Month: November 2020

Biden On Public Education

A continuation of my look at the policies of the president-elect……

We have a president-elect and the new first lady is an educator so there should be a massive program dedicated to education…..but is there?

Biden has suggested the need for $88 billion in new COVID-19 relief to schools. This is less than half of the amount needed by districts. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has said an additional $158.1 billion to $244.6 billion would be required to reopen school buildings safely and serve all students this year. Biden knows full well that such sums would never be approved by Republicans but has made the proposal to provide a political cover for his full support to a return to in-person schooling.

Secondly, a Biden administration will continue the austerity policies against public education, under conditions of a severe economic crisis. Originally Biden took to the presidential campaign trail with proposals for a series of mild reforms, including a threefold increase to Title I federal funding for low-income schools, universal prekindergarten and greater funding for special education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). He also proposed “fixing” the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, support for student mental health, and “hiring more people of color into the Department of Education (ED).”

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/11/17/educ-n17.html

Education is a popular policy promise at election time…..and so far we still have a needy educational policy….and now with a new president….that will not change.

Am I being too hard?

Then you tell me….these are the promises made…..

He will:

  • Support our educators by giving them the pay and dignity they deserve.
  • Invest in resources for our schools so students grow into physically and emotionally healthy adults, and educators can focus on teaching.
  • Ensure that no child’s future is determined by their zip code, parents’ income, race, or disability.
  • Provide every middle and high school student a path to a successful career.
  • Start investing in our children at birth.

What about the crippling debt for an education….will he do anything to help there?

https://joebiden.com/education/

The easy answer is NO he will NOT!

It is more important to protect the criminals in the financial sector than the students.

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Could There Be An Iran Surprise?

All the rhetoric around Iran has come to a head…..and the possibility of a war with Iran before Donald the Orange leaves office (or is forced out)…..

A source told The Washington Post if an American is killed and it can be ‘tied back to instructions from Iran’ it would spark immediate US response

A report from The New York Times that said President Trump considered attacking an Iranian nuclear facility raised fears of a possible US strike on Iran before January 20th. An official familiar with the meeting told The Washington Post that while a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program was off the table, President Trump is ready to respond to attacks in the region that can be tied to Iran.

According to the official, Trump emphasized that any killing of an American that can be “tied back to instructions from Iran” will spark an immediate US response. The official said the president was “very forceful” and that if Iranians kill Americans, the US response will be swift and painful.

The Post story came after rockets fell inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the US embassy is located. No casualties were reported near the US embassy, but the Iraqi Army said rockets landed outside of the Green Zone, killing a child and injuring five civilians. The Post said the rockets were “apparently fired by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia,” although it is not yet clear who is responsible.

President Trump Sets Tripwire For Attack on Iran

After years of threatening could this be the tripwire that plunges the US into yet another war…..just to make Israel happy?

If this occurs it will be disastrous and probably very bloody….are we prepared for more death and destruction?

Could the surprise be waiting for a new president?

Iran’s current parliament, judicial system and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are controlled by the conservatives, the main political faction that opposed the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

However, conservatives, who are gearing up for Iran’s own presidential elections in 2021, have signalled for the first time their readiness to sit at the negotiation table with Washington.

Iranian hardline politician Hamidreza Taraghi recently told local media that conservatives were the only political faction who could lead fruitful negotiations with the US.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-press-review-tehran-hardliners-biden-negotiations

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Biden And War

The big question is what will a president Biden’s policies on war really look like?

To begin where does Biden stand on war…..

Is the real Biden the dove of 1991, the hawk of 2002, or the dove of 2020? The answer is all of them. And so, in the end, the Biden doctrine may be a mirage. He’s not an ideologue who seeks to impose a foreign policy program. Neither is he a narcissist who views every diplomatic issue in terms of his individual benefit. Rather, Biden is a man of his time, a man who shares many of his party’s and his country’s strengths and weaknesses, a man who has lived and learned in the shadows of war, a man once tempted by the possibilities of power and now tempered by the realities of force. Biden’s foreign policy journey is not over. As president, he may pivot in a more hawkish direction, as memories of the Iraq War fade and new challenges emerge from China and Russia. Biden recently wrote: “The triumph of democracy and liberalism over fascism and autocracy created the free world. But this contest does not just define our past. It will define our future, as well.”

