Progressive Breakfast: Death by Inequality: Poverty and Racism Are Killing America’s Children

MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

Death by Inequality: Poverty and Racism Are Killing America’s Children

A new report concludes 600,000 American children have died for no reason over 50 years. Thousands more will die this year, and next year, and the year after that. This is our nations real “death tax”: It’s a tax on poverty, race, and powerlessness. It’s paid with the lives of our innocents.

Government Shutdown Enters Third Day

Government shutdown goes into Monday as Senate inches toward deal. NYT:“Senators failed on Sunday to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of federal employees would be furloughed Monday morning even as the outlines of a potential compromise came into focus. For much of the day, feverish work by a bipartisan group of senators offered a reason for cautious optimism that a deal could be reached soon. By Sunday night, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, moved to delay until noon Monday a procedural vote on a temporary spending bill.”

WH Hardliners Sink Immigration Deal

Immigration hardliners torpedo DACA negotiations. NYM:“Immigration hard-liners in Congress — and far-right White House adviser Stephen Miller — (have)guided Trump back toward recalcitrance…. several of the administration’s top immigration policy hands are also committed to sabotaging a Dreamer deal — or, at the very least, to jeopardizing such a deal by pressing maximalist demands. This explains the incoherence of the White House’s position. Trump is personally inclined, at least some of the time, to notch a bipartisan victory, claim credit for achieving something that Obama failed to do, and celebrate his success in convincing Congress to make a down payment on his wall. But he is also highly impressionable and deeply racist, and surrounded by far-right ideologues who are eager to exploit both those traits to their own ends.”

Hundreds Of Thousands Join Women’s March Nationwide

This weekend, they marched. In November, they vote. CNN:“They’ve said, Time’s Up. They’ve said, Me Too. And now they’re saying: If you’re not an ally, we’re coming for your seat. Longtime activist Linda Sarsour, a Women’s March co-organizer, has no doubts women can keep the movement churning toward action in November. Just look at the thousands who rallied this weekend, one year after the first Women’s March in Washington, she said. ‘We proved that we were able to maintain the momentum for the last year,’ she said. The Las Vegas rally on Sunday was the official anniversary rally of last year’s Women’s March in Washington. But around the world, women marched in solidarity in more than 500 events across six continents over the weekend — from Wellington, New Zealand; to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; to Lusaka, Zambia; to Seville, Spain; to Quito, Ecuador; to Statesboro, Georgia; and Sandpoint, Idaho. This year’s theme — ‘Power to the Polls’ — lay bare the organizers’ focus: To get women to the polls to put other women and their allies in power.”

Unprecedented Wave Of Women Seek Office

‘It’s a Women’s Wave Coming.’ The Women’s March is turning into a true political force. Time:“An unprecedented surge of Democratic women are running for office this year, but that’s just the crest of the ‘Pink Wave.’ In interviews with some of those among the estimated 120,000 people who marched in New York City Saturday, a pattern emerged. If they’re not running, they’re organizing. If they’re not organizing, they’re donating. If they’re not donating, they’re voting. Nobody is doing nothing. The official Women’s March organizers have translated this motivation into a new strategy for 2018: Power to the Polls, a nationwide voter registration drive targeting first-timers in swing states ahead of the midterms.”

More from OurFuture.org:

The Untold Story of the Roe v. Wade Anniversary. Gloria Totten:“January 22 is the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which recognized abortion as a constitutional right. What’s different about the Roe anniversary this year is the newly proactive abortion rights movement. Today, lawmakers from 25 states and 3 localities join together to announce they will introduce legislation to affirmatively protect women’s fundamental right to abortion. This nationwide demonstration of resolve is just the beginning for 2018. Importantly, it’s part of a larger movement-wide effort to take the offense on abortion rights.”

Trump’s Gift for the Unemployed: Kicking Them Off Health Care. LeeAnn Hall:“Imagine telling a laid-off employee they won’t have Medicaid to fall back on. On January 11, the Trump administration issued this cruel announcement: If you can’t find a job, don’t count on being able to get health care. Under an unprecedented new policy, the administration will let states kick people off Medicaid for the crime of being unemployed. Instead of providing good jobs to struggling people, the administration is offering threats and tougher times.”\

The Fake Largesse of CEO’s One-Off Bonuses to Workers. Leo Gerard:“Sure, some CEOs are giving out one-time bonuses to workers and saying it’s because of the Republican tax cut. What they aren’t doing is putting that $4,000 to $9,000 a year in workers’ paychecks that the administration falsely promised. CEOs at the likes of Apple, AT&T and AFLAC are trying to make Americans think corporations should get good citizenship awards because a handful of the nation’s 30 million employers are paying bonuses to workers from the gargantuan tax savings Congress gave them. But it’s a con. The bonuses are fine, but they’re one-time events and trivial compared to the bountiful and permanent tax breaks corporations reaped from their years of lobbying Republicans.”

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People's Action. more »