The Eleventh Reagan Administration

 The Eleventh Reagan Administration

by C.A. Matthews

My predictive skills are uncanny when it comes to what politicians will do next. Sometimes I even amaze myself. I'm almost never surprised by what they say or do. What's my secret?

It's simple. I read a lot, and I make note of a politician's past behaviors and stands on issues. Nine times out of ten, they'll do the same in a similar situation. The tenth time? Well, they may do something a little bit different, but rarely will they do anything that's the complete opposite of what they did before.

For instance, I could tell you that Joe Biden wasn't going to do a darn thing to help immigrants get out of for-profit detention centers or listen to the cries of Black Lives Matter activists or work to defund the police. How did I know all this for a fact? 

Think about it. Do you recall the bill that Biden had a hand in passing through Congress that he likes to brag about the most? If you said the "Biden Crime Law" of 1994  then you're right. He loves locking up people, particularly poor people of color. And his vocal anti-desegregation stance in the 1970s where Biden said he didn't want his children going to integrated schools demonstrates he isn't interested in doing anything to improve the lives of African-Americans.

Will Biden ever expand Medicare to all Americans regardless of age or financial status? Will he ever consider a Universal Basic Income (UBI)?  Will he give students a break and grant them student loan forgiveness? (He said he'd give $10,000 in loan forgiveness during his campaign). In 1995, Biden sought to cut Social Security. In 2005, he fought to deny bankruptcy for student loan defaults. What do you think? Yeah, I don't think he's too worried about the poor, those without private health insurance, or debt-laden ex-students.

Can you see why I'm never surprised by Biden now? In fact, nothing about the last eleven presidential administrations has been particularly surprising to me. By looking at the behaviors of the past six neoliberals to sit in the Oval Office, one can safely predict what will happen more or less in Biden's term. We can expect more tax breaks for billionaires. More banks will be bailed out. More wars will be started to distract the voters away from how miserable their current hardscrabble existence is. More legislation will be passed that is against the workers, against unions, against the poor and downtrodden.

The strongest thread that winds throughout the actions of Presidents Reagan through Biden is their enthusiastic support of the status quo, the oligarchy, the billionaires. Every move they make (or don't make) keeps the money flowing upwards into the coffers of the billionaires. It never "trickles down." Regulations are relaxed or eliminated altogether that cut into corporate profits.  These presidents have each exited  high office with much more money in their bank accounts than they had before they entered .

There's no mistake. A president only makes $ 400,000 a year, and yet Obama bought a mansion worth $11.75 million on Martha's Vineyard immediately upon leaving Washington. It's pretty obvious that doing as you're told by your rich donors while in the White House pays well. 

I know what's bothering some of you. You're thinking: Why do you say these presidents are all like Reagan when some of them are Democrats? How can you say they're more alike than they are different when they have different party memberships?  

To find my answer to these questions, read the opening paragraphs of this article again. I'm "color blind" in the fact that I don't care what party or political faction an elected politician claims to belong to. I simply observe their behavior and make note of it and then compare their actions with other recent presidents. From what I've observed, political party affiliation makes little difference in how a politician may act.

Don't believe me? Two names prove my point: Manchin and Sinema.

Are either of these  senators "Democrats" if they thwart every bill their party attempts to pass? How does their supposed party alliance affect their behaviors? It doesn't. They're following orders from the oligarchs to maintain the status quo.

Note what Biden does in the coming months and then do some reading about the past "Reagans" and make note of their actions. Contrast and compare. Can you make some predictions of what Biden will do next? 

The duopoly of the United States of America makes things both easier and harder to understand when it comes to our presidents' behaviors. It's easy because our two so-called "major" political parties are basically one and the same. They both work hard to increase and protect the wealth of the 1%, the Wall Street mavens, and the Military-Industrial Complex. 

It's harder to understand because by allowing the banksters, billionaires, and warmongers to run our country, we're endangering the entire world. We are forever being drawn into military conflicts and potentially nuclear warfare. The US military is the single most polluting agency on the planet. The rising temperatures, rising ocean levels and melting tundra, releasing methane into the atmosphere further warming the planet, will eventually cause mass extinctions and destroy all life.

Why would any sane human being risk nuclear war and exacerbate the climate emergency? I find it impossible to understand. Profits alone can't explain an entire civilization's suicide, can it? 

