ON THIS DAY
In 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing U.S. commonwealth.
File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Time to Invest in Affordable Housing and Education, Not Tear Gas, Batons, and State-Sanctioned Murder
It’s time to defund the police, and invest in communities. We have no time to waste.
by Robert Reich
This moment calls on us to relinquish social control and ramp up our commitment to social investment. (Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
It’s time to defund the police, and invest in communities. We have no time to waste.
by Robert Reich
This moment calls on us to relinquish social control and ramp up our commitment to social investment. (Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
ome societies center on social control, others on social investment.
Social-control societies put substantial resources into police, prisons, surveillance, immigration enforcement, and the military. Their purpose is to utilize fear, punishment, and violence to divide people and keep the status quo in place — perpetuating the systemic oppression of Black and brown people, and benefiting no one but wealthy elites.
Social-investment societies put more resources into healthcare, education, affordable housing, jobless benefits, and children. Their purpose is to free people from the risks and anxieties of daily life and give everyone a fair shot at making it.
Donald Trump epitomizes the former. He calls himself the “law and order” president. He even wants to sic the military on Americans protesting horrific police killings.
He has created an unaccountable army of federal agents who go into cities like Portland, Oregon – without showing their identities – and assault innocent Americans.
Trump is the culmination of forty years of increasing social control in the United States and decreasing social investment – a trend which, given the deep-seated history of racism in the United States, falls disproportionately on Black people, indigeneous people, and people of color.
The more societies spend on social controls, the less they have left for social investment. More police means fewer social services. American taxpayers spend $107.5 billion more on police than on public housing.Spending on policing in the United States has almost tripled, from $42.3 billion in 1977 to $114.5 billion in 2017.
America now locks away 2.2 million people in prisons and jails. That’s a 500 percent increase from 40 years ago. The nation now has the largest incarcerated population in the world.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has exploded. More people are now in ICE detention than ever in its history.
Total military spending in the U.S. has soared from $437 billion in 2003 to $935.8 billion this fiscal year.
The more societies spend on social controls, the less they have left for social investment. More police means fewer social services. American taxpayers spend $107.5 billion more on police than on public housing.
More prisons means fewer dollars for education. In fact, America is now spending more money on prisons than on public schools. Fifteen states now spend $27,000 more per person in prison than they do per student.
As spending on controls has increased, spending on public assistance has shrunk. Fewer people are receiving food stamps. Outlays for public health have declined.
America can’t even seem to find money to extend unemployment benefits during this pandemic.
Societies that skimp on social investment end up spending more on social controls that perpetuate violence and oppression. This trend is a deep-seated part of our history.
The United States began as a control society. Slavery – America’s original sin – depended on the harshest conceivable controls. Jim Crow and redlining continued that legacy.
But in the decades following World War II, the nation began inching toward social investment – the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and substantial investments in health and education.
Then America swung backward to social control.
Since Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” four times as many people have been arrested for possessing drugs as for selling them.
Of those arrested for possession, half have been charged with possessing cannabis for their own use. Nixon’s strategy had a devastating effect on Black people that is still felt today: a Black person is nearly 4 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than a white person, even though they use it at similar rates.
Bill Clinton put 88,000 additional police on the streets and got Congress to mandate life sentences for people convicted of a felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug offenses.
This so-called “three strikes you’re out” law was replicated by many states, and, yet again, disproportionately impacted Black Americans. In California, for instance, Black people were 12 times more likely than white people to be incarcerated under three-strikes laws, until the state reformed the law in 2012. Clinton also “reformed” welfare into a restrictive program that does little for families in poverty today.
Why did America swing back to social control?
Part of the answer has to do with widening inequality. As the middle class collapsed and the ranks of the poor grew, those in power viewed social controls as cheaper than social investment, which would require additional taxes and a massive redistribution of both wealth and power.
Meanwhile, politicians whose power depends on maintaining the status quo, used racism – from Nixon’s “law and order” and Reagan’s “welfare queens” to Trump’s blatantly racist rhetoric – to deflect the anxieties of an increasingly overwhelmed white working class. It’s the same old strategy. So long as racial animosity exists, the poor and working class won’t join together to topple the system that keeps so many Americans in poverty, and Black Americans oppressed.
The last weeks of protests and demonstrations have exposed what’s always been true: social controls are both deadly and unsustainable. They require more and more oppressive means of terrorizing communities and they drain resources that would ensure Black people not only survive, but thrive.
This moment calls on us to relinquish social control and ramp up our commitment to social investment.
It’s time we invest in affordable housing and education, not tear gas, batons, and state-sanctioned murder. It’s time we invest in keeping children fed and out of poverty, not putting their parents behind bars. It’s time to defund the police, and invest in communities. We have no time to waste.
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the the twentieth century. The author of many books, including the best-sellers Aftershock, The Work of Nations, Beyond Outrage and, Saving Capitalism. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good." He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
Social-control societies put substantial resources into police, prisons, surveillance, immigration enforcement, and the military. Their purpose is to utilize fear, punishment, and violence to divide people and keep the status quo in place — perpetuating the systemic oppression of Black and brown people, and benefiting no one but wealthy elites.
Social-investment societies put more resources into healthcare, education, affordable housing, jobless benefits, and children. Their purpose is to free people from the risks and anxieties of daily life and give everyone a fair shot at making it.
Donald Trump epitomizes the former. He calls himself the “law and order” president. He even wants to sic the military on Americans protesting horrific police killings.
He has created an unaccountable army of federal agents who go into cities like Portland, Oregon – without showing their identities – and assault innocent Americans.
Trump is the culmination of forty years of increasing social control in the United States and decreasing social investment – a trend which, given the deep-seated history of racism in the United States, falls disproportionately on Black people, indigeneous people, and people of color.
The more societies spend on social controls, the less they have left for social investment. More police means fewer social services. American taxpayers spend $107.5 billion more on police than on public housing.Spending on policing in the United States has almost tripled, from $42.3 billion in 1977 to $114.5 billion in 2017.
America now locks away 2.2 million people in prisons and jails. That’s a 500 percent increase from 40 years ago. The nation now has the largest incarcerated population in the world.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has exploded. More people are now in ICE detention than ever in its history.
Total military spending in the U.S. has soared from $437 billion in 2003 to $935.8 billion this fiscal year.
The more societies spend on social controls, the less they have left for social investment. More police means fewer social services. American taxpayers spend $107.5 billion more on police than on public housing.
More prisons means fewer dollars for education. In fact, America is now spending more money on prisons than on public schools. Fifteen states now spend $27,000 more per person in prison than they do per student.
As spending on controls has increased, spending on public assistance has shrunk. Fewer people are receiving food stamps. Outlays for public health have declined.
America can’t even seem to find money to extend unemployment benefits during this pandemic.
Societies that skimp on social investment end up spending more on social controls that perpetuate violence and oppression. This trend is a deep-seated part of our history.
The United States began as a control society. Slavery – America’s original sin – depended on the harshest conceivable controls. Jim Crow and redlining continued that legacy.
But in the decades following World War II, the nation began inching toward social investment – the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and substantial investments in health and education.
Then America swung backward to social control.
Since Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” four times as many people have been arrested for possessing drugs as for selling them.
Of those arrested for possession, half have been charged with possessing cannabis for their own use. Nixon’s strategy had a devastating effect on Black people that is still felt today: a Black person is nearly 4 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than a white person, even though they use it at similar rates.
