Delta Charges Returning Soldiers for Baggage
Soldiers returning home from Afghanistan said they had to pay Delta Air Lines $2,800 in out-of-pocket fees to check their extra bags, CBS News reports. In a video posted on YouTube, the soldiers say the Army authorized them to bring up to four bags with them as they came home to Fort Polk in Louisiana – but when the unit checked in at the Baltimore-Washington airport, they discovered that Delta had charged them $200 each for excess luggage, “even though there's a contract between the United States government and Delta Air Lines” allowing a fourth bag, Staff Sgt. Robert O'Hair said in the video. Delta said it would “reach out” to the soldiers, but did not specify whether they would be reimbursed.
Boehner Taking $2,000 Monthly in Taxpayer-Funded Expense Checks
According to Roll Call, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) has more than doubled the expense account checks he cashes every month. As Minority Leader, Boehner received a monthly payment of $833 in taxpayer funds to cover “official expenses for leaders” – but after becoming speaker after the midterm elections in 2010, Boehner increased his expense payments to $2,083.33. Boehner's office did not offer details on how he spends his monthly check, which, along with his $30,000 salary jump, brought his total annual income up 22 percent from $203,400 to $248,500. Boehner appears to be the only member of the House accepting direct expense payments.
Benefits of US Aid in Afghanistan Could Falter After Troop Withdrawal
According to Reuters, a two-year study by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Democratic majority found that the $320 million a month in foreign aid spent in Afghanistan should focus on sustainability, rather than the short-term stabilization programs currently being put in place in the country's southern and eastern regions, where the Taliban is the strongest. Otherwise, the report said, misspent foreign aid could support corruption and insecurity in Afghanistan and harm the labor market. “Afghanistan could suffer a severe economic depression when foreign troops leave in 2014 unless the proper planning begins now,” the study said. “The evidence that stabilization programs promote stability is limited. Some research suggests the opposite.” The report, which is to be released Wednesday, comes as President Barack Obama prepares to announce the administration's decision on when to start bringing home 100,000 US troops.
New Jersey Drastically Cuts Public Broadcasting
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced plans to significantly scale back public broadcasting produced in the state by giving New York's WNET-TV control over the New Jersey Network, Democracy Now! writes. The deal will mean cutting the jobs of all 130 New Jersey Network employees, though approximately 20 will be hired to produce content for the merged station. Christie's plan will also contract the privately owned Caucus Educational Corporation to provide 20 hours of television content per week. The deal marks the first of several sales that will see all nine of New Jersey Network's radio licenses sold to Philadelphia's WHYY and New York Public Radio.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.