FEATURING ARUN GUPTA – The Congressional Budget Office released a report on Monday that concluded the 35-day government shutdown cost taxpayers a total of $11 billion. According to the report, “In CBO’s estimation, the shutdown dampened economic activity mainly because of the loss of furloughed federal workers’ contribution to GDP, the delay in federal spending on goods and services, and the reduction in aggregate demand.” Of the $11 billion loss, $3 billion will never be recovered.

Meanwhile government agencies impacted by the record-breaking shutdown are struggling to recover and resume operations. Furloughed workers that have missed 2 paychecks are likely to begin receiving back pay by the middle of next week. But federal contractors – including low paid workers like janitors, food service workers, and security guards – are not guaranteed back pay. It may be months or even years before all the impacts of the shutdown are undone.

What lessons can progressives take from a battle that was largely fought in the legislative arena, but where the power and plight of workers and organized labor played a role?

Arun Gupta is a regular news correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. He’s an investigative journalist who has written for dozens of publications including the Washington Post, the Guardian, The Nation, Salon, and Raw Story. He is also author of the forthcoming book, “Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction.”

FEATURING DR. MARGARET FLOWERS – Democrats are under fire for muddying the waters on an effort to pass Medicare-for-all legislation. Lawmakers in the House where the Democrats hold a decisive majority, have introduced at least 8 bills on healthcare that critics are casting as “Medicare-for-some.” Among them are Senator Sherrod Brown who is considering a run for President and has introduced a bill allowing only retiring police and firefighters access to the Medicare system before they hit retirement age. Brown said, “It’s easy to say ‘Medicare for All’ and make a good speech, but see no action.” According to Politico, the bills, “range from modest Medicare reforms to more ambitious restructurings that would extend government-run care to millions of new patients — an array of options that fall short of campaign trail promises for full Medicare for All.”

A lobby group named Protect Our Care, which is invested in strengthening Obamacare has been developing messaging for Democrats on the issue. Also deeply concerned about Medicare-for-All is the health insurance industry that sees an existential threat from a government-run system. Meanwhile there is greater public support for a fully government-run Medicare-for-All system than ever before. A new Kaiser poll found that 71% of Americans support guaranteed health insurance as a right for all.

For more information visit http://healthoverprofit.org.

Dr. Margaret Flowers, Pediatrician, advocate for single payer health care and justice. She is also the Co-director Popular Resistance, co-host Clearing the FOG and former candidate for US Senate and is with the group Health Over Profit for Everyone.

In today’s news headlines, the Congressional Budget Office released a report on Monday that concluded the 35-day government shutdown cost taxpayers a total of $11 billion. According to the report, “In CBO’s estimation, the shutdown dampened economic activity mainly because of the loss of furloughed federal workers’ contribution to GDP, the delay in federal spending on goods and services, and the reduction in aggregate demand.” Of the $11 billion loss, $3 billion will never be recovered. Meanwhile government agencies impacted by the record-breaking shutdown are struggling to recover and resume operations. Furloughed workers that have missed 2 paychecks are likely to begin receiving back pay by the middle of next week. But federal contract workers – including low paid workers like janitors, food service workers, and security guards – are not guaranteed back pay. It may be months or even years before all the impacts of the shutdown are undone.

It was apparently federal aviation workers whose low staffing levels leading to serious flight delays that pressured President Donald Trump to reverse his position on the shutdown. There was additional pressure on Trump from unions representing flight attendants and pilots that had written a strongly worded letter warning that the safety of air travel was at risk, and also a threat of a general strike by the head of the Flight Attendants union.

But the bill that Congress passed on Friday only guaranteed government funding for 3 weeks – a period that many hope will be enough time for a newly formed committee of 17 lawmakers to resolve the impasse that Democrats and Trump were at over Trump’s demand for a border wall. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday Trump was asked how likely he thought it was that the committee would be able to come to an agreement. He replied, “I personally think it’s less than 50-50, but you have a lot of very good people on that board.” When the interviewers asked him if he would accept anything less than the $5.7 billion he has demanded, he replied, “I doubt it. I have to do it right.”

White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney also dimmed hopes of a positive resolution before the February 15th deadline.  White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on an  interview on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday said that Trump was willing to shut the government down again in 3 weeks if he didn’t get what he wanted.

