FEATURING PAUL SONG – The infamous Koch Brothers funded a study of Medicare-for-All through the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. Unsurprisingly the report estimates the cost of insuring all Americans through the government would be $32.5 trillion. Media outlets uncritically reported on this finding.

But Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont who has championed Medicare-for-All slammed the report saying, “If every major country on earth can guarantee health care to all, and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States cannot do the same.” He added, “This grossly misleading and biased report is the Koch brothers response to the growing support in our country for a ‘Medicare for all’ program.”

Buried in the report was the incredible conclusion that government funding of health care would cover 30 million more Americans, dramatically reduce out-of-pocket costs for healthcare and actually save $2 trillion.

Paul Song, the Healthcare Correspondent for Rising Up With Sonali. He is a board-certified radiation oncologist and the co-chair of the Campaign for a Healthy California, and is on the board of Physicians for a National Health Program, and People for the American Way.

FEATURING JON GREEN – A recent poll by the newly formed think-tank Data for Progress has found that contrary to establishment Democratic claims, strong progressive policies are a path to electoral victory. The data was published in a report called The Future of the Party and outlines in detail what policies most people who identify as Democrats actually support.

Data for Progress describes itself as providing “research, polling on left issues and analysis to support activists and advocacy groups, challenging conventional wisdoms about the American public that lack empirical support.”

Find the report at www.dataforprogress.org.

Jon Green, Co-Founder of Data for Progress.

In today’s news headlines President Trump’s tweets may land him in trouble as his repeated calls for the end of the Special Counsel investigation may be seen as attempted ‘obstruction of justice.’ On Wednesday, even after reports suggested Robert Mueller was considering the President’s tweets, Mr. Trump simply couldn’t help himself and posted on Twitter, “Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further. Bob Mueller is totally conflicted, and his 17 Angry Democrats that are doing his dirty work are a disgrace to USA!” According to AP, “In obstruction cases, prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a particular act got in the way of an investigation and that the person who did it intended to obstruct.”

Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani dismissed the idea of “obstruction by tweet.” And when White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to respond during a press briefing she said it was simply the President expressing his opinion.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that, “Mr. Trump has told advisers he is eager to meet with investigators to clear himself of wrongdoing… In effect, he believes he can convince the investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, of his belief that their own inquiry is a ‘witch hunt.'” Apparently Trump’s lawyers are worried he might also perjure himself. Now Mueller’s team appears to have agreed to narrow the scope of an interview and allow the President to submit some answers in writing.

The trial of Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort began this week. Manafort is the first person to be tried as part of Mueller’s investigation. His charges focus on financial wrongdoings. On day 2 of the trial prosecutors apparently made the case that Manafort hid money from the IRS and used the excess funds to live a “lavish” lifestyle, including the purchase of a $15,000 Ostrich coat which has been entered into evidence. On Thursday prosecutors are expected to bring up the accountants that helped Manafort file false tax returns for years.  

A CNN reporter on Wednesday asked White House Press Secretary Sanders whether the Trump Administration condoned the treatment by Trump supporters of CNN’s Jim Acosta at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida Tuesday night. Trump supporters chanted “CNN sucks” as Acosta attempted to a file a report from the rally. This is Ms. Sanders’ response. 

In the wake of disturbing reports of another concerted effort by fake online users to try to influence the midterm elections, Republicans in the Senate have refused to direct extra funds toward

FEATURING REV. GREGORY SEAL LEVINGSTON – Activists in Chicago are calling for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to resign – a long-time demand that has taken on new urgency in light of several high profile police killings. An anti-violence march on Thursday is being organized by members of the city’s black leadership under the banner of “Resign Rahm.” Among the protest leaders’ demands are: “justice for ‘police murders’; economic investment on the South and West sides; resources for ‘black-led anti-violence initiatives’ and the ‘re-opening and re-purposing’ of all of the record 50 Chicago Public Schools closed by Emanuel.”

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/CFANC/ and https://www.facebook.com/byerahm2019/. 

Rev. Gregory Seal Livingston, President and CEO of Coalition For A New Chicago.

FEATURING LUKAS ROSS – Andrew Wheeler, the acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed his lobbying ties to the fossil fuel industry this week, raising alarm bells about whether he would be any better than his predecessor Scott Pruitt who resigned recently in disgrace. Wheeler is known as a long-time energy lobbyist and served under Pruitt as Deputy EPA chief.

Meanwhile, as investigations into Pruitt’s deeds continue, environmental groups are demanding that the policies he put into place at the EPA be put on hold until the inquiries are complete.

Lukas Ross, Senior Policy Analyst with Friends of the Earth.

In today’s news headlines the social media platform Facebook announced that it has found evidence of a concerted effort to influence the 2018 midterm elections this November. In a statement the company said it had, “removed 32 Pages and accounts from Facebook and Instagram because they were involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior.” While it did not say Russian forces were definitively behind the accounts, according to Facebook, “It’s clear that whoever set up these accounts went to much greater lengths to obscure their true identities than the Russian-based Internet Research Agency (IRA) has in the past.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in a speech on Tuesday squarely blamed Russia for attempting to interfere in the 2016 elections, offering a contrast to President Trump’s flip flopping on the issue. This is what she said at a Cyber security summit.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing this week into the impacts of family separation on immigrants. An official from the Trump administration admitted that he warned about the harm that would be done to children if they were separated from their parents. This is Public Health Service Commander Jonathan White speaking to Senator Richard Blumenthal. In an analysis of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on family separation that White spoke at, Slate.com concluded that, “the lack of any accountability for the disastrous policy became abundantly clear. Not a single member of the panel was willing to defend the policy, but only one was willing to state plainly what went wrong.”

Meanwhile the New York Times offered proof of such negative impacts in a detailed story on Tuesday featuring a 5-year old boy named Thiago who was separated from his mother for 50 days and after being reunited with her has been exhibiting classic signs of deep trauma and anxiety. According to his mother he is no longer the boy she remembers.

In other immigration news, the Defense Department is readying a military base in El Paso, Texas to house immigrants apprehended at the border. Fort Bliss has had all its environmental and legal requirements completed and is now waiting for the go-ahead from the Department of Health and Human Services. And Trump on Tuesday once more said that he would pursue a government shutdown over funding for his border wall. He tweeted, “I don’t care what the political ramifications are.”

A judge has blocked the sale of 3-D blueprints for guns. The Trump administration had given the Austin, Texas based company Defense Distributed the right to offer downloadable plans. The company began offering the plans even before it was supposed to and already the plans are in circulation. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik has now put in place a restraining order saying, “There is a possibility of irreparable harm because of the way these guns can be made.” The 3-D plastic guns are untraceable and very easy to print and assemble with a 3-D printer. Here is Democratic Representative Ed Markey on Tuesday at a...

FEATURING RACHEL LASER – Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday held a Religious Liberty Summit where he announced the creation of a Religious Liberty Task Force. The announcement was the result of an executive order that Trump had signed in May.

Among those present at the Monday summit was Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding and who was at the heart of a recent Supreme Court ruling.

Rachel Laser, CEO and President of Americans United for Separation of Church and State blasted the summit saying, “The event was clearly designed to advance the Trump administration’s twisted and dangerous view of religious freedom, one that uses religion to discriminate and harm others.” She added that it, “exposed the administration’s real agenda: to preserve the power of Christian fundamentalists.”

Rachel Laser, CEO and President of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

FEATURING CORY ALBERTSON – A new Gallup poll on American attitudes toward gay marriage shows a historically high support among the public. Sixty seven percent of Americans surveyed support same-sex marriage – the highest number ever recorded by Gallup.

The poll comes just before the Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling about the right of a Colorado baker to refuse service to a gay couple. Despite some of the setbacks under Donald Trump Americans appear to have reached a tipping point in favor of LGBT rights.

How did we get here and what did pop culture, in particular television, have to do with it? A new book explores how television shows have portrayed LGBT characters and couples and how skewed Hollywood’s representation of this diverse community has actually been.

Visit www.cory-albertson.com for more information.

Cory Albertson, Visiting Lecturer of Sociology at Smith College. His writings have appeared in the Huffington Post, Interview, Out, Paste, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is the author of A Perfect Union? Television and the Winning of Same-Sex Marriage.

**This interview was originally broadcast on June 5, 2018.

In today’s news headlines the trial of Donald Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort begins – a big test of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The trial will not focus on the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia – rather it will involve Manafort’s financial dealings as he is being charged with 18 counts of tax and banking violations. Still that did not stop the President from tweeting in the early hours of the morning, “Collusion is not a crime, but that doesn’t matter because there was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)!” The tweet is significant in that the President went from claiming “no collusion,” to “collusion is not a crime.”

Meanwhile Mr. Manafort on Monday dropped his appeal in a case he had brought challenging Mueller’s authority.

On Wednesday Mr. Trump held a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte who was visiting the White House. Mr. Conte announced he would organize a conference focused on stabilizing Libya – the departure point for refugees heading to Europe. Trump surprised reporters by saying he would meet with Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani. 

That was President Trump on Monday explaining that he would meet with Iran’s Hassan Rouhani without pre-conditions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo followed that up on Tuesday morning with a series of pre-conditions for any meeting between Trump and Rouhani.

The New York Times reports that Trump is considering a “unilateral” tax cut for wealthy Americans. According to the Times, “Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting in Argentina this month that his department was studying whether it could use its regulatory powers to allow Americans to account for inflation in determining capital gains tax liabilities.” Mnuchin reportedly added, “If it can’t get done through a legislation process, we will look at what tools at Treasury we have to do it on our own and we’ll consider that.” Already American billionaires are sitting on mountains of extra money thanks to the Republican tax reform law that passed last year. Later on our show today Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies will explain what wealthy elites are doing with all their extra cash and will debunk Trump’s wild claims of a historic economic rebound.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday held a Religious Liberty Summit where he announced the creation of a Religious Liberty Task Force. The announcement was the result of an executive order that Trump had signed in May. Here is Mr. Sessions. That’s Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday announcing the creation of a Religious Liberty Task Force. The Daily Beast published an opinion piece accusing Sessions of declaring a holy war on LGBTQ people.

FEATURING CHUCK COLLINS – President Trump on Friday touted a new government report showing that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of this year’s second quarter was 4.1% – the highest it has been since 2014. According to the Federal Reserve, despite this positive GDP rate, the forecast for the year remains at a 2.8% growth rate. Employing his usual exaggerations, the President falsely claimed, “We’ve accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions.”

Meanwhile this week news has started to trickle in about corporate shares falling and prices being hiked in direct response to the tariffs that Trump has unilaterally imposed on American trading partners in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and China.

For more information about the report ‘Warehousing Wealth: Donor-Advised Charity Funds Sequestering Billions in the Face of Growing Inequality’, HERE.

Chuck Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He has written a number of books including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It, and Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good.