Month: January 2021

Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times,

A New York Democrat on Sunday defended a controversial bill that could allow the state governor to “order the removal” or detention of an individual deemed to be a suspected case, contact, or carrier of a “contagious disease” if they “pose an imminent and significant threat to the public health.”

Assemblyman Nick Perry, sponsor of Bill A416 that could see individuals detained “by a single order … in a medical facility or other appropriate facility,” pushed back against backlash that the legislation would violate Americans’ constitutional rights, according to a statement.

The bill (pdf) is scheduled to be taken up on Wednesday by the assembly’s health committee, and states that it may be used in the event that the governor declares a state of health emergency “due to an epidemic of any communicable disease.”

It requires the state governor or his or her delegee “to apply for a court order authorizing a detention within three business days.”

“[T]he governor or his or her delegee may, in his or her discretion, issue and seek enforcement of any other orders that he or she determines are necessary or appropriate to prevent dissemination or transmission of contagious diseases … to require an individual who has been exposed to or infected by a contagious disease to complete an appropriate, prescribed course of treatment, preventive medication or vaccination,” the bill states. “Such person or persons shall, upon request, be afforded an opportunity to be heard.”

According to the bill, an individual may be detained for up to 60 days but they may not be detained after it is determined that they are no longer contagious.

“Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, in no event shall any person be detained for more than sixty days without a court order authorizing such detention,” the bill states. “The governor or his or her delegee shall seek further court review of such detention within ninety days following the initial court order authorizing detention and thereafter within ninety days of each subsequent court review.”

Responding to widespread criticism of the bill, Perry, a Democrat, noted that earlier versions of the bill were circulated during the 2015-2016 legislative session.

My statement on A.416. pic.twitter.com/0bIyGp9xFo

— N Nick Perry (@NNickPerry) January 3, 2021

“This bill was initially introduced to address public health concerns related to the containment of the Ebola virus after it was discovered that Ebola-infected persons had entered the United States,” Perry said on Twitter, noting that the Ebola virus meant “almost certain death” to anyone who contracted it.

“I am an American who understands our Constitution is sacred, and provides us with the right to agree or disagree, and hold different positions on issues that may relate to our civil and constitutional rights.”

“There is no intent, no plan, or provisions in my bill to take away, or violate any rights, or liberties that all Americans are entitled to under our Constitution, either state or federal,” the assemblyman said.

“I urge you all to read the bill carefully, and not accept grossly misinformed and misrepresented interpretations of this bill, even though some provisions in this bill may be applicable to the current COVID-19 pandemic.”

Perry suggested that the bill is now being actively pushed for passage because many health experts believe that the likelihood of “such a deadly pandemic” that imposes a threat as severe as Ebola “is still real.”

“Somewhere in the future there maybe the need for people to be protected from a person or persons carrying a very deadly and transmittable virus, and this bill is designed to ensure that our government could lawfully act to protect all the people,” he explained.

Perry added that he is open to amend and “improve” the bill in order to address concerns raised by critics in regard to Americans’ Constitutional rights.

Despite reporting a median worker pay of $258,708, one of the highest such numbers in the world, and more than 2x the average median pay reported by many of its biggest Silicon Valley rivals, Alphabet has long been a locus of workplace organizing in Silicon Valley, as Google’s ultra-progressive employees seek to impose their political worldview not only on their fellow employees, but on management as well.

In recent years, employee revolts at Alphabet have resulted in the firing or dismissal of employees who dared speak up in support of a conservative, or libertarian, ideology while scuttling lucrative contracts with both the DoD and the PRC (even after Google’s sanctimonious exit from the mainland over its refusal to kowtow to the CCP).

Now, after Alphabet’s refusal to kowtow to employees’ political whims resulted in a National Labor Relations Board complaint filed against the company late last year, some 230 Google workers have voted to unionize, creating what’s effectively the first union for Silicon Valley tech workers.

There were no picket lines, and no demands for better pay (or more time off) during this labor battle. Instead, many are joining the union to ensure that Alphabet’s “values” will reflect their values – that is to say, workers are trying to dictate the entities with which Alphabet can and cannot do business, for purely political reasons. Bloomberg noted that the success of Alphabets’ workers could inspire more tech workers to rise up and unionize in Silicon Valley, where companies have largely avoided unionization drivers with generous compensation, even for “contractors” who typically don’t receive the high pay and benefits enjoyed by salaried workers.

The Alphabet Workers Union said it will be open to all employees and contractors, regardless of their role or classification. It will collect dues, pay organizing staff and have an elected board of directors.

The unionizing effort, a rare campaign within a major U.S. technology company, is supported by the Communications Workers of America as part of a recent tech-focused initiative known as CODE-CWA. Googlers who join the Alphabet Workers Union will also be members of CWA Local 1400. The group, which represents more than 200 workers in the U.S., plans to take on issues including compensation, employee classification and the kinds of work Google engages in.

“We will hire skilled organizers to ensure all workers at Google know they can work with us if they actually want to see their company reflect their values,” Dylan Baker, a software engineer at Google, said in a statement.

