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2/26 Biden Promotes War in Syria, Chooses Legislation that Favors Wall Street Donors Over Raising the Fed Min Wage in a 5 year Period; Open Thread (updated with Bernie’s comment about Syria)

The Progressive Wing Posted on February 26, 2021 by BennyFebruary 26, 2021

A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Inequality costs all of us

n the 1960s, the federal government marshaled its resources to fight a “War on Poverty.” More recently, however, we’ve been fighting what amounts to a “War on the Poor” — a sustained campaign of denial and neglect that we can begin to end by raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The current figure of $7.25 — unchanged since 2009 — is so absurdly low that the country effectively has no federal minimum wage at all. As of May 1, when Virginia’s minimum wage rises, 29 states will mandate higher wage floors. Assuming a 40-hour workweek, a $7.25-per-hour rate adds up to $290 before taxes. Try stretching that to cover a week’s worth of food, housing, clothing and transportation for an individual, let alone a family. It can’t be done.

Nor is it realistic to expect workers to survive, much less thrive, on $10 an hour, as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) proposes, or $11 an hour, which Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) would prefer. The richest country on Earth can surely afford to accept the following proposition: Anyone who works a full-time job should be able to afford at least a working-class life. At less than $15 an hour, that simply is not possible.

Republicans cite the principle of federalism in arguing that states and cities should be able to set their own minimum wage levels according to local conditions. Indeed, many states do impose higher minimum wages, and some cities, such as Seattle and D.C., are on a path to $15. But five states — Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana — have no minimum wage at all, meaning employers are bound only by the $7.25 federal standard. And Wyoming and Georgia bizarrely set their minimum wage at just $5.15; again, the federal rule applies to jobs covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Federal policy recognizes that the current minimum wage is not a living wage. We help low-wage workers survive with tax credits, food assistance, subsidized housing and other sorely needed programs. But why the reluctance to require employers to compensate an honest day’s work with an honest day’s pay?

Other important principles once championed by the Republican Party are being undermined by this hesitance: Self-reliance. Self-respect. The idea of work as its own reward. The notion of idleness as damaging to self and to society.

Setting a nationwide floor of $15 an hour would require many employers to fine-tune their business plans. The cost of a Big Mac might marginally rise.

Yes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 1.4 million workers could lose their jobs, although many other economists argue that the impact on employment would be marginal or nonexistent. The CBO also estimates that the net impact would be to lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty.

Look beyond the fact that the federal poverty level — a family of four making a penny more than $26,500 annually is not considered poor — should really be called the federal penury level. And leave aside that a full-time, minimum-wage job would earn only $15,080 per year. Consider instead how seldom we even talk about poverty today, as though the poor have magically become invisible or ceased to exist.

Activists are trying to get us to pay attention. The Rev. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, has been holding virtual and socially distanced events across the country — including in Manchin’s home state — to argue that a $15 minimum wage is a vital component of any effective covid-19 relief package. “The truth of the matter is it will lift millions of people out of low wages and poverty,” he says, taking a more realistic view of where the poverty line should be drawn than the federal government does.

President Biden included the $15 wage in his proposed relief legislation. But because the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the boost cannot be approved through the arcane “reconciliation” process requiring only 51 votes, Democrats would have to pursue it independently.

But I fail to see the political downside of supporting the measure for any Democrats — or even for the few reasonable Republicans left in the Senate. Raising the minimum wage is a popular idea; a Vox poll this week showed that 62 percent of voters support the relief bill’s plan for a gradual increase to $15 by 2025. Some of the nation’s biggest employers have already made the move: Costco this week announced that it would raise its starting hourly wage to $16, outflanking major corporate rivals. Small-business owners would have four years to adjust and adapt.

And the moral calculus could not be clearer. A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Growing inequality costs all of us even more.

Instead of having the VP overrule the Parliamentarian, or even fire her as Bush/GOP did in 2001 when the Parliamentarian Would Not Rule in Favor of Tax cuts, Biden Administration decides to cut the life line to workers in retail, home health care, and fast food. Yes, he can spend more money on useless COBRA, which doesn’t guarantee good health care to anyone. It’s just catastrophic insurance. People still will continue to go to emergency rooms. In 2020, health insurance profits continued to soar in the pandemic.

