What’s Wrong With Our System Of Global Trade And Finance – Talking Points Memo

What’s Wrong With Our System Of Global Trade And Finance – Talking Points Memo

Trump Care

Cuts to Medicare

Raid of Medicare, cuts to Medicaid among the most problematic parts of the AHCA

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, in response to the House vote today to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act.

“Retirees and older Americans who are not yet eligible for Medicare are simply appalled by today’s American Health Care Act vote.

“This bill decimates Medicaid, with more than $800 billion in cuts. Medicaid pays for the nursing home care of millions of seniors and health care for people with disabilities. The $8 billion that the GOP added to their plan at the last minute is a mere drop in the bucket compared to their cuts.

“It also robs the Medicare Trust Fund to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. That transfer of wealth from the sick to the wealthy is unconscionable.

Trump's Infrastructure Plan

Donald Trump ran on the promise of a $1 trillion infrastructure program―seemingly diverging from other members of his party. After all, it’s progressives and Democrats who traditionally call for investments in infrastructure. A $1 trillion plan would be welcome indeed. According to EPI research, each $1 billion investment in infrastructure has the potential to support more than 18,000 jobs―and these jobs are disproportionately well-paying. And $1 trillion would go a long way (if not all the way) to closing the deferred maintenance deficit we’ve allowed to develop through decades of underinvestment. Unfortunately, when you actually look at Trump’s infrastructure plan, it quickly becomes apparent that it’s not a serious plan, and won’t lead to significant investments in our country’s future. Even the headlines of the Trump infrastructure plan only call for $200 billion of actual federal funding, “leveraging the private sector” to pay for the rest. What that “leverage” means is that state taxpayers and infrastructure users will be on the hook for the other $800 billion in the form of taxes, toll roads or other privatized projects whose profits pad the pockets of private entities—not local or state budgets. But Trump’s proposed $200 billion investment isn’t even real! Because his 2018 budget attempts to cut $139 billion from investments to “surface transportation infrastructure.” So, Donald Trump’s $200 billion investment is really a $61 billion investment, at best. Trump just whittled a $1 trillion investment down to $61 billion. Most of us don’t appreciate receiving just 6 percent of what’s been promised. So we shouldn’t be too happy about this retreat on infrastructure. At EPI, we’re focusing on facts, not rhetoric, and demanding an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.

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Privatization

Back to (our) Future

House Poised to Pass Bill Taking Aim at Dodd-Frank Regulations - The New York Times

House Poised to Pass Bill Taking Aim at Dodd-Frank Regulations - The New York Times

Republican Plans to End Medicaid as We Know It Would Threaten Medi-Cal Coverage and Benefits for Millions of Californians - California Budget & Policy Center

Republican Plans to End Medicaid as We Know It Would Threaten Medi-Cal Coverage and Benefits for Millions of Californians - California Budget & Policy Center

Paris Is Burning | Portside

Paris Is Burning | Portside



Capitalism and the Environmental Crisis.

America’s Broken Democracy by Jeffrey D. Sachs - Project Syndicate

America’s Broken Democracy by Jeffrey D. Sachs - Project Syndicate