<ul class="summary-list"><li>Recent controversy over how issues of race are taught in the US has ensnared grade schools, universities, and even the military.</li><li>As World War II-era surveys show, the military has grappled with those issues for decades and often falls short of its own standards.</li></ul><p>Months of protests over how the US's troubled history of race is taught came to a head on Election Day in Virginia.</p><p>If Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin bans critical race theory in the commonwealth's public schools on "<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/glenn-youngkin-vows-to-take-bold-stand-against-critical-race-theory-as-governor" target="_top">Day One</a>," as he vowed on Fox News in the closing hours of his campaign, the battle will hardly be over.</p><p>In those same remarks, Youngkin implored viewers to heed Martin Luther King Jr.'s "immortal words" that "we're called to judge one another based on the content of our character and not the color of our skin." Heirs of King's work and others have <a href="https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1455920574031618050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_top">pilloried</a> invocations of his "I have a dream" sermon to justify banning discussion of systemic racism.</p><p>The agitation over critical race theory - a field of scholarly inquiry that examines how racism, intentional or not, is institutionalized and embedded in laws, systems, and policies - and competing citations of King are only the latest expressions of a long-running conflict over persistent racial inequality in America.</p><p>This phase has focused on schools, but for 80 years, and well before King's sermon, the US military has struggled with the same issue.</p><h2>'<strong>We will do better'</strong></h2><div type="image" title="Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sitting at a table." height="2677" width="4014" msid="87650548" hostid="261"></div><p>Over those eight decades, the military has espoused the precept that people ought to be judged by their character and performance, not their skin color. It has fallen well short of its own standard.</p><p>The Department of Defense does now have its first Black secretary, Lloyd Austin. While <keyword id="12513500" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="african-americans" source="Orion">African-Americans</keyword> represent 19% of all active-duty service members, the military has only two Black four-star generals and admirals, as Maryland Rep. Anthony Brown, a retired Army colonel, reminded Austin during a hearing <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?512740-1/defense-department-fiscal-year-2022-budget-request" target="_top">this summer</a>.</p><p>Pressed by Brown on the "significant underrepresentation" of people of color and women in the senior ranks, Austin touted the military's diversity as reflective of the American public but concurred with Brown: "We need to do better. You have my commitment. We will do better."</p><div type="image" title="African-American Black Army soldiers World War II" height="1305" width="2000" msid="87650550" hostid="261"></div><p>The military hasn't avoided backlash over critical race theory, either. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/23/1009592838/top-general-defends-studying-critical-race-theory-in-the-military" target="_top">made headlines</a> at the same hearing for his considered but forceful response to another congressman's accusation that cadets were being indoctrinated with critical race theory.</p><p>The military's handling of other race-related issues has received much less coverage, however.</p><p>At the same hearing, Brown asked more pointed questions about a 2019 <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-344.pdf" target="_top">study</a> by the Government Accountability Office, which found that minority personnel across the military were more than five times as likely as White personnel to be court-martialed for similar conduct.</p><p>"Why are the commanders woefully failing our Black service members who serve at higher rates than any other demographic group?" Brown asked Austin. "And how do we fix this system so that there is truly equal justice under the Uniform Code of Military Justice?"</p><h2>Fighting 2 wars</h2><div type="image" title="Segregated bus station in Durham North Carolina" height="1345" width="2000" msid="87650552" hostid="261"></div><p>When challenged on similar issues during <keyword id="11938566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="world-war-ii" source="Orion">World War II</keyword>, the US War Department took the position that it did not see skin color.</p><p>Before and long after Congress passed the country's first peacetime draft in September 1941, Black leaders lobbied the Roosevelt administration to enact anti-discrimination policies.</p><p>To one such recommendation, the Secretary of War Henry Stimson responded that not only was "everything possible" being done, but also that "Our policies make no distinction between white and colored soldiers."</p><p>Distinctions, of course, were made every day across the force and in the communities that surrounded and served the department's facilities and installations - and it was official department policy.</p><p>Despite this "extensive campaign," Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall assured one northern senator that the department's policy "not to intermingle colored and white enlisted personnel in the same regimental organization" would hold.</p><p>Preventing racial commingling was costly and difficult. It required the construction and maintenance (of differing quality) of separate barracks, latrines, mess halls, clubs, theaters, swimming pools, and post exchanges, among others - expanding Jim Crow's reach as more bases were built.