truthout--2020-05-04--Activists Demand Worker Safety Plans as COVID-19 Surges in Meat Plants

At least 20 workers at meat processing plants have died from COVID-19 , and around 5,000 have tested positive , but President Trump invoked an executive order to bar local governments from closing meat plants .
We hear from meat plant workers and organizers about conditions during the pandemic and speak with Sindy Benavides , CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens , which is supporting the workers with a virtual town hall on food worker safety with presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and calling for Meatless May Mondays .
This is a rush transcript .
Copy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The War and Peace Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
We begin today ’ s show looking at the coronavirus outbreak in meatpacking plants across the United States as U.S. beef , pork and poultry processing plants face a public health crisis and a growing number of infected workers .
Last week , President Trump signed an executive order barring governments from closing meat plants .
The order declares meat plants as critical infrastructure .
At least 20 meatpacking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 5,000 have fallen ill from the disease .
That number is expected to be far higher due to a lack of testing .
In Sioux Falls , South Dakota , at least a thousand people have tested positive for the virus at one Smithfield pork plant , accounting for more than half the confirmed cases in the entire state of South Dakota .
At least six workers at a JBS beef packing plant in Greeley , Colorado , have died from COVID-19 .
Despite this , the plant reopened last week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all its workers .
And the Tyson Columbus Junction processing plant in Iowa reopened in late April despite the deaths of two workers from COVID-19 .
A meat worker from the Tyson plant spoke to Democracy Now !
about conditions there during the pandemic .
She ’ s an immigrant from Guanajuato , Mexico , and asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation .
AMY GOODMAN : President Trump ’ s executive order to keep meat plants running has sparked outrage over what it means for workers being forced to work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozens of Bell & Evans workers and activists circled the poultry company ’ s Lebanon County , Pennsylvania , poultry processing plant in a funeral caravan , after two COVID-19 deaths and dozens of infections connected to the plant .
The protesters demanded an immediate shutdown of the plant and full pay for all workers until it can implement a plan to keep workers safe , including personal protective equipment , paid sick time and social distancing policies .
AMY GOODMAN : Over the weekend , LULAC — that ’ s the League @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a coalition of Iowa farmers , activists , workers and elected officials and community groups to announce the Meatless May Mondays campaign to draw attention to the conditions workers are facing .
Today , LULAC , which has more than 60 million members countrywide , is joining with Univision to host a virtual town hall on food worker safety with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and members of Congress .
Well , for more , we ’ re joined by a number of guests .
In Washington , D.C. , Sindy Benavides is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And in Des Moines , Iowa , we ’ ll start with Alejandro , a local organizer whose immediate and extended family members work in meatpacking plants across Iowa , South Dakota and Nebraska , including Smithfield , Tyson and other meat plants .
Alejandro has asked us to use his first name only , out of concern for retaliation against his family .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Sindy Benavides , we ’ re beginning with you , CEO of LULAC .
I watched your news conference on Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this coalition of groups calling for Meatless May Mondays , a kind of boycott of these meat corporations , this as President Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act , signing an executive order saying governments can not close down these hot spots , where , in some cases — one meatpacking plant alone , there are over 700 coronavirus-positive workers .
Can you talk about LULAC ’ s position and what you understand about the meatpacking industry in this country and who the meatpackers are ?
SINDY BENAVIDES : Sure .
First @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Amy , for having me on .
As many of you may know , LULAC , the League of United Latin American Citizens , is the oldest and largest national Latino civil rights organization .
We ’ re about 91 years young , 91 years strong , and still going .
For 91 years , we have been protecting and defending the Latino community in the United States , in Puerto Rico , in Washington , D.C. And today , unfortunately , we find ourselves still protecting and defending our community , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re seeing on the ground and how we ’ re made up is that we have members who are volunteers for LULAC in over 37 states , Washington , D.C. , and Puerto Rico .
And some of those members happen to work in meatpacking plants and/or are relatives of folks that work in meatpacking plants .
And this is why , over a month ago , we started receiving complaints of individuals who were hearing that , unfortunately , their colleagues were getting sick , and this was not being reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And so we got involved .
And over a month ago , we sent a letter to OSHA to ask for questions .
To this day , we have not heard back .
We have not gotten a response .
We also know that our LULAC members in Iowa , our state director , Nick Salazar , and Joe Henry , who serves as a senior adviser to our national president , have been working closely with our community in Iowa and also traveling to neighboring states to understand the conditions of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an idea , in Columbus Junction , Iowa , we know that there ’ s already been multiple deaths there of people working .
And what we ’ re seeing , more than that , is that when President Trump enacted the Defense Production Act , what he is asking our community to do is to march into slaughterhouses and put their lives on the line .
What he is doing is a lack of acknowledgment and completely voiding and annulling a person ’ s right to work in a safe place .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been impacted , have cases of COVID-19 , and that there ’ s over 20 deaths that have occurred .
However , we feel that these estimates are highly undercounted .
We think that it ’ s at least double , if not triple , those numbers .
And again , what we ’ re hearing from the workers and from their families is that , in many instances , the workers are being turned away by the clinics and hospitals in their community , and they ’ re having to drive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two hours simply to get tested — and , on top , pay for the tests in order to know if they actually do have COVID cases .
AMY GOODMAN : Alejandro , if you could describe your family , what they face , the plants they live in — that they work in ?
ALEJANDRO : Definitely .
And thanks for having me , Amy .
Essentially , you know , in the surrounding area here in Iowa , there are countless meat and food processing plants , and we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board .
You know , this is industrywide practices , and that ’ s why we ’ re seeing this kind of pop up all over the state , essentially .
And as you mentioned , I have family working across the board , across the state and into some other states , in the industry .
So , you know , it ’ s very scary for my family , my immediate family , my extended family .
I have cousins who now have tested positive because of these plants .
My @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here just recently because of these plants .
And again , just incredibly scared .
And this has just been consistent , even prior to the epidemic , that these have not been safe work conditions — very fast lines .
These are workers that are standing on their feet for hours , overworked , working extended hours in a day and working , often forced , weekends .
So these are very hard workers that are very dedicated to that work to provide for their families .
But the only reason that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , why these companies , many of them , are a lot — I mean , have a lot less workers right now , is because they ’ re scared .
They want to do the work .
I ’ ve been talking to families , to workers almost every day for the last couple of weeks , and they ’ ve been telling me that they want to work , but they want to be able to do it safely .
So , you know , just even two weeks ago is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not that they ’ re very protective masks , but they started introducing masks just two weeks ago , even though we have known about what ’ s been going on for months .
So it ’ s very clear that these companies , that they didn ’ t take the safety precautions .
And essentially , they have a system in place that doesn ’ t prioritize the safety of workers , which is largely why we are seeing all of this .
ALEJANDRO : Again , you know , they talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I wanted to read what John Tyson , the billionaire chair of the board of Tyson Foods , recently warned in a full-page ad in several newspapers , as well on the company ’ s website : quote , “ There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed .
… The food supply chain is breaking , ” he said .
It wasn ’ t days later that the president , President Trump , invoking the Defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you know , no governor , could shut down a plant .
But is it the coronavirus that is breaking the food supply , or is it these corporations that did not early on provide the PPE , the protective gear , that workers needed , the social distancing required ?
Alejandro , I wanted to put that question to you .
And also , if you can talk about — right now , as we ’ re broadcasting , Univision is having a special , where they are bringing on different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , yet another daughter or son of workers in the plants .
If you could talk about your organization ?
You speak English .
You ’ re a kind of a translator for your families who are working and getting sick in the plants .
