https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/02/bernie-sanders-interview-chris-wallace-tax-rich

“Are you basically saying that once you get to $999m that the government should confiscate all the rest?” Matthews asked the US senator from Vermont, who is an independent but caucuses with Democrats and has helped them attain their current slim majority in the upper congressional chamber.
“Yeah,” Sanders replied. “You may disagree with me but, fine, I think people can make it on $999m. I think that they can survive just fine.”
Wallace had earlier mentioned how the late Sam Walton could make the giant retail chain Walmart the largest single private employer in the US thanks to his family’s net worth of about $225bn. Sanders countered that Walmart in many cases pays starvation wages to its 1.2 million employees despite how rich the Waltons are.
“Many of their workers are on Medicaid or food stamps,” Sanders said, referring to forms of government assistance for which low-income Americans can qualify. “In other words, taxpayers are subsidizing the wealthiest family in the country. Do I think that’s right? No, I don’t.”

Walmart is a good example of the damage megacorps do to the US. Jobs there were not "created"; Walmart replaced tons of local stores and small businesses with starvation-wage big box stores. Same with Amazon. Amazon does not create jobs, it replaces jobs, with working conditions that require people to pee in bottles because they don't have time for bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, the people at the head of these corps get to play with space-dildo tourism, and buying judges and politicians.

Demand for goods and services creates jobs. Capitalists just steal labor.

A belated May Day post. Happy International Labor Day!

I posted a piece yesterday about the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a conveyance for fracked gas which is tearing up the heart of Appalachia. The US Army Corps is accepting comments on a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit which the pipeline needs in order to cross (and damage) hundreds of mountain streams - not to mention crossing the Appalachian Trail.

I gave a link to some talking points, a posting guide, and a convenient online form which I'll repost, but what inspired me to write here again is another talking point I haven't seen from any of the many orgs fighting this thing: plastic.

One of the main industrial uses for the methane in fracked gas is feedstock for the manufacture of virgin plastic. Need I say much about the gigatons of plastic we're already drowning in? Microplastic is in every ocean, every mountain, the Arctic, the Antarctic, our food, our bodies. We don't need to tear up pristine wilderness so a factory in Virginia (true) can get cheap methane to make more virgin plastic. We can mine landfills or recycle.

Anyway, drop a comment about plastic here, it only takes a minute. Deadline is February 25.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-the-army-corps-dont-grant-mvps-permit
This is a better link than the one I gave yesterday.

Talking points here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ak-SizFsgN1FRLLshqm4vFvbAeA7bKdTba2hhziRwBE/edit#
ACE comment guide here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10NMTqog9xViAPKzm-GUNC8NbxDkECAwO-eCgWr-cik4/edit#

This thing is really destructive and unnecessary. After all the con-destruction is over, it will only provide a few dozen permanent jobs. I mean, besides all the work cleaning up its mess. It is NOT in the public interest.


(edit: typo)

I posted a piece yesterday about the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a conveyance for fracked gas which is tearing up the heart of Appalachia. The US Army Corps is accepting comments on a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit which the pipeline needs in order to cross (and damage) hundreds of mountain streams - not to mention crossing the Appalachian Trail.

I gave a link to some talking points, a posting guide, and a convenient online form which I'll repost, but what inspired me to write here again is another talking point I haven't seen from any of the many orgs fighting this thing: plastic.

One of the main industrial uses for the methane in fracked gas is feedstock for the manufacture of virgin plastic. Need I say much about the gigatons of plastic we're already drowning in? Microplastic is in every ocean, every mountain, the Arctic, the Antarctic, our food, our bodies. We don't need to tear up pristine wilderness so a factory in Virginia (true) can get cheap methane to make more virgin plastic. We can mine landfills or recycle.

Anyway, drop a comment about plastic here, it only takes a minute. Deadline is February 25.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-the-army-corps-dont-grant-mvps-permit
This is a better link than the one I gave yesterday.

Talking points here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ak-SizFsgN1FRLLshqm4vFvbAeA7bKdTba2hhziRwBE/edit#
ACE comment guide here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10NMTqog9xViAPKzm-GUNC8NbxDkECAwO-eCgWr-cik4/edit#

This thing is really destructive and unnecessary. After all the con-destruction is over, it will only provide a few dozen permanent jobs. I mean, besides all the work cleaning up its mess. It is NOT in the public interest.


edit: Apologies for the double post. When I clicked to post this one, I got a message saying it was refused, so I changed the title and reposted.

Sorry! Should I delete this one?

There is still time to make a comment to the US Army Corps Of Engineers about the often-defeated zombie pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, aka Manchin's Dirty Deal, which keeps lurching back from its grave. The public comment period for the MVP's request for a new Clean Water Act permit to cross about 600 mountain streams with a 42" gas line is open until Feb 25.

The more I learn about this travesty the more horrified I get. The link below gives an easy-to-use online form with a talking point template which will deliver your customized comment to the ACE via email. Numbers count. Edit the text in the form box a little or a lot to make your opposition known.
https://appvoices.org/no-fossil-fuel-permitting-wish-list/

If you want to go down the rabbit hole, there's lots of material online from lots of orgs fighting this thing. A couple good resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ak-SizFsgN1FRLLshqm4vFvbAeA7bKdTba2hhziRwBE/edit#
https://powhr.org
https://powhr.org/mountain-valley-pipeline-101/

We can beat this!

There is still time to make a comment to the US Army Corps Of Engineers about the often-defeated zombie pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, aka Manchin's Dirty Deal, which keeps lurching back from its grave. The public comment period for the MVP's request for a new Clean Water Act permit to cross about 600 mountain streams with a 42" gas line is open until Feb 25.

The more I learn about this travesty the more horrified I get. The link below gives an easy-to-use online form with a talking point template which will deliver your customized comment to the ACE via email. Numbers count. Edit the text in the form box a little or a lot to make your opposition known.
https://appvoices.org/no-fossil-fuel-permitting-wish-list/

If you want to go down the rabbit hole, there's lots of material online from lots of orgs fighting this thing. A couple good resources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ak-SizFsgN1FRLLshqm4vFvbAeA7bKdTba2hhziRwBE/edit#
https://powhr.org
https://powhr.org/mountain-valley-pipeline-101/

We can beat this!