Let’s take a look at Biden’s history with war and foreign policy……from an article written in the Foreign Policy Research Institute……

Biden the Moderate

Biden’s foreign policy journey is a story in three chapters, each in the shadow of war. The opening chapter began in the wake of Vietnam in the 1970s, when Biden was a youthful senator, and lasted through the Gulf War in 1991. “I ran the first time as a twenty-nine-year-old kid against the war in Vietnam,” recalled Biden, “on the grounds that the only way to take a nation to war is with the informed consent of the American people.” Still, he didn’t identify with the peacenik protesters and thought that the Vietnam War was dumb, rather than immoral.

During this time, Biden was a middle-of-the-road Democrat on foreign policy. He backed the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989, but opposed funding the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, and in 1991, voted against authorizing the Gulf War. Saddam Hussein did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. national interests, he said. Just as Washington was ignorant about Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, now it didn’t understand the Middle East. The goal of stabilizing the region was a pipe dream, which “has never in 5,000 years been accomplished for very long.”

Biden’s wariness about fighting Iraq was in sync with the Democratic Party mood and wider public opinion. He was one of 45 (out of 55) Democratic senators who voted against the Gulf War (the resolution authorizing war only narrowly passed 52 to 47). In the buildup to Desert Storm, the American public was also cautious about hostilities, and only became enthusiastic about war after the fighting started.

Biden the Hawk

The second chapter of Biden’s foreign policy thinking is the hawkish phase, from 1991 to 2003, in the shadow of the Gulf War and the end of the Cold War. Biden quickly regretted his vote against war in 1991 and criticized Bush senior for ending the campaign too soon and leaving Saddam in power, causing “immense human suffering within Iraq.” Buoyed with confidence about seizing the sword, Biden championed U.S. intervention in the Balkans, called Serbian leader Slobodan Milošević a war criminal to his face, and described the Bill Clinton administration’s inaction in the region as, “a policy of despair and cowardice.” Biden supported the Kosovo War in 1999 as well as the Afghanistan War in 2001. He also sought to check Saddam’s “relentless pursuit of weapons of mass destruction,” and in October 2002, voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq.

Is the Biden doctrine really a hawkish manifesto, as some on the left claim? Biden’s bellicose pivot in the 1990s reflected the broader American zeitgeist. The rapid U.S. victory in the Gulf seemed to bury the Vietnam syndrome in the Arabian sands. From 1991-2003, over one hundred polls asked Americans whether to remove Saddam by force, and every single one found majority support. After the 9/11 attacks, Washington was gripped by fears of a potential alliance between terrorists and tyrants, and Biden was one of 77 senators who authorized the use of force to topple Saddam.

Biden the Dove

The Iraq War opened a new chapter: Biden the dove. The senator saw the invasion of Iraq as a national and personal failure. He had hoped that congressional backing for war might spur a tougher United Nations response and avoid hostilities entirely, but the hawks surrounding Bush were set on fighting. “I made a mistake,” he explained. “I underestimated the influence of Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, and the rest of the neocons. I vastly underestimated their disingenuousness and incompetence.” His fears about the aftermath of regime change in Baghdad proved prescient, as the war became a costly quagmire.

Since 2003, Biden has been generally skeptical about the use for force. He opposed the surge of troops in Iraq in 2006-2007, the surge in Afghanistan in 2009, and the Libyan War in 2011. He raised doubts about the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011, as well as the decision to draw a red line against the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Biden did back the campaign against ISIS and favored the escalation of drone warfare, but he criticized Trump’s decision to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.

So what do you think?

Is Biden a dove or a hawk?

My gut will go with….HAWK!

The Biden campaign promised to “increase pressure” on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad – presumably by providing more arms and money to his violent opponents. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris declared that the U.S. government “will once again stand with civil society and pro-democracy partners in Syria and help advance a political settlement where the Syrian people have a voice.” Northeastern University professor Max Abrahms observed, “Every foreign policy ‘expert’ being floated for Biden’s cabinet supported toppling the governments in Iraq, Libya and Syria, helping Al Qaeda and jihadist friends, ravaging the countries, uprooting millions of refugees from their homes.”

 

Declassify America’s Dirty Secrets in Syria to Stop a Biden War

Watch This Blog!

