a massive tax break in a tax plan that will result in cuts to Medicare and raises taxes on 87 million middle-class Americans!
Sign the petition to Congress demanding that they reject a tax plan that gives even bigger tax cuts to the pharmaceutical industry and other multinational tax dodgers than they get already.
Together, we’re demanding a tax system and a healthcare system that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
Thank you,
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness
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Fight for $15
Want to know what war on the poor looks like? Let's do a quick reality check:
McDonald's is reaping an over 700 million dollar tax break with the help of politicians while paying us barely enough to survive.
This greed is about to be supersized.
Republican senators just passed the most unfair, anti-worker tax plan in history. It will ensure that even more money goes to line the pockets of the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in our country.
We can't let that happen.
Before this plan becomes law, Congress will have to "reconcile" the two versions passed by the Senate and House. This is our very LAST CHANCE to kill, or at least weaken, their tax plan.
Call your members of Congress NOW at 1-855-713-0060 to let them know that you oppose the tax bill.
Let me be real with you. I make $8.90 working at McDonald's, hardly enough to support my 2 kids and make rent. Meanwhile, corporate executives are living in unimaginable luxury on the backs of their workers and taxpayers.
Huge corporations like McDonald's don't need more tax breaks – they're already reaping in massive profits while leaving us to rely on dwindling programs like Medicaid and food stamps instead of paying us fair wages.
This is class war, there's no denying it. We need to take our fight to the next level. Pick up your phone and call Congress now at 1-855-713-0060
Let your members of Congress know that handing over our country to billionaires is wrong. They're supposed to advocate for us and this tax bill does the exact opposite.
As long as we stay quiet, this will continue to happen. It's total hypocrisy – they give billions to the rich and turn around and call us greedy for wanting higher wages and healthcare. They will continue to wage war on the poor until we fight back.
That's why we need to keep calling. Call Congress today and tell them to stop this tax plan: 1-855-713-0060
I'm glad we're in this fight together.
Fight on,
Antwan Williams
McDonald's Employee
Detroit, MI

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Courtesy of the Sanders Institute, an open letter to share with our elected representatives...


