On the eve of the first round of confirmation hearings on Trump’s crony cabinet, we’re going to talk about how few of the members of this billionaire cabinet have submitted their required financial disclosure forms. I thought billionaires were proud of their riches! What are they hiding? We’re also going to take a close look at Mike Pompeo, Trump’s nomination to lead the CIA. Finally, we’re also going to talk about how confused we are by some of Trump’s choices for the cabinet, and there inherent contradictions.

Mike Pompeo, Conflict in the Crony Cabinet (E19)

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Wall Street has started traded water futures. What are water futures? And what might it mean for the future of this most basic human right? Then, Kade explains what Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is, which Trump has threatened to veto the military funding bill if it doesn’t contain reforms to Section 230. Kade explains why Section 230 is a foundational law for the internet itself, and why Congress has called Trump’s bluff on Section 230.
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW

* Bloomberg: California Water Futures Begin Trading Amid Fear of Scarcity
*  Water: Futures market invites speculators, challenges basic human rights – UN expert  
* California’s Water Market
* EFF: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
* Background on the National Federal Eviction Moratorium (from the National Low Income Housing Coalition)


Financializing Water: Wall Street’s latest bad idea

Election week is finally here, and if you’re like us, you’re probably freaking out. We have all already been stressed, experiencing a sort of collective trauma as the nation has lost 220,000 people and counting to the pandemic. This episode, Alexis talks to social worker and researcher Leah Goldstein (her sister) about what the pandemic has done both those she works with in clinical practice, but also to all of us broadly.
This episode is full of tips for how to cope in a healthy way with our stress and anxiety — be it community, being kind to ourselves, pausing and breathing, checking the facts, or, giving our inner negative voice a name (like “Denise”), and telling them to shut up.

Coping with stress during the election and the pandemic

We explain how oil prices went negative. Along the way, we explain what a commodity is, how futures work, and why Russia may have started a price war in order to bankrupt U.S. oil producers.
The specifics of how futures for light sweet crude oil work led to the dramatic price collapse, as those holding the futures contract for physical delivery of crude oil in May became increasingly desperate to sell it.
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW
A Big Oil Bailout Would Be the Opposite of the Green New Deal We Need – Alexis for Truthout
“The ongoing economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic has caused oil demand to plunge worldwide. On March 6, Russia withdrew from its pact with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and began producing more oil, driving the price of oil down even further. Russia may have been motivated, at least in part, by a desire to hurt U.S. shale oil producers. And while some, like Mexico, took steps to protect themselves against just such a price collapse, U.S. oil producers were loaded up with debt and totally vulnerable to a sudden drop in oil prices. By April 1, Whiting Petroleum Corp. became the first major U.S. fracking company to file for bankruptcy since the pandemic began, with many analysts predicting more bankruptcies to come.
…Energy companies make up a whopping 13 percent of the lowest-rated, riskiest kind of corporate debt. And for 10 out of the last 11 years, energy companies accounted for the majority of the junk bond debt. Why should the Fed reward a decade of bad bets by oil companies?
Pandemic Crisis, Systemic Decline: Why Exploiting the COVID-19 Crisis Will Not Save the Oil, Gas, and Plastic Industries (April 2020) – the Center for International Environmental Law
The Big Oil Money Pit – Friends of the Earth
Russia Takes Aim at U.S. Shale Oil Producers – WSJ
What are junk bonds 

What’s up with oil?

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We discuss the McConnell 3.0 corporate bailout bonanza bill that failed in the Senate thanks to Democratic opposition. We talk about what happens next on the COVID19 response in the House. And we look at the way support for Cancelling Student Debt as an economic stimulus has been quickly gaining steam.
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW




Maxine Waters: Proposed Legislative Responses to COVID-19

There are 16 Senate Dems on the record in favor of cancelling student debt as a part of any stimulus, INCLUDING Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The list is:


* Warren, Brown, Durbin, Sanders, Duckworth, Reed, Blumenthal, Gillibrand, Van Hollen, Merkley, Baldwin, Harris, Markey, Booker, Shaheen, Menendez. (These are the folks who signed a Warren/Brown letter)

There are 30 House Dems on the record in favor, INCLUDING House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters:


* Chair Waters including cancelling a minimum of $10,000 in federal student loans are a part of her proposal
* A Rep Ayanna Pressley/Ilhan Omar letter supporting cancelling student debt in the stimulus got 27 signers (29 total).

You can send your lawmakers (House and Senate) an email using Student Debt Crisis’ petition: https://studentdebtcrisis.org/cancel-student-debt-stimulate-economy/











What just happened with the Senate COVID19 vote?

Support independent, queer media! Become a subscriber on Patreon for bonus content and to support the show.
The markets are crashing. The Federal Reserve is giving loans to big banks and big companies–what about small and medium business? Why cancelling student debt would boost the economy. Surveillance proposals in the coronavirus pandemic, including facial surveillance ripe for abuse. Righteous anger from Senator Sherrod Brown. And good stimulus proposals from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Maxine Waters.
(apologies for a bit of static in the recording at a few points!)
MENTIONED ON THE SHOW
List of mutual aid efforts across the nation
Senator Elizabeth Warren’s stimulus plan
Rep. Maxine Waters stimulus plan
Mitch McConnell’s Senate page

This is deeply concerning. Why would FDIC do this now, in the midst of a crisis? Hoping others won't notice? Greater access to the safety net for 2 companies that are going to have cash flow problems? I warned about the dangers of ILCs in August.https://t.co/7EbXN1GNZO https://t.co/XsVTjbFRRR
— graham steele (@steelewheelz) March 18, 2020


Mike Pompeo, Conflict in the Crony Cabinet (E19)

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