</p><div type="image" title="African-American soldiers in England during World War II" height="1591" width="2000" msid="87650554" hostid="261"></div><p>Beginning in August 1942, the War Department delegated the <keyword id="6406977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="segregation" source="Orion">segregation</keyword> of recreation facilities, including theaters and post exchanges, to local commanders.</p><p>The following March the department went a step further, prohibiting separate Black and White recreation facilities where two or more races were garrisoned.</p><p>Resistance was predicted. From surveys administered to monitor morale, the Army already knew that the majority of White soldiers - from the north and south - opposed integration.</p><p>Only 148 of the 4,793 enlisted personnel who participated in a large cross-section survey given in March 1943 thought Black and White soldiers should serve in the same outfits. Just one in 12 thought it OK to share service clubs, and only one in seven approved of sharing post exchanges.</p><p>Opponents listed the likelihood of conflict as their primary concern.</p><p>"If negroes &amp; whites were in same outfits, naturally there would be much blood shed. It would lead into serious developments, in the future. In fact I believe we would be fighting two wars, negroes &amp; the Axis," wrote one White soldier.</p><p>Some commanders responded to the new order by replacing the offending signs and maintaining Jim Crow in other ways. Others simply ignored it.</p><p>Non-enforcement coincided with a buildup of Black troops, and by summer 1943 <a href="https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/race-riot-1943" target="_top">discontented</a> Black Americans <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harlem-race-riot-of-1943" target="_top">took to the streets</a> across the US.</p><div type="image" title="US Army soldiers eating in mess hall World War II" height="916" width="2000" msid="87650556" hostid="261"></div><p>The Army did take steps to address segregated transportation facilities - a frequent source and site of racial intimidation, conflict, and violence - by ordering local commanders to eliminate discrimination based on color, race, or creed.</p><p>Those commanders, even cooperative ones, still had to rely on civilian services that maintained those practices. But with White soldiers and officers in open defiance of the military's efforts to end discrimination, resentment mounted.</p><p>Handwritten open-ended responses from an August 1944 survey, which have only recently been transcribed, reveal the depth and breadth of what Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy described as a "radical change" in attitudes.</p><p>"Sooner or later there will be some changes made one way or the other," warned one Black soldier. "The boys are getting tired of it. We all fighting like any other soldier and it is a god dam[n] shame that some people can let such conditions exist &amp; call this a democracy."</p><p>"Fascism is fascism, whether in America or in Europe and if we are all fighting for the same common purpose why must there be a White Army and Negro Army," wrote another.</p><h2>Lessons unlearned</h2><div type="image" title="Men working on engine at factory during World War II" height="1529" width="2000" msid="87650557" hostid="261"></div><p>The Army could not wait for White attitudes to change. A pressing need for replacements in Europe led the Army to compromise its commitment not to intermingle personnel.</p><p>Gen. John C. H. Lee, deputy theater commander in Europe, issued a letter on December 26, 1944, recruiting Black volunteers to join White rifle companies. Mixed companies were soon formed in 11 divisions in two separate armies.</p><p>The results, documented by before-and-after surveys of White officers, were remarkable.</p><p>Only one-third of those initially <a href="https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/opinions-about-negro-infantry-platoons-white-companies-7-divisions?documentid=NA&amp;pagenumber=3er=3" target="_top">surveyed</a> were in favor of leading mixed companies. After integration, that rose to 77%.</p><p>When asked how Black troops had performed in combat, 84% of the officers and 81% of the platoon sergeants said they had done so admirably, improving relations between Black and White troops.</p><div type="image" title="African-American Black soldiers World War II Nazi" height="1285" width="1713" msid="87650558" hostid="261"></div><p>Aware of the political potency of such unambiguous data, especially for anti-segregationists, the Army initially withheld it, but it made its way into the recommendations of the Faye Committee, which supported President Harry S. Truman's 1948 executive order ending segregation in the military.</p><p>Army survey researchers also later assisted defendants in Brown v. Board of Education, the case that rejected the segregationist doctrine of "separate but equal."</p><p>That Brown could speak of the committee's recommendations as unfulfilled as he did during his questioning of Austin this summer, after all these years, shows the US's failure to learn World War II's lessons.</p><p>As the military <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/06/09/gop-rep-urges-west-point-to-stop-teaching-critical-race-theory/" target="_top">saying</a> goes, all soldiers bleed green and their color is camouflage, but without justice, opportunity, and leadership - and without enforcement of rules and guidelines meant to undo that inequality - the notion that skin color doesn't matter only masks social and racial inequities and ensures the status quo.</p><p style="font-weight: 400;"><em>Edward J.K. Gitre is an assistant professor of history at Virginia Tech and director of The American Soldier in World War II project.</em></p>

