Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

In a boost for global health equity, the US changes its position on coronavirus vaccine patents. If all goes well, corporate property rights may soon come second to boosting vaccine production.

Meanwhile, a federal judge strikes down a federal moratorium on evictions during the pandemic. That’s bad news, but, on the bright side, the Justice Department will appeal the ruling.

And lastly, some high-ranking Republicans are determined to force Liz Cheney from her leadership post in the House of Representatives. The leading candidate for Cheney’s replacement is Elise Stefanik, a Trump loyalist.

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This encouraging news from the cutthroat global trade wars comes from the Associated Press. The Biden administration is throwing its support behind efforts to waive intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines in an effort to speed the end of the pandemic. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the government’s position in a statement yesterday, amid World Trade Organization talks over easing global trade rules to enable more countries to produce more of the life-saving vaccines. Tai said, "This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures."

According to the AP, no consensus – which is required under WTO rules – was expected to emerge from the ambassadors’ meeting yesterday and today. But WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell pointed to a change in tone after months of wrangling. Authors of the proposal, which has faced resistance from countries with influential pharmaceutical industries, have been revising it in hopes of making it more palatable. The argument centers on lifting patents, copyrights and similar trade protections to help expand the production of vaccines during supply shortages. The issue has become more pressing with a surge in cases in India, the world’s second-most populous country and a key producer of vaccines. More than one hundred countries have come out in support of the proposal. And a group of one hundred and ten members of Congress – all Democrats – sent Biden a letter last month that called on him to support the waiver. I guess he listened.

DOJ Will Appeal Evictions Ruling

Consider it a temporary setback. Politico reports that the Justice Department will appeal a federal judge’s decision vacating a national eviction moratorium, and seek a stay of the ruling pending appeal. US District Judge for the District of Columbia Dabney Friedrich ruled yesterday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority when it imposed a nationwide ban on evictions for nonpayment of rent in September. The order cited a 1944 public health law giving the Department of Health and Human Services certain powers to prevent communicable diseases from crossing state lines. Congress and the Biden administration have since extended the ban, which is slated to expire June 30.

HHS Secretary Xavier (Ha-vee-err) Becerra said the administration would fight the ruling. He said, "I believe the president will want to try to correct this, or certainly continue to fight to make sure we don't see Americans dispossessed and out on the street." Landlords and real estate agents have challenged the ban in courts around the country, arguing that it is an unconstitutional power grab by the CDC. They say it has devastating consequences for landlords who now must subsidize struggling tenants’ housing under the threat of criminal penalties and hefty fines. Courts have issued conflicting rulings. The Alabama and Georgia chapters of the National Association of Realtors, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, brought the challenge decided yesterday. You may have won this round, landlords and lobbyists, but the fight’s not over yet.

Republicans Seek Cheney’s Ouster

This update on the Republican psyche comes from the New York Times. House Republicans moved decisively yesterday to expel Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from their leadership ranks for rejecting Donald Trump’s election lies. Meanwhile, top party leaders and the former president endorsed a replacement who has styled herself as a Trump loyalist. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the number two Republican in the chamber, became the highest-ranking figure to call for Cheney’s ouster and the elevation of

Representative Elise Stefanik of New York in her place as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader, was also working the phones behind the scenes, urging colleagues to support Stefanik. Trump, who has seethed over Cheney’s criticism of him, piled on a short time later, deriding her as a "warmongering fool" and endorsing Stefanik.

The Times reports that Stefanik wasted no time after Trump’s endorsement in declaring her intentions. In a post on Twitter, she thanked him and said Republicans were unified and focused on winning Congressional seats in 2022. A spokesman for Cheney signaled yesterday that she was gearing up for a messy fight. The turmoil could come to a head as early as next week, when House Republicans may call a vote to replace Cheney. Speaking at the White House yesterday, President Joe Biden expressed bewilderment at the leadership fight, saying Republicans are further away from figuring out what they stand for than he thought. It seems it’s still Trump’s party.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

According to the latest enforcement data, obtained by the Washington Post, the number of deportations carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month fell to the lowest level on record. ICE deported two thousand nine hundred and sixty two immigrants in April. It’s the first time the monthly figure has dipped below three thousand. The less ICE does, the better, if you ask me.

The Guardian reports that environmental groups have accused a European prince of killing the largest bear in Romania, in contravention of a ban on trophy hunting large carnivores. NGOs allege that the bear, who was called Arthur, was shot in March in a protected area of the Carpathian Mountains by Prince Emanuel Von Und Zu Liechtenstein. Rest in peace Arthur, we hardly knew ye.

The AP reports that more than two hundred global organizations urged the UN Security Council yesterday to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar. The military there has killed at least seven hundred and sixty nine people since the February 1st coup, and detained several thousand activists, journalists, civil servants and politicians. Which is a good reason to stop selling them bullets.

According to the New York Times, a Facebook-appointed panel yesterday upheld the social network’s ban of Donald Trump after the insurrection in Washington in January. Facebook’s Oversight Board ruled the social network was right to bar Trump, saying he created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible. Not to mention his constant whining!

MAY 6, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

It’s an economic scourge that costs workers at least $15 billion a year. It’s called wage theft, and a new report explains why corporations keep getting away with it.

Meanwhile, did the US government kill a young Black Panther activist in 1969? A new bill by one of Fred Hampton’s former comrades, Congressman Bobby Rush, seeks to open up the FBI’s files on Hampton’s case and others.

And lastly, the new federal official in charge of student loans has a record of taking on shady lenders. Hear why consumer advocates are praising the Biden administration’s appointment of Richard Cordray this week.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

This tale of everyday corporate crime from the Associated Press. Essential workers struggling through the pandemic are facing another hazard of hard times: employers who steal their wages. Companies that hire child care workers, gas station clerks, restaurant servers and security guards are among the businesses most likely to get caught cheating their employees. That’s according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of minimum wage and overtime violations from the US Department of Labor. In 2019 alone, the agency cited about eight thousand five hundred employers for taking about $287 million from workers. Some major US corporations were among the worst offenders. They include Halliburton, G4S Wackenhut and Circle-K stores.

