Banks Profit From High Interest Rates but Stiff Depositors
With the help of the Federal Reserve, US banks are offering loans at higher rates than the interest they pay to depositors and pocketing the difference for themselves.
320 Articles by: David Sirota
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David Sirota is editor-at-large at Jacobin. He edits the Lever and previously served as a senior adviser and speechwriter on Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Democrats Can Avoid Trump’s Culture-War Traps
Donald Trump is skilled at inflaming culture-war conflicts to distract from the GOP’s shameless class war on behalf of the rich. For Democrats to counter Trump effectively, they need to attack the billionaire class.
Bigger Shareholder Payouts Are Driving Up Corporate Profits
Corporations are set to use Trump’s trade war as justification for raising prices, just as they previously used supply chain slowdowns. But a new Federal Reserve study notes that higher prices have coincided with a big increase in payouts to shareholders.
The GOP’s Tax Revolt May Be Unraveling
Tax cuts for the rich have been the glue holding the American right together for decades. But as Republican voters’ skepticism of this strategy grows, some GOP lawmakers are considering the unthinkable: proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy.
Trump’s IRS Pick Has Ties to Shady Donors Under IRS Scrutiny
Donald Trump’s nominee for Internal Revenue Service director, Billy Long, just had his six-figure debt paid off by campaign donors whose firms are under scrutiny by the IRS for potential tax fraud.
Trump’s Trade War Is a Political Dilemma for Democrats
Donald Trump is hoping his tariffs will goad his liberal opponents into touting free trade and scoffing at the working class. Democrats don’t have to take the bait.
UAW President Shawn Fain on Why He Supports Tariffs
In an interview, United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain argues that the era of “free-trade” deals like NAFTA has been a disaster for the US working class and that smart tariffs can help bring back good auto jobs.
Trump Helps Credit Card Companies Fight Interest Rate Caps
Although on the campaign trail Donald Trump proposed capping credit card interest rates, his administration is withdrawing support for a Colorado state law that would impose such caps.
The Great Interest Rate Heist
When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, banks charge more for loans — but often don’t pay higher rates to depositors. This scheme has allowed banks to pocket a more than $1 trillion windfall over the past two and a half years.
Independent Media Can Defeat the Right’s Noise Machine
The information war against the Right’s vast media machine won’t be won by building a louder Democratic Party megaphone through corporate-funded outlets. The key is stronger independent media.
Trump Is Helping Airlines Reduce Payouts for Flight Mishaps
The Trump administration has just paused an initiative aimed at increasing compensation for airline passengers when carriers lose their luggage or overbook flights.
Elon Musk: Austerity for Thee but Not for Me
This week, as Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” was attempting to further gut the US government, his rocket company SpaceX was cementing a NASA contract adding millions of dollars to its already massive deal with the space agency.
Big Companies Are Already Asking Trump for Favors
Amazon helped fund Donald Trump’s inauguration. The retail giant and the insurer UnitedHealth waited less than a day to start begging the new administration to shut down their shareholders’ calls for transparency.
Before the DC Plane Crash, Lawmakers Expanded Flight Traffic
Months before last night’s fatal aircraft collision, lawmakers dismissed safety warnings and approved an airline-backed measure that increased flight traffic at Washington, DC’s already overstressed airport — the site of the disaster.
Will Chief Justice Roberts Stop Trump’s Funding Freeze?
As Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze creates a constitutional crisis that seems headed to the Supreme Court, a 1985 memo shows current chief justice John Roberts declaring that a president has no authority to block required spending.
Trump’s IRS Nominee Wanted to Go After the Humane Society
Donald Trump’s pick to head the Internal Revenue Service pressed the agency to investigate and consider stripping the country’s leading animal welfare group, the Humane Society, of its tax status. As IRS chief, he’d be in a position to make that happen.
As AG, Pam Bondi Could Let Elon Musk Off the Hook for Fraud
Donald Trump’s attorney general pick, Pam Bondi, is reportedly the sister of the lawyer who defended Elon Musk and Tesla against federal securities fraud charges. If confirmed, Bondi would be in a position to shut down the ongoing investigation into Musk.
How Harris Lost the Working Class
Workers rejected Kamala Harris because she chose to campaign in a fantasy world where villains other than Trump are rarely named and nobody has to choose whether regular people or billionaire oligarchs get to wield power.
Election 2024: How Billionaires Torpedoed Democracy
Both parties’ 2024 campaigns claimed to be about “saving democracy.” Yet both parties ended up bought and paid for by billionaires.
Harris-Walz’s Good Vibes Aren’t Enough
Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz for vice president doesn’t erase her corporate-friendly record. If we want her administration to implement real progressive policies, the Left will have to fight for it.