Fourteen Years and Counting

Fourteen Years and Counting

by C. A. Matthews

 

Most of us can remember our “first, real paying job.” For Americans, we were most likely in high school, and a classmate mentioned to us between classes how their boss was looking for more summer workers and that we should apply and make some money. I had been babysitting for our neighbors since I was about twelve years old, but it was very hit and miss work, and there was a lot of competition on our street. This was my chance to enter the “real paying job world” at age sixteen. I road my bicycle a couple of miles from my home to interview and got the gig. I worked a long, hot and stormy summer standing on my feet for eight hour shifts in a soft-serve ice cream walk-up stand along Main Street and made the huge sum of $1.25 per hour for about 32 hours of work per week.

Hard to believe $1.25 an hour was considered "good pay,"but that was the state’s minimum wage for “tipped employees” at that time. All restaurant workers were paid that amount hourly. It didn’t matter that we didn’t get tipped making ice cream cones for folks who walked up to the window. We were still considered “food service workers” and paid that lowly wage. I worked hard that summer and ended up getting a raise—a whole $1.35 per hour.

Wow. I thought I’d had it made.

The next summer, a friend told me about a job working at a warehouse clearance sale for a national franchised dress shop located in our local “mall,” a newfangled place built on the east side of town and not located downtown where a few of the big department stores were still to be found. I was overjoyed when I heard what this job paid—a whole $2.35 an hour! It was the federal minimum wage. It was what older people made working similar jobs, so I really felt like an adult at age seventeen. Even though I spent a lot on clothes with my employee discount of 10% off that summer, I saved a bit of money that I later used to get ready for college.

Almost a half century and many jobs later, the federal minimum wage hasn’t moved upward all that much when adjusted for inflation. For the past fourteen years, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25. But why? Corporate profits are up practically across the board or so we’re told on the nightly news. CEOs get huge bonus packages. “Bidenomics is working,” neoliberals insist. What’s wrong with us if we’re struggling to get by in the midst of all this “booming economy” we’re told exists in the US today?

Maybe it’s not us who are wrong about the reality of our situations. Consider this:

The federal minimum wage in the United States would be more than $42 an hour today if it rose at the same rate as the average Wall Street bonus over the past four decades, according to an analysis … by the Institute for Policy Studies.

Citing newly released data from the New York State Comptroller, IPS noted that the average Wall Street bonus has increased by 1,165% since 1985, not adjusted for inflation.

Last year, the average cash bonus paid to Wall Street employees was $176,700—75% higher than in 2008 but slightly lower than the 2021 level of $240,400.

The federal minimum wage, meanwhile, has been completely stagnant since 2009, when it was bumped up to $7.25 from $5.15. While many states and localities have approved substantial pay increases in recent years, 20 states have kept their hourly wage floors at the federal minimum.

US Minimum Wage Would Be $42 Today If It Rose as Much as Wall St.Bonuses: Analysis

So, where’s our $42 per hour? I guess it’s in the same place where our $600 went when we were promised $2,000 COVID relief checks when Biden took office, but we only received $1,400, right?

What’s a working stiff in the US to do? We can’t even afford to rent an apartment anywhere in the fifty states working full-time hours (if you can get them) at $7.25 an hour. There have been talks and protests centered around raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, but can anyone even afford to rent a decent place to live on that amount? It’s doubtful. Not even a $25 minimum wage can help a family rent a home in many cities.

American workers do have one powerful option, but it’s rarely been discussed since Reagan took office. We have the ability to strike—if we’re not forbidden to do so by federal law, such as the case with railroad workers or air traffic controllers, that is. But so many Americans have been brainwashed into thinking that a strike will cost them their job and their health insurance, so they simply won’t consider it.

Are Americans cowards? Not necessarily. I’d say we’re realists. We know we have no safety nets like workers in other countries who are blessed with universal health care and universal basic income or "UBI" payments. With no way to provide for our families without our lousy paying jobs, we’d best stay put and put up with the harsh treatment of the bosses.

But are strikes really all that risky for workers? Where did we get this idea that we the working class are essentially powerless and only billionaires can get what they want? Consider this:

The Teamsters Union and UPS have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract to cover the 340,000 Teamsters who work for the package shipping giant.