According to the AP, victims of wage theft toil on the lower rungs of the workforce. Danielle Wynne, a $10-an-hour convenience store clerk in Florida, said her boss ordered her to work off the clock. Ruth Palacios, a janitor from Mexico, earned less than minimum wage to disinfect a New York City hospital at the height of the pandemic. Companies have little incentive to follow the law. The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, which investigates federal wage-theft complaints, rarely penalizes repeat offenders. On top of that, the division often lets businesses avoid repaying employees all the money they’re owed. Jenn Round, a labor expert at Rutgers University, said some companies do a cost-benefit analysis and realize it’s cheaper to violate the law, even if they get caught. Sounds like a great reason to increase fines for wage theft!

Bill Would Open COINTELPRO Records

It’s time for some truth. The Washington Post reports that a Democratic lawmaker introduced new legislation yesterday that would force the government to reveal decades-old FBI files about domestic spying on civil rights and peace activists. Illinois Democratic Representative Bobby Rush is seeking answers about the killing of Fred Hampton, a Black Panther activist targeted by an FBI informant and shot by police in Chicago in 1969. The congressman, who helped found the Illinois Black Panther Party and blames the FBI for Hampton’s death, said the files should hold important details about the bureau’s activities. The FBI declined to comment.

The Post says the FBI’s investigation of Hampton was part of a larger domestic intelligence gathering effort by the FBI called COINTELPRO, short for Counterintelligence Program. It entailed infiltrating, harassing, and sowing division among groups involved in constitutionally protected political activism. The restrictions imposed on the FBI in the wake of COINTELPRO have come under renewed scrutiny in recent months. Some have argued the FBI has interpreted the rules too narrowly, allowing the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol to be planned in plain view. Rush said he would welcome any conservatives’ support if that helps provide answers about the domestic spying program. Rush’s bill would require all COINTELPRO files to be made public within six months of the law’s passage. It would also remove the J. Edgar Hoover name from the FBI headquarters building. Maybe they should call it the Fred Hampton Memorial FBI Building.

Consumer Advocate Takes Over Student Loans

Here’s some hopeful news on the personnel front. The Post reports that Richard Cordray, the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has been named to head the federal aid office that oversees the government’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio. Cordray led the bureau’s crackdown on consumer abuses in debt collection, student loan servicing and for-profit colleges, garnering the respect of advocates and drawing the ire of those industries. His selection signals tougher oversight of the Education Department’s contractors and enforcement of the rules governing federal student aid.

According to the Post, Cordray will arrive at the department as the Biden administration grapples with its authority to cancel a portion of federal student loans, a policy championed by one of Cordray’s chief supporters, Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic senator from Massachusetts praised his appointment Monday, saying she is, "very glad he will get to apply his fearlessness and expertise to protecting student loan borrowers." During his six-year tenure at the CFPB, Cordray frequently clashed with the financial industry and conservatives over his aggressive regulation. His efforts to weed out poor servicing of student loans and predatory career training schools at times put him at odds with the Education Department. The CFPB under Cordray’s direction also brought some of the most high-profile student lending cases in recent years. Among them: a lawsuit against the for-profit giant Corinthian Colleges for steering students into private loans that had interest rates as high as fifteen percent. Parasites! Your time is up.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Guardian reports that the United Nations has condemned the violent repression of protests in Colombia, after police attacks left at least eighteen dead and eighty seven people missing. Riot police have rampaged across the smoke-filled streets, shooting protesters at point-blank range and charging at crowds with their motorcycles. Protests began peacefully with a nationwide general strike last Wednesday. Solidarity to all facing state violence.

Officials told NBC News that the man who tried to drive into CIA headquarters in Virginia on Monday has died of his injuries after being shot by FBI agents who believed he had a bomb. The man, Roy Gordon Cole, was known to the CIA because he had tried to drive into its heavily guarded facility before. No explosives were found.

The AP reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday failed to meet a midnight deadline to put together a new governing coalition. The news raises the possibility that his Likud party could be pushed into the opposition for the first time in twelve years. Feels like forever, though.

According to the Washington Post, President Joe Biden yesterday set a goal of seventy percent of adult Americans having at least one coronavirus vaccine shot by the Fourth of July. The administration is also taking steps to make vaccine more accessible, including directing pharmacies to offer walk-in appointments, redirecting federal resources to support pop-up clinics and sending more doses to rural health clinics. Whatever it takes, we’re in!

MAY 5, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The Biden Administration announced that it would increase the country’s refugee admissions cap after weeks of criticism for continuing Trump’s barbaric policies.

Meanwhile, experts believe that thanks to vaccine skeptics and dangerous variants of the disease, the U.S. is unlikely to ever reach herd immunity from COVID-19.

And lastly, the EPA makes a bold move to limit the use of toxic greenhouse gases in the Biden administrations first major step against climate change.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

After weeks of pressure, the Biden Administration is backing down from its horrible stance on immigration.

The White House announced on Monday that it would raise the national cap on refugee admissions from just 15,000 to 62,500.

For reference, 15,000 was the minuscule number of people the Trump administration allowed in. When Biden took office, he promised to change Trump’s brutal immigration policies, but for months still maintained the Trump quotas, despite widespread criticism.

Now, Biden says he’s raising the cap, and will set it at an even higher number of 125,000 next fiscal year. But his administration also noted that he doesn’t think they’ll actually reach even the 62,500 cap this year, which is all the more embarrassing considering how many refugees other countries have taken in.

What he didn’t mention, however, is that other key Trump policies are still in place, such as the freeze of the asylum system under a legally-shaky provision of U.S. law.

It’s pretty obvious we’ve got a long way to go to care for less fortunate people looking to make a better life in this country.

Scientists Say We Blew Our Shot at Herd Immunity

Our response to coronavirus has been building toward one thing: the point when enough people are vaccinated that the disease can’t reliably spread.

This is generally known as “herd immunity,” but unfortunately, scientists have bad news. With the way things are going, we may never get there.

The biggest issues facing us right now are the prevalence of coronavirus variants and slipping vaccine rates. In other words, the disease is mutating and people aren’t getting vaccinated fast enough to wipe it out.

Together, those are enough that scientists have a quote “widespread consensus” that we’re not going to make it to the herd immunity threshold, according to the New York Times.

That means the virus is going to continue to spread through the country in the future, albeit at levels the scientists are calling a manageable threat. The new goal isn’t to completely wipe out the disease, but just mitigate its spread and protect people from whatever variants may crop up.

