Robert Reich – Powered by Inequality Media
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End the War on the Poor: Rev Dr William Barber and Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich sits down with Reverend Dr. William Barber II, a lifelong and outspoken advocate for social and economic justice. The two discuss the work of Rev. Dr. Barber's Poor People's Campaign, the lasting damage this pandemic will have on our most vulnerable communities if our lawmakers don't act, how those with wealth and power use racism to divide those with neither, what messaging progressives should use when discussing the intersection of race and class, the importance of both symbolic and systemic change, and how the poor and working class can unite in this moment to build the nation we haven't yet been.
Reverend Dr. William Barber II is President of Repairers of the Breach, a nonprofit organization that trains faith leaders to pursue policies and organizational strategies that empower marginalized communities, and President of North Carolina's NAACP chapter. Since 2017, he has also co-led a revival of the Poor People’s Campaign, a movement seeking to unite poor and working class Americans across the country to demand bold policies that lift communities out of poverty, including living-wage laws, single-payer healthcare, and an end to mass incarceration.
You can learn more about the Poor People's Campaign here: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/ -
Brace Yourself for Trump's Great Recession | Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich warns of the looming Great Depression brought on by Trump and the GOP's refusal to act to mitigate the damage wrought by this pandemic.
Trump and businesses demanded America "reopen" to revive the economy. But we’ve reopened too soon, before COVID-19 is under control. So we're needing to close or partly close again, which will prolong the economic downturn and wreak even more havoc on millions of Americans’ livelihoods.
The wave of evictions and foreclosures in the next 2 months will be unlike anything America has experienced since the Great Depression. And the expiration of expanded unemployment benefits at the end of July will leave unemployed Americans with a 60% income reduction and no stimulus check to fall back on. Meanwhile, state and local governments are forced to gut vital public services like low-income housing and health care — even as over 16.2 million households have lost employer-provided health insurance.
So what’s Trump’s and Mitch McConnell’s response to this looming catastrophe?
Do nothing.
This is lunacy. The priority must be getting control over this pandemic and helping Americans survive it physically and financially. Extra unemployment benefits must be extended. The HEROES Act must be signed into law. Moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures must be extended. If it’s necessary to go back to sheltering in place to contain this pandemic, we must be willing to do so.
This shouldn't be controversial. It's the bare minimum of what our government must do to prevent an even worse economic and human catastrophe.
Anything less is indefensible.
Watch More: How to Prepare for the Trump Recession ►►https://youtu.be/3UodmPsGQVE -
Monopoly Mayhem: Corporations Win, Workers Lose | Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich breaks down how monopolies like Amazon, Facebook, and JPMorgan Chase are boosting record corporate profits at the expense of workers and consumers.
Big corporations have become so dominant that workers and consumers have fewer options and have to accept the wages and prices these giant corporations offer. At the same time, worker bargaining power has declined as fewer workers are unionized and technologies have made outsourcing easy, allowing corporations to get the labor they need for cheap.
Because of these deliberate power shifts, even before the pandemic, a steadily larger portion of corporate revenues have been siphoned off to profits, and a shrinking portion allocated to wages.
Coupled with the abandonment of antitrust enforcement, we’re now living in a new Gilded Age, as consolidation has inflated corporate profits, suppressed worker pay, supercharged economic inequality, and stifled innovation.
Perhaps the worst consequence of monopolization is that as wealth accumulates at the top, so too does political power.
These massive corporations provide significant campaign contributions; they have platoons of lobbyists and lawyers and directly employ many voters. So items they want included in legislation are inserted; those they don’t want are scrapped. They get tax cuts, tax loopholes, subsidies, bailouts, and regulatory exemptions.
The financial returns on their political investments are sky-high, tipping the scales in favor of corporate America and away from workers. As a result of this power shift, workers have less choice of whom to work for, keeping their wages low and their benefits minimal. Corporations have imposed non-compete, anti-poaching, and mandatory arbitration agreements, further narrowing workers’ alternatives.
All of this has pushed a larger portion of national income into profits and a lower portion into wages than at any time since World War II. Most of the increasing value of the stock market has come directly out of the pockets of American workers. Shareholders have gained because workers stopped sharing the gains.
This is all about power. We must rebalance the power of workers and corporations to create an economy and a democracy that works for all, not just a privileged few.
Watch More: The Monopolization of America ►►https://youtu.be/KLfO-2t1qPQ -
Reparations and the History of Economic Injustice: Nikole Hannah-Jones and Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich sits down with Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and creator of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones. They discuss the United States' long and violent history of racial economic oppression, how the effects of that history are still felt today in everything from housing to education to wealth, the case for reparations, and what's preventing reparative policies from being enacted.