According to a statement released by the union, the new contract is “the most historic tentative agreement for workers in the history of UPS,” promising wage increases, an end to the two-tier wage system, new air conditioning in vehicles, Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a full company holiday, and more.

In the days and weeks to come, members will debate the pros and cons of the proposal as thousands of UPS Teamsters vote on whether to ratify the contract. But one thing seems undeniable: Any significant gains won by Teamsters against a reluctant employer will have come about because rank-and-file workers showed the company that they were prepared to strike.

UPS Workers Disproved Corporate Media’s Narrative That Strikes AreHarmful

I put that last sentence in italics for emphasis. It bears repeating: Any significant gains won by Teamsters against a reluctant employer will have come about because rank-and-file workers showed the company that they were prepared to strike.

Rank-and-file workers actually have power? Yes, we do! Even the possibility of a strike can motivate a reluctant employer to sit down and discuss the workers’ grievances and demands. And if push comes to shove, the workers walk out and give the employers even more to worry about as the company's profits take a hit and its reputation as being a fair and honest employer is thrown into the dumpster.

Fourteen years of a stagnant federal minimum wage (with no maximum wage for billionaires set) and no universal health coverage for all Americans should be a wake up call even for the sleepiest of workers. Our government doesn’t work for us, the people, but for those who already have more than enough wealth and power and obviously don’t give care one bit about how many workers can’t even afford to rent an apartment or put food on the table for their families. Our government doesn’t care if we or our loved ones get sick, and we have no way to afford medical care other than to beg strangers for donations via GoFundMe.

Face it, America. It’s time to lose the blind loyalty to both your employers and to our government. They don’t have our best interests at heart. And we have the power to make them see things our way—strike! 

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

UPS Workers Disproved Corporate Media’s Narrative That Strikes Are Harmful https://truthout.org/articles/ups-workers-disproved-corporate-medias-narrative-that-strikes-are-harmful/

UPS & Teamsters Reach Tentative Deal, Averting Strike https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/28/ups-teamsters-reach-tentative-deal-averting-strike/

 

“We have to show them we’re not going to retreat, we’re not going to concede”: Southern California warehouse worker speaks out against UPS contract https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/28/upsi-j28.html

The UPS Strike Looms As Corporate America Cashes In
https://popularresistance.org/the-ups-strike-looms-as-corporate-america-cashes-in/

Record Wages Should Be Received If Record Profits Are Being Generated https://popularresistance.org/record-wages-should-be-received-if-record-profits-are-being-generated/

US Minimum Wage Would Be $42 Today If It Rose as Much as Wall St. Bonuses: Analysis  https://www.commondreams.org/news/minimum-wage-wall-street-bonuses

‘An Abomination’: Today Marks 14 Years Since the Last Federal Minimum Wage Increase https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/25/an-abomination-today-marks-14-years-since-the-last-federal-minimum-wage-increase/

Michigan Amazon Workers Stage Largest Delivery Station Strike Yet  https://labornotes.org/2023/07/michigan-amazon-workers-stage-largest-delivery-station-strike-yet

Canadian and US autoworkers must fight together in upcoming contract battle https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/27/kxes-j27.html

 

Ignoring Warnings of Mass Job Loss, Fed Hikes Rates to Highest Level in Decades https://www.commondreams.org/news/fed-rate-hike-july-2023 

 

Americans With Health Insurance Are Increasingly Putting Off Important Medical Treatments They Can’t Afford
https://capitalandmain.com/americans-with-health-insurance-are-increasingly-putting-off-important-medical-treatments-they-cant-afford

Chris Hedges: The Forgotten Victims of America’s Class War https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/30/chris-hedges-the-forgotten-victims-of-americas-class-war/

The Yellow Corp. bankruptcy: A brutal attack on the working class
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/31/rntl-j31.html

A Vital Atlantic Ocean System Could Collapse Sooner Than Previously Thought
https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/31/a-vital-atlantic-ocean-system-could-collapse-sooner-than-previously-thought/

A video tribute to Daniel Ellsberg
www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/watch-my-video-tribute-to-daniel
 

 

Patrick Lawrence: No, The Truth About Biden Is Not Democratic

https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/27/patrick-lawrence-no-the-truth-about-biden-is-not-democratic/ 

 

The Russiagate psyop was about trying to prevent the rise of BRICS, and it’s failed to do this https://rainershea.substack.com/p/the-russiagate-psyop-was-about-trying

Zelensky: The Selling of a President https://open.substack.com/pub/joebrunoli/p/zelensky-the-selling-of-a-president

Why Capitalism Is Leaving the US in Search of Profit
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/07/21/why-capitalism-is-leaving-the-us-in-search-of-profit/

The Star-Spangled Kangaroo https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-star-spangled-kangaroo

Dr Jill Stein & Kshama Sawant Join RBN | Building Power Outside The Democrat and Republican Parties
https://www.youtube.com/live/C4_IAQHrfHU

US post-9/11 wars caused 4.5 million deaths, displaced 38-60 million people, study shows  https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/18/us-911-wars-million-deaths-displace/ 

 

Largest School District In Texas Eliminates Libraries https://popularresistance.org/largest-school-district-in-texas-eliminates-libraries/ 

 

Five Myths In The House Anti-Trans Hearing Against Gender Affirming Care https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/30/five-myths-in-the-house-anti-trans-hearing-against-gender-affirming-care/ 

 

RBN's Labor Organizing Summit Part 2 Livestream -- featuring Kshama Sawant. I sat on a panel with other Green Party members and former presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein. (It starts at approx. 3:02 and the video should start there.) Hear what I and other Greens have to say about the labor situation in the US currently. (The answer to many of our troubles is to "Go West!")

https://www.youtube.com/live/1-4DD-KwXY8

 

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

How can you get your e-copy? The easiest way is to subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack as a paying subscriber. Choose what level you'd like to subscribe at via the buttons on any post online at: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

If you'd like to help out in the meantime, buy me a coffee!  https://ko-fi.com/therevolutioncontinues

More details to come. Power to the people! 

Eat The Rich, Feed The Poor (And Other Revolutionary Recipes)

 

"When the people shall have no more to eat, they will eat the rich." —Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1793

Eat The Rich, Feed The Poor (And Other Revolutionary Recipes)

by Redd Phlagg

So many depressing headlines hit my inbox this past week that they not only made my head spin, they made my entire worldview spin. It became ever more apparent to me that we can no longer afford to wait for the bought-off ruling establishment to take action to save our planet and its peoples. It's time. We the Workers, the little people, the 99% must get off our backsides and grab the reigns of our runaway climate catastrophe and social collapse before it's too late.

Americans need to feed our poor, tax our rich, and make certain that the narcissistic behavior that got us in these desperate straits in the first place doesn't ever return. We need to stop allowing ourselves to become distracted by the silly antics of the duopolists in DC who do only as they're told by their corporate masters. And we need to start yesterday.

A recent study found that 338,000 Americans died due to COVID-19 because our government couldn't take steps to implement Medicare For All or a similar universal single-payer system to provide them needed health care. That's one in every three of the one million plus Americans who contracted and died from the coronavirus and its variants. That's roughly the population of many medium-sized US metropolitan areas, including the one where I live, all gone. Needlessly.

COVID-19 has caused a million and counting deaths in the US. Since these deaths are spread across the country, you might not have noticed so many missing persons yourself but future generations most definitely will. American children will ask what happened to their parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, teachers, friends, babysitters, and even siblings as they grow up. What will we tell them?

Out of the one million plus Americans who have died since 2020 because of the pandemic, what percentage of them could have been saved? If the public's health and safety were the main priority of the ruling establishment rather than making profits for shareholders in the health insurance industry, Big Pharma, and the like how many could have lived? I feel that almost every American who caught COVID could have been saved if they could have received immediate treatment, free of charge, and weren't forced into situations that put their health at risk. There was no scientific reason to stop the lockdowns and force workers back out into low-paying service industry jobs (such as restaurant workers and hotel maids) so soon. In doing so, the politician-puppets of the oligarchy also forced these struggling workers' children back into daycares and public schools where the virus is extremely transmissible and proven deadly for teachers and students alike.