The government has stayed away from herd immunity messaging for a while now because of these issues, and it didn’t help that the right wing anti-maskers coopted it into a theory that the disease would go away on its own.

But without widespread immunity to the disease through vaccinations, we simply aren’t going to get there. COVID will be around for a long time to come.

EPA Cracks Down on Gas

The Environmental Protection Agency moved on Monday to take one of its boldest actions against greenhouse gases.

The agency proposed strictly regulating hydrofluorocarbons [HYDRO FLURRO CARBONS], or HFCs as they’re called. HFCs are man made chemicals that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to global warming. They’re commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning.

The EPA’s new plan would begin to take effect in 2022, and would seek to reduce the production and importation of HFCs by 85 percent over the following 15 years. The agency estimates that by 2050, that change will eliminate the equivalent of about 3 years worth of emissions from America’s power sector.

Biden is clearly hoping that this aggressive policy will make a dent in his goal of cutting U.S. emissions in half by 2035. Of course, he won’t be president by then, and there’s no guarantee a more cut-throat capitalist won’t shove us right back into the arms of natural gas. And while a

crackdown on dangerous refrigeration gases is certainly important, it’s far from the biggest driver of climate change.

Still, if this is the kind of plan the EPA is going to lead with under Biden, it could be a sign of good things to come.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they were getting divorced on Monday, in what would usually be a non-story but in this case could have profound repercussions for the future of scientific research and the entire nonprofit sector. Makes you think that maybe relying on the whims of billionaires to finance public goods isn’t the best system!

The FDA is expected to authorize children as young as 12 to receive the Pfizer vaccine by early next week, letting another block of school-age kids get protected over the summer holidays before returning to the classroom in the fall.

Facebook’s oversight board has finished deliberations as to what they’re going to do with Donald Trump’s account, which was banned four months ago. They’ll announce the decision at 9am on Wednesday.

A new study showed that patients who received a combination of the drug MDMA and talking therapy reported a dramatic improvement in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which could be a major boon as advocates seek widespread medical approval for the drug.

MAY 4 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The Biden administration released the Trump administration’s secret set of rules for carrying out drone strikes, prompting new calls for him to end targeted killings once and for all.

Meanwhile, police departments across the country are struggling to get their cops to take the coronavirus vaccine, despite plentiful access.

And finally, Austin voters brought back the city’s controversial public tent law, which effectively criminalized homelessness and would further destabilize the lives of many unhoused people.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The Biden administration released a set of confidential rules used by the Trump administration to authorize drone strikes, after the ACLU and New York Times filed suit to uncover the documents.

Biden suspended Trump’s rules when it came into power, and began a widespread review of the government’s use of force policies in March. But it has not, of course, ended the general U.S. policy of killing whoever it wants with drone strikes.

The documents show that under Trump, individual military commanders were given a broad latitude to authorize strikes, with plenty of wiggle room when it came to skirting guidelines meant to prevent civilians from being harmed.

The Biden white house’s review found that Trump’s rules were even more lenient when commanders were certain women and children wouldn’t be injured, even if adult male civilians were nearby.

Under Biden, strikes require direct White House approval. But approval or not, that still means that they happen.

Vaccine The Only Shot Cops Won't Take

America’s police officers were some of the very first people to become eligible for the Coronavirus vaccine, and yet guess what? They’re simply not getting it.

The Washington Post reports that in many police departments across the nation, the vaccination rate is on par or even lower than the general public, despite easy access to the jab.

For example, in Las Vegas, only 39 percent of cops are vaxxed. In Atlanta, it’s 36 percent. In Columbus, Ohio, it’s only 28. These are big departments!

Police unions, meanwhile, are strongly against making the vaccination mandatory for their cops, repeating the “personal decision” line that we’re hearing all over.

The Post reports that most cops are avoiding the vaccine for the same reasons the general public is struggling with: skepticism, paranoia, and the belief that since many of them had the disease already, they’re not going to catch it again.

As the Post points out, this is a massive risk not only to the health of the cops, but to the health of every community member they interact with. Since they’re refusing to get the jab, they’re putting every person they speak with at a traffic stop or routine interaction at even more risk than they were before.

Austin Criminalizes Homelessness

Austin voters approved restoring the city’s controversial public camping ban, a brutal law that effectively criminalized homelessness in the city.

The law specifically prohibits camping near downtown and UT Austin, areas where many unhoused people live. It also makes it a crime to ask for money or panhandle in certain areas.

Austin had similar bans in effect till 2019, when the City Council overturned them, correctly realizing that they were just contributing to overpolicing of already vulnerable groups of people. Forcing homeless people off the streets and into jail for the crime of trying to find a place to sleep isn’t going to end the problem, just make people in a desperate situation that much worse off.

Still, the public campaign to reinstate the bans was immensely successful, as the city passed the proposition by around 58 to 42 percent. They had pretty significant support from above, as Texas’s notorious GOP governor Gregg Abbott told the city that if it didn’t reinstate the bans, the state would do it for them. The PAC organized around the bill also raked in $1.2 million.

Activists at the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition and other groups fought the bill to the end, noting that it would disproportionately affect black and brown people and force even more of them into the jail and prison system.

The bans will go back in place on May 11, which will surely be a hard day for many people in the city.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Crowds of Trump supporters booed and heckled Mitt Romney during his speech at the Utah State Republican Convention on Saturday, which should dispel any notion that Romney will have much luck in any future national GOP primary.

Speaking of embarrassing public appearances, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn apparently forgot the words to the pledge of allegiance while at a Bikers for Trump rally organized by crook lawyer Lin Wood. Sad!

If there was any question as to where Mitch McConnell’s priorities are, Biden’s big infrastructure plan would almost certainly give the Republican Majority Leader the money to fix a massive, vitally important bridge in his home state. But despite trying to find a fix for it for years, McConnell’s partisanship will always come before his constituents, and he’s resolutely against the bill.

Will Biden close Guantanamo Bay? Boy. I dunno. In an interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said this noncommittal quote: We believe that it should be, that's certainly a goal, but it's something that we'll bring some focus to in the months ahead.” endquote. Whatever that means!

MAY 3, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

President Joe Biden’s Labor Secretary, Marty Walsh, has signaled his department may take a stand for gig workers’ rights. It would be long overdue and much welcomed by millions.

Meanwhile, a new study confirms what many social justice protesters observed last summer: tear gas really messes with people’s bodies. So how do we get police to stop using it?

