Your Call

On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the record setting $866B military spending bill, which recently passed the Senate and House.

Only 11 Senators voted against the bill. Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders introduced an amendment that would’ve cut the Pentagon budget by 10 percent. He said the Pentagon cannot keep track of the dollars it already has, leading to massive waste, fraud and abuse in the sprawling military-industrial complex. The amendment failed 88-11.

On the House side, the bill passed 219 to 210, largely along party lines because of Republican sponsored anti-abortion and anti-trans amendments.

Lawmakers will now work out a compromise version of the two.

Once again, the bill failed to get the major media coverage it deserved. What will it take to change that?

On the next Your Call, we’ll discuss union busting, as workers across various industries continue to demand basic rights.

A tentative agreement between UPS and their Teamsters Union averted a historic strike of nearly 340,000 drivers, but some say the contract does not go far enough. All UPS union employees will receive a $2.75 per hour raise this year, and a $7.50 per hour pay increase over the next 5 years. Part time workers will start at $21 an hour, a boost from the previous $16.20, but less than the $25 that many were demanding.

Starbucks has engaged in a ruthless Union busting campaign, firing over 230 union leaders across the country, and shuttering union stores. The NLRB has issued over 100 official complaints against the company, encompassing over 1,900 violations of federal labor law. Workers in at least 21 states have also reported their store management banning Pride decorations, according to Starbucks Workers United, the union representing workers at over 300 locations across the US.

Coral reefs in South Florida are bleaching and dying due to the record shattering heat wave. What can we do to prevent a massive die off?

A recent investigation by The Lever reveals how landlords are turning to private equity-backed artificial intelligence screening programs to help them select tenants.

Three brave Iranian women who took part in the Women Life Freedom protests made the difficult choice to escape Iran. They've shared their stories with The New York Times.

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss negotiations on deep sea mining taking place right now at the International Seabed Authority in Jamaica.

The rising demand for electric cars and other clean technologies, coupled with the depletion of minerals and metals on land, is driving interest in mining the deep sea to extract cobalt, nickel, and lithium. Miles below the ocean, there are fields of small rocks filled with these metals and minerals.

Scientists warn that scraping the sea floor will damage deep sea ecosystems and kill animals that haven’t even been discovered yet.

On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the state of abortion in the US one year after conservatives on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Fourteen states have completely banned abortion and 61 clinics, Planned Parenthood facilities, and doctors’ offices stopped offering abortions, according to the New York Times. From July 2022 through March 2023, more than 25,000 people were unable to get an abortion from a provider, according to The Society of Family Planning.

Some clinics in conservative states are still offering crucial non-abortion services, but they are struggling to survive. How can we support them?

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss the record-breaking extreme heat wave across the globe, and its connection to the climate crisis. Nearly 5000 US heat and rainfall records have been broken or tied in the last 30 days, and more than 10,000 set globally, according to NOAA. More than 100 people have died in heat waves in the United States and India so far this summer.

Major media news coverage has largely ignored how republicans and big oil companies have sabotaged action on the climate crisis for years. A year-long Democratic-led congressional investigation from 2022 revealed how big oil companies have misled the public about climate change for decades with a widespread campaign of greenwashing.

What will it take to change the conversation?

Island nations have contributed the least to CO2 emissions and global warming, but they are suffering the brunt of it.

ProPublica reports that Harlan Crowe slashed his taxes by taking Clarence Thomas on his superyacht cruises. Democrats are calling for an ethics reform bill.