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Corporate Welfare and the Minimum Wage
By Joslyn Stevens
The arguments against raising the minimum wage are bullshit. The majority of Americans including conservatives support an increase yet congress continues to drag its feet on doing right by the people they claim to serve. The conservative “pull-yourself up-by your-bootstraps” mentality has become an acceptable excuse to justify kicking people when they’re down. The greedy and elitist attitudes of CEO’s and bankers have created a culture of entitlement in this country in which stealing from others less powerful is the best way to get to the top regardless of the social cost.
Obama's Economy
by Stephen Lendman
Obama disgraces the office he holds. He exceeds the worst of his predecessors.
His imperial foreign policy risks global war. His domestic anti-populist one transformed the world's richest economy into a house of cards. Thirdworldized. A dystopian backwater.
So-called recovery is fake. It’s illusory. It doesn't exist. Protracted Main Street Depression conditions affect growing millions.
Things go from bad to worse. Human suffering is real. Pathetically little is done to help.
Neoliberal harshness is official policy. Force-fed austerity reflects it. Social injustice is rife.
Obama demands it. Bipartisan complicity supports it. Ordinary people are increasingly on their own out of luck.
Bankers top the pecking order. Profits are privatized. Losses are socialized. Grand theft is rife. Politicians are complicit with corporate crooks.
Hong Kong Protests: Now The Hard Part, Kick Out The US, Build National Consensus
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers
When protests in Hong Kong exploded, knowledgeable people looked for US involvement. It was not hard to find. The overt intrusion of the US is available in budgets, documents and websites; the covert involvement has not yet been uncovered but is no doubt there. What does US involvement mean for the credibility of the protest movement and the future of Hong Kong? How should Hong Kong activists respond?
The issues raised by the protests, lack of democracy and an unfair economy, are very real. But so are the concerns of Beijing for economic growth and continuing to lift people out of poverty, something China has done remarkably well. Those who seek to transform governance and create a more equal economy now have a more challenging task than protests, they must build national consensus on their issues in Hong Kong and in China’s leadership. The Chinese People's Daily quoted a Chinese-American author who wrote the Occupy Central leadership, Yin Haoliu, said: “Democracy is a step-by-step process that cannot be approached in haste, otherwise it will bring about troubles.” How quickly those steps advance depends, in part, on how well the democracy movement organizes.
Illusory Ceasefire in Ukraine
by Stephen Lendman
Conflict continues. Peace is a convenient illusion. Fascists don't wage wars to quit.
Washington manipulates events destructively. It uses its installed stooge government to solidify unchallenged control over Ukraine.
Straightaway after assuming power, oligarch president Petro Poroshenko said:
"The first steps that we will take at the beginning of our presidential term should be focused on stopping the war, to put an end to this chaos and bring peace to a united Ukraine."
Days later he promised to crush "pro-Russian separatist war being waged against our country."
"We will end this terror," he said. "The anti-terrorist operation has finally just truly begun." Washington offers support, encouragement and military aid.
Washington's Bloated Defense Budget
by Stephen Lendman
Washington Post editors want America's bloated defense budget increased. So do some of its contributors. More on this below.
America's business is war. Without end. Ravaging, destroying and pillaging one nation after another.
Doing it for wealth, power and dominance. While vital homeland needs go begging. At a time America's only enemies are ones it invents.
Annual congressional national defense authorizations are the tip of the iceberg. America's defense spending constitutes a black hole of waste, fraud and abuse. More on this below.
It's military Keynesianism on steroids. With all categories included, America spends as much or more on militarism, wars and related areas than the rest of the world combined.
Over $1.5 trillion annually goes for so-called defense. Doing so makes the world safe for war profiteers. They never had it better.
Enormous sums get tossed around mindlessly. Government watchdogs identify hundreds of billions of potential savings from unneeded weapons, defective ones, no-bid excess, overpayments, and outright fraud.