And lastly, Democrats in Congress aren’t waiting around for the White House to act on one item on the progressive agenda. Bernie Sanders is among those leading the charge for a major Medicare expansion.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Big Tech has been systematically cheating people, and not only customers. A lot of gig workers in the United States should be classified as employees who deserve work benefits, President Biden’s labor secretary said yesterday, according to Reuters. The comments suggest a shift in policy that is likely to raise costs for companies that depend on contractors such as Uber and Lyft. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a son of Irish immigrants and a former union member, has been expected to boost the Biden Administration’s efforts to expand workers’ protections and deliver a win for the country’s organized labor movement.

Walsh told Reuters that in a lot of cases gig workers should be classified as employees, and in some cases they are not treated respectfully. As many as fifty five million people in the United States were gig workers – or thirty four percent of the workforce – in 2017, according to the International Labor Organization. The total was projected to rise to forty three percent in 2020. Walsh’s views on the issue could usher in new rulings from the Labor Department, which sets legal guidelines for how employers treat workers. Walsh said the Department will have conversations with companies that employ gig labor in the coming months to make sure workers have access to consistent wages, sick time, health care and "all of the things that an average employee in America can access."

Subsequently, Reuters reports, shares of Uber fell as much as eight percent while Lyft dived as much as twelve percent. Doordash fell nearly nine percent and Grubhub was down three percent. Boo-hoo. Treat your workers right or we’ll make you do it!

Study: Tear Gas Affects Menstruation

Expect lawsuits after this one, folks. The Guardian says that more than a thousand people reported lasting health effects after being exposed to teargas during protests in Portland, Oregon, last summer, according to a newly published scientific study. Nearly nine hundred people reported abnormal menstrual cycles, including intense cramping and increased bleeding, that began or persisted days after their initial exposure to the teargas. Hundreds of others complained of other negative health impacts, including severe headaches, nausea, diarrhea, and mental health concerns. The new research, based on an online survey of more than twenty two hundred people, challenges claims that the health consequences of being teargassed are minor and temporary.

According to the Guardian, it is also the first published, peer-reviewed study to confirm a link between teargas and abnormal menstruation. The connection was widely discussed by American protesters on social media and in news reports last year. Participants in racial justice protests against police violence last summer in Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Rochester and other cities told media outlets that their exposure to teargas had been followed by unexpected bleeding, unusually painful cramps, and other disruptions of their typical menstrual cycles. Last July, Oregon Public Broadcast interviewed twenty six protesters, ages seventeen to forty three, who said that exposure to teargas had affected their periods. Some described large blood clots, others cramps that felt like sharp rocks. One twenty nine year old protester told OPB, "We’re not paranoid. This isn’t a coincidence. Something’s going on." It seems they were right.

Democrats Push Medicare Expansion

It’s not Medicare for All, but it’s Medicare for... More. The Washington Post reports that Congressional Democrats are planning to pursue a massive expansion of Medicare as part of President Biden’s new $1.8 trillion economic relief package, defying the White House after it opted against including a major health overhaul as part of its plan. The expansion push

comes as Biden stressed in his first address to Congress on Wednesday that he is still committed to making health care more affordable. They specifically aim to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to either fifty five or sixty, expand the range of health services the entitlement covers and grant the government new powers to negotiate prescription drug prices. Party lawmakers say their approach could offer new, improved or cheaper coverage to millions of older Americans nationwide.

The Post reports that roughly one hundred House and Senate Democrats, led by Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington State and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, encouraged Biden to include the overhaul as part of his latest package, known as the American Families Plan. Yet Biden opted only to propose additional subsidies for Americans who purchase their health insurance, disappointing many lawmakers. Sanders said Wednesday he would absolutely pursue a Medicare expansion as lawmakers begin to translate Biden’s economic vision into legislation.

But in an early sign of trouble, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia told the Post he opposes expanding Medicare eligibility. Manchin said, "No, I’m not for it, period." Rethinking Medicare also risks touching off a fierce lobbying barrage on the part of health insurers and pharmaceutical giants. The corporate opposition could add to the political obstacles facing Biden’s economic agenda. But ultimately, Democrats are in the majority, people need healthcare, and voters will remember what was done – even if it’s nothing.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed a $35 billion bill designed to bolster states’ water infrastructure, NBC News reports. Legislators pointed to the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, and water outages in Texas this past winter as evidence of the need for urgent action. So it boggles the mind why one of the two votes against the bill was from Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

The three Georgia men charged with murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery are now facing federal hate crime charges as well, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday, according to BuzzFeed News. The federal charges came more than a year after the twenty five-year-old Black man was followed by the three white men while he was jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, told to stop at gunpoint, and shot. You may remember that, at first, no charges were filed at all in this case.

Powered by consumers and fueled by government aid, the US economy is achieving a remarkably fast recovery from the recession that ripped through the nation last year, according to the Associated Press. The number of people seeking unemployment aid – a rough reflection of layoffs – last week reached its lowest point since the pandemic struck. The numbers may be encouraging, but they’re just numbers. Consider us cautiously optimistic.

US flights carrying urgent coronavirus aid for India were en route yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The US government will deliver more than $100 million worth of supplies for overstretched hospitals and front-line health-care workers in India, including oxygen support, personal protective equipment, therapeutics and rapid diagnostic tests. Here’s hoping it gets where it’s needed quickly, and saves some lives.

APRIL 30, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

For the first time last night, and just short of his hundredth day in office, President Joe Biden addressed a joint session of Congress. He said America is on the move again, and back to stay – got it, Jack?

Meanwhile, three new studies reveal the plague of environmental racism. Lung-damaging air pollution harms Black Americans at rates more than twenty percent above the average.

And lastly, the feds raided the home and office of Donald Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. The warrant was apparently held up until Merrick Garland became Attorney General.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

It’s a wonk’s delight. The Biden administration yesterday detailed a $1.8 trillion policy plan to expand access to education, reduce the cost of child care and support women in the work force, according to the New York Times. The American Families Plan, as the White House calls it, includes $1 trillion in new spending and $800 billion in tax credits, much of which is aimed at expanding access to education and child care. The package includes financing for universal prekindergarten, a federal paid leave program, efforts to make child care more affordable, free community college for all, aid for students at colleges that historically serve nonwhite communities, expanded subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and an extension of new federal efforts to fight poverty. It’s to be financed by additional taxes on high earners. Biden presented the details to a joint session of Congress last night.