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Closing Thought–19Nov20

What does the richest man in the world do with some of his cash?

Why he gives it away….you know kinda like Gates and Buffet…..with no other motive than the kindness in his heart……Hahahahaha!  Sorry I could not continue without laughing.

What am I going on about?

The world’s richest man is a teensy bit less rich. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is donating $791 million, via grants to 16 groups that are working to combat climate change. “I’ve spent the past several months learning from a group of incredibly smart people who’ve made it their life’s work to fight climate change and its impact on communities around the world,” the billionaire wrote on Instagram. “I’m inspired by what they’re doing, and excited to help them scale. Today, I’m pleased to announce the first Bezos Earth Fund recipients—16 organizations working on innovative, ambitious, and needle-moving solutions.” He says he’s committing even more, a total of $10 billion, “to fund scientists, activists, NGOs, and others. We can all protect Earth’s future by taking bold action now.”

Bezos is just following in the foot steps of Bill Gates and wife and Warren Buffet….all are giving up their mass fortunes to help society.

Okay I admit it…I am a doubting Thomas….no one that damn rich gives cash way without something in return.

Nope I am not buying the philanthropy for the sake of philanthropy slant to this story.

What will he get for all this “effort”?

My guess is massive tax savings….

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Domestic Challenges For Biden

I had listed the problem areas internationally that president-elect Biden needs to focus on as early as possible. My post…….https://lobotero.com/2020/11/18/international-challenges-for-biden/

Now he has problems in this country that need immediate attention…..as promised thoughts on domestic solutions….

He, Biden, has made a good start on the first issue….the pandemic…..he has already put together a team for the fight…..

Covid-19 Control – As of early November, over 10 million Americans were infected and nearly 240,000 have died of the coronavirus. One of Biden’s first actions after his projected electoral victory was to outline a “science” based plan to “beat Covid-19.” The cornerstone of the plan is to “Provide clear, consistent, evidence-based guidance for how communities should navigate the pandemic – and the resources for schools, small businesses, and families to make it through.” One of the defining aspects of the plan is to establish a “Pandemic Testing Board like Roosevelt’s War Production Board. It’s how we produced tanks, planes, uniforms, and supplies in record time, and it’s how we will produce and distribute tens of millions of tests.”

Build Prosperity – The U.S. is the throws of recession that could topple into a depression. The recession began in February 2020, just around the time the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Two Harvard economists, David Cutler and Lawrence Summers, paint a grim picture of total costs of the pandemic. “The total cost is estimated at more than $16 trillion, or approximately 90% of the annual gross domestic product of the US,” they wrote. “Approximately half of this amount is the lost income from the COVID-19–induced recession; the remainder is the economic effects of shorter and less healthy life.”

Prosperity for whom? Is my question.

Racial Justice – The Biden campaign is notable for two critical cultural developments. One is selecting Kamala Harris as his running mate and her provisional election as the nation’s first woman and first woman-of-color as Vice President. Second, Biden’s acceptance speech was noteworthy for one critical sentence: “The battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.”

Good thought…but just how will Biden accomplish this promise?

Save the Climate – In his acceptance speech and his candidate “plan,” Biden never refers to “climate change.” He does advocate a $2 trillion plan to further a “clean energy revolution and environmental justice.” Among the key features of this plan include: cut carbon emissions from power plants; cut greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector; cut particulate matter air pollution; and increase climate spending to rural and urban low-income areas, especially among “BIPOC” (i.e., Black, Indigenous, and people of color).

Counterpunch.org)

These are starting points…there is so much in this nation that needs repair it would be too massive to try and list them all.

Biden and the Democrats should put principles first and rally the nation around a serious vision: an agenda not simply to “restore the soul of America” but to expand that soul, make this country a true global leader as Planet Earth faces its treacherous future.

Any thoughts here?

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“lego ergo scribo”

Will Michele Be The New SecDef?

SecDef?

That is government-speak for Secretary of Defense.

I have been spending some time trying to help my readers get a grip on the people that Biden will choose for his cabinet and in turn will be leading our many policies…….,many of those policies have been failures but few will admit.

The front-runner for SecDef is one Michele Flournoy.

I remember her back during the Obama days when he was searching for a SecDef and Chuck Hagel was the leading contender….the year was 2012…..

