May, 05 2021, 12:00am EDT
Biden's Support for Trips Waiver "Unquestionably the Right Thing to Do"
Statement by Arthur Stamoulis, Executive Director, Citizens Trade Campaign
WASHINGTON
In response to news that the United States is reversing its opposition rof a waiver of intellectual property rules at the World Trade Organization so that COVID vaccines and treatments can be produced in as many places as possible as quickly as possible, Citizens Trade Campaign, which helped organize a 431-group letter in support of the waiver earlier this year, released the following statement by its executive director, Arthur Stamoulis:
"President Biden's support for the TRIPS waiver is unquestionably the right thing to do for the world and the nation. More work is needed to make sure the waiver moves forward as effectively as possible, but this has a real potential to help save lives, strengthen the economy, improve international relations and eventually end this awful pandemic.
"As long as large populations anywhere have to wait to be vaccinated, not only will are their lives at risk, but we continue to risk a viral mutation that can evade current vaccines and start the pandemic all over again for everyone. Our hope is that other opponents of the waiver quickly lift their bocks against it, and that speedy textual negotiations proceed to a final agreement that fully advances goal of the original proposal. COVID vaccines were developed with broad public support, and everyone worldwide deserves access to them.
"President Biden's willingness to support the waiver is a testament not only his character, but to the excellent work of the hundreds of organizations and millions of individuals who urged this to happen."
The Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC) is a national coalition of environmental, labor, consumer, family farm, religious, and other civil society groups founded in 1992 to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We are united in a common belief that international trade and investment are not ends unto themselves, but instead must be viewed as a means for achieving other societal goals such as economic justice, human rights, healthy communities, and a sound environment.
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Critics Call Blinken's Embrace of Ukrainian Attacks on Russia 'Deeply Ill-Advised'
"Russia has issued a credible threat to counter-escalate" in the event of the policy shift, noted one former Pentagon official. "Are we prepared for such escalation?"
May 23, 2024
Anti-war voices this week sounded the alarm over U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's newfound embrace of letting Ukraine use weapons supplied by the United States to attack targets inside Russia—a policy critics say risks a catastrophic escalation between the world's two top nuclear powers.
So far, the Biden administration has strictly forbidden Ukrainian forces—who are defending their country from the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022—from attacking targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied weapons. This is in keeping with President Joe Biden's stated objective of "trying to avoid World War III."
However, The New York Times' David Sanger reported Wednesday that "the consensus around that policy is fraying" amid "a vigorous debate inside the administration over relaxing the ban to allow the Ukrainians to hit missile and artillery launch sites just over the border in Russia."
Elbridge Colby, a former deputy assistant defense secretary during the Trump administration,
warned Wednesday on social media that "there is exceptional and ill-advised danger in this course," as "Russia has issued a credible threat to counter-escalate" in the event of the policy shift.
"Are we prepared for such escalation?" he asked.
Michael Young, a senior editor at the Carnegie Middle East Center,
said Wednesday that Blinken's "move toward persuading Biden to allow Ukraine to widen the war to Russian territory is just a crazy idea, and makes any eventual negotiation all but impossible."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says forces and weapons amassed just across the Russian border have enabled Russia's recent territorial gains, including near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which has come under
heavy Russian bombardment in recent days.
After what Sanger called a "sobering" visit by Blinken to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv last week, the secretary of state has been pushing for a change in the Biden administration's stance. According to Sanger, "the consensus around that policy" of restraint is unraveling. It is not quite clear yet how many senior Biden administration officials support the move to greenlight Ukrainian attacks on Russia with U.S. arms, but one highly controversial undersecretary of state who recently resigned is a vocal proponent of the policy.
That would be Victoria Nuland, a neoconservative who is reviled by anti-imperialists around the world for her hawkish history that includes playing a key role in the plot to overthrow the pro-Moscow government of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych during the Euromaidan uprising a decade ago.
"They need to be able to stop these Russian attacks that are coming from bases inside Russia," Nuland
toldABC News on Sunday. "Those bases ought to be fair game... I think it's time for that because Russia has obviously escalated this war."
NULAND CALLS FOR STRIKES ON RUSSIA pic.twitter.com/9WxCDZrM6b
— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) May 19, 2024
The Biden administration is also weighing whether to train Ukrainian forces inside Ukraine, as opposed to in Germany under current policy—a move that could put U.S. and NATO troops in the line of fire.
Ukrainian officials welcomed Blinken's shift.
"Blinken's statement, which he repeated twice, that Ukraine is the one to choose its targets, created hope that the United States had changed its position: Ukraine should make its own decisions on the territories where it uses certain Western weapons, especially American ones," Nataliia Halibarenko, who heads Ukraine's mission to NATO, toldUkrinform on Thursday.
"The decision that we have the right to use American weapons beyond Ukraine must be made sooner or later," she added. "It is a pity that we are wasting time searching for a solution that should not cause doubts. But we will continue to promote it at all levels."
The U.S. would not be the first country to allow Ukraine to use weapons it supplies for attacks inside Russia. The United Kingdom has sent Ukraine Storm Shadow long-range air-launched cruise missiles, and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says Ukraine "absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia."
The debate within the Biden administration over Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied arms comes amid Russian military drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, which Russia's Defense Ministry earlier this month claimed were ordered in response to "provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials."
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Sanders, Omar Proposal Would 'End Absurd Corporate Welfare' for Fossil Fuel Giants
"Working families should not be forced to pad the profits of an industry that is destroying our planet," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
May 23, 2024
Demanding an end to a system in which American families have been forced to "pad the profits" of an industry that has heightened their risk of facing climate disasters, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar on Thursday reintroduced a bill to eliminate the estimated $17 billion in annual direct federal subsidies to fossil fuel companies.