ALEJANDRO : Definitely .
And , you know , in terms of what the Tyson ’ s head said there in regards to the food supply chain , I think that ’ s something that a lot of us are seeing .
You know , of course I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feed America , and so are the workers .
But if that was truly what they prioritized , if what they were prioritizing was ensuring that we have a food supply chain , essentially , then they would be making sure that the workers are able to do their jobs safely .
And they ’ re not doing that .
And it ’ s kind of sad to see even other leaders blaming the workers , the immigrants , for what ’ s going on , when it ’ s very clear that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take the safety precautions , because of the culture where they ’ re encouraging people to come in or not letting them go home when they ’ re sick .
It ’ s because of these long-existing practices that — and the structure , this dynamic between leadership and workers , where workers don ’ t have a voice .
That largely feeds into why , as you mentioned , it ’ s the children of the workers .
You know , I was seeing that a lot of people in my similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my siblings , my former classmates from high school , we were kind of just screaming out to the void .
You know , we were afraid for our parents .
But there really wasn ’ t much talk there .
You know , there wasn ’ t any noise .
So , in order to create a group where we were able to come together , the families and the community , different allies , to start bringing awareness , start addressing what ’ s going on , talking to workers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , again , I ’ m not here to speak on behalf and tell you what they need , I ’ m just here to say that these workers need a voice .
And , you know , these executive orders , these different things that , say , Mitch McConnell and other leaders are touting , are essentially just finding new ways to limit that voice .
These workers don ’ t have protections .
These companies aren ’ t being held accountable , and they ’ re not even taking responsibility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be accountable .
And having a situation where workers can ’ t even take legal action , or the communities can ’ t rally around and force governments to take this seriously , and potentially , if what — AMY GOODMAN : And we ’ re going to talk about that issue of corporate responsibility , the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell holding up stimulus package for , until he can get inserted into it that corporations are not responsible for what happens during COVID .
But before we do that and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Public Citizen , let ’ s turn again to the Tyson processing plant worker in Columbus Junction , Iowa , who spoke to Democracy Now !
but asked we not use her name because of fear of retaliation .
She said this is her message to Tyson and other meat industry corporations .
AMY GOODMAN : In an interview with BuzzFeed News , a Smithfield Foods spokesperson blamed the South Dakota plant ’ s , quote , “ large immigrant population ” for the rapid spread of the coronavirus .
The spokesperson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in certain cultures are different than they are with your traditional American family.
” I wanted to go back to Sindy Benavides to respond to this , the CEO of LULAC .
SINDY BENAVIDES : Thank you , Amy .
And , you know , first and foremost , I can certainly understand the pain that our community is feeling and the fear .
And Alejandro talked about this .
There are so many in our community who have reached out to LULAC , given us only their first name or a different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And we also know that many of them are being told internally that if they are not at work , they will not get paid , and/or worse , that they could get fired , even when some of these same companies are touting externally that they ’ re willing to pay the workers additional money or give them bonuses .
So , which one is it ?
Is it , one , the managers internally telling the workers that they will get fired and/or not get paid if they get sick , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being publicized externally ?
I can tell you , when we look at this particular industry , you have to really look at it from the very beginning to end .
Yes , many of the workers actually commute in together to work , to the plants .
Many of them also , like many Americans , have multigenerational homes , where you may have the parents , the children and/or the grandparents in the same household .
And I know that this is not only true to Latinos , but it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American families across this country .
More worrisome is the fact that some of these facilities , even more than a month ago , when they started seeing the cases pop up , did not take the urgent steps to make sure that the workers were protected , making sure that they had protection gear in place .
And I just want Americans to stop for a minute , for all of us who go to the grocery store , and for the one hour or two hours that we ’ re wearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so uncomfortable .
Can you just imagine workers who are working for eight to 10 to 12-plus hours ?
We know , because there have been so many incidents of COVID cases , that our workers are being asked to work even longer shifts or work additional shifts .
And we know this from different members across the country .
In fact , our state director , Madaí , her father , who has worked in this industry for over 30 years , reported that he ’ s having to work and pick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make sure that the production keeps going .
And so , what are we asking ?
We are asking the companies to put safety measures in place , to make sure that there are longer breaks so you don ’ t have a line of people waiting at the restroom close together .
We ’ re asking them to put sneeze guards , plastics , in between workers and to make sure that they in fact are following CDC and OSHA guidelines in terms of social distancing .
And here ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that in various facilities across this country , in many facilities , there are workers who may speak more than 40 different languages .
And so it ’ s not enough to put a poster up on a wall that says , “ Please practice social distancing six feet apart , ” if you don ’ t explain it , if you don ’ t have the education awareness about what social distancing is , and , in fact , even making sure that the shifts are staggered and that the breaks are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to eat , they ’ re eating elbow to elbow .
Where they are working , they ’ re elbow to elbow , oftentimes even not having the ventilation that ’ s required for them to be in a safe place .
And so , as we hear of the companies , you know , and the different cases that have occurred , again , our ask is very simple : Please make sure that the workers are in a safe place , where they don ’ t fear like they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their life is on the line .
What we ’ re asking is : If you had your child or your parent or your sibling working in that same line , would you not want them to have the safety conditions , so that they don ’ t feel afraid to walk into work and think that they will unfortunately come down with a COVID case and potentially die ?
We are asking for basic protections , protections at work , that help our community to keep the line flowing , to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to enjoy meat and pork and poultry .
We stand with the workers .
We want to make sure that all workers across America , but particularly our workers who are facing high cases of COVID cases due to the lack of safety , are protected .
And so , with that , Amy , I will tell you that this is a difficult situation .
We understand that there ’ s political games at play here .
We understand that there ’ s an election coming .
But the bottom line is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government , the slow reaction by corporations , and the lack of action have placed people ’ s lives on the line , and we ’ ve already had multiple deaths .
AMY GOODMAN : We want to thank you so much for being with us , and we are not leaving the story here , Sindy Benavides , CEO of LULAC , and Alejandro , an organizer in Iowa whose immediate and extended family members work in meatpacking plants .
When we come back , we ’ re going to speak with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demand by the Senate majority leader , Mitch McConnell , to absolve corporations of any responsibility during the pandemic .
We ’ ll speak with Public Citizen ’ s head , Rob Weissman .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ No Discrimination ” by the great Tony Allen and Africa ’ 70 .
Allen is the drummer who created the beat of Afrobeat .
He died last week at the age of 79 .

At least 20 workers at meat processing plants have died from COVID-19, and around 5,000 have tested positive, but President Trump invoked an executive order to bar local governments from closing meat plants. We hear from meat plant workers and organizers about conditions during the pandemic and speak with Sindy Benavides, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which is supporting the workers with a virtual town hall on food worker safety with presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and calling for Meatless May Mondays.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. We begin today’s show looking at the coronavirus outbreak in meatpacking plants across the United States as U.S. beef, pork and poultry processing plants face a public health crisis and a growing number of infected workers.
Last week, President Trump signed an executive order barring governments from closing meat plants. The order declares meat plants as critical infrastructure. At least 20 meatpacking workers have died from COVID-19; more than 5,000 have fallen ill from the disease. That number is expected to be far higher due to a lack of testing.
In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at least a thousand people have tested positive for the virus at one Smithfield pork plant, accounting for more than half the confirmed cases in the entire state of South Dakota. At least six workers at a JBS beef packing plant in Greeley, Colorado, have died from COVID-19. Despite this, the plant reopened last week, after a short closure, without testing all its workers.