December 4, 2017
An Open Letter to the U.S. Congress
The tax plan will have disastrous consequences for the American people
Dear Senators and Representatives:
The current tax plan will prove ineffective at best. More likely, it will further the collapse of wages and widen the already dangerous levels of income and wealth inequality that have become so obvious that both political parties referenced them during the 2016 presidential campaign. Our central problem is not insufficient profits for corporations. Consumers, not employers, are the real job creators and cutting the corporate tax rate won’t jumpstart the economy. The key to getting businesses to hire and invest is to swamp them with demand for their products, something that is accomplished by raising the incomes of the poor and the middle-class and not those at the very top of the income distribution. Unfortunately, not only have the former faced stagnating wages and unemployment, but they are burdened by mortgage debt, credit card debt, student debt, and payday loan debt. Little wonder this has been the weakest recovery in the post-World War Two era.
Cut taxes for the poor and the middle class and we will see an increase in wages and the creation of the kind of full-time jobs that we so desperately need. Cut corporate tax rates and corporations will end up sitting on an even bigger stockpile of cash. Period. There is no reason to believe that any jobs would come back to the United States or that more funds would be invested here. Firms invest because they expect strong demand for their products, not simply because they have higher profits. Strong demand will only materialize if consumers are empowered with higher wages and relieved of their debt burden.
We, the undersigned economists, stand firmly opposed to the President’s tax plan. Reforms of some sort are not unwarranted, but if our goal is to improve the lives of American workers then this is absolutely not the route to take. Indeed, it may prove to be disastrous. Tax cuts that create economic growth start at the bottom, not at the top. It is not too late to make the current bill into something that could spur growth and employment and usher in a new era of prosperity for all Americans.
Sincerely,
John T. Harvey, Professor of Economics, Texas Christian University, TX
Stephanie Kelton, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Stony Brook University, NY
Fadhel Kaboub, Associate Professor of Economics, Denison University, OH
James K. Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and a Professorship of Government, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Aaron Pacitti, Associate Professor of Economics and the Douglas T. Hickey Chair in Business, Siena College, NY
Agnes Quisumbing, PhD Economics, Senior Research Fellow at International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC
Alan Aja, Associate Professor and Deputy Chairperson Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, Brooklyn College, NY
Alexander Binder, Assistant Professor of Economics, Finance & Banking, Pittsburg State University, KS
Alexandra Bernasek, Sr. Associate Dean & Professor of Economics, Colorado State University, CO
Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, Professor of Economics, Syracuse University, NY
Allison Shwachman Kaminaga, PhD, Lecturer in Economics, Bryant University, MA
Andrew Barenberg, Assistant Professor of Economics, St. Martin's University, WA
Andrew Larkin, Emeritus Professor of Economics, St Cloud State University, MN
Anita Dancs, Associate Professor of Economics, Western New England University, MA
Antonio Callari, Professor of Economics, Franklin and Marshall College, PA
Antonio J. Fernós-Sagebien, PhD Economist
Arthur MacEwan, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA
Avanti Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY Cortland, NY
Avraham Baranes, Assistant Professor of Economics, Rollins College, FL
Baban Hasnat, Professor of Economics, The College of Brockport, SUNY, NY
Barbara Wiens-Tuers, Associate Professor of Economics Ermerita, Penn State Altoona, PA
Bernard Smith, Associate Professor of Economics, Drew University, NJ
Brian Werner, PhD Economist at USDA
Bruce Pietrykowski, Professor of Economics, University of Michigan at Dearborn, MI
Cameron Ellis, Assistant Professor of Economics, Temple University, PA
Carol Scotton, Associate Professor of Economics, Knox College, IL
Charalampos Konstantinidis, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Boston, MA
Charles Becker, Research Professor of Economics, Duke University, NC
Charu Charusheela, Professor, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, Bothell, WA
Chiara Piovani, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Denver, CO
Chris Tilly, PhD in Economics and Urban Studies and Planning, Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, CA
Christopher Brown, Professor of Economics, Arkansas State University, AR
Clara Mattei, Assistant Professor of Economics, New School for Social Research, NY
Dale Tussing, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Syracuse University, NY
Dania Francis, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, MA
Daniel Lawson, Professor of Economics, Oakland Community College, MI
Daniele Tavani, Associate Professor of Economics, Colorado State University, CO
Daphne Greenwood, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO
Darrick Hamilton, Associate Professor of Economics and Urban Policy at The Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy and the Department of Economics, New School for Social Research, NY
David Eil, Assistant professor of Economics, George Mason University, VA
David Zalewski, Professor of Economics, Providence College, RI
Dell Champlin, PhD economist, Instructor of Economics, Oregon State University, OR
Devin T. Rafferty, Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance, Saint Peter's University, NJ
Don Goldstein, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Allegheny College, PA
Dorene Isenberg, Professor of Economics, University of Redlands, CA