Nikole Hannah-Jones is an investigative journalist and staff writer for The New York Times. She has previously written for The Oregonian and ProPublica, where she covered civil rights and documented redlining and housing discrimination. Hannah-Jones is the creator of the NYT's 1619 Project, a collection of essays, poems, short fiction, and photo essays that re-examines the roots and legacy of slavery, from America’s founding to present day. You can read her latest piece here:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/24/magazine/reparations-slavery.html -
Trump's 2020 Election Strategy in 25 Steps | Robert Reich
If you think Trump is on the ropes and will surely lose in November, think again. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich breaks down Trump's authoritarian reelection strategy in 25 simple steps.
Memo to America: Beware Trump’s authoritarian plans, spread the truth, and gear up for the fight ahead. -
"They Are Giving You Death and Calling It Liberty": Jamil Smith and Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is joined by Emmy Award-winning television producer and senior columnist for Rolling Stone Magazine Jamil Smith. They discuss the evolution of the Black Lives Matter movement, our current moment of reckoning, what impact this historic uprising will have on the 2020 election, the implications of the slew of recent progressive primary wins, and how the still-raging pandemic is affecting Black and brown labor.
Jamil Smith is a journalist and Emmy Award-winning television producer who currently serves as a Senior Writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. He previously worked as a Senior Editor at the New Republic, a senior national correspondent for MTV News, and producer for The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Smith’s July 2020 Cover Story for Rolling Stone profiles Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza, and Patrisse Cullors -- the three Black women who co-founded the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown killings -- and examines major moments (from the Zimmerman verdict to the Minneapolis rebellion) in the fight for racial justice through their eyes. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/black-lives-matter-jamil-smith-1014442/
Illustration: Kadir Nelson for Rolling Stone Magazine -
Robert Reich: America is Not Exceptional
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich debunks the myth of American exceptionalism, explaining how Trump's failed coronavirus response and use of violent authoritarianism to crush nationwide protests for Black lives has forced the hard truth about this country into focus: America is not exceptional, but it is the exception.
American police kill over 1,000 people every year.
We're the only one out of 22 advanced nations that doesn't give all workers some form of paid sick leave.
We're the only industrialized nation without guaranteed, universal healthcare.
We have the largest prison population on earth.
We have the largest CEO-to-worker pay gap.
We spend more on the military than the next seven nations combined.
On the global stage, America is the exception, but not in the way we would like to believe. -
Juneteenth and the Nationwide Uprising Against Systemic Racism: Solana Rice and Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich sits down (virtually) with Solana Rice, co-founder of Liberation in a Generation, to break down the importance of Juneteenth — which commemorates the day that all enslaved Black people learned they had been freed — against the backdrop of the nationwide outcry against systemic racism and police violence in America. The two discuss how freedom continues to be delayed, and what policies need to be enacted on the federal, state, and local level to end the ongoing institutional and systemic oppression of Black people in America.
They delve into the scale of community investment that's needed across the country as part of defunding the police, and what guarantees we should be ensuring to Black people, including housing, health care, jobs, income, and debt-free college. They also discuss the anniversary of the Tulsa riot, one of the worst modern massacres of Black people in America, and explore its connection to racial capitalism and the racial wealth gap. -
Robert Reich: 7 Ways 2020 Has Exposed America
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich breaks down 7 lessons we should take away from 2020:
1. Workers keep America going, not billionaires.
2. Systemic racism is literally killing Black and brown Americans.
3. If we can afford to bail out corporations and Wall Street, we can afford to invest in the American people.
4. Governors and mayors are running the country, not Trump.
5. Healthcare must be made a right in America.
6. Our social safety nets are woefully broken.
7. Government matters.
It's tragic that it took record unemployment, graphic videos of Black Americans being murdered, and millions of people taking to the streets for many of us to grasp how backwards, broken, and racist our system really is. We cannot cling to the idea of "going back to normal" because "normal" is what got us here.
We can no longer accept piecemeal reforms of our broken systems. We need to embrace radical transformation and undergo a fundamental reinvestment in the American people.
Let's get to work. -
The Fragility of Progress: Clint Smith and Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich sits down with writer, educator, and poet Clint Smith, who puts the ongoing protests against centuries of systemic racism and police killings into historical context. They discuss America's failure to reckon with our history of slavery and how this movement for Black lives — and the emergent demands — must finally force it to do so. They also explore how racism continues to permeate our rigged system, from the modern segregation of housing and education to the institutions of prisons and police that have always existed to terrorize Black people.
Clint Smith specializes in education, incarceration, and inequality. He is the author of Counting Descent, a coming-of-age poetry collection about being Black in America, and his forthcoming nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed, explores how different historical sites reckon with—or fail to reckon with—their relationship to the history of slavery. Smith is also an Emerson Fellow at the New America Foundation, and his writing has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic. His most recent piece, "Becoming a Parent in the Age of Black Lives Matter," was published in The Atlantic earlier this month. -
Who's Really Looting America? with Robert Reich
As hundreds of thousands take to the streets to protest ruthless police killings of Black Americans and centuries of systemic racism, and Donald Trump and his enablers cast the protesters as violent “looters," former Labor Secretary Robert Reich exposes the real looters in America: Wall Street bankers in designer suits and corporate executives in lofty boardrooms.
