Congress

The Pointless Putsch

January 9, 2021 Nathaniel St. Clair, Counterpunch. Educate! Capitol, Congress, Trump

If the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, and eventually overtook the Capitol, quite easily by the way, with police literally opening gates for them, snapping some selfies, and participating in a few friendly shoving matches before ceding the building completely. If those people stormed the Capitol because their government had abandoned them for nearly a year while an unprecedented pandemic ravaged the country. If they stormed the Capitol because the government shut down their jobs and asked them to stay home but didn’t provide stimulus to replace their lost income, didn’t provide rent relief, mortgage relief, debt relief during an unprecedented pandemic.

Violence In The Capitol, Dangers In The Aftermath

January 8, 2021 Glenn Greenwald, Substack. Educate! Capitol, Civil Liberties, Congress, Trump

In the days and weeks after the 9/11 attack, Americans were largely united in emotional horror at what had been done to their country as well as in their willingness to endorse repression and violence in response. As a result, there was little room to raise concerns about the possible excesses or dangers of the American reaction, let alone to dissent from what political leaders were proposing in the name of vengeance and security. The psychological trauma from the carnage and the wreckage at the country’s most cherished symbols swamped rational faculties and thus rendered futile any attempts to urge restraint or caution. Nonetheless, a few tried. Scorn and sometimes worse were universally heaped upon them.

Let The Black Caucus Be Black

January 8, 2021 Margaret Kimberley, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Congress, Congressional Black Caucus, Nancy Pelosi

“Let Black Democrats Be Black!” was written by Glen Ford in the November 1, 2006 issue of Black Agenda Report. The title is evergreen and could be used again as the 117th Congress was sworn into office this week. The same issues of corporate control, austerity policies, imperialism, and Democratic Party corruption prevail and make these issues salient year after year. Ford’s piece appeared as the Democrats were poised to take control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994. Black people were supposed to be particularly happy because veteran Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members like Charles Rangel and John Conyers were slated to chair House committees.

This Is The Time To Push For National Improved Medicare For All

January 4, 2021 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast Congress, Force the Vote, Medicare for all, Nancy Pelosi

This past weekend, new members of Congress voted for the speaker of the House. Given the slim majority of Democrats, progressives urged members of Congress who ran on a platform of Medicare for All to negotiate a floor vote for the Medicare for All bill in exchange for their support for Nancy Pelosi. Given the recession, pandemic, the millions who have lost their health insurance, growing support for Medicare for All and this rare opportunity of holding political power, the floor vote was seen as an important demonstration that progressives in Congress would fight for the people's interests this year. The campaign went by the hashtag #ForceTheVote.

Leech Lake Homelands Returned

January 2, 2021 Dalton Walker, Indian Country Today. Create! Congress, Indigenous Rights, Land Ownership, Land Right

Nearly 12,000 acres taken from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in the 1940s and 1950s will be returned. Legislation that called for the Chippewa National Forest to transfer 11,760 acres to the Interior Department to be held in trust for the northern Minnesota tribe is now law. The House unanimously passed the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act in early December, and the Senate approved the bill in 2019. The measure was then presented to President Donald Trump, who had 10 days to sign or veto it. On Wednesday, the president signed the bill into law, the tribe announced on Facebook. "Miigwech to everyone involved in getting this historic legislation passed!" the post said.

The DC Political Monopoly Just Doesn’t Get It

December 26, 2020 Richard D. Wolff, Counterpunch. Educate! Capitalism, Congress, COVID-19, Failed State

The spectacle of political “leaders” disconnected from basic social realities survived Trump’s defeat. He and his GOP had shown little grasp of the two great crises of 2020: the crash of capitalism and the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump’s resulting political defeat did not reconnect them. The Biden Democrats already show they learned little from Trump’s loss; disconnection governs them too. A basic social reality of the United States is its capitalist economic system that organizes enterprises internally into a small minority (employers) dominating the majority (employees), with markets to distribute resources and products. Like capitalisms everywhere, the U.S. version crashes recurringly.

Meet The Pseudo-Left Imperialists Fighting Against Universal Healthcare

December 25, 2020 Dan Cohen, The Grayzone. Resistance Report Congress, Media, Medicare for all, Pseudo-Left

It’s no coincidence that the pundits who are circling the wagons around AOC and seething at a comedian for pushing for a Medicare For All floor vote are also a bunch of pseudo-left imperialists. They’ve positioned themselves as guard dogs and gatekeepers of the Democratic Party, a pro-war, pro-Wall Street political cartel that fights the authentic anti-imperialist left harder than it takes on right-wing Republicans. If there’s anything positive to take away from this episode, it’s that we now know who’s part of the struggle to improve the lives of working people in this country and ends wars abroad – and who’s standing in the way.