Joe Biden's Rhetorical Ineptness
by Stephen Lendman
His intellect is sorely lacking. His Senate years were notably unimpressive. He's skilled at putting his foot in his mouth. He reinvents history.
On October 2, his comments riled nations allied with Washington's Middle East wars. More on them below.
His remarks often draw criticism. They do so for good reason. "No one doubts that I mean what I say," he explained. "The problem is I sometimes say all that I mean."
One observer said his "mouth out-runs his brain" at times. At a March 2010 Obamacare signing ceremony, he whispered in Obama's ear: "This is a big f..king deal."
He did loud enough to be heard on air. He's not the first political leader known for earthy language.
America’s New War and Coming of the Age of Arab Discontent
Mahboob A. Khawaja, PhD.
US Flawed War Strategy at Work
After failure of the bogus War on Terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, America has embarked on a new war to support the war economy, re-enact failed global leadership imagery and destroy the entire Arab region to define unilaterally the fate of the people of Palestine. The Arab coalition leaders supporting the US war efforts to bomb ISIL positions in Iraq and Syria have no sense of reality and lack popular backing in their homeland. The authoritarian Arab leaders live in palaces, not with people to understand the outcomes of their political folly. Ironically, the US air strikes and killings of the civilians will instigate reactionary opposition and increased insurgency to topple the puppet regimes. Daveed Gartenstein-Rosss writing in Foreign Policy (“Thank you for Bombing-Obama- Why al Qaeda might be the biggest winner of America's airstrikes on the Islamic State.” 9/24/2014), argues that President Obama is using wrong strategy to attack ISIL: ‘But an emphasis on degrading and destroying IS while giving a pass to other jihadist groups in Syria could have serious consequences that could leave al Qaeda in the catbird seat.’ America enjoys a record of failure in strategic thinking and practices if you view the war theater in Afghanistan and Iraq and now crossing the limits to Syria. The renewed American-led wars in Iraq and Syria have unthinkable ripples effects to the whole of the Arab and Muslim world.
Irresponsible NYT Putin Bashing
by Stephen Lendman
A previous article called The Times a machine for manufacturing Big Lies. It did so for good reason.
It buries hard truths on issues mattering most. It substitutes managed news misinformation.
It does so repeatedly. Consistently. Disgracefully. When it comes to US/Russian relations, Obama's imperial designs go unexplained.
Putin is public enemy No. 1. No matter his championing peace and stability. His going all-out for them.
His cooperative, peaceful relations with all countries. His observance of rule of law principles. His overwhelming domestic popularity in contrast to Obama's lowest in his presidency.
It doesn't matter. Times correspondents, contributors and editors support the worst of US policies. Responsible Russian ones are bashed.
Strengthening Sino-Russian Ties
by Stephen Lendman
On October 2, Vladimir Putin participated in the
VI Russia Calling! Investment Forum. It focuses on attracting foreign capital.
It discusses ways to increase investments in Russia's economy overall. Efforts so far proved successful. Opportunities in a resource rich country like Russia are huge.
According to Putin, "many serious investors and our country’s partners of long standing continue increasing their investment in various sectors of the Russian economy."
At the same time, "(e)xternal limitations have an adverse effect not only on Russia’s economy, but also on that of the whole world," he said.
"They only add to our determination to meet our targets in the priority areas of our country's development, which include economic growth, upgrading the industry and infrastructure, the creation of new jobs and improvement of the quality of life of Russia's citizens."
Propaganda War on Islamic State Militants
by Stephen Lendman
Washington uses ISIS/ISIL/Islamic state (IS), Nusra Front, Al Qaeda and likeminded groups strategically as enemies and allies. At times, simultaneously.
In the 1980s, CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters battled Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers.
Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." They're today's Taliban despite distinct differences between them. Longstanding US support enhanced radical Islamic strength. Extremist groups were natural Cold War allies.
Zbigniew Brzezinski had Jimmy Carter sign a secret July 3, 1979 directive. It promised covert aid to Afghan pro-Soviet regime opponents.
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