2021-02-12: News Headlines

yenisafak (2021-02-12). EU recovery package signed amid pandemic crisis. yenisafak.com The European Union's €672.5 billion ($814 billion) recovery package was signed on Friday.The largest stimulus package in the bloc's history aims at relaunching the European economy after the COVID-19 crisis by channeling EU funds to preserve jobs, to maintain social security systems and to invest in health care.The act was signed by Portuguese premier Antonio Costa on behalf of the EU member countries, as the chair of rotating presidency of the Council of European Union, and European Parliament President David Sassoli.The recovery package is "vaccine to save lives, vitamin to boost the economy"

RT (2021-02-12). People looking forward to stimulus checks 'already screwed,' financial guru Dave Ramsey tells Fox, kicking up storm online. rt.com Radio host and financial pundit Dave Ramsey set off a bout of controversy after arguing that those relying on stimulus checks amid the Covid-19 pandemic were "already screwed" and may suffer from mental issues. | "I don't believe in a stimulus check," Ramsey told Fox News' Bill Hemmer during a Thursday interview when asked how much the government should devote to relief payments, comparing the checks to "peeing on a forest fire." | Because if $600 or $1,400 changes your life, you were pretty much screwed already. You've got other issues going on. You have a career problem, you have a debt problem, you have a r…

Staff (2021-02-12). Ralph Nader: Biden Must Hold Boeing Accountable for Deaths Due to Faulty Planes. truthout.org Legendary consumer advocate Ralph Nader says the U.S. is experiencing a "corporate crime wave," and that the Trump administration's $2.5 billion settlement with Boeing over the manufacturer's faulty 737 MAX jets amounts to a "slap on the wrist." Boeing's faulty planes were involved in two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, including Nader's 24-year-old grandniece Samya Stumo. Nader says the Biden Justice Department should reopen the previous administration's settlement and…

Staff (2021-02-12). Ralph Nader on Corporate Crime, Holding Boeing Accountable for 737 MAX Deaths & Biden's First Weeks. democracynow.org Legendary consumer advocate Ralph Nader says the U.S. is experiencing a "corporate crime wave," and that the Trump administration's $2.5 billion settlement with Boeing over the manufacturer's faulty 737 MAX jets amounts to a "slap on the wrist." Boeing's faulty planes were involved in two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, including Nader's 24-year-old grandniece Samya Stumo. Nader says the Biden Justice Department should reopen the previous administration's settlement and hold Boeing fully accountable. "This is just another example of giant companies getting away with their corporate criminal…

Staff (2021-02-12). Where Are the Witnesses? Ralph Nader Says Democrats' Impeachment Case Is "Prescription for Defeat" democracynow.org As the historic Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump continues, we speak with longtime consumer advocate, corporate critic and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who says Democrats have set themselves up for defeat by rushing proceedings and failing to call witnesses — including Trump himself. "The narrow approach of the articles of impeachment keep the Democrats from having a full hand," says Nader. "They have like 10 arrows in their quiver and they're using one or two."

_____ (2021-02-11). Every New Yorker Has A Right To A Roof. popularresistance.org Well before the beginning of the pandemic that has turned life upside down, New Yorkers already faced a devastating affordable housing and homelessness crisis. Even without the dramatic wave of unemployment brought about by a global pandemic, low-income tenants and homeless people across the city faced a grave lack of truly affordable housing and the absence of an effective citywide plan to fix it. Now, of course, the crisis has deepened, with tenants who have long lived paycheck to paycheck unable to scrape together even a modest living to pay their rent, and the danger of living on the street or in a congregate…

WSWS (2021-02-11). Fed data reveals impact of pandemic on lower-paid US workers. wsws.org In a speech Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the real level of unemployment in the US was around 10 percent and the loss of jobs for the bottom quarter of workers was a "staggering" 17 percent.

