To give us the benefit of his vast experience as a diplomat, former Ambassador Chas Freeman, helps us sort through the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Then Christian Sorenson, military analyst from the Eisenhower Media Network, explains just how the military industrial complex works.

Ambassador Chas Freeman is a retired career diplomat who has negotiated on behalf of the United States with over 100 foreign governments in East and South Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and both Western and Eastern Europe. Ambassador Freeman served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense, U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in the American embassies at both Bangkok and Beijing. He was Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979-1981.

The claim that suddenly Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon has no basis in fact. And neither the CIA nor the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, agree with the statement of the President that Iran is about to build a bomb.

Ambassador Chas Freeman

The Israelis have a strange way of negotiating. They went into negotiations with Hamas, and they killed the top two people in charge of the negotiations. Then they go into negotiations – with U.S. auspices – with Iran. And in the middle of them, they kill the top military and scientific people in Iran.

Ambassador Chas Freeman

It’s as least as likely, maybe more likely, that there will be regime change in Jerusalem as there will be regime change in Tehran.

Ambassador Chas Freeman

Christian Sorensen is the Associate Director of the Eisenhower Media Network. He is an author and military affairs analyst covering the business of war. Mr. Sorenson is a former U.S. Air Force Arabic linguist, served at a variety of stateside posts and a tour in Qatar. He is the author of “Understanding the War Industry.” Since leaving the military, he has become the foremost expert studying military contracting and how corporations profit from war.

The U.S. taxpayer gives any year around three to $4 billion of U.S. tax dollars to Israel, and then Israel is supposed to turn around and use that money to purchase from the U.S. war industry. So it is incredibly profitable for the U.S. ruling class to do that because it doesn't come out of the pockets of the U.S. ruling class because the U.S. ruling class doesn't pay their fair share of taxes.

Christian Sorenson

Per Ralph's call to action - Even non-veterans can sign up for Veterans for Peace

First up, Georgetown law professor and former national legal director at the ACLU, David Cole, joins us to discuss the legal response to the Trump Administration’s serial violations of the Constitution. Then Mike Ferner of Veterans for Peace checks in to update us halfway through his Fast for Gaza, 40 days of living on 250 calories per day, which is the average caloric intake of Palestinian survivors in Gaza. Finally, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Joe Holley, stops by to pay tribute to his mentor and colleague, the late crusading journalist, Ronnie Dugger, founder of the progressive Texas Observer.

David Cole is the Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy and former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He writes about and teaches constitutional law, freedom of speech, and constitutional criminal procedure. He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and is the legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.

Trump is obviously not concerned about antisemitism. He's concerned about targeting schools because they are places where people can criticize the president, where people can think independently, are taught to think independently, and often don't support what the president is doing. He's using his excuse to target a central institution of civil society.

David Cole

The decision on Trump versus the United States is only about criminal liability for criminal acts, not for unconstitutional acts. And violating the Constitution is not a crime. Every president has violated the Constitution probably since George Washington. That's not a crime.

David Cole

Mike Ferner served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he is former National Director and current Special Projects Coordinator for Veterans for Peace. He is the author of Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran for Peace Reports from Iraq.

Two hundred and fifty calories is technically, officially, a starvation diet, and we're doing it for 40 days. The people in Gaza have been doing it for months and months and months, and they're dying like crazy. That's the whole concern that we're trying to raise. And I'll tell you at the end of this fast, on the 40th day, we are not just going out silently. There are going to be some fireworks before we're done with this thing. So all I'm saying is: stay tuned.

Mike Ferner: Special Projects Coordinator of Veterans for Peace on “FastforGaza”

They're (The Veterans Administration is) being defamed, Ralph, for the same reason that those right-wing corporatists defamed public education. So they can privatize it. And that's exactly what they're trying to do with the VA. And I can tell you every single member of Veterans for Peace has got nothing but praise for the VA.

Mike Ferner

Joe Holley was the editor of the Texas Observer in the early 1980s. A former staff writer at The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer and columnist at the Houston Chronicle, he is the author of eight books, mostly about Texas.

He would talk to people, and he would find out things going on about racial discrimination, about farm workers being mistreated, all kind of stories that the big papers weren't reporting. And this one guy, young Ronnie Dugger, would write these stories and expose things about Texas that a lot of Texans just did not know.

Joe Holley on the late progressive journalist, Ronnie Dugger

He knew the dark side of Texas, but he always had an upbeat personality. I had numerous conversations with Ronnie (Dugger), and he was ferociously independent.

Ralph Nader

News 6/13/25

1. On Monday, Israeli forces seized the Madleen, the ship carrying activist Greta Thunberg and others attempting to bring food and other supplies past the Israeli blockade into Gaza, and detained the crew. The ship was part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thunberg had been designated an “Ambassador of Conscience,” by Amnesty International. The group decried her detention, with Secretary General Agnès Callamard writing, “Israel has once again flouted its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip and demonstrated its chilling contempt for legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice.” On Tuesday, CBS reported that Israel deported Thunberg. Eight other passengers refused deportation and the Jerusalem Post reports they remain in Israeli custody. They will be represented in Israeli courts by Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. One of these detainees is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

2. Shortly before the Madleen was intercepted, members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing concern for the safety of these activists, citing the deadly 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara, which ultimately resulted in the death of ten activists, including an American. This letter continued, “any attack on the Madleen or its civilian crew is a clear and blatant violation of international law. United Nations experts have called for the ship’s safe passage and warned Israel to “refrain from any act of hostility” against the Madleen and its passengers…We call on you to monitor the Madleen’s journey and deter any such hostile actions.” This letter was led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and drew signatures from Congressional progressives like Reps. Summer Lee, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Greg Casar, and others.

3. On the other end of the political spectrum, Trump – ever unpredictable – seemed to criticize Israel’s detention of Thunberg. In a press conference, “Trump was…asked about Thunberg's claim that she had been kidnapped.” The president responded “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg…Is that what she said? She was kidnapped by Israel?” The reporter replied “Yes, sir,” to which “Trump responded by shaking his head.” This from Newsweek.

4. Of course, the major Trump news this week is his response to the uprising in Los Angeles. Set off by a new wave of ICE raids, protesters have clashed with police in the streets and Trump has responded by increasingly upping the ante, including threatening to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom, per KTLA. Beyond such bluster however, Trump has moved to deploy U.S. Marines onto the streets of the nation’s second-largest city. Reuters reports, “About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 30 miles…south of Los Angeles, awaiting deployment to specific locations,” in addition to 2,100 National Guard troops. The deployment of these troops raises thorny legal questions. Per Reuters, “The Marines and National Guard troops lack the authority to makes arrests and will be charged only with protecting federal property and personnel,” but “California Attorney General Rob Bonta… [said] there was a risk that could violate an 1878 law that…forbids the U.S. military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement.” Yet, despite all the tumult, these protests seem to have gotten the goods, so to speak: the City of Glendale announced it would, “end its agreement with…ICE to house federal immigration detainees.” All of this sets quite a scene going into Trump’s military parade in DC slated for Saturday, June 14th.

5. In classic fashion however, Trump’s tough posture does not extend to corporate crime. Public Citizen’s Rick Claypool reports, “Trump's DOJ just announced American corporations that engage in criminal bribery schemes abroad will no longer be prosecuted.” Claypool cites a June 9th memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which reads, “Effective today, prosecutors shall…not attribute…malfeasance to corporate structures.” Claypool also cites a Wall Street Journal piece noting that “the DOJ has already ended half of its criminal investigations into corporate bribery in foreign countries and shrunk its [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] unit down to 25 employees.”

6. Americans can at least take small comfort in one thing: the departure of Elon Musk from the top rungs of government. It remains to be seen what exactly precipitated his final exit and how deep his rift with Trump goes – Musk has already backed down on his harshest criticisms of the president, deleting his tweet claiming Trump was in Epstein files, per ABC. Yet, this appears to be a victory for Steve Bannon and the forces he represents within Trump’s inner circle. On June 5th, the New York Times reported that Bannon, “said he was advising the president to cancel all [Musk’s] contracts and… ‘initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status’.” Bannon added, “[Musk] should be deported from the country immediately.’” Bannon has even called for a special counsel probe, per the Hill. Bannon’s apparent ascendency goes beyond the Oval Office as well. POLITICO Playbook reports Bannon had a 20-minute-long conversation with Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman on Monday evening – while Fetterman dined with Washington bureau chief for Breitbart, Matt Boyle – at Butterworth’s, the DC MAGA “watering hole.” This also from the Hill.

7. On the way out, the Daily Beast reports, “Elon Musk’s goons at the Department of Government Efficiency transmitted a large amount of data—all of it undetected—using a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal they installed on top of the White House.” Sources “suggested that the [the installation of the Starlink terminal] was intended to bypass White House systems that track the transmission of data—with names and time stamps—and secure it from spies.” It is unknown exactly what data Musk and his minions absconded with, and for what purpose. We can only hope the public gets some answers.

8. With Musk and Trump parting ways, other political forces are now seeking to woo the richest man in the world. Semafor reports enigmatic Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley and chaired Bernie Sanders’ campaign in California, “talked with one of…Musk’s ‘senior confidants’ …about whether the ex-DOGE leader…might want to help the Democratic Party in the midterms.” Khanna added, “Having Elon speak out against the irrational tariff policy, against the deficit exploding Trump bill, and the anti-science and anti-immigrant agenda can help check Trump’s unconstitutional administration…I look forward to Elon turning his fire against MAGA Republicans instead of Democrats in 2026.” On the other hand, the Hill reports ex-Democrat Andrew Yang is publicly appealing to Musk for an alliance following Musk’s call for the establishment of an “America Party.” Yang himself founded the Forward Party in 2021. Yang indicated Musk has not responded to his overtures.

9. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Democratic Party appears to be giving up entirely. In a leaked Zoom meeting, DNC Chair Ken Martin – only elected in February – said, “I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,” per POLITICO. On this call, Martin expressed frustration with DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, blaming him for, “[destroying] any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.” Hogg meanwhile has doubled down, defying DNC leadership by “wading into another primary,” this time for the open seat left by the death of Congressman Gerry Conolly in Virginia, the Washington Post reports. The DNC is still weighing whether to void Hogg’s election as Vice Chair.

10. Finally, in some good news from New York City, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani appears to have closed the gap with disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo began the race with a 40-point lead; a new Data for Progress poll shows that lead has been cut down to just two points. Moreover, that poll was conducted before Mamdani was endorsed by AOC, who is expected to bring with her substantial support from Latinos and residents of Queens, among other groups. Notably, Mamdani has racked up tremendous numbers among young men, a demographic the Democratic Party has struggled to attract in recent elections. Cuomo will not go down without a fight however. The political nepo-baby has already secured a separate ballot line for the November election, meaning he will be in the race even if he loses the Democratic primary, and he is being boosted by a new million-dollar digital ad spend by Airbnb, per POLITICO. The New York City Democratic Primary will be held on June 24th.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, to break down the budget bill passing through Congress that is the largest transfer of wealth from the poor and working-class to the wealthy in United States history. Then, insurance expert, Robert Hunter returns to discuss the recent rise in auto insurance rates.

Heidi Shierholz is the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that uses the power of its research on economic trends and on the impact of economic policies to advance reforms that serve working people, deliver racial justice, and guarantee gender equity. In 2021 she became the fourth president EPI has had since its founding in 1986.

We've never seen a budget that so plainly takes from the poor to give to the rich… The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that lower and lower middle-income people will actually lose out. They may get something of a tax break, but they lose benefits. So that on net, their after-tax income will be lower after this bill, while the rich just make out like bandits.

Heidi Shierholz, President of the Economic Policy Institute

The draconian cuts that we are seeing to the safety net are not big enough, because the tax increases are so huge that this bill also increases the deficit dramatically.

Heidi Shierholz

Many folks are calling this the MAGA Murder Bill. They're not wrong. People will die because of the cuts that we're seeing here.

Heidi Shierholz

Robert Hunter is the Director Emeritus of Insurance at the Consumer Federation of America. He has held many positions in the field, both public and private, including being the Commissioner of Insurance for the State of Texas being the President and Founder of the National Insurance Consumer Organization and served as United States Federal Insurance Administrator.

Decide how much you need. Don't ask for more than you really need. And then once you have it, “I need this much for my car. I need this much if I hit somebody” and so on. And then you get that statistic, and you send it out to several companies and get quotes.

Robert Hunter on buying auto insurance

There isn't any program benefiting the American people that Trump is not cutting in order to turn the country over to the giant corporations and the super-rich. It's basically an overthrow of the government and an overthrow of the rule of law.

Ralph Nader

News 6/6/25

1. On May 23rd, the Trump administration Department of Justice officially announced it had reached an agreement with Boeing to drop its criminal case against the airline manufacturer related to the 2018 and 2019 crashes that killed 346 people, NPR reports. The turnover at the federal government in recent years has prolonged this case; the first Trump administration reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing in 2021, but prosecutors revived the criminal case under President Biden, and as NPR notes, “Boeing agreed last year to plead guilty to defrauding regulators, but a federal judge rejected that proposed plea deal.” Just before the deal was reached, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal penned a letter calling on the DOJ not to “allow [Boeing] to weasel its way out of accountability for its failed corporate culture, and for any illegal behavior that has resulted in deadly consequence,” but this was clearly ignored. Paul Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah and former federal judge who, according to NPR, is representing the families of victims for free, said, “This kind of non-prosecution deal is unprecedented and obviously wrong for the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history…My families will object and hope to convince the court to reject [the deal]."

2. That same day, Trump signed a new executive order to “cut down on regulations and fast-track new licenses for [nuclear] reactors and power plants,” per Reuters. According to the wire service, “Shares of uranium mining companies Uranium Energy…Energy Fuels…and Centrus Energy…jumped between 19.6% and 24.2%” following this announcement. Sam Altman-backed nuclear startup Oklo gained 23.1%. The administration’s new interest in the nuclear industry is spurred in part by increased demand for energy as, “power-hungry data centers dedicated to artificial intelligence and crypto miners plug into the grid.” The nuclear industry is also expected to retain many tax incentives stripped away from green energy initiatives in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill.

3. In yet another instance of the Trump administration going soft on corporate greed, the Republican-controlled Federal Trade Commission has dismissed their case against PepsiCo. As the AP explains, “The lawsuit…alleged that PepsiCo was giving unfair price advantages to Walmart at the expense of other vendors and consumers,” citing the 1936 Robinson-Patman Act, which bans companies from “using promotional incentive payments to favor large customers over smaller ones.” Current FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson called the case a “dubious partisan stunt,” in a press release. Former Chair Lina Khan however, called the dismissal “disturbing,” and wrote, “This lawsuit would’ve protected families from paying higher prices at the grocery store and stopped conduct that squeezes small businesses and communities across America. Dismissing it is a gift to giant retailers as they gear up to hike prices.”

4. Instead of utilizing the federal regulatory apparatus to protect consumers and the public, the Trump administration instead continues to weaponize these institutions to target progressive groups. According to Axios, the FTC is “investigating…Media Matters over claims that it and other media advocacy groups coordinated advertising boycotts of Elon Musk's X.” As this report notes, “X [formerly Twitter] sued Media Matters for defamation in 2023 for a report it publicly released that showed ads on X running next to pro-Nazi content. X claimed the report contributed to an advertiser exodus.” While it seems unlikely the social media platform could prevail in such a suit, the suit has effectively cowed the advertising industry, with the World Federation of Advertisers dismantling their Global Alliance for Responsible Media just months after the suit was filed. Media Matters president Angelo Carusone is quoted saying, “The Trump administration has been defined by naming right-wing media figures to key posts and abusing the power of the federal government to bully political opponents and silence critics…that's exactly what's happening here…These threats won't work; we remain steadfast to our mission.”

5. On Thursday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cotez endorsed State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in his bid for Mayor of New York City, POLITICO reports. This endorsement came the morning after the first mayoral primary debate, a rollicking affair featuring nine candidates and including a testy exchange in which the moderators disregarded their own rules to press Mamdani to say whether he believed in “a Jewish state of Israel?” Mamdani responded that he believed Israel has a right to exist “as a state with equal rights.” This from the Times of Israel. In her endorsement, AOC wrote “Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack…In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that.” Ocasio-Cortez said she would rank Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Scott Stringer and Zellnor Myrie in that order after Mamdani.

6. Turning to Palestine itself, the Times of Israel reports notorious Biden State Department spokesman Matthew Miller admitted in an interview that, “It is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes” in Gaza. While Miller stops short of accusing the Israeli government of pursuing “a policy of deliberately committing war crimes,” and repeats the tired canard that Hamas resisted ceasefire negotiations, he admits that the Biden administration “could have done [more] to pressure the Israeli government to agree to…[a] ceasefire.” Hopefully, Miller’s admission will help crack the dam of silence and allow the truth to be told about this criminal military campaign.

7. Even as Miller makes this admission, the merciless bombing of Palestinians continues. The Guardian reports “On Sunday, at least 31 Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces opened fire at the site of a food distribution centre in Rafah…On Monday, another three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire at the same site…And on Tuesday, 27 people were killed after Israeli forces opened fire again, say Gaza officials.” This report continues, citing UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, who said on Tuesday that “Palestinians in Gaza now faced an impossible choice: ‘Die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available.’” Türk added that by attacking civilians, Israel is committing yet more war crimes.

8. Some high-profile activists are taking direct action to deliver food to Gaza. Democracy Now! reports 12 activists aboard The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, have departed from the Italian port of Catania. This group includes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, actor Liam Cunningham, and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. Despite the previous ship being targeted by a drone attack, Thunberg is quoted saying “We deem the risk of silence and the risk of inaction to be so much more deadly than this mission.” Threats to the flotilla continue to pour in. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!” In Israel itself, IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin ominously stated “we will act accordingly," per FOX News.

