Week in Review: 'Dystopian Plots,' Christian Nationalist Crusaders, and the Anger Needed for the Fights Ahead

Saturday, June 15, 2024 ■ The Week in Review 93 Nations Back ICC as Israel Faces Charges for War Crimes in Gaza A joint statement calls on "all States to ensure full co-operation with the Court for it to carry out its important mandate of ensuring equal justice for all victims of genocide, war crimes, [and] crimes against humanity." By Jon Queally • Jun 15, 2024 DeSantis Declares Emergency Over Floods After Cutting Stormwater Funds "As I'm sitting here stuck on a Brightline train because of flooding in my district, all those stormwater projects he cut look pretty stupid right now," a Florida lawmaker said. By Edward Carver • Jun 13, 2024 Biden Urged to 'Put Up a Major Fight' Over Mass Layoffs at John Deere One labor advocate implored the president to "put the heat on John Deere and show the working class that you're tougher than Trump when it comes to saving American jobs." By Jake Johnson • Jun 13, 2024 Supreme Court Starbucks Ruling Seen as Gift to Corporate Union-Busters The head of the union representing Starbucks workers said the ruling "underscores how the economy is rigged against working people all the way up to the Supreme Court." By Brett Wilkins • Jun 13, 2024 News of Chomsky's Ill Health Prompts Outpouring of Gratitude for 'Lion of the Left' "So many thousands of people have stories about how he has changed their lives," said one admirer. "He certainly changed mine." By Brett Wilkins • Jun 12, 2024 'We Should All Be Angry' That Corporations Spent Trump Tax Windfall on Buybacks: Expert "Corporations took their tax windfalls and spent a trillion dollars of it in 2018 on stock buybacks instead of on worker wages or innovation," said Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies. By Jake Johnson • Jun 12, 2024 AOC, Raskin Announce Bill to Rein in 'Captured and Corrupted' Supreme Court "A group of anti-democratic billionaires with their own ideological and economic agenda has been working one of the three co-equal branches of government," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. By Julia Conley • Jun 12, 2024 Sanders, Omar Lead Call for Biden to Back Global Tax on the Rich "This is a historic opportunity for the United States to provide global leadership on tax fairness and also strengthen the administration's vital domestic efforts to achieve a fairer tax system." By Jessica Corbett • Jun 11, 2024 US Jury Holds Chiquita Liable for Colombian Death Squad's Murder of Banana Workers "The verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed," said one attorney, "but it sets the record straight and places accountability for funding terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita's doorstep." By Brett Wilkins • Jun 11, 2024 Democrats Target Pro-Trump 'Dystopian Plot' With Stop Project 2025 Task Force "We need a coordinated strategy to save America and stop this coup before it's too late," said Rep. Jared Huffman, who is spearheading the new task force. By Jake Johnson • Jun 11, 2024 Caught on Tape, Alito Exposed as 'Crusader for Christian Nationalism' "Justice Alito can hardly blame his wife this time," said one critic. By Julia Conley • Jun 10, 2024

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■ Opinion The Second US Civil War Has Already Begun This time, the rebels are using their power inside the government and their influence through social media to subvert fundamental democratic institutions. By Steven Harper • Jun 14, 2024 They’re Arresting the Wrong People Inside of Congress While they are arresting peace activists for exercising First Amendment rights, they are making plans to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a war criminal with an actual arrest warrant request. By Olivia Dinucci • Jun 12, 2024 If Joe Biden Doesn't Intervene to Stop Mass Layoffs at John Deere, Who Will? The president should let Deere know that they can’t continue to receive taxpayer money if they ship taxpayer-funded jobs to Mexico. By Les Leopold • Jun 12, 2024 The End of Affordable Internet The federal funding contained in the Affordable Connectivity Program offered a vital lifeline for people in South Carolina and nationwide. Now we must fight to resurrect such a program so that everyone has digital access that enriches individual lives and communities. By Ro Khanna,Annie E. McDaniel • Jun 11, 2024