While more than 10,000 people have already been arrested during the Black Lives Matter uprising, only 1 Wall Street banker was jailed for fraud after the 2008 financial crash, despite causing American households to lose a combined $19 trillion in wealth.
Today, even in the midst of a global pandemic, America's billionaires have seen their wealth soar by $434 billion — thanks to the bailouts and tax breaks they lobbied for.
The looting doesn't stop there: just think of the epidemic of wage theft in America — with employers stealing a combined $15 billion in income from their workers every year. Not to mention multibillion-dollar companies not paying a single dime in federal taxes, and predatory payday lenders that target communities of color and trap borrowers in a cycle of never-ending poverty.
This needs to end.
Stand together, and know the truth about who's really looting America. -
Robert Reich: The Deadly Fox News-Trump Syndicate
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich exposes Fox News’ endless circuit of lies. As the coronavirus crisis rages on and protests against police killings and centuries of Black oppression sweep the country, Fox News is contributing almost as much to the deaths, disease, and brutal treatment of protesters as is Trump’s White House.
Trump spouts a shocking amount of misinformation from his bully pulpit, but it’s Fox News’ equally misleading coverage of the dual crises that closes the lethal circuit of lies.
Fox News called white protesters with AR-15s demanding haircuts "patriots"; they called Black protesters demanding an overhaul of our racist systems of oppression "thugs" and "looters". And their biased coverage of the protests hasn't stopped them from continuing to spew lie after lie about the coronavirus pandemic, even as the death toll surpasses 100,000.
Trump's propaganda machine is a clear and present danger to the United States. It's up to us to shut it down.
Watch More: Trump's Failed Coronavirus Response ►►
https://youtu.be/x6M6c_4YgyA
RepresentUs
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How one man restored voting rights to 1.6 million people
Learn more about our broken political system and join the movement to fix it: www.represent.us/solve-the-problem
After serving time in prison, Desmond was denied the right to vote in Florida. Instead of giving up, he went on to lead the largest expansion of voting rights in half a century. Desmond Meade is proof that one person really can make a difference. -
Democracy in the Time of COVID
Join the movement: www.represent.us
As our nation faces crisis after crisis, the dangerous and damaging effects of our broken political system are cast in stark relief. Our crashing economy, skyrocketing death toll, and social unrest are emerging as Exhibits A, B, and C of our government’s failure to perform its most basic function: protecting the people.
RepresentUs Co-Founders Josh Silver and Joshua Graham Lynn give a provocative presentation on the new strategy to protect our elections and defend our republic this November and beyond.
This is your chance to:
-Hear how the anti-corruption movement is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
-Learn the concrete steps you can take to help ensure every American can vote safely in 2020
-Get the latest updates on the most important campaigns to fix our democracy in 2020
-Catch a sneak peek at where the movement is going in 2021, 2022, and beyond -
Unbreaking America: Justice for Sale
http://represent.us/ua-justiceforsale
Americans agree: our criminal justice system is broken. But most people don’t realize how lobbyists and politicians are keeping it that way. Omar Epps and Desmond Meade explain how our broken political system is making the problem worse, and what the anti-corruption movement can do to fix it.
***** The Problem ******
AMERICA INCARCERATES MORE PEOPLE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
Both per capita and in total numbers, the U.S. jails more people than China, Russia, or any other nation — and this falls disproportionately on black Americans and other people of color. While crime rates around the country have dropped, incarceration rates are only going up. If we do nothing, one in four black men, one in six Latinos, and one in seventeen white men born today will end up in jail.
PRIVATE PRISONS PROFIT FROM LOCKING PEOPLE UP — AND YOU’RE PAYING FOR IT
Private prison corporations spent $64 million over the past 10 years lobbying for longer sentences, stricter laws, and tougher enforcement. They even write the laws that give them tax kickbacks in exchange for outsourcing nearly-free prison labor. This year alone, they’ll make $6 billion in revenue. That’s $6 billion of your tax dollars.
91% OF AMERICANS WANT TO SEE THE SYSTEM FIXED… BUT POLITICIANS AREN’T LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE
Conservatives, progressives, and moderates alike want to see the criminal justice system reformed. But like nearly every other issue you care about, our corrupt political system caters to a handful of special interests and billionaires instead of upholding the will of the American people.
****** The Solution ******
WE CAN'T FIX THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM UNTIL WE END CORRUPTION. So let's get to work.
THE AMERICAN ANTI-CORRUPTION ACT MAKES CORRUPTION ILLEGAL.
The Anti-Corruption Act bans gifts from special interests to politicians, closes the revolving door between Congress and lobbying firms, and makes sure voters have a stronger voice so politicians actually represent us. The Act is popular with both conservatives and progressives because it’s not about giving power to one party or the other; it’s about fixing the systems behind America’s biggest problems.
