The Jebification of Ron DeSantis
Republican donors hoped Ron DeSantis could replace Donald Trump as a right-wing populist without the chaos and ineptitude. Instead, DeSantis is looking more and more like Jeb Bush.
20417 Article(s) by: Elizabeth Mahony
Clarence Thomas Helped Kill Eviction Bans That Threatened Harlan Crow’s Business
While billionaire real estate mogul Harlan Crow was lavishing Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas with luxury gifts, Thomas voted to strike down federal tenant protections that might hurt the profits of Crow’s company.
The World Has Learned the Wrong Lessons From the Rana Plaza Disaster
Ten years ago this week, over 1,130 workers died when the Bangladeshi garment factory Rana Plaza collapsed. A decade after the worst tragedy in garment work history, the reforms needed to prevent another similar tragedy haven’t materialized.
The Antiabortion Movement Could Tank the GOP
The end of Roe v. Wade has shaken up the decades-long bargain between the GOP and the antiabortion movement. As the movement radicalizes, the party faces a dilemma: Should it stand by a cause that threatens to become a disastrously unpopular albatross?
Joe Biden’s Reelection Launch Is the Depressing Starting Gun for a Bleak Campaign Season
Announcing his reelection today, Joe Biden urged voters to help him “finish the job” and protect democracy from “MAGA extremists.” Conspicuously absent is even the pretense that he’ll do anything to make your life better.
Joe Manchin Increased Taxes on the Working Class
In 2021, Sen. Joe Manchin didn’t just block an expanded child and anti-poverty tax credits that had lifted millions out of poverty. A new study shows it also resulted in a massive regressive tax increase on the working class.
Harry Belafonte’s Promising Career as a Film Star Ended Before It Really Began
Harry Belafonte, who died earlier today at age 96, was well known for his groundbreaking music career and civil rights activism. But in his early years, he appeared poised to become a major film star. We revisit two of his forgotten early classics here.
Police Appear to Have Executed a Cop City Protester in Cold Blood
New evidence suggests the official police narrative that the anti–Cop City activist Tortuguita was killed by police after firing on them is a lie. The killing is the product of the domestic “war on terror” and its crackdown on nonviolent activists.
Giorgia Meloni’s Government Is “Both-Sidesing” Italy’s Fascist Past
Italy’s far-right government has driven a wave of historical falsification. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s call to turn today’s anti-fascist resistance anniversary into a generic celebration of “freedom” shows how it is trying to erase opposition to fascism from history.
Marxism Doesn’t Equal “Wokeness.” But If You Oppose Oppression, You Should Be a Marxist.
The Right uses “Marxism” to describe everything from LGBTQ rights to corporate diversity measures. It’s a deeply confused definition. But it’s not wrong about one thing: Marxists do indeed want to dismantle all forms of oppression.
The State Defeated Tucker Carlson When Boycotts Could Not
Fox News demagogue Tucker Carlson was brought down by lawsuits and settlements after years of failed consumer activism.
The West’s Anti-Worker Interest Rate Hikes Are Drowning the Global South in Debt
Policymakers in the Global North have mostly responded to rising inflation by raising interest rates. That’s bad for their own workers — and it’s creating a debt crisis for many countries in the Global South.
Conservatives Need a Safe Space From the Imaginary Threat of “Woke Capitalism”
Conservatives today look like their own exaggerated caricatures of “social-justice warrior” liberals: shrill, censorious, and terrified of encountering any perspective they oppose.
The GOP Wants to Cut Social Programs in Favor of Military Spending. Biden Is Enabling Them.
The House GOP’s new budget would — surprise, surprise — further balloon militarized spending and take the axe to social programs. And Joe Biden’s love for military spending isn’t helping things.
Midtown Athletic Club’s Chicago Location Fired All of Its Housekeepers, Twice
The luxury Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago told its housekeepers they would be laid off on May 1. The workers saw the move as retaliation for their organizing efforts — and when they went public, the club fired them again, effective immediately.
The University of California Is Bailing Out Private Equity Giant Blackstone
Amid a housing crisis that is leaving thousands of its students and employees homeless, the University of California is bailing out private equity behemoth Blackstone, siphoning billions of dollars to privatized student housing and corporate landlords.
Brandon Johnson Should Establish a Public Bank in Chicago
Chicago’s working-class neighborhoods have been exploited by predatory financial institutions and starved of desperately needed investment. Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson could change that by creating a public bank.
No, It’s Not Techno-Feudalism. It’s Still Capitalism.
Some thinkers are arguing that capitalism as Marx defined it is over, and we’re entering something like digital neo-feudalism instead. Not true, argues Evgeny Morozov. To understand how capitalism operates today, Marxists have to drop the factory bias.
Apple Store Workers Want to Unionize. Apple Is Union Busting.
Workers at an Apple Store in Kansas City say they were fired in retaliation for trying to form a union. It’s another episode in the wave of labor organizing hitting big corporations in the US — and those corporations responding with illegal union busting.
It’s Not Just the Gig Economy — Precarious Work Is Everywhere
A new report confirms that insecure and precarious work is widespread across the economy. To respond meaningfully to the needs of workers, the labor movement must grapple with the harmful impacts of precarity.