The US military is under fire over how it handles race. Uncensored WWII-era surveys show US troops struggling with the same issue 80 years ago.

Marshall's new noise-cancelling headphones aim to take on Bose with features designed for the everyday headphone buyer, not just fans of the brand's usual style

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biden's vow to work with Republicans will be quickly tested with his new <keyword id="45304" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stimulus">stimulus</keyword> package.</li><li>"Biden is inheriting among the worst crises a president has stepped into," a former top economic advisor to Obama said.</li><li>Nearly 10 million fewer Americans are employed due to the pandemic and millions more are receiving unemployment benefits.</li></ul><p>Now sworn in, President <keyword id="99719" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Joe-Biden">Joe Biden</keyword> is inheriting a set of extraordinary crises that will test his new administration from its earliest days.</p><p>A raging pandemic continues devastating the US with daily infections and hospitalizations near record levels. The official US death toll surpassed 405,000 people, more than the number of Americans <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/more-americans-dead-covid-19-us-battle-deaths-wwii-2020-12">killed in combat</a> during World War II.</p><p>Renewed restrictions combined with fear of the virus are straining an <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> severely damaged from the year-long virus outbreak. Around 10 million fewer Americans have jobs compared to February 2020. Much of the economic burden has fallen squarely on women and minority communities, who have suffered larger job losses.</p><p>Biden pledged to restore bipartisanship and unite Americans after four years of a chaotic and divisive presidency under <keyword id="6354484" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Donald-Trump">Donald Trump</keyword>. His inaugural speech on Wednesday reflected that approach to governance as he sought to forge a sense of collective purpose for a nation in danger of fracturing further.</p><p>"This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge - and unity is the path forward," Biden said in his 25-minute address on the steps of the Capitol. "We must meet this moment as the United States of America. If we can do that, we will not fail."</p><p>It underscored the string of major economic, political, and public health challenges that Biden will confront. He took the oath of office at the scene of a violent riot by Trump supporters which recently left five people dead.</p><p>Over the past week, the nation's capital resembled a military encampment with nearly 25,000 National Guard troops backing up law enforcement officers to secure the inauguration against the risk of more bloodshed. A second Trump impeachment trial in the Senate also imperils a swift timeline Biden is pursuing for his agenda - and it stands to quickly test the president's vow to work with Republicans on Capitol Hill.</p><p>"Biden is inheriting among the worst crises a president has stepped into," Jason Furman, a former top economic advisor to President Barack Obama, said in an interview. "But he has the tools to solve it. There are vaccines and we know a lot of the economic medicine that's needed - Congress just has to pass it."</p><p>Biden introduced <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-stimulus-plan-details-checks-congress-direct-payments-unemployment-2021-1">a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan</a> last week building on an earlier federal rescue package. The plan includes relief provisions like enhanced unemployment insurance through September, aid to state and local governments, vaccine funds, and new <keyword id="9071639" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="stimulus-checks">stimulus checks</keyword>.</p><p>Democrats have narrow majorities in both the House and Senate, opening the door for the party to pursue an ambitious agenda on the economy, healthcare, and climate change. It's the first time Democrats will control the levers of power in a decade.</p><h2>An early test of Biden's dealmaking abilities</h2><div type="image" title="Mitch McConnell Joe Biden" height="2159" width="4318" msid="80376839" hostid="261"></div><p>Many experts say robust spending is necessary to mitigate the human suffering from the pandemic and assist hard-hit small businesses. Last month, employers shed 140,000 jobs, reversing seven months of steady gains.</p><p>"The longer that we have an economic malaise, the harder it is to grow back out of it," Ernie Tedeschi, <keyword id="28351" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="policy">policy</keyword> economist at Evercore ISI, told Insider. "That's one of the lessons from the Great Recession."</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-investing-tips-to-play-the-democrat-sweep-strategy-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What does the Democrat sweep actually mean for investors? We spoke to 5 investing experts to find out how to make the most of Biden's blue Congress</a></em></p><p>Enacting another large government rescue plan will form an early test of Biden's legislative prowess - whether he can cut a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or marshal support from 10 Republican senators instead. He could also pass it with only Democratic votes through a special procedure called budget reconciliation.</p><p>Some GOP senators suggested they may push to delay the start of negotiations.</p><p>"We just passed a program with over $900 billion in it," Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told reporters on Wednesday. "I'm not looking for a new program in the immediate future."</p><p>Other Senate Republicans <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-gop-criticism-biden-stimulus-plan-congress-yellen-confirmation-hearing-2021-1">on Tuesday</a> ramped up their criticism of the plan. They warned of a soaring budget deficit, which reached $3 trillion last year due to a surge in emergency aid spending.</p><p>It foreshadows the resistance Biden could encounter among Republicans for many parts of his economic platform contingent on more spending. Biden has also said he would unveil a second major plan during a joint session of Congress next month to unleash new federal investments into infrastructure, childcare and manufacturing.</p><h2>"Biden is treating our situation like a major crisis"</h2><div type="image" title="joe biden executive orders" height="2592" width="5185" msid="80376841" hostid="261"></div><p>In some ways, confronting calamity is familiar terrain for Biden. He served as Obama's vice president as the American economy reeled from the 2008 financial crisis, another emergency that threatened to drag the US into a depression.</p><p>Less than a year later, Biden played a critical role <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/06/828303824/a-look-back-at-how-joe-biden-managed-the-2009-stimulus-package">steering an $800 billion stimulus package</a> through Congress. He helped draw 3 GOP votes for a piece of legislation that provided government assistance for state governments and jobless Americans. Many economists and Democratic policymakers now say a stronger federal response would have sped up the sluggish recovery.</p><p>There are early signs Biden will move fast on pandemic-relief measures and sharply reverse course from Trump. Only hours after becoming the nation's 46th president, Biden signed 17 executive orders. They included <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-extend-pause-federal-student-loan-payments-on-first-day-2021-1">extending a pause</a> on student loan payments, renewing an eviction moratorium, and rejoining the Paris climate accords.</p><p>"Biden is treating our situation like a major crisis, wasting no time in acting and addressing it anyway he can administratively today," Furman told Insider.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cheap-stock-picks-from-investing-legends-bill-miller-john-rogers-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A leading Wall Street firm asked 7 famous investors about their favorite stocks and the global trades they're using to stay ahead of the competition. Here's what they're betting on now.</a></em></p>

