Biden budget shows what America values most: War
In the face of universal opposition from GOP senators and two senators in President Biden’s own party, the projected cost of his proposed investment in the country’s “human infrastructure,” has shrunk from $3.5 trillion to a more modest $1.7 trillion, at the notable cost of its promise of paid child leave. The Pentagon retains its largest injection of funds ever, however. Will reducing its ambitions prove enough to push the plan through Congress? And if adopted, will it transform the country as intended? Former assistant US attorney Jeffery Katz and GOP strategist Melik Abdul debate the plan and its crippling problems.
Plus, the extradition trial to Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange concludes its second day. Supporters of the famous publisher, truth-teller and thorn in the side of US hegemony, who faces 175 years in prison if the UK delivers him to the US to stand trial. As “On Contact” host Chris Hedges reminds us, Assange’s only crime was revealing Washington’s ugly secrets about its conduct in the Iraq War, which we shouldn’t repay with a lifetime of maximum-security solitude.
Conspicuously overlooked pickups of trash in New York City may be on purpose. Is it a subtle form of protest as city workers chafe against the October 29 deadline for all city workers to comply with the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. The Uniformed Firefighters Association is arguing that setting so close a deadline will lead to the closure of firehouses and “lives will be lost,” and the union representing the New York Police Department plans to appeal the decision of a judge who struck down their legal challenge to the mandate. RT America’s Natasha Sweatte has the details.
Plus, new studies show that the same chemicals used to soften plastics are found in cheese burgers, fast foods and other popular fast food standbys across the US. Regulators want tougher controls on such foods while these chemicals, while not studied in depth, continue to accumulate in our bodies. RT America's Mollye Barrows shares her legal expertise. Plus, “Boom Bust” co-host Brent Jabbour joins to discuss the continuing frustration posed by monopolistic terms-of-use contracts that forbid consumers the “right to repair” their own electronics, appliances, vehicles and other forms of property however they think best.