Biden spoke to a House chamber that was sparsely populated but fully masked. He listed some accomplishments from his first hundred days, including progress against the pandemic and campaigns against hunger, opioid addiction, and child poverty. He laid out what his plans could yet accomplish, such as creating jobs to replace hazardous lead pipes and providing child and elder care for hundreds of thousands of families. And he pushed back against skepticism that democracies can’t compete against autocracies in the twenty first century, by showing what government can do to meet people’s needs. He praised labor unions and criticized greedy CEOs. Biden said, "trickle down economics has never worked, and it’s time to grow the economy from the bottom and the middle out."

Air Pollution Disproportionately Harms POC

Racism is in the air we breathe. Nearly every source of the nation’s most pervasive and deadly air pollutant disproportionately affects Americans of color, regardless of their location or income level, the Washington Post reports. The news comes from a study published yesterday in the journal Science Advances, authored by researchers from five universities. The analysis of fine-particle matter, which includes soot, shows how decisions made decades ago about where to build highways and industrial plants continue to harm the health of Black, Latino and Asian Americans today. The particles studied have diameters of no more than two point five micrometers – one-thirtieth the width of a human hair – and can become embedded in the lungs. Known as Particulate Matter Two Point Five, they account for up to two hundred thousand premature US deaths each year.

The Post says the new paper, coupled with two other analyses also released yesterday, bolsters the argument that environmental advocates have made for years that Black, Latino, Asian and Native Americans bear a heavier burden. And this growing body of research is showing the full scope of the problem. Joshua Apte, one of the authors, said, "The deck is stacked against people of color, for almost every emission source."

The study found that Black people are exposed to twenty one percent more fine-particle pollution compared to average Americans, the Post reports. Exposure was eighteen percent greater for Asian Americans and eleven percent more for Hispanics. White Americans, by contrast, have eight percent less pollution exposure than the average. This is yet another urgent reason the country needs a Green New Deal.

Feds Search Giuliani's Home, Office

This isn’t how you want to wake up on a weekday. The New York Times reports that federal investigators in Manhattan executed search warrants early yesterday at the home and office of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who became Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, stepping up a criminal investigation into Giuliani’s dealings in Ukraine. The investigators seized Giuliani’s electronic devices and searched his Madison Avenue apartment and his Park Avenue office at about 6 am.Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, called the searches unnecessary, according to the Times. Costello said, "What they did today was legal thuggery."

FBI agents on yesterday morning also executed a search warrant at the Washington-area home of Victoria Toensing, a lawyer close to Giuliani who had dealings with several Ukrainians involved in seeking negative information on the Bidens. Toensing, a former federal prosecutor and senior Justice Department official, has also represented Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch under indictment in the United States whose help Giuliani sought. The federal authorities have focused on whether Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of Ukrainian officials and oligarchs, who were helping Giuliani search for damaging information on Trump’s political rivals, including Joe Biden.

The Times reports that the US attorney’s office in Manhattan and the FBI had sought for months to secure search warrants for Giuliani’s phones and electronic devices. Under Trump, political appointees in the Justice Department repeatedly sought to block such a warrant. After Merrick Garland was confirmed as Biden’s attorney general, the Justice Department lifted its objection to the search. Funny how that works.

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The city of Alameda, California yesterday identified three police officers who were placed on administrative leave in connection to the death of twenty six-year-old Mario Gonzalez, the San-Jose Mercury News reports. The officers are James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinley. Body camera footage shows officers pinned Gonzalez on the ground for about five minutes, attempting to arrest him. Gonzalez’s family says the footage shows the officers murdered him. After George Floyd, who can deny their outrage?

The Guardian reports crematoriums in Delhi have become so overloaded by Covid-19 deaths that they are being forced to build makeshift funeral pyres on spare patches of land. And the BBC reports that police in India are prosecuting a man who used Twitter to try to find oxygen for his dying grandfather. Officers in Uttar Pradesh state charged Shashank Yadav with spreading a rumour over oxygen shortages. That’s one way to deal with the problem.

Connecticut will no longer allow a religious exemption from childhood immunization requirements for schools, colleges and day care facilities, the Associated Press reports. It becomes the sixth state to end that policy, after California, New York, West Virginia, Mississippi and Maine. More than two thousand opponents rallied outside the state Capitol building, arguing the legislation infringes on their religious liberties and parental rights. Ah yes, the god-given right to let your children contract preventable illnesses, and infect others...

Workers trying to block the sale of a Renault car parts factory held seven managers against their will for twelve hours in the latest boss-napping to hit French industry, the Guardian reports. A union rep said the union had decided to release the managers because, " they still didn’t want to have a dialogue." Well, at least they tried.

APRIL 29, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

A human rights group warns that the Biden administration is well on its way to being just as bad as the Obama regime on immigration, after 300,000 people were deported in Biden’s first 100 days in office.

Meanwhile, a scathing report says that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid for its treatement of Palestinians.

And lastly, President Biden is looking for an $80 billion bump to the IRS, ostensibly so that the agency can beef up its enforcement into rich individuals and corporations who dodge paying taxes.

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Immigration watchdog United We Dream estimates that the Biden administration has deported over 300,000 people since taking office, putting it at risk of repeating the unique failures of the Obama regime, which carried out mass deportations throughout its time in power.

Common Dreams reports that many of the Biden administration deportations have been justified under a Trump-era policy called Title 42. Human Rights Watch says that Title 42 used a 75-year-old public health law to effectively shut down the functioning asylum system in the U.S. during the pandemic.

Cynthia Garcia of United We Dream said in a statement on Monday quote: "Title 42 was designed under one of the most anti-immigrant administrations in modern history." endquote.

It’s just one of several Trump policies that, as we’ve noted before, Biden has yet to end. Despite promising a fairer immigration system and an end to Trump’s brutality, conditions at the border have only marginally improved and, as you can see, mass deportations are still continuing unchecked.

Meanwhile, Biden announced his pick for the director of ICE, nominating Harris County, Tex., Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. Harris presided over a shift in his sheriff’s department that saw if cooperate less with ICE, and only help to deport undocumented people who posed a so-called immediate safety threat.