WE HAVE TO GO AROUND CONGRESS TO PASS THESE LAWS.
Politicians benefit from the system just the way it is, so they have no incentive to pass anti-corruption laws. That means it’s up to us, the voters, to do it. Throughout American history, major federal reforms started with passing laws state by state, paving the way for federal reform. We’re using the same proven strategy – and it’s working. The anti-corruption movement has already won more than 100 victories across the America.
CAMPAIGNS AROUND THE COUNTRY NEED YOUR HELP.
From anti-gerrymandering to ranked choice voting and lobbyist gift bans, Americans across the political spectrum are working together right now to pass strong anti-corruption laws at the ballot this year. But they can’t do it alone.
IT’S TIME TO END THE CORRUPT STATUS QUO.
Join us: http://represent.us/ua-justiceforsale
#unbreakingamerica #justiceforsale #omarepps
https://act.represent.us/sign/Justice-for-Sale-Sources/
CREDITS:
Omar Epps
Desmond Meade
Directed by: Michael Marantz
Writers: Joshua Graham Lynn, Ryan Kleier, Michael Marantz
Research: Jack Noland, Ryan Kleier
Animator / Animation & Illustration: Visual Creatures
Composer: Garth Stevenson
Director of Photography: Don Davis
Producer: Ari Hakim
Assistant Director: Miles Johnstone
Associate Producer / Post Producer: Zach MacDonald
1st Assistant Camera: Kevin Yoshimitsu
2nd Assistant Camera: Kevin Hooper
DIT: Felix Arceneaux, Willis Chung
Gaffer: Paul Hauser
Best Boy Electric: Eric Fleetwood
Lighting Board Operator: Gustavo Oliva
Key Grip: Archie Ciotti
Best Boy Grip: Chad Teglas
Script Supervisor: Tara Riddell
Sound Mixer: Daniel McCoy
Boom Operator: Amanda Pust
Teleprompter: Jeff Dunham
Editor: Zach MacDonald
Assistant Editor: Koby Leff
Mix Engineer: Brandon Hickey
Hair & Makeup: Angelina Butera
Wardrobe Stylist: Jane Vernon
Production Manager: Mike Suzuki
Production Coordinator: Katie Hoagland
Production Assistants: Mariama Bonetti, Patrick Gilman, Esther Ancrum
Special Thanks
Erin Dicker
Camera: The Camera Division
VTR: Stu Susten
Teleprompter: Greenberg Teleprompt
Stage: BLT Studios
Stage Manager: Steve Martin
Production Supplies: BLT Studios
Catering: McCrafty’s, Taqueria El Tapatio
Craft Service: Danny Crowley
Production Trucking: Galpin -
What is Vote by Mail?
COVID-19 shouldn’t force people to choose between their health and their right to vote. That's why we support Vote by Mail. It gives people the option to cast a ballot safely and securely without leaving the house.
Here’s how it works:
1) You get mailed a ballot.
2) You can take your time with it, do your research, at your kitchen table, with your family.
3) Mail it back postage free before election day, or, drop it off at a secure “lock box” or polling station.
4) Or completely lose it and go to the polls anyway.
But this way, it’s your choice.
No waiting. No rushing. No hackable electronic voting machines. Just you and your ballot.
It’s more secure, because there’s a literal paper trail, and all ballots are counted in one centralized secure location overseen by judges.It fights fraud with barcodes and duplicates.
And just like our military serving overseas, you can mark your second and third choice, so your ballot isn’t wasted if your first choice drops out (this is called Ranked Choice Voting, btw).
And the states that have implemented this? They see a higher turnout every year. Meaning more votes cast, more people heard from, and a more representative process.
At RepresentUs, we’re bringing conservatives and progressives together to fight corruption, and make our government listen to us. The People.
If you want your city or state to enact measures like this, go to https://represent.us to find out how you can help.
#votebymail #election2020 #representus -
How Immigration Detention is a For-Profit Business
The immigration crisis isn't a crisis. It's an industry. And politicians, private prisons, and lobbyists are the ones profiting. Here’s a story about how the for-profit prison industry has screwed over Americans on the right, left, and center through corruption, cronyism, and former KKK leaders.
http://represent.us/private-prisons
To for-profit prison executives, immigrants are like… corn. A commodity that needs to stay stocked to keep prisons – and the executives’ wallets – full. So when immigrant detention starts to decline, industry lobbyists jump into action.
Between 2008 and 2014, during which immigration was indeed declining, that action amounted to $13 million in lobbying from one of the largest private prison groups, Core Civic.
In 2009, Senate Democrat and former “Exalted Cyclops” KKK member Robert Byrd invented just the thing to help out his industry lobbyist BFFs: a bed quota. With a bed quota, American taxpayers are forced to pay for 33,400 immigrant detention center beds at all times – regardless of whether the beds are used or needed.
