December, 21 2020, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sam Quigley
317-752-9150
Patriotic Millionaires On COVID Relief Bill: "The American People Deserve Better"
"Jumping through hoops to keep a relief package below $1 trillion is shortsighted and idiotic when our economy is on life support"
WASHINGTON
Last night, the US Senate voted to pass a $900 billion compromise COVID relief package shortly after it was approved by the House. This bill comes 9 months after Congress' last attempt at COVID relief, the CARES Act, and fails to make up for 9 months of government inaction, largely thanks to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's insistence that the size of this bill be limited, despite the overwhelming amount of need in the United States.
In response to this vote, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director of BlackRock, Inc., issued the following statement:
"Some relief is better than no relief, but it's pathetic that this is the best Congress can do. The American people desperately need direct aid, yet this bill offers only watered-down unemployment benefits and stimulus checks, and no financial support for state and local governments. The American people deserve better than $600 and a $300 unemployment boost, and the government can easily afford to give it to them. It is absurd that half of Congress, led by Mitch McConnell, has decided we can't give more relief to people just because of some misguided notion about limiting government spending.
Jumping through hoops to keep a relief package below $1 trillion is shortsighted and idiotic when our economy is on life support, with millions of Americans are unemployed and unable to provide for their families. It is ludicrous that any lawmaker could look at the dual economic and public health disasters this country is facing and decide that their biggest priority should be shrinking the national debt."
For more information or for interview requests, email Sam Quigley at Sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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Progressive Jews Decry ADL 'Mamdani Monitor' for Conflating Israel Criticism With Antisemitism
The head of one group decried the ADL's "disproportionate attention on left-of-center activists’ views on Israel while failing to apply the same scrutiny to the Trump administration."
Dec 23, 2025
The heads of three left-leaning US Jewish groups on Monday admonished the Anti-Defamation League after the controversial watchdog once again conflated criticism of Israel with antisemitism in its latest report on New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his transition team.
The Anti-Defamation League noted approvingly in its updated "Mamdani Monitor" that "at least 25 individuals" in the democratic socialist's transition team "have a past relationship with the ADL or partner organizations, or a history of supporting the Jewish community."
The group also appreciated that "Mamdani's team can and will respond appropriately" to actual incidents of antisemitism, pointing to last week's resignation of Catherine Almonte Da Costa, Mamdani's former director of appointments, following the revelation of antisemitic social media posts she published in the early 2010s.
However, the ADL said it remains "deeply concerned" by Mamdani's statements and actions, highlighting what the group claimed were "many examples of individuals who have engaged in some type of antisemitic, anti-Zionist, or anti-Israel activities and/or have ties to groups that engage in such activities" among the mayor-elect's transition team appointees.
"These activities include spreading classic antisemitic tropes, vilifying those who support Jewish self-determination in their ancestral homeland, seeking to undermine the legitimacy and security of the Jewish state, and more," the ADL said, adding that "at least a dozen transition committee appointees expressed support for the anti-Israel campus encampments in the spring of 2024."
The Mamdani Monitor also noted that "at least 20% of the 400-plus appointees have ties to anti-Zionist groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which openly glorifies Hamas’ October 7 attack... Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a fringe group that advocates for the eradication of Zionism and demonizes Zionists; Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a New York-based radical anti-Zionist organization... and others."
Asked about the report during a Monday press conference, Mamdani said, "We must distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government."
“The ADL’s report oftentimes ignores this distinction, and in doing so it draws attention away from the very real crisis of antisemitism we see not only just in our city but in the country at large,” he continued. “When we’re thinking about critiques of Zionism and different forms of political expression, as much of what this report focuses on, there’s a wide variety of political opinion, even within our own 400-plus transition committee.”
Critics say the ADL's claim in the update that it "has long distinguished between legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies and antisemitism" is belied by not only the Mamdani Monitor's language, but also its own significantly expanded definition of antisemitism and antisemitic incidents, which include protests against Israel’s US-backed genocidal war on Gaza.
Jamie Beran, CEO of the progressive group Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, said in an X thread that "we were disappointed but not surprised to see today’s ADL report continue their conflation of criticism of the Israeli government’s actions with antisemitism" and the group's "favoring of Trumpian tactics over bridge building and its prioritization of fearmongering over the safety of American Jews and our neighbors."
Beran continued:
The ADL of today seems to have three interests: keeping their right wing megadonors happy, protecting the current Israeli government’s violent far-right agenda by conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism, and cozying up to [US President Donald] Trump to stay close to power.
None of this fights antisemitism. Their McCarthyist Mamdani Monitor is the first of its kind because the ADL chose not to deploy a similar tactic when their bedfellows offered Nazi salutes, hired and pardoned neo-Nazis, and continued to openly spread dangerous antisemitic conspiracy myths.