We must extract ourselves out of this infernal Möbius loop before it's too late for the planet and humankind. We can't survive another Reagan administration.

Related articles:

https://www.dailyposter.com/biden-reversal-gives-wall-street-a-big-win/ 

https://www.directleft.com/p/joe-biden-praises-mitch-mcconnell

https://truthout.org/articles/both-gop-and-democratic-party-want-us-to-surrender-to-covid-for-capitalism/

https://popularresistance.org/on-the-biden-plantation/

https://www.thoughtco.com/presidential-salaries-through-the-years-3368133

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act 

https://scheerpost.com/2021/09/15/biden-listen-to-the-radicals-or-risk-failure/

 Should Biden by primaried by the left? https://youtu.be/v2pCCuw8I4c

***

The hospital industry wants you to believe that Covid-19 is the reason for the so-called ‘nursing shortage.' But health care workers who've been fighting for safe staffing for decades know the real reason: Unfettered greed. 

The New York Times just released a powerful video that shares the stories of nurses on the frontlines and the grave consequences of hospitals placing profits before people.

Will you support us in our fight for safe staffing by sharing this video with your family and friends?

Share on Facebook »

Share on Twitter »

The hospital industry has been neglecting nurses and deliberately short-staffing hospitals for years. Now, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed these practices and the nurse staffing crisis they have created. As registered nurses face increasingly unsafe working conditions, moral distress, and injury, many are leaving the bedside. 

There is still time to reverse this crisis and ensure nurses have the protections and dignity they deserve. We are calling on Congress and the Biden administration to adopt federal policies that value the vital work of direct patient care RNs and that ensure employers meet their legal obligations to provide safe and healthy workplaces.

We need your help to inform as many people as possible about this serious issue. Will you share this powerful video and join us in the fight for safe staffing?

Share on Facebook »

Share on Twitter »

Even if you’re not a nurse or other frontline health care worker, you can still play a vital role in helping spread awareness of this serious issue.

Thank you for standing with us,

Michelle Mahon, RN
Assistant Director of Nursing Practice
National Nurses United

 ***

Last week marked one year since Joe Biden was sworn in to become the 46th president of the United States.    After four years of devastating policies under Trump, Joe Biden and his administration faced the extremely difficult task of building a fair, functional, and humane immigration system.    In the year since, the Biden Administration has made progress on implementing immigration policies that have extended protection to communities that need them the most, but much remains undone.   Some of the notable actions President Biden carried out early included a series of executive orders to end the Muslim and African bans, fully reinstate DACA and end the construction of Trump's wasteful and offensive border wall. He also ended the “Public Charge'' rule that served as a wealth test used by the previous administration to punish immigrants, and created a task force to reunite children with their parents that were separated under the Trump Administration.    However, on bigger items such as providing a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, restoring the asylum system, creating new paths for legal immigration, and fully protecting Dreamers, TPS holders, and other essential workers, the President has failed to live up to his promises.    Our new report recaps the Biden Administration’s first year and looks to the future with an in-depth examination at what still needs to be done.   Read the report>>>   The report covers topics such as DACA, TPS, COVID-19, the Remain in Mexico (MPP) policy, Title 42, the disproportionately inhumane treatment of Black migrants, legislation, right wing and GOP developments, and more.

So as we enter the second year of the Biden Administration, the task on immigration is clear: the President and his team need to do more. Our report carefully outlines what has been done and what policies still need to be implemented. 

The Biden Administration needs to review the unfulfilled promises and rethink its strategy on how to deliver. Effort is no longer enough as immigrants need real results. 

Read our report here>>

Immigrants dedicate their lives to our country in many ways. Nothing has shown that more than the COVID-19 pandemic as essential workers continue to show up every single day to keep our country going during these turbulent times. Additionally, many immigrant communities were key organizers in Joe Biden’s campaign. 

It is time to find a way to deliver. 

Support our work to hold the Biden Administration accountable for the promises they made on immigration and ensure they build a fair and humane immigration system by donating to our organization today. 

Click here to donate>> 

In solidarity, 

Juana

 

***

Three years ago Trump & co began the horrific and racist Remain in Mexico program. Since then it’s forced 67,000 vulnerable children and families to wait in constant peril in danger. 

There was never supposed to be a three-year anniversary of Remain in Mexico.