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How global corporations are using white Christian nationalism Follow the money Robert Reich Jul 19 --:-- --:-- Friends, Today I want to connect some dots. What do congressional Republicans, Joe Manchin, and Hungary’s Viktor Orban have in common? They all oppose the Biden administration’s proposed global minimum corporate tax — designed to stop corporations from playing one country against another in a worldwide race to the tax bottom. The reason for Manchin’s opposition? As he told a West Virginia radio host on Friday, other countries have yet to adopt the tax and he doesn’t want to put American companies at a competitive disadvantage. This, my friends, is utter baloney. More than 100 other countries have already agreed to the global minimum tax, including all European Union members except Hungary. It’s the United States that’s the laggard. The reason for Hungary’s opposition? As Hungary recently revealed, Republicans in Congress secretly asked Hungary to block it. (Each country in the European Union has veto power over the bloc’s tax agreements.) Top Republicans in the House Ways and Means Committee even sent a letter to the Hungarian ambassador to the U.S., thanking him for Hungary’s help. Think about it. One of America’s two political parties has been in cahoots with Europe’s most authoritarian government, to allow global corporations based in the United States to avoid paying ever more of what they owe the United States. It’s jaw-dropping. Republicans who march under the banner of nationalism — “American first,” “control our borders,” “Make America Great Again” — eagerly conspire with foreign governments to make America’s borders even more porous to global capital and deprive America of needed tax revenue. While they criticize supposed “global elites” that have “hollowed out” America’s heartland, they connive with global elites to make them even richer. Missouri Republican Senator Josh HawIey — who fist-bumped January 6 rioters at the Capitol — relishes attacking what he calls “the cosmopolitan economy” of global corporations that “move jobs and assets overseas to chase the cheapest wages and pay the lowest taxes.” Yet Hawley opposes the global minimum tax. “I don't know that it’ll really work,” he says, “so I'm skeptical about it.” Subscribe now We’re way beyond hypocrisy here. We’re in a realm of duplicity that should make even a Trump blush. Follow the money. Big corporations want to to shift ever more of their profits to low-tax nations. So they’re using a small portion of their humongous profits to bribe Republican lawmakers and a few Democrats like Manchin to vote against the global minimum. What’s Hungary’s interest? Start with the fact that Viktor Orban and his government don’t believe in democracy. They’re pushing white Christian nationalism instead. It’s the same culture war advanced by the likes of Trump, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert, and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, among others. White Christian nationalism is the perfect foil for the rising tide of global corporate predation. This way, sovereignty becomes a matter of race and ethnicity rather than economics. Focusing on immigrants “replacing” the white race diverts attention from how much tax revenue global corporations are forcing average people to replace. A similar coalition between global capitalists and nationalist cultural warriors in the 1920s set the stage for the horrors of the 1930s and the ravages of World War II. Beware.

TOP NEWS: 'Shameful': GOP Colluding With Autocratic Orban Government to Tank Global Tax Deal

 

July 06, 2022 Top News 'Broken' Capitalist Food System Drives Soaring Global Hunger: Oxfam Criticism from the charity's food policy director came in response to a new United Nations report revealing that around 1 in 10 people worldwide went hungry last year. by Brett Wilkins 'Fight for Us Goddamnit': Frustration Grows Over Biden Fecklessness Amid GOP Destruction "We simply cannot make promises, hector people to vote, and then refuse to use our full power when they do," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. by Julia Conley 'Shameful': GOP Colluding With Autocratic Orban Government to Tank Global Tax Deal One watchdog group slammed Republicans for "choosing to sabotage the United States' ability to tax corporations effectively and conspire with foreign governments." by Jake Johnson  EXCERPT: In a statement last month praising the Hungarian government's obstruction, retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) declared that the U.S. "should be leading" the race to the bottom on corporate taxes, "not trying to prevent it." As the Post reported Friday, "GOP Reps. Adrian Smith (Neb.) and Mike Kelly (Pa.), top members of the House Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to the ambassador of Hungary last week commending that country for rejecting the global tax deal" and extending "an offer for a direct dialogue with congressional Republicans as you consider Hungary's position on the global tax agreement." More Top News • With Manchin's Backing, Senate Dems Unveil Plan to Let Medicare Negotiate Drug Prices • EPA Likely Underestimating Amount of Toxic Forever Chemicals in US Water: Analysis • 'Betrayal!' Uproar After EU Backs Industry Push to Label Gas and Nuclear 'Green' • Biden Denounced for Imposing New Sanctions as Iran Nuclear Talks Falter • Under 'Draconian Abortion Ban,' Woman in El Salvador Sentenced to 50 Years for Pregnancy Loss • Court Applauded for Tossing Trump-Era Rule That Allowed Taxpayer-Funded Discrimination • Warren, Sanders, and Others Blast Biden's 'Failure' on Federal Cannabis Policy VIEW ALL NEWS Opinion Where Is Joe? This Crisis of Democracy Demands a Leader, Not a Lame Duck It's a serious handicap for an elected leader to be considered a lame duck. Far worse, though, for the "leader" to be considered just plain lame. by Jim Hightower We Must End the Illusion of Military Dominance We have simply not dedicated the resources to wage peace in the same determined, relentless way we have waged war. This must change. by Kevin Martin, Brad Wolf Economically Secure People Do Not Care So Much About Being "Replaced" The vast majority of Americans are struggling to maintain a moderate standard of living because a grotesque economic model is failing most people. by Bruce T. Boccardy VIEW ALL OPINION Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams, PO Box 443, Portland, ME 04112, United States Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax-deductible. EIN: 20-3368194