Good morning friends! It’s been quite the weekend and our livers hurt. Let’s get right into it:
The Trump administration has an insidious plan to cut Social Security: and they’re going to use arguments surrounding the growing national debt and the trillions spent on COVID-19 bailout funds to justify it.
House progressives fail to rally support despite #PutPeopleFirst push: though there are embers of a coalition still burning. We’ll see what it ends up amounting to in the coming months.
Bombs made in America are being used by the Saudi Arabian government to kill civilians in Yemen: which is really, really awful. Let’s brush up on some foreign policy.
We may be idiots but we’re certainly not patriots. Now let’s get to some skull-crackin’ news.
TRUMPOCALYPSE
The Trump Administration Really Wants to Cut Social Security Benefits
Social Security. Despite being an earned insurance benefit and not a fund that you can just raid whenever the government is low on cash, Republicans really want to do that right about now. The Trump administration officials are reportedly considering a few proposals that would reduce government spending, including cutting or delaying Social Security benefits, in light of coronavirus relief spending.
Potential Routes
One proposal that is reportedly being considered: allowing Americans to choose to receive checks of up to $5,000. The payoff? A delay in their Social Security Benefits.
There’s also rumblings of “the Eagle Plan.” Scary, right? It’s a 29-page memo that describes an overhaul of federal retirement programs, according to The Washington Post. That could include giving Americans $10,000 upfront, however, it comes at the cost of curbing federal retirement benefits entirely.
One White House spokesperson, Hogan Gidley (lmao) has said that Trump is opposed to the Eagle Plan. However, the Post reported that the president has yet to even review the proposal.
What It Boils Down To
Trump has long signaled that he would be willing to cut Social Security benefits. He’s also been pushing cutting payroll taxes during this pandemic, which is what funds Social Security and Medicare.
The significance of all of this? It could rob people of their retirement plans. Alex Lawson, the executive director of a Social Security advocacy group called Social Security Works, says the plan would “force people to choose: Go hungry today or work until you die.”
Bottom line: people need help right now. We shouldn’t have to make a deal with the Devil to give up our retirement benefits to make sure we can pay rent on time.
CONGRESS
House Progressives Fail to Successfully Rally—For Now
Photo Credit: Lorie Shaull
House Progressives. A few months ago, it seemed there was some hope for a more progressive coalition within our Congress. Let’s look at the current state of things.
What’s Been Happening
The Congressional Progressive Caucus had created bold key proposals that they wanted to see in any coronavirus relief bill.
Outside progressive groups, from the Justice Democrats to Move On and Indivisible, worked on coalition building.
The campaign culminated on April 20th under the “#PutPeopleFirst” namesake and was pushed by CPC co-chairs Pramila Jayapal, Mark Pocan, and all four members of the Squad.
However, the HEROES Act ended up passing without many of the progressive priorities this coalition had agreed on.
So What Went Wrong?
While it may have certainly felt like some unity was going down, The Intercept reports that according to their sources, there was no real agreed-upon strategy here.
Some lawmakers believed it was wrong to vote against desperately needed aid and signal disagreements within the party. Others, including many of the outside organizations that helped rally this coalition, wanted to see a more aggressive approach.
There may be some light at the end of this tunnel: a total of 14 Democrats voted against the rule to consider the HEROES Act. This includes both CPC co-chairs, the Squad, Chuy Garcia, Katie Porter, and a handful of moderates in swing states. Justin Amash was also a no vote.
However, the bill still got to the floor and was eventually passed. Jayapal was the only progressive to vote against it, but she made it clear her vote did not represent an official CPC position and did not whip Democrats against it.
Bottom line: Republicans were going to vote down the HEROES Act no matter what. Let’s take off the kid gloves and demand a better, more progressive Democratic party.
Not to be cliche but to quote Žižek: “the crucial battle in the United States today is not against Trump, it’s what happens within the Democratic party.”
FOREIGN POLICY
American-Made Bombs Are Being Used to Kill Civilians in Yemen
Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen. It’s one of the worst humanitarian tragedies taking place on the world stage. This isn’t really new-news, but considering the New York Times had a writeup on it this past weekend and that foreign policy is never sexy, it seems as good a time as ever to talk about this.
America’s Role in All This
Peter Navarro, one of Trump’s economic aides and a total hack who only got his job because Jared Kushner looked up anti-Chinese books on Amazon, has become a liaison between the White House and defense contracting firms like Raytheon.
America has been selling arms to Saudi Arabia since the Obama administration, which many officials ended up regretting. Under Trump, though, this whole process has sped up thanks in part to their rewriting of rules surrounding arms exports and the State Department more aggressively promoting arms deals.
The defense industry also aggressively lobbies to be able to do this because it rakes in the big bucks. They’re able to simultaneously shrug off responsibility since they just follow policy and don’t create it while also influencing policy via lobbying. Horrible, right?
This aggressive push for the sale of American made weapons has contributed to a conflict that has left over 100,000 people dead. While lawmakers in both parties have condemned the sale of arms to be used in the Yemen war, the Trump administration has continued to do everything they can to allow defense contractors to do this, all in the name of creating American jobs.
Bottom line: our contributions to this war are totally evil. The Obama administration was wrong for getting us into this and the Trump administration is wrong for accelerating it.
END OF THE LINE...
That’s it for today.
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Have a good one,
The Bread Line
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