And the Tyson Columbus Junction processing plant in Iowa reopened in late April despite the deaths of two workers from COVID-19. A meat worker from the Tyson plant spoke to Democracy Now! about conditions there during the pandemic. She’s an immigrant from Guanajuato, Mexico, and asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
TYSON WORKER: [translated] There was a young man that I know was still going to work even though he said he had been sick for two weeks. I don’t know why Tyson didn’t detect that, that people who were sick were still going to work. This only made things worse. Later, I realized that a lot of people at that plant were infected. A man who had worked there died, and there were a lot of people in critical condition at the hospital. I’m not sure if they’re still there, because, truthfully, I haven’t left my house or spoken to anyone recently, so I’m not sure of what the status of their health is. But I know many people were at the hospital in critical condition, and they are all people who work at Tyson.
AMY GOODMAN: President Trump’s executive order to keep meat plants running has sparked outrage over what it means for workers being forced to work in unsafe conditions. On Friday, dozens of Bell & Evans workers and activists circled the poultry company’s Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, poultry processing plant in a funeral caravan, after two COVID-19 deaths and dozens of infections connected to the plant. The protesters demanded an immediate shutdown of the plant and full pay for all workers until it can implement a plan to keep workers safe, including personal protective equipment, paid sick time and social distancing policies.
PROTESTER: Bell & Evans has gone radio silent while their workers die. That’s unacceptable. We demand Bell & Evans to tell us how many workers are infected and how many workers have died. We need to know how many other workers have been infected by the failures of this company.
AMY GOODMAN: Over the weekend, LULAC — that’s the League of United Latin American Citizens — joined a coalition of Iowa farmers, activists, workers and elected officials and community groups to announce the Meatless May Mondays campaign to draw attention to the conditions workers are facing. Today, LULAC, which has more than 60 million members countrywide, is joining with Univision to host a virtual town hall on food worker safety with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and members of Congress.
Well, for more, we’re joined by a number of guests. In Washington, D.C., Sindy Benavides is with us, CEO of LULAC. And in Des Moines, Iowa, we’ll start with Alejandro, a local organizer whose immediate and extended family members work in meatpacking plants across Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska, including Smithfield, Tyson and other meat plants. Alejandro has asked us to use his first name only, out of concern for retaliation against his family.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Sindy Benavides, we’re beginning with you, CEO of LULAC. I watched your news conference on Friday, where you’re joining with this coalition of groups calling for Meatless May Mondays, a kind of boycott of these meat corporations, this as President Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act, signing an executive order saying governments cannot close down these hot spots, where, in some cases — one meatpacking plant alone, there are over 700 coronavirus-positive workers. Can you talk about LULAC’s position and what you understand about the meatpacking industry in this country and who the meatpackers are?
SINDY BENAVIDES: Sure. First of all, thank you so much, Amy, for having me on.
As many of you may know, LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens, is the oldest and largest national Latino civil rights organization. We’re about 91 years young, 91 years strong, and still going. For 91 years, we have been protecting and defending the Latino community in the United States, in Puerto Rico, in Washington, D.C. And today, unfortunately, we find ourselves still protecting and defending our community, particular our meatpacking workers.
What we’re seeing on the ground and how we’re made up is that we have members who are volunteers for LULAC in over 37 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. And some of those members happen to work in meatpacking plants and/or are relatives of folks that work in meatpacking plants. And this is why, over a month ago, we started receiving complaints of individuals who were hearing that, unfortunately, their colleagues were getting sick, and this was not being reported by that particular industry or facility.
And so we got involved. And over a month ago, we sent a letter to OSHA to ask for questions. To this day, we have not heard back. We have not gotten a response. We also know that our LULAC members in Iowa, our state director, Nick Salazar, and Joe Henry, who serves as a senior adviser to our national president, have been working closely with our community in Iowa and also traveling to neighboring states to understand the conditions of the workers. And just to give you an idea, in Columbus Junction, Iowa, we know that there’s already been multiple deaths there of people working.
And what we’re seeing, more than that, is that when President Trump enacted the Defense Production Act, what he is asking our community to do is to march into slaughterhouses and put their lives on the line. What he is doing is a lack of acknowledgment and completely voiding and annulling a person’s right to work in a safe place.
We know that more than 20,000 individuals have been impacted, have cases of COVID-19, and that there’s over 20 deaths that have occurred. However, we feel that these estimates are highly undercounted. We think that it’s at least double, if not triple, those numbers. And again, what we’re hearing from the workers and from their families is that, in many instances, the workers are being turned away by the clinics and hospitals in their community, and they’re having to drive over an hour and a half or two hours simply to get tested — and, on top, pay for the tests in order to know if they actually do have COVID cases.
AMY GOODMAN: Alejandro, if you could describe your family, what they face, the plants they live in — that they work in?
ALEJANDRO: Definitely. And thanks for having me, Amy.
Essentially, you know, in the surrounding area here in Iowa, there are countless meat and food processing plants, and we’re seeing that these issues are across the board. You know, this is industrywide practices, and that’s why we’re seeing this kind of pop up all over the state, essentially.
And as you mentioned, I have family working across the board, across the state and into some other states, in the industry. So, you know, it’s very scary for my family, my immediate family, my extended family. I have cousins who now have tested positive because of these plants. My sister and her husband have tested positive here just recently because of these plants. And again, just incredibly scared.
And this has just been consistent, even prior to the epidemic, that these have not been safe work conditions — very fast lines. These are workers that are standing on their feet for hours, overworked, working extended hours in a day and working, often forced, weekends.
So these are very hard workers that are very dedicated to that work to provide for their families. But the only reason that they aren’t there right now, why these companies, many of them, are a lot — I mean, have a lot less workers right now, is because they’re scared. They want to do the work. I’ve been talking to families, to workers almost every day for the last couple of weeks, and they’ve been telling me that they want to work, but they want to be able to do it safely.
So, you know, just even two weeks ago is when they finally started introducing masks, not that they’re very protective masks, but they started introducing masks just two weeks ago, even though we have known about what’s been going on for months. So it’s very clear that these companies, that they didn’t take the safety precautions. And essentially, they have a system in place that doesn’t prioritize the safety of workers, which is largely why we are seeing all of this.
AMY GOODMAN: Um —
ALEJANDRO: Again, you know, they talk — go ahead.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to read what John Tyson, the billionaire chair of the board of Tyson Foods, recently warned in a full-page ad in several newspapers, as well on the company’s website: quote, “There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed. … The food supply chain is breaking,” he said. It wasn’t days later that the president, President Trump, invoking the Defense Production Act, said that no government, you know, no governor, could shut down a plant.
But is it the coronavirus that is breaking the food supply, or is it these corporations that did not early on provide the PPE, the protective gear, that workers needed, the social distancing required? Alejandro, I wanted to put that question to you. And also, if you can talk about — right now, as we’re broadcasting, Univision is having a special, where they are bringing on different workers, like one of your colleagues, yet another daughter or son of workers in the plants. If you could talk about your organization? You speak English. You’re a kind of a translator for your families who are working and getting sick in the plants.
ALEJANDRO: Definitely. And, you know, in terms of what the Tyson’s head said there in regards to the food supply chain, I think that’s something that a lot of us are seeing. You know, of course I’m concerned about being able to feed America, and so are the workers. But if that was truly what they prioritized, if what they were prioritizing was ensuring that we have a food supply chain, essentially, then they would be making sure that the workers are able to do their jobs safely. And they’re not doing that.
And it’s kind of sad to see even other leaders blaming the workers, the immigrants, for what’s going on, when it’s very clear that it is because they didn’t take the safety precautions, because of the culture where they’re encouraging people to come in or not letting them go home when they’re sick.