"If the ADL truly wanted to fight antisemitism—like we do every day—they would actually confront it at its roots and how it works alongside all forms of bigotry, not instrumentalize it for an unpopular political agenda that has nothing to do with Jewish safety," Beran added.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the liberal Jewish group J Street, also rejected the ADL's "continued conflation."
“J Street continues to be deeply concerned by the ADL’s ongoing use of its so-called ‘Mamdani Monitor,’ which goes well beyond combating antisemitism and too often conflates legitimate political speech with hate," Ben-Ami said in a statement Monday.
Ben-Ami asserted that there is "something deeply wrong when major Jewish leaders and institutions focus disproportionate attention on left-of-center activists’ views on Israel while failing to apply the same scrutiny to the Trump administration and MAGA leaders, whose blatant antisemitism and ties to white nationalist movements pose a clear and dangerous threat to American Jews."
"Our communal institutions should fight antisemitism consistently and credibly, wherever it appears—not selectively, and not in ways that inflame fear or deepen division," he added.
Another liberal Jewish antisemitism watchdog, Nexus Project, also decried the ADL update, which it said "repeatedly blurs the line between antisemitism and anti-Zionism."
J Street among the groups supporting the Antisemitism Response and Prevention Act (ARPA), legislation introduced last week by US Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) in the wake of the Sydney Hanukkah massacre.
According to Nadler's office, the bill "clearly states that it is against the policy of the United States to use antisemitism as grounds to pursue ulterior political agendas, including attacks on educational institutions, suppressing constitutionally protected speech, or any other enforcement of ideological conformity."
ARPA stands in stark contrast with the Antisemitism Awareness Act (ARA), which was introduced in 2023 by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ, Max Miller (R-Ohio), and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) in the House of Representatives and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) in the Senate.
The bill would require the Department of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism when determining whether alleged harassment is motivated by anti-Jewish animus.
The ADL has pushed a wide range of governments, institutions, and organizations to adopt the IRHA definition, which conflates legitimate criticism and condemnation of Israeli policies and practices with anti-Jewish bigotry, and forces people to accept the legitimacy of a settler-colonial apartheid state engaged in illegal occupation and colonization, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the legislation last year; however, the bill remains stalled in the Senate.
Zionism—the settler-colonial movement for the reestablishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine—is being rejected by a growing number of Jewish Americans due to the racism, settler-colonialism, illegal occupation, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide perpetrated by Israel and rooted in claims of divine right and favor.
Jewish-led groups like JVP, IfNotNow, and Jews for Economic and Racial Justice (JERJ) have been at the forefront of pro-Palestine demonstrations since the start of Israel's war and siege on Gaza, which have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing; 2 million others displaced, starved, and sickened; and most of the coastal strip in ruins.
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Israel's Continued Blockade on Medical Supplies Worsening 'Destruction' of Gaza's Health System
Israel has not allowed the agreed-upon number of medical aid trucks into Gaza under October's ceasefire deal, and has yet to give approval to thousands of people on waiting lists to receive treatment elsewhere.
Dec 23, 2025
With the Israeli military having violated its "ceasefire" agreement with Hamas at least 875 times since it was finalized in October, and aid groups warning that everyone in Gaza remains at risk of starvation, the exclave's healthcare system desperately needs to treat people impacted by the ongoing humanitarian disaster—but medical experts there warn Israel's blockade has left many hospitals barely functioning.
On Tuesday, the director-general of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Munir al-Barsh, told Al Jazeera that the healthcare system is suffering from "widespread shortages of medicines and medical supplies, particularly surgical consumables needed to perform operations."
The situation is "tragic and horrific," al-Barsh told the outlet.
After Israeli attacks on nearly all of Gaza's healthcare facilities during the war, 34 hospitals and 125 other health centers have been badly damaged. The health system has lost about 1,700 medical professionals who were killed by the Israel Defense Forces, and at least 80 doctors and other providers have been detained by Israel since 2023.
About 70% of the aid trucks that Israel has allowed into Gaza since October have carried food; the other 30% have brought in a variety of medical equipment, shelter supplies, tents, clothings, and other items. Israel is failing to allow in the agreed-upon number of medical aid trucks, Al Jazeera reported.
Earlier this month, al-Barsh told Al Jazeera that the medical supplies allowed in remain limited, with "antibiotics, IV solutions, and surgical materials" banned.
“We are facing a situation in which 54% of essential medicines are unavailable, and 40% of the drugs for surgeries and emergency care—the very medications we rely on to treat the wounded—are missing,” al-Barsh said.
