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House Dems Demand Harris Advance $15 Minimum Wage (and 3 more)

Biden is Better, but…

 BY BERT BIGELOW

Twelve years ago when Barack Obama was the incoming President, he declared, “We are a nation of Christians, and Muslims, Jews and Hindus—and nonbelievers.” It was the first time any President had used his inaugural address to affirm that secular people were a welcome part of the nation. Since then, the secular part of our nation has grown substantially, especially the younger generations.

Biden is Better, but…

House Dems Demand Harris Advance $15 Minimum Wage

In a new letter, nearly two dozen House Dems are pressing Vice President Kamala Harris to ignore the Senate parliamentarian and fulfill her minimum wage promise.

Julia Rock and Andrew Perez
Progressive House lawmakers are demanding Vice President Kamala Harris use her power as presiding officer of the Senate to immediately advance the $15 minimum wage that she has long said she supports.

“Eighty-one million people cast their ballots to elect you on a platform that called for a $15 minimum wage. We urge you to keep that promise,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Harris and President Joe Biden, pressing the White House to raise the wage for workers as part of Biden’s American Rescue Plan. “We must act now to prevent tens of millions of hardworking Americans from being underpaid any longer.”

House Dems Demand Harris Advance $15 Minimum Wage – The Daily Poster

Thom Hartmann: Oligarchy; The Hidden History

Rob Kall Bottom-up Show | 1.38K subscribers
Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host, described by Talkers magazine as America’s most important progressive host and one of the top ten radio shows in the country every year for over a decade. He is also a New York Times bestselling author of dozens of books.

Why Trump’s Takeover of the GOP is Great for Biden and the Democrats (but a Potential Disaster for America)

By Robert Reich

Donald Trump formally anointed himself head of the Republican Party at Sunday’s Conservative Political Action Conference.

The Grand Old Party, founded in 1854 in Ripon, Wisconsin, is now dead. What’s left is a dwindling number of elected officials who have stood up to Trump but are now being purged. Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s popularity has dropped 29 points among Kentucky Republicans since he broke with Trump.

Robert Reich (Why Trump’s Takeover of the GOP is Great for Biden…)

Capitalists Consolidate Control Over U.S. Farmland

By Ted Kelly 

The amount of farmland in the United States has been in steady decline for most of the 21st century. While roughly 40% of the country’s land area remains devoted to agriculture, 14 million acres of farmland were lost to ecological devastation or development between 2012 and 2017. (American Farmland Trust) At least 2 million additional acres have been lost every year since then. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Capitalists consolidate control over U.S. farmland – Workers World

Petition to the New U.S. Administration: End Economic Sanctions in the Face of the Global Pandemic

Sanctions Kill is asking everyone to sign its new petition to the Biden administration and Congress. To sign, go to sanctionskill.org/petition.

We write to you because we are deeply concerned about the impact of U.S. sanctions on many countries that are suffering the dire consequences of COVID-19.

Petition to the new U.S. administration: End economic sanctions in the face of the global pandemic – Workers World

IF YOU ENJOY AND ENDORSE WHAT LEFT OF LEFT IS ABOUT, FEEL FREE TO CONTRIBUTE AT PAYPAL.ME/HUDSONMEDIA – THANK YOU!

~ Steve, editor

Massive Inequality Is a Feature of Capitalism, Not a Bug (+2 more)

The Biden administration may usher in a new period of reform, but history shows that it’s unlikely to last if our economic system remains intact.

RICHARD D. WOLFF

To grasp the sheer magnitude of U.S. economic inequality in recent years, consider its two major stock market indices: the Standard and Poor (S&P) 500 and Nasdaq. Over the last 10 years, the values of shares listed on them grew spectacularly. The S&P 500 went from roughly 1,300 points to over 3,800 points, almost tripling. The Nasdaq index over the same period went from 2,800 points to 13,000 points, more than quadrupling. Times were good for the 10 percent of Americans who own 80 percent of stocks and bonds. In contrast, the real median weekly wage rose barely over 10 percent across the same 10-year period. The real federal minimum wage fell as inflation diminished its nominal $7.25 per hour, officially fixed and kept at that rate since 2009.