It’s because of these long-existing practices that — and the structure, this dynamic between leadership and workers, where workers don’t have a voice. That largely feeds into why, as you mentioned, it’s the children of the workers. You know, I was seeing that a lot of people in my similar situation, which is my cousins, my siblings, my former classmates from high school, we were kind of just screaming out to the void. You know, we were afraid for our parents. But there really wasn’t much talk there. You know, there wasn’t any noise. So, in order to create a group where we were able to come together, the families and the community, different allies, to start bringing awareness, start addressing what’s going on, talking to workers and really identifying what they need, because, again, I’m not here to speak on behalf and tell you what they need, I’m just here to say that these workers need a voice.
And, you know, these executive orders, these different things that, say, Mitch McConnell and other leaders are touting, are essentially just finding new ways to limit that voice. These workers don’t have protections. These companies aren’t being held accountable, and they’re not even taking responsibility, so that makes it even harder to be accountable. And having a situation where workers can’t even take legal action, or the communities can’t rally around and force governments to take this seriously, and potentially, if what —
AMY GOODMAN: And we’re going to talk about that issue of corporate responsibility, the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell holding up stimulus package for, until he can get inserted into it that corporations are not responsible for what happens during COVID. But before we do that and also speak with Rob Weissman, head of Public Citizen, let’s turn again to the Tyson processing plant worker in Columbus Junction, Iowa, who spoke to Democracy Now! but asked we not use her name because of fear of retaliation. She said this is her message to Tyson and other meat industry corporations.
TYSON WORKER: [translated] I would like it if they treated people with more respect, with more love, to be considerate of us, the people who are working there out of necessity. We’re not there for them to destroy our lives or our bodies. They need to be more conscious of taking care of people. It is because of the people that they are able to do what they do. Why not take care of people? Why not make sure we don’t get hurt? I’ve never liked this, that they don’t pay any attention to people’s well-being. They should be more humane. Don’t just think about money, but think about the workers that are helping the company make that money.
AMY GOODMAN: In an interview with BuzzFeed News, a Smithfield Foods spokesperson blamed the South Dakota plant’s, quote, “large immigrant population” for the rapid spread of the coronavirus. The spokesperson explained, quote, “Living circumstances in certain cultures are different than they are with your traditional American family.” I wanted to go back to Sindy Benavides to respond to this, the CEO of LULAC.
SINDY BENAVIDES: Thank you, Amy. And, you know, first and foremost, I can certainly understand the pain that our community is feeling and the fear. And Alejandro talked about this. There are so many in our community who have reached out to LULAC, given us only their first name or a different name, for fear of retaliation.
And we also know that many of them are being told internally that if they are not at work, they will not get paid, and/or worse, that they could get fired, even when some of these same companies are touting externally that they’re willing to pay the workers additional money or give them bonuses. So, which one is it? Is it, one, the managers internally telling the workers that they will get fired and/or not get paid if they get sick, or is it really what’s being publicized externally?
I can tell you, when we look at this particular industry, you have to really look at it from the very beginning to end. Yes, many of the workers actually commute in together to work, to the plants. Many of them also, like many Americans, have multigenerational homes, where you may have the parents, the children and/or the grandparents in the same household. And I know that this is not only true to Latinos, but it’s also true to many immigrant and American families across this country. More worrisome is the fact that some of these facilities, even more than a month ago, when they started seeing the cases pop up, did not take the urgent steps to make sure that the workers were protected, making sure that they had protection gear in place.
And I just want Americans to stop for a minute, for all of us who go to the grocery store, and for the one hour or two hours that we’re wearing that face mask, it’s so uncomfortable. Can you just imagine workers who are working for eight to 10 to 12-plus hours? We know, because there have been so many incidents of COVID cases, that our workers are being asked to work even longer shifts or work additional shifts. And we know this from different members across the country. In fact, our state director, Madaí, her father, who has worked in this industry for over 30 years, reported that he’s having to work and pick up shifts, unvoluntarily at times, to make sure that the production keeps going.
And so, what are we asking? We are asking the companies to put safety measures in place, to make sure that there are longer breaks so you don’t have a line of people waiting at the restroom close together. We’re asking them to put sneeze guards, plastics, in between workers and to make sure that they in fact are following CDC and OSHA guidelines in terms of social distancing.
And here’s one more thing. We also know that in various facilities across this country, in many facilities, there are workers who may speak more than 40 different languages. And so it’s not enough to put a poster up on a wall that says, “Please practice social distancing six feet apart,” if you don’t explain it, if you don’t have the education awareness about what social distancing is, and, in fact, even making sure that the shifts are staggered and that the breaks are staggered. Oftentimes, where people sit to eat, they’re eating elbow to elbow. Where they are working, they’re elbow to elbow, oftentimes even not having the ventilation that’s required for them to be in a safe place.
And so, as we hear of the companies, you know, and the different cases that have occurred, again, our ask is very simple: Please make sure that the workers are in a safe place, where they don’t fear like they’re walking or marching into a slaughterhouse and their life is on the line. What we’re asking is: If you had your child or your parent or your sibling working in that same line, would you not want them to have the safety conditions, so that they don’t feel afraid to walk into work and think that they will unfortunately come down with a COVID case and potentially die? We are asking for basic protections, protections at work, that help our community to keep the line flowing, to make sure that all of Americans are able to enjoy meat and pork and poultry. We stand with the workers. We want to make sure that all workers across America, but particularly our workers who are facing high cases of COVID cases due to the lack of safety, are protected.
And so, with that, Amy, I will tell you that this is a difficult situation. We understand that there’s political games at play here. We understand that there’s an election coming. But the bottom line is that the slow reaction by the federal government, the slow reaction by corporations, and the lack of action have placed people’s lives on the line, and we’ve already had multiple deaths.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you so much for being with us, and we are not leaving the story here, Sindy Benavides, CEO of LULAC, and Alejandro, an organizer in Iowa whose immediate and extended family members work in meatpacking plants.
When we come back, we’re going to speak with a guest who will talk about this demand by the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to absolve corporations of any responsibility during the pandemic. We’ll speak with Public Citizen’s head, Rob Weissman. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “No Discrimination” by the great Tony Allen and Africa ’70. Allen is the drummer who created the beat of Afrobeat. He died last week at the age of 79.


truthout--2020-05-04--Can Democrats Take the Senate? A New Poll Shows Iowa Might Flip.

At this time last year , many believed that the chances for Democrats to win the Senate in 2020 were fairly mild .
There was a possibility , prognosticators said , but it was going to be a very tight contest overall .
However , new polls for a number of races across the country — including in Iowa , where Republican Sen. Joni Ernst now appears to be vulnerable — suggest that the path for Democrats to take full control of Congress is stronger than was initially believed .
Ernst was first elected to her post in 2014 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 8.5 percent .
Polling data from Public Policy Polling ( PPP ) , however , shows that , for her first re-election campaign , the race is likely going to be much tighter .
In a matchup between Ernst and her Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield , Ernst is ahead by just 1 point , earning 43 percent of support from Iowans versus Greenfield ’ s 42 percent .
Those numbers are within the poll ’ s margin of error , which means the candidates are tied statistically at the moment to win the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ difference from December 2019 , when Ernst was ahead by about 6 points , PPP found .
Ernst ’ s vulnerability highlights a trend that , while not consistent for Republican candidates in all Senate races , is becoming more common , demonstrating that Democrats have a real chance to win control of the Senate later this fall , according to analysis from CNN ’ s Harry Enten last week .