Douglas Bowles, Assistant Director, Center for Economic Information, University of Missouri at Kansas City, MO
Edith Kuiper, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY New Paltz, NY
Edward J Nell, Emeritus Professor, New School for Social Research, NY, and Vice-President, Henry George School of Social Science, Chief Economist, RECIPCO Corp
Eiman Zein-Elabdin, Professor of Economics, Franklin & Marshall College, PA
Elaine McCrate, Associate Professor of Economics and Women's and Gender Studies, University of Vermont, VT 
Elba Brown-Collier, PhD Economist
Elhussien Mansour, PhD Economist, Senior Financial Analyst, Royal Consulate General of Saudi Arabia, NY
Elizabeth Ramey, Associate Professor of Economics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, NY
Emily Blank, Associate Professor of Economics, Howard University, Washington DC
Ellis Scharfenaker, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Missouri - Kansas City, MO
Enid Arvidson, Ph.D. economist, Associate Professor, College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs, University of Texas at Arlington, TX
Eric Tymoigne, Associate Professor of Economics at Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
Erik Dean, Ph.D., Instructor of Economics, Portland Community College, OR
F. Gregory Hayden, Professor of Economics (retired), University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE
Farida Khan, Professor of Economics, University of Wisconsin at Parkside, WI
Fatma Gul Unal, Assistant Professor of Economics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, NY
Firat Demir, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Oklahoma Norman, OK
Flavia Dantas, Associate Professor of Economics, SUNY Cortland, NY
Frank McLaughlin, Associate Professor of Economics (retired), Boston College, MA
Fred Moseley, Professor of Economics at Mount Holyoke College, MA
Frederic Jennings, PhD economist, Economic Consultant, MA
Gary Mongiovi, Associate Professor of Economics and Finance, St. John's University, NY
Geoffrey Schneider, Professor of Economics, Bucknell University, PA
George DeMartino, PhD economist, Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, CO
Gerald Epstein, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA
Glen Atkinson, Foundation Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Nevada, Reno, NV
Haider A. Khan, John Evans Distinguished University Professor, Professor of Economics, University of Denver, CO
Haimanti Bhattacharya, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Utah, UT
Haydar Kurban, Associate Professor of Economics, Howard University, Washington DC
Hector Saez, PhD Economist, Faculty in Community Economic Development, Chatham University, PA
Howard Stein, Professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) and the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, MI
Hyun Woong Park, Assistant Professor of Economics, Denison University, OH
Ilene Grabel, Professor of Economics in the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, CO
James G. Devine, Professor of Economics, Loyola Marymount University, CA
James Sturgeon, Professor of Economics, University of Missouri - Kansas City, MO
Jeffrey S. Zax, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado Boulder, CO
Jennifer Olmsted, Professor of Economics, Drew University, NJ
Jim Peach, Regents and Chevron Endowed Professor of Economics, Applied Statistics, and International Business, New Mexico State University, NM
Joelle Leclaire, Associate Professor of Economics and Finance, SUNY Buffalo State, NY.
Johan Uribe, Assistant Professor of Economics, Denison University, OH
John Dennis Chasse, PhD Economist
John Hall, Professor of Economics, Portland State University, OR
John F. Henry, Professor of Economics (retired), California State University, Sacramento, CA
John Sarich, Economist at New York City Department of Finance and Cooper Union, NY
John Willoughby, Professor of Economics, American University, Washington DC
Jon Wisman, Professor of Economics at American University, Washington DC
Jonathan Cogliano, Assistant Professor of Economics, Dickinson College, PA
Jonathan Millman, Lecturer in Economics at University of Massachusetts at Boston, MA
Jonathan Wight, Professor of International Economics, University of Richmond, VA
Jose Caraballo, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Puerto Rico, PR
Joseph Vavrus, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Redlands, CA
Julie Nelson, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston, MA
Julio Huato, Associate Professor of Economics, Francis College, NY
June Lapidus, Associate Professor of Economics, Roosevelt University, IL
Karl Petrick, Assistant Professor of Economics, Western New England University, MA
Katherine Moos, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Economist at the Political Economy Research Institute, MA
Kazim Konyar, Professor of Economics, California State University, San Bernardino, CA
Kimberly Christensen, Professor of Economics, Sarah Lawrence College, NY
Korkut Erturk, Professor of Economics, University of Utah, UT
Lance Taylor, Arnhold Professor Emeritus, New School for Social Research, NY
Laurence Krause, Associate Professor and Chair of Economics, SUNY Old Westbury, NY
Laurie DeMarco, Principal Economist Federal Reserve System, Washington DC
Leanne Roncolato, Assistant Professor of Economics, Franklin and Marshall College, PA
Linda Loubert, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Economics at Morgan State University
Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO
Lorenzo Garbo, Professor of Economics, University of Redlands, CA
Maggie R. Jones, Economist at US Census, Washington DC
Maliha Safri, Associate Professor of Economics, Drew University, NJ
Marc Tomljanovich, Professor of Economics and Business, Executive Director of Business Programs, Director, Wall Street Semester Program, Drew University, NJ
Marilyn Power, Professor Emerita of Economics, Sarah Lawrence College, NY
Mark Maier, Professor of Economics, Glendale Community College, CA
