02 November 19
Paul Krugman | Manufacturing Ain't Great Again. Why?
Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Krugman writes: "When Donald Trump promised to Make America Great Again, his slogan meant different things to different people."
Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Krugman writes: "When Donald Trump promised to Make America Great Again, his slogan meant different things to different people."
MUST READ! EXCERPTS:
Now, many of Trump’s economic promises were obvious nonsense. The hollowing out of coal country reflected new technologies, like mountaintop removal, which require few workers, plus competition from other energy sources, especially natural gas but increasingly wind and solar power. Coal jobs aren’t coming back, no matter how dirty Trump lets the air get.
And farmers, who export a large fraction of what they grow, should have realized that Trump’s protectionism and the inevitable retaliation from other countries would have a devastating effect on their incomes. Somewhat ironically, Trumponomics has effectively turned rural Americans, who are far more conservative than the nation at large, into wards of the state: This year almost 40 percent of farm income will come from trade assistance, disaster assistance, the farm bill and insurance indemnities.
Instead, however, we’re experiencing another mini-recession. Over the past year, manufacturing employment has fallen significantly in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — precisely the states Trump unexpectedly won by tiny margins in 2016, putting him over the top.
First, while Trump’s enthusiastic embrace of protectionism — “trade wars are good, and easy to win” — is a break with generations of U.S. policy, his domestic economic agenda has been pure, orthodox Republican voodoo. That is, it was all based on the belief that cutting taxes on rich people and corporations would have a magical effect on the economy.
But the magic failed, as it always does. The Trump administration repeatedly promised that the 2017 tax cut would produce a huge boom, with long-term growth above 3 percent; nothing like that is happening.
And to the extent that we are seeing growth, it’s being driven by consumer spending. Business investment, which the tax cut was supposed to promote — and which is a key source of demand for U.S. manufacturers — is actually falling.
Finally, in many cases Trump’s tariffs on China haven’t benefited U.S. producers; instead, they’ve just shifted the source of imports to other countries, like Vietnam.
Representative Adam Schiff. (photo: Erin Schaff/NYT)
Schiff Says Transcripts From Impeachment Inquiry Interviews Could Come 'as Early as Next Week'
Paul LeBlanc, CNN
LeBlanc writes: "House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday that transcripts from the impeachment inquiry's closed-door interviews could start being publicly released as early as next week."
Paul LeBlanc, CNN
LeBlanc writes: "House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday that transcripts from the impeachment inquiry's closed-door interviews could start being publicly released as early as next week."
EXCERPT:
During the interview Schiff compared the House impeachment probe into Trump to Watergate, positing that "the main difference is the President now has Fox (News') prime time" programming's support.
"Now I will say this: The present circumstances are also very different than Watergate and I think for a very fundamental reason, and that is in Watergate it wasn't that the existence of tapes made all the difference," Schiff told Cuomo.
"You know it was certainly important, you know, in this impeachment proceeding, we have the existence of the call record, but I don't think that's really what differentiates then from now. I think the main difference is the President now has Fox prime time and that allows his supporters to live in this alternative fact world."
He added: " And, frankly, I think if Richard Nixon had had Fox prime time, he would have never been forced to leave office. And that is what we're up against. You know, an information environment in which you can live in a world devoid of facts."
Fox News' prime-time shows have consistently offered the President friendly coverage of the probe. Trump has repeatedly highlighted the unprecedented connection between Fox News and the Oval Office throughout his presidency, often quoting Fox News anchors on Twitter or posting videos of their monologues defending him.
Immigrant children in a detention center. (photo: Ross D. Franklin)
Tech Workers Walked Off the Job After Software They Made Was Sold to ICE
Lauren Kaori Gurley, VICE
Gurley writes: "After more than a year of organizing behind closed doors, employees at the Seattle-based data visualization company Tableau walked off the job on Tuesday, in protest of the company's ties with U.S. immigration agencies accused of human rights abuses."
Lauren Kaori Gurley, VICE
Gurley writes: "After more than a year of organizing behind closed doors, employees at the Seattle-based data visualization company Tableau walked off the job on Tuesday, in protest of the company's ties with U.S. immigration agencies accused of human rights abuses."
EXCERPTS:
The walkout at Tableau follows employee-led protests at tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Salesforce, and most recently Github and Chef, over contracts with the federal agencies that detain and deport migrants. These protests fall within an extended moment of unprecedented workplace activism led by white collar workers at tech companies over a range of issues including sexual harassment, carbon emissions, and military contracts.
On September 23, Barry Crist, the CEO of Chef, announced that the software company would not renew its contracts with ICE and CBP when they expire in 2020, after a former employee deleted code in protest of the company’s work with ICE. Earlier this month, GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, announced that he would donate $500,000 to non-profits who help communities dealing with deportation and detention, but has refused to back away from a new contract with ICE.
Tableau’s relationship with immigration enforcement remains largely opaque to outsiders, because public data does not reveal how funds involving third party contractors are distributed. But federal records show at least 12 contracts selling Tableau software to agencies within the DHS in 2019 alone—and over 30 sales of Tableau software to ICE since 2014, in contracts worth roughly $1.4 million.
It’s uncertain how much Tableau has profited off these third-party contracts with ICE and CBP, but it has certainly had the best of both worlds. Just like in the spyware and weapons industries, working with middlemen allows the company to sell their software products to immigration authorities while distancing themselves from the ways their technology is used.
Meanwhile, Tableau keeps no secrets about its contracts with the military. It boasts projects with the National Guard, the Department of Defense, the Navy, and the Airforce openly on its website. “Data analytics,” the company says, “helps the U.S. army win on a multi-domain field.”