If Joe Biden wins in November , Democrats would need to win three Senate seats in order to take control of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president could cast a tie-breaking vote . )
If Trump is re-elected , they would need to win four .
Beyond Iowa , there are four seats that appear to be possible pickups for Democrats : Arizona , Colorado , Maine and North Carolina .
One other state — Alabama — may be a potential loss for the party , however .
Despite the possible loss , Enten ’ s analysis says Democrats ’ chances of winning the “ upper house ” are pretty good .
His findings suggest that there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least three Senate seats , and a 50 percent chance they could win four of them .
Enten ’ s look at the battleground states , however , didn ’ t include a look at Iowa ’ s numbers , since polling was limited there .
If PPP ’ s new numbers hold up , though , it could seal the deal for a Democratic upset in the Senate .
Others are echoing Enten ’ s viewpoints on the status of the Senate races .
Kyle Kondik , a political analyst at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , spoke to Al Jazeera about the matter .
“ At the start of the cycle , Republicans were favored to hold a majority , ” Kondik explained .
“ At this point , it ’ s more of a 50-50 game.
” On the other side of Congress , Democrats look poised to retain control of the House of Representatives .
In a recent Economist/YouGov poll conducted late last month , respondents said they ’ d rather have Democrats in control than Republicans by an 8-point margin .

Polling has tightened in Iowa, and a number of Republican-held states also appear to be highly vulnerable.
At this time last year, many believed that the chances for Democrats to win the Senate in 2020 were fairly mild. There was a possibility, prognosticators said, but it was going to be a very tight contest overall.
However, new polls for a number of races across the country — including in Iowa, where Republican Sen. Joni Ernst now appears to be vulnerable — suggest that the path for Democrats to take full control of Congress is stronger than was initially believed.
Ernst was first elected to her post in 2014, defeating her Democratic challenger Bruce Braley by 8.5 percent. Polling data from Public Policy Polling (PPP), however, shows that, for her first re-election campaign, the race is likely going to be much tighter.
In a matchup between Ernst and her Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield, Ernst is ahead by just 1 point, earning 43 percent of support from Iowans versus Greenfield’s 42 percent. Those numbers are within the poll’s margin of error, which means the candidates are tied statistically at the moment to win the Senate race.
This is a significant difference from December 2019, when Ernst was ahead by about 6 points, PPP found.
Ernst’s vulnerability highlights a trend that, while not consistent for Republican candidates in all Senate races, is becoming more common, demonstrating that Democrats have a real chance to win control of the Senate later this fall, according to analysis from CNN’s Harry Enten last week.
If Joe Biden wins in November, Democrats would need to win three Senate seats in order to take control of the chamber. (Biden’s vice president could cast a tie-breaking vote.) If Trump is re-elected, they would need to win four. Beyond Iowa, there are four seats that appear to be possible pickups for Democrats: Arizona, Colorado, Maine and North Carolina. One other state — Alabama — may be a potential loss for the party, however.
Despite the possible loss, Enten’s analysis says Democrats’ chances of winning the “upper house” are pretty good. His findings suggest that there’s a 60 percent chance Democrats could win at least three Senate seats, and a 50 percent chance they could win four of them.
Enten’s look at the battleground states, however, didn’t include a look at Iowa’s numbers, since polling was limited there. If PPP’s new numbers hold up, though, it could seal the deal for a Democratic upset in the Senate.
Others are echoing Enten’s viewpoints on the status of the Senate races. Kyle Kondik, a political analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, spoke to Al Jazeera about the matter. “At the start of the cycle, Republicans were favored to hold a majority,” Kondik explained. “At this point, it’s more of a 50-50 game.”
On the other side of Congress, Democrats look poised to retain control of the House of Representatives. In a recent Economist/YouGov poll conducted late last month, respondents said they’d rather have Democrats in control than Republicans by an 8-point margin.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-05-04--Demanding Tax Cut in Next Stimulus Package, Trump Holds COVID Relief Hostage

President Donald Trump on Sunday said he will not approve another badly needed Covid-19 stimulus package if it doesn ’ t include a payroll tax cut , a policy that would strike a blow to Social Security and Medicare funding while offering no relief for the more than 30 million people who have lost their jobs over the past six weeks .
“ I told Steve just today , we ’ re not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut , ” Trump said during a Fox News town hall Sunday night , referring to Treasury Secretary Steve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the success of our country.
” The town hall was the second time in less than a week that the president has proposed a payroll tax cut as a centerpiece of the next relief legislation , which is being negotiated by the White House and congressional leaders as the U.S. barrels toward an unemployment rate not seen since the Great Depression .
An NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist survey released last week found that half of all Americans said they or someone in their household has lost a job or seen their hours slashed due @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noted that a payroll tax cut—unlike additional direct payments , which Trump has opposed—would do nothing for those who have been thrown out of work by the coronavirus crisis .
University of Michigan economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers wrote in a New York Times op-ed in March that a payroll tax cut would give “ the biggest breaks to those with the biggest paychecks , and delivers nothing to those who have lost their pay.
” “ And it ’ s a slow infusion of cash , ” Stevenson and Wolfers added @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Additionally , advocacy groups have warned that a payroll tax cut represents a threat to Social Security and Medicare .
“ ‘ Payroll tax cut ’ is code for ‘ gut Social Security and Medicare ’ s dedicated funding , then demand benefit cuts , ' ” Social Security Works tweeted Sunday night .
“ Democrats must stand strong and continue blocking Trump ’ s terrible idea.
” Trump ’ s comments came in the early stages of talks over a “ Phase Four ” coronavirus stimulus package that advocates and experts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ layoffs , forestall a looming nationwide housing crisis , and avert a second Great Depression .
On top of a payroll tax cut , Republican congressional leaders and the Trump White House are demanding that any future stimulus measure include legal immunity for corporations whose workers contract Covid-19 on the job .
Progressives , meanwhile , are calling for a relief package that addresses the needs of frontline workers , distributes direct $ 2,000 monthly payments to all U.S. households , provides emergency funding for the U.S .
Postal Service , expands Medicare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cancels rent and mortgage payments , and more .
Indivisible , a progressive advocacy organization , is pressuring members of Congress to vote against any stimulus bill that doesn ’ t provide sufficient relief to the vulnerable .
“ If the bill doesn ’ t put people first , they should vote no , ” the group tweeted Saturday .

The payroll tax cut would undermine Social Security and Medicare funding and offer no relief for 30 million unemployed.
President Donald Trump on Sunday said he will not approve another badly needed Covid-19 stimulus package if it doesn’t include a payroll tax cut, a policy that would strike a blow to Social Security and Medicare funding while offering no relief for the more than 30 million people who have lost their jobs over the past six weeks.
“I told Steve just today, we’re not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut,” Trump said during a Fox News town hall Sunday night, referring to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. “That is so important to the success of our country.”
The town hall was the second time in less than a week that the president has proposed a payroll tax cut as a centerpiece of the next relief legislation, which is being negotiated by the White House and congressional leaders as the U.S. barrels toward an unemployment rate not seen since the Great Depression.
An NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist survey released last week found that half of all Americans said they or someone in their household has lost a job or seen their hours slashed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Economists have noted that a payroll tax cut—unlike additional direct payments, which Trump has opposed—would do nothing for those who have been thrown out of work by the coronavirus crisis.
University of Michigan economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers wrote in a New York Times op-ed in March that a payroll tax cut would give “the biggest breaks to those with the biggest paychecks, and delivers nothing to those who have lost their pay.”
