Biden.
The Times is reporting that Biden could announce his intention to run for re-election as early as Tuesday of this week. If elected to a second term, Biden would be 86 at the conclusion of it. So far, only Marianne Williamson and RFK Jr. have come forward to challenge the old codger, so if he does decide to run again, heâs pretty much a lock to be the nominee. Looks like Bernie is out. Hillary is out. Harris wouldnât dare. Williamson and Kennedy have never held office before, and neither has the capacity to raise money. Long way to go.
NYT: Biden in Final Stage of â24 Planning
Uganda.
The Times is also reporting that a sweeping new anti-LGBTQ bill was recently passed in Uganda. Similar bills are sprouting up in several African nations. This week on YouTube, we revisit the concept of the Prosperity Doctrine, which reframes Jesus Christ as the ultimate capitalist. Whatâs the connection here? Because missing from the Times reporting is the decades-long effort on the part of powerful Christian nationalists in the United States to bring this legislation into existence on the African continent. One of the most prominent anti-LGBTQ activists is former-Senator Jim Inhofe, who led as many as 20 delegations to Uganda during his tenure to spread the conservative Christian doctrine. Him and other âFamilyâ members have blood on their hands. Every murder of a gay or transgender Ugandan and every preventable HIV deathâtheyâve also helped fight against contraceptionâis on this colonial Christian cabal.
NYT: 'We Will Hunt Youâ: Ugandans Flee Ahead of Harsh Anti-Gay Law
Daily Beast: Hillary, âThe Familyâ And Ugandaâs Anti-Gay Christian Mafia
NBER.
The National Bureau of Economic Research released a new report on U.S. money being held in offshore tax havens, and the figures are astounding. Itâs the subject of this weekâs pod, but we wanted to pass along the link here as well in case youâre interested in downloading it. It gets a little wonky at times, but the bulk of it is pretty accessible.
NBER: The Offshore World According to FATCA: New Evidence on the Foreign Wealth of U.S. Households
Best of the Left.
Jay! and Amanda wade into one of our favorite topics this week with an episode titled âDestroying Education and Democracy for Fun and Profit.â Clips are from Have You Heard, WBUR, Is This Democracy, CounterSpin and others who hit on some familiar themes from our education series and some other frightening initiatives to destroy public education in the United States.
BotL: Destroying Education and Democracy for Fun and Profit
Fox News.
Ruh roh. Fox just settled the Dominion Voting case for $787 million! Surely that will put the nail in ol' Murdochâs coffin! Right? Not so fast, say reporters from The Lever and Labor Notes, who teamed up on a piece in the Jacobin. The journos (Julia Rock, Rebecca Burns, Matthew Cunningham-Cook) detail the ways in which corporations use settlements and claims as tax write-offs. Itâs possible that Fox may be able to write off up to $213 million against their profits this year. (Last year, Fox posted $1.2 billion in net profit.)
All things being equalâassuming the same profit margin this year and the ability to write off $213 millionâthe company would still be left with $626 million. Wait, but arenât they facing other lawsuits as well? Indeed they are. Apart from their ongoing profit machine, theyâre sitting on more than $4 billion in cash on hand. These pockets are deep. One caveat is that if Fox uses insurance to cover any portion of the settlement, it wouldnât be able to use the settlement as a write-off. In other words, Fox has options. As much as Iâd like to, donât ever count Murdoch out. This motherfucker has more lives than wives.
Jacobin: Fox News Can Claim a Massive Tax Deduction for Its Settlement Over Election Lies
And with that, letâs get on with the show. Er, email. Whatever.