9. In more foreign policy news, Gareth Gore – a Washington Post reporter and author of Opus, an exposé of the shadowy Opus Dei sect within the Catholic Church – reports Pope Leo has given Opus Dei six months to “pass comprehensive reforms” and has told the group that if significant changes are not made by December, “necessary measures will be taken.” Gore further reports that in addition to the reforms, “[Pope] Leo has also demanded an investigation into abuse allegations…[including] human trafficking, enslavement…[and] physical and psychological abuse of members.” According to Gore, the reforms were first ordered by Pope Francis in 2022, but “Opus Dei dragged its feet – in the hope the pope would pass away first.” Upon his death, Pope Francis had been on the, “cusp of signing into canon law a huge reform of Opus Dei.” The Vatican was also moving to force a vote on a revised Opus Dei constitution, which was, “quietly cancelled” within hours of Francis’ death. Perhaps most tellingly, Gore reports “The Vatican has privately reassured Opus Dei victims who have long campaigned for justice that they ‘won’t be disappointed’”

10. Finally, a political earthquake has occurred in South Korea. Listeners may remember the failed coup attempt by right-wing former President Yoon Suk Yeol, which culminated in his ouster and could ultimately lead to a sentence of life in prison or even death. Now, the country has elected a new president, Lee Jae-myung, by a margin of 49.4% to 41.2%. Lee, who leads Korea’s Democratic People’s Party, has “endured a barrage of criminal indictments and an assassination attempt,” since losing the last presidential election by a margin of less than 1 per cent, per the Financial Times. Lee is a former factory worker who campaigned in a bulletproof vest after surviving being knifed in the neck last year. The FT notes “Lee…grew up in poverty and suffered [a] permanent injury at the age of 13 when his arm was crushed in a machine at the baseball glove factory where he worked…in 2022 [he] declared his ambition to be a ‘successful Bernie Sanders’.” That said, he has pivoted to the center in his recent political messaging. Beyond the impact of Lee’s election on the future of Korean democracy, his tenure is sure to set a new tone in Korea’s relations with their neighbors including the US, the DPRK, China and Japan.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

We hear from citizen activist, Diana Kastenbaum, who organized a town meeting in her congressional district in Western New York State filled with both Democrats and Republicans airing their concerns. How did the district’s representative respond? We’ll hear the whole story. Then, Ralph welcomes back Washington Post tech reporter, Geoffrey Fowler, to discuss his latest report about how Meta promised parents it would automatically shield teens from harmful content. Find out what happened when Mr. Fowler and a group of Gen Z users put that promise to the test. Plus, we hear from RootsAction.org director Norman Solomon about the petition his group and Progressive Democrats of America sent to the DNC for an emergency meeting challenging how the party elites are responding to the authoritarian creep of the Trump Administration. Finally, Ralph calls for listeners to flood the White House switchboard to exhort the Administration to end the indiscriminate slaughter in Gaza.

Diana Kastenbaum lives in Batavia, New York, where she has been an owner in her family business, Pinnacle Manufacturing Company, Inc. for over 45 years. In 2014, she became the CEO of the company making her one of only a handful of women CEOs in the manufacturing field of tool and die casting in all of North America. In addition, she owned her own tech consulting company for 25 years. She has devoted herself to numerous national political endeavors and in 2016 ran for Congress in NY-27.

It wasn't until January 20th when those executive orders started to come out, I started to get really, really nervous. And it woke me up from my hibernation here in Western New York. So I actually had many sleepless nights, and I reached out to some friends. They weren't sleeping too. They were worried. And so we decided to do something about it.

Diana Kastenbaum on her summoning her congressperson for a town meeting

It (the town meeting) was just for people to ask their questions and tell their stories. And I think that's sort of where we are now in town halls is trying to get our friends and our neighbors and our local communities to hear what will happen, what is happening to the people in their communities. There were Republicans there, and they didn't yell or shout or anything like that. There was no disruption, but everybody stayed until the last moment, and everybody listened to these people share their stories.

Diana Kastenbaum

Geoffrey Fowler is The Washington Post's technology columnist. Before joining the Post he spent sixteen years with the Wall Street Journal writing about consumer technology, Silicon Valley, national affairs and China.

I performed an experiment on Instagram where I set up one of those accounts for a teenager that Instagram had promised us would be given special protections. And frankly, it took as little as ten minutes for me to swipe through and see what kinds of stuff Instagram was going to show this kid. And, oh boy, it really went off the rails quickly.

Geoffrey Fowler

It's like there's a dark commercial villain inside this company (Meta) that does whatever makes the most money for them.

Geoffrey Fowler

Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of War Made Easy, Made Love, Got War, and his newest book, War Made Invisible: How America Hides the Human Toll of Its Military Machine.

So we're hearing some mea culpas now about, "Oh, we should have told Biden not to run for re-election." But in point of fact, the same mentality, the same risk culture is still in place. And that's where I think the only change is going to come from the bottom up. It's going to come from us folks at the grassroots.

Norman Solomon

The Israelis bombed a home where they killed nine children out of ten children of parents who were both physicians with one American-made missile. That's just one of the tragedies that occurs every day, weaponized by the U.S. government – now Donald Trump – and funded by the U.S. taxpayers who are never asked their opinion on such foreign relation policies.

Ralph Nader

White House Switchboard : 202-456-1414

"Fast for Gaza" organized by Veterans for Peace

In the midst of the terrible Trump tax bill moving through Congress, Ralph invites Sarah Anderson who directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies to discuss the massive tax loopholes huge companies like Amazon get that allow them to pay far less in taxes than ordinary working people. Then, Greg LeRoy from Good Jobs First joins us to discuss how state taxpayers are footing the bill for these massive data centers companies like Google are building all over the country. Plus, Ralph has some choice words for passive unions and responds to listener feedback about our guest last week, Nadav Wieman.

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and is a co-editor of the IPS website Inequality.org. Her research covers a wide range of international and domestic economic issues, including inequality, CEO pay, taxes, labor, and Wall Street reform.

They're (Congress is) planning to give huge new tax giveaways to large corporations like Amazon and wealthy people like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. And partially paying for those tax cuts for the wealthy by slashing programs that mean so much to so many Americans like Medicaid and food assistance.”

Sarah Anderson

We're not going to have a healthy, thriving society and economy as long as we have the extreme levels of inequality that we have today.

Sarah Anderson

Dubbed “the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies,” “an encyclopedia of information regarding subsidies,” “God’s witness to corporate welfare,” and “the OG of ensuring that state and local tax policy actually supports good jobs, sustainability, and equity,”* Greg founded Good Jobs First in 1998 upon winning the Public Interest Pioneer Award. He has trained and consulted for state and local governments, associations of public officials, labor-management committees, unions, community groups, tax and budget watchdogs, environmentalists, and smart growth advocates more than 30 years.

Public education and public health are the two biggest losers in every state giving away money to data centers right now.

Greg Le Roy

We know of no other form of state spending that is so out of control. Therefore, we recommend that states cancel their data center tax exemptions. Such subsidies are absolutely unnecessary for an extremely profitable industry dominated by some of the most valuable corporations on earth such as Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google.

Good Jobs First report: “Cloudy With a Loss of Spending Control”

They've (Congress has) known for years that the ordinary worker pays a higher tax rate than these loophole-ridden corporations.

Ralph Nader

In my message to Trump, I ask him, "Why is he afraid of Netanyahu? And doesn't he want to come to the rescue of these innocent babies by saying, ‘Mr. Netanyahu, the taxpayers in this country are paying for thousands of trucks stalled at the border of Gaza full of medicine, food, water, electricity, fuel, and other critical necessities? We're going to put a little American flag on each one of these trucks, and don't you dare block them.’”

…No answer.

Ralph Nader

News 5/23/25

1. It seems as though the dam in Israeli politics against acknowledging the horrors in Gaza is beginning to break. In an interview with the BBC this week, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that what Israel "is currently doing in Gaza is very close to a war crime. Thousands of innocent Palestinians are being killed.” He went on to say, “the war has no objective and has no chance of achieving anything that could save the lives of the hostages.” These quotes come from the Jerusalem Post. And on May 21st, Haaretz reported that opposition party leader Yair Golan warned that Israel could become a “pariah state, like South Africa once was,” based on its actions in Gaza. Speaking a truth that American politicians appear incapable of articulating, he added, a “sane state does not wage war against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not set goals for itself like the expulsion of a population.”

2. Confirming this prognosis, the Cradle reports “The Israeli military has admitted that more than 80 percent of the people killed in the attacks on Gaza since Israel breached the ceasefire two months ago are…civilians.” This fact was confirmed by the IDF in response to a request from Hebrew magazine Hamakom, wherein “the military's spokesperson stated that 500 of the 2,780 killed in the Gaza Strip as of Tuesday are ‘terrorists.’” Leaving the remaining 2,280 people killed classified as “not suspected terrorists.” The Cradle compares this ratio, approximately 4.5 civilians killed for every combatant, to the Russia-Ukraine war – a ratio of approximate 2.8 to one. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has “claimed that the ratio is just one civilian killed for each combatant killed.” At the same time, AP reports that while Israel has allowed a minimum of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, under immense international pressure, “none of that aid actually reached Palestinians,” according to the United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric. The renewed offensive coupled with the barring of humanitarian aid has raised the alarm about mass starvation in Gaza.

3. Developments on the ground in Gaza have triggered a new wave of international outcry. On May 19th, leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Canada issued a joint statement, reading in part, “We strongly oppose the expansion of Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable… The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable and risks breaching International Humanitarian Law…We will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.” The Parliament of Spain meanwhile, “passed a non-binding motion calling on the government to impose an arms embargo on Israel,” per Anadolu Ajansı. This potential ban, supported by all parties except the conservative People’s Party and the far-right Vox, would “ban the exports of any material that could strengthen the Israeli military, including helmets, vests, and fuel with potential military use.” Left-wing parties in Spain are now pushing for an emergency session to impose a binding decree to this effect.

4. The United States however seems to be moving backwards. Drop Site news reports Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made a deal with Hamas ensuring that, “the Trump administration would compel Israel to lift the Gaza blockade and allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory…[and] make a public call for an immediate ceasefire,” in exchange for the release of Edan Alexander. Of course, once Alexander was released Trump reneged completely. Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, told Drop Site, “He did nothing of this…They didn't violate the deal. They threw it in the trash.” Besides prolonging further the charnel house in Gaza, this duplicity undermines American credibility in the region, particularly with Iran at a time when Trump is seeking a new deal to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

5. Democrats in Congress are inching towards action as well. On May 13th, Senator Peter Welch introduced Senate Resolution 224, calling for “the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to address the needs of civilians in Gaza.” Along with Welch, 45 Democrats and Independents signed on to this resolution, that is the entire Democratic caucus except for John Fetterman. On May 14th, Rashida Tlaib introduced House Resolution 409, commemorating the Nakba and calling on Congress to “reinstate support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides life-saving humanitarian assistance to Palestinians.” This was cosponsored by AOC and Reps. Carson, Lee, Omar, Pressley, Ramirez, Simon, and Coleman. And, on May 21st, a group of eight senators – Welch, Sanders, Kaine, Merkley, Murray, Van Hollen, Schatz, and Warnock – sent a letter urging Secretary of State Rubio to reopen the investigation into the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu-Akleh, per Prem Thakker. The Biden administration ruled the death “unintentional,” but a new documentary by Zeteo News reveals a “Biden cover-up.”

6. More action is occurring on college campuses as well, as students go into graduation season. At NYU, a student named Logan Rozos said in his graduation speech, “As I search my heart today in addressing you all…the only thing that is appropriate to say in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine,” per CNN. NYU announced that they are now withholding his diploma. At George Washington University, the Guardian reports student Cecilia Culver said in her graduation speech, “I am ashamed to know my tuition [fee] is being used to fund…genocide…I call upon the class of 2025 to withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment.” GWU issued a statement declaring Culver “has been barred from all GW’s campuses and sponsored events elsewhere.” The moral clarity of these students is remarkable, given the increasingly harsh measures these schools have taken to silence those who speak up.

7. Moving on, several major stories about the failing DOGE initiative have surfaced in recent days. First, Social Security. Listeners may recall that a DOGE engineer said “40% of phone calls made to [the Social Security Administration] to change direct deposit information come from fraudsters.” Yet, a new report by NextGov.com found that since DOGE mandated the SSA install new anti-fraud checks on claims made over the phone, “only two claims out of over 110,000 were found to likely be fraudulent,” or 0.0018%. What the policy has done however, is slow down payments. According to this piece, retirement claim processing is down 25%. Meanwhile, at the VA, DOGE engineer Sahil Lavingia, “found…a machine that largely functions, though it doesn’t make decisions as fast as a startup might.” Lavingia added “honestly, it’s kind of fine—because the government works. It’s not as inefficient as I was expecting, to be honest. I was hoping for more easy wins.” This from Fast Company. Finally, CBS reports, “leaders of the United States Institute for Peace regained control of their offices Wednesday…after they were ejected from their positions by the Trump administration and [DOGE] in March.” This piece explains that On February 19th, President Trump issued Executive Order 14217 declaring USIP "unnecessary" and terminating its leadership, most of its 300 staff members, its entire board, installing a DOGE functionary at the top and transferring ownership of the building to the federal government. This set off a court battle that ended Monday, when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the takeover was “unlawful” and therefore “null and void.” These DOGE setbacks might help explain Elon Musk’s reported retreat from the political spotlight and political spending.

8. On May 21st, Congressman Gerry Connolly passed away, following his battle with esophageal cancer. Connolly’s death however is just the latest in a disturbing trend – Ken Klippenstein reports, “Connolly joins five other members of Congress who also died in office over the past 13 months…Rep. Raúl Grijalva…Rep. Sylvester Turner…Rep. Bill Pascrell…Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee…[and] Rep. Donald Payne Jr.” All of these representatives were Democrats and their deaths have chipped away at the close margin between Democrats and Republicans in the House – allowing the Republicans to pass Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” by a single vote. Connolly himself prevailed over AOC in a much-publicized intra-party battle for the Ranking Member seat on the House Oversight committee. It speaks volumes that Connolly was only able to hold onto that seat for a few short months before becoming too sick to stay on. This is of course part and parcel with the recent revelations about Biden’s declining mental acuity during his presidency and the efforts to oust David Hogg from the DNC for backing primaries against what he calls “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats.

9. Speaking of “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats, Bloomberg Government reports Senator John Fetterman “didn’t attend a single committee hearing in 2025 until…May 8, about a week after an explosive New York Magazine story raised questions about his mental health and dedication to his job.” Fetterman, who represents Pennsylvania on the Commerce, Agriculture, and Homeland Security committees skipped the confirmation hearings for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Budget Director Russ Vought, some of the most high-profile and controversial Trump appointments. Fetterman still has yet to attend a single Agriculture committee hearing in 2025.

10. Finally, in more Pennsylvania news, the state held its Democratic primaries this week, yielding mixed results. In Pittsburgh, progressives suffered a setback with the ouster of Mayor Ed Gainey – the first Black mayor of the city. Gainey lost to Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, the son of former Mayor Bob O’Connor, the Hill reports. In Philadelphia however, voters approved three ballot measures – including expanding affordable housing and adding more oversight to the prison system – and reelected for a third term progressive reform District Attorney Larry Krasner, per AP. Krasner has long been a target of conservatives in both parties, but has adroitly maneuvered to maintain his position – and dramatically reduced homicide rates in Philly. The Wall Street Journal reports Philadelphia homicides declined by 34% between 2023 and 2024, part of substantial decline in urban homicides nationwide. Kudos to Krasner.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

We spend the whole program with Nadav Wieman, a former IDF sniper and now executive director of Breaking the Silence, an organization of Israeli veterans who expose the reality of life in the Occupied Territories and work to end the occupation. He and Ralph discuss Nadav’s experience in the IDF and his work trying to turn the tide of sentiment in Israel against the ongoing genocide.

Nadav Weiman is the executive director of Breaking the Silence, an organization of Israeli veterans who expose the reality of life in the Occupied Territories and work to end the occupation. Mr. Weiman served in a sniper’s team in the special forces of the Nahal brigade and attained the rank of staff sergeant. He also worked as a history and literature teacher and was the legal guardian at a home for underprivileged teens in Tel Aviv.

Now the soldiers that gave us testimonies told us that they came to the commander and said, "Okay, this is too much." And the commander said, "Listen, we lost too many dogs in the dog unit, so we're using Palestinians as human shields."

Nadav Wieman former IDF sniper and Executive Director of Breaking the Silence

When the first soldier came to us in December 2023 and told us about using Palestinians as human shields, I thought it was an isolated event. But then another soldier came and another soldier and another soldier, and then we understood. It's a new protocol. It's called the Mosquito Protocol. “Mosquito,” is a code name on the radio saying, take a Palestinian man and put him in an IDF uniform, and in some cases a GoPro camera on his chest. And then soldiers were ordered to send them into tunnels to sweep the tunnels or into homes to sweep the homes.

Nadav Wieman

You have another protocol called “Wasp”. The Wasp Protocol is Palestinians sweeping tunnels, but this time our Palestinians working with the IDF were brought from the West Bank. And they were told that they will get something from us, a permit or something like that.

Nadav Wieman

News 5/16/25

1. Trump has abruptly ended the American war on the Houthi militia in Yemen, saying in a press conference, “You know, we hit them very hard. They had a great capacity to withstand punishment…You can say there’s a lot of bravery there…It was amazing what they took. But we honor their commitment and their word,” per Prem Thakker. Behind the scenes, a New York Times report exposes the jaw-dropping waste that precipitated the U.S. backing down from this campaign. Some highlights include that the Houthis almost shot down an F-35 fighter jet – which run about $100 million apiece – that this campaign used so many precision munitions that Pentagon contingency planners grew “increasingly concerned about overall stocks,” and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)’s reported metric of success was “bombs dropped,” evoking the failed campaigns in Vietnam, per the Stimson Center’s Emma Ashburn. All in all, this campaign cost $1 billion over the course of just 30 days.

2. In more stunning news of Pentagon profligacy, CNN reported on May 6th that a SECOND F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet fell off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier into the Red Sea following the first lost jet by just over a week. Each of these planes bear a price tag of over $60 million, according to the Navy, just in case you were wondering where your tax dollars are going now that Trump and Musk have slashed the budget of anything resembling a social program.

3. In more foreign policy news, Edan Alexander, the last remaining U.S. citizen hostage in Gaza, has been released. Alexander was born and raised in New Jersey, then moved to Israel to serve in the IDF after graduating high school in 2022. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was quoted saying “[Alexander’s release] was achieved thanks to our military pressure and the political pressure exerted by President Trump. This is a winning combination.” Meanwhile Trump posted on Truth Social “Edan Alexander, American hostage thought dead, to be released by Hamas. Great news!” Despite this heraldry however, MSN reports Alexander “rebuffed” a personal meeting with Netanyahu. Counter Currents adds “In a video released by Hamas…last November, Alexander harshly criticized Netanyahu…[accusing] the Israeli leader of abandoning the…[hostages]…and urged Trump…to secure his release.” In this video, Alexander told Netanyahu, “You neglected us…We die a thousand times every day, and no one feels our pain.”

4. In a similar vein, the Jerusalem Post reports, “The Trump administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, criticized Israel in a meeting with hostage families…[saying] ‘We want to bring the hostages home, but Israel is not willing to end the war.’” Witkoff added “Israel is prolonging [the war] despite the fact that we don’t see where else we can go and that an agreement must be reached.” Further, the New Arab reports “The Trump administration has…dropped its longstanding demand for Hamas to disarm as a precondition for a Gaza ceasefire.” This willingness to call a spade a spade regarding Israel’s intractable opposition to peace, or even a lasting ceasefire – coupled with a seemingly genuine willingness to realistically approach peace talks – has been a marked point of departure compared to the Biden administration, which “Never Pressured Israel for Ceasefire,” according to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, as reported in Drop Site News.

5. Turning to some positive consumer protection news, “Ticketmaster will now show how much you’ll pay for tickets — fees included — before checkout,” the Verge reports. This “All In Prices” initiative is an effort by the company to comply with the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on junk fees. The FTC cracked down on Ticketmaster following the 2022 Taylor Swift Eras Tour “ticketing catastrophe.” In addition to the FTC, the Department of Justice sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation in 2024, accusing them of “driving up prices as a result of their alleged monopoly,” while the House passed the TICKET Act in 2024, a law that would “force ticket sellers to show full prices upfront.” The Senate is considering that bill now.

6. Meanwhile, Igloo has voluntarily widened a recall of their coolers, related to “possible amputation and crushing hazards,” per ABC. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall notice for a little over a million Igloo 90 Qt. Flip & Tow Rolling Coolers back in February, on the basis that “the tow handle can pinch consumers' fingertips against the cooler,” risking “fingertip amputation.” ABC reports this recall now includes “130,000 additional coolers, as well as approximately 20,000 in Canada and 5,900 in Mexico.” According to the CPSC, “since the recall was initiated in February, Igloo has received 78 reports of injuries involving the recalled coolers, including 26 reports of bone fractures, fingertip amputations or lacerations.”

7. The first American Pope, Leo XIV, addressed the College of Cardinals on Sunday, in part explaining his decision to take that particular name. According to Business Insider, AI played a major role. The Pope told the college, “I chose to take the name Leo XIV…mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical 'Rerum Novarum' addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution…In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice, and labor.” In a January 2024 message, Pope Francis said “At this time in history, which risks becoming rich in technology and poor in humanity, our reflections must begin with the human heart.”

8. Turning to domestic politics, 25-year-old Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is fighting an uphill battle to remain in his post. The activist and survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting has been a target of the party hierarchs since he refused to disassociate himself from the mission of the organization he cofounded – Leaders We Deserve – which seeks to primary “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats. On May 10th, POLITICO reported that Hogg sought a compromise with the party, vowing that he would erect a “internal firewall,” barring him from “accessing any internal DNC information about congressional and state legislative races as long as he was supporting challengers.” The DNC flatly refused. Instead, it would seem they are trying to oust Hogg by voiding his election, claiming it violated “fairness and gender diversity,” rules, per Semafor. On May 13th, the DNC’s Credentials Committee voted to nullify the results of the February election, the Hill reports. According to POLITICO, the full DNC could “opt to hold a virtual vote ahead of the meeting later this summer. Otherwise it will take the issue up during its August meeting.”

9. In Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka was “arrested and detained by masked federal immigration police Friday when he joined three Democratic congressmembers set to tour a newly reopened 1,000-bed [ICE] jail run by GEO Group,” Democracy Now! reports. This is the latest installment in the power struggle between federal agents and local officials over immigration, an escalation from the arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan in April. Dugan herself was indicted this week for supposedly “obstructing or impeding a proceeding,” per Wisconsin Public Radio. Alina Habba, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, tweeted, “The Mayor of Newark…committed trespass…He has willingly chosen to disregard the law…He has been taken into custody.” She added in all caps, “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.” Chilling words.

10. Finally, we pay tribute to Uruguayan revolutionary, anti-dictatorship rebel and former president José “Pepe” Mujica, who passed away this week following a protracted battle with esophageal cancer. Mujica was celebrated throughout the world during his tenure as president for his humble lifestyle; He was called ‘the world's poorest president’ famously driving a beat-up old VW bug and donating the bulk of his salary. In 2013, he delivered a bombshell speech at the United Nations in wherein he decried capitalism and the environmental destruction it has wrought. Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Greg Grandin eulogized Mujica, writing “He was a member of the insurgent, armed Tupamarus, and served 14 years in prison, much of it in solitary, subject to extreme torture techniques taught by US advisors… Upon his release, he helped build the Frente Amplio into one of the most successful left coalitions. He radiated humility and humanity but he knew that power was meant to be taken and used, and behind his smile was steel. He was 89.”

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

This week is mainly devoted to listener questions and feedback. First, Ralph answers some of the questions you have submitted over the past few weeks. Then we invite back last week’s guest, Erica Payne, of Patriotic Millionaires, to respond to your very thoughtful comments on the interview we did with that group's plan for preserving democracy by taxing the rich. Plus, Ralph highlights the outrages of the Trump/Musk assault on government programs that help ordinary people.

Erica Payne is the founder and president of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of high-net-worth individuals that aims to restructure America’s political economy to suit the needs of all Americans. Their work includes advocating for a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens. She is the co-author, with Morris Pearl, of Tax the Rich: How Lies, Loopholes and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer.

The real reason for taxation is democracy protection.

Erica Payne

I think the question is not: do we need to fix the estate tax? The question is: what is the best, most defensible mechanism through which you can tax the transfer of wealth from one generation to the other in order to protect American democracy from dynastic wealth—that is sufficient that you find five generations from now Elon Musk’s kid isn’t spending as much money on these elections as their great great great great great granddaddy is.

Erica Payne

Austerity applied at a federal level to a society that is in distress does the exact opposite of what the proponents of austerity are saying it should do. The tightening of the belt actually cuts off the circulation of the society.

Erica Payne

News 5/9/25

1. While the Catholic clergy convene in Rome for the Papal Conclave, Pope Francis graces the world with one final gift. Vatican News reports, “His popemobile, the very vehicle from which he waved and was close to millions of faithful all around the world, is being transformed into a mobile health unit for the children of Gaza.” This article states this was Francis’ “final wish,” and quotes his refrain that “Children are not numbers. They are faces. Names. Stories. And each one is sacred.” The vehicle is reportedly being outfitted with equipment for “diagnosis, examination, and treatment – including rapid tests for infections, diagnostic instruments, vaccines, suture kits, and other life-saving supplies,” and it will be staffed by doctors and medics. Yet, given Israel’s track record for the destruction of medical facilities in Gaza, it is unclear how long this mobile health unit itself will survive.

2. In more distressing news from Gaza, CNN reports that “A Gaza-bound activist aid ship [part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition] caught fire and issued an SOS, after what its organizers claimed was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta…[on] Friday.” Per CNN, the ship was due to make port in Malta and pick up “a large contingent of activists” there before departing for Gaza. These included environmental activist Greta Thunberg and retired US Army Colonel Mary Ann Wright. Thunberg said this flotilla “is one of many attempts to open up a humanitarian corridor and…[try] to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza,” adding “for two months now, not a single bottle of water has entered Gaza…it’s a systematic starvation of 2 million people.” The United Nations World Food Programme said this week “its warehouses are…empty; soup kitchens that are still running are severely rationing their last stocks; and what little food remains in Gaza’s markets is being sold for exorbitant prices that most cannot afford.”

3. Pro-Palestine activists scored a major victory in Michigan this week. The Guardian reports, “Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, announced on Monday that she was dropping all charges against seven pro-[Palestine] demonstrators arrested last May at a University of Michigan encampment.” As this report notes, “The announcement came just moments before the judge was to decide on a defense motion to disqualify Nessel’s office over alleged bias.” The Guardian itself published a major report “detailing Nessel’s extensive personal, financial and political connections to university regents calling for the activists to be prosecuted,” last October. Defense attorney Amir Makled is quoted saying “This was a case of selective prosecution…rooted in bias, not in public safety issues…We’re hoping this sends a message to other institutions locally and nationally that protest is not a crime, and dissent is not disorder.”

4. In another legal victory, Prem Thakker reported on May 6th that “A federal court has [denied] the Trump administration's attempt to move Mahmoud Khalil's case…out of New Jersey.” The government attempted to move the venue to Louisiana, where they have Khalil detained. A press release by the ACLU, their New York and New Jersey affiliates, and the Center for Constitutional Rights states, “It is the fundamental job of the judiciary to stand up to…government manipulation of our basic rights. We hope the court's order sends a strong message to other courts around the country facing government attempts to shop for favorable jurisdictions by moving people detained on unconstitutional immigration charges around and making it difficult or impossible for their lawyers to know where to seek their immediate release.”

5. Trump has released his budget for Fiscal Year 2026. This budget cuts nondefense spending by 23%, per Reuters, while allocating 75% of discretionary spending to military and police, per Stephen Semler of the Cost of War Project. This includes a 13% increase in military spending that tips the Pentagon budget over $1 trillion for the first time. So much for increasing government efficiency.

6. At the same time, this country’s infrastructure and transportation safety agencies continue to crumble. Just this week, NPR reported “Hundreds of flight delays and cancellations…[hit]… Newark Liberty International Airport at once: [due to] air traffic controller staffing shortages, aging technology, bad weather and the closure of one of the airport's busiest runways.” The air traffic controller staffing shortages, a chronic issue, has been compounded in recent months by the mass layoffs initiated by the Trump administration. NBC News reports that one air traffic controller handling Newark airspace said, “Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.”\

7. It might be nice to have competent, energetic leadership among the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee right about now. Unfortunately, the party opted to install 75-year-old, cancer-ridden Gerry Connolly to serve as Ranking Member on that committee instead of AOC. Now, Axios reports Connolly is stepping down from this position after just four months and will not seek reelection to his seat in Congress, citing his declining health. AOC, once-bitten, has opted not to seek the position a second time, the Hill reports. Instead, the top contenders emerging to fill Conolly’s seat are Stephen Lynch, a 70-year-old Congressman who won his seat in 2001 and is currently filling Conolly’s role on an interim basis, and Eleanor Holmes-Norton, the non-voting delegate representing Washington D.C. Norton is the most senior Democrat on the committee at 87-years-old, having assumed office in 1991.

8. Another ghost is coming back to haunt the Democrats: former Senator Bob Menendez. The New Jersey Globe reports, “The New Jersey Attorney General’s office will seek a court order to permanently bar…Menendez from ever holding public employment in the state following his conviction on federal corruption charges last year.” Critically if a Superior Court judge approves the action, Menendez could lose his state pension. Menendez still draws over $1,000 per month from his New Jersey public employee pension, even after being sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption last July. More recently, Menendez has sought to cozy up to Trump in an effort to obtain a pardon. So far, no dice.

9. In some positive news, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum continues an unbelievable run. Back in April, KJZZ reported that Mexico will invest nearly $3 billion in “food sovereignty,” to “produce more staples like corn, beans and rice in Mexico over the next five years.” This money will be directed at small and medium sized farms in Mexico and is intended to anchor both the rural economy and the nation’s food supply amidst the growing uncertainty of trade with the United States vis a vis Trump’s erratic trade policy. Then, after May Day, Labor Minister Marath Bolaños said that “before the end of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s term…the government would gradually install a…40-hour workweek,” Mexico News Daily reports. The standard workweek in Mexico currently sits at 48 hours. As this report notes, the 40-hour workweek is Number 60 on Sheinbaum’s list of 100 promises. Americans can only dream of having a government that even makes that many promises, let alone keeps them. Perhaps the most impressive of Sheinbaum’s recent actions however is her recent rejection of Trump’s attempt to strongarm her into allowing American troops to enter Mexico. Democracy Now! reports Sheinbaum told the American president, “The territory is sacrosanct. Sovereignty is sacrosanct. Sovereignty is not for sale.”

10. Finally, on the other end of the presidential spectrum, there’s Trump furiously posting on Truth Social about the “Movie Industry in America…DYING a very fast death,” deeming that this is “a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat,” and threatening a “100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.” Obviously, this screed is basically nonsensical and it remains to be seen what will actually come of this threat, but what is notable is the response from organized labor. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) issued a statement threading the needle between supporting Trump’s effort to “return and maintain U.S. film and television jobs, while not…harming the industry overall.” On the other hand, the Teamsters – led by Sean O’Brien who has tied himself to Trump more and more since he spoke at the 2024 RNC – issued a statement “thank[ing] President Trump for boldly supporting good union jobs when others have turned their heads.” Would such a policy truly revitalize the workforce of the American entertainment industry? We’ll have to wait for the sequel to find out.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph welcomes back Erica Payne, founder of Patriotic Millionaires, to update us on that group’s latest efforts to save American democracy by lobbying to raise wages for workers and tax the rich. Plus, according to our resident constitutional expert, Bruce Fein, the count of Trump’s impeachable offenses is now up to twenty-two and rising faster than a Space X rocket.

Erica Payne is the founder and president of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of high-net-worth individuals that aims to restructure America’s political economy to suit the needs of all Americans. Their work includes advocating for a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens. She is the co-author, with Morris Pearl, of Tax the Rich: How Lies, Loopholes and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer.

What we saw on January 20th, I believe, was the result of a global oligarchical coup who just took the Queen on the chessboard. When you've got three people whose combined worth is around a trillion dollars standing behind who is an unethical at least, criminal at worst billionaire president, Houston, we have a problem here. And the problem is not actually Donald Trump. The problem is the preconditions that led to the rise of a vulnerability to an authoritarian leader and an oligarchy. And that vulnerability was brought about by the actions of both parties over decades.

Erica Payne

If you ran a business, Ralph, would you ever fire your accounts receivable department? No. It would be the last department you would cut. So then it says he's either stupid because that's what he's cutting, which I think is probably inaccurate. So if he's not stupid, then why is he doing it? And he's doing it for the same reason that lawmakers have hacked at the IRS budget forever—they don't want their donors to get taxed. They don't want their donors to be audited. And so they cut the cops. So all these folks who are griping about black Americans calling to defund the police are actually defunding the police that is keeping them in line and keeping them honest.

Erica Payne

At a divided moment in America, I think we can agree that the federal government shouldn't tax people into poverty, and (to the extent necessary) rich people should pick up the difference.

Erica Payne

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

I start out with the fundamental idea of due process—you simply cannot deprive someone of liberty without giving them an opportunity to explain or to refute what allegations the government has made. And the reason why I start out with that, Ralph, is we've had an experiment in World War II with what happens when you have no due process. We did that with 120,000 Japanese Americans. No, we just said that they're all likely to commit espionage or sabotage, got to put them in concentration camps. We made 120,000 errors (and later apologized for it in 1988). So there's a reason due process is not simply an academic concept. It's essential to preventing these kinds of egregious instances of injustice from happening.

Bruce Fein

The Democrats and a lot of liberal economists are not keeping up with the horror show that's going on. They don't use words like cruel and vicious. They don't turn Trump's words like deranged, crazed, corrupt on him. They're still using words like authoritarian practices, or problematic, or distressing, or disconcerting, or concerning. They're not catching up with the horror show here. That's why Trump continues to have a soliloquy. The Democratic Party is now having gatherings to see how are they going to collectively deal with Trump? How does a bank deal with a bank robber? They let the bank robber rob the bank and flee with the gold while they deliberate how they're going to deal with a bank robber they see coming into the bank?

Ralph Nader

News 5/2/25

1. At the eleventh hour, Representative Jim Jordan – Chair of the House Judiciary Committee – pulled his measure to strip the Federal Trade Commission of its antitrust enforcement powers and consolidate those within the Justice Department, Reuters reports. “The House panel…had included the proposal in its budget package on Monday. During a hearing on the package…the committee passed an amendment that would remove the measure.” Trump’s FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson opposed Jordan’s move and intervened with the White House. As Reuters notes, “The proposal mirrored the One Agency Act, a Republican bill that has gotten support from Elon Musk…[which] would effectively repeal the FTC's...authority to sue companies over unfair methods of competition, which the agency is using in cases against pharmacy benefit managers, Amazon…and John Deere.” In short, the FTC’s antitrust powers survive today, but there is no guarantee about tomorrow.

2. Yet, while avoiding the worst possible outcome on the corporate crime front, the Trump administration is still hard at work going soft on corporate crooks. Public Citizen’s Rick Claypool reports “Two Wells Fargo execs had their fines reduced by 90% (related to the bank's accounting scandal) by Trump's [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency].” Claypool links to a piece in Radical Compliance, which explains that “David Julian, former chief auditor at Wells Fargo, saw his fines cut from $7 million to $100,000 [and] Paul McLinko, executive audit director, had his fines cut from $1.5 million to $50,000.” Both Julian and McLinko were part of the senior leadership team at Wells Fargo in the 2010s, when regulators “charged the bank with turning a blind eye to employees opening bank accounts without customer consent to hit sales quotas. That misconduct eventually led to a $3 billion settlement with Wells Fargo in 2020.”

3. Lest you think the Democrats are in danger of seriously opposing Trump’s policies, the Bulwark reports that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is putting the kibosh on the recent spate of Democrats’ trips to El Salvador exposing the reality of the CECOT deportation scheme. This report alleges that “Cory Booker and the Hispanic Caucus were planning on going [to El Salvador],” but are no longer. Perhaps worse, Jeffries is not giving clear marching orders to the party rank and file. One Democrat is quoted saying “As a member of a party you need to be disciplined…They say, ‘Get on a plane,’ ‘Don’t get on a plane’—that’s what you do. Nine out ten times you do what they ask. But you can’t take that approach if you’re not having regular communications… You have to be clear in messaging what the plan is and you have to do that regularly if you want to keep people in line.” This is just another example of Jeffries’ weak and indecisive leadership of the caucus.

4. Advocates are having more luck resisting the administration’s overreach in court. On Wednesday, Mohsen Mahdawi – the Columbia student faced with deportation after being lured into an ICE trap with the false promise of a citizenship test – was freed by a federal judge, POLITICO reports. After the judge ordered his release, Mahdawi told the press “I am saying it clear and loud…To President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you.” Mahdawi’s ordeal is not over, but he will remain free while his case winds its way through the courts and a previous order blocked the administration from changing venues, meaning the case will proceed in the relatively liberal Second Circuit.

5. Mahmoud Khalil also scored a major legal victory this week. The Huffington Post reports that the ICE agents sent to arrest Khalil did not, contrary to their false claims in court, have an arrest warrant. Amy Greer, a lawyer for Khalil, is quoted saying “Today, we now know why [the government] never showed Mahmoud [a] warrant — they didn’t have one. This is clearly yet another desperate attempt by the Trump administration to justify its unlawful arrest and detention of human rights defender Mahmoud Khalil, who is now, by the government’s own tacit admission, a political prisoner of the United States.” The ACLU, also defending Khalil, has now moved for this case to be dismissed.

6. Despite these victories though, the repression of anything pro-Palestine continues. At Yale, Prem Thakker reports hundreds of students protested in advance of a speech by Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s radical National Security Minister who has previously been arrested many times for inciting racism and supporting pro-Jewish terrorism in Israel itself. Yet the university responded by “stripp[ing] the school's Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter…of its status as an official student group.” If students cannot even protest Ben-Gvir, what will the colleges regard as legitimate protest of Israel?

7. In Yemen, Ryan Grim reports on CounterPoints that the Trump administration has been targeting strikes against the Houthis using data gleaned from amateur Open-Source Intelligence or OSINT accounts on X, formerly Twitter. Unsurprisingly, these are completely inaccurate and have led to disastrous strikes on civilians’ homes, incorrectly identifying them as “Houthi bases.” One of these accounts is based in Houston, Texas, and another as far away as the Netherlands.

8. According to a new World Bank report, Mexico reduced poverty more than any other Latin American country between 2018 and 2023. Not coincidentally, this lines up almost perfectly with the AMLO years in Mexico, which saw a massive increase in the Mexican minimum wage along with other social rights and protections. These policies are now being taken forward by AMLO’s successor Claudia Sheinbaum, whose popularity has now surpassed even that of her predecessor, per Bloomberg.

9. In Australia, Virginia Giuffre – the most outspoken accuser of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell – has passed away at the age of 41, the BBC reports. Police concluded that Ms. Giuffre died by suicide and her family released a statement indicating that the “toll of abuse... became unbearable.” Yet, her death was preceded by a bizarre chain of events. On March 31st, the BBC reported that Ms. Giuffre’s car collided with a school bus, sending her into renal failure with her doctors saying she had “four days to live.” The Miami Herald also reported “At the time of her death, Giuffre had been in a contentious divorce and child custody battle with her husband, Robert.” The family’s statement continued “The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; [but] early indication is the death is not suspicious.” One can only hope more details come to light.

10. Finally, in a different kind of bizarre story, embattled incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams – who has already given up on the Democratic primary and was running for reelection as an independent – will now appear on two new ballot lines “EndAntiSemitism” and “Safe&Affordable,” POLITICO reports. Adams has gone to great lengths to cultivate and maintain his support in the Orthodox Jewish community in New York and is seeking to highlight his strengths and undercut former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Apparently, Adams only needs to secure 3,750 signatures from voters by May 27 for each of these ballot lines, a shockingly low threshold for the largest city in America. These ballot lines will appear without spaces, coming in just under the wire for the city’s 15-character limit on ballot lines.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

First, Ralph welcomes Washington Post tech journalist Faiz Siddiqui to discuss his new book "Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk." Then, our resident legal expert Bruce Fein stops by to explain how Elon Musk and DOGE are breaking the law. Finally, David picks up our interview with Ralph about Ralph's new book "Civic Self-Respect."

Faiz Siddiqui is a technology journalist who writes for the Washington Post and has covered companies such as Tesla, Uber, and Twitter (now X) for the Business Desk. His reporting has focused on transportation, social media and government transformation, among other issues. He is the author of Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk (excerpted here).

Over and over throughout this book, there's this recurring theme of victimhood, or at least Elon feeling like his back is against the wall. And why? For what? He and his fans felt they were doing the right things, and yet they were being scrutinized and punished for it.

Faiz Siddiqui

In the wake of many Facebook scandals, many Uber scandals, Tesla was the company to work for. Elon was the person to work for. There was no figure as magnetic, who inspired people in the way that Elon did. So recruiting was a strong suit of that company. And the pitch was: come here and change the world.

Faiz Siddiqui

I think what this book brings is a healthy dose of reality and skepticism… that so far has been lacking from the overall conversation around Musk. And what I you'll find is (I hope you'll find) that you can identify with some of the folks in the book who were lured in by the promises (or just enamored by the guy and what he might be able to bring to society if his goals were ultimately realized) but then ended up feeling disappointed or feeling like—hey, this guy was not all he was cracked up to be. Even if the goals were noble, even if the ambitions were the right ones, the ends might not have justified the means. And so I want people to find, ideally, that their understanding of one of the most powerful people in society today is enriched.

Faiz Siddiqui

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.

[Elon Musk is] just a walking violation of the federal code.

Bruce Fein

There's nowhere to go but up in terms of being a smart consumer. Unfortunately, our Elementary and high schools don't teach consumer skills (they prefer to teach computer skills) and consumer skills result in what is, in effect, a pay raise.

Ralph Nader

Adam Smith once said many centuries ago that the purpose of production is consumption. And if consumption is informed and feeds back, it can lead to a high-quality economy. It can lead to more integrity to your consumer dollar and to your health and safety. It can lead to less environmental damage. It could lead to stronger regulation of product defects and services that are harmful. It's sort of a bottom-up economic democracy.

Ralph Nader

Complexity is a tool of power. Complex tax regulations are often blamed on the federal bureaucracy. No, it's the corporate tax lawyers.

Ralph Nader

News 4/25/25

1. On Monday, April 21st, Vatican News announced the death of Pope Francis. This came just one day after Easter Sunday, when Francis met with Vice-President JD Vance. The day prior, Francis had snubbed the VP, sending in his place Cardinal Pietro Parolintoto to “deliver a lecture on compassion,” per the Daily Beast. Pope Francis led the Catholic Church since 2013 and during his tenure sought to move the church in a vastly more progressive direction – preaching against capitalism’s destruction of the environment, advocating for abolition of the death penalty and greater acceptance for LGBTQ Catholics within the church, and expanding the reach of the church into non-traditional areas such as Mongolia among many other initiatives. This won him the admiration of many around the world, but also drew the ire of the conservative clergy, particularly in the United States. Francis was the first Jesuit Pope and the first Pope to hail from the New World. Senior churchmen will now assemble to elect a new pope. This conclave is expected to be contentious, with progressives seeking to consolidate Francis’ reforms, while the conservatives see an opening to take back the formal organs of the church.

2. Instead of death, our next story concerns birth. Noor Abdalla – wife of Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian Columbia University student currently being held by ICE in Louisiana – gave birth to their son on Monday. According to a statement by Abdalla, reported by Arya Sundaram of WNYC, ICE denied a request for Khalil to be temporarily released to meet their son, a “purposeful decision by ICE to make [her], Mahmoud, and our son suffer.” Later in this statement, Abdalla writes, “I will continue to fight every day for Mahmoud to come home to us. I know when Mahmoud is freed, he will show our son how to be brave, thoughtful, and compassionate just like his dad.” Khalil’s case continues to wind its way through the courts; the result of this case will have significant ramifications for the Trump administration’s ability to remove individuals with legal status on the basis of political speech.

3. In an encouraging sign, more and more congressional Democrats are getting personally involved in cases of Trump administration overreach on immigration. In addition to Senator Chris Van Hollen’s highly-publicized visit to El Salvador, TruthOut reports that Senator Peter Welch met with Mohsen Mahdawi, the Columbia University student entrapped with a false citizenship test, in Vermont. Meanwhile Cape Cod Times reports that on April 22nd, Senator Ed Markey and Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts – along with Democratic members of the House Troy Carter and Bennie Thompson – traveled to a Louisiana detention facility to demand the release of Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University grad student who was abducted off the street last month by masked ICE agents. This delegation met with Öztürk herself, as well as Mahmoud Khalil. And CBS reports Representatives Robert Garcia, Maxwell Frost, Yassamin Ansari and Maxine Dexter traveled to El Salvador as well, keeping pressure up regarding the Kilmar Garcia case. Still, hundreds of immigrants of varying status have been deported to the ominous and shadowy CECOT prison camp in El Salvador without due process since Trump began this mass deportation campaign.

4. In more troubling Congressional news, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel on April 16th calling for investigations into the progressive activist group CodePink as well as the New York City cultural center known as the People’s Forum. This letter is almost textbook McCarthyite red-baiting, claiming CodePink and the People’s Forum are nothing more than mouthpieces for the Chinese Communist Party, thereby violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Beyond the fact that these groups are engaging in nothing more than constitutionally protected political speech, it is clear from the citations within the letter that they are targeting these groups because of their pro-Palestine positions. This is just another escalation in the Orwellian suppression of free-speech critical of the Israel’s illegal occupation. Unfortunately, just as with McCarthyism itself, we cannot count on congressional Democrats to go to bat for the free speech rights of the Left.

5. In a win for consumers, Bloomberg reports Airbnb announced it will now display the total price of stays – including all fees – to comply with a Federal Trade Commission rule set to go into effect next month. Many worried that the FTC would rescind this rule with the changing of the administration, but for now at least, the Trump FTC seems poised to keep it. This new rule is expected to “nudge hosts to lower their cleaning fees to make rentals more affordable, as the sometimes-exorbitant fees have become a key reason why some customers preferred hotels over Airbnb.”

6. Another positive move is that the Trump Department of Justice has proceeded with an anti-trust case against Google’s advertising technology, or “adtech.” On April 17th, a judge found Google liable for “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power,” in two markets for online advertising technology, per Reuters. This follows a similar judgment against Google regarding a monopoly on search, which is only amplified by its adoption of AI. Another trial will determine the remedy for this monopoly, which could include Google being forced to sell off aspects of its business. According to this report, “Google has previously explored selling its ad exchange to appease European antitrust regulators.” Senator Amy Klobuchar, former chair of the antitrust subcommittee, called the ruling “a big win for consumers, small businesses, and content creators that will open digital markets to more innovation and lower prices.”

7. On the other hand, Public Citizen’s Rick Claypool reports, “58 corporations facing federal investigations & enforcement lawsuits collectively gave $50 million to Trump's inaugural fund. Cases against 11 of these corporations have already been dismissed or withdrawn, and 6 have been halted.” More granular information about each of these enforcement actions is available through Public Citizen’s Corporate Enforcement Tracker database, but the big picture is clear: If a corporation wants the government off its back, all they have to do is make a handsome contribution. The Trump administration is pay-to-play and open for business.

8. In another instance of the administration tying the hands of key federal regulators, the Food and Drug Administration will “End its Routine Food Safety Inspections,” according to the National Public Health Information Coalition. The FDA plans to “shift most…food safety inspections to state and local agencies.” While some food inspections are conducted at the state and local level, public health advocates are raising concerns about “oversight and consistency.” According to CBS, these plans have not been finalized.

9. Turning to the very worst part of this administration, NOTUS reports “The DOGE website, the only public accounting of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s attempts to reduce federal government spending…[has posted]…revisions that suggest DOGE was previously overstating its savings by hundreds of millions of dollars.” These stunning, if not altogether surprising, overestimations are staggering in scale. “On Tuesday [April 15th] alone, DOGE removed around $962 million in previously claimed cuts and altered hundreds of others to boost individual items’ purported ‘savings’ values.” The incompetence of DOGE has led Musk to reduce the target goal of spending cuts, down from $1 trillion to just $150 billion – a drop in the bucket when it comes to federal spending and certainly not worth the evisceration of Social Security and other programs these cuts have entailed.

10. Finally, in more bad news for Elon Musk, Reuters reports the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is tightening electric vehicle battery safety standards, specifically to “ensure…batteries won't catch fire or explode.” This is quite a humble regulatory goal. However, this new regulation could spell disaster for Tesla. According to Tesla-fire.com, there have been 232 confirmed cases of Tesla fires and “83 Fatalities Involving a Tesla Car Fire.” If I were a Chinese EV regulator, I would be wary of allowing Tesla vehicles on the roads. But that’s just me.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.

Ralph talks about his new book, “Civic Self Respect” which reminds us that our civic lives have different primary roles—not only voter, but also worker, taxpayer, consumer, sometimes soldier and sometimes parent—and how each one offers special opportunities for people to organize to make change. Plus, we welcome back former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, John Koskinen, who tells us exactly how the Trump/Musk cabal is both gutting and weaponizing the IRS.

John Koskinen served as the IRS Commissioner from 2013 to 2017.

This is not a how-to book. It starts at a much more elementary level and therefore should interest a much greater number of people. Because, as I say, if you can expand your civic dimension as a part of your daily role without disrupting the rhythms of your daily life (in fact, actually making them more gratifying and more interesting, less boring), you're on your way.

Ralph Nader author of Civic Self-Respect

The people who really fight for justice in this country have to fight for recognition, they have to fight for media, they have to fight an onslaught. And the people who lie and cheat and say the most terrible things and do the most terrible things are really the best-known people in the country. I mean, if you say who are the best-known people in Congress? They're the blowhards, the cruel and vicious people who've said things that are illegal, outrageous against innocent groups here and abroad.

Ralph Nader

I used to say to the Congress (trying to get appropriations) that the IRS is the only agency where if you give it money, it gives you more money back. Because the more you can actually audit people who aren't paying the proper amount or aren't filing at all, the better off you are. So no one has ever disagreed with that.

John Koskinen

Going back a thousand years, tax collectors have never been particularly popular. And so when you talk about the IRS, people say, "Oh, the poor old IRS." In some ways, they don't understand just the points you're making about the impact on them, on the country, of an ineffective IRS going forward. And that's why my thought is this move toward using the IRS to attack people ought to be a way for everyone to say, "You know, I may not love paying taxes, but I certainly don't want the government and the president or the treasury secretary or somebody else ordering an audit of my taxes just because they don't like my political position or what I'm teaching in my course.”

John Koskinen

Ralph Nader’s new book Civic Self-respect is available now from Seven Stories Press.

News 4/16/25

1. On Thursday April 17th, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland departed for El Salvador in an effort to personally track down Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant who was arrested and deported to CECOT, the notorious Salvadoran prison camp, WUSA9 reports. Garcia was legally protected against deportation by a 2019 court order and a Trump administration official admitted in court that he “should never have been on that plane.” Last week, the Supreme Court unanimously ordered that he be returned to the U.S. Van Hollen is quoted saying “You go out, you get disappeared, they say they did it in error, but they're not helping bring you back…it's a very short road to tyranny.” Gracia has not been heard from since he was deported, raising concerns about his health and wellbeing. This comes after ICE Director Todd Lyons said he wanted to see a deportation process “like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings,” per the Guardian. This episode is among the most chilling in American history and we are less than four months into a four-year term.

2. Another gut-wrenching immigration story concerns Palestinian Columbia University student, Mohsen Mahdawi who was tricked, trapped, and abducted by ICE. The Intercept reports “Even before his friend and fellow Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities, Mahdawi asked university administrators to help him find a safe place to live so he would not be taken by ICE agents…The school did nothing.” Then, “After ICE abducted Khalil last month, Mahdawi sheltered in place for more than three weeks for fear of being picked up himself.” So, the immigration authorities apparently devised a scheme. “Instead of taking him off the street…immigration authorities scheduled the citizenship test at the Colchester USCIS office and took Mahdawi into custody when he arrived.” This action is clearly intended not only to capture Mahdawi but to frighten immigrants and discourage them from seeking citizenship through the legal immigration channels for fear of being deported. Not only that, Mahdawi will be sent back to Palestine, which continues to be the target of relentless Israeli bombing. Mahdawi is quoted saying, “It’s kind of a death sentence…my people are being killed unjustly in an indiscriminate way.”

3. In more international news, CNN reports China has “halted” its deliveries of Boeing planes. According to President Trump, will “‘not take possession’ of fully committed to aircraft.” According to CNN, Boeing is particularly vulnerable in a trade war scenario because “Boeing builds all of its planes at US factories before sending nearly two-thirds of its commercial planes to customers outside the United States.” Boeing anticipated China purchasing 8,830 new planes over the next 20 years. The aircraft manufacturer’s stock value fell in the wake of this announcement and is unlikely to fully recover unless some accommodation is reached with China.

4. On the other side of the trade war, the Trump administration is preparing to roll out steep sectoral tariffs in addition to the country-specific tariffs already announced, per the Washington Post’s Jeff Stein. Stein reports these will target imports of various "critical" products, including autos, steel and aluminum, copper, lumber and semiconductors. Yet, likely no sectoral tariff will bite American consumers more than the proposed tariff on pharmaceutical drugs. On April 8th, POLITICO reported that Trump told the RNC he is planning to impose “major” tariffs on pharmaceuticals. FIERCE, a healthcare news service, reports these could be as high as 25%. Coalition for a Prosperous America, an advocacy group opposed to free trade with China, reports that “Over 90% of all Generic Drugs [are] Dependent on Imports.”

5. Turning to domestic matters, the Federal Trade Commission is proceeding with their anti-trust case against Facebook. According to the FTC, “The…Commission has sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct.” Further, “The complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy—including its 2012 acquisition of…Instagram, its 2014 acquisition…WhatsApp, and the imposition of anticompetitive conditions on software developers—to eliminate threats to its monopoly.” According to Ars Technica, “Daniel Matheson, the FTC's lead litigator, [started the trial with a bang] flagg[ing] a "smoking gun"—a 2012 email where Mark Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook could buy Instagram to ‘neutralize a potential competitor.’” It is hard to see how the company could argue this was not anticompetitive corporate misbehavior.

6. A dubious tech industry scheme is also underway at the highest levels of the federal government. WIRED reports that the Social Security Administration is shifting their communications exclusively to Elon Musk’s X app, formerly known as Twitter. Wired quotes SSA regional commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis, who said in a meeting with managers earlier this week, “We are no longer planning to issue press releases or…dear colleague letters to inform the media and public about programmatic and service changes…Instead, the agency will be using X to communicate to the press and the public … this will become our communication mechanism.” WIRED further reports that, “The regional [SSA] office workforce will soon be cut by roughly 87 percent,” going from an estimated 547 employees to 70. Musk has called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” per the AP.

7. Over at the National Labor Relations Board, a whistleblower claims Elon Musk and his cronies at DOGE may have extracted data including “sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets,” per NPR. If that wasn’t shady enough, “members of the DOGE team asked that their activities not be logged on the system and then appeared to try to cover their tracks…turning off monitoring tools and manually deleting records of their access.” This whistleblower took his concerns to Congress and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel – whistleblower activities that are protected by law – but faced retaliation in the form of someone, “’physically taping a threatening note’ to his door that included sensitive personal information and overhead photos of him walking his dog that appeared to be taken with a drone,” clear attempts to intimidate and silence this employee. The Trump administrations have been rife with leaks at every level and instead of responding by addressing the issues raised, the administration has launched a permanent inquisition to plug the leaks by any means.

8. In better news, the Independent reports that DOGE itself is finally being subjected to an audit. The audit is being undertaken by the Government Accountability Office at the urging of Congressional leaders after “’alarming’ media reports of DOGE infiltrating federal systems,” according to a congressional aide. One DOGE worker has reportedly been identified by as “a 19-year-old high school graduate who was booted from an internship after leaking company information to a rival firm,” raising ever-deeper concerns about the purpose of the “fishing expeditions” DOGE is undergoing at every level of the federal government.

9. Another uplifting story comes to us from New York City. In the latest round of public matching fund awards, Zohran Mamdani – the Democratic Socialist candidate surging from obscurity into second place in the polls – was granted nearly $4 million in public matching funds, “the largest single payment to any candidate in the 2025 Democratic mayoral primary race to date,” according to Gothamist. Meanwhile, former Governor Andrew Cuomo was awarded exactly $0. As Jeff Coltin of POLITICO New York explains, “Cuomo’s campaign [was] scrambling to get the necessary info from donors to get matched…sending…dire warning to [his] entire email list, rather than…targeted outreach to donors.” If he had collected the necessary information, Cuomo would have been awarded $2.5 million in matching funds, Coltin reports. Cuomo still leads in the polls; as it becomes increasingly clear that Zohran is the only viable alternative, there will be increased pressure on other candidates to throw their support behind him.

10. Finally, let’s take a peek into the political climate’s effect on Hollywood. New York Magazine, in an extensive profile of Warner Brothers-Discovery mogul David Zaslav, includes a piece about Zaslav seeking to ingratiate himself with Trump. According to this report, “a company representative recently reached out to the Trump0 orbit seeking advice about how the company might advantageously interact with the Whitte House.” Their answer: “look at the example of…Jeff Bezos paying Melania Trump $40 million to participate in a documentary about herself. Don Jr. might like a hunting and fishing show on the Discovery Channel, they were told.” Just like the Ivy League universities and the big law firms, if given an inch Trump will take a mile and use it for nothing short of extortion. Hollywood would be wise to steer clear. But wisdom has never been their strength.

This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.