Why is the U.S. so Exceptionally Vulnerable to Covid-19?
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Why is the U.S. so Exceptionally Vulnerable to Covid-19?

Nicolas J.S. Davies The United States has become the new center of the global coronavirus pandemic, with over 80,000 cases, more than China or Italy. More than a thousand Americans have already died, but this is surely only the very beginning of this deadly collision between the U.S.’s exceptionally inadequate public healthcare system and a…

Unsanitized: Bailouts, A Tradition Unlike Any Other
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Unsanitized: Bailouts, A Tradition Unlike Any Other

David Dayen, March 25, 2020 Twelve years ago, banks asked for a bailout after years of irresponsible, highly leveraged lending. The Treasury Department put out a three-page term sheet seeking money from Congress with no strings attached, even eliminating judicial review. Democrats balked, called it a slush fund and worse, then agreed after a few…

Wall Street Wins, Again: Bailouts in the Time of Coronavirus
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Wall Street Wins, Again: Bailouts in the Time of Coronavirus

Jake Johnson, Nomi Prins [This article has been edited by us, using additional inputs from the following articles: Alana Abramson, Philip Elliott, March 25, 2020, President Trump Signs $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Package Into Law, https://time.com Jack Rasmus, “US Senate’s Final Stimulus Bill: Why It Won’t Be Enough”.] President Donald Trump signed a historic $2.2…

Survive and Revolt
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Survive and Revolt

Paul Street, March 20, 2020 “I Don’t Take Responsibility at All” Millions of U.S. -Americans are no doubt aghast over the Supremely Dangerous Asshole (SDA) Donald Trump’s statement about the coronavirus crisis in the country: “Yeah, no, I don’t take responsibility at all…” None. Zero. Nada. No accountability. At all. Remember Harry Truman’s little much…

Corona – A Plague on Reason
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Corona – A Plague on Reason

Dunu Roy, March 2020 Gautam Navlakha – journalist; rights advocate; dedicated democrat – is directed by the Supreme Court to jail for an imagined violent overthrow of the government. He invites compatriots to listen to Leonard Cohen’s bass call to, “Ring the bell/which still can ring; forget your perfect/offering”. Would Navlakha have been surprised to…

A Pandemic in an Unequal India
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A Pandemic in an Unequal India

Harsh Mander If the COVID-19 pandemic lashes India with severity, it will not be just the middle class who will be affected. India’s impoverished millions are likely to overwhelmingly bear the brunt of the suffering which will ensue. The privileged Indian has been comfortable for too long with some of the most unconscionable inequalities in…

A Niggardly Response to an Extraordinary Crisis
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A Niggardly Response to an Extraordinary Crisis

C.P. Chandrasekhar In a show of solidarity, some of India’s opposition leaders have declared the much-delayed relief package (titled Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana) announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 to mitigate the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the poor as a welcome “first step”. But any serious scrutiny of the…

COVID-19 and Circuits of Capital
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COVID-19 and Circuits of Capital

Rob Wallace, Alex Liebman, Luis Fernando Chaves and Rodrick Wallace   Calculation COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the second severe acute respiratory syndrome virus since 2002, is now officially a pandemic. As of late March, whole cities are sheltered in place and, one by one, hospitals are lighting up in medical gridlock brought…