Haaretz:
"Pro-Israel Sen. Menendez Corruption Controversy Could Cost Israel Its Key Ally in D.C. Democrat Robert Menendez’s vote on a potential Saudi deal, already crucial given the narrow margins, is all the more significant due to his outsized foreign policy influence among hawkish Democrats and pro-Israel lawmakers from both parties
The developments, which have already led the New Jersey senator to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will have dramatic implications on Israel’s standing in Congress (though Israel is not mentioned in the 39-page indictment).
Menendez is perhaps the Democratic Party’s most stalwart supporter of Israel, enjoying a decades-long relationship with AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby. This positioning, combined with his chairmanship of the crucial committee, have led him to be among the most influential senators concerning Israel policy.
To that end, pro-Israel megadonors from both political parties like Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Haim Saban, Mortimer Zuckerman and Seth Klarman donated more than $1.5 million dollars to his 2015 defense fund aimed at combatting unrelated corruption charges."
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-09-25/ty-article/.premium/pro-israel-sen-menendez-corruption-controversy-could-cost-israel-its-key-ally-in-d-c/0000018a-cd88-da14-a1eb-dd8a4feb0000
-->The big story here is how very little this Israel connection makes it into our national media. Starting with the NYT, it is almost like Israel is carefully removed from the many stories about Menendez's corruption. That is the immense power of the Israel Lobby to control US reporting, even on a member of the United States Senate.
=====
Common Dreams:
"IMF Austerity Measures Are ‘Undermining Rights’ Around the World. ... That's the conclusion of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published Monday that looks at 39 loans approved in 38 countries between the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and March 2023. While, at the start of the pandemic, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva spoke of investing in a recovery that was 'greener, smarter, and fairer,' the majority of the loans reviewed by HRW still included requirements like lower government spending or higher regressive taxes.
'Despite its promises at the beginning of the pandemic to learn from past mistakes, the IMF is pushing policies that have a long track record of exacerbating poverty and inequality and undermining rights,' HRW senior researcher and advocate on economic justice and rights Sarah Saadoun said in a statement.
The loans considered in the HRW report impacted countries home to 1.1 billion people, and 30 of them had at least one requirement that put their rights at risk. Twenty-two of them included limits on public wage bills, 23 included regressive value-added taxes, and 20 decreased or eliminated subsidies for fuel or electricity."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-austerity-undermines-rights
-->IMF misdeeds almost never make their way into The NYT. Few other US media outlets covered this story either. Could it be that neoliberal policies have long distorted the work of the IMF, turning it into a way for first world countries to extract value from developing nations?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Warren Grills Biden Medicare Trustee Pick Over 'Shocking' Ties to Medicare Advantage Firm. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday grilled President Joe Biden's pick to fill a vacant spot on the boards that oversee Social Security and Medicare's finances, highlighting the nominee's position at a private health insurance company that relies heavily on expensive and fraud-ridden Medicare Advantage plans. ...
'Let's be clear,' the senator added. 'If Mr. Kouzoukas ignores the fraud, he helps Clover. If he focuses on the fraud, he hurts Clover. The conflict of interest here is so big and so pervasive that there is no action that Mr. Kouzoukas can take that doesn't either help or hurt Clover, the company that pays him $100,000 a year to sit on its board and watch out for the company.' ...
'A big factor influencing Medicare solvency today is the growth of Medicare Advantage—a program that allows for-profit insurance companies to sell Medicare coverage that experts say is on target this year to overcharge the government by $75 billion,' said Warren. 'In other words, Medicare Advantage has a lot to do with threatening the solvency of Medicare.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-grills-biden-medicare-trustee-pick-over-shocking-ties-to-medicare-advantage-firm
-->No word of this story from our major media. Maybe Warren's accusations hit the Democratic Party where it hurts. While publicly supporting Medicare and Social Security, Biden, much like Obama, is secretly trying to undermine both programs with his appointments to key boards.