Meanwhile some lawmakers are making a push to outlaw government shutdowns. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander said, “Shutting down the government should be as off limits in budget negotiations as chemical warfare is in real warfare.” According to the New York Times, “Veterans of past shutdowns have come to learn that there are few, if any, winners in the end and that closing the government has not p...

FEATURING CHUCK COLLINS – President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon capitulated in the battle over a government shutdown that stretched more than a month. In a speech on the White House lawn he agreed to back a deal to temporarily fund the government through mid-March and buy time for further discussions on a border wall. 

The announcement put an end to the record breaking shutdown that impacted 800,000 federal workers, many of whom had marched, rallied, conducted sit-ins, gotten arrested, and threatened to strike over the on-going withholding of their paychecks.

Meanwhile, Presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren just introduced a simple new tax plan designed to target the wealth of the ultra-rich. As the shutdown has  illustrated, there is widening gap between the richest Americans and the rest of us that is deeply felt.

Read Chuck Collin’s article about Elizabeth Warren’s tax proposal HERE.

Chuck Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He has written a number of books including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It, and Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good.

FEATURING ALISON KENNER – Among the many ill effects of climate change on our planet and our species are rising incidences of disease. Asthma and breathing disorders in particular, are expected to rise as temperatures rise. Polluting industries have already had a deep impact on communities, particularly in lower income areas, so much so, that school teachers are expected to help children with inhalers.

There is still research into the causes and spread of asthma. Climate change-drive unpredictable weather patterns are likely to muddy the picture even more. How can we as a society address a disease such as asthma in such an environment?

Alison Kenner, Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics and the Center for Science, Technology, and Society, at Drexel University.

Indigenous communities all over the US are rising, and much of the resurgence in activism has come from youth-leaders. Today we’ll feature a new short video from our partners at Brave New Films focusing on Native youth activism as part of their series called “Following Their Lead: Youth in Action.”

The FBI on Friday arrested Roger Stone, an associate of President Donald Trump. The arrest is the result of an indictment by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for Stone’s role in seeking stolen emails from Wikileaks on behalf of the Trump Presidential campaign. According to the indictment, “After the July 22, 2016, release of stolen (Democratic National Committee) emails by Organization 1, a senior Trump Campaign official was directed to contact STONE about any additional releases and what other damaging information Organization 1 had regarding the Clinton Campaign. STONE thereafter told the Trump Campaign about potential future releases of damaging material by Organization 1.”  “Organization 1” of course refers to Wikileaks.

Additionally according to the indictment, “During the summer of 2016, STONE spoke to senior Trump Campaign officials about Organization 1 and information it might have had that would be damaging to the Clinton Campaign. STONE was contacted by senior Trump Campaign officials to inquire about future releases by Organization 1.” A CNN reporter was on the scene when federal police knocked on Stone’s door in the early hours of Friday morning in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he lives.  According to the New York Times, “Mr. Stone was charged with seven counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering.”  He was released on a $250,000 bond just hours later. Facing a crowd of people gathered outside the court a defiant Stone said, “I will plead not guilty to these charges. I will defeat them in court.” He added, “There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself. I look forward to being fully and completely vindicated.”

In other news, the federal government shutdown continues as the US Senate rejected two bills on Thursday to fund the government. Still, there was some movement toward dialogue when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately called Minority leader Chuck Schumer to his office after the votes to examine how the Senate can proceed next to end the shutdown. Associated Press reports that, “President Donald Trump told reporters he’d support ‘a reasonable agreement.’ He suggested he’d also want a ‘prorated down payment’ for his long-sought border wall with Mexico but didn’t describe the term. He said he has ‘other alternatives’ for getting wall funding.”

Those “other alternatives” likely include using emergency powers. Indeed CNN reported on Thursday that that White House was drafting a declaration of emergency and that it had identified about $7 billion in funding for Trump’s border wall between the US and Mexico. The draft, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, was last revised a week ago.