Bill Clinton put 88,000 additional police on the streets and got Congress to mandate life sentences for people convicted of a felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug offenses.
This so-called “three strikes you’re out” law was replicated by many states, and, yet again, disproportionately impacted Black Americans. In California, for instance, Black people were 12 times more likely than white people to be incarcerated under three-strikes laws, until the state reformed the law in 2012. Clinton also “reformed” welfare into a restrictive program that does little for families in poverty today.
Why did America swing back to social control?
Part of the answer has to do with widening inequality. As the middle class collapsed and the ranks of the poor grew, those in power viewed social controls as cheaper than social investment, which would require additional taxes and a massive redistribution of both wealth and power.
Meanwhile, politicians whose power depends on maintaining the status quo, used racism – from Nixon’s “law and order” and Reagan’s “welfare queens” to Trump’s blatantly racist rhetoric – to deflect the anxieties of an increasingly overwhelmed white working class. It’s the same old strategy. So long as racial animosity exists, the poor and working class won’t join together to topple the system that keeps so many Americans in poverty, and Black Americans oppressed.
The last weeks of protests and demonstrations have exposed what’s always been true: social controls are both deadly and unsustainable. They require more and more oppressive means of terrorizing communities and they drain resources that would ensure Black people not only survive, but thrive.
This moment calls on us to relinquish social control and ramp up our commitment to social investment.
It’s time we invest in affordable housing and education, not tear gas, batons, and state-sanctioned murder. It’s time we invest in keeping children fed and out of poverty, not putting their parents behind bars. It’s time to defund the police, and invest in communities. We have no time to waste.
Robert Reich, is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as secretary of labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time magazine named him one of the 10 most effective cabinet secretaries of the the twentieth century. The author of many books, including the best-sellers Aftershock, The Work of Nations, Beyond Outrage and, Saving Capitalism. He is also a founding editor of The American Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary, "Inequality For All." Reich's newest book is "The Common Good." He's co-creator of the Netflix original documentary "Saving Capitalism," which is streaming now.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Standing Up to the Armed and Inarticulate
American fascism is always a force waiting to be born.
by
Guns are the speech of the inarticulate. (Photo: Apu GOMES / AFP via Getty Images)
Here’s a quietly unsettling moment from the current cries for change churning across the nation:
A teenage girl is at a grocery store in the small town of Marion, Virginia. Her brother, Travon Brown, age 17, had recently become both beloved and hated — the center of controversy — in the town, because he had organized a protest against racism in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. This was one of thousands of such protests across the country, but the majority-white town was nonetheless riled up over this affront, according to the Washington Post, which took a long, deep look at events there.
Indeed, a neighbor had burned a cross on the family’s lawn after the protest and wound up getting arrested. That was by no means the end of the unrest. At the store, the Post informed us, Ray’Kia “was confronted by a stranger . . . who asked the 16-year-old if she was Travon’s sister and then pulled up his shirt to reveal a handgun.”
Get it?
This is the USA, land of the Second Amendment. The stranger wasn’t threatening to murder a young, African-American woman (I don’t think), just tossing a warning into her awareness that armed, white America will never change. Guns are the speech of the inarticulate.
I begin with this fleeting moment — nothing further came of it — simply because it captures both the worst and best of who we are. This was not the end of the protest movement in Marion, nor has Donald Trump’s infusion of secret, federal “police” into Portland, Oregon — with more of the same coming to other cities, including Chicago, where I live — put an end to the nation’s protest movements: the demands for change and consciousness shift. But I see a surreal symmetry here. The inarticulate but oh-so-powerful President Trump is sending the same sort of message . . . to a city, to a country.
The message can probably be summed up thus: This is a divided nation. Always has been, always will be. White people run things here and that isn’t going to change. We live in an us-vs.-them world. Get used to it. Stay in your place, whoever you are.
Trump is tapping into the same consciousness as the guy in the grocery store. American fascism is always a force waiting to be born.
As Juan Cole writes: “It now appears clear that part of that strategy is to send Federal agents dressed like Iraq War troops to Democratic-run cities, on the pretext of protecting Federal property, and then for them to attack and provoke Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police protesters, causing violence to escalate and using it . . . to scare the suburbs. The exercise also has the advantage for Trump of entrenching a new form of secret police and of turning Federal agents into instruments of his authoritarianism.”
As some writers have pointed out, it could also be Trump’s re-election strategy: “In this regard, Trump appears to be following Richard Nixon’s 1968 ‘Southern Strategy,’ perhaps even on the advice of former Nixon advisor Roger Stone,” Thom Hartmann writes. “Provoke violence, make cities burn, and then promise to keep white people safe with ‘law and order.’”
What’s crucial here is not to give them what they want, i.e., a pseudo-civil war, which will be crushed by the heavily armed “good guys” — the ones firing teargas and rubber bullets, arresting protesters for no apparent reason and throwing them into unmarked cars.
In this context, meet “Naked Athena.” Actually, she is an unidentified woman, but she was thus dubbed when photos of her appearance — wearing nothing but a face mask and a stocking cap — at a Portland protest rally last week, taken by a photographer for the Portland Oregonian, went public.
The photographer had been covering a protest into the wee hours last weekend when, according to the Oregonian, at nearly 2 a.m., as police officers stood in a confrontational faceoff with a crowd of protesters, suddenly “a naked woman appeared. She walked out to the intersection in front of where police were standing. . . . She paced the area near the crosswalk. She laid down, kicking up her feet. She did ballet poses.” At one point, police officers shot pepper balls at her feet. She stayed put.
Basically, everyone was stunned. After about ten minutes, the police simply walked away.
The photographer, Dave Killen, said: “She was incredibly vulnerable. It would have been incredibly painful to be shot with any of those munitions with no clothes on.”
Perhaps what’s most stunning here is the power of vulnerability. And so I return to Travon Brown, and the second protest he organized in Marion. Yes, the protesters were met by a crowd of counter-protesters, who, as the Post reports, started shouting things at them like “Antifa sucks” and “Go home!” Anger bubbled.
“When protesters began to talk back, Travon turned and shushed them,” according to the Post. “He knelt near the front, his right fist raised to the air.” As he did so, the caustic sarcasm from the counter-protesters continued. But then . . .
“Travon began shouting ‘I love you’ across the divide, and soon all the protesters were shouting it and the faces opposite them were momentarily quiet and confused.”
And later the chief of the county sheriff’s department shook his hand, happily reporting that not a single person had been arrested.
As Jeffrey Isaac wrote, when Brown cried out “love!” . . . “he seems to have meant it in the way that Martin Luther King, Jr. meant it — not as mere sentiment of affection, but as ‘agape,’ an active performance of human solidarity, a way of engaging with one’s oppressors, and communicating with bystanders . . .”
Love — so much deeper, so much more vulnerable, so much more powerful than hate. In the long run, this is the force that will create the change so many of us are calling for.
Without action, $600 benefit and eviction shield will expire Friday JULY 24
Pennsylvania Avenue that runs between the White House and the U.S. Capitol is virtually empty of traffic on April 22, in Washington, D.C. Two measures passed by Congress to help Americans facing hardship are set to expire Friday, unless they're extended by lawmakers. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
July 24 (UPI) -- A pair of federal measures that were enacted in the spring to help Americans with financial hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are set to expire on Friday.