The Vermont Independent and Minnesota Democrat urged passage of the End Polluter Welfare Act, which would save U.S. taxpayers up to $170 billion over the next decade.
The two progressive leaders emphasized that over the past three decades, the six largest private fossil fuel firms have made $2.4 trillion in profits "off the backs of people all around the world who have suffered, and are suffering, from the devastating repercussions of climate change," with an analysis in February showing that climate disasters now cost the U.S. nearly $100 billion per year.
The oil, gas, and coal industry spent nearly $137 million lobbying Congress in 2023 to ensure they would continue receiving U.S. taxpayer-funded subsidies.
"Compared to $17 billion in subsidies, that's a more than 12,300 percent return on investment," said Sanders' office in a statement.
The senator called the fossil fuel industry's treatment of the American public and their decades of denial that their emissions are dangerously heating the planet "one of the biggest scandals of our lifetime."
"At a time when scientists tell us we need to drastically reduce carbon pollution to prevent climate catastrophe, when fossil fuel companies are making billions of dollars in profit every year, and when working people across this country are living paycheck to paycheck, we have a fiscal and moral responsibility to put a stop to this absurd corporate welfare," said Sanders. "No, working families should not be forced to pad the profits of an industry that is destroying our planet."
Sanders and Omar said the End Polluter Welfare Act would further President Joe Biden's goal of eliminating tax preferences and loopholes for the fossil fuel industry, put forward in his Fiscal Year 2025 budget. The legislation would also:
- Prohibit taxpayer-funded fossil fuel research and development;
- Update below-market royalty rates for oil and gas production on federal lands;
- Recoup royalties from offshore drilling in public waters;
- Ensure competitive bidding and leasing practices for coal development on federal lands;
- End federal support for international oil, gas, and coal projects to help the international community move away from dirty fossil fuels to clean sources of power; and
- Guarantee the solvency of the Black Lung Disability Fund, ensuring continued medical care for tens of thousands of working-class Americans who have worked for decades in the energy sector.
Sanders and Omar previously introduced the legislation in 2020 and 2021.
"American taxpayers have been forced to foot the bill for corporate handouts propping up the fossil fuel industry that is driving the climate crisis," said Omar. "With the End Polluter Welfare Act, we're putting a stop to these subsidies that accelerate environmental devastation. It's time to transfer that revenue to invest in a clean energy future that protects our environment."
More than 300 organizations have endorsed the bill, and 26 members of the U.S. House have been joined by six senators in co-sponsoring it.
By supporting the bill, said Omar, lawmakers are choosing "to fight for our children's right to a healthy planet and economy powered by renewable sources, not wealthy CEOs' profits."
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'Historic' DOJ Antitrust Suit Could Topple Live Nation-Ticketmaster Monopoly
"For far too long, Live Nation-Ticketmaster has acted as the mafia boss of the live events industry—using its power to rip off fans with sky-high prices and junk fees, exploit musicians and artists, and bully workers," an expert said.
May 23, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice and 30 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit on Thursday against entertainment company Live Nation—and its subsidiary Ticketmaster—calling it an "illegal monopoly," in a move celebrated by public interest groups.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Live Nation engages in exclusionary conduct, barring competitors from entering the industry or expanding their businesses, which leads to higher ticket prices for concertgoers and a smaller take for performers and small-business owners.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who leads the DOJ, said in a statement that the company "relies on unlawful, anti-competitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry." He said the monopoly is bad for fans, artists, promoters, and venues. "It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster," he said.
Today’s lawsuit by the Justice Department Antitrust Division is an enormous step forward in preventing one company from dictating the ebbs and flows of an entire industry. pic.twitter.com/A2n5NAQJrR
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) May 23, 2024
The DOJ's statement cited seven specific tactics that the company has used to eliminate competition:
- Turning Oak View Group, a potential competitor, into a partner;
- Retaliating against potential entrants;
- Threatening and retaliating against venues that work with rivals;
- Locking out competition with exclusionary contracts;
- Blocking venues from using multiple ticketers;
- Restricting artists' access to venues;
- Acquiring competitors and competitive threats.
The 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster allowed the merged firm to gain dominance over the industry by combining venue-operating and ticketing, and it used its dominance to wield power by, for example, threatening to boycott bands unless they used Ticketmaster, according to a Thursday statement from the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP).
"Today is a historic, long-awaited day for fans, artists, and independent businesses in the live events industry—the Department of Justice is officially seeking to break up one of America's most infamous monopolies," said Morgan Harper, AELP's director of policy and advocacy. "For far too long, Live Nation-Ticketmaster has acted as the mafia boss of the live events industry—using its power to rip off fans with sky-high prices and junk fees, exploit musicians and artists, and bully workers and small-business owners in the industry."
The lawsuit comes amid a wave of antitrust action by the Biden administration, led by the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whose chairperson, Lina Khan, has been a prominent critic of Big Tech and monopolistic practices. The DOJ has investigated UnitedHealth Group, the world's largest health insurance company, and filed suits against Apple and Google, while the FTC has taken on Amazon, among others.
While the antitrust actions have faced pushback, public interest groups have applauded them—and pushed for similar action to be taken in the entertainment industry, as the DOJ did on Thursday. Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director of Open Markets Institute, said in a statement that the new suit could be a "critical blow" for Live Nation, to the benefit of the American public.
"Through a series of acquisitions and coercive tactics, Live Nation has unfairly dominated the promotion, hosting, and ticketing of concerts for years to the great detriment of artists, fans, and independent businesses," Vaheesan said. "Critically, rather than attempt to remedy this monopoly through surgical fixes, the government wisely seeks to terminate Live Nation's control of the industry through a breakup of this behemoth."
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