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WELCOME BACK to the second edition of "Reality's Last Stand"—where I report/comment on all the REAL news the corporate media ignores. 

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***For this email, my reporting/comments are in BOLD--unbolded are excerpts from the news stories I'm linking to.

While the media follows Trump's tweets, here's what's REALLY going on:

1) HUD Director Ben Carson Meets With Lead-Poisoned East Chicago, Indiana Residents
 

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson visited the former Carrie Gosch Elementary School in East Chicago on Monday to meet with state officials and a handful of activists and former West Calumet residents about the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site.

"It's clear listening to some of the residents, they've had difficulty moving," Carson said during a brief appearance after the meeting. "We do have to clearly recognize the importance of getting our citizens out of harms way."

"That's been done here," he said. "It's been done in a good way. Are there better ways to do it? Probably."

Carson met with officials including Gov. Eric Holcomb, Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., and U.S Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, who largely praised the coordination between governmental agencies.

REALITY: Blah blah fucking blah. This meeting was all smoke and mirrors, and unfortunately, the response—or non-response—to the East Chicago lead poisoning (and arsenic and bacteria) is starting to sound eerily similar to Flint, Michigan—who nearly 3.5 years after the disastrous water switch, still has no clean water.

According to one of my top sources on the ground in East Chicago—this is what ACTUALLY happened with Carson's visit.


"He did agree to allow one of our spokespeople [an affected resident] to speak at the press conference after the meeting, only to have Gov. Holcomb's people kick us out, telling us that this was his event and he did not agree to allow us to be there. The meeting was by invitation only. ECHA and HUD choose who would be in the meeting and only allowed two residents of the West Calumet Complex, Tara Adams and Akeesha Daniels, who have been actively involved in organizing the community and who represented hundreds of other residents who had bad experiences during the forced relocation. The Community Strategy Group (CSG) petitioned to get other residents into the meeting, including Demetria Turner, who was forced to relocate to housing in Joliet, IL. and who had to give up her job. HUD refused to allow them in. As a consequence, Demetrea was locked out and stood with CSG supporters outside the gate at Carrie Gosch. We took advantage of this and got Demetria in front of the press to tell her story while the meeting was in progress.

ECHA and HUD also invited two other residents of the West Calumet Complex who represent MECHA and the housing authority boards. Contrary to the hundreds of residents who had very bad experiences during the forced relocation, these two told stories of a good relocation experience to counter the arguments of Tara and Akeeshea, who represented the hundreds who were locked out, creating a false impression of what was happening in the ECHA."

So, essentially what you have here is this: the federal and state government allowed low-income housing (West Calumet Complex) for African Americans to be built on top of a lead smelting plant (and for a predominately poor Latino and African American city to be built up next to some of the worst industrial polluters in the country--BP, DuPont, etc). Of course, the EPA did NO THOROUGH TESTING FOR DECADES and didn't even declare East Chicago a SuperFund site until 2009—over a decade after it was initially requested. Finally, in 2016, the EPA did comprehensive testing to find lead levels in the ground soil over 200 times the "allowable limit." I can attest to this toxicity—a year ago this month, Eric Byler and I first reported on the ground in West Calumet Complex standing on that soil. I COULD BARELY BREATHE out of my nose after an hour or two. 

At that time, I asked an EPA official in East Chicago if they had tested the water in West Calumet Complex or the rest of the city. He told me this was not like Flint and there's no drinking water issue. Four months later—lead in the water. Like in Flint, the only thing that's been provided to these lead-poisoned, poverty-stricken people is flimsy water filters that DO NOT stop all lead and also can potentially create bacteria.

And also like in Flint, federal and state officials are having press conferences claiming the situation is improving and the response has been strong—which can NOT BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. All it takes is being on the ground for 15 minutes and talking to a few residents to realize the people have NO IDEA if their drinking water is safe—and they have no idea whether their chronic health issues over the years. 

Yet Ben Carson stands up there with other lawmakers for a photo op—pretending the federal government is doing something for these people while Trump's EPA cuts will slow down the cleanup.