Mark Paul, Postdoctoral Associate at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, DukeUniversity, NC
Mark Setterfield, Professor of Economics, New School for Social Research, NY
Marlene Kim, Faculty Staff Union President and Professor Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA
Mary King, Professor of Economics, Portland State University, OR
Mathew Forstater, Professor of Economics, University of Missouri Kansas City, MO
Mayo Toruno, Professor Emeritus, California State University, San Bernardino, CA
Mehrene Larudee, Associate Professor of Economics, Hampshire College, MA
Michael Hudson, Professor of Economics, University of Missouri in Kansas City, MO, and Research Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, NY
Michael J. Murray, Associate Professor of Economics, Bemidji State University, MN
Michael Meeropol, Professor of Economics (retired), Wester New England University, MA
Michael Nuwer, Professor of Economics, SUNY Potsdam, NY
Michalis Nikiforos, Research Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute, NY
Mitch Green, PhD economist, Bonneville Power Administration, OR
Mona Ali, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY New Paltz, NY
Nancy Bertaux, Professor of Economics & Sustainability, Xavier University, OH
Nancy Folbre, Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA
Nancy Rose, Professor of Economics, California State University, San Bernardino, CA
Nasrin Shahinpoor, Professor of Economics, Hanover College, IN
Nathaniel Cline, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Redlands CA
Neva Goodwin, Co-Director of the Global Development And Environment Institute, Tufts University, MA
Nicholas Reksten, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Redlands, CA
Nicholas Shunda, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Redlands, CA
Nina Banks, Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University, PA
Nurul Aman, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Massachusetts at Boston, MA
Omar S. Dahi, Associate Professor of Economics, Hampshire College, MA
Patrick Walsh, Associate Professor of Economics, St. Michael's College, VT
Paul Smolen, Vice President Fox Smolen and Associates (formerly economist at the Public Utility Commission of Texas), TX
Paula Cole, Teaching Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Denver, CO
Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Chair and Associate Professor of Economics, Bard College, NY
Peter Bohmer, Economics Faculty, Evergreen State College, WA
Peter Eaton, Associate Professor of Economics, Director of the Center for Economic
Information, University of Missouri at Kansas City, MO
Peter Dorman, Professor of Political Economy, Evergreen State College, WA
Philip Harvey, Professor of Law and Economics, Rutgers University, NJ
Praopan Pratoomchat, Assistant Professor, School of Business and Economics, University of Wisconsin Superior, WI
Pratistha Joshi, Postdoc Scholar at Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University, MA
Radhika Balakrishnan, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Rutgers University, NJ
Raechelle Mascarenhas, Associate Professor of Economics, Willamette University, OR
Ramaa Vasudevan, Associate Professor of Economics, Colorado State University, CO
Randy Albelda, Graduate Program Director and Professor of Economics, and Senior Research Fellow, Center for Social Policy, University of Massachusetts at Boston, MA
Reynold F. Nesiba, Professor of Economics, Augustana University, SD
Richard D. Wolff, Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, and currently visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, NY
Richard McGahey, PhD in economics, former Executive Director of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee
Robert Blecker, Professor of Economics, American University, Washington DC
Robert Pollin, Distinguished Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, MA
Robert Scott III, Professor of Economics and Finance, Monmouth University, NJ
Robin L. Bartlett, Professor of Economics, Denison University, OH
Rodney Green, Professor, Chair and Executive Director, Center for Urban Progress Department of Economics, Howard University, Washington DC
Ross M. LaRoe, Associate Professor of Economics Emeritus, Denison University, OH
Rudiger von Arnim, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Utah, UT
Sarah Jacobson, Associate Professor of Economics, Williams College, MA
Savvina Chowdhury, Ph.D., Economics Faculty, Evergreen State College, WA
Scott Carter, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Tulsa, OK
Scott Fullwiler, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Missouri at Kansas City, MO
Shaianne Osterreich, Associate Professor of Economics, Ithaca College, NY
Shakuntala Das, Assistant Professor of Economics, SUNY Potsdam, NY
Sheila Martin, Director of the Population Research Center and of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, Service and Research Centers, Portland State University, OR
Sohrab Behdad, John E. Harris Professor of Economics, Denison University, OH
Spencer Pack, Professor of Economics, Connecticut College, CT
Sripad Motiram, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA
Stacey Jones, PhD Economics, Senior Instructor of Economics, Seattle University, WA
Stephanie Seguino, Professor of Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
Stephen Bannister, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Utah, UT
Steven Pressman, Professor of Economics, Colorado State University, CA
Sujata Verma, Professor of Economics at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA
Susan Feiner, Professor of Economics and Women and Gender Studies, University of Southern Maine, ME
Tara Natarajan, Professor of Economics, St. Michael's College, VT
Ted Schmidt, Associate Professor of Economics, SUNY Buffalo State, NY
Teresa Ghilarducci, Professor of Economics, New School for Social Research, NY
Thea Harvey-Barratt, Faculty in Economics, Bard College at Simon's Rock, MA