One person has a critical role in ending it. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has a track record of leading with compassion, implementing DACA, and even receiving an award from immigrant groups for his work on refugee rights. On the anniversary of this horrific policy's beginning, let’s call on him to live up to this legacy:

Can you add your name to help end the racist Remain in Mexico program today on the anniversary of this cruelty?

take action

As a child of refugees himself, Secretary Mayorkas benefited from having a functional process to accessing safety in the U.S. Right now, Mayorkas has the opportunity to provide the same for thousands of other families and show that we are still a country where children and families can find the refuge they deserve.

Secretary Mayorkas has the opportunity to make a clear statement that families seeking safety deserve better. On the anniversary of the start of the Remain in Mexico policy, we must demand Secretary Mayorkas fulfill the promises made to families just like his:

Cindy, tell Mayorkas to end the cruelty of Remain in Mexico and restart processing for children and families seeking safety now.

take action

We remain hopeful that the Biden Administration will keep its promise to welcome people who have come to our border seeking safety with dignity, and we are committed to holding them accountable until we get there. A critical part of fulfilling this promise is overturning Remain in Mexico now.

Thanks for your continued commitment,

Erin Mazursky | Organizing Director
Families Belong Together

 

 

Why Are The Rich So Scared of Socialism?

Why Are The Rich So Scared Of Socialism?

by C. A. Matthews

Do you remember as a child in school or scouts or some other social situation being taunted? Usually your tormentors chose their word—yes, singular—well. They went to the heart of your deepest, darkest fears and discovered the one thing that haunted you more than anything else in your existence. It could have been “four-eyes” or “fatty” or “freak.” It could have been a combination of those and more, but there was one word that really hit you in the solar plexus of your soul and did the most damage. That was the word your tormentors repeated endlessly until you ran crying from the playground, the meeting hall, or the birthday party.

The Left has one such word. “The S Word.” I shall type it out in its entirety here, fully expecting that I will receive unkind comments and possibly a death threat or two. 

That word is socialism.

There I said it. Let the bullying begin! Oh, no, I’m not going to shame or threaten anyone else with the S Word, but I will explore why members of both the Right and the Left political persuasions tend to have trouble with this word, often using it as a curse or a taunt of last resort.

One such sub-group that spans the spectrum of political identification is the rich. How do I define rich? It includes the infamous “one percent” of the world’s billionaires, but it also includes the majority of persons reading this sentence. If you have a place to hang your hat at night, secure in sleeping and waking up to find yourself in one piece with food in your fridge and possibly your own mode of transport to get you to work (or at least decent access to public transportation), then you qualify under my definition of rich. (Note that rich doesn't imply how one votes, be it Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green or otherwise. The rich are simply rich.)

There are many hundreds of millions in the world who don’t even come anywhere close to this definition of having a safe place to sleep. If you qualify as rich, you, my friend, have been blessed.  You're not only blessed with material wealth and security, but also with mental wealth and security. The vast majority of your day doesn’t involve simply surviving—finding a place to sleep tonight or your next meal. You are indeed rich.

Which is why it’s all the more confusing why some of you who practice the religion of Neo-liberalism are terrified of the infamous S Word. You have the “new sport car,” and yet you resent helping your fellow human beings find and maintain a place to live, receive free health care, and  have access to food to fill their empty stomachs. The Cookie meme speaks to this dilemma. You are blessed undoubtedly with material wealth, yet  your neighbor with much less is more than willing to share his cookie with you.  

Sharing the cookie is socialism pure and simple. The world is not a “pie” where the minority rich hogs three-quarters of the pie and all the rest have to divvy up the last thin slice. No, the world is a cookie, and your neighbors freely share what they have, when they have it, so that you and yours do not go without and in hopes that they will receive the same kindness in return one day when they need help.

And that’s where the trouble (and usually the taunting) begins. The rich—who have no fear of starvation or privation—seem to not be able to handle the idea that everyone on the planet can be free of the fear of starvation and privation. The rich seem to want—or even demand—that only they can be free of these fears and everyone else must be afraid in order for the rich to feel secure in their material wealth or perhaps just feel good about themselves.

So, why is the idea of everyone being taken care of and receiving enough “cookie” so scary for the rich? Do the rich believe that those currently with less material wealth are mean-spirited and won’t share if the time ever came when the rich needed help? Maybe. Why is that? Could it be because the rich are scared of sharing in the first place? That they believe the myth of artificial scarcity and somehow that when everyone is well fed they're going to go hungry?