Baker, the lead organizer, says by going public with their campaign, employees hope to “boost the ethical business movement across the software industry [and] inspire other companies to follow suit and make an impact.”
Two police stand at their vehicle. (photo: Guardian Liberty Voice)
The Fraternal Order of Police's Attack on Impeachment Reads Like It Was Written by Sean Hannity
Ian Millhiser, Vox
Millhiser writes: "The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), a massive police union that claims over 330,000 members, released a letter earlier this week opposing the impeachment of President Donald Trump."
Ian Millhiser, Vox
Millhiser writes: "The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), a massive police union that claims over 330,000 members, released a letter earlier this week opposing the impeachment of President Donald Trump."
The FOP sued Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner after Krasner’s office created a list of officers with a history of offenses, such as lying on duty or racial profiling, and discouraged prosecutors from calling these potentially unreliable officers to testify in court. The FOP claimed that this effort to keep dishonest officers off the stand violated the due process rights of those officers. A judge rejected this lawsuit in August.
After Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murder for the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, the local chapter of the FOP gave him a job to “assist the Van Dyke family.” When a jury convicted Van Dyke of second-degree murder for killing McDonald, the Illinois FOP called it a “sham trial and shameful verdict.”
When a Cleveland police officer shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice while Rice was playing with a toy gun, the president of the Miami FOP tweeted that if you “act like a thug, you’ll be treated like a thug.”
Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant. (photo: AP)
Amazon Is Flexing Its Financial Power in Seattle's City Council Elections With a Deluge of Election Cash
Mike Baker, The New York Times
Baker writes: "In 2015, Seattle voters approved a plan to foil corporate political contributions, creating 'democracy vouchers' that allow residents to assign public campaign funds to local candidates of their choice."
Mike Baker, The New York Times
Baker writes: "In 2015, Seattle voters approved a plan to foil corporate political contributions, creating 'democracy vouchers' that allow residents to assign public campaign funds to local candidates of their choice."
The group has set its sights on defeating not only Ms. Sawant, but also Lisa Herbold, who traveled with another City Council member in January to New York, where Amazon was considering an important expansion. She talked to union leaders there and warned about housing and transportation problems associated with the company’s expansion in Seattle.
Then, in 2017, amid struggles over housing affordability and rising homelessness, the City Council began discussing a plan to add a per-employee tax on large businesses to fund homelessness programs — a plan that could have cost Amazon, with some 50,000 employees in the city, more than $10 million per year. As the tax idea advanced, Amazon said it would halt construction planning on one project and threatened to pull back on its plans to open additional office space in another tower.
That money has largely backed candidates in competition with Amazon’s slate, although some union members have at times complained that Ms. Sawant’s attacks on Amazon and other employers could cost workers jobs. Other companies, such as Expedia, Starbucks and Alaska Airlines, have donated to the same political group as Amazon, although to a much smaller degree.
Unarmed protesters face militarized police in Port au Prince. (photo: Reuters)
Haiti: 42 Protesters Have Died and 86 Were Injured Over 8 Weeks
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that 42 people have died and 86 have been injured during protests that paralyze Haiti since mid-September."
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that 42 people have died and 86 have been injured during protests that paralyze Haiti since mid-September."
The OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado denounced the “alarmingly high number of detainees in prolonged pre-trial detention has increased due to the closure of many local courts."
In Haiti, the first mass protests began 16 months ago when the population expressed dissatisfaction with food prices hikes and government corruption.
To these reasons of discontent is now added the poor performance of President Jovenel Moise and the inconvenience caused by the fuel shortages since mid-September.
On Wednesday hundreds of doctors, nurses and health workers marched to demand what the majority of the population incessantly requests: the resignation of President Moise.
They also requested a change in the health system, better working conditions and a salary increase for public hospital employees.
#Haiti la protesta continua da otto settimane nell'indifferenza e nel silenzio dei media, ma l'ONU segnala che ci sono stati almeno 42 morti e 86 feriti da settembre ad oggi.tvanouvelles.ca/2019/11/01/cri…
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"Haiti has been protesting for eight weeks amidst the media's indifference and silence; however, the UN reports that there have been at least 42 dead and 86 wounded from September."
The international problems that the Haitian economic and political situation could bring about have not gone unnoticed.
In the Dominican Republic, a Spanish speaking country that shares the Hispaniola island with Haiti, Defense Minister Rubin Paulino Sem on Thursday sent 600 additional soldiers to the border.
"The Army has employed troops, drones, aircraft and all-terrain vehicles to keep surveillance and control at the land border, in prevention of a possible stampede of Haitians fleeing the riots," local outlet Acento reported.
Currently, the Dominican Republic maintains 9,100 soldiers permanently on its land border.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Greta Thunberg. (photo: Leonardo DiCaprio/Instagram)
Leonardo DiCaprio Calls Greta Thunberg 'a Leader of Our Time'
PA Media
Excerpt: "Leonardo DiCaprio has praised teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg as a 'leader of our time' following their first meeting."
PA Media
Excerpt: "Leonardo DiCaprio has praised teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg as a 'leader of our time' following their first meeting."
“History will judge us for what we do today to help guarantee that future generations can enjoy the same livable planet that we have so clearly taken for granted.
“I hope that Greta’s message is a wake-up call to world leaders everywhere that the time for inaction is over.”
DiCaprio, 44, who most recently starred in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, said he was “optimistic about what the future holds” thanks to Thunberg and young activists like her.
“It was an honour to spend time with Greta,” he said. “She and I have made a commitment to support one another, in hopes of securing a brighter future for our planet.”
DiCaprio is a vocal climate change campaigner and highlighted the issue during his acceptance speech at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016.
He said: “Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”
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