Thomas Pulliam (2021-02-11). Democracy Not Feudalism: A Left-Libertarian Critique of the Libertarian Right Part 2. realprogressives.org Libertarianism is the championing of liberty. We can't have liberty with economic and political organization where the majority of the wealth generated is extracted by uninvolved, unproductive rich people who are powerful just because they exist. There's no freedom if people have zero say in the decisions which will affect their entire livelihood. That goes for all government. Today, nobody bats an eye when we have appointed politicians with no consent from the public, without even mandatory public referendum. Unless the economy is designed so all those involved have an equal say to the same degree they are af…

RT (2021-02-11). US unemployment remains sky-high as cuts to benefits loom. rt.com US unemployment numbers remain perilously high following the inauguration of President Biden, who has promised to "shut down" Covid-19 without shutting down the economy even as jobless benefits for millions are poised to expire. | Unemployment totals have dropped slightly, to 793,000, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, acknowledging that the drop from last week's total of 812,000 doesn't necessarily represent an improvement in the country's economic situation. | Instead, the unemployment rate's decline to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent represents the fact that many who lost their jobs earlier in the pand…

Staff (2021-02-11). New Lancet Report: 40 Percent of US COVID Deaths Could Have Been Avoided. truthout.org If the United States had death rates on par with other wealthy nations such as Canada and Japan, there would have been 40 percent fewer deaths attributed to COVID-19 last year. In 2018 alone, an estimated 461,000 fewer people would have died if the U.S. was as healthy as France or Germany. | The failure to contain COVID in the U.S. confirmed that our approach to health care and public health is broken, and former President Donald Trump made a bad situation worse. That's the message from a multidis…

Mustafa Abu Sneineh (2021-02-11). Sale of 'anti-Arab' Israeli football club Beitar Jerusalem to UAE royal frozen. middleeasteye.net Sale of 'anti-Arab' Israeli football club Beitar Jerusalem to UAE royal frozen | Future of $92m deal up in the air after questions raised over Hamad bin Khalifa's true wealth | Thu, 02/11/2021 – 16: 08 | Moshe Hogeg, Beitar Jerusalem's CEO, standing between Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nayhan, and his son Mohammed, after signing the sale deal in Dubai in December (Twitter) | Israel's Foot…

sputniknews (2021-02-11). Andrew Yang Pledges to Make NYC 'Hub for BTC', Other Cryptocurrencies if Elected Mayor. sputniknews.com Andrew Yang, who is now seeking to become the New York City mayor, earlier took part in the Democratic primaries for the US presidency, but dropped out in February 2020 and endorsed Joe Biden one month later.

WSWS (2021-02-10). Johnson government's homicidal drive to reopen UK schools justified by feigned concern for children's welfare. wsws.org The Johnson government's professed concern for children's education and welfare is belied by decades of cuts to children's services and rising child poverty.

The Canary (2021-02-10). Boris Johnson warned he risks leaving children 'languishing in poverty'. thecanary.co Ian Blackford MP urged the prime minister to tackle child poverty by making the £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit during the Covid-19 pandemic permanent. The Scottish National Party (SNP) Westminster leader told Boris Johnson he risks leaving "a generation of children languishing in poverty" if he proceeds with plans to cut Universal Credit. | Raising the issue at Prime Ministers Questions (PMQs), Blackford said that Johnson has the powers to address poverty in the country. | "Truly shocking": | He told the Commons: New research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the baby bank charity, Littl…

WSWS (2021-02-10). Summers op-ed sparks controversy over Biden stimulus package. wsws.org The former treasury secretary warned that stimulus measures could set off the kind of inflation not seen for a generation, with serious consequences for the US dollar and the stability of the financial system.

Prof Rodrigue Tremblay (2021-02-10). The Relationship Between Income and Wealth Disparities and Negative Real Interest Rates. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | "The powers of financial capitalism had another far reaching aim, nothing …

Chuck Collins (2021-02-10). The Drive for a Wealth Tax in Washington State. counterpunch.org Legislators in Washington state are taking bold steps towards instituting a state-level wealth tax. The proposed tax is a 1 percent levy on wealth over $1 billion, applying to fewer than 100 households in the state. According to the state's Department of Revenue, the tax would raise an estimated $2.25 billion in 2023 and $2.5