The rich got much richer in 2020.

Nine million fewer people are employed than a year ago.

Tens of thousands of small businesses have closed or will soon.

State and local governments are planning deep cuts.

What is needed now is a massive movement of the working class and poor to fight back.

We need a new system. We need a new system. We need a new society. We need to demand that which may have sounded

impossible even a few weeks ago, but is not only realizable, but an imperative necessity. Welcome to today's episode of In The News, our Tuesday show on the Socialist Program

with Brian Becker. It's December 22nd, 2020. This is an in-depth look at the biggest

stories in the news right now, today, and this week. We look beyond the headlines and expose the

distortions in the corporate-owned media. I'm Nicole Roussel, here with Esther Iveram,

Walter Smalerick, and our host, Brian Becker. Brian, where do you want to start today?

Well, I want to start, of course, and our focus should be to understand what the so-called stimulus

package actually means for the different classes, the different strata in society.

What does it mean especially for the working class and poor?

People who are suffering massive unemployment, wage cutting, people who are facing families

that are facing eviction,

people who have lost their health care. We want to look at this program, this stimulus package

that has been adopted now by both houses of Congress. We want to look at it and talk about

what it means for them. What it also means for the corporations and the banks,

of course, the airlines industry got another $15 billion. We have the three martini lunch

paid for by we, the taxpayers. That's back in the package. We want to talk about all of that.

But Esther, before we do, we must make mention of what's happening with COVID.

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