So while he may be gentler than Trump’s people, make no mistake: he’s not about to fully rein ICE in anytime soon. And all the while, Trump’s policies are still doing their dirty work.

Human Rights Report Says Israel is Guilty of Apartheid

A scorching report from Human Rights Watch blasts Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, claiming that they’ve committed the crime of apartheid.

You’ll notice that we’re using the language “crime of apartheid” rather than saying apartheid state. That’s because, as HRW explains, the latter term doesn’t have a specific definition under international law.

The organizations’ intent isn’t to compare Israel to South Africa or any other country, only to clearly delineate what their crimes and abuses are.

And on those counts, the report is unsparing. Accurately saying Israel is guilty of the legally defined crimes of apartheid and persecution rests on three main points.

One, the report claims that Israel’s policies have been designed to ensure that Jewish Israelis remain dominant in the area’s politics. Two, those policies have included systemic oppression and institutional discrimination. And three, that oppression has included inhumane acts and other abuses of fundamental rights. The report arrived at these conclusions by explicitly comparing the experiences and treatment of Jewish Israelis and Palestinians living in the same general areas.

Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is a crucial, hotly contested issue, which is why it’s important to see these legal definitions so clearly laid out, without the wiggle room of rhetoric. Comparisons to other countries don’t matter: these are real lives at stake, not just a thought experiment.

Biden Seeks Beefy IRS to Catch Fat Cats

President Biden is looking to beef up the IRS. Before you start groaning, know this: the stated intent isn’t to make things more difficult for the average Joe.

Instead, Biden claims a big part of his new tax and spend plan will rest on an empowered IRS actively chasing down companies and high-earning individuals who are dodging their taxes.

To do so, he’s proposing giving the IRS an extra 80 billion over the next ten years, which he expects will turn into $700 billion in net taxes raised.

This is a good thing, obviously, but it remains to be seen how well it will actually work. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren called it a good first step, and noted quote:

“Republicans have starved the IRS so it can't go after wealthy tax cheats." endquote.

She’s not wrong about that! Earlier this month, the head of the IRS told a Senate committee that the agency just doesn’t have the resources to pursue tax cheats, estimating that it could cost the government a whopping $1 trillion a year.

If that’s true, Biden’s hope that he’ll squeeze an extra $700 billion out might be shooting a bit low. We all know the richest among us have plenty to spare.

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A new report by the Trace and the New Yorker shows NRA head Wayne LaPierre brutally botching the killing of an African elephant, missing multiple shots and gruesomely wounding the animal. The barbaric killing was filmed as part of a propaganda film by the NRA, but was never released -- not because of the violence, but because LaPierre’s aim was so bad.

Nina Turner, the Bernie Sanders surrogate and former State Senator now running for the House in her native Ohio, picked up a big endorsement from staunch progressive Pramila Jayapaul today. Turner’s already smashed fundraising targets, so her campaign seems to be off to the races.

The CDC eased its long-standing mask recommendations on Tuesday, saying that it was safe for fully vaccinated adults to be outside without a mask, as long as they aren’t in large crowds like concerts or sporting events.

Joe Biden will head to Pennsylvania on Friday to attend Amtrack’s 50th anniversary party and tout his infrastructure plan. At least he’s consistent on his love for trains! Now we’ll see if we can get any more significant investments into them.

APRIL 28, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The United States announced it will share up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine with other countries -- but big pharma leaders still oppose opening up the patents so every country can make what it needs.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the vaccine production company that screwed up 15 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine sold off $10 million in stock before the mistake was announced.

And lastly, the new census numbers are in, and as we feared, Republicans are going to pick up a few key house seats in

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The United States has finally agreed to share. On Monday, the White House announced it would send up to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine around the world.

The AstraZeneca vaccine isn’t even approved for use in the U.S., so it’s not like we have anything better to do with it, meaning it’s kind of absurd we hadn’t done this already. Still, the FDA wants to clear the drug before we send it overseas, though dozens of other countries are already using it and could use more.

We’re not even the first major power to do this. Russia and China have both already actively shared vaccines outside their borders. Prior to this announcement, we’d only committed to sharing a measly 4 million doses with Mexico and Canada.

It’s clear the U.S. could be doing a whole lot more to help as our own vaccine rollout continues relatively smoothly.

Perhaps the biggest impediment to global vaccination, though, is once again the capitalists in charge. U.S. drugmakers have jealously guarded their patented vaccine formulas, and thus far, Biden has let them, despite making a promise not to while on the campaign trail.

The Guardian reported recently on Biolyse, a small Canadian drug manufacturer that said it was ready and willing to devote its facility to cranking out doses of the vaccine to send to developing nations, if only one of the pharma giants would give them the recipe. So far, they’ve gotten nothing. Biolyse’s head of production Claude Mercure said quote: “I don’t understand pharma’s

stance on this. Everyone needs to make money, sure. But this is a very serious situation and there’s no reason to be this harsh.” Endquote.

The bigwigs in charge know this, but as we know by now: money comes first.

Pharma CEO Dumped Stock Before Vax Screwup

With that in mind, let’s turn to another story of unabashed corporate greed. Back in February, the pharma company Emergent Biosolutions completely messed up a massive order for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, ruining 15 million doses in a plant in Baltimore.

A new report by the Washington Post shows that at least one person saw this coming: Emergent’s CEO. Emergent boss Robert G. Kramer sold more than $10 million worth of stock in his own company in early February, right before Emergent reported the mistake and its stock price took a nose dive. If Kramer were to sell those same shares now, he’d only get $5.5 million.

It seems pretty cut and dry what happened here. The top leaders at Emergent knew something was going wrong, so they dumped their stock and hoped for the best. The Post reports that other execs at the company also sold off stocks.

In Kramer’s case, he set up the trades back in November, apparently trying to ward off complaints of insider trading. But the Post’s investigation found that Emergent’s plant was already having production problems back in October, including one earlier issue with making the J&J vaccine.

If you heard yesterday’s story on CEO pay, you’ll love this: Kramer’s total compensation went up 50 percent in 2020.

To seal the deal, Kramer’s last sell-off of his own company’s stock was in 2016 -- and guess what happened: investors sued him, saying that he had dumped his stock after misleading them about a government contract. Sure sounds like he was playing his favorite trick once again.