Congress faces a deadline to extend enhanced federal unemployment benefits, which have given many unemployed an additional $600 per week. The other provision set to expire Friday is a national moratorium that bars landlords from evicting millions of renters in public and federally subsidized housing.
RELATED Two-thirds in U.S. have underlying conditions, at risk for severe COVID-19
Pelosi added that she plans to arrive at the bargaining table with "a commitment to the $600."
The Urban Institute estimates that 12.3 million U.S. households, or 30% of renters nationwide, face possible eviction if Congress doesn't extend the eviction moratorium and state-level policies expire.
The moratorium protects renters in federal housing and those who live in homes with federally backed mortgages. Once the measure expires, landlords will be able to issue 30-day notices to vacate and begin filing eviction paperwork by late August.
RELATED U.S. surpasses 4M coronavirus cases since start of pandemic
The House has already passed legislation to create a $100 billion rental assistance fund and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., introduced a housing plan that would bar evictions and foreclosures for a year. It would also give tenants as many as 18 months to make up missed payments.
The Republican plan in the Senate contains no provisions to support either plan.
Pennsylvania Avenue that runs between the White House and the U.S. Capitol is virtually empty of traffic on April 22, in Washington, D.C. Two measures passed by Congress to help Americans facing hardship are set to expire Friday, unless they're extended by lawmakers. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
July 24 (UPI) -- A pair of federal measures that were enacted in the spring to help Americans with financial hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are set to expire on Friday.
Congress faces a deadline to extend enhanced federal unemployment benefits, which have given many unemployed an additional $600 per week. The other provision set to expire Friday is a national moratorium that bars landlords from evicting millions of renters in public and federally subsidized housing.
The $600 per week payment was included in March's CARES Act after lawmakers decided state unemployment systems would not be able to process sufficient payouts for the full amount of workers' lost wages.
Congress, which can extend the benefits, is still negotiating a relief bill but lawmakers in the House and Senate remain far apart on a consensus aid package.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the Republican plan will be "based on approximately 70% wage replacement." Under the GOP plan, the weekly payment would likely decrease to about $200 or $300.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the present incarnation of the GOP bill would fail in the lower chamber.
"If we're going to ratchet that down, it ought to be over time," she said.
Congress, which can extend the benefits, is still negotiating a relief bill but lawmakers in the House and Senate remain far apart on a consensus aid package.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that the Republican plan will be "based on approximately 70% wage replacement." Under the GOP plan, the weekly payment would likely decrease to about $200 or $300.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the present incarnation of the GOP bill would fail in the lower chamber.
"If we're going to ratchet that down, it ought to be over time," she said.
RELATED Two-thirds in U.S. have underlying conditions, at risk for severe COVID-19
Pelosi added that she plans to arrive at the bargaining table with "a commitment to the $600."
The Urban Institute estimates that 12.3 million U.S. households, or 30% of renters nationwide, face possible eviction if Congress doesn't extend the eviction moratorium and state-level policies expire.
The moratorium protects renters in federal housing and those who live in homes with federally backed mortgages. Once the measure expires, landlords will be able to issue 30-day notices to vacate and begin filing eviction paperwork by late August.
RELATED U.S. surpasses 4M coronavirus cases since start of pandemic
The House has already passed legislation to create a $100 billion rental assistance fund and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., introduced a housing plan that would bar evictions and foreclosures for a year. It would also give tenants as many as 18 months to make up missed payments.
The Republican plan in the Senate contains no provisions to support either plan.
Cutting UI Benefits by $400 Per Week Will Significantly Harm U.S. Families, Jobs, and Growth
3.4 million fewer jobs will be created over the next year as a result.
The economic shock of COVID-19 was enormous, but the large expansions to the UI system included in the CARES Act of March were incredibly effective in blunting the effect of this shock. (Photo: John Sommers II/Getty Images)
Last month, we estimated the effect of allowing the $600 supplement to weekly unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to lapse at the end of July, as is currently scheduled. We found that this would strip away enough aggregate demand from the economy to slow growth in gross domestic product (GDP) by 3.7% over the next year. This slower growth would result in 5.1 million fewer jobs created over the next year.
Currently Senate Republicans are offering a proposal to reduce this weekly $600 supplement to closer to $200. This is better than allowing the $600 benefit to go all the way to zero, but this would still lead to GDP that was lower by 2.5% a year from now, and, would lead to 3.4 million fewer jobs created over the next year.
These are huge numbers—but they are driven by the fact that the support this extra $600 has given tens of millions of working families is huge. The economic shock of COVID-19 was enormous, but the large expansions to the UI system included in the CARES Act of March were incredibly effective in blunting the effect of this shock. The only problem with these expansions was that they begin running out next week—while the job market remains fundamentally damaged.
Next week (July 30) will see data on growth in GDP for the second quarter of 2020 released. This data is all but guaranteed to show the largest one-quarter collapse in economic growth in U.S. history. The week after that (on August 7), we will see data on job-growth for the month of July. Early indications strongly signal that we lost jobs in July, reversing the last two months gains—which were already wholly insufficient to declare the labor market healthy enough to begin ramping down the generosity of UI benefits. The big constraint on economic growth right now is the spread of the coronavirus. If we allow the $600 supplement to lapse, another huge constraint on growth will be imposed—collapsing incomes for the tens of millions of U.S. families that had to rely on these benefits in recent months.
Josh Bivens is the Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
© 2020 Economic Policy Institute
3.4 million fewer jobs will be created over the next year as a result.
The economic shock of COVID-19 was enormous, but the large expansions to the UI system included in the CARES Act of March were incredibly effective in blunting the effect of this shock. (Photo: John Sommers II/Getty Images)
Last month, we estimated the effect of allowing the $600 supplement to weekly unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to lapse at the end of July, as is currently scheduled. We found that this would strip away enough aggregate demand from the economy to slow growth in gross domestic product (GDP) by 3.7% over the next year. This slower growth would result in 5.1 million fewer jobs created over the next year.
Currently Senate Republicans are offering a proposal to reduce this weekly $600 supplement to closer to $200. This is better than allowing the $600 benefit to go all the way to zero, but this would still lead to GDP that was lower by 2.5% a year from now, and, would lead to 3.4 million fewer jobs created over the next year.
These are huge numbers—but they are driven by the fact that the support this extra $600 has given tens of millions of working families is huge. The economic shock of COVID-19 was enormous, but the large expansions to the UI system included in the CARES Act of March were incredibly effective in blunting the effect of this shock. The only problem with these expansions was that they begin running out next week—while the job market remains fundamentally damaged.
Next week (July 30) will see data on growth in GDP for the second quarter of 2020 released. This data is all but guaranteed to show the largest one-quarter collapse in economic growth in U.S. history. The week after that (on August 7), we will see data on job-growth for the month of July. Early indications strongly signal that we lost jobs in July, reversing the last two months gains—which were already wholly insufficient to declare the labor market healthy enough to begin ramping down the generosity of UI benefits. The big constraint on economic growth right now is the spread of the coronavirus. If we allow the $600 supplement to lapse, another huge constraint on growth will be imposed—collapsing incomes for the tens of millions of U.S. families that had to rely on these benefits in recent months.
Josh Bivens is the Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
© 2020 Economic Policy Institute
'Going to Lead to Desperation for Millions': Wyden Slams GOP for Leaving Town as Unemployment Benefits Set to Expire
"Republicans move mountains for corporations and special interests, but when it comes to helping workers their message is clear: you're on your own."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the Hart Building on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Sen. Ron Wyden excoriated his Republican colleagues in a floor speech Thursday as they prepared to skip town for the weekend without finalizing a plan to extend the $600-per-week boost in unemployment benefits set to expire in just two days, leaving 30 million Americans without a key financial lifeline.
