Monday, February 1, 2021
Opinion: The Republican Economic Plan Is an Insult
By Paul Krugman
It’s bad faith in the name of bipartisanship.
So 10 Republican senators are proposing an economic package that is supposed to be an alternative to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The proposal is only a third of the size of Biden’s plan and would in important ways cut the heart out of economic relief.
Republicans, however, want Biden to give in to their wishes in the name of bipartisanship. Should he?
No, no, 1.9 trillion times, no.
It’s not just that the G.O.P. proposal is grotesquely inadequate for a nation still ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Beyond that, by their behavior — not just over the past few months but going back a dozen years — Republicans have forfeited any right to play the bipartisanship card, or even to be afforded any presumption of good faith.
Let’s start with the substance.
By any measure, January was the worst pandemic month so far. More than 95,000 Americans died of Covid-19; hospitalizations remain far higher than they were at previous peaks.
True, the end of the nightmare is finally in sight. If all goes well, at some point this year enough people will have been vaccinated that we’ll reach herd immunity, the pandemic will fade away and normal life can resume. But that’s unlikely to happen before late summer or early fall.And in the meantime we’re going to have to remain on partial lockdown. It would, for example, be folly to reopen full-scale indoor dining. And the continuing lockdown will impose a lot of financial hardship. Unemployment will remain very high; millions of businesses will struggle to stay afloat; state and local governments, which aren’t allowed to run deficits, will be in dire fiscal straits. What we need, then, is disaster relief to get afflicted Americans through the harsh months ahead. And that’s what the Biden plan would do. Republicans, however, want to rip the guts out of this plan. They are seeking to reduce extra aid to the unemployed and, more important, cut that aid off in June — long before we can possibly get back to full employment. They want to eliminate hundreds of billions in aid to state and local governments. They want to eliminate aid for children. And so on. This isn’t an offer of compromise; it’s a demand for near-total surrender. And the consequences would be devastating if Democrats were to give in. But what about bipartisanship? As Biden might say, “C’mon, man.” First of all, a party doesn’t get to demand bipartisanship when many of its representatives still won’t acknowledge that Biden won legitimately, and even those who eventually acknowledged the Biden victory spent weeks humoring baseless claims of a stolen election.
Complaints that it would be “divisive” for Democrats to pass a relief bill on a party-line vote, using reconciliation to bypass the filibuster, are also pretty rich coming from a party that did exactly that in 2017, when it enacted a large tax cut — legislation that, unlike pandemic relief, wasn’t a response to any obvious crisis, but was simply part of a conservative wish list.Oh, and that tax cut was rammed through in the face of broad public opposition: Only 29 percent of Americans approved of the bill, while 56 percent disapproved. By contrast, the main provisions of the Biden plan are very popular: 79 percent of the public approve of new stimulus checks, and 69 percent approve of both expanded unemployment benefits and aid to state and local governments. So when one party is trying to pursue policies with overwhelming public support while the other offers lock-step opposition, who, exactly, is being divisive? Wait, there’s more. Everyone knew that Republicans, who abruptly stopped caring about deficits when Donald Trump took office, would suddenly rediscover the horror of debt under Joe Biden. What even I didn’t expect was to see them complain that Biden’s plan gives too much help to relatively affluent families. Again, consider the 2017 tax cut. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, that law gave 79 percent of its benefits to people making more than $100,000 a year. It gave more to Americans with million-dollar-plus incomes, just 0.4 percent of taxpayers, than the total tax break for those living on less than $75,000 a year, that is, a majority of the population. And now Republicans claim to care about equity? In short, everything about this Republican counteroffer reeks of bad faith — the same kind of bad faith the G.O.P. displayed in 2009 when it tried to block President Barack Obama’s efforts to rescue the economy after the 2008 financial crisis. Obama, unfortunately, failed to grasp the nature of his opposition, and he watered down his policies in a vain attempt to win support across the aisle. This time, it seems as if Democrats understand what Lucy will do with that football and won’t be fooled again. So it’s OK for Biden to talk with Republicans and hear them out. But should he make any substantive concessions in an attempt to win them over? Should he let negotiations with Republicans delay the passage of his rescue plan? Absolutely not. Just get it done.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/opinion/coronavirus-relief-biden-republicans.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Girl Kicking the Narrow-mindedness of Society
Nabila Malik Haya
Since corona came into our lives and disturbed our lives completely, each positive thing that occurs in our toxic environment motivates us to forget all the damages, and build some positive vibes for the future, to create some good room in mind and freshens the soul,A picture of a girl kicking a football is one of them.
Sometimes the social media proves itself positivity and rightly for its users, at least did this time to show us the picture that was taken in the ground of Waziristan and made our day, that we received it in social media, sitting far far away. Twitter users heartily started commenting on the picture, most of them didn’t even know her name but we’re happy to see Waziristan glowing, Asma hafiz is the student of class three, the energetic soul, the future of Waziristan.
The social media users in Pakistan commented on the picture that the picture itself is breaking the stereotype that Pashtoon female is not allowed to get an education and take part in healthy activities in the Waziristan. One of them said that “Inspirational & powerful image, full of hope for a better future. The girl is not only kicking the ball but the orthodoxical mindset which places women inferior to men. This image shows what the future holds for people of war-torn Waziristan”. The other said the girl is not kicking the football but all the barriers that stoping them from their rights and kicked the Nero mind-set.
the ground of Waziristan made us all smile and helped us to forget the hectic day tension. girl in the picture is a slap in the faces of those who still believe that female has a certain role and can’t be equal to man, the picture is a slap to those who believe that their Izat and namoos will get damage if they let daughters and girls participate in the healthy activities.