But for The New York Times, CNN, Associated Press—environmental racism and genocide: nothing to see here! I'll stay on this story.

 



2)  Minimum Wage Increases Being Blocked By State Legislatures Nationwide

As some large U.S. cities raise, or consider raising, their minimum wages, state lawmakers are pushing back with laws that void or block the local efforts. 

Preemption bills, as they are known, are growing more common, mainly in states where Republicans control the legislature and governorship. They are being drafted and passed in response to moves by city officials – most of them Democrats – to raise the minimum wage and expand paid sick leave, among other things.

St. Louis city officials passed a city ordinance in 2015 raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour and Birmingham, Ala., approved a $10.10 base wage. 

But in both cases, state legislators put a stop to the moves through preemption measures that prohibit county and municipal governments from setting their own minimum wages.

Many city officials in the throes of such battles see preemption laws as an insidious tool that conservatives are using to usurp their authority and tie their hands.

REALITY: IMAGINE if the Democratic Party would start sending out emails about THIS rather than 24/7 Russia-gate and Trump's tweets. I was on the ground in Alabama covering the blockage of  74 percent African American Birmingham's minimum wage raise (by the predominately white legislature).

The truth about this is simple—yes, Republican lawmakers are spearheading this, but they are being aided by a national Democratic Party that isn't saying anything about this. And why would we be surprised? In Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's "Better Deal" op-ed for the New York Times, he didn't even mention the word labor unions. So, the new economic agenda by the Democratic Party doesn't mention labor unions, continues to echo the tired neoliberal talking point about "better training," doesn't call for Medicare for All, and calls for a $15 minimum wage, but when minimum wage is under attack in cities across the country, the party says nothing.

Sounds like the same shitty deal to me. Republicans should shoulder the majority of our scorn for this—as, by and large, they are the ones driving the blockage of minimum wage (Birmingham) and now the rolling back of minimum wage increases (St. Louis). But, the Democratic Party is SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONES fighting for us against these extremists. Instead, they are sitting idly by with their thumbs stuck in their mouth—waiting for more donor cash to funnel in.



3) EPA STILL Doing Nothing As Nuclear Waste Site and Underground Fire Near Collision

"Two months ago, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said his agency would release soon a plan to address radioactive waste in the St. Louis area.

State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-University City, tells Missourinet she’s waiting to hear Pruitt’s plan about the Westlake and Bridgeton Landfills.

“It always takes too long for the EPA,” says Chappelle-Nadal. “On top of that, this is a billion dollar interest. These corporations, are pushing against it. If you were Exelon and Republic Services, would you want to be responsible for paying billions of dollars back?”

For years, area residents have complained about the health risks of World War II era nuclear weapons waste and underground fire fumes inching closer. Those who live or have lived in the area have reported a list of health battles, including cancer, autoimmune disease and some cannot have children.

Prior to Pruitt, the EPA has insisted that the waste does not pose a public health threat. An EPA spokesperson tells Missourinet the agency will unveil details in a few months.

Chappelle-Nadal, who has been vocal about the area’s contamination issues, wants to know how far the plan will go.

“The easier thing for me, which I don’t think it’s ever been the focus of the EPA, has been a buyout,” she says.

Chappelle-Nadal, along with state Rep. Mark Matthiesen, R-Maryland Heights, proposed this year a buyout program for residents living near the landfills. The legislation died in the state House on the last day of the regular session.

REALITY: What this story doesn't mention are two important points.

First, the EPA has NEVER tested how close the nuclear waste site and the underground methane fire are to each other—for all we know a collision is imminent. Second: radioactive waste has already been found IN RESIDENTS' HOMES. Multiple sources on the ground told me this and said it's just the tip of the iceberg. Nuclear experts also have said that if there is an explosion, it could extend from Missouri all the way into Illinois.

But no big deal, Trump's tweets!!


