The Republican record on Social Security: Getting worse all the time
Related:
Social Security at Risk? The Impact of Trump and Musk’s Reforms
Cutting Social Security Disability Benefits Can Backfire Horribly
FAIRNESS OF REAGAN’S CUTOFFS OF DISABILITY AID QUESTIONED
The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn’t Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did
Elon Musk’s DOGE Allies Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems For Fraud
The Department of Justice is shelling out more than $6 billion to private companies to manage its asset forfeiture investigations, raising alarm from one nonprofit law firm that accuses police of “treating ordinary Americans like ATMs” and seizing their cash.
DOJ eyeing Americans ‘like ATMs,’ spending over $6 billion to aid civil asset forfeitures, watchdog says
H/T: Steve Lehto
The US Federal Reserve printed $300 billion in a week to save collapsing banks and bail out Silicon Valley oligarchs. 93% of Silicon Valley Bank’s deposits were uninsured, over the FDIC limit of $250,000, but the government still paid them. 56% of SVB’s loans went to venture capitalist and private equity firms.
US government bailout of Silicon Valley and banks is $300B gift to rich oligarchs
If we do not build left-right coalitions on issues such as militarism, health care, a living wage and union organizing, we will be impotent in the face of corporate power and the war machine.
There Are No Permanent Allies, Only Permanent Power
Jeffrey Sachs Discusses The War in Ukraine, ‘Shock Therapy,’ and More
Perhaps the most stunning bit of information in the interview comes from Sachs’s disclosure of the reason for the failure of “Shock therapy” in Russia. “Shock therapy” is the name given to the abrupt transition from the Soviet-style command economy to a market-oriented economy. It was a success in Poland, but a failure in Russia where it led to a depression deeper and more costly than our own Great Depression. Why? Sachs was an advisor to Poland and then Russia for the “therapy.” So he had witnessed a “controlled experiment,” as he put it elsewhere. At a certain point it the process, financial help from the outside was needed to revive the economy on a new basis. It was provided to Poland; but when Sachs called for the same help in Russia, it was refused by the West, specifically by the White House. This happened despite Sachs’s direct pleas to the White House. The depression that followed was neither accidental nor a surprise. Far from it. This was the first time that the US attempted to “weaken” post-Cold War Russia, an attempt that was eventually reversed under Putin.
Related:
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a project by the HIID to help rebuild the Russian economy on the basis of western concepts of ethics, democracy and free markets. Jeffrey Sachs was said to have “packaged HIID as an AID consultant”. USAID were glad to accept help from Harvard, since they lacked expertise for such a project. The HIID oversaw and guided disbursement of $300 million of US aid to Russia with little oversight by USAID. HIID advisers worked closely with representatives from Russia, notably Anatoly Chubais and his associates. Once USAID accepted help from the HIID, HIID was in a position to recommend U.S. aid policies while being a recipient of that aid. It also put the HIID in a position of power overseeing some of their competitors. The project, which ran from 1992 to 1997, was headed by economist Andrei Shleifer and lawyer Jonathan Hay. HIID received $40.4 million in return for its activities in Russia, awarded without the normal competitive bidding approach.
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One month ago we joked that should the Delaware judge force Musk to buy Twitter, then none other than the US government would step in and prevent the South African from gaining control over the blue-checkmark echo chamber of record, the one social media network which congressional testimony after congressional testimony has argued it can manipulate the outcome of elections.
Biden Admin Weighs Blocking Twitter Deal On “National Security” Grounds… Just As Musk Wanted
H/T: Alex Christoforou
Related:
Twitter Shares Tumble After US Weighs Reviews for Musk Deals
“America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests” ― Henry Kissinger
Aug 24, 2022 – The Donald Trump White House and CIA ran “black ops” to intimate close US “ally” Britain to cut all ties with China’s tech giant Huawei, hurting the UK’s own economic interests in order to advance Washington’s trade war on Beijing.
– Multipolarista
US defence industry boss calls for clarity on what arms Ukraine needs
Kathy Warden, chief executive of Northrop Grumman, one of the top five “prime” contractors in the US, warned that weapons stockpiles had not been built to service a lengthy war.
…
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’ve heard we’re running out, but if you do project forward that we’re going to want to sustain these levels of commitments for another couple of years — that’s certainly not what anyone had built stockpiles to accommodate,” she said.
…
“We think in the long term, there’s going to be a requirement to replace Russian air combat capability — fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft” for the Ukrainians, the industry executive said.*
…
Northrop was prepared to make investments, including expanding factories “ahead of a contract”, said Warden, but cautioned that industry needed to “get an indication that if we build it, the demand will come”.
It can take years for a defence company to source parts, assemble, test, and deliver a system.
Northrop Grumman generates more than 80 per cent of its annual revenues from contracts with the US government, including key roles on programmes such as the F-35 fighter jet where it provides parts for the weapons system and avionics. It also led the industry team for NASA’s James Webb space telescope.
Like many manufacturers, Northrop Grumman is wrestling with supply chain challenges, in particular shortages of electronic parts such as cables, connectors and power supplies. Lead times for such parts have “doubled or tripled,” said Warden.
*What a co-inky-dink?!
Title borrowed from:
Ukraine Update: West Can Not Sustain Prolonged Conflict In Ukraine, Says Pentagon Supplier
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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