Massive Inequality Is a Feature of Capitalism, Not a Bug – In These Times

Rev. William Barber: The Fight for a $15 Minimum Wage Is a Fight for Racial Justice

Democrats need to stop playing games and use their majorities to pass a $15 minimum wage right now—we can’t wait any longer.

REV. WILLIAM BARBER

Sixty-two million people in the United States make less than $15 an hour. And here’s the truth: the fight to raise the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 is as important as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. For Black people, it’s taken us 400 years to get to $7.25 an hour. We can’t wait any longer. People in Appalachia can’t wait any longer. Poor white people, brown people, we cannot wait any longer. And we won’t be silent anymore. 

Rev. William Barber: The Fight for a $15 Minimum Wage Is a Fight for Racial Justice – In These Times

Can America’s Soul Be Saved?

You know that your country is caught in an endless loop of repetitive thinking when, almost 20 years after you invaded and occupied a distant land, beginning a war you’ve been incapable of winning despite massive “surges” of troops, contractors, CIA operatives, as well as air power, the Afghanistan Study Group, a congressionally mandated crew led by a retired Marine general who once commanded U.S. forces in that very land, recommends that the official date for the withdrawal of all American troops (but not planes, drones, or contractors), May 21st, be abandoned in the name of peace and the war fought on. (Consider that, by the way, a sentence worthy in length of such a never-ending war.)

Beyond Donald Trump – TomDispatch.com

IF YOU ENJOY AND ENDORSE WHAT LEFT OF LEFT IS ABOUT, FEEL FREE TO CONTRIBUTE AT PAYPAL.ME/HUDSONMEDIA – THANK YOU!

~ Steve, editor

Understanding the “Middle Class” (+2 more)

BY: ANITA WATERSUnderstanding the “middle class”

Who, or what, is the “middle class”? Most people identify themselves as middle class, but what does that mean, and what difference does it make?

Understanding the “middle class” – Communist Party USA (cpusa.org)

Building Our Movement in the New Political Moment

BY: JOE SIMS

Building our movement in the new political moment

We need to discuss how today’s turning point moment is affecting our size and influence. This discussion might be framed as “problems in party growth” because the CPUSA is in fact growing — some 2,000 new members have joined since Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race for the presidency. The proof of this is in the numbers. Last year, for example, $50,000 in dues was collected, compared to $26,000 in 2019.

Building our movement in the new political moment – Communist Party USA (cpusa.org)

Demands for Cancelling Student Debt are Growing

BY: MAICOL DAVID LYNCH

Demands for cancelling student debt are growing

On January 29, Senate leader Chuck Schumer, known as a rather moderate liberal from New York, tweeted, “Today would be a great day for President Biden and Vice President Harris to #CancelStudentDebt.” This pointed demand was followed by Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) taking to Twitter two days later and calling for the same action to be carried out by the Biden administration “with their executive authority.”

Demands for cancelling student debt are growing – Communist Party USA (cpusa.org)

IF YOU ENJOY AND ENDORSE WHAT LEFT OF LEFT IS ABOUT, FEEL FREE TO CONTRIBUTE AT PAYPAL.ME/HUDSONMEDIA – THANK YOU!

~ Steve, editor

PETITION: Make January 6th “American Democracy Day”

January 6, 2021 was a horrible day in America.

Donald Trump tried to overthrow the democratic process, using fringe citizens, militias, and other rioters.

The day was partially an attempt to take the spotlight away from the then President-Elect, Joseph Biden, and his VP pick, Kamala Harris.

An official day to celebrate democracy, electoral voting, candidate choice, and presidential verification would remind us that January 6th is not to be remembered as a day of riots, insurrection, and lawlessness.

Instead, January 6th will annually be a day of celebrating democracy and the process for which we pick our laws and leaders.

