Once again, the people get the short end of the stick
The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act rushed by Congress last month to “help the people pay their bills,” is full of special-interest tax breaks and loopholes. CARES will go down as the biggest power grab in American history.
With people staying at home or protesting in the streets, not knowing when they will go back to work, corporations and millionaires get bailed out.
Not even the amount of the stimulus is known as additional funds are discussed for Small Business loans, as long as we can print more money. Steve Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, who said “$1,200 should last 10 weeks,” has the key to the CARES Act treasure chest.
“It’s a scandal for Republicans to loot American taxpayers in the midst of an economic and human tragedy. While Democrats fought for unemployment insurance and small business relief, the GOP gave a massive tax cut for the wealthy,” U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D–RI) said.
How did we get here?
The novel Coronavirus gave cover to the second GOP scam, the CARES Act. The first scam was the 2017 “Tax Cut and Jobs Act.” The February 2019 Congressional report found, “the GOP tax cut led to record $1 trillion in corporate stock buybacks that do little for working Americans.”
The tax scam did not create jobs for the working class. Corporations bought their shares, artificially creating a “booming stock market.” Donald Trump pushed the Fed to lower interest rates. Corporations borrowed millions and hired temporary workers to keep costs down.
By 2019, corporations had massive debts and were people working two jobs had no savings. The “best economy the world has ever seen” was a mirage. On Monday, with no place to store crude oil, futures traded at negative prices.
Power shift
The CARES Act should not be used to re-build a U.S. oil-based fragile economy, ignoring the climate crisis. The economic and political system is no longer decided by the left or the right. Over 99 percent of wealth and power is held by a handful of people at the top with millions of powerless people at the bottom with no place to go.
Public health and survival trump the longing to “go back to normal,” as if that were an option. The extreme right is in denial under orders from a failed leader to “liberate” marching in the streets, creating friction, fear, and anger. Trump has falsely claimed to have absolute power.
We have seen Trump shut down the government to pay for an unnecessary border wall, and the U.S. Attorney General doing his bidding. Why would Trump refrain from using executive privilege? It is not in his nature!
Our house is burning
The world must unite to stop the pandemic and stop carbon emissions. Virus or not, the Earth is heating rapidly.
Canada leads the way, investing $1.7 billion to plug abandoned oil and gas wells and $750 million to stop methane leaks, creating 10,000 jobs. Prime Minister Trudeau stood up to the fossil fuel industry’s requests to suspend climate action and environmental regulations and denied fossil bailouts.
Earth Day 2020
April 22 is the 50th anniversary – please visit www.earthday.org and join the events. Here are some suggestions:
In 2002, Southwestern Energy began fracking the Fayetteville Shale play. Drilling stopped in 2016 leaving thousands of wells abandoned. Flywheel Energy of Oklahoma bought the holes. Would you please ask the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, (501) 683-5814, to plug the holes?
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) asked Steve Mnuchin to bail out fossil fuel companies. Please ask her to stop oil & gas, (202) 224-6665.
Please call U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) at (202) 225 – 3772 and ask him to stop harvesting trees and protect the forests. Planting trees is essential, they take years to grow.
Let’s use this time to connect with Mother Earth. Take a walk in the forest where trees, plants, and wildlife live in harmony with the web of life.
Dr. Luis Contreras