Different approaches on a single picture
Waziristan “land of the Wazir” is a mountainous region covering the former FATA agencies of North Waziristan and South Waziristan which are now districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Waziristan covers some 11,585 square kilometers. The area is populated by ethnic Pashtuns.
Waziristan was famous among Pakistani’s for negative news most of the time and was called the most dangerous place on earth. However the time is changed, their struggle might come to an end, now Peace can be seen clearly in the picture. The children can go to school and has the freedom to play is itself is proof of a healthy environment.
Coming towards the next point which is gender. The difference between gender and sex is that the letter refers only to biological differences.
But the society especially Pashtoon and Baloch expects males and females to adopt, believe in, and fulfill specific gender roles, Generally, males are expected to be strong, independent, and athletic, whereas females are expected to be quiet, obedient, attractive, and nurturers. When these gender norms are violated, it is common for labels to be given, questions to be asked.
But change has witnessed in one of the rural areas of Pakistan, no doubt there are gaps and the large numbers of girls are out of school, the enrollment of girls in the school is very less compared to their strength. Injustice is still common against women but at least we have such energies to believe that change will come. Who knows what this girl will become in the future, the world no 1 Pernille Harder, the no 2 Vivianne Miedema, or Dr. Hajar Abdulfazl. Whoever she becomes we believe she will be spreading smiles and happiness among us.
But the Asma has fear, fear of not getting an Education as Waziristan has the highest girls dropout rate in the region. According to the Dawn report, The dropout rate in the militancy-affected North Waziristan district is 63pc (73pc among girls), which is the highest among the seven districts’
We don’t have girls high school in our village, I am studying in co-education and I have to leave the school after 6 class, I request the Government for High school the little angel expressed this on independent Urdu channel and asked the government to make her education possible.
https://balochistanvoices.com/2021/02/girl-kicking-the-narrow-mindedness-of-society/
U.N. urges Pakistan to include Ahmadis in National Commission for Minorities
The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the country’s recently established National Commission for Minorities did not to meet the standards set out for national human rights institutions. The U.N. experts recommended Pakistan undertake a serious review of the current structure and membership of the commission and establish clear procedures for the selection and appointment of the members.
The agency said the Pakistan Government should also reverse its decision to exclude certain Muslim minorities, in particular the Ahmadis, and other minorities, and encouraged the holding of consultations with all minorities, as well as other civil society actors, to ensure that “the needs of minorities who are most often excluded or marginalized are duly taken into account.”
https://www.rabwah.net/u-n-urges-pakistan-to-include-ahmadis-in-national-commission-for-minorities/
Bilawal Bhutto slams Imran Khan led-Pak govt: 'Force removal of puppets'
Pakistan Peoples' Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday lambasted the Imran Khan-led federal government by calling Khan and members of his cabinet "puppets."
This comes after the Khan-led government refused to quit after Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) challenged the Khan government to resign by January 31.
Pakistan Peoples' Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday called upon the joint opposition party alliance to "force the removal of puppets", after any signs of the government retreating."The selected PM has failed to resign by the deadline set by PDM. had given this illegitimate regime the opportunity to step aside respectfully and allow for a transition to democracy with free, fair, and transparent elections," Bilawal wrote in a tweet. According to Dawn, he said that the Pakistani people faced historic poverty, unemployment, and inflation because the incumbent government had been "forced on them". "The people face historic, poverty, unemployment, and inflation because this government was forced on them. The joint opposition must now force the removal of puppets. PPP believes in relying on democratic tactics. Sustained joint efforts inside & outside parliament will ultimately succeed," he added. Bilawal said that the plan of staging a long march against the government and moving a no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran will "hopefully be discussed" in the next PDM meeting. The PPP chairperson further hit out at the Imran Khan government saying that the establishment is trying to change the rules and rig the upcoming Senate elections."Long March and no confidence will hopefully be discussed in our PDM meeting. (The) govt's desperation is clear. trying to change rules to rig senate elections because they can see their defeat. IA Senate elections will show govt is on shaky ground. Bilawal also used the occasion to reiterate that the establishment "must leave political battles to the politicians now or risk being drawn into controversies"."The establishment must leave political battles to the politicians now or risk being drawn into controversies. Only a government chosen by the people can deliver for the people," he said further. Dawn reported further that after a meeting of the leadership of its member parties, the PDM had given a deadline to Prime Minister Imran to step down by January 31, with the warning that a march on Islamabad would otherwise result in the ouster of the PTI government. "In case the government does not step down, the date of the long march will be announced on Feb 1. We ask the people of Pakistan to start preparations for the long march from today," PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had told a presser after presiding over the meeting. The alliance constituent parties also collected the resignations of their lawmakers in the national and provincial assemblies, but have decided against submitting them for now. The parties have also decided to jointly contest the Senate elections -- scheduled for March -- and the upcoming by-polls. Accusing Imran Khan of seeking the biggest National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in the foreign funding case, the PDM chief said "Foreign funding case is the biggest scandal in the country's history and Imran Khan is the main accused in the case." PDM had organised several rallies including those in Peshawar, Gujranwala, Karachi, Quetta, Multan, and Lahore since October 16.http://www.catchnews.com/world/bilawal-bhutto-slams-imran-khan-led-pak-govt-force-removal-of-puppets-209795.html
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