Biden administration

What Would Have Worked Better Than Building Back Anything

November 22, 2021 David Swanson, Let's Try Democracy. Educate! Biden administration, Democrats, Finance and the Economy, Infrastructure Bill

The BBB bill, as originally conceived, was a minimal sort of social needs proposal, pathetically far behind the norm on the planet, originally costing about a third of U.S. military spending (across all departments and agencies of military spending, and treating both BBB and military spending in terms of annual cost, rather than multiplying only the former by 10 as is the custom). BBB has now been cut to (depending on how you count it) a sixth of military spending and with — wait for it — no, it’s really worth the wait — wait for it — tax cuts for the mega-wealthy thrown in during the process of paring the bill down because of — you guessed it — costs.

Our Economic Model Is Failing Working People: Bring On The Scapegoats

November 22, 2021 Bruce T. Boccardy, Common Dreams. Educate! Biden administration, Finance and the Economy

E. J. Dionne is a columnist for the Washington Post. Speaking on WBUR, of National Public Radio on November 8, he applauded the work of the Biden Administration with regard to job numbers in October. He cited the standard Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measure which is U-3. The BLS reported that the unemployment rate in October fell to 4.6 percent. That would be a cause for applause if it was remotely accurate. It certainly is not.

Big Oil Pays $192 Million To Extract Fossil Fuels From The Gulf

November 19, 2021 Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Educate! Biden administration, Fossil Fuels, Mexico, Oil and Gas

The Biden administration went through with the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history Wednesday. In the controversial sale, major fossil-fuel companies including ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron and BP bid a total of $192 million for the rights to drill a stretch of the Gulf of Mexico that is about double the size of Florida, The AP reported. The amount offered is the second-highest total since bidding resumed in the Gulf of Mexico in 2017. The Biden administration has been widely criticized for allowing the sale to proceed even after President Joe Biden promised U.S. climate action during the COP26 talks in Glasgow.

Biden’s Farm Methane Plan Could Worsen Consolidation And Pollution

November 13, 2021 Claire Kelloway, Food and Power. Educate! Biden administration, climate crisis, Farming, Methane

Reducing methane emissions took center stage at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow ending Friday. More than 100 countries pledged to reduce their methane emissions by 30% over the next decade. Methane is a significantly more potent yet shorter-lived greenhouse gas, making it a target to prevent near-term warming as societies hurtle towards the 1.5 degrees of warming deemed disastrous for life on Earth. In tandem with this global commitment, the Biden administration released its plan to bring down U.S. methane emissions. While this plan would set new limits on methane emissions coming off oil and gas plants, it does not regulate the single largest source of U.S. methane emissions: animal agriculture.

North Americans Debunk US And OAS Claims On Nicaragua Election

November 10, 2021 Kawsachun News. Resistance Report Biden administration, Elections, Nicaragua, US Imperialism

While major news networks and the Biden administration have labeled Nicaragua’s election a “sham”, North American delegations say their observations contradict the accusations. Members of delegations from the United States and Canada who were first-hand witnesses of the election held a press conference in Managua, in which they characterized the process as efficient, transparent, with widespread turnout and participation of opposition parties. 165 international representatives from 27 countries were represented in delegations which traveled to 10 departments and two autonomous regions of Nicaragua on the day of the vote.

US Takes A U-Turn, Approves $650 Million Weapons Sales To Saudi Arabia

November 6, 2021 Peoples Dispatch. Educate! Biden administration, Saudi Arabia, Weapons Sales

In an about-turn from its stated policy, the Joe Biden administration on Thursday, November 4, approved USD 650 million worth of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. The deal marks the first major arms sales deal with Saudi Arabia since Biden announced the end of US involvement in the war in Yemen and the sale of “offensive” weapons to Riyadh in February.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Grading Biden’s Build Back Better Deal

November 4, 2021 Max B. Sawicky , In These Times. Educate! Biden administration, Finance and the Economy, Infrastructure Bill

How good is the budget deal framework put forward by the Biden White House last week? It depends on your standard for comparison. Relative to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I‑Vt.) opening bid of $6 trillion, or even the previous compromise of $3.5 trillion, it’s a drastic come-down, with a current price tag around $1.85 trillion. But even before considering what is to come with the budget package, we ought to keep in mind what has already been done this year. In Fiscal Year 2021 (which ended in September), federal spending exceeded 30 percent of GDP. Presidents Trump and Biden share the credit for that outcome, since the fiscal year overlaps their times in office. Compared to past decades, such as 1975 to 1996 or 2003 to 2019, when federal spending hovered around 20 percent, that’s already a huge leap.

The United States Is Organizing A Color Revolution In Cuba

November 3, 2021 Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. Educate! Biden administration, Color Revolution, Cuba, US Imperialism

Havana — The United States government is playing a key role in organizing, promoting and amplifying upcoming nationwide protests in Cuba planned for November 15. When directly challenged at a press conference as to whether the United States is directly involved in the planning of the overthrow of the Cuban government, State Department spokesperson Ned Price refused to deny it, instead twice giving long statements about how much the U.S. supports the protests’ demands — responses that skeptical readers might consider tantamount to a “yes”. “The United States remains deeply committed to the Cuban people[‘s]…struggle to freely choose their leadership and their future,” Price added later in a press release.

Biden’s ‘Global Tax’ And The 40-Year US Corporate Tax ‘Shell Game’

November 2, 2021 Jack Rasmus, Counterpunch. Educate! Biden administration, Corporations, Media, Taxes

The corporate media in recent days has been busy resurrecting and re-reporting the deal negotiated weeks ago by Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, to get 100+ other nations to sign on to and introduce a 15% global corporate alternative tax in their countries. But why is the mainstream media bringing it up again now? Is it to soften the blow of Biden’s repeal of his proposal to hike corporate taxes in the US from Trump’s 21% to 26%? (It was 35% pre-Trump)? Or is there something else as well that explains why the media is running the global tax story that’s already weeks old? The global sign on to Biden’s 15% global minimum tax, announced weeks ago, is purportedly designed to prevent big multinational corporations’ manipulating governments by seeking out, and getting, special tax deals in certain countries at the expense of others.

There Is No ‘National Security’ Solution To The Climate Crisis

November 1, 2021 Sarah Lazare, In These Times. Educate! Biden administration, climate crisis, Pentagon, Wars and Militarism

On October 21, the Biden administration released a suite of reports aimed at showing how climate change poses a “national security” threat, and how institutions like the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security plan to respond. The analyses are meant to demonstrate a commitment to action: A statement from the White House proclaims that the reports will “serve as a foundation for our critical work on climate and security moving forward.” As the president’s own civilian climate change provisions in the Build Back Better package were being gutted, the report sent the message that national security institutions can still move a climate agenda forward — a message timed for just 10 days before the United Nations climate negotiations known as COP26.

288 Organizations Demand Biden Administration Condemn Israel’s Crackdown On Human Rights Groups

October 30, 2021 Center For Constitutional Rights. Resist! Biden administration, Human Rights, Israel, State Repression

Washington, D.C. ‒ A broad coalition of more than 288 U.S.-based social justice, civil rights, and human rights organizations is calling on the Biden administration to condemn the Israeli government’s decision last week to designate six Palestinian human rights groups as “terrorist organizations.” In a letter issued today, the organizations say the Biden administration has no choice but to condemn and push back against this move if it is to fulfill its avowed commitment to human rights. “These actions by the Israeli government are a clear attack on human rights,” the letter reads. “As such, we expect nothing less than issuing a swift rejection of this unprecedented attack on Palestinian human rights organizations and the attempt by the Israeli government to shut down, delegitimize, isolate, and chill a growing human rights movement.”

Biden Administration Is Undermining The Venezuela Dialogue

October 24, 2021 Leonardo Flores, Mintpress News. Educate! Alex Saab, Biden administration, Peace Negotiation, Venezuela

The talks between the Venezuelan government and the extreme-right wing opposition had been going well. There are still outstanding issues to be resolved, like ending the economic war, but the discussions held in Mexico led to concrete electoral developments. The European Union agreed to send an electoral observation mission. The United Nations decided to send a panel of electoral experts. (Both institutions refused to observe the 2018 presidential and 2020 legislative elections, despite invitations from the government.) Thousands of opposition candidates registered to run in the mega-elections, which include voting for governors and mayors, as regional and local legislators. It’s a good thing that agreements on the elections were reached quickly, because the Biden administration, following in the Trump administration’s footsteps, has been actively undermining the dialogue.

Biden’s Forest Service To Facilitate Quadrupling Of Oil Production

October 23, 2021 Center for Biological Diversity. Educate! Biden administration, climate crisis, Energy, Oil

Salt Lake city, Utah - In a massive blow to U.S. efforts to address the climate crisis, the Biden administration is poised to approve a right-of-way through the Ashley National Forest that would take the climate-damaging Uinta Basin Railway one step closer to being built. The railway would enable crude oil production in the basin to quadruple to 350,000 barrels a day. Over a year, that much oil would produce planet-warming pollution conservatively estimated at 53 million tons of carbon dioxide — equivalent to the emissions from six of Utah’s dirtiest coal plants. At an October 22 meeting of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, board members discussed a recent meeting in Utah with U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore.

People Vs. Fossil Fuels: Nearly 400 People Arrested Outside White House

October 14, 2021 People Vs. Fossil Fuels. Resist! Biden administration, climate crisis, Fossil Fuels, Frontline Community

Washington, D.C. — Demonstrators returned to the White House on Wednesday morning for the third day of the “People vs. Fossil Fuels” mobilization, keeping up the pressure on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop all new fossil fuel projects. Under a giant banner that read “Biden: Our Communities Can’t Wait,” hundreds of people marched to the White House this morning to highlight the dangerous ongoing impacts of the climate crisis across the country and the world. As hundreds rallied in Lafayette Square Park, 90 people sat in at the White House fence, risking arrest for the third straight day of civil disobedience. The Biden Administration has so far avoided questions and refused to comment on the mass civil disobedience or respond to the demonstrator’s demands.

Who Will Step Up In Biden’s DOJ To Save Julian Assange?

October 12, 2021 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. Resist! Biden administration, Department of Justice, Extradition, Julian Assange

Last month Biden’s Haitian envoy resigned on principle. Is there someone in Biden’s Justice Department who would push the attorney general to drop the prosecution of Julian Assange? Last month the U.S. special envoy to Haiti quit in protest over the Biden administration’s decision to repatriate thousands of Haitian migrants from the United States. In his letter (pdf) of resignation to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Daniel Foote wrote, ““I will not be associated with the United States’ inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs in control of daily life.”

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