"Pro-Israel Sen. Menendez Corruption Controversy Could Cost Israel Its Key Ally in D.C. Democrat Robert Menendez’s vote on a potential Saudi deal, already crucial given the narrow margins, is all the more significant due to his outsized foreign policy influence among hawkish Democrats and pro-Israel lawmakers from both parties
The developments, which have already led the New Jersey senator to relinquish his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will have dramatic implications on Israel’s standing in Congress (though Israel is not mentioned in the 39-page indictment).
Menendez is perhaps the Democratic Party’s most stalwart supporter of Israel, enjoying a decades-long relationship with AIPAC and the pro-Israel lobby. This positioning, combined with his chairmanship of the crucial committee, have led him to be among the most influential senators concerning Israel policy.
To that end, pro-Israel megadonors from both political parties like Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, Haim Saban, Mortimer Zuckerman and Seth Klarman donated more than $1.5 million dollars to his 2015 defense fund aimed at combatting unrelated corruption charges."
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-09-25/ty-article/.premium/pro-israel-sen-menendez-corruption-controversy-could-cost-israel-its-key-ally-in-d-c/0000018a-cd88-da14-a1eb-dd8a4feb0000
-->The big story here is how very little this Israel connection makes it into our national media. Starting with the NYT, it is almost like Israel is carefully removed from the many stories about Menendez's corruption. That is the immense power of the Israel Lobby to control US reporting, even on a member of the United States Senate.
=====
Common Dreams:
"IMF Austerity Measures Are ‘Undermining Rights’ Around the World. ... That's the conclusion of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published Monday that looks at 39 loans approved in 38 countries between the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and March 2023. While, at the start of the pandemic, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva spoke of investing in a recovery that was 'greener, smarter, and fairer,' the majority of the loans reviewed by HRW still included requirements like lower government spending or higher regressive taxes.
'Despite its promises at the beginning of the pandemic to learn from past mistakes, the IMF is pushing policies that have a long track record of exacerbating poverty and inequality and undermining rights,' HRW senior researcher and advocate on economic justice and rights Sarah Saadoun said in a statement.
The loans considered in the HRW report impacted countries home to 1.1 billion people, and 30 of them had at least one requirement that put their rights at risk. Twenty-two of them included limits on public wage bills, 23 included regressive value-added taxes, and 20 decreased or eliminated subsidies for fuel or electricity."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-austerity-undermines-rights
-->IMF misdeeds almost never make their way into The NYT. Few other US media outlets covered this story either. Could it be that neoliberal policies have long distorted the work of the IMF, turning it into a way for first world countries to extract value from developing nations?
=====
Common Dreams:
"Warren Grills Biden Medicare Trustee Pick Over 'Shocking' Ties to Medicare Advantage Firm. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday grilled President Joe Biden's pick to fill a vacant spot on the boards that oversee Social Security and Medicare's finances, highlighting the nominee's position at a private health insurance company that relies heavily on expensive and fraud-ridden Medicare Advantage plans. ...
'Let's be clear,' the senator added. 'If Mr. Kouzoukas ignores the fraud, he helps Clover. If he focuses on the fraud, he hurts Clover. The conflict of interest here is so big and so pervasive that there is no action that Mr. Kouzoukas can take that doesn't either help or hurt Clover, the company that pays him $100,000 a year to sit on its board and watch out for the company.' ...
'A big factor influencing Medicare solvency today is the growth of Medicare Advantage—a program that allows for-profit insurance companies to sell Medicare coverage that experts say is on target this year to overcharge the government by $75 billion,' said Warren. 'In other words, Medicare Advantage has a lot to do with threatening the solvency of Medicare.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/warren-grills-biden-medicare-trustee-pick-over-shocking-ties-to-medicare-advantage-firm
-->No word of this story from our major media. Maybe Warren's accusations hit the Democratic Party where it hurts. While publicly supporting Medicare and Social Security, Biden, much like Obama, is secretly trying to undermine both programs with his appointments to key boards.
