Heather Cox Richardson, - Letters from an American
Stephan:
I think Heather Cox Richardson is making the right assessment. I am increasingly concerned as to whether anything of positive consequence will get done over the next two years as the House Republicans indulge their malignant grievances at a time when we have a host of critical and pressing problems in this country.
Republican Speaker of the Houses Kevin McCathy
One of the promises House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made to the extremist members of the Republican conference to win his position was that he would let them bring the so-called Fair Tax Act to the House floor for a vote. On January 8, Representative Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) introduced the measure into Congress.
The measure repeals all existing income taxes, payroll taxes, and estate and gift taxes, replacing them with a flat national sales tax of 30% on all purchased goods, rents, and services (which its advocates nonsensically call a 23% tax because, as Bloomberg opinion writer Matthew Yglesias explains their thinking: “if something sells for $100 plus $30 in tax, then it’s a 23% tax—because $30 is 23% of $130”). The measure abolishes the Internal Revenue Service, leaving it up to the states to administer the tax.
The bill says the measure will “promote freedom, fairness, and economic opportunity.” But a 30% sales tax on everything doesn’t seem to do much for fairness or economic opportunity for all, since it […]
Laura Silver, Senior Researcher on Global Research - Pew Research Center
Stephan:
This is the report from China about their population dynamics, but it is a trend repeated in most developed nations. Lower sperm count, pregnancy later for women, fewer children. The exact opposite of the predicted overpopulation crisis, but just as long predicted in SR. Overpopulation isn't going to be the future problem in the predicted sense. It is going to be the migrations, internal and external, the movement towards gender equality these are going to be, already are, the disruptive trends. Another trend: population decrease will alter employment relations for the better for workers, and stimulate the development of new technologies. These positive new technologies are going to be necessary to deal with climate change.
Next year, China will no longer be the most populous country in the world, ceding the title to India, according to projections by the United Nations China has had the largest population in the world since at least 1950, when the UN started keeping records. But it is now projected to experience an absolute decline in its population beginning as early as 2023.
How we did this
Here are key facts about China’s population and its projected changes in the coming decades, based on data from the UN and other sources:
Although China will lose its title as the world’s most populous country, the UN still estimates its population at 1.426 billion people in 2022. This is larger than the entire population of Europe (744 million) and the Americas (1.04 billion). It’s also roughly equivalent to the population of all the nations in Africa (1.427 billion).
As I have watched what passes for a House of Representatives play out, I have been struck by two contrasts to that malign Republican circus, both the acts of powerful women who have shown us how ethical democracy is supposed to work. I speak here of Speaker Pelosi, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, each of whom examplified in their resignation the kind of integrity we rarely see anymore.
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern announces her resignation. Credit: Kerry Marshall / Getty
World leadership has rarely seen anything like her. The dignity and integrity of her departure strikes a paradoxically powerful note, especially at a time when political transition in democracies from the United States to Brazil has been marred by violence and insurrection.
The childhood Mormon who became the world leader of the International Union of Socialist Youth was elected leader of NZ Labour in 2017. Ardern subsequently became the world’s then-youngest elected national leader at the age of 37.
She returned to government a Labour party who many thought was condemned to an ongoing political wilderness by using “Jacindamania” to boost the Labour vote in 2017 into a politically adroit coalition with minor parties. She maintained elements of that coalition by grace even when she provided her party with a thumping outright majority in the “Jacindaslide” of 2020.
Over her five years of leadership she shepherded New Zealanders […]
Amy Goodman & Juan González , - truthout / Democracy Now
Stephan:
The Republicans, instead of dealing with real problems, are going to give us a House focused on trashing the Bidens, cutting Social Security, and ending Obama healthcare. Real problems are like the medical debt crisis described in this interview with Senator Bernie Sanders. The American illness profit system is crippling the country and must be changed, as Senator Sanders has proposed if the quality of life in this country is not to be further degraded. Can the Republican members of Congress rise to Sander's level of integrity? I doubt it. I don't think they care about the wellbeing of their constituents.
The growing problem of crushing medical debt was raised by Senator Bernie Sanders in a national address Tuesday on the American working class. We hear from patients and discuss the fight to stop hospitals from suing patients, garnishing wages and putting liens on homes of people facing medical bills they can’t afford. We are joined by Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and co-founder of the Health Care for All New York campaign.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.
In a major address Tuesday evening from the U.S. Capitol, independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont gave a national address on the state of America’s working class. He focused in part on the growing problem of medical debt.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: I see — I see a nation where over 85 million of our people are either uninsured or underinsured. And as all of you know, we are the only major country on Earth […]
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate Economist, Professor at Columbia University, Co-chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) - CNN
Stephan:
Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman, both Nobel Laureates in Economics are, in my opinion, the two best economic analysts currently writing. They have the best track record for the accuracy of their assessments and their predictions. I think what Stiglitz is telling us should be taken very seriously. Wealth inequality has become the dominant geopolitical trend on earth.
The New York Stock Exchange Credit: Bryan R. Smith / AFP / Getty
It happened again. Thousands of supporters of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the country’s government buildings on January 8 in protest of their newly sworn-in president. The riots occurred almost two years to the day after the assault on the US Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump.
The similarities are striking: the violence and vulgarity of the attacks against democratic institutions and the aim to sow chaos while claiming to be law and order. In both cases, political leaders questioned the results of elections, and, in general, the values of democracy.
Over half the world’s population lives under authoritarian regimes, and movements that clearly call individual and public freedoms into question and foster xenophobia persist at the ballot box. There are many reasons for this, but among them is a near-universal sense of grievance. So many citizens around the world suffer from economic hardship while a sliver of the population […]