Dr. Alaa Helles, director of pharmaceutical care at the Ministry of Health, also said Sunday that 52% of medications on an "essential list" were "zero stock."
Director of Pharmaceutical Care at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Alaa Helles, says there is a severe shortage of vital medications in Gaza. The highest it has been in two years. Israel is not allowing medicine into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/VuySKCAtkf
— Samira Mohyeddin سمیرا (@SMohyeddin) December 21, 2025
On Tuesday, al-Barsh added that three-quarters of the total supplies needed in hospitals are unavailable, while power outages and shortages of generators are making it nearly impossible for healthcare workers to help critically injured and ill people.
He said Israel must open border crossings both to allow more supplies in and to permit the transport of thousands of people who are on long waiting lists to receive treatment outside of Gaza.
Nearly 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza are on the lists, including 18,500 who have received approval from the World Health Organization but have yet to be referred by Israeli authorities for security approval. About 3,700 of those on waiting lists are in critical condition and about 4,300 are children, Al Jazeera reported.
Al-Barsh told the outlet that at least 1,156 patients have died while waiting for security clearance from Israel.
The director-general's comments came a day after the United Nations issued a similar warning about the thousands of people waiting for treatment outside of Gaza and the "destruction of health infrastructure" in the exclave.
The destruction of health infrastructure and severe shortages are exacerbating #Gaza’s health crisis. @WHO says more than 1,000 patients have died while waiting for medical evacuation from the enclave since July 2024. pic.twitter.com/8rbfhWsJeU
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) December 22, 2025
"My daughter is ill and suffers from kidney failure," a mother named Balqees Abu Ajwa told the UN News Center. "The crossings are closed and medical supplies are scarce. The medical equipment that could help my daughter stay alive is not available. My daughter has been in this condition for 20 days. She is exhausted."
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Investigation Shows How Decades of Corporate Consolidation Have Devastated US Cattle Ranchers
"The marketplace is fundamentally broken," one rancher explained.
Dec 23, 2025
Even as US beef prices have continued to surge, American cattle ranchers have come under increased financial pressure—and a new report from More Perfect Union claims that this is due in part to industry consolidation in the meat-packing industry.
Bill Bullard, the CEO of the trade association R-CALF USA, explained to More Perfect Union that cattle ranchers are essentially at the bottom of the pyramid in the beef-producing process, while the top is occupied by "four meat packers controlling 80% of the market."
"It's there that the meat packers are able to exert their market power in order to leverage down the price that the cattle feeder receives for the animals," Bullard said.
To illustrate the impact this has had on farmers, Bullard pointed out that cattle producers in 1980 received 63 cents for every dollar paid by consumers for beef, whereas four decades later they were receiving just 37 cents for every dollar.
"That allocation has flipped on its head because the marketplace is fundamentally broken," Bullard told More Perfect Union.
Angela Huffman, president of Farm Action, recently highlighted the role played by the four big meatpacking companies—Tyson, Cargill, National Beef, and JBS—in hurting US ranchers.
Writing on her Substack page earlier this month, Huffman zeroed in on Tyson's recent decision to close one of its meatpacking plants in Lexington, Nebraska to demonstrate the outsize power that big corporations have over the US food supply.
The Lexington plant employs more than 3,000 people and is capable of processing 5,000 head of cattle a day, and its closure is expected to both devastate the local economy and have a major impact on US ranchers throughout the region.
Huffman noted a report from the Associated Press estimating that the Lexington plant's closure, combined with projected job cuts at a Tyson plant in Amarillo, Texas, could cut national beef processing capacity by up to 9%.
"Ranchers were already dealing with high costs, drought, and years of uneven prices," Huffman wrote. "Now they face even less competition for their cattle. When there are fewer packers active in the market, ranchers have less bargaining power, and cattle prices fall even as beef prices in grocery stores stay near record highs."
Dan Osborn, an independent US Senate candidate running in Nebraska, has made the dangers of corporate consolidation a central theme of his campaign, and on Monday he released a video explaining why he spends so much time talking about monopolies, particularly in the agricultural industry.
"If you're a farmer, your inputs, your seed, your chemicals, you have to buy from monopolies," he said. "Sygenta, Chinese-owned company you've got to buy your seed from, they control and manipulate that market. And then when your production's over and you're selling it, you're selling it to monopolies as well."
Want to know why I talk about MONOPOLIES all the time? This is why. 👇 pic.twitter.com/MuYh0gZRVr
— Dan Osborn (@osbornforne) December 22, 2025
Osborn said that the trend of industry consolidation wasn't just limited to agriculture, but is now moving forward with major railroad and media mergers.
"We need to create an economic environment in this country that favors competition," he said. "That's what a free market is. A free market isn't three or four big people or big corporations controlling everything."
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