With opponents of a potential nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R – NE) as Secretary of Defense now centering on the idea that nominating a “white man” would reflect badly on the administration, former Undersecretary of Defense Michele Flournoy has emerged as a seeming consensus candidate for advocates who see her as less likely to make any real policy changes.

A former appointee under President Clinton, Flournoy founded the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) to advocate a more “pragmatic” national security policy. In practice this has meant a policy that never questions the notion that military action abroad is a “force for good,” while arguing distinctions without a difference, as when Flournoy endorsed “withdrawing’ from Iraq by leaving 60,000 troops there more or less indefinitely.

Appointed the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy by President Obama in 2008, Flournoy rarely made waves, backing the administration’s policy without exception. A lone noteworthy spot in this term was in 2010, when the Pentagon publicly repudiated her for saying it was unlikely that the US would attack Iran in “the near term.”

(antiwar.com)

I find Biden uninteresting and she will be the perfect fit in his cabinet…..Flournoy’s general uninterestingness makes her a model choice for lobbyists hoping to keep policy unchanged and the gravy train flowing.

Like I said she is the hands on favorite to lead the Pentagon…..but unlike a loyal readers of IST, https://libertasandlatte.wordpress.com/  I do not think she is what this country needs…..at this time.

She is tied tooth and nail to the defense industry and their desires may well come before the needs of the troops.

Even her thoughts are scary…..

The next Pentagon chief could cement the US’ already hard defence line on China, with one contender suggesting that American forces could bolster deterrence with the ability to “sink all” Chinese vessels “within 72 hours” in the South China Sea.

“For example, if the US military had the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours, Chinese leaders might think twice before, say, launching a blockade or invasion of Taiwan; they would have to wonder whether it was worth putting their entire fleet at risk,” Flournoy said.

Defence and diplomatic observers said that realising that idea would come at huge cost but appointing its advocate would signal that the US would keep piling military pressure on China.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/15/20/a-harder-us-line-potential-pentagon-chief-floated-idea-to-sink-china-fleet-in-72-hours

These things said need to be scrutinized……and scrutinized hard!

But she is still the duck in the barrel for Defense…..Defense News takes a look at her…..

The next U.S. defense secretary must be prepared to invest heavily in game-changing technology, even if it comes at the cost of existing capabilities, in order to maintain a credible deterrent for China and Russia, according to former Pentagon official Michèle Flournoy.

“Our ability to deter is — it’s not gone, but it’s an eroding asset,” Flournoy, who is seen as a top contender for the job of defense secretary should former Vice President Joe Biden win the November presidential election, said at the Aspen Security Forum on Aug. 6. “And we’ve got to pay attention now to making sure that we attend to that and invest in” needed capabilities.

“I think there’s, sort of, two parallel efforts that have to happen. One is investments that may take a decade to be fully realized and integrated into the force. Another is the question of, what can we do in the next five years with what we have, but use it differently,” she explained.

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/08/10/flournoy-next-defense-secretary-needs-big-bets-to-boost-eroding-deterrence/

These endless wars will remain endless….and corporate profits will increase and the troops will be second thought….not much changes.

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War On Terror

I remember after the 9/11 attacks and the beginning of the War on Terror…..do you?

The question was posed….are we better off today than we were in 2001?

$6 trillion (that is trillion with a “T”) and the answer in most quarters is ….NO!

After all these years…the ordinances used and the people lost and we are not any better off?

But the M-IC is pushing hard to keep troops around the world as a deterrent to terrorism….is it really worth the cost….in lives and equipment?

The national security establishment is pushing against the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan by President Trump following almost two decades of combat. Even Republicans are warning Trump that he is repeating one of the foreign policy mistakes of Barack Obama.

One of the most astonishing recent arguments against a withdrawal from Afghanistan was made by former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who said that terrorist groups that “pose a threat to us are stronger now” than they were before 9/11. He said the United States faces Al Qaeda and Islamic State alumni who are “orders of magnitude greater” than before and who “have access to much more destructive capabilities.”

How are we worse off than 2001? According to the Watson Institute, the war on terror has cost the United States over $6 trillion, 800,000 people have died as a direct result of the violence of these conflicts, and nearly 38 million people have been displaced or made refugees. According to the Washington Post, some 775,000 American forces have been sent to Afghanistan since 2001, and more than 2,000 of them died.