Biden faces a set of massive economic and health crises - and his stimulus plan will test a vow to work with Republicans in Congress

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c3213a7e04d627f6e0fc1c3-2400/cortez.jpg" border="0" alt="Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" data-mce-source="Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2018" data-mce-caption="Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a Justice Democrats call centered around an effort that would primary Democrats in 2020."><p class="source"><span>Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2018</span></p><p class="caption">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joined a Justice Democrats call centered around an effort that would primary Democrats in 2020.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has touted a plan that would tax the richest Americans 60-70%.</strong></li><li><strong> The additional funds gathered from the taxes would contribute to a massive overhaul plan that aims to <span>reduce the country's carbon emissions to zero and eliminate fossil fuels in 10 years.</span></strong></li><li><strong>The newly elected lawmaker has been targeted by criticism for the marginal tax rate, which would affect Americans who are making more than $10 million a year.</strong></li></ul><p>Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has touted a plan that would tax multimillionaire Americans 60-70% to fund massive energy and infrastructure overhauls related to a plan that aims to reduce the country's carbon emissions to zero and eliminate fossil fuels in 10 years.</p><p>The New York's representative said in a "60 Minutes" <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tax-climate-change-plan/index.html?utm_term=image&amp;utm_source=twbusiness&amp;utm_content=2019-01-04T15%3A05%3A06&amp;utm_medium=social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> set to air Sunday that a new marginal tax rate would affect Americans making more than $10 million to help pay for the "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-platform-on-the-issues-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Green New Deal.</a>"</p><p>"Once you get to the tippy-tops, on your $10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 percent or 70 percent," Ocasio-Cortez said. "That doesn't mean all $10 million dollars are taxed at an extremely high rate. But it means that as you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more."</p><p>Ocasio-Cortez pointed to past American policies that implemented similar rates under administrations of both parties.</p><p>Policies under former President Dwight Eisenhower reached <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/us-federal-individual-income-tax-rates-history-1913-2013-nominal-and-inflation-adjusted-brackets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">90% in the 1950s</a>. Through the administrations of presidents <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/11/12/244772593/jfks-lasting-economic-legacy-lower-tax-rates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John F. Kennedy</a> and Lyndon B. Johnson, the rate sat at 70%. President Ronald Reagan then sliced the top rate to 50% in the early 1980s before it eventually fell to <a href="https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2017/12/07/reagans_1986_tax_reform_vs_trumps_2017_tax_reform.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">38% in 1986</a>.&#xa0;</p><p>Analysis from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/05/ocasio-cortez-wants-higher-taxes-very-rich-americans-heres-how-much-money-could-that-raise/?utm_term=.539b695686ed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a> found that if taxes on the approximately 16,000 Americans who earned more than $10 million in 2016 was raised from the 39.6% they paid that year to 70%, the federal government would earn an extra $72 billion each year.</p><p>For comparison, those additional gains are enough to tackle other moves touted by Ocasio-Cortez, including half of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americas-student-debt-crisis-is-worse-than-we-thought-2018-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$1.4 trillion</a> of US <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/996408188676296704" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student loan debt</a>.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-platform-on-the-issues-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This is the platform that launched Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 29-year-old democratic socialist, to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress</a></em></p><p>The plan's steep figure of 70% has been targeted by critics who express concern for Americans. Ocasio-Cortez tangled with House minority whip Steve Scalise on Twitter Saturday, who she questioned for not knowing "how marginal tax rates work."&#xa0;</p><p>Though she hasn't specified a cost for the plan, Ocasio-Cortez described the Green New deal as an "ambitious," all-encompassing movement towards cleaner energy across the country.&#xa0;</p><p>"The Green New Deal we are proposing will be similar in scale to the mobilization efforts seen in World War II or the Marshall Plan," <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ocasio-cortez-climate-change_us_5b3307a5e4b0b5e692f25e18">she told the Huffington Post</a>. "We must again invest in the development, manufacturing, deployment, and distribution of energy, but this time green energy."</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>You're the GOP Minority Whip. How do you not know how marginal tax rates work?<br><br>Oh that's right, almost forgot: GOP works for the corporate CEOs showering themselves in multi-million💰bonuses; not the actual working people whose wages + healthcare they're ripping off for profit. <a href="https://t.co/R1YIng2Ok1">https://t.co/R1YIng2Ok1</a></br></br></p>- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  (@AOC) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1081761714096476160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/msnbc-host-chris-hayes-president-trump-china-trade-war-2018-12">MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/ib9Awhnr-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's tax plan would supply tens of billions of dollars, but how much would it cost Americans?