"The lapse that is being forced on this country right now is because Senate Republicans would not step up. The lapse is going to lead to evictions, it's going to lead to hunger, it's going to lead to desperation for millions."
—Sen. Ron Wyden
"Here's the message that I think the folks who are walking on an economic tightrope this weekend need to hear: On this side of the aisle, we've been ready to go for weeks, essentially months," Wyden said, referring to Senate Democrats. "As of this afternoon, with benefits expiring in two days, the other side of the aisle has no piece of legislation on offer."
"They write lots of bills to help multinational corporations, lots of bills to help the powerful and the special interests," said the Oregon Democrat. "But as of this afternoon, there is not a bill to help those folks who this weekend are going to be saying, 'We're not going to be able to make rent in a few days, we're not going to be able to feed our families, not going to be able to pay for the car insurance.'"
Wyden, one of the architects of the $600-per-week unemployment insurance boost, introduced legislation with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on July 1 to extend the enhanced payments until a state's average unemployment rate falls below 11% over a period of three months. The benefit would then be reduced by $100 for every percentage point the unemployment rate falls until it dips below 6%.
Instead of negotiating with Senate Democrats over the unemployment benefits in the weeks before expiration of the $600 weekly payments, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) "actively gave short shrift to the needs of the unemployed," said Wyden.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, McConnell laughed off the possibility of passing coronavirus relief legislation by the end of next week. The last unemployment check with the $600 boost is set to go out on Saturday in 49 states and Sunday in New York.
"The pain that working families have this weekend didn't have to happen," the Oregon Democrat said. "The lapse that is being forced on this country right now is because Senate Republicans would not step up... The lapse is going to lead to evictions, it's going to lead to hunger, it's going to lead to desperation for millions of Americans."
Senate Republicans are about to leave town for the weekend and 30 million Americans are just days away from losing their income. Republicans move mountains for corporations and special interests, but when it comes to helping workers their message is clear: you're on your own. pic.twitter.com/imW7TL2X5z
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 23, 2020
Senate Republicans were expected to release their coronavirus stimulus package Thursday but were forced to delay the bill until Monday amid intraparty disagreements over key issues, including what to do about the enhanced unemployment benefits.
"Mnuchin and President Trump have said publicly that they want to have the new payments replace roughly '70 percent' of a worker's prior income," the Washington Post reported Friday. "Republican lawmakers have discussed extending the flat payment at about $200-per-week instead of $600 to give the states time to adjust to the new formula and system as part of this plan."
Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, estimated in a blog post Friday that "reducing the enhanced unemployment payments would strip away enough aggregate demand from the economy to slow growth in gross domestic product (GDP) by 3.7% over the next year."
"This slower growth would result in 5.1 million fewer jobs created over the next year," Bivens warned. "The big constraint on economic growth right now is the spread of the coronavirus. If we allow the $600 supplement to lapse, another huge constraint on growth will be imposed—collapsing incomes for the tens of millions of U.S. families that had to rely on these benefits in recent month
GOP Coronavirus Relief Package to Include Romney Bill That Would 'Fast-Track Social Security and Medicare Cuts'
"They will use every opportunity and every crisis—including the mass death and economic carnage from Covid—as cover for their sick desire to destroy our Social Security system."
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 122k391
"Republicans move mountains for corporations and special interests, but when it comes to helping workers their message is clear: you're on your own."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the Hart Building on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Sen. Ron Wyden excoriated his Republican colleagues in a floor speech Thursday as they prepared to skip town for the weekend without finalizing a plan to extend the $600-per-week boost in unemployment benefits set to expire in just two days, leaving 30 million Americans without a key financial lifeline.
"The lapse that is being forced on this country right now is because Senate Republicans would not step up. The lapse is going to lead to evictions, it's going to lead to hunger, it's going to lead to desperation for millions."
—Sen. Ron Wyden
"Here's the message that I think the folks who are walking on an economic tightrope this weekend need to hear: On this side of the aisle, we've been ready to go for weeks, essentially months," Wyden said, referring to Senate Democrats. "As of this afternoon, with benefits expiring in two days, the other side of the aisle has no piece of legislation on offer."
"They write lots of bills to help multinational corporations, lots of bills to help the powerful and the special interests," said the Oregon Democrat. "But as of this afternoon, there is not a bill to help those folks who this weekend are going to be saying, 'We're not going to be able to make rent in a few days, we're not going to be able to feed our families, not going to be able to pay for the car insurance.'"
Wyden, one of the architects of the $600-per-week unemployment insurance boost, introduced legislation with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on July 1 to extend the enhanced payments until a state's average unemployment rate falls below 11% over a period of three months. The benefit would then be reduced by $100 for every percentage point the unemployment rate falls until it dips below 6%.
Instead of negotiating with Senate Democrats over the unemployment benefits in the weeks before expiration of the $600 weekly payments, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) "actively gave short shrift to the needs of the unemployed," said Wyden.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, McConnell laughed off the possibility of passing coronavirus relief legislation by the end of next week. The last unemployment check with the $600 boost is set to go out on Saturday in 49 states and Sunday in New York.
"The pain that working families have this weekend didn't have to happen," the Oregon Democrat said. "The lapse that is being forced on this country right now is because Senate Republicans would not step up... The lapse is going to lead to evictions, it's going to lead to hunger, it's going to lead to desperation for millions of Americans."
Senate Republicans are about to leave town for the weekend and 30 million Americans are just days away from losing their income. Republicans move mountains for corporations and special interests, but when it comes to helping workers their message is clear: you're on your own. pic.twitter.com/imW7TL2X5z
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 23, 2020
Senate Republicans were expected to release their coronavirus stimulus package Thursday but were forced to delay the bill until Monday amid intraparty disagreements over key issues, including what to do about the enhanced unemployment benefits.
"Mnuchin and President Trump have said publicly that they want to have the new payments replace roughly '70 percent' of a worker's prior income," the Washington Post reported Friday. "Republican lawmakers have discussed extending the flat payment at about $200-per-week instead of $600 to give the states time to adjust to the new formula and system as part of this plan."
Josh Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, estimated in a blog post Friday that "reducing the enhanced unemployment payments would strip away enough aggregate demand from the economy to slow growth in gross domestic product (GDP) by 3.7% over the next year."
"This slower growth would result in 5.1 million fewer jobs created over the next year," Bivens warned. "The big constraint on economic growth right now is the spread of the coronavirus. If we allow the $600 supplement to lapse, another huge constraint on growth will be imposed—collapsing incomes for the tens of millions of U.S. families that had to rely on these benefits in recent month
GOP Coronavirus Relief Package to Include Romney Bill That Would 'Fast-Track Social Security and Medicare Cuts'
"They will use every opportunity and every crisis—including the mass death and economic carnage from Covid—as cover for their sick desire to destroy our Social Security system."
Jake Johnson, staff writer
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) speaks to reporters as he arrives for the Senate Republicans' weekly lunch on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Shortly after publicly ditching one attack on Social Security—the payroll tax cut—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed Thursday that the Republican coronavirus relief package will include legislation sponsored by Sen. Mitt Romney that one advocacy group described as an "equally menacing" threat to the New Deal program.
