Corporate America has benefited from âReaganomicsâ with record-low taxes and increased influence through broadened lobbying capabilities.
However, a challenge awaits, as our democracy itself is threatened from within. Corporations employ and serve a diverse pluralistic society. American capitalism will help decide if they value truth, decency, nonviolence, inclusion and diversity enough â if all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Recently, some corporations â by speaking in favor of our democratic ideals against voter suppression laws and bills in Georgia, Texas and 45 other states âhave sparked a broad backlash, including from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Immigrants who have lived abroad or grown up with stories of political chaos know that the most violent days always start out in an eerie quiet, as January 6, 2021, did in Washington, DC. By 1:10 pm that day, after then-President Donald Trump issued his call for thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol, anyone who was paying attention knew that something dangerous was about to take place.
Within a matter of minutes, at the other end of the National Mall, a Capitol police officer banged on the door of Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA). “You need to evacuate immediately,” Lieu recalls the officer saying before urging him to remove the lapel pin that identified him as a member of Congress and directing him down five flights of stairs to a secure location.
DeSmog
The House Oversight Committee, which last week heard testimony on the oil industry’s efforts to suppress climate science, continued to probe the industry’s deception and influence with a hearing on the Trump administration’s proposed rollbacks of clean car standards rollbacks that stand to benefit Big Oil at the expense of consumers and the environment.
At Tuesday’s hearing of the Oversight Committee’s Environment subcommittee, the oil industry’s importance in affecting the weaker standards for vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions was front and center as Republicans led an ultimately unsuccessful effort to adjourn the hearing before witness testimony even began.
Alaska can save its summer visitor season if lawmakers act now Author: Frank Murkowski Published 1 hour ago
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Print article COVID-19 has had a major impact on Alaska’s economy. Tourism by cruise ship appears to be nonexistent for the 2021 season, and those businesses that cater to tourism face a troubled future. Visitors to South Franklin Street in Juneau, or along the boardwalks in Ketchikan and Skagway, are met with boarded-up windows and closed signs. The impact extends on to Anchorage, Kenai, Fairbanks and throughout our entire state. The loss of state revenue through sales tax, passenger head tax and loss of jobs across the board, especially those serving the visitor industry has been devastating, and we are seeing the engine of our summer economy slipping away with each day that passes.