March, 02 2022, 07:52am EDT
People's Action: The State of the Union Isn't Strong for All of Us
People's Action today released a statement by Campaigns Director Sondra Youdelman in response to President Biden's State of the Union address:
"Tonight, President Biden pushed to tax the rich, grow the economy, and get costs down for families, and we agree-this economy has been rigged against the people who make it work for far too long while the corporations and the rich reap the benefits.
WASHINGTON
People's Action today released a statement by Campaigns Director Sondra Youdelman in response to President Biden's State of the Union address:
"Tonight, President Biden pushed to tax the rich, grow the economy, and get costs down for families, and we agree-this economy has been rigged against the people who make it work for far too long while the corporations and the rich reap the benefits.
"Thankfully, President Biden and Congress passed major COVID relief legislation like the American Rescue Plan, providing resources for poor and working people, along with funds for states and localities to address needs and keep people on the job. But, considering rent hikes are squeezing tenants, we're disappointed that tonight Biden did not speak on the housing crisis. The administration must expand tenant protections and invest in public and affordable rental housing and repairs. Without tenants' protections attached, rental assistance is a bail out for landlords.
"We agree with President Biden that, to end the overdose crisis, we need to invest in solutions that work like passing the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act. With his support for treatment and harm reduction so clearly named tonight, Congress must take swift action to pass the MAT Act and invest in harm reduction to save lives. Care and compassion saves lives, not criminalization.
"Also, President Biden's call to cap insulin costs and allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices is spot-on. But right now, corrupt politicians in Congress are blocking progress. President Biden must stand up to Big Pharma and use his executive power to break pharma monopolies and get communities the prescription drugs they need.
"Finally, President Biden must cancel student debt through executive action and provide urgent relief for millions of borrowers. He promised to forgive at least a portion of education-related debt on the campaign trail. It's time to deliver.
"The president's mention of the crisis in Ukraine is a reminder that corporate polluters are exploiting the war and driving up costs for everyone. As the new international report on climate change reminds us, fossil fuel reliance destabilizes our world in every way. To meet the global challenges of our time, we need greater international cooperation-including between the U.S. and China-not authoritarianism and posturing. That's the only way to stop both the COVID pandemic and global warming.
"These are tough times for the multiracial working class, and we are looking to elected officials we fought for in 2020 to fight for us. We need our elected officials to reclaim some of the ambition and urgency we had in the aftermath of our coalition defeating Trump together. President Biden must seize the moment with strong executive actions that he can take immediately on these issues-and the politicians who are stalling in Congress need to get out of the way."
People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections.
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"My friends, you don’t have to be a PhD in political science to understand that this is not democracy. This is not one person, one vote. This is not all of us coming together to decide our future. This is oligarchy."
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Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is escalating his fight against the U.S. oligarchy with a new campaign directed at the nation's wealthiest individuals—including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—who he says are key culprits in a global race to the bottom that is stripping people worldwide of political agency while impoverishing billions so that the rich can amass increasingly obscene levels of wealth.
Announcing a new series that will detail how "billionaire oligarchs" in the U.S. "manipulate the global economy, purchase our elections, avoid paying taxes, and increasingly control our government," Sanders said in a Friday night video address that it makes him laugh when mainstream pundits talk openly about the nefarious oligarchic structures in other places, but refuse to acknowledge the issue in domestic terms.
"Strangely enough, the term 'oligarchy' is very rarely used to describe what's happening in the United States or in fact, what's happening around the world," said Sanders. "But guess what? Oligarchy is a global phenomenon, and it is headquartered right here in the United States."
Bernie Sanders talks about the oligarchy
While rarely discussed in the corporate press or by most elected officials, argues Sanders, the reality is that a "small number of incredibly wealthy billionaires own and control much of the global economy. Period. End of discussion. And increasingly they own and control our government through a corrupt campaign finance system."
Since the the victory of President-elect Donald Trump in November, Sanders has been increasingly outspoken about his frustrations over the failure of the Democratic Party to adequately confront the contradictions presented by a party that purports to represent the interests of the working class yet remains so beholden to corporate interests and the wealthy that lavish it with campaign contributions.
In a missive to supporters last month, Sanders bemoaned how "just 150 billionaire families spent nearly $2 billion to get their candidates elected" in this year's elections, which included giving to both major political parties. Such a reality, he said, must be challenged.
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According to the newspaper:
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the FDA to "pause distribution" of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
Mr. Siri declined to be interviewed, but said all of his petitions were filed on behalf of clients. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, said Mr. Siri has been advising Mr. Kennedy but has not discussed his petitions with any of the health nominees. She added, "Mr. Kennedy has long said that he wants transparency in vaccines and to give people choice."
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The Times pointed out that experts consider placebo-controlled trials that would deny some children polio shots unethical, because "you're substituting a theoretical risk for a real risk," as Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, explained. "The real risks are the diseases."
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Trump toldNBC News last weekend: "Hey, look, I'm not against vaccines. The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me to get rid of the polio vaccine, they're going to have to work real hard to convince me. I think vaccines are—certain vaccines—are incredible. But maybe some aren't. And if they aren't, we have to find out."
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She was far from alone. HuffPost senior front page editor Philip Lewis said that "this is just so dangerous and ridiculous" while Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan declared, "We are so—and I use this word advisedly—fucked."
Ryan Cooper, managing editor at The American Prospect, warned that "they want your kids dead."
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Multiple critics altered Trump's campaign slogan to "Make Polio Great Again."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded with a video on social media:
Without naming anyone, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, put out a lengthy statement on Friday.
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Sandy Fonzo, whose son killed himself after being sentenced to juvenile detention, said in a statement: "I am shocked and I am hurt. Conahan's actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son's death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power."
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Many of Conahan's victims were first-time or low-level offenders. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court would later throw out thousands of cases adjudicated by the Conahan and Ciaverella, the latter of whom is serving a 28-year sentence for his role in the scheme.
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