Universal Basic Income (UBI) could have been given to all American families to stay home and stay safe with their children until the virus died out. In countries that implemented such policies, the spread of COVID and its variants was much less, and their death tolls practically non-existent. Putting people over profits means that people win at least another day to live.

But, once again, the establishment duopoly sat on their backsides in Washington DC and moaned about how keeping people safe at home was hurting "the economy." They said this with a straight face while spending billions on the most bloated military budget ever passed in the history of humankind. They continued saying this while starting a proxy war to flush even more money down the drain so they could get rid of a natural gas competitor in Europe (i.e., Russia). No matter what label they give themselves--Republican, Democrat, "The Squad", Bernie Sanders even--these politician-puppets demonstrate by their actions that the profits of the military-industrial complex are infinitely more important than the lives of the vast majority of Americans.

Insult upon insult is dumped upon the poor and working classes' shoulders. We're forced to suffer the consequences of the duopolists' bad decisions to take on a fellow nuclear-power with oil reserves and resources the Western powers envy. We're paying for it every day at the gasoline pump, grocery store, and pharmacy. But to "red and blue" alike it's okay if the working classes grow poorer trying to survive because… well, "democracy" is at stake. Democracy in an already corrupt corner of the world ruled by fascists who took over in a coup in 2014 with the help of our CIA? What larks!

Why do We The People, the working classes continue putting up with this disgusting behavior? Why are these millionaire-idiots still in office wearing smug smiles on their faces? Could it be they've militarized our local police departments to such an extent that they know they can keep us poor folks in our place if we rise up?

I realize now that not every American realizes who is putting them through each and every fresh hell because our freedom of the press has been seriously curtailed. Revealing the dirty secrets of American war crimes put one Australian journalist, Julian Assange, into jail with a threatened 170 year sentence for treason. Yes, it's treasonous to publish news stories that reveal American politicians and officials for the war criminals they are. And if the war criminals in DC can slap an insane charge of treason on a journalist doing his job, you can imagine the charges they've cooked up to slap on us if we dare take our pitchforks to the streets in protest.

 When the French rose up at the end of the 18th century to protest numerous injustices inflicted upon them, they didn't let the fear of the militarized police stop them from punishing the aristocracy who had created the hell they were living in. Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake!" while the French people couldn't even afford to buy a loaf of bread. (Sound familiar?) The commoners responded with the right idea--they built the guillotine and deployed it. Yes, it's bloody and violent, but the detached head of a obscenely wealthy sociopath made their point quite well, don't you think?

Should struggling Americans do likewise? The guillotine dispatched quite a few members of the French establishment along with Marie Antoinette, but it saved many more who saw it as a symbol of how the workers wouldn't take any more shit from those who thought themselves "superior" to the working classes. These smart aristocrats buckled down and cooperated with the common folks, and France was changed. So the guillotine doesn't have to be used indiscriminately and widely to make its point. Just the thought that the abused people have no problems getting rid of their abusers can bring about change.

It's time for Americans to let the money-grubbing, duopolistic puppet-politicians know that our patience is wearing thin. It's time to stop wasting time arguing over "the lesser evil" and being distracted by their idle rich antics that have nothing to do with us and our lives. Whatever symbol We The People choose--the guillotine, the pitchfork, tar and feathers (our founders' favorite means of singling out sociopaths)--we need to post it everywhere. We need to post it along with the message that we are not inferior to those who hoard wealth and play God with our health and safety--and the health and safety of the planet and everyone else on it.

We The People, the workers, the commoners, the 99% are, in fact, their bosses. They need to do what we say or else. And we let them know in no uncertain terms they're going to be a head shorter if they don't.

Related Articles:

UN Food Chief Says Hell on Earth Looms From Hunger Crisis Triggered By Ukraine War  https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/18/un-food-chief-says-hell-on-earth-looms-from-hunger-crisis-triggered-by-ukraine-war/

"A Chilling Message to Journalists": UK Approves Assange Extradition to US https://truthout.org/articles/a-chilling-message-to-journalists-uk-approves-assange-extradition-to-us/

Medicare For All Could Have Prevented 338,000 Deaths in the US https://truthout.org/articles/medicare-for-all-could-have-prevented-338000-covid-deaths-in-the-us/

100 Million People In America Are Saddled With Health Care Debt https://popularresistance.org/100-million-people-in-america-are-saddled-with-health-care-debt/

"No Place For A Child" (The horrors child immigrants experience when they cross the southern border.) https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/18/no-place-for-a-child/

  "Revolting": Senate Panel Raises Biden's Bloated Military Budget By 45 Billion https://truthout.org/articles/revolting-senate-panel-raises-bidens-bloated-military-budget-by-45-billion/

US Secretly Reviews and Approves Israeli Airstrikes in Syria https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/17/report-us-secretly-reviews-and-approves-many-israeli-airstrikes-in-syria 

Chris Hedges: American Empire Is Finished (video) https://youtu.be/OW52qqlQiJQ 

The State of Politics From An Anti-Establishment Perspective (Direct Left Callin podcast) https://www.callin.com/episode/the-state-of-politics-from-an-anti-gQcWTfYQHQ

The Smear Campaign Against Independent Journalism (video) https://youtu.be/nkoIfWt4Z2k

New Global Movement Against Capitalism For Socialism https://popularresistance.org/international-peoples-assembly-new-global-movement-against-capitalism-for-socialism/

Seen on Twitter:

Trump didn't save shit. Biden isn't going to save shit. Wake up already.

— Brutal Regime Apocalyptic Dreams (@brutal_regime) June 18, 2022

Capitalism's instability hits us. Over centuries, crashes and inflations follow each other. No reforms, monetary or fiscal policies ever ended them. System change: now we need it more than ever.

— Richard D. Wolff (@profwolff) June 18, 2022

Some of the most dangerous and corrupt organizations in the world, like the DOD, the CDC, the IMF, the World Bank, the CIA and the FBI are hailed as pillars of safety and justice.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

— Just.A.Thought 💭 (@e_galv) June 18, 2022

Governments will do anything to preserve themselves in power.

— Just a communist who lives in Outer Space (@LizzieCosmos) June 18, 2022

We're cutting school lunches while expanding the military budget.

Make it make sense. https://t.co/VrKNEhBW2e

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) June 18, 2022

This is the United States without any embargoes or sanctions. pic.twitter.com/7PaBEM9fQK

— 🅹🅾️🅴🆈աrecκ ☭ (@joeywreck) June 16, 2022

Poverty wages are violence.

— Communist Special Agent Dana Scully (@CommunistScully) June 19, 2022

*** 

In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...

Zonta’s world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist fighters) take action?

Available now from Extasy Books: https://www.extasybooks.com/Where-the-Bodies-Lie 

Please buy direct from the small publisher and not via Amazon. Why? Amazon takes a huge percentage of the book's price and leaves very little for the publisher and author to share. Thanks.

 

The Eleventh Reagan Administration

 The Eleventh Reagan Administration

by C.A. Matthews

My predictive skills are uncanny when it comes to what politicians will do next. Sometimes I even amaze myself. I'm almost never surprised by what they say or do. What's my secret?

It's simple. I read a lot, and I make note of a politician's past behaviors and stands on issues. Nine times out of ten, they'll do the same in a similar situation. The tenth time? Well, they may do something a little bit different, but rarely will they do anything that's the complete opposite of what they did before.

For instance, I could tell you that Joe Biden wasn't going to do a darn thing to help immigrants get out of for-profit detention centers or listen to the cries of Black Lives Matter activists or work to defund the police. How did I know all this for a fact? 

Think about it. Do you recall the bill that Biden had a hand in passing through Congress that he likes to brag about the most? If you said the "Biden Crime Law" of 1994  then you're right. He loves locking up people, particularly poor people of color. And his vocal anti-desegregation stance in the 1970s where Biden said he didn't want his children going to integrated schools demonstrates he isn't interested in doing anything to improve the lives of African-Americans.