The United States poured billions of dollars into reconstruction projects in Iraq and Afghanistan under the notion that economic development would check the growth of terrorism. Yet after all this blood and treasure, one of the most senior American officials and a former combat general in the war on terror says Al Qaeda is stronger than it was before 9/11.

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/518204-the-truth-about-the-war-on-terror

Let’s look at another one of those made up wars that has done little…..the War On Drugs.

By contrast that “war” has been raging for damn near 50 years and about $1 trillion wasted with no end in sight….we just keep wasting money chasing some imaginary victory.

In my opinion and others as well…the War on Terror has wasted lives and money and has not accomplished a victory after $6 trillion (that is trillion with a “T”)…..

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Biden’s Minister Of Propaganda

Closing Thought–18Nov20

We all are well aware just how much lying the president and his butt boys can do…..I have labelled it propaganda……and yet Biden has hired a dude that is proud of his propagandizing….

Richard Stengel, the top state media appointee for US President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, has enthusiastically defended the use of propaganda against Americans.

“My old job at the State Department was what people used to joke as the chief propagandist,” Stengel said in 2018. “I’m not against propaganda. Every country does it, and they have to do it to their own population. And I don’t necessarily think it’s that awful.”

Richard “Rick” Stengel was the longest serving under-secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in US history.

At the State Department under President Barack Obama, Stengel boasted that he “started the only entity in government, non-classified entity, that combated Russian disinformation.” That institution was known as the Global Engagement Center, and it amounted to a massive vehicle for advancing US government propaganda around the world.

A committed crusader in what he openly describes as a global “information war,” Stengel has proudly proclaimed his dedication to the carefully management of the public’s access to information.

Biden state media appointee advocated using propaganda against Americans and ‘rethinking’ First Amendment

Do not trust someone because they are tied to Obama in some way.

I have tried to help my reader understand and identify propaganda in all they see and hear…..

https://lobotero.com/2013/01/11/what-is-propaganda/

https://lobotero.com/2014/01/06/propaganda-2-0/

The 24 hour news cycle and social media have turned propaganda into something”noble”…..that is where I draw the line…propaganda is lies used to persuade…..PERIOD!

Now we have a dude that thinks propaganda is a ‘good thing’…..that is not better than the fools in the outgoing administration.

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A Case For Public Banking

Finally a goddamn great idea……..but the Centrists will beat it back to make their owners, the banks, happy.

I have been railing against the bankers and their rape of the American society…..bitching for decades and most Americans know that these robbers are corrupt and yet we seem to not care…..

Finally someone in Congress has stepped up to offer a new way of banking….we can always pretend the the Obama admin did some good but any progress has overturned and the problems with banks have returned and gotten worse.

Like I said a new way of banking…..but what is Public Banking?

Public banking is banking operated in the public interest, through institutions owned by the people through their representative governments. Public banks can exist at all levels, from local to state to national or even international. Any governmental body which can meet local banking requirements may, theoretically, create such a financial institution.

Public banking is distinguished from private banking in that its mandate begins with the public’s interest. Privately-owned banks, by contrast, have shareholders who generally seek short-term profits as their highest priority. Public banks are able to reduce taxes within their jurisdictions, because their profits are returned to the general fund of the public entity. The costs of public projects undertaken by governmental bodies are also greatly reduced, because public banks do not need to charge interest to themselves. Eliminating interest has been shown to reduce the cost of such projects, on average, by 50%.

But we already have banks…why do we need a “public bank”?

Today, cities and states put their money in Wall Street banks, allowing those banks to leverage our public funds in order to dominate the financialized speculative economy rather than reinvesting them in our communities. At the same time, cities and states borrow money from Wall Street institutions and bondholders at high interest rates and pay large fees to keep money in their banks. This is not a cost-effective way to do business. Cities and states could be keeping their public dollars and leveraging them for their own community needs.

With city and state-owned banks, we cut out Wall Street middlemen. Our community’s cash stays home to benefit us! Bank fees are eliminated, interest costs drop, and public bank profits are reinvested into our communities.

Public banks can help us create the communities we want. We want parks, good roads, safe bridges, clean energy, and housing we can afford. We want lower interest rates for local small business loans, local control of our tax dollars, investment in our local communities, and ethical and transparent financial institutions managing our public funds. Public banks can be the financial engine that makes this happen for our communities.