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e7ca24f1378e34bc271a424-920/new york coronavirus testing.jpg" alt="New york coronavirus testing" /><ul class="summary-list"><li>Congress is coming to the aid of healthcare workers at a time when they're overwhelmed by surging demand and meager medical supplies.</li><li>The Senate passed a $2 trillion stimulus bill late Wednesday night. The package now needs to be voted on by the House. </li><li>More than $100 billion will go toward hospitals, and there are also changes to regulations for over-the-counter drugs and rules about what insurers must cover. </li><li>The House is taking up the stimulus package by voice vote, which would tee it up for President Donald Trump's signature this weekend.  </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.   </li></ul><p>The Senate sent a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-senate-reach-deal-trillion-dollar-coronavirus-stimulus-package-2020-3">$2 trillion stimulus package</a> to the House Wednesday night aimed at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-economic-stimulus-senate-bill-allocations-direct-payments-business-loans-2020-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">buoying an economy</a> battered by lockdowns and layoffs amid the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>The 880-page legislation, called the "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-passes-coronavirus-economic-relief-bill-payments-small-business-loans-2020-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CARES Act</a>," also has numerous provisions to rescue the healthcare system, which has become flooded by the demands of treating people with COVID-19. </p><p>Senators reached a bipartisan agreement after five days of negotiations. <a href="https://www.majorityleader.gov/sites/democraticwhip.house.gov/files/Senate%20Amendment%20to%20H.R.%20748_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Text of the bill</a> was released publicly just ahead of the late-night vote, but it's not yet clear to what extent the bill will face opposition in the Democrat-controlled House, which is taking it up on Friday by what is known as "voice vote." </p><p>The procedural move means most lawmakers can stay in their districts at a time when public health officials are urging as many people as possible to stay home. But it's also a risky maneuver given that the bill would fail to quickly make it to President Donald Trump's desk if a single member objects or requests a roll call vote. </p><p>Business Insider combed through the aid package making its way through Congress to take a look at how it would impact the healthcare industry. Most - but not all - provisions are directly tied to the coronavirus.</p><h2><strong>The bill provides funding for hospitals and healthcare workers</strong></h2><p>The hospital industry will receive more than $100 billion in funding from the federal government to help create what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has been referring to as a "Marshall Plan," referring to the reconstruction aid the U.S. sent to Europe after World War II. </p><p>The American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association <a href="https://www.aha.org/lettercomment/2020-03-19-aha-ama-and-ana-send-letter-congress-covid-19-funding">estimated</a> that hospitals are losing $1 million a day from the pandemic, not just from screening and treating people who have the virus but also from purchasing additional supplies and forgoing revenue by delaying routine medical procedures. </p><p>Schumer touted the hospital funding as a big with for Democrats, saying it was $55 billion higher than what Republicans initially put forward when they unveiled <a href="https://www.republicanleader.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CARES%20Act%20Final%20-%20Mar%202020.pdf?utm_source=&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=28326" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bill</a> last weekend. </p><p>Hospitals who treat Medicare patients with COVID-19 will also get a 20% boost in reimbursement, and the bill delays cuts to payments to hospitals that reimburse them for uncompensated care. </p><h2><strong>Refilling the National Strategic Stockpile with medical gear</strong></h2><p>The National Strategic Stockpile, which is made up of warehouses that stock drugs and medical equipment in the case of a pandemic or other national emergency, will get a funding boost of $16 billion. The provision comes in response to healthcare workers being short on masks, ventilators, and swabs that help test for the virus. Another package Congress passed to respond to the virus already added $17 billion to the stockpile. </p><p>Under