America’s national priorities are badly misplaced. Our country spends, with almost no debate, nearly $1 trillion a year on the military while at the same time ignoring massive problems at home.
Defense Contractors Are Bilking the American People
ExxonMobil foresees profit and expansion surge fueled by Guyana, Permian advancements
With an annual total capital expenditure and exploration expense projection ranging between US$23 billion to US$25 billion, ExxonMobil is set to allocate US$22-$27 billion annually toward project spending until 2027. This includes a commitment to emerging ventures in lithium and low-carbon initiatives, with an 18% increase in spending in these areas.
Emphasizing its dedication to the energy transition, ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solutions division is expected to witness an increase in budget from US$17 billion to US$20 billion between 2022 and 2027, contingent upon government support.
The company plans to ramp up annual share buybacks to $20 billion by 2025, an increase from the current US$17.5 billion, following the completion of the Pioneer merger. Additionally, ExxonMobil continues its divestment strategy for refining operations.
Related:
Today, as the U.S. is drawn into wars in Israel and Ukraine, as well as the defense of now-peaceful Taiwan, I’m writing about war. Not the policy choices, or whether U.S. military power is a net force for good or ill, but the actual practical machinery behind the American defense base that produces the weaponry necessary to sustain the military.
Why America Is Out of Ammunition
WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Tuesday said it will require companies winning funds from its $52-billion U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and research program to share excess profits and explain how they plan to provide affordable childcare.
Biden to require chips companies winning subsidies to share excess profits
Engineers and other operations employees still have no sick leave.
Some Railroad Workers Finally Get Sick Days
Video via Anarchistara
America’s $52 Billion Plan to Make Chips at Home Faces a Labor Shortage
Another possible fix would be to keep people in the workforce longer, by raising the age at which workers can begin collecting Social Security or tapping into their pensions or 401(k)s. Yet Harry Holzer, a former US Department of Labor chief economist now at Georgetown University, says that neither feels politically feasible right now. Immigration has been a toxic issue in American politics for years, and Social Security has long been an untouchable entitlement. “None of that is doable,” Holzer says, which means “our labor force growth is going to continue to be modest.”
Related:
How manufacturing chips in the US could make smartphones more expensive
Morcos says a top concern of his is the narrowness of the CHIPS Act. Without bringing related device manufacturing back to the U.S., such as device batteries, sensors, cameras, antennas, and hundreds of other components, the manufacturing process could require the most critical component to be produced stateside, then shipped overseas to be assembled with hundreds of other components into a device that is then shipped back to the U.S. for the American consumer.
Work longer, for less pay, and you still won’t be able to afford the latest smartphone or laptop?! 🤷🏼♀️
An investigation published Monday revealed that just weeks before a Norfolk Southern-owned train overloaded with hazardous materials derailed and caused a toxic chemical fire in East Palestine, Ohio, the rail giant donated $10,000—the maximum amount allowed—to help fund the inauguration of the state’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.
Investigation shows rail giant donated to Ohio governor a month before toxic crash
Norfolk Southern helped convince government officials to repeal brake rules — and corporate lobbyists watered down hazmat safety regs.
Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment
As the world faces three major threats, namely the COVID-19 induced public health and economic crises as well as the ongoing climate emergency, the business world is in a position to make real positive change.
Avoiding a climate lockdown (original)
H/T: Kim Iversen—The Next Agenda
Related:
A green economic renewal after the COVID-19 crisis (PDF)
WEF: Paris Is Planning To Become A ’15-minute City’
15-minute city:
A 15-minute city is a residential urban concept in which most daily necessities can be accomplished by either walking or cycling from residents’ homes. The concept (see also the New Urbanism of the 1980s) is present, among many, in D’Acci’s Isobenefit Urbanism since 2013 (“The Isobenefit Urbanism approach aims to create cities in which each dweller can do her/his usual main daily activities by walking or at maximum biking”) was popularized by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and inspired by French-Colombian scientist Carlos Moreno who in 2016 coined the term. 15-minute cities are built from a series of 5-minute neighborhoods, also known as complete communities or walkable neighborhoods. The concept has been described as a “return to a local way of life”.
Pentagon Profiteers: Executive Compensation in the Arms Industry
Another way to understand the size of CEO compensation at the big contractors is to look at how many jobs would be created if that $287 million were spent on something else. The answer is that spending that money on productive activities would create thousands of jobs: 2,812 jobs in clean energy or infrastructure; 4,104 jobs in health care; and 4,362 in education, calculated using data on the jobs impact of government spending generated by Heidi Peltier for the Brown Costs of War Project.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
You must be logged in to post a comment.