Using the parting gift that McConnell left on Biden’s doorstep, $750B funded military, Syria draws the lucky number of hearing the echos of John McCain: Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran.

Biden administration conducts strike on Iranian-linked fighters in Syria

The Biden administration conducted an airstrike in Syria on Thursday that officials believe killed a number of alleged Iranian-linked fighters, signaling its intent to use targeted military action to push back against violence tied to Tehran.

The attack on a border-crossing station in eastern Syria, the first lethal operation ordered by the Biden administration against Iran’s network of armed proxies, was “authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The facilities were used by Iranian-linked Iraqi militias, including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, he said.

There’s always enough time and money to bomb countries and never enough time to run people life saving checks and medicine.

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) February 26, 2021

I am very concerned by last night’s strike by U.S. forces in Syria. The president has the responsibility to keep Americans safe, but for too long administrations of both parties have interpreted their authorities in an extremely expansive way to continue war. This must end. pic.twitter.com/AnU2On6QC1

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 26, 2021

Biden administration looking at their options like… pic.twitter.com/erbgVv0LPt

— RootsAction (@Roots_Action) February 26, 2021

Bernie Sanders has no reason to support the OMB nominee. He should vote his conscience.

More news, tweets, videos in the comments.

Posted in Bernie Sanders, Democrats | Tagged Biden Breaks More Promises, Fight For $15, Iran, Robert Reich, Syria, War | 184 Replies

4/17 News Roundup – Sanders: ‘Opposing Netanyahu’s Policies Doesn’t Make Us Anti-Semitic’, Turner Targets Unaffilliated Voters & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on April 17, 2018 by LieparDestinApril 17, 2018

‘Opposing Netanyahu’s policies doesn’t make us anti-Semitic’

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2016 election but lost out to Hillary Clinton, on Monday criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his policies.

“As someone who believes absolutely and unequivocally in Israel’s right to exist… we must say loudly and clearly, that to oppose the reactionary policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu does not make us anti-Israel,” Sanders told the annual conference of the J Street organization.

He took issue with Israel’s response to the recent riots along the border with Gaza, claiming Israel “massively overreacted” to the protests.

“The presence of Hamas members among a crowd of tens of thousands does not justify the level of violence we saw, and frankly it’s amazing to me that anyone would find that point controversial,” Sanders said.

“I have condemned Hamas’s use of terrorist violence and will continue to do so. But that violence cannot excuse shooting at unarmed protesters, and it cannot excuse trapping almost two million people inside Gaza,” he charged.

Sanders also said that the United States “must play a much more aggressive and even-handed role in ending the Gaza blockade and helping Palestinians and Israelis build a future that works for all.” He added that, If the White House does not do that, Congress must take the lead.

“Too often, our foreign policy debate here in Washington is dominated by those whose answer to complicated international situations seems always to involve dropping more bombs, rather than engage in the hard work of diplomacy and negotiation,” said Sanders, who opined that the best way to achieve peace between Israelis and Arabs is the “two-state solution”.

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Sanders Speaks To The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
*The Working Families Party endorsement of Nixon over Cuomo helps fuel deepening split among New York Democrats.
*Why Democrats everywhere are watching Beto O’Rourke’s Senate campaign in Texas
*Protect indigenous people’s land rights and the whole world will benefit, UN forum declares
*New AUMF? Critics Warn Against Giving Trump—or Any President—Power to Wage War ‘Virtually Anywhere on the Planet’
*Pipeline news, Water Protector updates & More

Posted in Abdul El-Sayed, Activism, Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, Candidates 2018, Israel-Palestine, News, Nina Turner, Open Thread, Video | Tagged Abdul El-Sayed, Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, Israel, J Street, News, Nina Turner, Open Thread, Syria

4/11 News Roundup – Trump, Syria, Russia, Paul Ryan & John Boehner

The Progressive Wing Posted on April 11, 2018 by magsviewApril 12, 2018

Hello All! There’s certainly plenty going on today, not the least of which is how Trump is recklessly threatening Syria and Russia (via Twitter!) over an unsubstantiated gas attack in Syria. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984022625440747520 Trump’s making more than just financial markets jittery with his tweets! But rattling the financial markets seems to be his new hobby. Oil prices jump to three-year high after Trump warns Russia missiles ‘will be coming’ in Syria Trump’s Russia tweetstorm is just his latest market-disrupting action as the Dow whipsaws US stocks tumbled Wednesday as President Donald Trump escalated tensions with Russia through a series of tweets, rattling investor nerves at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cathy Myers, Marijuana, Open Thread, Randy Bryce, U.S. Congress, War | Tagged Cathy Myers, John Boehner, Marijuana, Paul Ryan, Randy Bryce, Russia, Syria, Trump

Trump urged CIA to kill more families and children in drone strikes.

The Progressive Wing Posted on April 6, 2018 by Subir GrewalApril 6, 2018

In a long article on Trump’s relationship with the military, WaPo reveals that Trump urged CIA employees to commit more war crimes. Trump came to office promising to give the Pentagon a free hand to unleash the full force of U.S. firepower. His impatience was evident on his first full day in office when he visited the CIA and was ushered up to the agency’s drone operations floor. […] Later, when the agency’s head of drone operations explained that the CIA had developed special munitions to limit civilian casualties, the president seemed unimpressed. Watching a previously recorded strike in which the agency held … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, War | Tagged Drones, Syria, Trump, War, War Crimes

Progressive Lion: Barbara Lee is one step closer to ending our perpetual war in Afghanistan

The Progressive Wing Posted on June 29, 2017 by Subir GrewalJune 29, 2017

On September 14, 2001 Barbara Lee strode up to the podium and made this speech to explain her vote against the AUMF in Afghanistan. x Rep Barbara Lee was the lone dissenting vote. The AUMF passed 420-1 in the house. We have now been at war in Afghanistan for almost 16 years. Her courageous vote that day echoed Jeanette Rankin’s lone vote against declaring war on Japan and entering World War II. As Lee explained in her speech: “We are not dealing with a conventional war,” she said. “We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 9-11, Afghanistan, Anti-War, AUMF, Barbara Lee, Berkeley, Bobby Seale, California, CBC, CPC, George W. Bush, House, Iraq, Libya, Mills College, Oakland, Peace, Pete Stark, Ron Dellums, Shirley Chisholm, Syria, War

Yes, Neil Gorsuch is as terrible as you feared.

The Progressive Wing Posted on June 26, 2017 by Subir GrewalJune 26, 2017

The Supreme Court announced today that they would hear Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project. This is the Muslim ban, Travel ban case. In it’s decision to hear the case, the court also lifted the temporary injunctions granted by the circuit courts against Trump’s Muslim ban: We grant the Government’s applications to stay the injunctions, to the extent the injunctions prevent enforcement of §2(c) with respect to foreign nationals who lack any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States. This means students, employees, spouses, parents, children etc. returning to the US should not be affected by … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, Trade | Tagged Donald Trump, Immigration, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Muslim ban, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Travel Ban, Yemen

Coalition strike kills 80 relatives of ISIS, 33 children. Trump said to “take out the families”.

The Progressive Wing Posted on May 26, 2017 by Subir GrewalMay 26, 2017

Today, the AFP is reporting that coalition airstrikes in the Syrian town of Meyadeen killed 80 people, 33 of whom were civilians. They’re being described as “relatives of ISIS fighters”. A US-led coalition air strike on the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen early Friday killed at least 80 relatives of Islamic State group fighters, a monitoring group told AFP. “The toll includes 33 children. They were families seeking refuge in the town’s municipal building,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “This is the highest toll for relatives of IS members in Syria,” Abdel Rahman … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged DonaldTrump, GWoT, Iraq, Syria, War

4/10 Leave it to the Comedians for the Best Political Pulses & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on April 10, 2017 by BennyApril 10, 2017

Over the weekend, I mentioned that Saturday Night Live (SNL) had a series of sketches that packed some punches.   One of them was the Open Cold, which featured Alec Baldwin reprising his role as Trump.  Read more…

Continue reading →
Posted in Meta, News, Open Thread, Policy, Video | Tagged Corporate Media, John Oliver, Syria

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