Public Services

Palantir Profits From European Public Services; Avoids Taxes That Fund Them

August 6, 2026 Ana Vracar, BreakThrough News. Educate! European Union (EU), Palantir, Public Services, Taxes

Tech company Palantir has become widely known for the dystopian values espoused by its founders and their stated support for Israel throughout the genocide in Gaza. A new report now indicates the company may also be engaged in extensive tax dodging, allowing it to avoid contributing to the public services it profits from. Launched on August 5 by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and the Center for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR), the report identifies “an estimated €12 million (approximately USD 13.8 million) ‘tax gap’ between what Palantir pays in Europe and what they would have paid if they didn’t shift profits to the United States.”

France’s Communists Hold Back the Far Right, For Now

March 28, 2026 Phineas Rueckert, Portside. Strategize! Communist Party, Elections, Far Right Politics, France, Public Services

The setting of Émile Zola’s 1885 novel, Germinal, is nothing if not bleak. In the northern French mining settlement where the book takes place, the roads were “black like mourning trim,” the village “dead . . . draped in its shroud.” “The wide streets, divided into small terraced gardens, remained deserted between four large uniform buildings,” Zola writes. It’s a kind of social realism that has long shaped the collective idea of what the old industrial north is like. Visiting Méricourt, one of the many former mining villages that dot northern France, that image feels far from present reality.

Panama’s Indigenous And Civil Movements Under Siege

May 17, 2025 John Ahni Shertow, Intercontinental Cry. Resist! Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Panama, Public Services, State Repression

A wave of protests across Panama has led to the widespread use of chemical agents, and growing calls for international oversight. The catalyst is Law 462, a recent reform to the country’s Social Security Fund. The government says the law is necessary to fix a system under financial strain. But many Panamanians see it as a threat to healthcare access and economic security—especially for workers, students, and Indigenous communities. Protesters have been organizing for weeks with teachers, unions, students, and Indigenous peoples forming a broad coalition. They argue Law 462 reflects a deeper pattern of cuts to public services and the erosion of democratic rights.

Capitalists Should Be Removed From All Our Systems

December 19, 2024 Paul Street, Counter Punch. Strategize! Capitalism, Health Care, Public Services, Structural Violence

Imagine that your household was regularly broken into by a sadist who systemically beat-up everyone in your home. He’d start by punching folks in the stomach. Then he’d smack people on the both sides of their heads. Then he’d kick your legs out from underneath you and pound you all on your backs and necks before kicking you all in the jaw and punching your noses. In forming a response to this outrageous oppression would you tell this monster that the next time he breaks into your home with his fists balled he’s going to have to forgo one of the shots he takes at people – say, the head smacks.

The Struggle To Keep Water Services In The Public Is Only Just Beginning

November 24, 2022 Pamela Haines, Waging Nonviolence. Resist! Pennsylvania, Privatization, Public Services, Water

Pennsylvania - In early September, the three county commissioners of Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia, voted down a $1.1 billion bid from Aqua Pennsylvania to buy their sewer system. This response to an outpouring of citizen concern about what would have been the largest privatization of a public wastewater system in the country illuminates a larger story — both of the encroachment of privatization and the potential for victories when citizens mobilize around its costs. Aqua had been systematically buying up smaller water systems for years. In New Garden in southeastern Pennsylvania, Bill Ferguson saw his wastewater rates jump nearly 70 percent in the few years after Aqua purchased his township’s sewer system in 2017.

Judge Blocks Rule That Would Have Kicked 700,000 People Off SNAP

March 16, 2020 Maria Godoy, Npr.org Resist! Courts, Food stamps, Public Services, Reform

Critics had called on the Department of Agriculture to suspend implementation of the new food stamp restrictions, especially in light of the economic crisis spurred by the coronavirus pandemic. A federal judge has issued an injunction blocking the Trump administration from adopting a rule change that would force nearly 700,000 Americans off food stamps...

“Our Biggest Enemy Is PG&E”: Inside The Fight To Put Utilities Under Public Control

December 12, 2019 By Nuala Bishari, Inthesetimes.com Create! Public Services, Reform, Utilities

SANTA ROSA, Calif.—“We’ve been evacuated twice in the past five years,” J.D. Opperman tells a small crowd of around 30 who had gathered to protest Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in downtown Santa Rosa on Nov. 16, 2019. Among the protesters were members of the Marin, North Bay and East Bay chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). They held handmade signs reading “PG&E: The ultimate homewrecker” and “PG&E: Poster child for the corporate death penalty.”

Kansas City, Missouri Approves Free Public Transit for All

December 8, 2019 By Julia Conley, Common Dreams Create! New Economy, Public Services, Transit, Transportation

Lawmakers in Kansas City, Missouri took a "visionary step" on Thursday by unanimously voting to make public transportation in the city free of charge, setting the stage for it to be the first major U.S. city to have free public transit. The Kansas City Council voted to direct the city manager to set aside $8 million to eliminate the $1.50 per ride fare that currently applies to the city's bus system. Some frequent riders could save about $1,000 per year under the new plan, according to KCUR, the city's public radio station.

