The Chamber of Commerce vs. the Unemployed
The US Chamber of Commerce is leading the charge to cut off expanded unemployment benefits for workers. Business interests want millionaire CEOs protected and austerity for unemployed workers.
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.
Ronald Reagan’s “Welfare Queen” Lie Has Been Resurrected
To supply bosses with exploitable low-wage workers during a deadly pandemic, Republicans are reviving a grotesque lie: the myth of the “welfare queen.”
Debt Collectors: We Should Be Able to Break Your Legs
The $13 billion debt collection industry is funneling huge amounts of cash to lawmakers in a bid to kill legislation that would finally put some limits on their predatory business model.
Will Joe Biden Betray His Big Pharma Friends?
Joe Biden and many of his appointees have links to drug companies trying to delay and weaken the COVID vaccine patent waiver he’s now promising to negotiate.
Democrats’ Lies About Tax Breaks Sound a Lot Like Republicans’
Against the opposition of AOC and other progressives, key Democrats are demanding a tax break for their wealthy donors more regressive than even Trump’s notorious tax cuts.
Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to Headline Event for Anti-Union Group Fighting $15 Wage
Weeks after voting to kill a $15 minimum wage, senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin will discuss “finding bipartisan solutions” at the conference of a major lobbying group fighting minimum wage and labor legislation. They know which side they’re on.
Joe Manchin Wants to Keep the Corporate Tax Rate as Low as Possible
West Virginia senator Joe Manchin is threatening to block President Joe Biden’s higher corporate tax rate as part of Biden’s infrastructure bill — a move that could shield private equity firms whose executives boosted Manchin’s campaign and bet big on Trump’s tax bill.
The Right Wing of the Democratic Party Is Playing Hardball. The Left Wing Is Not.
Conservatives in the Democratic Party are willing to go to the mat for the rich, to the point of threatening to take down Joe Biden’s infrastructure and climate plan. But the left wing of the party has not yet been willing to play the same kind of hardball for the working class.
Arby’s Says It Helped Kill the $15 Minimum Wage
Inspire Brands — which owns Jimmy John’s, Arby’s, Sonic, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Dunkin’ — bragged in internal documents about its role preventing workers from getting a living wage. $15 an hour and a union is the least we should be demanding from predatory corporations.
The Senate Means Minority Rule Even Without the Filibuster
Yes, we should abolish the filibuster. But even a filibuster-free Senate would give 16 percent of the population power to stop legislation. Simply put, the Senate is an antidemocratic institution.
Last Week in Boulder, the NRA Struck Down an Assault Weapons Ban. This Week in Boulder, a Massacre.
Last week, the National Rifle Association successfully struck down an assault weapons ban in Boulder, Colorado. Five days later, Boulder was the scene of a mass shooting — reportedly with the same kind of weapon the city tried and failed to ban.
The IRS Is Letting the Rich Get Away With Tax Evasion
New data shows a huge drop in tax audits of the wealthy and corporations. The IRS is hounding working people but letting the rich get away with murder.
The FBI Is Now Investigating Cuomo’s Corporate Immunity Law
Last year, we reported that New York governor Andrew Cuomo trying to shield killer nursing home execs from criminal liability for actions during the pandemic. Now the FBI is probing how the corporate immunity law came about.
The New COVID-19 Relief Bill Is Good, But Not Good Enough
The good news: in passing the American Rescue Plan, Democrats are finally rejecting the logic of austerity. The bad news: the party did not use the bill to secure essential long-term economic protections for Americans, nor do anything that would anger the wealthy.
Kyrsten Sinema Went to Washington and Became a Monster
Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema was once a Green Party member and a committed antiwar activist. Now she’s best known for a viral thumbs-down on a $15 minimum wage vote. It’s the timeless story of an earnest do-gooder turned Washington monster and what happens when we don’t hold politicians accountable.
Raise the Minimum Wage, Stop the Joe Manchin Presidency
We’ve learned recently that Senator Joe Manchin is wielding enormous power in US politics right now. But he can be defeated — if Democrats vote down the must-pass COVID-19 bill until it includes an increase in the minimum wage.
Kamala Harris Needs to Act Now to Advance a $15 Minimum Wage
A confidential memo now circulating spells out exactly how Vice President Kamala Harris to help push through a $15 minimum wage. There are no excuses for inaction.
Private Equity’s Ownership of Nursing Homes Is Killing Senior Citizens
A new study reveals some grim consequences of Wall Street’s move into senior care: between 2004 and 2016, more than 20,000 Americans died as a consequence of living in nursing homes run by private equity firms.
Andrew Cuomo Isn’t the Only One Who Needs to Answer for COVID-19 Mismanagement
Our press corps is wielded as a partisan and corporate weapon, making journalists averse to covering corruption and avarice if leaders from both parties are implicated in shilling for corporate power. Which is why the press is unable to handle a scandal like Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s alleged mismanagement of nursing home policy during the pandemic.
Andrew Cuomo Declared War on Ron Kim for Telling the Truth
New York legislator Ron Kim confronted Governor Andrew Cuomo over his move to give nursing home executives immunity for their deadly negligence during COVID. Cuomo responded with threats of retribution. We talk to Kim about the episode.