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The Lame-Duck Congress Plots to Undermine Retiree Pensions

Michael Hiltzik, "The Economy Hub" Los Angeles Times
In 2006, Congress passed the "Pension Protection Act", which had a devastating effect on single-employer defined benefit pension plans. Now Congress is looking to do the same to multi-employer pension plans.

Mamdani's "Holistic Challenge": Anti-Zionists Must Persuade Jews They Can Only be Safe by Dismantling the Jewish State

Philip Weiss Mondoweiss
The Zionist message to the Jewish population of Israel is this, Zionism is your only guarantee against another holocaust. The opposite is the case. Jews can have a homeland in the Middle East, but their safety can only be achieved by dismantling the Jewish state, Mamdani said. His speech was a political challenge to Jewish anti-Zionists, now just a splinter, to launch a political struggle inside the Jewish community to liberate it from Zionism.

Wall Street's Democrats

Robert Reich Robert Reich
Carried interest allows hedge-fund and private-equity managers, as well as many venture capitalists and partners in real estate investment trusts, to treat their take of the profits as capital gains — taxed at maximum rate of 23.8 percent instead of the 39.6 percent maximum applied to ordinary income. So why didn’t Democrats close it when they ran Congress?

The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther

Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez Democracy Now!
On December 4, 1969, Chicago police raided Hampton’s apartment and shot and killed him in his bed. He was just 21 years old. Black Panther leader Mark Clark was also killed in the raid. Authorities claimed the Panthers had opened fire on the police who were there to serve a search warrant for weapons, evidence later emerged that told a very different story: the FBI, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Chicago police conspired to assassinate Fred Hampton.

Red-Red-Green Is Triumphant!

Victor Grossman Portside
The “red-red-green” coalition has taken office in Thuringia, German -- having squeezed through to victory by one single wavering vote.

Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General

Eric Lipton The New York Times
Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are working with energy companies and other corporate interests, which in turn are providing them with record amounts of money for their political campaigns, including at least $16 million this year. They share a common philosophy about the reach of the federal government, but the companies also have billions of dollars at stake. And the collaboration is likely to grow.

Only U.S. and Israel Oppose UN Ban on Weapons in Outer Space

Ali Abunimah Electronic Intifada
Only the U.S. and Israel voted against UN resolutions calling for the prevention of an arms race in outer space and prohibiting the manufacture of new weapons of mass destruction. These two resolutions were among several dealing with disarmament passed by the UN General Assembly December 2nd. The U.S., Israel, Canada, and Micronesia voted against a resolution calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while 20 countries abstained.