 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Showing posts with label UN VOTE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UN VOTE. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Top News | 52 House Dems Urged to Oppose 'Nonprofit Killer' Bill
Monday, June 10, 2024
Top News: Alito Exposed | The $600 Billion Medicare Advantage Swindle
 | ||||||||||||||
Monday, June 10, 2024 ■ Today's Top News
'Glimmer of Hope' as UN Security Council Approves Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution"We voted for this text to give diplomacy a chance," said Algeria's U.N. ambassador. "It is time to halt the killing."By Brett Wilkins
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
GOP 'Salivating' to Ram Through Another Corporate Tax Giveaway If Trump Wins"It's obscene," Sen. Elizabeth Warren said of Republicans' plan to hand corporations another tax cut if Trump wins in November and the GOP takes over the Senate.By Jake Johnson The crowning legislative achievement of Donald Trump's first term in the White House was the passage of an unpopular tax bill that gave big corporations a massive windfall, disproportionately rewarded wealthy individuals despite being pitched as a boon for workers, and contributed trillions to the national debt. With Trump running for another four years in power this November, Republicans are gearing up for a repeat. The Washington Postreported Monday that "Republicans in Congress are preparing to not just extend former President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts if they win control of Washington in November's elections, but also lower rates even more for corporations." "Now GOP lawmakers and some of Trump's economic advisers are considering more corporate tax breaks—whichcould expand the national debt by roughly $1 trillion over the next decade, according to researchers at Stanford University and MIT," the Post added. The report on Republicans' plans comes a month after the Congressional Budget Office estimated that extending provisions of the 2017 tax cut law that are set to expire next year would add $4.6 trillion to the U.S. deficit. "GOP is salivating at more handout tax cuts to their corporate bosses and billionaires that will balloon the debt," Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) wrote on social media Monday. "Fiscal irresponsibility by the guys bought and paid for by huge corporations." During his 2020 campaign against Trump, President Joe Biden pledged to "get rid of the bulk of" the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), but he and his party have thus far failed to do so. Slashing corporate taxes even further than the 2017 law—which cut the business rate from 35% to 21%—would reward many of the same corporations that have pushed up prices for consumers in recent years in a shameless attempt to pad their bottom lines. A recent analysis by the Groundwork Collaborative found that between April and September of last year, corporate profits drove more than half of U.S. inflation. "Big corporations raised prices higher and faster than inflation, squeezing working families to rake in record profits," Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) wrote on social media in response to the Post's reporting. "So what's the GOP's plan? Even more corporate tax cuts and another $1 trillion to the debt. You can't make this stuff up." Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) similarly criticized the GOP's plan to reward the corporations that have pushed costs onto consumers to boost their profit margins. "The same corporations that have been price-gouging the American consumer at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and everywhere else are now spending their money loading up these Republican political action committees with the plan that the Republicans will deliver even more tax cuts," Warren told the Post on Monday. "It's obscene." "Wealthy shareholders and executives got windfalls, workers got nothing." Many of the country's largest, most profitable corporations already pay a tax rate that's significantly lower than the current statutory rate of 21%—if they pay any federal taxes at all. A recent analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) found that the nearly 300 companies in the Fortune 500 and S&P 500 that were consistently profitable between 2013 and 2021 saw their average effective tax rate fall from 22% to 12.8% under the Trump tax law, even as their bottom lines grew. "The number of these corporations paying tax rates of less than 10% increased from 56 to 95 after the Trump tax law went into effect," ITEP observed. Chuck Marr, vice president of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, wrote in response to the Post story that "the 2017 tax law's centerpiece cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% was a complete policy failure." "Wealthy shareholders and executives got windfalls, workers got nothing," Marr wrote, pointing to research showing that "workers below the 90th percentile of their firm's income scale—a group whose incomes were below roughly $114,000 in 2016—saw 'no change in earnings' from the rate cut" while executives saw a major boost. Trump, who was convicted last month on 34 felony charges stemming from the falsification of business records, has not been shy about his intention to protect the wealthy and large corporations from paying their fair share in taxes. Speaking to his rich donors at the home of billionaire hedge fund investor John Paulson in April, the former president emphasized that he would make "extending the Trump tax cuts" a top priority should he defeat Biden in November. Andrew Bates, the Biden White House's senior deputy press secretary, noted in a memo released Monday that while Trump and his Republican allies "go to bat for the multinational corporations engaged in price gouging, they plan to slash Medicare and Social Security." "Today's Washington Post story makes it impossible to ignore the enormous contrast between President Biden's agenda to rebuild the middle class and MAGAnomics," Bates wrote. "Republican officials who back MAGAnomics stand up for price gouging, tax giveaways for the rich, and across-the-board tariffs that would all raise prices, and they'd sell the middle class out with a skyrocketing deficit and cuts to Medicare and Social Security."