Congress Passes $900 Billion Mitigation 2.0 Bill

December 23, 2020 Jack Rasmus, Counterpunch. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, Democrats, Recession

As the 2020 year closes, Congress is about to pass a $900B Covid Relief spending bill. But make no mistake. It’s Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal. And it will hardly dent the rapidly slowing US economy this 4th quarter and the increasingly forecasted coming double dip recession early next year. The new spending shouldn’t be confused as a ‘stimulus’ bill. It won’t stimulate the economy much, if at all. A stimulus requires significant net new spending. Most of the deal is just a continuation of past spending levels, and in some notable examples it’s a reduction in spending levels. The same can be said for the companion legislation to keep the US federal government funded.

Regime-Change Policies Come Packed With US Pandemic Relief

December 23, 2020 Alexander Rubinstein and Jeb Sprague, The Grayzone. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, US Regime Change

The longest piece of legislation in United States history, containing both a coronavirus relief package and the annual omnibus spending package, quickly passed through Congress on December 22, with little opposition. While technically separate bills, the omnibus and stimulus were debated and passed together, at the same time. The massive piece of legislation — a staggering 5,593 pages in length — lays bare the priorities of the US government, prioritizing regime change in foreign nations and the imperatives of empire over the basic needs of Americans. In just a few hours, it passed through the House of Representatives by 359-53, and through the Senate by 92-6.

Draft Bill Would Eliminate Fair Use On The Internet

December 22, 2020 Shiva Stella, Public Knowledge. Educate! Congress, Copyright, Free Speech, Internet

Today, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) released a discussion draft of a bill that would “update” the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The language in this draft, if enacted, would radically overhaul the current copyright system for online content by centralizing unprecedented control of both content and digital platforms in the hands of the executive branch. The current draft text would significantly curtail online speech, subjecting every upload to mandatory content filtering while effectively eliminating fair use on the internet. The following can be attributed to Meredith Rose, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Negotiate

December 22, 2020 Richard Moser, Counterpunch. Strategize! CARES Act, Congress, COVID-19, Failed State

The first and worst failure to do a damn thing for the working class was the multi-trillion-dollar corporate bailout of the CARES Act. If you walk into the first bargaining session with the bosses and give them everything they want, throw a few scraps to the workers, and agree to come back to the table later — you have surrendered all leverage and sold out. Why would the billionaires and their faithful servants in government agree to anything more? Most government services are provided at the state and local levels. Once the CARES Act showered trillions on the corporations and starved the states and cities, it could only trigger a cascade of cutbacks and austerity measures.

Chris Hedges: The Great Delusion

December 21, 2020 Chris Hedges, ScheerPost.com. Educate! Congress, Health Care, Pandemic, Trump

Joe Biden and the systems managers of the deep state and empire are returning to power. Trump and his coterie of buffoons, racists, con artists and Christian fascists are sullenly preparing to leave office. U.S. pharmaceutical corporations are starting to disseminate vaccines to mitigate the globe’s worst outbreak of COVID-19 that has resulted in more than 2,600 deaths per day. America, as Biden says, is back, ready to take its place at the head of the table. In the battle for the soul of America, he assures us, democracy has prevailed. Progress, prosperity, civility and a reassertion of American prestige and power are, we are promised, weeks away.

In Mainstream Media, Capitalism’s Failures Are Always Your Fault

December 21, 2020 Taya Graham, The Real News. Resistance Report Congress, COVID-19, Pentagon Budget, wealth inequality

Just a quick note: This show is about an existential threat to humanity - the growing gulf between the rich and the rest of us. But why do we need a show solely about the topic of inequality? Because almost every other social ill which threatens the quality of our lives and the state of our democracy is affected by the underlying imperative of rampant inequality. Well, how do I know this? Well just consider what happened this week in the catastrophic mess also known as Washington DC. Their well-heeled politicians and their lobbyist enablers found themselves at an impasse over much-needed aid for a country reeling from a worsening pandemic.

Congress Finalizes A COVID-19 Relief Bill

December 20, 2020 Sarah D. Wire, Los Angeles Times. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, Unemployment benefits

Washington, DC - Congressional leaders agreed Sunday on a nearly $900 billion economic aid package to extend federal unemployment payments and forgivable loans for small businesses, and to give direct cash payments to many Americans. The leaders — under increasing pressure from constituents and rank-and-file lawmakers, and confronted with both a slowing economy and surging coronavirus infections and related deaths — are racing to pass it into law before millions of Americans lose their financial lifeline. The final text of the aid package, the second largest in U.S. history, was expected to become available Sunday evening, leaving members of Congress little time to review it before voting Monday.

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