2020-02-28: News Headlines

Amanda Mills (2020-02-28). New poll shows two-thirds of voters support a wealth tax to fight inequality. nationofchange.org "There is growing concern about the influence large corporations and wealthy individuals have on American elections."

Eds. (2020-02-28). Digital Workerism: Technology, platforms, and the circulation of workers' struggles. mronline.org The so-called platform economy—the distribution of, and access to work through websites and apps—continues to grab headlines and the imagination of policy makers, researchers, and journalists the world over. Much attention is given to its rapid expansion, its potential for further growth, and the large amounts of wealth generated through it. |

teleSUR (2020-02-27). DR: Medina Offers Triumphalist Speech to Downplay Protests. telesurenglish.net The Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina addressed the Dominican people on Wednesday with a speech praising his administration, while thousands of people took to the streets to brand him as corrupt and demand a solution to the political crisis the Caribbean country is going through. | RELATED: | The economic development that the Dominican Republic has experienced in recent years and the efforts to reduce inequality in the country were the main issues t…

Mark Gruenberg (2020-02-27). Sanders joins Rev. Barber at New Poor People's Campaign. peoplesworld.org GOLDSBORO, N.C.—"Until people stand up and say" that rampant poverty and income inequality in the U.S. "is wrong, we won't have fundamental change" here, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind.-Vt., told the New Poor People's Campaign. In a q-and-a with the co-chair of the nationwide drive, the Rev. William Barber II, and campaign members and parishioners in …

WSWS (2020-02-27). New Zealand: Pseudo-left ISO promotes illusions in right-wing Labour-led government. wsws.org Despite two-and-a-half years of worsening social inequality, stronger police-state measures, and deepening ties with US imperialism, the pseudo-left ISO claims that the Labour Party-led government can change course and "help the working class."

teleSUR (2020-02-27). Most US Citizens Support Wealth Tax to Combat Inequality. telesurenglish.net Just over two-thirds of United States voters favor a tax on the wealthiest households, which translates in increasing support for a wealth tax to combat persistent inequality, according to a new survey by TheHill/HarrisX. | RELATED: | A vast majority of the surveyed public (66 percent), including majorities of Democrats and Independents, said there should be a wealth tax on billionaires as Democratic front-runner Bernie Sander…

Sarah Anderson, Brian Wakamo (2020-02-27). To Reduce Inequality in the Election Process, All States Should Allow Voting At Home. commondreams.org The upcoming Super Tuesday primaries will include two states — Colorado and Utah — that have shifted completely to vote at home systems, as well as California, which has allowed counties to run all-mail elections for years and is transitioning into a fully vote at home system in the next few years. (Photo: Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/gettyimages-1058324762voting-line.jpg

Staff (2020-02-27). How Can the US Confront Coronavirus With 28 Million People Uninsured? truthout.org As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, we don't yet know either the full scale of the unfolding global health disaster or the cumulative impact economically. But over the past week, as virus hotspots have emerged in South Korea, in Iran, in Italy and elsewhere, and as more and more countries find cases of the disease, we're beginning to get a sense of the magnitude of what is unfolding. | China has spent two months trying to contain an outbreak. As an authoritarian country it hasn't…

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-02-27). 'Rich People Have Profited Enough': New Poll Shows Two-Thirds of Americans Support Wealth Tax to Combat Inequality. commondreams.org Support for a wealth tax to combat persistent inequality in the U.S. is growing, according to a new poll released Wednesday by TheHill/HarrisX. The survey found that just over two-thirds of Americans favor a tax on the wealthiest households, including majorities of Democrats and Independents. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/screen_shot_2017-10-11_at_2.17.03_pm_0.png

Staff (2020-02-26). "The Billionaire Election": Anand Giridharadas on How 2020 Is a Referendum on Wealth Inequality. democracynow.org The 10th Democratic presidential debate took place Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina, and two billionaires were at either end of the stage: Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer. Front-runner Bernie Sanders, who has made attacking the power of the "billionaire class" a central theme of his campaign, stood in the middle. It was a visual representation of the split within the Democratic Party, in which a growing number of people are "rising up against plutocracy," says Anand Giridharadas, editor-at-large at Time magazine and author of "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World." His recent piece for…

Staff (2020-02-26). The 2020 Election Is a Referendum on Wealth Inequality. truthout.org The 10th Democratic presidential debate took place Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina, and two billionaires were at either end of the stage: Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer. Front-runner Bernie Sanders, who has made attacking the power of the "billionaire class" a central theme of his campaign, stood in the middle. It was a visual representation of the split within the Democratic Party, in which a growing number of people are "rising up against plutocracy," says Anand Giridharadas, editor-at-large at Time magazin…

Matthew J. L. Ehret (2020-02-26). Philippine Patriots Say "No" to WWIII and "Yes" to the New Silk Road. dissidentvoice.org The Philippines President Duterte's recent announcement that the 1998 U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) would be cancelled has renewed hope that not only would this former U.S. colony finally attain freedom from imperial manipulation, but also that a new emerging age of infrastructure development can usher in an end of poverty and war in the …

teleSUR (2020-02-26). Macri's Created Poverty Is the Highest of the Decade: Report. telesurenglish.net Multidimensional poverty in Argentina rose by 10 points in the last four years, from 27.2 percent of the population in 2015 to 37.5 percent in the third quarter of 2019, affecting 15.8 million people, according to the latest report of the Social Debt Observatory of the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA). | RELATED: | The report presented by the UCA analyzes the evolution of the material living conditions of the…

George Ochenski (2020-02-26). Why We Shouldn't Run Government Like a Business. counterpunch.org It's been popular in recent years for certain wealthy capitalists to claim they will "run government like a business" when they seek political office. While that may sound good to some, neither the state nor national Constitution ever suggests that governance and business are or should be the same — just the opposite, in fact. The

Ed Sykes (2020-02-25). Austerity is fuelling a 'national scandal' of rising inequality between rich and poor areas. thecanary.co A health inequality expert has put together a damning report showing how Tory-led austerity has fuelled a 'national scandal' in England.According to professor Sir Michael Marmot, the rise in life expectancy has "slowed dramatically" since 2010. Health inequalities between the most and least deprived parts of the country, meanwhile, have been widening."England has lost a decade": The new report, Health Equity In England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On, showed that the difference in life expectancy at birth between the least and most deprived communities was 9.5 years for men and 7.7 years for women in 2016-1…

Staff (2020-02-20). Bloomberg Takes Debate Stage for First Time & Struggles to Face His History of Misogyny, Racism. democracynow.org Tensions flared at the ninth Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Senator Bernie Sanders sought to defend his position as front-runner in the Democrats' nomination fight, and former Vice President Joe Biden, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar tried to attract more supporters. Senator Elizabeth Warren led a night full of attacks on the new person on stage: billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg faced questions about his vast wealth, his defense of stop-and-frisk and his treatment of women. | We host a roundtable on the debate and Saturday's Nevada c…