The US Spends $778 Billion on the Military, But Can't Find Money for COVID Vaccinations Worldwide

The US allocates $778 billion on new military spending, but can't find the funds for the US Agency for International Development to help vaccinate the world's population against COVID-19.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, joins us to discuss how the US prioritises its spending. While President Biden has just signed $778 billion in new military spending into law, the US Agency for International Development reportedly can't find the funds to pay for the Biden administration's effort to help vaccinate the world's population against COVID-19, according to two agency officials interviewed by Politico.

Chris Hedges, investigative journalist, joins us to discuss Julian Assange. In his latest Common Dreams article, Chris posits that the legal precedent set by the sentencing of Assange means that "anyone who possesses classified information, or anyone who leaks it, will be guilty of a criminal offence". He further predicts that the sentencing of Assange will "signal the end of all investigative inquiries into the inner workings of power".

Dr Colin Campbell, DC senior news correspondent, joins us to discuss Rep. Pramila Jayapal warning that political disaster is in store for the Democrats if they fail to deliver in the New Year. Rep. Jayapal told her fellow lawmakers and the president on Sunday that "failure to deliver their promised social spending and climate agenda could have disastrous political consequences, feeding voter disillusionment and leaving millions of people without badly needed economic aid amid a deadly pandemic".

James Carey, editor/co-owner at Geopoliticsalert.com, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Saudi military expert Mohammad al-Qabibaan defended the recent intense escalation of the Saudi-led coalition’s bombardment campaign in Yemen during a recent appearance on RT Arabic, describing the relentless airstrikes of recent weeks as "successful operations" designed to force the Houthi Ansarullah movement to sit down at the negotiating table.

Kweku Lamumba, external relations coordinator for KOSSA, joins us to discuss the kidnapping situation in Haiti. After the kidnapping of 16 American missionaries and a Canadian in Haiti, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken initially said that the US will do "everything possible to resolve the situation" and even indicated that an FBI kidnapping team maintained contact with a church that the captured missionaries belonged to. Now there is "total silence, to the point of making people question even this act of kidnapping".

Teri Mattson, Latin American coordinator for CodePink, joins us to discuss El Salvador. Teri discusses reports that a former senior Salvadoran anti-corruption prosecutor went on record to say that President Nayib Bukele's government closed down his unit's investigation into alleged allegations that the government struck a deal with the MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs in 2019 to "reduce murder rates and help the ruling New Ideas party win legislative elections in February".

John Burris, civil rights attorney, joins us to discuss the shootings in the US. Yesterday, the Los Angeles Police Department released body camera video of a shooting last week that left a 14-year-old girl dead. Also, reports indicate a shooting spree occurred in the Denver area yesterday that left five people dead, including the suspected shooter, and one police officer injured.

Gary Flowers, host of The Gary Flowers Show on radio station Rejoice WREJ-AM 990, joins us to discuss the drop in viewership of news networks this year. Nielson data reports that after many networks drew bigger audiences the previous year amid COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election, they now saw a drop in viewership in 2021. The largest drop was seen in cable networks, with a 38 percent drop in weekday primetime viewership for CNN, 34 percent drop for Fox News, and 25 percent drop for MSNBC.

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