Despite Alphabet’s progressive politics, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Google last month alleging the company violated labor law by spying on workers who organized protests against the company before firing them. The firings allegedly violated US labor laws by restricting the employees’ right to engage in collective action about issues in the workplace even if the workers do not belong to a union. Almost as controversially, Google made headlines a few weeks back by firing Timni Gebru, a prominent artificial intelligence researcher who slammed Google for its “lack of progress in hiring women and minorities” as well as for building in biases to its AI technology that made it “racist.” 

Notably, Google employees have taken an “unconventional” approach. Rather than holding an election with the NLRB, the Alphabet Workers Union was formed without federal ratification (a move that could limit the union’s heft and ability to collectively bargain on workers’ behalf). Members will belong to CWA Local 1400.

The fact that employees opted to forego federal ratification suggests that there isn’t much support for the union inside the company. Instead – as has long been the case – a handful of extremely vocal progressives are working to amplify their influence and credibility any way they can. To be sure, Alphabet management has already recognized the union.

“We’ve always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce,” said Google’s director of people operations Kara Silverstein in a statement. “Of course our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as we’ve always done, we’ll continue engaging directly with all our employees.”

At least at the beginning, members are committing to pay some pretty hefty dues equivalent to 1% of their total compensation packages (for some, this could amount to thousands of dollars a year) to help finance the hiring of organizing staff and pay for other resources. According to Nicki Anselmo, the union will help workers ensure that projects like “Project Maven” (a Google AI contract with the Pentagon) will be banned, along with golden parachutes for executives accused of sexual improprieties.

Looking ahead, analysts will be watching to see how this impacts the effort to unionize Amazon warehouse workers, who receive lower pay and work in arguably less comfortable conditions than most of the members of the new Alphabet Workers Union. Back in November, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union filed paperwork to represent front-line workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama. A vote among the 5K+ workers at the site is expected in the coming weeks. If it passes, the Alabama warehouse would become the first Amazon fulfillment center in the country to unionize.

By Kriti Gupta and Heather Burke, writers at Bloomberg’s Market Live blog

Expect the S&P 500 to continue rallying in 2021, but it won’t be anything like the run it had from March through year-end. The question is whether the economic recovery will be sturdy enough to support a rotation into riskier assets – or will investors simply return to the familiarity of tech stocks?

Conditions are ripe for the stock market to keep running on the reflation trade: a vaccine rollout, fresh fiscal stimulus, dollar weakness, easy financial conditions and a reasonably robust consumer. The year-end move that featured value over growth, and small caps over tech, can continue.

However, momentum is likely to slow. Traders remain sensitive to the impact of the pandemic — the recent surge in cases is already curbing the U.S. recovery, and delays in distributing Covid-19 vaccines could be a key indicator for global asset prices.

The reflation trade could lose steam if the incoming Biden administration and new Congress can’t produce more fiscal stimulus.

Rising retail sales and falling jobless claims will be essential in assessing the strength of the rebound in a consumer-driven economy.

An elevated savings rate is keeping cash largely on the sidelines, which is a major hindrance until it’s unleashed.

Regardless of what happens, some slowing is inevitable after the S&P 500’s more than 16% rally in 2020, which featured a 68% surge from its March trough. Markets Live readers who responded to the annual MLIV survey expect the index to rise less than 1% in 2021 to 3,770. Strategists are more bullish, with an average of 4,035.

A weakening dollar could be a major tailwind, incentivizing investors who missed out on the 2020 rally to buy into a fairly expensive U.S. stock market.

By mid-year, valuations and earnings should become part of the story again as the pandemic hopefully recedes and the economy bounces back. The S&P 500 is carrying a 12-month forward P/E that it hasn’t seen since the dot-com era, with expectations for 28% profit growth in 2021 compared with a 17% decline in 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Results in the second and third quarters could be crucial. If the market’s lofty goals aren’t met, it could spur a selloff, particularly in sectors that benefited from the reflation rally, such as travel and energy.

If the recovery stalls by mid-year, investors may be willing to pay up again for defensive stocks like tech. Watch for an implosion in assets inflated by the re-opening trade if growth isn’t surging and inflation remains muted mid-year.

The possibility of Fed tightening remains a risk. Frothy risk assets leave investors vulnerable to an end of easy monetary policy. Any hints of that could cause a surprise selloff similar to the 2013 taper tantrum or the declines in late 2018, which only calmed after a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell in early January 2019.

Tech’s antitrust scrutiny, once part of the “Blue Wave” trade, will remain a sideshow. The idea has bipartisan support that could lead to speedy Congressional action. But individual stocks have historically responded to court cases, which are typically long and drawn out affairs. That will matter more to the S&P 500 given the weightings of these companies.

Retail trading, a hallmark of 2020, could lead to enthusiasm for individual stocks. But it won’t mean as much to macro investors until those names filter into the billions of dollars in passive investments in indexes. Tesla’s 2021 performance will offer guidance for that.

The S&P 500 is poised to have another up year, albeit one that isn’t as tumultuous as 2020. What investors need to determine is whether the gains will tilt to cyclical or defensive stocks.