the bill, drugmakers will need to report how much of their medicines they have in stock, must alert officials whenever they can't get an ingredient they need, and must craft a backup plan in case they should they run out of supplies. Medicines facing a shortage would get priority for review by the Food and Drug Administration. </p><p>As for medical device manufacturers, those who make products considered key during a public health emergency would need to alert federal agencies if they're running short. </p><p>The National Academy of Medicine would be required to put out a report about how much the U.S. depends on drugs and devices made outside the country. It will look at shortages and make recommendations to improve the supply chain. </p><p>Another $11 billion in funding will go toward the development of vaccines, treatments, and medical preparedness against the coronavirus, according to a <a href="https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Coronavirus%20Supplemental%20Appropriations%20Summary_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">summary</a> from the Appropriations Committee. </p><p><strong>Here are other key provisions of the bill for the healthcare industry:</strong></p><ul><li><strong>Increases childcare for medical workers: </strong>Employees in the healthcare sector and other workers helping with the coronavirus response will be able to tap into a $3.5 billion block grant that helps pay for childcare.</li><li><strong>Adds requirements for health insurers: </strong>Insurers will have to cover all tests for the coronavirus without charging patients out of pocket. Once a vaccine is developed, approved, and gets a top rating by outside medical panels, insurers also will have to pay for it without charging patients a co-pay.</li><li><strong>Requires posting prices of coronavirus tests: </strong>Companies that provide testing for coronavirus must publish the list price of the test online during a public health emergency. Companies that don't comply can be fined $300 a day.</li><li><strong>Lifts telehealth restrictions: </strong>The bill does away with restrictions on medical providers who use telehealth to treat patients, including a rule that requires a provider to have treated the patient within the past three years and another that blocks specialists from evaluating patients on at-home dialysis face to face. </li><li><strong>Adds funding for community health centers: </strong>The bill will allocate $1.32 billion more funding to community health centers, which provide preventive and primary care to about 30 million patients, mainly those who are uninsured, undocumented, or live in a rural areas.</li><li><strong>Boosts medical research: </strong>The National Institutes of Health, which awards grants to medical researchers, is getting a budget boost of $945.5 million that will go toward developing a test, vaccine, and treatment for the coronavirus. Some of that funding will go toward researchers who focus on how the virus affects people with heart and lung problems. An earlier bill Trump signed into law already increased NIH funding, bringing the extra funds NIH is getting to fight the coronavirus to $1.78 billion.</li><li><strong>Changes regulation of over-the-counter drugs: </strong>Companies that create new over-the-counter drugs would get a new 18-month market exclusivity on their medicines. The FDA also will be allowed to approve changes to over-the-counter drugs administratively, instead of through the current, lengthier practice of doing so through putting out a notice and gathering public comment. </li><li><strong>Eases requirements on privacy of medical records: </strong>Doctors will more easily be able to access information about whether patients have a history of addiction through a change in regulations tucked into the coronavirus aid package. Patients can consent to the information being shared to helps doctors keep addiction history in mind when they prescribe medications. The bill also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to put out guidance about what medical information can be shared during the outbreak.  </li></ul><p class="tagline"><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5cf6b11111e205471c5718a4" alt="Digital Health Pro" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p><p>Featured Digital Health Articles:<br />- <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a><br />- <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a><br />- <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a><br />- <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a><br />- <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a><br />- <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a></p>