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Don't Play Their Games

What a curious shift we make to escape thinking. --Herman Melville

Don't Play Their Games
by Still Bernin' 
You ever get the feeling that you're just a pawn in someone's giant chess game?

The FCC doesn't think we get it. They believe we'll be more than happy to pay through the nose for access to the internet as we currently experience it. They feel that the internet is strictly a medium for corporations to endlessly advertise their products at ordinary folks and tell us how to think.

The EPA doesn't think we care about the quality of our water or air. We're happy to consume large amounts of fracking chemicals and agricultural run-off in our drinking water and breathe in the exhaust of unregulated coal-fired plants and the smog of bee-killing pesticides. 

The Department of Justice doesn't think we've caught on to the fake "War on Drugs" and the for-profit Prison Industrial Complex. We're fine with them locking people up for decades for possessing something as little as a joint--especially if the individual involved is black or brown or white and very poor. Poor people of color are meant to be locked up--immigrants doubly so according to the DOJ.  (But even Cracked magazine has figured their game out. Watch their very good video on this topic below.)

https://youtu.be/kVTzIZ1ZVYU

The Congress thinks we believe giving massive tax breaks to the super-rich will somehow magically give us working class Americans more and better-paying jobs. A rising tide floats all yachts, don't you know? (But the CBO crunched the numbers and thinks otherwise--it will hurt the poor.) Health care for all will just magically appear out of nowhere once the billionaires have shed all responsibility for paying taxes.
Yeah, and pigs could fly if they had wings.


Why should our game masters think we'd fall for such obvious lies, obfuscations and other trickery? Could it be because they own 90% of what we see, read and hear? How are we suppose to know what's really happening if our game masters are busy all the time lying to us and preventing the truth from being known?

Right now, we have the internet to help us find that 10% of independent voices to find out what's really going on, but if we don't protect net neutrality, that option will soon be limited, if not shut down altogether. Senator Bernie Sanders says it well in the following video:



We can't afford to keep playing games--online video games or board games or political shenanigans. Time is of the essence. We need to kill this notion of taking away our net neutrality now so we can continue take on the game masters who gamble our environment, economy and health care away without conscience.

Let your voices be heard online at the FCC by leaving a comment this week and in person by joining a nearby net neutrality march on December 7 (more below).  The only way to win this game is not to play by their corrupt rules. We play by our rules. And we play to win.

