Stephan: Here is the corrupt Joe Manchin at work again screwing the voters who elected him. It is amazing to me that this man does virtually nothing to help his constituents, does much to harm their wellbeing, yet they elect him again and again. What is it they don't get?
The corrupt Republican senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin Credit: Salon
Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) latest moves are fueling new doubts that he’ll agree to any sort of legislative package on President Biden’s agenda, deepening Democratic worries about what they’ll be able to deliver to voters by Election Day.
Several Democratic senators say they are growing dispirited about the prospect of Manchin ever giving the greenlight to moving a budget reconciliation package, which would prevent Republicans from blocking Biden’s legislative agenda with a Senate filibuster.
Asked about how much confidence there is in Manchin coming on board with a reconciliation bill, one Democratic senator who requested anonymity to comment on the shrinking chances said there’s “less every day.”
A second Democratic senator said efforts to negotiate with Manchin one-on-one, whether led by senior White House officials or Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), aren’t working.
“This is the make-or-break period,” the lawmaker said, referring to the current five-week work period which runs up until Memorial Day weekend.
Stephan: The wealth inequality in America grows greater every year. A handful of the rich have seen their wealth increase by trillions of dollars who the middle class and the poor have seen their financial status become ever more stressful. Here is part of the explanation of why this is happening.
Union organizer Christian Smalls speaks following the April 1, 2022, vote for the unionization of the Amazon Staten Island warehouse in New York. – Amazon workers in New York voted establish the first US union at the e-commerce giant, a milestone for a company that has steadfastly opposed organized labor in its massive workforce. Cedit: Andrea Renault / AFP
If it feels like you’re working longer hours for less money than your parents or grandparents did, it’s because you probably are. Adjusted for inflation, average hourly wages have actually fallen since the early 1970s, while average hours worked have steadily climbed. American workers are increasingly underpaid, overworked, and overwhelmed.
What went wrong? In part, overtime pay.
If you’re under the age of 45, you may have no idea that overtime pay is even a thing. But believe it or not, middle-class workers used to get a lot of it, while you likely don’t get any at all. That means that every hour you work over 40 hours a week you work for free, contributing to a giant pool of free labor that modern […]
William I. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Global Studies and Latin American Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara - truthout
Stephan: Eisenhower warned us, but few listened, and now the military-industrial complex has become a dominant factor in our economy as described in this report.
The Pentagon, as seen from an airplane over Washington, D.C., on February 19, 2020. Credit: Xinhua / Liu Jie / Getty
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked fierce political debate on the geopolitical consequences of the conflict. But less noticed and equally as important, the war has paved the way for a more sweeping militarization of what was already a global war economy mired in deep political and economic crisis. Geopolitical tensions and international conflicts may be tragic for those caught up in conflagrations such as in Ukraine — but advantageous for those seeking to legitimize expanding military and security budgets and open up new opportunities for capitalist profit-making in the face of chronic stagnation and social discontent.
In late March, the Biden administration, citing the Russian invasion, called for a $31 billion increase in the Pentagon budget over the previous year and on top of an emergency appropriation weeks earlier of $14 billion for Ukraine’s defense. Prior to the invasion, in late 2021, the U.S. government approved a nearly $800 billion military budget, even as, in […]
Stephan: When I think about American culture at the present time what strikes me is the hate, fear, and resentment that has become politicized and that is tearing the country apart. Here is a good essay on this. As both I and Edsall have concluded, most of this is being driven in the U.S. by White fear.
A dinghy with 54 Afghan refugees landed on the Greek island of Lesbos in the winter of 2020. Credit: Aris Messinis/Agence France-Presse
“The story of the 21st century is less a story about exponential population growth than it is a story about differential growth — marked by a stark divide between the world’s richest and poorest countries,” Jennifer Sciubba, a professor of international studies at Rhodes College, writes in her new book, “8 Billion and Counting: How Sex, Death and Migration Shape Our World.”
In some regions, Sciubba continues,
Population pressures are blowing the top off of a pot already boiling with poor governance, civil war and environmental destruction. At best, there’s only dim hope for a peaceful future. When the pot boils over, countries across the globe feel the effects in the form of refugees and terrorist extremism.
The resulting turmoil is empowering the ethnonationalist right — propelling Viktor Orban’s re-election to a fourth term on April 3 in Hungary and Marine Le Pen’s 41.5 percent showing in the April […]
Beth Daley, Editor and General Manager - The Conversation
Stephan: The social outcome data is clear, paid family leave fosters wellbeing. You would think it was obvious, but not apparently to the Republicans in Congress who have blocked it over and over. Here are the facts.
Employers are free to provide this benefit at their own expense. But only 1 in 4 U.S. workers, including federal employees, can take paid time off to care for a newborn or a newly adopted or fostered child. That’s problematic for many reasons, including the abundant evidence that paid leave boosts healthy childhood development and economic security.
Based on our extensive research regarding the connections between social policies and the happiness of families, we’re certain that expanding access to paid leave to more employees would make them happier.
