“It staggers the imagination that in September 2022 the workers who keep the trains running did not have even one sick day to care for themselves.”
Railway Workers Fight Shows Need for Paid Sick and Family Leave, Says Economist
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Live updates: Railroad workers livid over deal brokered by Biden and unions to prevent strike
US Senator Bernie Sanders was the featured speaker at a rally held August 31 by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at London’s Congress House—headquarters of the Trades Union Congress. Billed as an event to “Save Public Transport” from Conservative government cuts, its purpose was to channel a growing wave of working class struggle behind the trade union bureaucracy and the Labour Party.
Bernie Sanders at RMT rally in London: Hawking the myth of a trade union revival
The United Kingdom’s Conservative Party has voted for Liz Truss to become its new leader, replacing Boris Johnson and making her Britain’s next prime minister. Truss served as foreign secretary under Johnson and has a record of “extreme neoliberal policies,” says British journalist George Monbiot. These include supporting tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulating the fossil fuel industry and refusing to regulate agricultural pollution. Monbiot also warns Truss will undermine the country’s model public health system and labor rights for organizing workers.
New U.K. PM Liz Truss Has “Extreme Neoliberal” Anti-Labor, Anti-Environment Record
Student loans currently aren’t even profitable for the government. A July report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that federal loans are actually projected to cost the government $197 billion, instead of bringing in what the Education Department estimated as a $114 billion profit, because of the various pauses and changes over the last couple of years.
The price of student-loan forgiveness pales in comparison to other major federal expenditures. Defense spending is projected to cost nearly $8.7 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and will cost $796 billion in 2022 alone.
That $300 billion is also a fraction of how much borrowers hold right now; America’s student loan debtors currently owe $1.7 trillion.
While Biden has not publicly confirmed his plans for broad student-loan relief, he has said himself he will make the decision before August 31, when student-loan payments are set to resume. In April, he shot down $50,000 in relief — an amount many Democratic lawmakers and advocates have been pushing for — and recent reports have suggested his final amount will be near $10,000, which he pledged on the campaign trail.
Will you get insulin-cost relief from the inflation bill? Not if you have private insurance
But an out-of-pocket cap identical to that for Medicare was stripped from the bill for those with private insurance because Democrats are trying to pass the bill by a simple majority through the reconciliation process. That requires Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to vet the provisions. She said most of the health-related features were fine, but the insulin proposal for those who have private insurance, not Medicare, violated the Byrd provision, which says that issues “extraneous to the federal budget” cannot be passed by simple majority through reconciliation.
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Out-of-pocket spending for those with Part D Medicare drug coverage will be capped at $2,000 a year.
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In 2024, a 5% coinsurance payment that now kicks in after someone reaches the catastrophic drug spending level of $7,050 in Medicare will end. Because drug companies set their own prices, 5% on expensive drugs can be a lot of money.
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Read More »Senate Passes $280 Billion Industrial Policy Bill Meant to Counter China
The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 passed in a vote of 63-33, with 17 Republicans voting in favor. The over 1,000-page legislation includes $52.7 billion for direct funding for the construction and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing and $24 billion for tax incentives and other purposes.
The bill will authorize roughly $200 billion in science and technology research funding that will be spread across several government agencies over the next five years. The largest recipient of the research funds will be the National Science Foundation, which will receive $81 billion.
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Third, the CHIPS Act actually has provisions designed specifically to restrict investments in China. These so-called “guardrails” require that companies taking federal dollars for American projects must also agree not to invest in state-of-the-art technology in China—not just with the federal dollars, with any dollars. Good-faith critics have raised fair concerns that these guardrails should be broader, tougher, and firmer. But any guardrails at all represent unprecedented restrictions on what U.S. companies can do in the People’s Republic. It’s one thing to say an ideal bill would hurt China even more; it’s quite another to try and claim that less-than-perfect restrictions count as “help.”
Pelosi’s Husband Dumped Up to $5M of Tech Stock Right Before Senate Passed CHIPS
Just before the Senate passed a major bill to subsidize computer chip manufacturers on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-California) husband sold thousands of shares of Nvidia — a tech company that could stand to gain from the passage of the nearly $80 billion bill.
Pelosi’s Husband Dumped Up to $5M of Tech Stock Right Before Senate Passed CHIPS
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Nancy Pelosi And Husband Sell NVIDIA Corp Stock After Public Pressure
“I think this comes in response to public pressure and the conflict of interest her stock position posed,” the founder of Congresstrading.com, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of his site, told Benzinga.
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“It is surprising to see the sale. Also, what’s surprising here is that she sold and reported one day later. Usually she takes a couple of weeks. She wanted the public to know she cleared her books of this conflict of interest immediately.”
Congresstrading also noted Pelosi’s filings typically come on Fridays, when the media may potentially bury the story over the weekend.
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The Nancy Pelosi Tracker on Twitter, which shares transactions by the Speaker of the House, noted the transaction history of NVIDIA Corporation by the Pelosis dates back to May 2021. According to the account, the Pelosis still own 50 options on NVIDIA Corporation with a strike price of $100 and expiration of Sep. 16, 2022 that were purchased back on July 23, 2021.
Pelosi remains one of the most active filers of stock transactions in Congress due to her husband being a venture capitalist.
WASHINGTON—Progressive plans to cut the Pentagon’s annual spending spree crashed and burned in Congress last week. Pro-labor proposals won, however by a party-line vote.
Progressive push to curb war armaments crashes; pro-labor proposals win
The obsession with climate change is hammering the poor and driving voters to the right.
The Democrats’ green war on the working class
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also reportedly asked Biden what he’s “done about Shireen Abu Akleh,” the Palestinian-American journalist killed by Israeli forces.
‘Remember Abu Ghraib,’ MBS Tells Biden When Pressed on Khashoggi
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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