Here's exactly what the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill means for hospitals, doctors, and health insurers

27. Harley-Davidson Rides to Live

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58876151ee14b6a07b8b6759-2400/undefined" alt="George Soros" data-mce-source="Mike Coppola/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="George Soros." /><p class="source"><span>Mike Coppola/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">George Soros.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Well before Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, I sent a holiday greeting to my friends that read: "These times are not business as usual. Wishing you the best in a troubled world." Now I feel the need to share this message with the rest of the world. But before I do, I must tell you who I am and what I stand for.</p><p>I am an 86-year-old Hungarian Jew who became a US citizen after the end of World War II. I learned at an early age how important it is what kind of political regime prevails. The formative experience of my life was the occupation of Hungary by Hitler's Germany in 1944. I probably would have perished had my father not understood the gravity of the situation. He arranged false identities for his family and for many other Jews; with his help, most survived.</p><p data-line-id="cdc2a36c8051434186b452739071ff56">In 1947, I escaped from Hungary, by then under Communist rule, to England. As a student at the London School of Economics, I came under the influence of the philosopher Karl Popper, and I developed my own philosophy, built on the twin pillars of fallibility and reflexivity. I distinguished between two kinds of political regimes: those in which people elected their leaders, who were then supposed to look after the interests of the electorate, and others where the rulers sought to manipulate their subjects to serve the rulers' interests. Under Popper's influence, I called the first kind of society open, the second, closed.</p><p data-line-id="558da6a33d084283ba2a0dc20711dd50">The classification is too simplistic. There are many degrees and variations throughout history, from well-functioning models to failed states, and many different levels of government in any particular situation. Even so, I find the distinction between the two regime types useful. I became an active promoter of the former and opponent of the latter.</p><p data-line-id="7295d3efbd73493abdda8f6719736f2f">I find the current moment in history very painful. Open societies are in crisis, and various forms of closed societies - from fascist dictatorships to mafia states - are on the rise. How could this happen? The only explanation I can find is that elected leaders failed to meet voters' legitimate expectations and aspirations and that this failure led electorates to become disenchanted with the prevailing versions of democracy and capitalism. Quite simply, many people felt that the elites had stolen their democracy.</p><p data-line-id="5610d6b66c344cdfb244023bc74f3f8c">After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the sole remaining superpower, equally committed to the principles of democracy and free markets. The major development since then has been the globalization of financial markets, spearheaded by advocates who argued that globalization increases total wealth. After all, if the winners compensated the losers, they would still have something left over.</p><p data-line-id="ee5a1471f5174fbc99eee3b944c2192c">The argument was misleading, because it ignored the fact that the winners seldom, if ever, compensate the losers. But the potential winners spent enough money promoting the argument that it prevailed. It was a victory for believers in untrammeled free enterprise, or "market fundamentalists," as I call them. Because financial capital is an indispensable ingredient of economic development, and few countries in the developing world could generate enough capital on their own, globalization spread like wildfire. Financial capital could move around freely and avoid taxation and regulation.</p><p data-line-id="13abc52a5c0944afac82804122cd6b7a">Globalization has had far-reaching economic and political consequences. It has brought about some economic convergence between poor and rich countries; but it increased inequality within both poor and rich countries. In the developed world, the benefits accrued mainly to large owners of financial capital, who constitute less than 1% of the population. The lack of redistributive policies is the main source of the dissatisfaction that democracy's opponents have exploited. But there were other contributing factors as well, particularly in Europe.</p><p data-line-id="1638049f5c0b43b5832eb7654730dd35">I was an avid supporter of the European Union from its inception. I regarded it as the embodiment of the idea of an open society: an association of democratic states willing to sacrifice part of their sovereignty for the common good. It started out at as a bold experiment in what Popper called "piecemeal social engineering." The leaders set an attainable objective and a fixed timeline and mobilized the political will needed to meet it, knowing full well that each step would necessitate a further step forward. That is how the European Coal and Steel Community developed into the EU.</p><p data-line-id="ece863f81c7843978ce0fc2f33f95f39">But then something went woefully wrong. After the Crash of 2008, a voluntary association of equals was transformed into a relationship between creditors and debtors, where the debtors had difficulties in meeting their obligations and the creditors set the conditions the debtors had to obey. That relationship has been neither voluntary nor equal.</p><p data-line-id="47abffe9e3eb40958d0f3bb6da44b47a">Germany emerged as the hegemonic power in Europe, but it failed to live up to the obligations that successful hegemons must fulfill, namely looking beyond their narrow self-interest to the interests of the people who depend on them. Compare the behavior of the US after WWII with Germany's behavior after the Crash of 2008: the US launched the Marshall Plan, which led to the development of the EU; Germany imposed an austerity program that served its narrow self-interest.</p><p data-line-id="bdfd596d01bc4a22932b457272fe486c">Before its reunification, Germany was the main force driving European integration: it was always willing to contribute a little bit extra to accommodate those putting up resistance. Remember Germany's contribution to meeting Margaret Thatcher's demands regarding the EU budget?</p><p data-line-id="f161d4b446504a6081cc178835d4454a">But reuniting Germany on a 1:1 basis turned out to be very expensive. When Lehman Brothers collapsed, Germany did not feel rich enough to take on any additional obligations. When European finance ministers declared that no other systemically important financial institution would be allowed to fail, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, correctly reading the wishes of her electorate, declared that each member state should look after its own institutions. That was the start of a process of disintegration.