Elderly And Disabled People Win Victory Against Veolia

November 25, 2019 By Jim McMahan, Stopveoliaseattle.wordpress.com Resist! Public Services, Seattle, Transportation

Disabled and elderly paratransit riders in Seattle have won a victory over the corporate criminal, Veolia corporation, which for years has delivered negligent service to the disabled riding public. King County Metro Transit, which controls the Access Paratransit, just got rid of its contractor, Veolia, after years of public pressure and organizing. The Stop Veolia Seattle organization worked in solidarity with Access drivers and also had the support of the Boston School Bus Drivers union, United Steelworkers Local 8751.

Decolonizing The Public Library

September 9, 2019 Olivia Robinson, Rabble.ca Create! Canada, Library, Public Services

Public libraries in Canada now purport to be for the whole public, but for some provinces in Canada this wasn't always the case. Lorne Bruce, author of Free Books For All: The Public Library Movement in Ontario, 1850-1930 wrote that the term "public library" fell out of favour as libraries evolved to an educational tool for lay persons and a "professional cadre and as a modern service ethic," from "a grand Victorian vision of beneficial societal change." In 1901, James Bain then-president of the Ontario Library Association spoke to this shift in the library's image.

Colorado Surpasses $1 Billion In Marijuana Tax Revenue

June 15, 2019 Carina Julig, The Denver Post. Create! Marijuana, New Economy, Public Services, Taxes

Colorado has surpassed $1 billion in tax revenue from marijuana sales since recreational use was legalized in 2014. Marijuana tax, license and fee revenue has reached $1.02 billion, and marijuana sales over $6.5 billion, the Colorado Department of Revenue announced in a news release. Colorado has 2,917 licensed marijuana businesses and 41,076 licensed individuals working in the industry. Marijuana revenue funds a range of youth and public health programs in Colorado, including mental health services, youth literacy initiatives and anti-bullying programs in schools. Marijuana tax revenue goes to both state and local governments. “This industry is helping grow our economy by creating jobs and generating valuable revenue that is going towards preventing youth consumption, protecting public health and safety and investing in public school construction,” Governor Polis said in a statement.

Professional Societies: Corporate Service, Or Public Services For You!

June 6, 2018 Ralph Nader, Nader.org Educate! Corporations, Non Profit, Public Services

They call themselves non-profit professional societies, but they often act as enabling trade associations for the companies and businesspeople who fund them. At their worst, they serve their paymasters and remain in the shadows, avoiding publicity and visibility. When guided by their better angels, professional societies can be authoritative tribunes for a more healthy and safe society. I am referring to the organizations that stand for their respective professions – automotive, electrical, chemical and mechanical engineers; physicians; architects; scientists; and accountants. The people working in these occupations all want to be members of a “professional” association, not a “trade” association.

This Is The Wrong Time To Cut Back On Public Housing

May 4, 2018 By Ebony Slaughter-Johnson, Otherwords.org Educate! Affordable Housing, Class Struggle, Public Housing, Public Services

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson has answered President Trump’s call to shrink the social safety net. Carson recently offered a proposal that would triple the rent some of America’s poorest families have to pay before they get housing assistance. Housing advocates are appalled. If they’re pushed out of public housing, many low-income families could face housing instability at every turn. That could mean a lifetime of poverty, tenuous employment, and an unstable environment for kids. As of March 2018, the median cost of a new home is $337,200, placing home ownership out of the reach of many Americans. Even for those who try to reach it, redlining and discriminatory lending on the part of banks can render the possible impossible. An analysis from Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting found that black Americans in particular...

The Broadband Boost Small-Town America Needs

April 16, 2018 By Alex Marshall, Governing.com Create! Internet, Public Services, Rural

They are mostly towns you’ve probably never heard of, places like Sandy, Ore., Leverett, Mass., Lafayette, La., and Longmont, Colo. Yet these smaller communities, and hundreds more like them, have something even the techiest big cities such as New York, San Francisco and Seattle don’t have: widespread, fast and well-priced broadband service. Big cities usually have the edge in the traditional drivers of economic development. They have the universities, the sports teams, the big airports, the interstate highway access, the ports. But in arguably the most forward-looking part of the economy, some smaller localities have the edge. They made it for themselves by developing their own broadband networks, typically employing the latest fiber-optic technology. “I believe over the next three to five years people are no longer going to be surprised that some small cities have much better internet access than big cities,” ...

The Case For Free Public Transport

March 19, 2018 Connor Beaton, Socialistproject.ca Create! Environment, Public Services, Transportation

Rail fares across the UK have soared in comparison to those of our European neighbours, and Scottish transport contracts go out to tender in a farcical franchise system whereby public sector companies in other countries can bid for control while those in Scotland are effectively barred. Scotland, the country which gave the world the pedal bicycle and the pneumatic tyre, now has a public transport network which is broadly unfit for purpose. Massive changes have to be made to ensure that our public transport network is not only of a standard befitting the people of Scotland, but one that is adapted to our environmental and economic needs – challenging climate change while connecting communities and creating jobs through enhanced mobility.

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