Will Biden ever expand Medicare to all Americans regardless of age or financial status? Will he ever consider a Universal Basic Income (UBI)?  Will he give students a break and grant them student loan forgiveness? (He said he'd give $10,000 in loan forgiveness during his campaign). In 1995, Biden sought to cut Social Security. In 2005, he fought to deny bankruptcy for student loan defaults. What do you think? Yeah, I don't think he's too worried about the poor, those without private health insurance, or debt-laden ex-students.

Can you see why I'm never surprised by Biden now? In fact, nothing about the last eleven presidential administrations has been particularly surprising to me. By looking at the behaviors of the past six neoliberals to sit in the Oval Office, one can safely predict what will happen more or less in Biden's term. We can expect more tax breaks for billionaires. More banks will be bailed out. More wars will be started to distract the voters away from how miserable their current hardscrabble existence is. More legislation will be passed that is against the workers, against unions, against the poor and downtrodden.

The strongest thread that winds throughout the actions of Presidents Reagan through Biden is their enthusiastic support of the status quo, the oligarchy, the billionaires. Every move they make (or don't make) keeps the money flowing upwards into the coffers of the billionaires. It never "trickles down." Regulations are relaxed or eliminated altogether that cut into corporate profits.  These presidents have each exited  high office with much more money in their bank accounts than they had before they entered .

There's no mistake. A president only makes $ 400,000 a year, and yet Obama bought a mansion worth $11.75 million on Martha's Vineyard immediately upon leaving Washington. It's pretty obvious that doing as you're told by your rich donors while in the White House pays well. 

I know what's bothering some of you. You're thinking: Why do you say these presidents are all like Reagan when some of them are Democrats? How can you say they're more alike than they are different when they have different party memberships?  

To find my answer to these questions, read the opening paragraphs of this article again. I'm "color blind" in the fact that I don't care what party or political faction an elected politician claims to belong to. I simply observe their behavior and make note of it and then compare their actions with other recent presidents. From what I've observed, political party affiliation makes little difference in how a politician may act.

Don't believe me? Two names prove my point: Manchin and Sinema.

Are either of these  senators "Democrats" if they thwart every bill their party attempts to pass? How does their supposed party alliance affect their behaviors? It doesn't. They're following orders from the oligarchs to maintain the status quo.

Note what Biden does in the coming months and then do some reading about the past "Reagans" and make note of their actions. Contrast and compare. Can you make some predictions of what Biden will do next? 

The duopoly of the United States of America makes things both easier and harder to understand when it comes to our presidents' behaviors. It's easy because our two so-called "major" political parties are basically one and the same. They both work hard to increase and protect the wealth of the 1%, the Wall Street mavens, and the Military-Industrial Complex. 

It's harder to understand because by allowing the banksters, billionaires, and warmongers to run our country, we're endangering the entire world. We are forever being drawn into military conflicts and potentially nuclear warfare. The US military is the single most polluting agency on the planet. The rising temperatures, rising ocean levels and melting tundra, releasing methane into the atmosphere further warming the planet, will eventually cause mass extinctions and destroy all life.

Why would any sane human being risk nuclear war and exacerbate the climate emergency? I find it impossible to understand. Profits alone can't explain an entire civilization's suicide, can it? 

We must extract ourselves out of this infernal Möbius loop before it's too late for the planet and humankind. We can't survive another Reagan administration.

Related articles:

https://www.dailyposter.com/biden-reversal-gives-wall-street-a-big-win/  

https://www.directleft.com/p/joe-biden-praises-mitch-mcconnell

https://truthout.org/articles/both-gop-and-democratic-party-want-us-to-surrender-to-covid-for-capitalism/

https://popularresistance.org/on-the-biden-plantation/

https://www.thoughtco.com/presidential-salaries-through-the-years-3368133

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_Enforcement_Act 

https://scheerpost.com/2021/09/15/biden-listen-to-the-radicals-or-risk-failure/

 Should Biden by primaried by the left? https://youtu.be/v2pCCuw8I4c

***

The hospital industry wants you to believe that Covid-19 is the reason for the so-called ‘nursing shortage.' But health care workers who've been fighting for safe staffing for decades know the real reason: Unfettered greed. 

