Andrew Cuomo’s Legacy: Normalizing Corruption and Lawlessness
Andrew Cuomo is leaving. But his likely escape from prosecution and impeachment is a blatant demonstration of what kinds of crimes politicians can get away with in America.
304 Articles by: David Sirota
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.
The Planet Can’t Survive a Repeat of Barack Obama’s Climate Denialism
The new IPCC report confirms that if the Biden administration gives us a repeat of Obama’s climate denialism and refusal to aggressively cut back emissions, the climate crisis will radically escalate, devastating the lives and livelihoods of workers around the world.
Biden Boosted a Pipeline; Now His Aide Susan Rice Could Get Richer
Joe Biden’s top domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, owns a big stake in a company whose pipeline was just backed by the White House. It’s just an ordinary day in a world where the superrich control both the economy and the government.
Wall Street Takes Workers’ Retirement Money and Uses It Against Them
Workers’ retirement savings aren’t usually thought of as a stimulating topic. But we should pay closer attention, because public pensions are a key way for Wall Street to steal wealth from workers and hoard it for themselves.
Corporate Democrats Are Attacking Nina Turner Over Medicare for All
Democrats bankrolled by Big Pharma are suddenly targeting Nina Turner — right after she aired an ad touting Medicare for All.
Today’s Supreme Court Isn’t Moderate. It’s Pro-Corporate and Anti-Worker.
Supreme Court justices are being portrayed by mainstream media like the New York Times as moderate — at the exact same time the court is repeatedly voting to rig America’s laws against workers.
Why Are Billionaires Always Presumed Innocent?
After an IRS leak about billionaires’ massive tax avoidance schemes, corporate media says there’s nothing to see here because the avoidance is surely legal. But there’s no reason we should assume that these billionaires are playing by the rules.
Education Is a Right — Not a Reward
States are giving away a handful of college scholarships in a lottery for students who get vaccinated. It’s like something out of dystopian sci-fi: only a lucky few get to avoid crushing student debt, the rest suffer. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Dems Didn’t Aid Struggling Homeowners in 2008. Trump Reaped the Rewards.
If Democrats had used their huge 2008 congressional majorities to rescue families thrown out of their homes during the financial crisis, we may have averted Donald Trump’s narrow victory in 2016.
Nobody Should Be Celebrating the Affordable Care Act
Presidents Obama and Biden yukked it up this weekend in a video celebrating the Affordable Care Act. But the real thrust of Obamacare was always finding ways to pretend to address the health care crisis while protecting the health insurers fueling it.
Let’s Deal a Blow to Big Pharma
For years, Bernie Sanders took trips to Canada to spotlight how Big Pharma was ripping off US patients. Now, Joe Biden has the chance to allow lower-priced imported drugs — giving patients much-needed relief and reining in Big Pharma’s exorbitant profits.
Obama Was Always in Wall Street’s Corner
Barack Obama is now trying to pretend he was a finance industry critic who was deeply pained by being forced to bail out Wall Street — even though he was Wall Street’s biggest cheerleader and enabler.
Congress Is Debating Another Massive Corporate Giveaway Disguised as a “Bailout”
Bernie Sanders is trying to restrict a proposed $52 billion subsidy for already wildly profitable microchip companies.
The Family That Created the Opioid Epidemic Wants Legal Immunity
The Sackler family behind Purdue Pharma became incredibly rich off of America’s opioid crisis. Now, they are trying to shield themselves from the punishment for creating that crisis.
Jeff Bezos Weaponizes the Washington Post Homepage
The Washington Post’s website — owned, of course, by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — became a giant native ad Tuesday for Amazon. Bezos is using the paper as his personal megaphone to push back against criticism over wages and working conditions.
Evictions Slowed to a Trickle During the Pandemic. Republicans Want Them Back.
A slew of local laws passed during the pandemic slowed the avalanche of evictions around the country. Bankrolled by real-estate interests, Republicans want to restart kicking families out of their homes.
America Is a Tax Haven for the Rich
The wealthiest 1 percent are evading about a quarter-trillion dollars of owed taxes every year, and corporations are audited at half the rate of poor people. Something is deeply wrong here.
Charles Koch Funded the Push to Lift the Eviction Ban — While Expanding His Real Estate Holdings
Billionaire Charles Koch has bankrolled the campaign to end eviction bans during the pandemic. At the same time, his company has been buying up real estate, giving him a strong financial incentive to kick tenants out.
The Texas GOP Is Taking Money From the Unemployed and Giving It to Fossil Fuel Companies
In the last week and a half, Texas Republicans moved to block $8 billion worth of pandemic unemployment benefits for 1.3 million people — just days after voting to extend a corporate subsidy program that is enriching fossil fuel companies and has already cost the state $10 billion.
Republicans Have Normalized Voter Suppression
New polling shows many Republican voters now consider trampling voting rights a legitimate tactic. It’s a worrying trend — and a threat to democracy.