In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell touted Romney's TRUST ACT as "a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Senate Democrats, to help a future Congress evaluate bipartisan proposals for protecting and strengthening the programs that Americans count on."
"In the midst of a catastrophic pandemic, they should be focused on protecting seniors, essential workers, and the unemployed. Instead, they are plotting to use the cover of the pandemic to slash Social Security."
—Nancy Altman, Social Security Works
Ostensibly an effort to "rescue" America's trust fund programs, Romney's bill—first introduced last October with the backing of three Democratic senators—would initiate a secretive process that could result in cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits, a longtime objective of lawmakers like the Utah Republican.
Romney celebrated the inclusion of his bill Thursday and pointed to statements praising the legislation from a slew of right-wing advocacy groups, including the Koch-funded organization Americans for Prosperity.
The Utah Republican's bill currently has 13 Senate co-sponsors, five of whom are members of the Democratic caucus. Last month, as Common Dreams reported, 30 House Democrats joined 30 of their Republican colleagues in endorsing the TRUST Act.
"Donald Trump and his stooges in the Senate can't stop trying to rob us of our Social Security," Alex Lawson, executive director of advocacy group Social Security Works, told Common Dreams in response to McConnell's remarks. "They will use every opportunity and every crisis—including the mass death and economic carnage from Covid—as cover for their sick desire to destroy our Social Security system."
If passed, Romney's bill would give the Treasury Department 45 days to deliver a report to Congress on America's "endangered" trust funds. Congress would then set up one "rescue committee" per trust fund with a mandate to craft legislation that—in the words of Romney's office—"restores solvency and otherwise improves each trust fund program."
Legislation proposed by the committees would receive expedited consideration in the House and Senate—meaning no amendments would be permitted. Any bill would still need 60 votes to clear the upper chamber.
"This would allow benefit cuts to be fast-tracked through Congress," said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "Seniors and people with disabilities need their benefits boosted, not slashed. Like payroll tax cuts, the TRUST Act is bad medicine for everyday Americans struggling to stay financially afloat, especially during the Covid crisis."
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, warned the TRUST ACT is "a way to undermine the economic security of Americans without political accountability."
"Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and all congressional Republicans have made their priorities clear," said Altman. "In the midst of a catastrophic pandemic, they should be focused on protecting seniors, essential workers, and the unemployed. Instead, they are plotting to use the cover of the pandemic to slash Social Security."
"Democrats must stand united," Altman continued, "and unequivocally reject any package that includes the TRUST Act."
BREAKING: Republicans ARE INCLUDING the TRUST Act in their COVID package.
The TRUST Act creates a closed door commission to fast track Social Security and Medicare cuts.
Democrats must stand united against this attack on our earned benefits. https://t.co/lSrcKjZcCW
— SocialSecurityWorks (@SSWorks) July 23, 2020
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee and co-sponsor of legislation that would expand benefits, called Romney's TRUST Act "a direct assault on Social Security" that must be opposed.
"During a pandemic, people are relying on Social Security now more than ever," Larson said in a statement Thursday. "These are Americans' earned benefits. Cutting them will only further hurt the economy."
As part of their effort to hold Republican lawmakers accountable for pushing Social Security cuts, Social Security Works and Tax March on Thursday launched mobile billboards targeting GOP senators in Iowa, Maine, Arizona, and North Carolina.
We’re in Maine with @taxmarch sending @SenSusanCollins a message:
Hands off Social Security, No Payroll Tax Cut! pic.twitter.com/QoEbFzBW9q
— SocialSecurityWorks (@SSWorks) July 23, 2020
"Senate Republicans are rubber stamps who are happy to raid our Social Security system to please Trump," said Lawson. "We say to both Trump and Senate Republicans: Hands off our earned benefits!"
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) speaks to reporters as he arrives for the Senate Republicans' weekly lunch on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. (Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Shortly after publicly ditching one attack on Social Security—the payroll tax cut—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed Thursday that the Republican coronavirus relief package will include legislation sponsored by Sen. Mitt Romney that one advocacy group described as an "equally menacing" threat to the New Deal program.
In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell touted Romney's TRUST ACT as "a bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Senate Democrats, to help a future Congress evaluate bipartisan proposals for protecting and strengthening the programs that Americans count on."
"In the midst of a catastrophic pandemic, they should be focused on protecting seniors, essential workers, and the unemployed. Instead, they are plotting to use the cover of the pandemic to slash Social Security."
—Nancy Altman, Social Security Works
Ostensibly an effort to "rescue" America's trust fund programs, Romney's bill—first introduced last October with the backing of three Democratic senators—would initiate a secretive process that could result in cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits, a longtime objective of lawmakers like the Utah Republican.
Romney celebrated the inclusion of his bill Thursday and pointed to statements praising the legislation from a slew of right-wing advocacy groups, including the Koch-funded organization Americans for Prosperity.
The Utah Republican's bill currently has 13 Senate co-sponsors, five of whom are members of the Democratic caucus. Last month, as Common Dreams reported, 30 House Democrats joined 30 of their Republican colleagues in endorsing the TRUST Act.
"Donald Trump and his stooges in the Senate can't stop trying to rob us of our Social Security," Alex Lawson, executive director of advocacy group Social Security Works, told Common Dreams in response to McConnell's remarks. "They will use every opportunity and every crisis—including the mass death and economic carnage from Covid—as cover for their sick desire to destroy our Social Security system."
If passed, Romney's bill would give the Treasury Department 45 days to deliver a report to Congress on America's "endangered" trust funds. Congress would then set up one "rescue committee" per trust fund with a mandate to craft legislation that—in the words of Romney's office—"restores solvency and otherwise improves each trust fund program."
Legislation proposed by the committees would receive expedited consideration in the House and Senate—meaning no amendments would be permitted. Any bill would still need 60 votes to clear the upper chamber.
"This would allow benefit cuts to be fast-tracked through Congress," said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "Seniors and people with disabilities need their benefits boosted, not slashed. Like payroll tax cuts, the TRUST Act is bad medicine for everyday Americans struggling to stay financially afloat, especially during the Covid crisis."
Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, warned the TRUST ACT is "a way to undermine the economic security of Americans without political accountability."
"Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and all congressional Republicans have made their priorities clear," said Altman. "In the midst of a catastrophic pandemic, they should be focused on protecting seniors, essential workers, and the unemployed. Instead, they are plotting to use the cover of the pandemic to slash Social Security."
"Democrats must stand united," Altman continued, "and unequivocally reject any package that includes the TRUST Act."
BREAKING: Republicans ARE INCLUDING the TRUST Act in their COVID package.
The TRUST Act creates a closed door commission to fast track Social Security and Medicare cuts.
Democrats must stand united against this attack on our earned benefits. https://t.co/lSrcKjZcCW
— SocialSecurityWorks (@SSWorks) July 23, 2020
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee and co-sponsor of legislation that would expand benefits, called Romney's TRUST Act "a direct assault on Social Security" that must be opposed.
"During a pandemic, people are relying on Social Security now more than ever," Larson said in a statement Thursday. "These are Americans' earned benefits. Cutting them will only further hurt the economy."
As part of their effort to hold Republican lawmakers accountable for pushing Social Security cuts, Social Security Works and Tax March on Thursday launched mobile billboards targeting GOP senators in Iowa, Maine, Arizona, and North Carolina.
We’re in Maine with @taxmarch sending @SenSusanCollins a message:
Hands off Social Security, No Payroll Tax Cut! pic.twitter.com/QoEbFzBW9q
— SocialSecurityWorks (@SSWorks) July 23, 2020
"Senate Republicans are rubber stamps who are happy to raid our Social Security system to please Trump," said Lawson. "We say to both Trump and Senate Republicans: Hands off our earned benefits!"
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 122k391
U.S. Eyes Building Nuclear Power Plants on the Moon, Mars
BY KEITH RIDLER / AP
JULY 24, 2020 6:54 PM EDT
(BOISE, Idaho) — The U.S. wants to build nuclear power plants that will work on the moon and Mars, and on Friday put out a request for ideas from the private sector on how to do that.
The U.S. Department of Energy put out the formal request to build what it calls a fission surface power system that could allow humans to live for long periods in harsh space environments.
The Idaho National Laboratory, a nuclear research facility in eastern Idaho, the Energy Department and NASA will evaluate the ideas for developing the reactor.
Read more: America Really Does Have a Space Force. We Went Inside to See What It Does
The lab has been leading the way in the U.S. on advanced reactors, some of them micro reactors and others that can operate without water for cooling. Water-cooled nuclear reactors are the vast majority of reactors on Earth.
“Small nuclear reactors can provide the power capability necessary for space exploration missions of interest to the Federal government,” the Energy Department wrote in the notice published Friday.
The Energy Department, NASA and Battelle Energy Alliance, the U.S. contractor that manages the Idaho National Laboratory, plan to hold a government-industry webcast technical meeting in August concerning expectations for the program.
The plan has two phases. The first is developing a reactor design. The second is building a test reactor, a second reactor be sent to the moon, and developing a flight system and lander that can transport the reactor to the moon. The goal is to have a reactor, flight system and lander ready to go by the end of 2026.
The reactor must be able to generate an uninterrupted electricity output of at least 10 kilowatts. The average U.S. residential home, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours per year. The Energy Department said it would likely take multiple linked reactors to meet power needs on the moon or Mars.
In addition, the reactor cannot weigh more than 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms), be able to operate in space, operate mostly autonomously, and run for at least 10 years.
The Energy Department said the reactor is intended to support exploration in the south polar region of the moon. The agency said a specific region on the Martian surface for exploration has not yet been identified.
Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit, said his organization is concerned the parameters of the design and timeline make the most likely reactors those that use highly enriched uranium, which can be made into weapons. Nations have generally been attempting to reduce the amount of enriched uranium being produced for that reason.
“This may drive or start an international space race to build and deploy new types of reactors requiring highly enriched uranium,” he said.
Earlier this week, the United Arab Emirates launched an orbiter to Mars and China launched an orbiter, lander and rover. The U.S. has already landed rovers on the red planet and is planning to send another next week.
Officials say operating a nuclear reactor on the moon would be a first step to building a modified version to operate in the different conditions found on Mars.
“Idaho National Laboratory has a central role in emphasizing the United States’ global leadership in nuclear innovation, with the anticipated demonstration of advanced reactors on the INL site,” John Wagner, associate laboratory director of INL’s Nuclear Science & Technology Directorate, said in a statement. “The prospect of deploying an advanced reactor to the lunar surface is as exciting as it is challenging.”
BY KEITH RIDLER / AP
JULY 24, 2020 6:54 PM EDT
(BOISE, Idaho) — The U.S. wants to build nuclear power plants that will work on the moon and Mars, and on Friday put out a request for ideas from the private sector on how to do that.
The U.S. Department of Energy put out the formal request to build what it calls a fission surface power system that could allow humans to live for long periods in harsh space environments.
The Idaho National Laboratory, a nuclear research facility in eastern Idaho, the Energy Department and NASA will evaluate the ideas for developing the reactor.
Read more: America Really Does Have a Space Force. We Went Inside to See What It Does
The lab has been leading the way in the U.S. on advanced reactors, some of them micro reactors and others that can operate without water for cooling. Water-cooled nuclear reactors are the vast majority of reactors on Earth.
“Small nuclear reactors can provide the power capability necessary for space exploration missions of interest to the Federal government,” the Energy Department wrote in the notice published Friday.
The Energy Department, NASA and Battelle Energy Alliance, the U.S. contractor that manages the Idaho National Laboratory, plan to hold a government-industry webcast technical meeting in August concerning expectations for the program.
The plan has two phases. The first is developing a reactor design. The second is building a test reactor, a second reactor be sent to the moon, and developing a flight system and lander that can transport the reactor to the moon. The goal is to have a reactor, flight system and lander ready to go by the end of 2026.
The reactor must be able to generate an uninterrupted electricity output of at least 10 kilowatts. The average U.S. residential home, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours per year. The Energy Department said it would likely take multiple linked reactors to meet power needs on the moon or Mars.
In addition, the reactor cannot weigh more than 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms), be able to operate in space, operate mostly autonomously, and run for at least 10 years.
The Energy Department said the reactor is intended to support exploration in the south polar region of the moon. The agency said a specific region on the Martian surface for exploration has not yet been identified.
Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit, said his organization is concerned the parameters of the design and timeline make the most likely reactors those that use highly enriched uranium, which can be made into weapons. Nations have generally been attempting to reduce the amount of enriched uranium being produced for that reason.
“This may drive or start an international space race to build and deploy new types of reactors requiring highly enriched uranium,” he said.
Earlier this week, the United Arab Emirates launched an orbiter to Mars and China launched an orbiter, lander and rover. The U.S. has already landed rovers on the red planet and is planning to send another next week.
Officials say operating a nuclear reactor on the moon would be a first step to building a modified version to operate in the different conditions found on Mars.
“Idaho National Laboratory has a central role in emphasizing the United States’ global leadership in nuclear innovation, with the anticipated demonstration of advanced reactors on the INL site,” John Wagner, associate laboratory director of INL’s Nuclear Science & Technology Directorate, said in a statement. “The prospect of deploying an advanced reactor to the lunar surface is as exciting as it is challenging.”
FAA Orders Active Boeing 737s To Be Inspected For Engine Issues After Coronavirus Storage
The regulator said critical valves have gotten stuck during flights.
Associated Press via CP
WASHINGTON — Safety regulators issued an emergency order directing airlines to inspect and if necessary replace a critical engine part on popular Boeing 737 jets after four reports of engines shutting down during flights.
NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGESA KLM Boeing 737-700 aircraft is seen during takeoff at Amsterdam Schiphol AMS EHAM International Airport in the Netherlands on July 2, 2020.
Boeing Co. said that with planes being stored or used less often during the coronavirus pandemic, “the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion.” The company said it is providing inspection and parts-replacement help to airplane owners.
Major airlines typically fly their planes several times a day. However, they parked hundreds of planes when the coronavirus pandemic triggered a collapse in air travel this spring and are bringing some of those planes back as passenger traffic has picked up slightly.
Passenger jets have two or more engines, and multiple engine failures are rare — one example was the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson,” in which US Airways pilots landed their plane on the Hudson River in New York after bird strikes knocked out both engines.
The emergency order applies to versions of the 737 called the NG and Classic, the latter of which are no longer in production but remain in some airline fleets. The directive does not apply to the newer Boeing 737 Max, which has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 peop
The regulator said critical valves have gotten stuck during flights.
Associated Press via CP
WASHINGTON — Safety regulators issued an emergency order directing airlines to inspect and if necessary replace a critical engine part on popular Boeing 737 jets after four reports of engines shutting down during flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration said its order affected about 2,000 twin-engine passenger jets in the United States.
The FAA said operators must inspect any 737 that has been parked for at least seven days or been flown fewer than 11 times since being returned to service because of reports that certain engine valves can become stuck in the open position.
Corrosion of the valves on both engines could lead to a complete loss of power without the ability to restart the engines, forcing pilots to land somewhere other than an airport, the FAA said in the order, dated Thursday.
The FAA said operators must inspect any 737 that has been parked for at least seven days or been flown fewer than 11 times since being returned to service because of reports that certain engine valves can become stuck in the open position.
Corrosion of the valves on both engines could lead to a complete loss of power without the ability to restart the engines, forcing pilots to land somewhere other than an airport, the FAA said in the order, dated Thursday.
NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGESA KLM Boeing 737-700 aircraft is seen during takeoff at Amsterdam Schiphol AMS EHAM International Airport in the Netherlands on July 2, 2020.
Boeing Co. said that with planes being stored or used less often during the coronavirus pandemic, “the valve can be more susceptible to corrosion.” The company said it is providing inspection and parts-replacement help to airplane owners.
Major airlines typically fly their planes several times a day. However, they parked hundreds of planes when the coronavirus pandemic triggered a collapse in air travel this spring and are bringing some of those planes back as passenger traffic has picked up slightly.
Passenger jets have two or more engines, and multiple engine failures are rare — one example was the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson,” in which US Airways pilots landed their plane on the Hudson River in New York after bird strikes knocked out both engines.
The emergency order applies to versions of the 737 called the NG and Classic, the latter of which are no longer in production but remain in some airline fleets. The directive does not apply to the newer Boeing 737 Max, which has been grounded worldwide since March 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 peop
United States ranks second to last for raising a family: index
The ‘Raising a Family Index’ is comprised of 30 critical statistics
By Alexandra Deabler | Fox News
Parents might be surprised to hear this.
The United States has been ranked among the worst countries in several categories that make up the Raising a Family Index created by research travel site Asher & Lyric, which based its study on six criteria.
The website, which was started by couple Asher Fergusson and Lyric Benson-Fergusson, researched “35 OECD countries (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) to see which are the best for raising a family in 2020,” the infographic shares.
The highest-rated nations were all in Europe – Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, which each getting an A+ final index score. (iStock)
'The “definitive ‘Raising a Family Index’ is comprised of 30 critical statistics from trusted international sources.” Each country is given a score based on these statistics across six categories: safety, happiness, cost, health, education and time. Within those categories, each is broken down into five subcategories to come up with a final grade.
Overall, the United States was the second-worst wealthy nation to raise a family in 2020, failing specifically in safety, cost and time, the website’s data concludes. It was just above Mexico, which was in last place at 35.
“The first time I looked at the data, I was in disbelief,” said co-founder Lyric Benson-Fergusson of the findings to the New York Post.
Where the U.S. faltered, according to the stats, were in criteria such as maternity and paternity leave, vacation days, out-of-pocket health spending, child care costs, homicide and school shootings – the United States was the highest in school shootings, significantly, compared with every other country, with 288 incidents from 2009-2018. The top five countries had zero.
The highest-rated nations were all in Europe – Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland – with each getting an A+ final index score.
The United States did manage to pull a C+ in happiness and education. The happiness score was determined by human freedom index, suicide rates and family income inequality, among others, while education took into account the enrollment rate for students 15-19, 20-24, as well as reading, math and science performance.
Alexandra Deabler is a Lifestyle writer and editor for Fox News.
US ranked among worst countries to raise a family, study says
By Ben Cost
July 23, 2020
Getty Images/iStockphoto
We get an “F” for family.
In case you thought America wasn’t experiencing enough turmoil of late, the United States has been named the second-worst wealthy nation in which to raise a family in 2020, according to new research by travel site Asher & Lyric.
“The first time I looked at the data, I was in disbelief,” co-founder Lyric Benson-Fergusson said of the findings in the “Raising a Family Index” (RAFI).
The Los Angeles-based mother of two started the site with her Aussie husband, Asher Fergusson, to help people “stay safe, healthy, and happy at home and while traveling,” per the website’s description.
To determine the most and least family-friendly countries, the couple rated 35 OECD countries (part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development forum) according to safety, happiness, cost, health, education and time.
The US clocked in at an abysmal 34th place, just ahead of last-place finisher Mexico, whose murder rate jumped to the highest in nearly two years as drug cartels have run amok during the coronavirus lockdown. Leading the pack of overall fam-safe nations were Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
“I think if we, as Americans, are truly honest with ourselves, we might understand why the United States ranks solidly as the second-worst country to raise a family,” said Benson-Fergusson.
Case in point: The red-white-and-blue came in dead last in terms of time — which the RAFI gauged by maternity leave, vacation days and other factors — and cost, as measured by out-of-pocket health spending, cost of living, income ratio and more.
The study noted that the US is the only country that doesn’t require employers to offer maternity leave. Even worse, the average household blows 31.79% of their income on child care compared to the 4 to 10% spent by Scandinavian nations.
Most surprising was America’s global safety rating, which was, according to the research, the second-poorest after Mexico.
Despite statistics showing that reported crimes have been on the decline nationwide, the US homicide rate is still eclipsed only by Mexico, per the research. And America reportedly tops the list in school shootings with a whopping 288 incidents from 2009 to 2018, with Mexico placing second at eight and all other countries recording zero, per the study.
The Land of the Free also came in “fourth-worst” for human rights — here defined broadly across several categories including “protection against enslavement, the right to free speech and the right to education.”
The Fergussons attributed the United States’ nationwide mood dip to record “income disparities,” 20% of Americans suffering from mental health issues each year and a suicide rate that has “increased by 33% between 1999 to 2017.”
“I have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that America is a deeply challenged and troubled country,” Benson-Fergusson lamented. “It doesn’t, and maybe never did, line up with its own ideology.”
“My aspiration is that something will substantially change in my children’s lifetime,” she said.
Overall, the United States was the second-worst wealthy nation to raise a family in 2020, failing specifically in safety, cost and time, the website’s data concludes. It was just above Mexico, which was in last place at 35.
“The first time I looked at the data, I was in disbelief,” said co-founder Lyric Benson-Fergusson of the findings to the New York Post.
Where the U.S. faltered, according to the stats, were in criteria such as maternity and paternity leave, vacation days, out-of-pocket health spending, child care costs, homicide and school shootings – the United States was the highest in school shootings, significantly, compared with every other country, with 288 incidents from 2009-2018. The top five countries had zero.
The highest-rated nations were all in Europe – Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland – with each getting an A+ final index score.
The United States did manage to pull a C+ in happiness and education. The happiness score was determined by human freedom index, suicide rates and family income inequality, among others, while education took into account the enrollment rate for students 15-19, 20-24, as well as reading, math and science performance.
Alexandra Deabler is a Lifestyle writer and editor for Fox News.
US ranked among worst countries to raise a family, study says
By Ben Cost
July 23, 2020
Getty Images/iStockphoto
We get an “F” for family.
In case you thought America wasn’t experiencing enough turmoil of late, the United States has been named the second-worst wealthy nation in which to raise a family in 2020, according to new research by travel site Asher & Lyric.
“The first time I looked at the data, I was in disbelief,” co-founder Lyric Benson-Fergusson said of the findings in the “Raising a Family Index” (RAFI).
The Los Angeles-based mother of two started the site with her Aussie husband, Asher Fergusson, to help people “stay safe, healthy, and happy at home and while traveling,” per the website’s description.
To determine the most and least family-friendly countries, the couple rated 35 OECD countries (part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development forum) according to safety, happiness, cost, health, education and time.
The US clocked in at an abysmal 34th place, just ahead of last-place finisher Mexico, whose murder rate jumped to the highest in nearly two years as drug cartels have run amok during the coronavirus lockdown. Leading the pack of overall fam-safe nations were Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
“I think if we, as Americans, are truly honest with ourselves, we might understand why the United States ranks solidly as the second-worst country to raise a family,” said Benson-Fergusson.
Case in point: The red-white-and-blue came in dead last in terms of time — which the RAFI gauged by maternity leave, vacation days and other factors — and cost, as measured by out-of-pocket health spending, cost of living, income ratio and more.
The study noted that the US is the only country that doesn’t require employers to offer maternity leave. Even worse, the average household blows 31.79% of their income on child care compared to the 4 to 10% spent by Scandinavian nations.
Most surprising was America’s global safety rating, which was, according to the research, the second-poorest after Mexico.
Despite statistics showing that reported crimes have been on the decline nationwide, the US homicide rate is still eclipsed only by Mexico, per the research. And America reportedly tops the list in school shootings with a whopping 288 incidents from 2009 to 2018, with Mexico placing second at eight and all other countries recording zero, per the study.
The Land of the Free also came in “fourth-worst” for human rights — here defined broadly across several categories including “protection against enslavement, the right to free speech and the right to education.”
The Fergussons attributed the United States’ nationwide mood dip to record “income disparities,” 20% of Americans suffering from mental health issues each year and a suicide rate that has “increased by 33% between 1999 to 2017.”
“I have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that America is a deeply challenged and troubled country,” Benson-Fergusson lamented. “It doesn’t, and maybe never did, line up with its own ideology.”
“My aspiration is that something will substantially change in my children’s lifetime,” she said.
Friday, July 24, 2020
'For a Greener Future': Omar, Sanders Lead Bill to End Destructive Taxpayer Subsidies for Fossil Fuels
"We need more safe, healthy, good paying jobs—not more corporate polluter giveaways."
by
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) in Washington, D.C. in June 2019. (Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Progressive Democrats led by Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday introduced a bill to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and other industry giveaways, calling taxpayer support of the climate-killing business- a counterproductive and dangerous use of federal funds as the climate crisis worsens and Americans suffer through an economic downturn sparked by the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's past time we end the billions of taxpayer subsidies to fossil-fuel companies," said Omar, a Minnesota Democrat. "Our focus right now needs to be on getting the American people through this difficult, unprecedented time, not providing giveaways to polluters."
It’s past time we end the billions of taxpayer subsidies to fossil-fuel companies.Today, @SenSanders, @SenJeffMerkley, @SenMarkey, @RepBarragan, and I introduced a bill to end these harmful giveaways to polluters.
https://t.co/tHYl5TxfQn— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) July 24, 2020
"Taxpayers provide $15 billion in direct federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry every year," she added. "That ends with this bill."
Omar and Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, were joined in leading the End Polluter Welfare Act (pdf) by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) as well as Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-Calif.).
"At a time when we are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and an economic decline, it is absurd to provide billions of taxpayer subsidies that pad fossil-fuel companies' already-enormous profits," said Sanders.
"We need more safe, healthy, good paying jobs," he added, "not more corporate polluter giveaways."
Fossil fuels are destroying our planet — yet the federal government gives oil, gas and coal companies nearly $15 BILLION a year in federal subsidies.Thank you @IlhanMN @SenSanders for introducing a bill to end federal support for this toxic industry!https://t.co/fU1Po5xPIA— Friends of the Earth (@foe_us) July 24, 2020
The bill would close tax loopholes, end taxpayer-funded subsidies, and bar the use of federal lands for resource extraction and federal funding for fossil fuel research.
"It is ridiculous that the federal government continues to hand out massive giveaways to antiquated fossil fuel industries that are not only financially risky, but are also destroying our planet," said Merkley.
President Donald Trump's administration has prioritized giveaways to the fossil fuel industry throughout his presidency, including as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the country.
The legislation is co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Jesús "Chuy" Garcia (D-Ill.), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.).
The legislation aims to cut off oil, gas and coal companies reaping billions from federal COVID-19 relief and annual subsidies.https://t.co/4503bBuQV0— Climate Desk (@ClimateDesk) July 24, 2020
According to a press release from Omar's office, the bill:
would also guarantee the continued solvency of the Black Lung Disability Fund to ensure continued medical care for tens of thousands of working-class Americans who worked hard for decades to provide energy for the nation. Fossil fuel drilling and transportation also disproportionately impact indigenous communities and communities of color, who have long opposed extraction on their land.
Activists and climate advocates like Greenpeace USA climate campaigner Charlie Jiang welcomed the legislation.
"It is outrageous that the federal government has exploited a pandemic to throw even more public money at the industry that created and profited from the climate crisis," said Jiang. "A bill to end giveaways for the fossil fuel industry—which is saddled with debt and recklessly polluting Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities—is long overdue. It's time to shift our investments to protect people on the frontlines of the climate crisis and support fossil fuel workers in the transition to a world beyond fossil fuels."
While the bill faces an uphill battle, it was nonetheless seen as a good sign by Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project, executive director Mark Palmer said in a statement.
"The fossil fuels industry must change to avoid the worst effects of global warming, which is already upon us," Palmer said. "This legislation is a giant step towards reining in the pollution from oil and gas development, and we wholeheartedly endorse it."
As the country reels from the coronavirus pandemic, said Oil Change International senior campaigner Collin Rees, the bill represents an important readjustment of priorities.
"The End Polluter Welfare Act is critically needed legislation at a pivotal moment," said Rees. "We must stop propping up oil, gas, and coal with public money and invest in the people and communities most impacted by systemic oppression, Covid-19, and the climate crisis."
Markey, who was also a lead sponsor of bicameral Green New Deal legislation along with Ocasio-Cortez, sounded a similar note in comments about the new bill.
"We should be providing support for workers and those affected by Trump's criminally-negligent response to the pandemic—not bailing out the fossil fuel industry and propping up its profit margins," said Markey. "Trump is only trying to add to these decades-long payouts for polluters, when we should be directing our resources to keeping people safe."
Greenpeace USA Applauds the Omar-Sanders End Polluter Welfare Act
WASHINGTON - Today, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the End Polluter Welfare Act, legislation to close tax loopholes and eliminate other federal subsidies for the oil, gas, and coal industries. The bill would also stop the Trump administration from further exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to bail out struggling fossil fuel corporations by preventing banks receiving CARES Act funds from becoming owners of distressed oil and gas assets, blocking the waiving of royalty payments for public oil and gas leases, preventing the storage of private oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and putting a moratorium on new fossil fuel lease sales.
In response, Greenpeace USA Climate Campaigner Charlie Jiang said:
“It is outrageous that the federal government has exploited a pandemic to throw even more public money at the industry that created and profited from the climate crisis. A bill to end giveaways for the fossil fuel industry — which is saddled with debt and recklessly polluting Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities — is long overdue. It’s time to shift our investments to protect people on the frontlines of the climate crisis and support fossil fuel workers in the transition to a world beyond fossil fuels.”
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