As this story points out—and I always do—it's ALWAYS about the money Lebowski: powerful corporations who have been funneling money into politicians for years don't want to move their Manhattan Project-era nuclear waste site—people's health and lives be damned. Even patron saint Bill Gates was involved, buying up 1.4 million shares of Republic Services in 2014. Warren Buffet, another faux progressive who is one of the largest shareholders in the Dakota Access Pipeline, owned stock in Republic Services.

But, the corporate media won't report on any of this, thus putting no pressure on the EPA to actually do anything. Meanwhile, children and parents have gotten sick in the area of the nuclear waste site as a powerful odor looms over residents. Sadly enough, the local fire department has done more than the EPA, sounding off alarms on how dangerous the potential collision is. My strong hope is there isn't a catastrophe and the EPA cleans up this mess—or at least buys out residents so they can move. But remember this email if something happens—and the usual suspects in corporate media start with the "who knew what and when."



4) Universal Basic Income Starting To Gather Steam

The notion of a universal basic income is popular these days and is undergoing pilot tests in a few countries. The idea has created some strange bedfellows as support develops, and there are both practical and philosophical problems with it. Still, I think UBI is a provocative idea that everyone should consider with an open mind. Let me explain.

Universal basic income is a social welfare program, which, at its most basic level, would pay every citizen a basic stipend sufficient to remain above the poverty level. There would be no means testing, everyone would get this amount. The intent is to both eliminate the vast welfare infrastructure and to allow individuals to weather economic uncertainty without lapsing into poverty. To many folks, this sounds ridiculous from a financial standpoint, but it may not be.

The cost of implementing UBI in the United States would be roughly $3.3 trillion, or about what the federal government took home in taxes last year. That would provide every citizen roughly $10,500 per year. A 100 percent tax increase is neither politically or arithmetically possible, but there are plenty of other savings. We spend annually about $2.5 trillion on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP (food stamps) and other welfare programs. Veterans health care and benefits are another $160 billion and federal anti-poverty education spending is almost $100 billion.

We could make income taxes slightly more progressive, recapturing perhaps 20 percent of the UBI among the richest households, and the program could actually save money. This is an altogether fiscally possible method of keeping everyone above the poverty level, once and for all. However, there are some challenges.

REALITY: You will NEVER EVER see this story on cable news or in the New York Times, but it's an important movement gathering steam across the globe—and it's starting to be talked about as a serious policy idea in America. In Detroit, for example, write-in Mayor candidate Ingrid LaFleur proposed a universal basic income

 “Because of automation will be taking over a significant portion of our work force and Detroit faces a near 64% poverty rate, we must be strategic in developing a system that no longer perpetuates the cycle of poverty but instead allows for Detroit citizens to cover basic expenses–flood, shelter, utilities, transportation–and also helps to grow the local economy. UBI paired with a local cryptocurrency is the way forward,” said LaFleur.

I couldn't agree more—imagine if Governor Rick Snyder and other social Darwinists masquerading as public servant around the country would trade billions in tax cuts their wealthy donors and corporations don't need for a UBI for its poorest citizens. The economic stimulation would be felt RIGHT AWAY since middle class and poor people tend to spend money infused into their pockets quicker and consistently for basic human needs. Businesses would also prosper—the more money in Detroit folks' pocket, the more people can go out to eat, or shop at the mall, or whatever commercial venture people choose to engage in.

And, before I hear it from the "no free lunch" fuckheads—we have PLENTY OF FREE LUNCHES in America: for Wall-Mart, McDonalds, Burger King, General Electric, Comcast, Apple, and the rest of the usual corporate suspects that either pay little to nothing in taxes or are allowed to pay their workers little to nothing—which we, the American taxpayer, end up footing the bill for as these starving workers go on welfare.

It's also not a free lunch when you look at other countries: for universal basic income, we'd all pay a little more in taxes—just like they do in other countries for Medicare for All and other services. This is not a complicated subject or one that is overly controversial. The issue isn't the feasibility of this idea—it's actually that we live in the United Corporations of America, where the people are secondary and corporate profits and welfare are the government's primary concern. This WILL change as movements and mobilization continue.

 



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Thank you for joining the long road toward justice,
Jordan Chariton

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