Enter Rep. John Culberson (TX), former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, and recipient of more than $89,000 from for-profit prison lobbyists throughout his career. Culberson embraced the lobbyists' demands and encouraged America to make use of all the beds, regardless of the ebb and flow of actual immigration.
Let’s detain people just for fun! And while we’re at it, we’ll pay for their beds, their healthcare, housing, food, and anything else we can think of to put on the taxpayer’s bill. That’s right. By unnecessarily locking up immigrants, Congress has created a soup-to-nuts nanny state, funneling your tax dollars away from your healthcare, and giving it to immigrants.
Through campaign cash, lobbying money, and other super-legal donations, the private prison industry has placed profits over human lives and over American interests.
They’re not keeping us safer – in fact, when we try to detain enough immigrants in order to meet an arbitrary bed quota, we suck up resources that could have been used to go after dangerous criminals.
Plus, it’s not even solving the problem of illegal immigration. If these industry-backed strategies were working, we’d see illegal immigration declining, but a study in the Stanford Law Review found the opposite.
And while the private prison industry keeps taxpayer money flowing into their pockets to pay for empty beds, immigrant healthcare, food, and housing, many American citizens go without food, housing, or healthcare.
Even on seemingly divisive, partisan issues, corruption invades our government and takes resources and rights away from all Americans. Whether it’s taxes, immigration detention centers, or the opioid crisis, corruption impacts every issue and person you care about.
So here’s how we end it.
We’re going around Congress to pass common-sense, bipartisan reforms at the state and local level to break this cycle and unrig our political system. Things like: closing the revolving door so that lobbyists can't use future job offers to bribe politicians, making it illegal for lawmakers to accept money from lobbyists, and other popular reforms.
We’ve already won over 100 victories, but we’ve got a lot more to do and we need your help. Join the movement at http://represent.us
#immigration #privateprisons #corruption
Sources:
http://grassrootsleadership.org/reports/payoff-how-congress-ensures-private-prison-profit-immigrant-detention-quota#5
https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/content-type/commentary-item/documents/2017-01/Immigration%20Detention%20Bed%20Quota%20Timeline%202017_01_05.pdf
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=G7000&recipdetail=H&sortorder=A&cycle=All
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/politics/ice-immigration-deportations/index.html
https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/detention-statistics
https://immigrationforum.org/article/math-immigration-detention-2018-update-costs-continue-mulitply/
https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/detention-as-deterrence/
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/opinion/sunday/bruni-america-the-clueless.html
https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/e1606.pdf
https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2017/06/lawsuit-accuses-private-prison-company-of-illegally-funding-a-trump-super-pac/
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/01/companies-that-funded-trumps-inauguration/ -
Why Colorado is the gold standard for Vote by Mail
www.represent.us/votesafely
America has one of the worst voter turnout rates of all developed countries. But by passing Vote by Mail in every state, we can make it easier for everyone to vote, and still prioritize security and accuracy.
Here's how Vote by Mail works in Colorado, known as the gold standard for this policy:
-All registered voters are automatically mailed a ballot before every election.
-All signatures on mail ballots are compared to on-file signatures. Any discrepancies are examined by a bipartisan team of judges, and then further investigated if needed.
-Voters can submit ballots at secure 24/7 drop boxes or voting centers.
-It’s required that all votes are cast on paper ballots, to ensure there’s a paper trail that can be verified.
-Voters can still go vote in person, both during an extended early voting period and on Election Day.
-Post-election audits are mandatory after every election to ensure accuracy
Voters like this policy: In Colorado, 95% of those who used mail-in ballots were satisfied with the experience.
And turnout increased in Colorado among younger voters, Republican voters, and independents.
Now, as we face a pandemic, we need secure Vote by Mail more than ever.
Go to represent.us/votesafely to see the vote by mail options in your state.
Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries/
https://www.fairvote.org/voter_turnout#voter_turnout_101
https://www.voteathome.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ColoradoVotingReport_WEB2.pdf
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/letting-people-vote-at-home-increases-voter-turnout-heres-proof/2018/01/26/d637b9d2-017a-11e8-bb03-722769454f82_story.html -
How Congress Became America's Biggest Drug Dealer
Every 11 minutes, an American dies from an opioid overdose. And the reason it's happening isn’t bureaucratic, scientific, or economic. Here’s why you can blame corruption, politicians, and the pharmaceutical industry for this reality: Congress has become America's biggest drug dealer. http://represent.us/opioids
It started when the FDA – the people who are supposed to make sure our food and drugs are safe — approved Oxycontin for market, despite the fact that it's glorified heroin. Over the next few years, opioid addiction and deaths skyrocketed. Pharmacies were filling enough opioid prescriptions to dose everyone and then some, fueling the black market drug trade. A single county in West Virginia with a population of 25,000 received 11 million doses of opioids.