There a few facts that need to be shown why a public bank is a better idea than the robbers we have to deal with today….

  1. Are owned by the people of a state, city, community, or nation;
  2. Serve as the depository for local government funds (city or state taxes, fees, etc.);
  3. Are required to benefit the public by serving local community needs;
  4. Can save state and local governments millions or even billions of dollars, by cutting out middlemen and private shareholders, eliminating fees, and financing projects at lower interest rates;
  5. Reinvest bank profits into the community, providing a new source of income for cities and states and a source of funding for projects such as infrastructure, renewable energy and affordable housing;
  6. Are run, not by politicians, but by qualified bankers serving a public mission;
  7. Provide accountability and transparency to the public for bank decisions, avoiding the risks of Wall Street’s speculative gambling;
  8. Create new jobs and spur economic growth by supporting local small businesses;
  9. Partner with and support rather than competing with local community banks;
  10. Can lend during times of stress and crisis, helping to sustain a healthy local economy.

Now a couple Progressives in the House are offering up a plan for an expansiom of public banking…..

A public option, but for banking. That’s what Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are proposing in a new bill unveiled on Friday.

The Public Banking Act, first shared with Vox, wouldn’t create those options by itself, but would foster the creation of public banks across the country by providing them a pathway to getting started, establishing an infrastructure for liquidity and credit facilities for them via the Federal Reserve, and setting up federal guidelines for them to be regulated. Essentially, it would make it easier for public banks to exist, and it would give some of them grant money to get started.

While it sounds a little wonky, the basic idea is to make it possible for state and local governments, local businesses, and people to do business with public banks, which theoretically would be more motivated to do public good and invest in their communities than private institutions, which are out for profit. One public bank exists in North Dakota, and there is a growing movement to create more of them across the country. California recently passed a law allowing cities and counties to create and sponsor public banks.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21541113/rashida-tlaib-aoc-public-banking-act

Another great idea but the Centrists will kill this before it has a chance…..Citibank and others will NOT allow this to move forward.

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Inherit The Wind!

That would be the economic wind…….

We have a new president and his biggest challenges will be foreign policy, pandemic and the economy.

Regardless how the stock markets do does not indication a strong economy…..just the monetary game the wealthy play…..but what about the US economy……what is the Biden admin looking at?

Policymakers cannot ignore the economic devastation happening to workers and their families across the country.

As the nation continues to be consumed with the election—which Joe Biden appears poised to win—millions of people across the country remain out of work. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that 638,000 jobs were added in October, a continued slowdown in job growth. The U.S. economy is still down 10 million jobs from where it was in February, before the pandemic hit. Using average monthly job growth over the year ending February 2020 as the counterfactual, the jobs deficit is over 11.6 million. In other words, that’s 10.0 million fewer jobs we have than in February, plus nearly 1.6 million jobs we would have added if the recession hadn’t occurred.

Even without the 147,000 loss in temporary Census employment in October, the economy added only 785,000 jobs. At this pace, it will take years for the U.S. economy to fully recover. With long-term unemployment on the rise and little hope for additional relief, workers and their families do not have years to keep their heads above water. As the winter approaches and COVID-19 cases continue to rise, millions of people across the country will be left out in the cold. Unlike his predecessor, the incoming Biden administration will inherit a devastated labor market that will need considerable relief and stimulus—quickly.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/11/06/thanks-gop-next-president-inherits-devastated-economy-millions-out-work

Do not mistake the high markets with a booming economy….as I have already stated…it is just an indication of the games the wealthy play with our country.

But like ALL candidates Biden has a plan for the economy…..

The 77-year-old’s economic agenda is not as detailed as others and does not contain similar sweeping proposals, but his plan for the U.S. is still ambitious and represents more than a reassuring reset button for Americans rattled by Trump. He has also shown signs that he’s willing to pivot to the left to win over Sanders supporters. He proposed two new policies to “ease the economic burden on working people” a day after the democratic socialist dropped out of the race.

https://www.investopedia.com/joe-biden-s-economic-plan-save-the-middle-class-4769869

But just viable are Biden’s plans…..https://www.dw.com/en/joe-biden-economic-plan/a-55022468

Ambitious indeed….but little will ever see light of day.

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