The New York Times just released a powerful video that shares the stories of nurses on the frontlines and the grave consequences of hospitals placing profits before people.

Will you support us in our fight for safe staffing by sharing this video with your family and friends?

Share on Facebook »

Share on Twitter »

The hospital industry has been neglecting nurses and deliberately short-staffing hospitals for years. Now, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed these practices and the nurse staffing crisis they have created. As registered nurses face increasingly unsafe working conditions, moral distress, and injury, many are leaving the bedside. 

There is still time to reverse this crisis and ensure nurses have the protections and dignity they deserve. We are calling on Congress and the Biden administration to adopt federal policies that value the vital work of direct patient care RNs and that ensure employers meet their legal obligations to provide safe and healthy workplaces.

We need your help to inform as many people as possible about this serious issue. Will you share this powerful video and join us in the fight for safe staffing?

Share on Facebook »

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Even if you’re not a nurse or other frontline health care worker, you can still play a vital role in helping spread awareness of this serious issue.

Thank you for standing with us,

Michelle Mahon, RN
Assistant Director of Nursing Practice
National Nurses United

 ***

Last week marked one year since Joe Biden was sworn in to become the 46th president of the United States.    After four years of devastating policies under Trump, Joe Biden and his administration faced the extremely difficult task of building a fair, functional, and humane immigration system.    In the year since, the Biden Administration has made progress on implementing immigration policies that have extended protection to communities that need them the most, but much remains undone.   Some of the notable actions President Biden carried out early included a series of executive orders to end the Muslim and African bans, fully reinstate DACA and end the construction of Trump's wasteful and offensive border wall. He also ended the “Public Charge'' rule that served as a wealth test used by the previous administration to punish immigrants, and created a task force to reunite children with their parents that were separated under the Trump Administration.    However, on bigger items such as providing a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, restoring the asylum system, creating new paths for legal immigration, and fully protecting Dreamers, TPS holders, and other essential workers, the President has failed to live up to his promises.    Our new report recaps the Biden Administration’s first year and looks to the future with an in-depth examination at what still needs to be done.   Read the report>>>   The report covers topics such as DACA, TPS, COVID-19, the Remain in Mexico (MPP) policy, Title 42, the disproportionately inhumane treatment of Black migrants, legislation, right wing and GOP developments, and more.

So as we enter the second year of the Biden Administration, the task on immigration is clear: the President and his team need to do more. Our report carefully outlines what has been done and what policies still need to be implemented. 

The Biden Administration needs to review the unfulfilled promises and rethink its strategy on how to deliver. Effort is no longer enough as immigrants need real results. 

Read our report here>>

Immigrants dedicate their lives to our country in many ways. Nothing has shown that more than the COVID-19 pandemic as essential workers continue to show up every single day to keep our country going during these turbulent times. Additionally, many immigrant communities were key organizers in Joe Biden’s campaign. 

It is time to find a way to deliver. 

Support our work to hold the Biden Administration accountable for the promises they made on immigration and ensure they build a fair and humane immigration system by donating to our organization today. 

Click here to donate>> 

In solidarity, 

Juana

 

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Three years ago Trump & co began the horrific and racist Remain in Mexico program. Since then it’s forced 67,000 vulnerable children and families to wait in constant peril in danger. 

There was never supposed to be a three-year anniversary of Remain in Mexico.

One person has a critical role in ending it. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has a track record of leading with compassion, implementing DACA, and even receiving an award from immigrant groups for his work on refugee rights. On the anniversary of this horrific policy's beginning, let’s call on him to live up to this legacy:

Can you add your name to help end the racist Remain in Mexico program today on the anniversary of this cruelty?

take action

As a child of refugees himself, Secretary Mayorkas benefited from having a functional process to accessing safety in the U.S. Right now, Mayorkas has the opportunity to provide the same for thousands of other families and show that we are still a country where children and families can find the refuge they deserve.

Secretary Mayorkas has the opportunity to make a clear statement that families seeking safety deserve better. On the anniversary of the start of the Remain in Mexico policy, we must demand Secretary Mayorkas fulfill the promises made to families just like his: