It Pays to Be a Conservative Democrat Blocking Popular Legislation
Why do conservative Democrats like Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin oppose wildly popular progressive policy measures? Because it’s a very lucrative racket.
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Tucker Carlson, Your Boss’s Favorite “Populist”
Tucker Carlson likes to style himself a populist. But every time there’s a fight over something that might actually make life easier for working-class people, he never misses the opportunity to take the side of big business and the rich.
A Year After the Capitol Riot, Nothing Useful Has Been Done
After the January 6 violence at the Capitol, Americans got a bigger national security state. What they didn’t get was solutions to any of the underlying forces that helped bolster right-wing extremism.
Manchin and Sinema Defend the Filibuster Because the Filibuster Defends Corporate Power
The filibuster is not about democratic checks or minority rights. The filibuster is about giving corporations veto power over the economy — which is why Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema defend it.
Appointing Another Pro-Corporate Hack Supreme Court Justice Would Be a Disaster
With Justice Breyer’s announced retirement, the moment begs for a jurist with a commitment to prioritizing workers and the environment — and breaking with America’s most powerful lobbying group, the US Chamber of Commerce.
America’s Military-Industrial Complex Is Ruining the World
The Pentagon budget, now up to nearly $800 billion, is a monument to waste and profligacy. If we want to tackle the major crises of our times, like climate change and global inequality, we can’t afford to keep showering the military with money.
Can Democrats Reverse the Neoliberal Era’s Dealignment?
A new study clearly shows that Democratic candidates aren’t embracing progressive economic demands. Is it any wonder why more and more working-class people are tuning these politicians out?
Democrats Have Delivered for Wall Street Yet Again
Democrats pretended they were cracking down on private equity moguls. The truth: Dems were actually protecting them — perhaps because private equity firms are major Democratic donors.
We Don’t Need Another New Progressive Organization
Everyone on the Left wants a more coherent, effective movement. But we’ll get there by devising creative new strategies for building our working-class base, not by launching yet another national progressive organization.
Today’s Hawkish Discourse Makes the Cuban Missile Crisis’s Nuclear Brinkmanship Seem Sane
In the 1962 US-Soviet nuclear showdown over Cuba, there was no shortage of voices calling for escalation or decrying “appeasement.” But there was always broad support for the kind of talks that ended up saving the world — something frighteningly absent today.
Liberals Are Finally Realizing That Deindustrialization Was a Disaster for the Working Class
Recent decades of brutal deindustrialization have helped lead many liberals to rethink their trust in the market as the arbiter of which jobs should exist. But without an organized working class, a turn toward industrial policy can’t improve the lives of the majority.
By Fighting for Paid Sick Leave, the Railworkers Are Fighting for All of Us
Paid sick leave is a right we all deserve — and an urgent public health issue. Win or lose, we’re indebted to the railworkers for their fight to achieve it.
Ryan Grim: “Railworkers Feel Like They Have Very Little Left to Lose at This Point”
Railworkers’ recent labor battle exposed their increasingly brutal working conditions. We spoke with journalist Ryan Grim about the rank-and-file effort to rebuild power in rail unions — so workers can fight the railroad bosses even harder next time.
The Lie at the Heart of Politicians’ “Job Creation” Rhetoric
When they want to wage war or destroy the planet, American political elites are obsessed with “job creation.” When workers start accruing a modest amount of power, elites demand increased unemployment.
Turkey Doesn’t Need F-16s. It Needs Humanitarian Aid.
Less than a week after two earthquakes killed 35,000 people, the Turkish government resumed bombing Kurdish forces in Syria. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is spending $20 billion on F-16 jets — money that would be better spent on earthquake aid.
You’re Paying Taxes Today. The Rich Aren’t.
Today is Tax Day, the deadline for Americans to pay their taxes. One group that won’t be paying much today: the rich, who have stashed $2 trillion in offshore tax havens.
Free Leonard Peltier
American Indian activist Leonard Peltier was wrongly convicted in the 1970s and is now the longest-held indigenous political prisoner in the United States. He should be granted clemency and released from prison immediately.
The Dark Money–Backed Front Group No Labels Is Buying Its Own Ballot Line
Laying the groundwork to launch a centrist, third-party “unity” ticket in 2024, the billionaire-funded group No Labels is buying its own ballot line — which is secretly being purchased outside disclosure rules that have long governed US election campaigns.
A New Supreme Court Case Could Make It Even Harder to Tax the Superrich
The Supreme Court has just agreed to hear a case designed to preemptively block a wealth tax — another potentially lucrative gift for the conservative justices’ billionaire benefactors.
Corporate Lobbyists Are Fighting Heat and Wildfire Protections for Workers
In addition to blocking action on climate change, lobbyists for oil and gas companies are pushing back against federal labor protections meant to safeguard workers from the effects of record-high temperatures.