“And it’s a slow infusion of cash,” Stevenson and Wolfers added, “dripping out paycheck by paycheck.”
Additionally, advocacy groups have warned that a payroll tax cut represents a threat to Social Security and Medicare.
“‘Payroll tax cut’ is code for ‘gut Social Security and Medicare’s dedicated funding, then demand benefit cuts,'” Social Security Works tweeted Sunday night. “Democrats must stand strong and continue blocking Trump’s terrible idea.”
Trump’s comments came in the early stages of talks over a “Phase Four” coronavirus stimulus package that advocates and experts say is urgently needed to stem mass layoffs, forestall a looming nationwide housing crisis, and avert a second Great Depression.
On top of a payroll tax cut, Republican congressional leaders and the Trump White House are demanding that any future stimulus measure include legal immunity for corporations whose workers contract Covid-19 on the job.
As far as I can tell, Rs now have 2 redline demands — payroll tax cut and liability shield https://t.co/L3eyd7dG08 — Jeffrey Stein (@JStein_WaPo) May 4, 2020
Progressives, meanwhile, are calling for a relief package that addresses the needs of frontline workers, distributes direct $2,000 monthly payments to all U.S. households, provides emergency funding for the U.S. Postal Service, expands Medicare to cover the unemployed and uninsured, cancels rent and mortgage payments, and more.
Indivisible, a progressive advocacy organization, is pressuring members of Congress to vote against any stimulus bill that doesn’t provide sufficient relief to the vulnerable.
“If the bill doesn’t put people first, they should vote no,” the group tweeted Saturday.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-05-04--The Pentagon Continues to Profit at Taxpayers’ Expense During Pandemic

At this moment of unprecedented crisis , you might think that those not overcome by the economic and mortal consequences of the coronavirus would be asking , “ What can we do to help ?
” A few companies have indeed pivoted to making masks and ventilators for an overwhelmed medical establishment .
Unfortunately , when it comes to the top officials of the Pentagon and the CEOs running a large part of the arms industry , examples abound of them asking what they can do to help themselves .
It ’ s important to grasp just how staggeringly well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last nearly 19 years since 9/11 .
Its companies ( filled with ex-military and defense officials ) have received trillions of dollars in government contracts , which they ’ ve largely used to feather their own nests .
Data compiled by the New York Times showed that the chief executive officers of the top five military-industrial contractors received nearly $ 90 million in compensation in 2017 .
An investigation that same year by the Providence Journal discovered that , from 2005 to the first half of 2017 , the top five defense contractors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own company stocks and so boosting their value at the expense of new investment .
To put this in perspective in the midst of a pandemic , the co-directors of the Costs of War Project at Brown University recently pointed out that allocations for the Food and Drug Administration , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , and the National Institutes of Health for 2020 amounted to less than 1 % of what the U.S. government has spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan alone since 9/11 .
While just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been impacted by the still-spreading coronavirus , the role of the defense industry and the military in responding to it has , in truth , been limited indeed .
The highly publicized use of military hospital ships in New York City and Los Angeles , for example , not only had relatively little impact on the crises in those cities but came to serve as a symbol of just how dysfunctional the military response has truly been .
Bailing Out the Military-Industrial Complex in the COVID-19 Moment Demands to use the Defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equipment needed to combat Covid-19 have sputtered , provoking strong resistance from industries worried first and foremost about their own profits .
Even conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot , a longtime supporter of increased Pentagon spending , has recently recanted , noting how just such budget priorities have weakened the ability of the United States to keep Americans safe from the virus .
“ It never made any sense , as Trump ’ s 2021 budget had initially proposed , to increase spending on nuclear weapons by $ 7 billion while cutting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by $ 1.2 billion , ” he wrote .
“ Or to create an unnecessary Space Force out of the U.S. Air Force while eliminating the vitally important directorate of global health by folding it into another office within the National Security Council.
” In fact , continuing to prioritize the U.S. military will only further weaken the country ’ s public health system .
As a start , simply to call up doctors and nurses in the military reserves , as even Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has pointed out , would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
After all , in their civilian lives many of them now work at domestic hospitals and medical centers deluged by Covid-19 patients .
The present situation , however , hasn ’ t stopped military-industrial complex requests for bailouts .
The National Defense Industrial Association , a trade group for the arms industry , typically asked the Pentagon to speed up contracts and awards for $ 160 billion in unobligated Department of Defense funds to its companies , which will involve pushing money out the door without even the most modest level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the pre-pandemic moment for grotesque safety problems with its commercial jets , Boeing , the Pentagon ’ s second biggest contractor , received $ 26.3 billion last year .
Now , that company has asked for $ 60 billion in government support .
And you undoubtedly won ’ t be surprised to learn that Congress has already provided Boeing with some of that desired money in its recent bailout legislation .
According to the Washington Post , $ 17 billion was carved out in that deal for companies “ critical to maintaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particular in mind ) .
When , however , it became clear that those funds wouldn ’ t arrive as a complete blank check , the company started to have second thoughts .
Now , some members of Congress are practically begging it to take the money .
And Boeing was far from alone .
Even as the spreading coronavirus was spurring congressional conversations about what would become a $ 2 trillion relief package , 130 members of the House were already pleading for funds to purchase an additional 98 Lockheed Martin F-35 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system in history , at the cost of another half-billion dollars , or the price of more than 90,000 ventilators .
Similarly , it should have been absurdly obvious that this wasn ’ t the moment to boost already astronomical spending on nuclear weapons .
Yet this year ’ s defense budget request for such weaponry was 20 % higher than last year ’ s and 50 % above funding levels when President Trump took office .
The agency that builds nuclear weapons already had $ 8 billion left unspent from past years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Security Agency , responsible for the development of nuclear warheads , admitted to Representative Susan Davis ( D-CA ) that the agency was unlikely even to be able to spend all of the new increase .
Boosters of such weapons , however , remain undeterred by the Covid-19 pandemic .
If anything , the crisis only seems to have provided a further excuse to accelerate the awarding of an estimated $ 85 billion to Northrop Grumman to build a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles ( ICBMs ) , considered the “ broken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ triad .
As William Hartung , the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy , has pointed out , such ICBMs “ are redundant because invulnerable submarine-launched ballistic missiles are sufficient for deterring other countries from attacking the United States .
They are dangerous because they operate on hair-trigger alert , with launch decisions needing to be made in some cases within minutes .
This increases the risk of an accidental nuclear war.
” And as children ’ s book author Dr. Seuss might have added , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oh , no , that is not all.
” In fact , defense giant Raytheon is also getting its piece of the pie in the Covid-19 moment for a $ 20- $ 30 billion Long Range Standoff Weapon , a similarly redundant nuclear-armed missile .
It tells you everything you need to know about funding priorities now that the company is , in fact , getting that money two years ahead of schedule .
In the midst of the spreading pandemic , the U.S. military ’ s Indo-Pacific Command similarly saw an opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country officially in its area of responsibility , to gain additional funding .
And so it is seeking $ 20 billion that previously hadn ’ t gained approval even from the secretary of defense in the administration ’ s fiscal year 2021 budget proposal .
That money would go to dubious missile defense systems and a similarly dubious “ Pacific Deterrence Initiative.
” How Not to Deal With COVID-19 Along with those military-industrial bailouts came the fleecing of American taxpayers .
While many Americans were anxiously awaiting their $ 1,200 payments from that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Department of Defense was expediting contract payments to the arms industry .
Shay Assad , a former senior Pentagon official , accurately called it a “ taxpayer rip-off ” that industries with so many resources , not to speak of the ability to borrow money at incredibly low interest rates , were being so richly and quickly rewarded in tough times .