And the distribution of these prescription painkillers seemed a bit sketchy… But don’t worry, we have a government agency for that! Thankfully, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) stepped in, stopped these obviously illegal drug distributions, and that was that!
Psych. Instead, the DEA actually stopped intervening in these cases. In 2011, there were 65 “immediate suspension orders” to stop drug companies from filling these suspiciously high orders. By 2016, there were only 11.
And they didn't just stop intervening – they actually switched sides. The same report found that between 2001-2010, an astonishing 58% of FDA drug assessors left their jobs at the FDA to go work for pharmaceutical companies. And since 2000, at least 56 DEA and Justice Department officials left the fight against opioids and joined pharmaceutical companies and the law firms representing them.
That’s right. During the nation’s largest drug epidemic in decades, the people in charge of overseeing pharmaceuticals and protecting our health and safety… went to work for the companies destroying American lives for profit.
Why did the FDA and DEA fail Americans so badly? Because our politicians have their own crippling addiction – to money.
In 2016, Congress passed a law making it nearly impossible for the DEA to deploy its most powerful weapon in the fight against the #opioidepidemic – stopping those massive, suspicious prescription orders from flooding our streets with narcotics.
Why? Well, it's a little technical and complicated, so I’ll let Joe Rannazzisi, the former head of the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, explain it:
“The drug industry, the manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and chain drugstores, have an influence over Congress that has never been seen before.”
Turns out it's actually as simple as a few greased palms and a couple million dollars. Or to be more accurate, hundreds of greased palms and hundreds of millions of dollars. Nine out of ten members of Congress take money from pharmaceutical lobbyists. Pharmaceutical companies and drug manufacturers have spent a quarter billion dollars lobbying lawmakers since 1990.
In particular, the two cosponsors of the 2016 bill to hamstring the DEA, Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, are some of Big Pharma’s best friends. So close, in fact, the drug dealers companies literally helped write the 2016 law that got the pesky DEA off their backs. The same year, pharmaceutical companies were some of the Congressmen’s top donors.
The story of the Opioid Crisis is really a tale as old as time: Lobbyists give their friends a few million dollars and a trip to the Bahamas, and in exchange, these lawmakers turn around and sell out the taxpayers — whether that’s in healthcare, education, or the economy. This is not a partisan issue; it's a societal rot that is sinking the entire country.
But we have a plan to end this corrupt cycle.
We’re going around Congress to pass common-sense, bipartisan reforms at the state and local level to break this cycle and unrig our political system. Things like: closing the revolving door that lets lobbyists use future job offers to bribe politicians, making it illegal for lawmakers to accept money from lobbyists, and other common sense, popular reforms.
We’ve already won over 100 victories, but we’ve got a lot more to do and we need your help. Join the movement by visiting http://Represent.Us
RepresentUs is a non-partisan, grassroots campaign to end the #corruption caused by money in politics. -
Lobbyist Gold Rush during the Coronavirus Epidemic
Congress just passed the largest stimulus package in history. The bill offers workers and businesses critical relief during the coronavirus epidemic. The problem: Lobbyists played a major role in writing this bill.
Some aides have compared the lobbying frenzy around the stimulus bill to a gold rush. The new bill gives $500 billion to major industries across America. As Congress deliberated the bill, their phones rang off the hook and their inboxes were flooded with emails from lobbyists. Some politicians even got personal calls from CEOs of major companies.
From the candy industry to alcohol beverage producers, sneaker companies, and more, every industry wanted a piece of the stimulus pie. Aggressive lobbying came from groups directly impacted by the crisis, like the restaurant and airline industries, as well as industries trying to sneak in unrelated policies..
All of this points to the desperate need for tougher lobbying restrictions and strong anti-corruption laws to protect the American people, so that special interests can’t use a national emergency to push their own agendas.
Congress needs to focus on the needs and demands of the American people during this crisis.
Join the movement to end political corruption: http://represent.us
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/coronavirus-lobbyists-flooded-with-calls-from-worried-corporate-clients.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lobbyists-pile-on-to-get-wins-for-clients-into-coronavirus-stimulus-package-11584792000
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/us/politics/coronavirus-stimulus-lobbying.html
https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/488762-coronavirus-sets-off-industry-scramble-for-aid-from
#lobbyists #bailouts #corruption -
Jennifer Lawrence: We Need Vote at Home During COVID-19
A message from our board member Jennifer Lawrence:
We need to be able to vote without getting sick or infecting others.
This post is part of a plan to make sure every registered voter can cast their ballot. I’m asking you to do what I did and follow these 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Go to http://Represent.Us/VoteAtHome and follow the instructions to request your mail-in or absentee ballot.
Step 2: Some states won’t let you mail in without an ‘excuse’ but a bill in Congress right now could fix this. Go to Represent.Us/VoteAtHome for instructions on how to call them — Republicans and Democrats alike — in support of Vote at Home.
