Monthly Archives: July 2018

Koch-Funded Hit Piece Backfires: Shows Medicare for All Would Save ‘Whopping $2 Trillion’ Over Ten Years While Covering Everybody

“If every major country on Earth can guarantee healthcare to all, and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States cannot do the same.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-30-2018

If the billionaire Koch brothers really want to undermine the economic case for Medicare for All, they have a funny way of showing it.

Judging by the headlines alone, it would appear that the newly published study projecting that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) widely popular Medicare for All plan would cost $32.6 trillion over the next decade was conducted by an official, neutral body seeking the facts, not pushing an agenda.

Read a bit further, though, and you’ll discover that the analysis—released Monday morning—was produced by the George Mason University-based Mercatus Center, which has received millions of dollars in funding from the right-wing billionaires Charles and David Koch, who have previously expressed support for abolishing Medicare and Medicaid entirely. Continue reading

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‘Traveling while black’ guidebooks may be out of print, but still resonate today

Cotten Seiler, Dickinson College

 

In the summer of 2017, the NAACP issued a travel advisory for the state of Missouri.

Modeled after the international advisories issued by the U.S. State Department, the NAACP statement cautioned travelers of color about the “looming danger” of discrimination, harassment and violence at the hands of Missouri law enforcement, businesses and citizens.

The civil rights organization’s action had been partly prompted by the state legislature’s passage of what the NAACP called a “Jim Crow bill,” which increased the burden of proof on those bringing lawsuits alleging racial or other forms of discrimination. Continue reading

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Hottest Four Years Ever? 2015. 2016. 2017. 2018?

“The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle”

By Common Dreams. Published 7-28-2018

The Carr fire. Screenshot: ABC News

According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 2018 is on pace to be the fourth hottest year on record. Only three other years have been hotter: 2015, 2016 and 2017.

“The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” Michael Mann, a climate scientist and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University, told CNN.

“We are seeing them play out in real time in the form of unprecedented heat waves, floods, droughts and wildfires. And we’ve seen them all this summer,” he said. Continue reading

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“You Can’t Eat GDP”: Reminder That Most Workers Are Struggling as Trump and Corporate Media Tout Economic Growth

“Any administration would tout a strong GDP report like today’s, but if it’s not reaching workers’ paychecks, which it isn’t, then cease the applause.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-27-2018

Photo: SEIU/Twitter

As President Donald Trump and corporate media outlets on Friday enthusiastically touted new GDP figures showing that the U.S. economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2018, many economists and progressive commentators were quick to counter the glowing headlines by pointing out that corporations and the rich are feasting on most of the growth while workers see their wages fall.

“What the president won’t talk about is that there is slow—and even negative—growth in real wages adjusted for inflation. So if GDP is rising, but wages [are] falling, the money is going to the top,” Timothy McBride, a health economist at Washington University in St. Louis, noted in response to Trump’s celebratory speech on the White House lawn on Friday. Continue reading

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In ‘Victory for Women,’ Appeals Court Upholds Ban on Pence’s Indiana Law Requiring Ultrasounds Before Abortions

“This is another repudiation of the unnecessary and unconstitutional attempts by Indiana politicians to interfere with women’s reproductive rights.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-26-2018

Reproductive rights advocates in Indiana protested then-Gov. Mike Pence’s anti-choice legislation in April of 2016. (Photo: @MaureenHayden/Twitter)

Reproductive rights groups celebrated “a victory for women” after a federal appeals court upheld a ban on a provision in an Indiana law—signed by former governor and current Vice President Mike Pence—that forced any woman considering an abortion to undergo an ultrasound 18 hours before the procedure.


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In ‘Watershed Moment,’ Federal Judge Allows Emoluments Lawsuit, Challenging Trump’s Refusal to Divest Assets, to Proceed

“We are one step closer to stopping President Trump from violating the Constitution’s original anti-corruption provisions.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-25-2018

Last year, an artist projected “Pay Trump bribes here” and “Emoluments Welcome” onto the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C. to protest President Donald Trump’s refusal to divest from his businesses. (Photo: @igorvolsky/Twitter)

A government watchdog claimed its latest victory on Wednesday as a federal judge rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to block a lawsuit challenging his continued involvement with his businesses—which ethics groups say amounts to a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.


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Putting Common Good Over Billionaires and War Profiteers, House Progressives Introduce “People’s Budget”

The Congressional Progressive Caucus’ plan “invests in our neglected infrastructure, ends the systematic inequality in our tax system by making corporations pay their fair share, and stops the rising cost of drugs.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-24-2018

“The People’s Budget embodies that new vision by investing in the interests of the people over the interests of the arms industry and the billionaire class,” Paul Kawika Martin, senior director for policy and political affairs at Peace Action, noted in a statement on Tuesday. (Photo: Congressional Progressive Caucus)

Offering an ambitious alternative to the House GOP’s “morally bankrupt” 2019 budget proposal—which demands over $5 trillion in cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, and other life-saving programs—the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) on Tuesday unveiled a budget that calls for massive investments in infrastructure, healthcare, and education while proposing significant cuts to the completely “out-of-control” Pentagon budget.

Titled The People‘s Budget: A Progressive Path Forward (pdf), the CPC’s plan also calls for a ban on “any expansion of U.S. combat troops in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, and many other countries,” demanding an immediate end to “the policy of funding endless wars.” Continue reading

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Women Dressed as ‘Handmaids’ to Confront ‘Vicious Theocrat’ Mike Pence in Philadelphia Over His Anti-Choice Agenda

“Pence is one of the most dangerous reactionary figures in modern history. He is a key figure in ushering in a theocratic society right out of the Handmaid’s Tale.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-23-2018

Since President Donald Trump assumed office last year, many women have taken to dressing as handmaids from the TV series and book “The Handmaid’s Tale” to protest Trump’s anti-choice agenda. (Photo: Carlos Lowry/Flickr/cc)

Resisting the Trump-Pence administration’s anti-choice and anti-woman agenda, dozens of woman dressed as handmaids from the novel and TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale” are planning to greet Vice President Mike Pence when he arrives in Philadelphia on Monday for a GOP fundraiser.

The white bonnets and red dresses and capes worn by the protesters will mimic those of handmaids in Hulu’s dramatic series and Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel, in which women are forced to give birth to the children of powerful men. Continue reading

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Warnings of ‘Iraq War Redux’ as Bolton and Pompeo Are Reportedly Leading Push to ‘Foment Unrest’ in Iran

“Although the Trump administration claims it only seeks ‘behavior change’ in Iran, its pressure campaign clearly aims at regime change.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-22-2018

Mike Pompeo and John Bolton. Photo: Alles Schell und Rauch

In writings and speeches over just the past several months, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have made no secret of their desire to overthrow the Iranian government.

According to a Reuterreport published on Saturday, their desire may finally be converting into concrete action, now that the two ultra-hawks have a firm grip on America’s foreign policy apparatus.

“The Trump administration has launched an offensive of speeches and online communications meant to foment unrest and help pressure Iran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups,” Reuters reported, citing anonymous U.S. officials familiar with the effort. “More than half a dozen current and former officials said the campaign, supported by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton, is meant to work in concert with U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to economically throttle Iran by re-imposing tough sanctions.” Continue reading

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‘This Is Zero Hour’: Youth-Led Marches Across the Globe Demand Immediate and Ambitious Climate Action

“Climate change is our last chance to either fix colossal systems of inequality or reach a chaotic state where your privilege ultimately decides if you live or die.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 7-21-2018

“This isn’t something that’s going to affect us 70, 80 years in the future. This is going to affect us. Our futures, our careers, our lives,” said Talia Grace, social media director for Zero Hour, the movement behind this weekend’s mass actions. (Photo: Zero Hour)

Declaring that climate change is “an issue of survival” that must be confronted with urgency, young activists across the globe on Saturday kicked off three days of marches and demonstrations to pressure elected officials to “reject the corrupting monetary influence of fossil fuel executives,” ban all new dirty energy developments, and safeguard the planet for both its current inhabitants and future generations.

“Climate change is our last chance to either fix colossal systems of inequality and emerge as a more efficient, better equipped society as a whole, or reach a chaotic state where your privilege ultimately decides if you live or die,” said 16-year-old climate activist Ivy Jaguzny ahead of Saturday’s events, which are expected to take place “in cities from Washington, D.C. to Butere, Kenya.Continue reading

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