Giving defense giants such funding at this moment was like giving a housing contractor 90 % of upfront costs for renovations when it was unclear whether you could even afford your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the defense industry is having similar success in persuading the Pentagon that basic accountability should be tossed out the window .
Even in normal times , it ’ s a reasonably rare event for the federal government to withhold money from a giant weapons maker unless its performance is truly egregious .
Boeing , however , continues to fit that bill perfectly with its endless program to build the KC-46 Pegasus tanker , basically a “ flying gas station ” meant to refuel other planes in mid-air .
As national security analyst Mark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Government Oversight ( POGO ) , has pointed out , even after years of development , that tanker has little hope of performing its mission in the near future .
The seven cameras that its pilot relies on to guide the KC-46 ’ s fuel to other planes have so much glare and so many shadows that the possibility of disastrously scraping the stealth coating off F-22s and F-35s ( both manufactured by Lockheed Martin ) while refueling remains a constant danger .
The Air Force has also become increasingly concerned that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pre-pandemic moment , such problems and associated ones led that service to decide to withhold $ 882 million from Boeing .
Now , however , in response to the Covid-19 crisis , those funds are , believe it or not , being released .
Keep all of this behavior ( and more ) in mind when you hear people suggest that , in this public health emergency , the military should be put in charge .
After all , you ’ re talking about the very institution that has regularly mismanaged massive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ F-35 jet fighter program , already the most expensive weapons system ever ( with ongoing problems galore ) .
Even when it comes to health care , the military has proved remarkably inept .
For instance , attempts of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to integrate their health records were , infamously enough , abandoned after four years and $ 1 billion spent .
Having someone in uniform at the podium is , unfortunately , no guarantee of success .
Indeed , a number of veterans have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the military at this time .
“ Don ’ t put the military in charge of anything that doesn ’ t involve blowing stuff up , preventing stuff from being blown up , or showing up at a place as a message to others that we ’ ll be there to blow stuff up with you if need be , ” one wrote .
“ Here ’ s a video from Camp Pendleton of unmasked Marines queued up for haircuts during the pandemic , ” tweeted another .
“ So how about ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troops without masks or practicing social distancing even shocked Secretary of Defense Esper , who called for a military haircut halt , only to be contradicted by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , desperate to maintain regulation cuts in the pandemic moment .
That inspired a mocking rebuke of “ haircut heroes ” on Twitter .
Unfortunately , as Covid-19 spread on the aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt , that ship became emblematic of how ill-prepared the current Pentagon leadership proved to be in combatting the virus .
Despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board — 955 crewmembers would , in the end , test positive for the disease and Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr. would die of it — senior Navy leaders were slow to respond .
Instead , they kept those sailors at close quarters and in an untenable situation of increasing risk .
When an emailed letter expressing the concerns of the ship ’ s commander , Captain Brett Crozier , was leaked to the press he was quickly removed from command .
But while his bosses may not have appreciated his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did .
He left the ship to a hero ’ s farewell .
All of this is not to say that some parts of the U.S. military haven ’ t tried to step up as Covid-19 spreads .
The Pentagon has , for instance , awarded contracts to build “ alternate care ” facilities to help relieve pressure on hospitals .
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is allowing its doctors and nurses to join the military early .
Several months into this crisis , the Pentagon has finally used the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to produce $ 133 million worth of crucial N95 respirator masks and $ 415 million worth of N95 critical-care decontamination units .
But these are modest acts in the midst of a pandemic and at a moment when bailouts , fraud , and delays suggest that the military-industrial complex hasn ’ t proved capable of delivering effectively , even for its own troops .
Meanwhile , the Beltway bandits that make up that complex have spotted a remarkable opportunity to secure many of their hopes and dreams .
Their success in putting their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ true national security of Americans was already clear enough in the staggering pre-pandemic $ 1.2 trillion national security budget .
( Meanwhile , of course , key federal medical structures were underfunded or disbanded in the Trump administration years , undermining the actual security of the country . )
That kind of disproportionate spending helps explain why the richest nation on the planet has proven so incapable of providing even the necessary personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers , no less the testing needed to make this country safer .
The defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a lot in this time of soaring cases of disease and death .
While there is undoubtedly a role for the giant weapons makers and for the Pentagon to play in this crisis , they have shown themselves to be anything but effective lead institutions in the response to this moment .
It ’ s time for the military-industrial complex to truly pay back an American public that has been beyond generous to it .
Isn ’ t it finally time as well to reduce the “ defense ” budget and put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national security crisis at hand ?

At this moment of unprecedented crisis, you might think that those not overcome by the economic and mortal consequences of the coronavirus would be asking, “What can we do to help?” A few companies have indeed pivoted to making masks and ventilators for an overwhelmed medical establishment. Unfortunately, when it comes to the top officials of the Pentagon and the CEOs running a large part of the arms industry, examples abound of them asking what they can do to help themselves.
It’s important to grasp just how staggeringly well the defense industry has done in these last nearly 19 years since 9/11. Its companies (filled with ex-military and defense officials) have received trillions of dollars in government contracts, which they’ve largely used to feather their own nests. Data compiled by the New York Times showed that the chief executive officers of the top five military-industrial contractors received nearly $90 million in compensation in 2017. An investigation that same year by the Providence Journal discovered that, from 2005 to the first half of 2017, the top five defense contractors spent more than $114 billion repurchasing their own company stocks and so boosting their value at the expense of new investment.
To put this in perspective in the midst of a pandemic, the co-directors of the Costs of War Project at Brown University recently pointed out that allocations for the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health for 2020 amounted to less than 1% of what the U.S. government has spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan alone since 9/11. While just about every imaginable government agency and industry has been impacted by the still-spreading coronavirus, the role of the defense industry and the military in responding to it has, in truth, been limited indeed. The highly publicized use of military hospital ships in New York City and Los Angeles, for example, not only had relatively little impact on the crises in those cities but came to serve as a symbol of just how dysfunctional the military response has truly been.
Bailing Out the Military-Industrial Complex in the COVID-19 Moment
Demands to use the Defense Production Act to direct firms to produce equipment needed to combat Covid-19 have sputtered, provoking strong resistance from industries worried first and foremost about their own profits. Even conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot, a longtime supporter of increased Pentagon spending, has recently recanted, noting how just such budget priorities have weakened the ability of the United States to keep Americans safe from the virus. “It never made any sense, as Trump’s 2021 budget had initially proposed, to increase spending on nuclear weapons by $7 billion while cutting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding by $1.2 billion,” he wrote. “Or to create an unnecessary Space Force out of the U.S. Air Force while eliminating the vitally important directorate of global health by folding it into another office within the National Security Council.”
In fact, continuing to prioritize the U.S. military will only further weaken the country’s public health system. As a start, simply to call up doctors and nurses in the military reserves, as even Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has pointed out, would hurt the broader civilian response to the pandemic. After all, in their civilian lives many of them now work at domestic hospitals and medical centers deluged by Covid-19 patients.
The present situation, however, hasn’t stopped military-industrial complex requests for bailouts. The National Defense Industrial Association, a trade group for the arms industry, typically asked the Pentagon to speed up contracts and awards for $160 billion in unobligated Department of Defense funds to its companies, which will involve pushing money out the door without even the most modest level of due diligence.