Step 3: Share this post on social media and tag at least three of your friends to also make calls and share to keep this chain going until every single voter knows how to get their ballot. Use hashtag #VoteAtHome.
RepresentUs is a non-partisan, grassroots campaign to end the corruption caused by money in politics.
Follow us!
FB: https://facebook.com/RepresentUs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/representus
Instagram: https://instagram.com/representus/
#jenniferlawrence #voteathome #representus -
Filing Your Taxes Sucks: Here's the Truth About Why
Besides corruption, what’s the number one thing Americans of all political stripes agree on? That's right... Doing your taxes sucks.
But why does filing your taxes have to be so bad? We're here to break down the reasons why (spoiler alert: corruption IS involved) but before we dive in, consider joining the movement to fix our broken political system by visiting us at https://represent.us/taxes2
Back in the ‘90’s, the internet became the cool new way to file taxes, and everybody — you, me, and the IRS — breathed a sigh of relief. We can save time, money, and trees by filing our taxes online, instead of on paper.
And then we thought: While we’re at it, why not modernize how we do our taxes? What if we just file directly on the IRS website? Hell, what if the IRS just… told us how much we owed them? Other countries do it, Ronald Reagan was down for it, it would save taxpayers time and money — what’s not to love?
For tax filing services, a lot. When we make paying taxes easier on taxpayers, we cut out the middle man: the H&R Blocks and Turbo Taxes that charge Americans to help them navigate the gazillion forms, boxes, questions, and deductibles.
Like any good idea, the easy and cheap methods we could institute to file taxes were quickly shot down in Congress, in favor of helping out the lawmakers' BFFs: corporate lobbyists.
Keep watching to find out more about corporate lobbyists' role in our tax system and how they (and congress) are responsible for trapping us in an endless, idiotic cycle we like to call The Stupidity Paradox™.
RepresentUs is a non-partisan, grassroots campaign to end the corruption caused by money in politics.
Follow us!
FB: https://facebook.com/RepresentUs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/representus
Instagram: https://instagram.com/representus/
#corruption #taxes #lobbyist -
Demand Vote At Home During Coronavirus
The coronavirus is a public health crisis, but the Senate can pass a new bill that protects voters and our elections. Head to https://Represent.Us/VAH to send a message to your Senators today.
America is in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic and voting in-person at the polls could put people at risk. But we can hold elections without voting in person. There’s a bill in the Senate right now that would allow Americans to vote at home during a public health emergency -- like coronavirus without anyone having to risk their health at crowded polling locations.If passed, the bill would:
1. Allow all voters to request a mailed ballot,
2. Protect election security.
3. And ensure states protect the right to vote in case of an emergency.
It’s safe, secure, and protects voter participation. Every state needs Vote at Home during this crisis.
RepresentUs is a non-partisan, grassroots campaign to end the corruption caused by money in politics.
Join the movement to fix our broken political system at https://Represent.Us
#voteathome #coronavirus #representus -
Tucker Carlson on How Corruption is Destroying America
In under 5 minutes, Tucker Carlson makes a compelling case for how corruption is destroying America. Wealthy donors and corporations have outsized influence over our political process - and Americans are falling behind. It doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat - this is an issue that affects EVERYONE.
Video Editor: Hannah Collins
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
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Composting at Home: An Introduction to the Basics
Are you sheltering-in-place at home? Looking for a way to recycle your food scraps? Interested in producing your own “black gold” for your yard or garden? Need an activity to do with your children? Want to avoid greenhouse gases from landfills and incinerators and store carbon in local soils?
Learn how to home compost!
Webinar led by Brenda Platt of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Rhonda Sherman of North Carolina State University. -
Amazon's Growing Political Influence
ILSR's Stacy Mitchell explains Amazon's growing power in DC in this clip from PBS Frontline's "Amazon Empire" documentary. -
Amazon Wants to be Our Commerce Infrastructure
ILSR's Stacy Mitchell explains how Amazon is making itself part of our commerce infrastructure in this clip from PBS Frontline's "Amazon Empire" documentary. -
Amazon's Long Term Monopoly Strategy
ILSR's Stacy Mitchell talks about Amazon's long term plans to gain market power in this clip from PBS Frontline's "Amazon Empire" documentary. -
Webinar: Equitable Community Solar
A discussion about establishing community solar programs that center marginalized communities and those disenfranchised by racial, economic, and social inequity.
For more information, see our recent report: https://ilsr.org/report-designing-community-solar-programs-that-promote-racial-and-economic-equity/ -
Community Choice Energy: Enabling Communities to Center People and Planet
In this webinar, ILSR's John Farrell explains where, how, and why community choice energy policies are gaining popularity, and the many benefits they offer, including the accelerated adoption of renewable energy. For more information, check out ILSR's recent report: https://ilsr.org/report-community-choice-energy/ -
Compost Climate Connections Webinar Series: Carbon Farming Trials in Colorado
Our Compost Climate Connections webinar series features the crucial role of compost to protect the climate.