BIO: Still Bernin' isn't taking the threats to our democracy lying down. Destroying net neutrality is the establishment's first step toward censoring our freedom of expression. These oligarchic fascists aren't going to get away with this! Fight back!






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From Demand Progress:
Verizon-lawyer-turned-FCC-Chair Ajit Pai released his final plan to kill net neutrality.

It’s a great early Christmas present for Verizon, Comcast, and the rest of Big Cable, but terrible news for pretty much everyone else who uses the internet. 
We’re not backing down from defending the internet we all know and love. Today we’re announcing December 7 will be a massive, nationwide day of protests at Verizon stores across the country. 

Click here to find a Verizon store protest near you on December 7. 

Before becoming Trump’s FCC Chair, Ajit Pai was a top lawyer at Verizon. And he’s acting like he’s still on their payroll.Instead of looking out for ordinary Americans who depend on a free and open internet for their healthcare, education, and livelihoods, Pai is paving the way for monopolistic ISPs to block and censor what we see online, and push anyone who can’t pay extra fees into “internet slow lanes.” The impact on free speech and innovation online will be devastating.

Pai and his buddies on Team Cable have gone out of their way to make it sound like they support the free and open internet, just not the supposedly “burdensome regulations” of Title II. 

But make no mistake: Without Title II, there. is. no. net. neutrality. 

Save Title II net neutrality. Find a protest at a Verizon store near you. 

Verizon may think it's won control of the internet thanks to its crony at the FCC. But what they really did is awake the fury of the internet. 

Already today, internet users made an astonishing 75,000 phone calls to Congress through BattleForTheNet.com. Now we need to take that energy and hit Verizon where it hurts – their profits – with protests at their stores during the busy holiday shopping season.

We won’t kid you – we are one very big step closer to losing net neutrality for good. But all is not lost. 

There are still dozens of lawmakers on the fence who can intervene and force Pai back from this awful plan to kill net neutrality. They need to see and hear an enormous public outcry before they will act – and that’s why many of these protests will march afterward to nearby district offices for members of Congress and demand action. 

Join your fellow internet users December 7 to save net neutrality. Find a Verizon store protest near you.

 Thanks for taking action,
Carli Stevenson
Campaigner
Demand Progress

P.S. Don’t see a Verizon store protest in your city yet? Click here to start your own. It’s easy and we’ll be in touch with all the info you’ll need.


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You ever wonder who's bankrolling the tar sand pipelines or funding the Dakota Access pipeline? Rainforest Action Network made some great graphics to show you how many banks are involved in destroying our environment. This is the sort of information that will be difficult to find if  neutral access to the internet is taken away from Americans and given to corporations. This is why we must fight for net neutrality. We need to know who to fight against--and who to stop doing business with. Boycott, divest and sanction these banks today!

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From SumOfUs:

After decades of pushback and protest, the Trump administration and Republican leaders in Congress are poised to open Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. Organizations all over the country have fought this fight over and over again with one unified message: no drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
 
It seems like common sense, doesn’t it? A refuge is meant to be just that, a haven set aside and fiercely protected no matter what. But, Trump and his administration don’t seem to follow common sense when it comes to pretty much anything so we’re ready to pitch in and win this fight once and for all. That's why we've teamed up with a fierce coalition of dedicated organizations including the Sierra Club on a joint petition on the sign for good website.

TELL TRUMP & CONGRESS NOW: No Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge! 

Giving the fossil fuel industry free reign of this vital resource would be devastating. You know it, I know it, and the thousands of activists, scientists, and organizations who have been fighting against this for decades know it too. This would destroy one of the world’s most iconic landscapes -- critical for the survival of many Alaska Native people including the Gwich’in Nation, as well as being a home to migratory birds from six continents, and the porcupine caribou herd.

With climate change already threatening the fragile refuge, it’s unacceptable that the administration and Congress are putting the needs of Big Business and Big Oil before our planet and ecosystems. Activists and environmentalists have been fighting against dangerous drilling here for decades – and we can’t give up.


TELL TRUMP & CONGRESS NOW: No Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!

Together with the Sierra Club and a powerful coalition of other committed organizations, we’re poised and ready to put a stop to this looming disaster. SumOfUs members like you have already made big waves in the oil and gas industry showing time and time again that we’re ready to move forward when it comes to our energy needs, not backwards. We want sustainable and renewable resources for all and we won’t be bullied by billionaires who want to destroy our planet just to line their pockets.

Thanks for all that you do,
Maggie, Sondhya, Reem and the team at SumOfUs


More information:
Arctic refuge drilling closer as Senate panel backs bill, Washington Post, 15 November 2017
Senate committee approves drilling in Alaskan wildlife refuge, The Hill, 15 November 2017


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From Friends of the Earth:


Tell Kroger: Say NO to bee-killing pesticides!
“We are on course for ecological Armageddon.” That’s how one scientist describes the latest data showing that nearly 75 percent of insects in German nature preserves have declined in the last 25 years -- thanks to pesticides and habitat loss.  

Bees are among the insects that are dying at alarming rates. They pollinate one in three bites of food we eat -- including some of our Thanksgiving favorites. Can you imagine your holiday without pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce?

If we want to save the bees, we need to rapidly shift our food production away from toxic, bee-killing pesticides. Supermarkets could help make that happen -- starting with Kroger, one of the largest supermarkets in the country. But we need your help to convince Kroger to act.

Tell Kroger’s CEO: Stop the insect apocalypse! Stop selling food grown with bee-killing pesticides NOW!

Bees are critical to the health of our environment and necessary for growing the food we eat. If we lose pollinators, then we lose crops, and finally we lose nourishment for people. It’s just that simple.

One class of pesticide of greatest concern is neonics. These toxic pesticides are contributing to bee and insect declines. They are widely used in agriculture -- on more than 140 crops.

Other countries are acting on neonics. This month, the UK environment secretary announced the country would back a total ban on neonics.

But with Trump in the White House and Scott Pruitt running the EPA, we can’t count on the federal government to get these pesticides out of our food system. We need supermarkets to step up!

Urge Kroger to stop selling food grown with bee-killing pesticides!

Friends of the Earth members like you helped transform nearly three-quarters of the garden industry by pushing companies like Lowe’s, Home Depot and True Value to stop selling plants grown with neonics. This shows that when you pressure companies to act, they respond.

This Thanksgiving, we need your help to turn up the pressure to save our environment from chemical contamination. Remind Kroger that it won’t be able to sell Thanksgiving staples unless it takes immediate action.

Demand that Kroger stop selling food produced with bee-killing pesticides!
Standing with you,
Tiffany Finck-Haynes,
Senior food futures campaigner,
Friends of the Earth



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It is awfully hard to provide a tax cut to someone with negative income.

The rural economy is struggling in Iowa and across the nation. Many farmers will not turn a profit this year. So tax cuts are irrelevant.

When you're a farmer like me, there is little economic security. And yet, Trump is slashing programs that are life-sustaining for communities like my own. Cutting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and infrastructure will hurt farmers like me.


How exactly are small businesses owners like me supposed to survive when the GOP cuts the programs we depend on?
 
The GOP tax cuts are going straight into the pockets of the wealthy. While farmers have negative income, huge corporations are getting another fat check. 

What small business owners and our communities need is access to affordable healthcare, well-funded schools, and well-maintained farm-to-market roads. The Republican tax cuts and subsequent budget cuts do nothing to improve these things. 

But if small business owners speak out, we can expose how disastrous Trump's tax scam is for all of us.
 

If you’re a small business owner, sign this petition. Let Congress know that they’re putting our livelihoods at risk.


Chris Petersen
Member
Main Street Alliance Iowa