The capitalist class is always trying to will Bernie Sanders into death or retirement. A recent New York Times report noted, perhaps wishfully, that his new role as chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions “could be his final act in Washington.” But so far, Sanders is alive and staying put, and the hearings he’s planning for next month could provide some powerful public education on our capitalist system and lend fuel to organizing efforts nationwide.

As head of this committee, Sanders has the power to call CEOs to testify before Congress, and he plans to use that power.

He’s already demanded that Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, appear. Schultz has refused and is sending a lower-level flunky. Makes sense: he’s on his way out and presumably doesn’t want to be remembered as the guy who was humiliated by Bernie Sanders in a viral YouTube clip. Sanders called Schultz’s refusal to appear before Congress “disappointing but not surprising.”