Already under fire in the pre-pandemic moment for grotesque safety problems with its commercial jets, Boeing, the Pentagon’s second biggest contractor, received $26.3 billion last year. Now, that company has asked for $60 billion in government support. And you undoubtedly won’t be surprised to learn that Congress has already provided Boeing with some of that desired money in its recent bailout legislation. According to the Washington Post, $17 billion was carved out in that deal for companies “critical to maintaining national security” (with Boeing in particular in mind). When, however, it became clear that those funds wouldn’t arrive as a complete blank check, the company started to have second thoughts. Now, some members of Congress are practically begging it to take the money.
And Boeing was far from alone. Even as the spreading coronavirus was spurring congressional conversations about what would become a $2 trillion relief package, 130 members of the House were already pleading for funds to purchase an additional 98 Lockheed Martin F-35 jet fighters, the most expensive weapons system in history, at the cost of another half-billion dollars, or the price of more than 90,000 ventilators.
Similarly, it should have been absurdly obvious that this wasn’t the moment to boost already astronomical spending on nuclear weapons. Yet this year’s defense budget request for such weaponry was 20% higher than last year’s and 50% above funding levels when President Trump took office. The agency that builds nuclear weapons already had $8 billion left unspent from past years and the head of the National Nuclear Security Agency, responsible for the development of nuclear warheads, admitted to Representative Susan Davis (D-CA) that the agency was unlikely even to be able to spend all of the new increase.
Boosters of such weapons, however, remain undeterred by the Covid-19 pandemic. If anything, the crisis only seems to have provided a further excuse to accelerate the awarding of an estimated $85 billion to Northrop Grumman to build a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), considered the “broken leg” of America’s nuclear triad. As William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, has pointed out, such ICBMs “are redundant because invulnerable submarine-launched ballistic missiles are sufficient for deterring other countries from attacking the United States. They are dangerous because they operate on hair-trigger alert, with launch decisions needing to be made in some cases within minutes. This increases the risk of an accidental nuclear war.”
And as children’s book author Dr. Seuss might have added, “But that is not all! Oh, no, that is not all.” In fact, defense giant Raytheon is also getting its piece of the pie in the Covid-19 moment for a $20-$30 billion Long Range Standoff Weapon, a similarly redundant nuclear-armed missile. It tells you everything you need to know about funding priorities now that the company is, in fact, getting that money two years ahead of schedule.
In the midst of the spreading pandemic, the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command similarly saw an opportunity to use fear-mongering about China, a country officially in its area of responsibility, to gain additional funding. And so it is seeking $20 billion that previously hadn’t gained approval even from the secretary of defense in the administration’s fiscal year 2021 budget proposal. That money would go to dubious missile defense systems and a similarly dubious “Pacific Deterrence Initiative.”
How Not to Deal With COVID-19
Along with those military-industrial bailouts came the fleecing of American taxpayers. While many Americans were anxiously awaiting their $1,200 payments from that congressional aid and relief package, the Department of Defense was expediting contract payments to the arms industry. Shay Assad, a former senior Pentagon official, accurately called it a “taxpayer rip-off” that industries with so many resources, not to speak of the ability to borrow money at incredibly low interest rates, were being so richly and quickly rewarded in tough times. Giving defense giants such funding at this moment was like giving a housing contractor 90% of upfront costs for renovations when it was unclear whether you could even afford your next mortgage payment.
Right now, the defense industry is having similar success in persuading the Pentagon that basic accountability should be tossed out the window. Even in normal times, it’s a reasonably rare event for the federal government to withhold money from a giant weapons maker unless its performance is truly egregious. Boeing, however, continues to fit that bill perfectly with its endless program to build the KC-46 Pegasus tanker, basically a “flying gas station” meant to refuel other planes in mid-air.
As national security analyst Mark Thompson, my colleague at the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), has pointed out, even after years of development, that tanker has little hope of performing its mission in the near future. The seven cameras that its pilot relies on to guide the KC-46’s fuel to other planes have so much glare and so many shadows that the possibility of disastrously scraping the stealth coating off F-22s and F-35s (both manufactured by Lockheed Martin) while refueling remains a constant danger. The Air Force has also become increasingly concerned that the tanker itself leaks fuel. In the pre-pandemic moment, such problems and associated ones led that service to decide to withhold $882 million from Boeing. Now, however, in response to the Covid-19 crisis, those funds are, believe it or not, being released.
Keep all of this behavior (and more) in mind when you hear people suggest that, in this public health emergency, the military should be put in charge. After all, you’re talking about the very institution that has regularly mismanaged massive weapons programs like the $1.4 trillion F-35 jet fighter program, already the most expensive weapons system ever (with ongoing problems galore). Even when it comes to health care, the military has proved remarkably inept. For instance, attempts of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to integrate their health records were, infamously enough, abandoned after four years and $1 billion spent.
Having someone in uniform at the podium is, unfortunately, no guarantee of success. Indeed, a number of veterans have been quick to rebuke the idea of forefronting the military at this time. “Don’t put the military in charge of anything that doesn’t involve blowing stuff up, preventing stuff from being blown up, or showing up at a place as a message to others that we’ll be there to blow stuff up with you if need be,” one wrote.
“Here’s a video from Camp Pendleton of unmasked Marines queued up for haircuts during the pandemic,” tweeted another. “So how about ‘no’?” That video of troops without masks or practicing social distancing even shocked Secretary of Defense Esper, who called for a military haircut halt, only to be contradicted by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, desperate to maintain regulation cuts in the pandemic moment. That inspired a mocking rebuke of “haircut heroes” on Twitter.
Unfortunately, as Covid-19 spread on the aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt, that ship became emblematic of how ill-prepared the current Pentagon leadership proved to be in combatting the virus. Despite at least 100 cases being reported on board — 955 crewmembers would, in the end, test positive for the disease and Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr. would die of it — senior Navy leaders were slow to respond. Instead, they kept those sailors at close quarters and in an untenable situation of increasing risk. When an emailed letter expressing the concerns of the ship’s commander, Captain Brett Crozier, was leaked to the press he was quickly removed from command. But while his bosses may not have appreciated his efforts for his crew, his sailors did. He left the ship to a hero’s farewell.
All of this is not to say that some parts of the U.S. military haven’t tried to step up as Covid-19 spreads. The Pentagon has, for instance, awarded contracts to build “alternate care” facilities to help relieve pressure on hospitals. The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is allowing its doctors and nurses to join the military early. Several months into this crisis, the Pentagon has finally used the Defense Production Act to launch a process to produce $133 million worth of crucial N95 respirator masks and $415 million worth of N95 critical-care decontamination units. But these are modest acts in the midst of a pandemic and at a moment when bailouts, fraud, and delays suggest that the military-industrial complex hasn’t proved capable of delivering effectively, even for its own troops.
Meanwhile, the Beltway bandits that make up that complex have spotted a remarkable opportunity to secure many of their hopes and dreams. Their success in putting their desires and their profits ahead of the true national security of Americans was already clear enough in the staggering pre-pandemic $1.2 trillion national security budget. (Meanwhile, of course, key federal medical structures were underfunded or disbanded in the Trump administration years, undermining the actual security of the country.) That kind of disproportionate spending helps explain why the richest nation on the planet has proven so incapable of providing even the necessary personal protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers, no less the testing needed to make this country safer.
The defense industry has asked for, and received, a lot in this time of soaring cases of disease and death. While there is undoubtedly a role for the giant weapons makers and for the Pentagon to play in this crisis, they have shown themselves to be anything but effective lead institutions in the response to this moment. It’s time for the military-industrial complex to truly pay back an American public that has been beyond generous to it.
Isn’t it finally time as well to reduce the “defense” budget and put more of our resources into the real national security crisis at hand?
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