The battle in Congress over the fate of major social programs to address the needs of the people and the planet continues after the House Progressive Caucus blocked passage of a physical infrastructure bill to counter efforts by right-wing Democrats to kill the much larger budget and social infrastructure bill.

Also, we discussed the latest on the pandemic as the U.S. death toll hit 700,000 people, 700,000 deaths.

We also discuss efforts by the right wing to cement its political power through redistricting and more.

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 October 5th, 2021.

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.

If you enjoy the show,

please support this independent programming by going to patreon.com slash

the socialist program and subscribing.

I'm Nicole Roussel here with Esther Evarim,

Walter Smalerick, and our host, Brian Becker.

Esther Evarim is also the host of the radio show and podcast

On the Ground at on thegroundshow.org.

Make sure to check out On the Ground, which comes out weekly on Fridays.

Brian, where do you want to start today?

Well, I think the big topic, of course, will be what's going on in Congress.

We recognize that people who are political activists who are anti-war, anti-racist,

anti-imperialist people, people who are socialists, sometimes turn away from Congress.

I mean, it's an imperial institution, like the imperial presidency, like the imperialist government

overall. But we also need to pay attention, especially at certain

...