Compost is an essential ingredient in carbon farming as it provides soil both organic matter and beneficial microbes. For the fifth webinar of the series, we are joined by Dan Matsch of Eco-Cycle and Mark Easter of Colorado State University’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL). In Boulder County, Colorado, Eco-Cycle and NREL have established carbon farming pilot projects to adapt the science used in the Marin Carbon Project in California for the Rocky Mountain climate. This webinar will explore two of the pilot projects now underway in Boulder County and City of Boulder agricultural open space. In both projects, compost application is one of five treatments being measured. -
Webinar: Using Compost for Ecological Sanitation in Haiti to Mitigate & Adapt to Climate Change
Our Compost Climate Connections webinar series features the crucial role of compost in mitigating and building resilience to climate change.
For over a decade, SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) has been incubating climate-positive sanitation solutions in frontline communities across Haiti that have been intentionally designed to mitigate the environmental impacts of poor waste management and offer a restorative alternative to traditional sanitation practices. By harvesting the nutrients in human waste, SOIL is protecting vulnerable aquatic ecosystems and groundwater sources while simultaneously restoring soil fertility, improving the viability of reforestation efforts, helping farmers grow more food, and sequestering carbon. -
From Crops to Co-ops: Small Towns Want Better Internet (Episode 5)
From Crops to Co-ops follows the story of one small town, like many others, where residents are working to improve Internet access for everyone. In the fifth and final episode of the silly animated series put on by ILSR's Community Broadband Networks team, the residents of Villageville finally find a solution!
Share this resource with others who are interested in exploring options for improving connectivity in their local communities.
Learn more:
ILSR.org
MuniNetworks.org -
From Crops to Co-ops: Small Towns Want Better Internet (Episode 4)
The frustrated residents of Villageville are airing their grievances about poor quality Internet access. Is there anything they can do to change things? What will does CenturyLink have to say about all this? Find out in episode four!
Small towns across the country need better Internet access, but low population density means large companies often won’t invest in the infrastructure needed to get them connected. We wanted to tell their story, so the Community Broadband Networks team at ILSR dusted off our acting and animation skills to bring the residents of Villageville to life!
Share this resource with others who are interested in exploring options for improving connectivity in their local communities. -
From Crops to Co-ops: Small Towns Want Better Internet (Episode 3)
What are all these kids doing on Grumpy Gary's lawn?! The students of Villageville are struggling to get homework done via satellite Internet access. Will their parents take action to get them connected to broadband?
We wanted to tell the story of small towns working to improve local Internet access, so the Community Broadband Networks team at ILSR dusted off our acting and animation skills to bring the residents of Villageville to life in the From Crops to Co-ops series!
Share this resource with others who are interested in exploring options for improving connectivity in their local communities.
Learn more:
ILSR.org
MuniNetworks.org -
Webinar: How Compost and Cover Crops Sequester Soil Carbon
Our Compost Climate Connections webinar series features the crucial role of compost in mitigating and building resilience to climate change. Jessica Chiartas a Ph.D. student with the University of California, Davis Land, Air and Water Resources Department, joined us for our third webinar in the series. Jessica shared results from a recently published 19-year study which showed that compost plays a key role in soil carbon storage in semi-arid croplands; significantly offsetting CO2 emissions (21.8 Mg/ha).
More info: https://ilsr.org/webinar-sequester-soil-carbon-october-2019/
Rideshare Professor
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NEW Uber and Lyft offroad option 10x
Uber -
Our House Mondays where Gig Workers meet and share
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Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to acquire Postmates Inc. in a $2.65 billion all- stock takeover
#Postmates #Uber
Uber and Postmates agree on All-Stock deal -
Big Uber July 4th earnings $$$$ + NEW Drive Pass. Is it worth it for rideshare drivers?
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Essential Workers Vs Expendable Lives. Laborfest2020
On ZOOM July 6th at 7pm http://www.Laborfest.net -
UBER Drive Pass, what is this all about?
UBER Drive Pass #Uber -
Happy 4th of July to Every Gig Worker out there.
Happy 4th July -
Uber driver gets deactivated for denying non masked riders
#Uber #deactivated -
No Mask. No Ride. Uber and Lyft making the right move here
No Mask. No ride. #Uber #Lyft -
#WhatsMyName Uber and Lyft ?
#WhatsMyName #Uber -
European Uber rival Bolt launches electric bikes in Paris....and soon USA ?
#Bolt #Uber -
Our House Mondays where Gig Workers share...and will Uber buy Postmates?
Civic Economics
Prime Numbers: Amazon and American Communities
New study reveals explosive growth of third-party sales, sales tax avoidance (Published on: https://civiceconomics.wordpress.com/2018/04/04/prime-numbers-amazon-and-american-communities/) A …
DLBN Podcast – Hosted by Al Norman & Steve Anthony
- The Ripple Effect Podcast 36 (Al Norman)(1) 56:31