Who could have put such a terror of sharing the cookie with others—that is, socialism—in rich persons' hearts? Why do the rich consider sharing with others to be such an unspeakable horror that they shout things like, “You libtards are all socialists!” whenever providing universal health care or ending student debt is mentioned? After all, they would stand to gain from free access to health care and being out of debt, too.

My guess is that this unfounded fear of socialism was taught to many from a young age by those who want to keep humanity at odds with each other for these nefarious individuals’ gain. Only by keeping the world in terror and the materially wealthy and non-wealthy at each others’ throats can these villains prevail.

Who are these villains? I call them Capitalists. 

Capitalists are those who drive the wedge between factions of humanity by causing war and strife and destroying the planet through exploitation of resources and its resulting pollution. Capitalists engage in these nasty activities simply for material profit—theirs. When the world is in a perpetual chaotic state, when the bombs are dropping and the forests are burning, rich and poor alike, black and white alike, are unable to join forces to stand together and take on their villainy.

If there’s a word we all need to be scared of, we all need to use as a taunt, it’s not socialism. It’s the C Word: capitalism.

It’s time to teach ourselves that “sharing cookie” is a good thing, that socialism is a good thing, and that capitalism is a disease that needs to be eradicated as soon as possible in order for humankind to survive. No one should ever be afraid of sharing the basic necessities of life with their fellow human beings. 

It's time we heal the wounds capitalism has inflicted upon our world and each other and vow to create a planet where all can thrive at nobody's expense.

Here's a great insight on the terms equality and equity:

Nothing destroys one’s empathy for others more completely than seeing them as “less than.” ... Equality is often understood as everyone getting exactly the same. But because everyone has a different social, economic, or political starting point, simply giving everyone the same thing would not necessarily create the goal of everyone having enough to thrive. Some would still have more than they need, while others would not. When everyone is different, fairness and success also differ. ... Equity means making sure each person has enough to thrive, and that may look different for different people.

Some may cry unfair when others receive more, yet if this “more than” is based on what they need is more than what others may need to thrive, then fairness takes on a more holistic, less shallow definition.

In liberation theology, scholars refer to the deference given to those on the margins as a “preferential option for the oppressed.” It is a choice to center those who are pushed to the edges and undersides of our society, and to place these people and their communities on equal ground with others. The preferential option is required to bring about equality. ...

Equity doesn’t have to feel like inequality if we choose to see our differences and how these differences are treated. Equality doesn’t have to feel like oppression even if you are used to privilege. We are all in this together. What lessens one, lessens us all. We are connected to one another. As the adage goes, equality doesn’t mean less for you: it’s not pie.  [Editor's note: Or a cookie.]

  --Herb Montgomery, When Equality Means Some Are Given More Than Others. (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/socialjesus/2020/01/when-equality-means-some-are-given-more-than-others)

Related Articles:
Keeping Homeless Families Homeless
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/60873-keeping-homeless-families-homeless-by-force

Economic Update: Answering Our Critics. Economist Richard Wolff explains Socialism and the myths against it. (video) https://youtu.be/k_F36XKS_KU 

***

Trouble reading this email? Click here to view it online.

It's not the first time, but it is the latest Climate-Racist Trump policy:    Last summer, more than 70,000 of us wrote, called and spoke out to Demand Congress send emergency relief money to Puerto Rico . More than 200 days later, Trump and HUD Secretary Ben Carson still hadn't sent the money when Puerto Rico was rocked by earthquakes. Carson is finally releasing some funds this week. But it's less than half the money, and only on the conditions that Puerto Rico pay workers less than $15 an hour, and do nothing about the island's electric grid. Will you sign to demand they act now?

Sign Now >>

Last summer, more than 70,000 of us wrote, called and spoke out to Demand Congress send emergency relief money to Puerto Rico despite the Trump Administration’s racist objections. More than 200 days later, and after Puerto Rico has been rocked by earthquakes left more than 8,000 people without a safe home to sleep in, Ben Carson is releasing less than half the money, and only on the conditions that Puerto Rico pay workers less than $15 an hour, and do nothing about the island’s electric grid. The crisis is still unfolding, but one thing is clear: Trump and Ben Carson – his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – are using aid money Congress has already appropriated as leverage to enforce their racist, climate-denying policy agenda. Will you speak out now to stop them? Sign here to demand Trump and Carson stop illegally withholding ALL federal aid to Puerto Rico.

Sadly, this is only the latest example of how Trump combines climate denial and racism into a policy that hurts our neighbors and fellow citizens. Carson was legally required to disburse the money last September, but has been delaying the release of $18 billion that Congress appropriated for Puerto Rico. The money is supposed to upgrade infrastructure, including the islands old and fossil-fuel powered electric grid, and help mitigate and adapt to climate-fueled super storms like Maria. Trump’s ongoing anti-Puerto Rico agenda– to deny 3.2 million Puerto Ricans funding—is based on racial and ethnic prejudice, petty politics, and a calculated agenda to beat down the island’s economy and people so banking and big real estate & development cronies can cash in. A slew of reports have shown that the island remains at great risk of natural and man-made disasters. The 2020 Global Climate Risk Index ranked Puerto Rico, along with Myanmar and Haiti, at the top of places most vulnerable to extreme weather events. If the money had been spent on-time, it’s possible that houses, schools and the electric grid could also have been more resilient to the huge earthquakes that rocked the island in recent weeks. Instead, HUD is releasing less than half the money – about $8 billion in emergency disaster aid funding. And that movement is only coming after intense coverage of the human suffering caused by the earthquakes, and after Congress threatened to defund all of HUD unless they answered questions. We’re proud to fight alongside allies from the Power 4 Puerto Rico Coalition once more. Together, we demand that Carson and Trump release ALL the aid money, and stop adding ridiculous pre-conditions like how much to pay workers. Sign here if you agree and tell Trump and Carson to stop illegally blocking aid for Puerto Rico.Thanks,  Drew and the 198 methods crew PS – after you sign well redirect you to a page where you can chip in to support local groups working to rebuild after the earthquakes. Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Sources:

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-increase-puerto-ricans-access-to-lifesaving-hurricane-recovery-funds
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1111046
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/displaced-families-await-post-quake-housing-in-puerto-rico/2020/01/16/03c7e04c-3875-11ea-a1ff-c48c1d59a4a1_story.html
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/15/1911711/-HUD-will-finally-release-8-billion-of-the-18-billion-illegally-withheld-Puerto-Rico-relief-funds?utm_campaign=recent
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/15/dangling-disaster-relief-funds-white-house-require-puerto-rico-implement-reforms/
https://germanwatch.org/en/17307
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/15/trump-to-lift-hold-on-82b-in-puerto-rico-disaster-aid-099139
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/1/8/1910181/-Puerto-Rico-reels-from-earthquake-while-Trump-administration-continues-to-illegally-withhold-aid
https://www.newsweek.com/hud-withholds-18-billion-disaster-aid-puerto-rico-lawmakers-threaten-fight-back-denying-1475635
http://www.198methods.org/2020/01/17/thanks-for-signing-can-you-help-these-local-pr-groups/ 

***   

From Alliance for Retired Americans  & Union Veterans Council:

We believe it should be easier for veterans and working people to claim the Social Security benefits they’ve earned with every paycheck, not harder. But the Trump administration is trying to rip benefits away from hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities by putting up needless hurdles.

Social Security is best known as a retirement program -- but earned Social Security disability and survivor benefits are just as essential to millions, including 600,000 of our veterans.

It’s time to fight back. Click here to tell the Trump Administration, “I oppose the proposed rule change that will result in hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their earned Social Security Benefits.”

This cruel policy does not work. We know because it’s been done before. President Reagan implemented a similar benefit cut back in the 1980s -- and nearly 200,000 Americans with disabilities lost benefits they needed. Massive public outcry eventually caused Reagan to reverse course -- but people were hurt.

The Administration’s proposal requires millions of Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries to re-prove their eligibility for benefits as often as every six months—far more frequently than is currently the case.

Tell the Administration that veterans and other disabled Americans should not have to prove they are disabled every 180 days.

There is no justification for this policy. The United States already has some of the strictest eligibility criteria for disability benefits in the world. More than half of all disability claims are denied already!

We have 15 days to try to stop the Trump administration’s plan. The Social Security Administration is collecting comments on the proposal until January 31.

Click here to submit your official comment today.

Thank you for fighting back against attempts to undermine and destroy our Social Security system.

Richard Fiesta                                                      Will Attig

Executive Director                                              Executive Director

Alliance for Retired Americans                     Union Veterans Council, 

AFL-CIO