Workers Reject Trump 'Pandering' on Tipped Wages—But Have Message for Democrats Too"Every poll has the cost of living, economy, and jobs with living wages as the top issues," said one campaigner. "And... the response we're getting is, 'Well, the economy is great.'"By Julia Conley
Dozens Arrested as Activists Target Citigroup for Bankrolling Climate Breakdown"The atmosphere is electric as hundreds gather to shut down Citibank's Global HQ," one group declared. "We are here to demand a future free from fossil fuels."By Edward Carver
A $600 Billion Swindle: Study Makes Case to 'Abolish' Medicare Advantage"The time has come to declare MA a failed experiment," write the authors of a new paper.By Jake Johnson | ||||||||||||||
JOIN THE MOVEMENTAs a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
■ More NewsAfrica Pipeline Foes Demand Accountability After Brutal Detention of Ugandan ActivistUnder Pressure From Big Oil, Supreme Court Requests Biden Position on Climate SuitFederal Court Hears Appeal in Case Accusing Biden of Complicity in Gaza GenocideMacron Calls Snap Election After Far-Right Gains in EU Contests | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
■ OpinionIn Ukraine and Gaza, Biden Makes War Not PeaceThe president has always been quick with the delivery of weapons and deployment of armed forces abroad and very slow with diplomatically driven conflict avoidance.By Ralph Nader Honoring Daniel Ellsberg’s Legacy One Year After His DeathWhile he can no longer speak to the world about the latest developments, Ellsberg will continue to speak directly to hearts and minds about the extreme evils of our time—and the potential for overcoming them with love in action.By Norman Solomon To Stop the Rise of the Far Right, the EU Must Tackle Economic InsecurityThe results of the European Parliament elections actually make progress more urgent than ever—and there is still a democratic majority in place to deliver it.By Esther Lynch | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
US insists UN resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire will have “no impact at all”
US insists UN resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire will have “no impact at all”
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for a two-week ceasefire in Gaza, after the United States abstained from a vote on the resolution.
Biden administration officials made it clear that they allowed the resolution to pass because it is “non-binding” and will have “no impact at all” as the US continues to arm and support Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The resolution declares that the Security Council “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, respected by all parties, leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield explained that, in the view of the US, the “non-binding” resolution “put pressure on Hamas” for the “release of the first hostage.” She added, “what this resolution means is that a ceasefire of any duration must come with the release of hostages.”
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby was even more explicit, saying, “It is a non-binding resolution. So there’s no impact at all on Israel and Israel’s ability to continue to go after Hamas.
“It does not represent a change at all in our policy,” Kirby added.
Asked by a reporter whether the US has “no longer got Israel’s back,” Kirby replied, “Nothing could be further from the truth. Of course, we still have Israel’s back. I mean, as you and I are speaking, we are still providing tools and capabilities, weapons systems, so that Israel can defend itself.”
He added that there is “no change by this non-binding resolution in what Israel can or cannot do in terms of defending itself.”
In other words, the United States will continue to provide weapons and funding for Israel’s ongoing genocide, which has to date left over 40,000 people dead, missing or injured and has destroyed or damaged most buildings in the Gaza Strip.
American imperialism has been the leading global enabler of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, providing the Netanyahu government with weapons, funding, and diplomatic air cover.
Earlier this month, press reports revealed that the Biden administration has provided over 100 separate arms transfer packages to Israel, each falling below a minimum threshold for reporting to Congress.
The secret weapons shipments include, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, “at least 23,000 precision-guided weapons, including Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, drones, and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn unguided bombs into ‘smart’ bombs,” as well as bunker-buster bombs.
In response to the US’s failure to veto the resolution, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was in Washington to coordinate Israel’s planned assault on Rafah, made it clear that Israel intends to move against the city where more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have been crammed together. “We will operate against Hamas everywhere—including in places where we have not yet been.” He added, “We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.”
In response to the UN vote, the Netanyahu government canceled a subsequent planned meeting between Israeli cabinet members and White House representatives in Washington.
“The State of Israel will not cease firing. We will destroy Hamas and continue fighting until every last hostage has come home,” Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister, said in a statement on Twitter.
The same day as the vote at the UN Security Council, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on Palestine, issued a statement saying there is evidence to support the claim that Israel’s actions in Gaza fit the criteria for genocide.
Her report presents a devastating picture of the horrendous impact of the US-Israeli genocide:
After five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 are presumed dead, and 71,000 injured, many with life-changing mutilations. Seventy percent of residential areas have been destroyed. Eighty percent of the whole population has been forcibly displaced. Thousands of families have lost loved ones or have been wiped out. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives, forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street, or under the rubble. Thousands have been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. The incalculable collective trauma will be experienced for generations to come.
In the strongest language yet used by the UN in condemning the genocide, Albanese’s report concludes that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met.” She added that Israel’s civilian and military leadership have attempted to “legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.”
Critically, Albanese pointed to the repeated statements of genocidal intent by Israeli officials. She wrote, “In the latest Gaza assault, direct evidence of genocidal intent is uniquely present. Vitriolic genocidal rhetoric has painted the whole population as the enemy to be eliminated and forcibly displaced. 150 high-ranking Israeli officials with command authority have issued harrowing public statements evincing genocidal intent.”
These include the declarations by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that the population of Gaza consists of “human animals” and the declaration by Israeli President Isaac Herzog that “an entire nation out there … is responsible” for the October 7 attack, adding that Israel would “break their backbone.”
In the midst of these developments, Israel is preparing its planned ground offensive against Rafah with a systematic bombing campaign. On Monday, Israel bombed a house in Rafah, killing at least 15 people, including at least four children.
Originally published in WSWS.ORG
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Top News | 'He’s Not Going to Run Unopposed': Sanders Rejects Schumer for Majority Leader
LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER..... OR REMOVED ON THEIR WHIM! ALL POSTS ARE...
-
LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER..... OR REMOVED ON THEIR WHIM! ALL PO...
-
LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER..... OR REMOVED ON THEIR WHIM! ...
-
LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER..... OR REMOVED ON THEIR WHIM! A...