As the government shutdown continues to devastate the 800,000 federal workers that have now missed two paychecks, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is under fire for expressing, “let-them-eat-cake,” sentiments in an interview. He said on CNBC that struggling workers should just get loans to tide themselves over until they receive back-pay. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a former investor who was once worth more than $2 billion,

FEATURING MIGUEL TINKER SALAS – The situation in Venezuela is tense to say the least. After opposition leader Juan Guaido swore himself in as interim President on Wednesday, a number of world leaders rushed to recognize him, including those in the US, Canada, Brazil, and more. The actual President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, started his second 6-year term only a few weeks ago.

Maduro angrily denounced the US for backing a coup against his nation, and issued ultimatums to US diplomats to leave Venezuela within 72 hours. He has good reason to fear US intervention given the history of Washington-backed coup attempts. But Maduro’s rule has been rocked by weeks of mass protests – a culmination of a crisis years in the making. Hyperinflation on the order of a million percent has led to serious food shortages and record numbers of Venezuelans have fled the country.

So far the Venezuelan military has backed Maduro’s government. It is possible that opposition leader Guaido will conduct a parallel but powerless government that is recognized by some members of the international community while Maduro attempts to shore up his base.

Miguel Tinker Salas is a Professor of Latin American History and Chicano/a Latino/a Studies at Pomona College in Claremont, California. He has written several books including The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture and Citizenship in Venezuela, and Venezuela: What Everyone Needs to Know, and co-edited Venezuela, Hugo Chavez and the Decline of an Exceptional Democracy.

FEATURING AMY WESTERVELT – A terrifying new study about Greenland’s ice sheet has found that the rate of melting is four times greater than it was 16 years ago. If all of Greenland’s ice sheet melts – a clear result of global warming – it will mean a 23 foot rise in sea levels, submerging Florida’s southern tip.

The good news is that a record number of Americans now believe human-caused global warming is a thing. A Yale University poll found that 72% of Americans acknowledge the reality of climate change – a large swing from previous years. Perhaps it is because the evidence is all around us from wildfires in California to deadly hurricanes multiple times a year.

But what if this collective realization has come too late? We have lost precious decades due to inaction fueled by well-funded efforts to deny climate change. Today we’ll examine who has led those efforts and why.

Read Amy Westervelt’s Washington Post’s article HERE.

Amy Westervelt, audio and print reporter covering climate and gender. Her podcast Drilled is about the creation and spread of climate denial and her first book “Forget ‘Having It All'” was published by Seal Press in November 2018.

There appears to be a coup in progress in Venezuela.  Opposition leader Juan Guaido on Wednesday declared himself the nation’s new interim President and was immediately backed by US Vice President Mike Pence who called the democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro, a, “dictator with no legitimate claim to power.” The 35-year old Guaido addressed a mass protest when he made his announcement.  The US, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina, all rushed to recognize him. Meanwhile Maduro reasserted his authority on Wednesday to a crowd of supporters as the opposition leader declared himself interim President. The Venezuelan military has usually held the balance of power in its hand and so far it seems to be siding with Maduro. Mr. Maduro has announced a break in “diplomatic and political relations” with the US and ordered US diplomats to leave his country within 72 hours. 

Here in the US, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has canceled President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as the federal government shutdown continues. The annual address was due to be given next Tuesday but the battle over the shutdown led Pelosi to not introduce the resolution that is traditionally filed by the House Speaker to invite the President to address a bicameral Congressional session next week. The tradition of the House Speaker inviting the President to make his State of the Union goes back to 1790 when George Washington gave the first State of the Union address. Late on Wednesday night the President tweeted, “I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”

Meanwhile Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is facing the wrath of the public over the on-going shutdown. On Wednesday, federal employee unions led a mass sit-in and protest outside his Senate office at which a dozen people were arrested, including union leaders J. David Cox, the head of the American Federation of Government Employees and Randy Erwin, the president of the National Federation of Federal Employees.  Earlier there was a silent protest outside the Senate Hart building as hundreds of people held signs demanding an end to the shutdown and silently stood for 33 minutes – one minute for each day of the record-breaking shutdown. On Thursday the Senate will vote on two dueling bills to end the shutdown, neither of which is expected to pass.

Meanwhile union leaders representing air traffic controllers as well as pilots and flight attendants issued a grim warning on Wednesday night saying that the shutdown is a serious safety risk for its members as well as for the public. In a joint statement the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the Air Line Pilots Association, and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said, “This is already the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States and there is no end in sight. In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break.” Among the hardest hit federal employees are Trans...