Petition · Kamala Harris: Make January 6th “American Democracy Day” · Change.org

CP USA Town Hall Tonight

100 Days for a Better World

Description:
Join us for the 100 Days for a Better World event and contribute to shaping a fighting response to crisis and finding the resources to do so. We need 100 days of struggle to push back GOP obstruction and implement a program that begins to address the crisis the country’s facing.

More information at:
This Week @CPUSA: 100 days for a better world – Communist Party USA

Time:
Feb 2, 2021 08:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

RSVP:
Webinar Registration – Zoom

IF YOU ENJOY AND ENDORSE WHAT LEFT OF LEFT IS ABOUT, FEEL FREE TO CONTRIBUTE AT PAYPAL.ME/HUDSONMEDIA – THANK YOU!

~ Steve, editor

Fascist violence and the form of the state

By Sam Marcy posted on January 14, 2021

[T]he spread of fascist organizations takes place in a vastly different, if not wholly new, social, political and economic situation. The entire social environment in which the spread of this evil disease takes place imparts to it a significance which far surpasses the numerical strength of these organizations. It is this which adds a really new dimension to the perilous growth of this virulent disease.

[CONTINUE READING]

Trump coup attempt: U.S. war comes home

By Sara Flounders posted on January 14, 2021

A caustic commentary on U.S. policy that circulated on social media worldwide within 24 hours of the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol was: “Due to travel restrictions this year, the U.S. had to organize the coup at home.”

A domestic coup on the U.S. government was indeed attempted Jan. 6 — using the false claim that the November presidential election had been “stolen” from Republican President Donald Trump. This claim was so far from reality, even in a bourgeois framework, that judges rejected it as a challenge 60 times, including twice in the Supreme Court.

Venezuelans protest aggressive U.S. interference in their country’s democratic institutions in September 2019. The red-capped person under the flag is holding a copy of Venezuela’s Constitution.

Since he could not win legally, Trump rallied an uprising of extralegal and paramilitary, white-supremacist neo-fascist troops tied into a network of far-right legislators, government officials, police, military veterans and reportedly active military, as well as business owners. These insurrectionists attacked the Capitol building at the moment that the U.S. Congress, sitting in joint session, was beginning to certify Democratic President-elect Joe Biden as winner of the election.

[CONTINUE READING]

Jan. 6 exposes two faces of U.S. ‘democracy’

By Monica Moorehead posted on January 12, 2021

What occurred on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol was shocking but not surprising.  

What was shocking was the sight of thousands in a majority white, neofascist terrorist mob — with no masks and no social distancing — overrunning the supposedly high security sanctuary of the offices of U.S. Congresspeople, claiming that the Nov. 3 election was stolen.  

[CONTINUE READING]

Unpacking the Insurrection

via People for the American Way

Unpacking the Insurrection – YouTube

To Repair Our Country After Violent Insurrection, We Must Fight White Supremacy

Bettina Ramon | January 14, 2021

Just two weeks ago, many of us celebrated the new year – and the end of an especially devastating one – with a renewed sense of optimism that perhaps the worst of the Trump presidency was behind us.

That hope came to a screeching halt on January 6 when a violent, insurrectionist mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Many forces at work perpetuated and exacerbated the disturbing events that unfolded that day, and immediate and decisive efforts to hold Trump legally accountable have already begun:

  • On January 13, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump a second time for inciting insurrection, an effort People For fully supported.
  • In addition to Trump’s impeachment, we have also called for the resignation of every senator and House member who voted to reject certification of the Electoral College results, and censure for Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Josh Hawley, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Whip Steve Scalise.
  • In addition, we believe the Justice Department should undertake an investigation into Trump’s potential criminality in inciting the riots, as well as potential criminality of the actions of Trump cronies and rally participants, including Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn, Peter Navarro, and Rep. Mo Brooks.
  • And we have called for a full investigation of the law enforcement response for fraternizing with rioters and potentially even facilitating the violent attack, and for the stark disparity in their response to the pro-Trump mob and their history of needlessly aggressive policing tactics at Black Lives Matter protests, during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, and other events.

[CONTINUE READING]