</p><p data-line-id="ff2e6c70521d4fb9aeddfdb65ed4c46b">After the Crash of 2008, the EU and the eurozone became increasingly dysfunctional. Prevailing conditions became far removed from those prescribed by the Maastricht Treaty, but treaty change became progressively more difficult, and eventually impossible, because it couldn't be ratified. The eurozone became the victim of antiquated laws; much-needed reforms could be enacted only by finding loopholes in them. That is how institutions became increasingly complicated, and electorates became alienated.</p><p data-line-id="112ac13b7d8943fb858610c23d353a2e">The rise of anti-EU movements further impeded the functioning of institutions. And these forces of disintegration received a powerful boost in 2016, first from <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/focal-points/brexit-limbo">Brexit</a>, then from the <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/focal-points/trump-an-american-horror-story">election of Trump</a> in the US, and on December 4 from Italian voters' rejection, by a wide margin, of <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/italy-referendum-eurozone-by-philippe-legrain-2016-12">constitutional reforms</a>.</p><p data-line-id="5e525f9e4e954be4ac231e8b6a57fb94"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5887649dee14b6a07b8b6767-2264/ap17020613022288.jpg" alt="donald trump oath of office john roberts" data-mce-source="AP/Matt Rourke" data-mce-caption="Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on in Washington, DC, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017." /><p class="source"><span>AP/Matt Rourke</span></p><p class="caption">Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump looks on in Washington, DC, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Democracy is now in crisis. Even the US, the world's leading democracy, elected a con artist and would-be dictator as its president. Although Trump has toned down his rhetoric since he was elected, he has changed neither his behavior nor his advisers. His cabinet comprises incompetent extremists and retired generals.</p><p data-line-id="008cae29f748440e80b61c1fa1f64ced">What lies ahead?</p><p data-line-id="dfd1f067b88c4a3d8140ac77152eb09a">I am confident that democracy will prove resilient in the US. Its Constitution and institutions, including the fourth estate, are strong enough to resist the excesses of the executive branch, thus preventing a would-be dictator from becoming an actual one.</p><p data-line-id="18affbe9a576499eb732c3b419dce2e4">But the US will be preoccupied with internal struggles in the near future, and targeted minorities will suffer. The US will be unable to protect and promote democracy in the rest of the world. On the contrary, Trump will have greater affinity with dictators. That will allow some of them to reach an accommodation with the US, and others to carry on without interference. Trump will prefer making deals to defending principles. Unfortunately, that will be popular with his core constituency.</p><p data-line-id="55749dfdf03e4cdf9eca1bed0ff29eb4">I am particularly worried about the fate of the EU, which is in danger of coming under the influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose concept of government is irreconcilable with that of open society. Putin is not a passive beneficiary of recent developments; he worked hard to bring them about. He recognized his regime's weakness: it can exploit natural resources but cannot generate economic growth. He felt threatened by "color revolutions" in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere. At first, he tried to control social media. Then, in a brilliant move, he exploited social media companies' business model to spread misinformation and fake news, disorienting electorates and destabilizing democracies. That is how he helped Trump get elected.</p><p data-line-id="67f3cb8e702046af974acaa6642c47ea">The same is likely to happen in the European election season in 2017 in the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. In France, the two leading contenders are close to Putin and eager to appease him. If either wins, Putin's dominance of Europe will become a <em>fait accompli</em>.</p><p data-line-id="ec240ca0c77443caa1416fcd5f084a70">I hope that Europe's leaders and citizens alike will realize that this endangers their way of life and the values on which the EU was founded. The trouble is that the method Putin has used to destabilize democracy cannot be used to restore respect for facts and a balanced view of reality.</p><p data-line-id="7e41b490729743cda04b9cef9beebcbe">With economic growth lagging and the refugee crisis out of control, the EU is on the verge of breakdown and is set to undergo an experience similar to that of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Those who believe that the EU needs to be saved in order to be reinvented must do whatever they can to bring about a better outcome.</p><p data-line-id="7e41b490729743cda04b9cef9beebcbe"><em>Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2017. This essay has been republished with permission. It was<a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/people/george-soros"> originally published</a> on December 30, and Soros discussed it further during a Davos dinner in mid January. </em></p><p class="tagline">The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-study-debunks-strongest-argument-against-global-warming-climate-change-2017-1">A new study just blew a hole in one of the strongest arguments against global warming</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="41cTV3ODE6lScG4haYqmvmNGCs1JhD5w" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '41cTV3ODE6lScG4haYqmvmNGCs1JhD5w',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "marshall minor ii" and got 8 results

The US military is under fire over how it handles race. Uncensored WWII-era surveys show US troops struggling with the same issue 80 years ago.

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Biden faces a set of massive economic and health crises - and his stimulus plan will test a vow to work with Republicans in Congress

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's tax plan would supply tens of billions of dollars, but how much would it cost Americans?

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Here's exactly what the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill means for hospitals, doctors, and health insurers

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27. Harley-Davidson Rides to Live

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GEORGE SOROS: 'These times are not business as usual - Wishing you the best in a troubled world'

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A forgotten war technology could safely power Earth for millions of years. Here's why we aren't using it

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