Republicans Make Census Gains

The Census results are in, and they don’t look good for the Democrats. Thanks to Trump’s pandemic-addled, count-disrupted Census attempt, the 2020 Census reported significant population gains in red-leaning states, which means they’ll get a bigger share of House of Representatives seats.

Texas, Florida and North Carolina are set to gain a combined four new Congressional seats after the 2022 midterms, while California, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York — will each lose a single congressional seat. There are some other shifts, but those are the big ones

The nuances of how this all works is a bit more tricky. It’s not as simple as handing seats directly to Republicans, as they’ll obviously have to win elections and the new districts will depend heavily on how the lines are drawn. But in Republican led states, the GOP will hold most of the power over that redistricting, so it follows that they’ll try to gerrymander as many new safely red seats as they can.

Part of this is due to population shifts that are really happening, but the effects are likely more dramatic thanks to Trump’s efforts to disrupt the census project and add a citizenship question, likely suppressing the population of undocumented people who were accounted for.

This matters for representation, but also for the share of federal tax dollars those communities receive, meaning in many cases they’ll be paying taxes to get very little in return.

You can see who’s the clear winner in all this, and it’s not the Democrats or working people around the country.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The population of the United States grew at the slowest rate since the 1930s, the new census showed, fueled by both declining birth rates and stagnant immigration. You can pin some of that blame on Trump, but not all.

The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear arguments in a new major gun control case challenging a New York law on carrying guns outside of the home. The NRA has backed the challenge, which it clearly hopes will set a dangerous precedent further eroding any attempts at gun reform across the country.

A Republican-led drive to remove California Gov. Gavin Newsom from office got enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, state officials reported Monday. The LA Times reports that Newsome could see a statewide vote of confidence before the end of the year.

And finally, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will undergo an internal review aimed at rooting out extremists and white supremacists inside it’s own ranks. The key word in that sentence is “internal.” We’ll see what they find, but don’t hold your breath for real change.

APRIL 27, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders send a bold letter to the White House on Sunday urging a major expansion to the country’s Medicare system as part of the President’s investment and tax reform plan. But will Joe Biden listen?

Meanwhile, India’s COVID outbreak is spiraling out of control, but its hard-right government is more concerned with bullying big tech into taking down criticism on social media than actually helping.

And lastly, a new report shows that CEO’s paychecks are skyrocketing, even as their companies suffer from the pandemic’s economic downturn.

THESE ARE THE STORIES YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and a cadre of 14 other Democratic Senators sent a letter on Sunday urging Joe Biden to sign off on a massive expansion of Medicare benefits.

The letter asks for several specific things, including lowering the eligibility age for Medicare, expanding benefits to include vision, dental, and hearing, a cap on out-of-pocket expenses, and lower drug prices. The senators want these chances included in Biden’s American Families Plan, an estimated $1.8 trillion tax and spending package that Biden is expected to showcase during his first address to Congress on Wednesday.

There’s just one problem: Biden hasn’t committed to any of those things yet. Instead, the Washington Post reported that Biden wants to add a $200 billion expansion to the Affordable Care Act’s subsidy program, which helps people pay for private health insurance, but will not touch Medicare.

When it comes down to it, both a limited expansion to Medicare and more ACA subsidies are woefully inadequate, with the latter plan particularly weak.

It also appears like Biden is fully backing away from any kind of true public option for health insurance, instead offering up crumbs and stopgap measures. We’ll see what he has to say on Wednesday, but we’re not hoping for much.

India Censors Covid Critics

The coronavirus epidemic has spiraled to devastating heights in India. Oxygen supplies are dwindling across the country, and on Sunday alone, it recorded almost 350,000 new infections.

And experts think even those staggering numbers are underselling things. Hospitals in New Delhi are out of oxygen and beds and mass cremations are occurring across the country.

Part of the recent surge is due to India’s hard-right government, which under Narendra Modi loosened and sometimes flat out disregarded social distancing restrictions, especially at the President's large, Trump-like rallies across the country.

Modi is now trying to get the outbreak under control and promising to, “give priority to experts and scientific advice.” But he’s also cracking down on any dissent and criticism as much as possible.

According to the New York Times, Modhi has successfully petitioned several American social media platforms to delete or take down post critical of him or blaming him for the disastrous spike in cases. Modhi has often threatened to arrest local employees of tech giants like Twitter and Facebook if they refuse to take down the offending posts, which has worked on several occasions.

But all of this reflects a disturbing brand of authoritarianism from India’s government. As one professor at the University of Delhi put it:

“It’s easier to take down tweets than it is to ensure oxygen supplies.”

CEOs Reap Pandemic Payouts

To close us out today we’ve got a very simple story of American capitalism. As the pandemic ravaged businesses large and small alike, the biggest companies managed to keep one thing intact: absurdly large salaries for CEOs.

Let’s just run some quick figures by you as reported in the New York Times. You won’t need a calculator or anything, these are pretty clear. Boeing: 30,000 workers laid off, $12 billion in losses. It’s CEO David Calhoun? 21.1 million in compensation.

Let’s do Hilton. Nearly a quarter of its corporate employees laid off, $720 million in losses. CEO Chris Nassetta made $55.9 million in compensation.

There are dozens more companies like this, where CEOs reaped the benefits of laying off their own employees directly. Others, like former T Mobile CEO John Legere [LEGER] raked in over millions after swallowing competitors whole or presiding over monopolistic mergers. And this

doesn’t even touch on the tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk who rode the waves of fluctuating stock prices to add hundreds of billions to their net worth.

It all adds up to the same thing: the rich are getting richer right in front of our eyes. And they’ve gotten so bloated and arrogant now that they don’t care who sees it.

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Joe Biden broke decades of official silence on Sunday and officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, a brutal campaign of repression during the first world war that killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, but has gone overlooked by many world governments for political reasons, namely the vocal opposition of NATO ally Turkey.

The Democratic establishment pulled off another victory in Louisiana over the weekend, as centrist-favored, pro-oil candidate Troy Carter beat Green New Deal supporter Karen Peterson, partially by riding a wave of Republican money, to secure a vacant Democratic house seat.

The top American commander in Afghanistan said on Sunday that the U.S. has officially begun its withdrawal from the country, transitioning bases and resources to the Afghan military. This won’t stop the U.S. from bombing whoever it wants, whenever it wants, of course, but it’s a nominal step toward the end of one chapter of the forever war.

The European Union announced that it will let U.S. tourists who are vaccinated visit this summer, after more than a year of widespread travel restrictions, but did not give a definite timeline as to what documentation would be required or when specifically the restrictions would lift.

APRIL 26, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Jack Crosbie

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn

Welcome to Majority.FM's AM QUICKIE! Brought to you by justcoffee.coop

TODAY'S HEADLINES:

The United States once again wants to be a world leader in the fight against climate change. But activists say the Biden administration’s new targets don’t go far enough.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon thinks that mysterious symptoms afflicting some troops and diplomats might have been caused by directed-energy weapons. But if so, who made them?

And lastly, the White House is considering a substantial increase to the capital gains tax to fund social programs. And Wall Street is not happy.

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This is how you’d hope a president would talk. Joe Biden has called upon the world to overcome the existential crisis of our time, as he unveiled an ambitious new pledge to slash US planet-heating emissions in half by the end of the decade, the Guardian reports. Addressing a virtual gathering of more than forty world leaders in an Earth Day climate summit yesterday, Biden warned that time is short to address dangerous global heating. Shortly before the start of the summit, the White House said the US will aim to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least fifty percent by 2030, based on 2005 levels.

Biden said a shift to clean energy will create millions of good paying union jobs and that countries may reap the economic benefits of the clean energy boom that’s coming, the Guardian reports. The Biden administration also outlined a plan to double the amount of funding the US gives to developing countries to adapt to the ravages of drought, flooding and other climate impacts. Biden said, "This moment demands urgency – good ideas and good intentions aren’t good enough."

Some activists have said Biden needs to do even more, however, according to the Guardian. Evan Weber, the political director of the Sunrise Movement, said, "While many will applaud the president’s commitment to cut US emissions by at least half by 2030, we have a responsibility to tell the truth – it is nowhere near enough." Biden’s climate envoy, John Kerry, acknowledged that more needs to be done, claiming that the new US emissions target was a way of building back American credibility that was destroyed under Donald

Trump. Of course, the real test will be whether the whole of society can change to meet Biden’s targets. Count us as hopeful.

Military Briefs Congress On Mystery Weapons

Here’s a strange piece of intrigue. The Pentagon warned lawmakers this week about the growing threat of directed-energy attacks on US troops, four people briefed on the matter told Politico. Two Defense Department officials briefed members of the House Armed Service Committee about the phenomenon in a classified setting on Wednesday, the people said, and told lawmakers they are increasingly concerned about the vulnerability of US troops in places such as Syria, Afghanistan and various countries in South America. Briefers pointed to Russia as a likely culprit, the people told Politico, but didn’t have a smoking gun, citing difficulties in attributing the attacks. The Pentagon opened an investigation last year after suspected directed-energy attacks occurred on an unknown number of troops.

Officials told lawmakers that the phenomenon of suspected directed-energy attacks on US personnel is growing across the world, Politico reports. The attacks may cause a mysterious illness similar to the Havana syndrome reported by American spies and diplomats starting in late 2016. The briefers also told lawmakers that the origin of the technology required in such attacks is "more likely than not in Russia." One person familiar with the briefing said the briefers also pointed to China as a possible culprit, and didn’t know for sure who was behind the attacks.

Politico reports that people affected by attacks report symptoms including acute ringing and pressure in the ears, as well as loss of hearing and balance, fatigue and residual headaches. Some victims have suffered long-term brain damage. Close to fifty officials have reported such symptoms, known as Havana syndrome, among US diplomats posted in Cuba since late 2016. The CIA set up its own task force this year to look into the problem. It sounds like they’re still quite a ways away from solving this mystery.

White House Weighs Taxing Investors More

Soak the rich! President Biden will propose almost doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy individuals to help pay for a raft of social spending that addresses long-standing

inequality, Bloomberg News reports. For those earning $1 million or more, the new top rate, coupled with an existing surtax on investment income, means that federal tax rates for wealthy investors could be as high as forty three point four percent. The new marginal thirty nine point six percent rate would be an increase from the current base rate of twenty percent, people familiar with the proposal said. A three point eight percent tax on investment income that funds Obamacare would be kept in place, pushing the tax rate on returns on financial assets higher than rates on some wage and salary income.

The proposal could reverse a long-standing provision of the tax code that taxes returns on investment lower than on labor, Bloomberg reports. Biden campaigned on equalizing the capital gains and income tax rates for wealthy individuals, saying it’s unfair that many of them pay lower rates than middle-class workers. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, asked about the capital-gains plan yesterday, said, "we’re still finalizing what the pay-fors look like." Biden is expected to release the proposal next week in the forthcoming American Families Plan.

Other measures that the administration has discussed in recent weeks include enhancing the estate tax for the wealthy, Bloomberg reports. Biden has warned that those earning over $400,000 can expect to pay more in taxes. The White House has already rolled out plans for corporate tax hikes, which go to fund the $2.25 trillion infrastructure-focused American Jobs Plan. Corporate America is going to scream about all this, but just remember, it’s working people who’ve given the wealthy the lifestyle they enjoy.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that judges need not determine that juvenile offenders are beyond hope of rehabilitation before sentencing them to die in prison, the New York Times reports. The six-to-three decision, concerning a teenager who killed his grandfather, drew a caustic dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who noted that seventy percent of youths sentenced to die in prison are children of color. More everyday American barbarism.

For the second time in history, the House passed legislation yesterday to make the District of Columbia the nation’s fifty first state, the Washington Post reports. Democrats unanimously approved Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton’s Washington, DC Admission Act. The bill, symbolically titled HR 51, now heads to the Senate. It will be amazing if this becomes law.

The University of California and California State University announced yesterday that they intend to require Covid-19 vaccinations for all students, faculty and staff on campus properties this fall, according to the Los Angeles Times. The directive is the largest of its kind in US higher education, affecting more than one million members of the two public university systems. And it seems entirely reasonable, as there are already mandatory shots for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox.

The Senate yesterday passed an anti-hate crimes bill aimed at addressing a surge in attacks on Asian Americans amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Politico reports. The measure would create a Justice Department position focusing on the issue and beef up state and local hate crime reporting. Missouri Republican Josh Hawley was the only vote against the bill. What a way to make your mark, being the anti-anti-hate crimes guy – but that’s Josh Hawley!

APRIL 23, 2021 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn