Podcasts about The American Prospect

Dr. Margaret O'Mara is the Howard & Frances Keller Endowed Professor of History at the University of Washington. She writes and teaches about the growth of the high-tech economy, the history of U.S. politics, and the connections between the two. She is also Distinguished Lecturer of the Organization of American Historians and a past fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the National Forum on the Future of Liberal Education. She received her MA/PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA from Northwestern University. Prior to her academic career, she worked in the Clinton White House and served as a contributing researcher at the Brookings Institution. Margaret is the author of Cities of Knowledge (Princeton, 2005), Pivotal Tuesdays (Penn Press, 2015), and The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America (Penguin Press, 2019). She is a coauthor, with David Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen, of forthcoming editions of a widely used United States history college textbook, The American Pageant (Cengage). She is a frequent contributor to the Opinion page of The New York Times, and her writing also has appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Bloomberg Businessweek, Foreign Policy, the American Prospect, and Pacific Standard.

Today on Boston Public Radio: The midterms are now 36 days away. We opened the lines and asked our listeners: What does an increase in political violence in America say about us? We opened our lines again for another installment of Ask the Doctor with Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett of Boston Medical Center. She joined us on the show to answer listeners' questions from COVID to the upcoming flu season. Charlie Sennott discussed Russian President Vladimir Putin's staged annexation of Ukrainian territories. Far-right surges in recent elections in Italy and Sweden, as well as the upcoming runoff election in Brazil. Sennott is the founder and editor of The GroundTruth Project and award-winning correspondent. Co-founder and editor of The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner joined us and discussed his new book: ‘Going Big: FDR's Legacy, Biden's New Deal, and the Struggle to Save Democracy.' Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett Price discussed nonreligious women of color gathering to talk about Christian nationalism, and Jewish tweens singing Orthodox pop songs on TikTok. Corby Kummer discussed the policy proposals coming out of the recent White House Conference on Hunger Nutrition and Health, the growth of the Boston Veg Food Fest and more. Kummer is the executive director of Food & Society at the Aspen Institute and a senior editor of The Atlantic. We closed the show with a call-in segment, and asked listeners: After knowing everything we know about McDonalds and other fast food restaurants, do you still enjoy going to these restaurants?

In this conversation, we talk to San Quentin News editor Juan Haines about his investigation with Katie Rose Quandt, “San Quentin Is Still Punishing People for Being Sick,” produced in partnership with the American Prospect. Haines talks about what drew him to investigate San Quentin's Adjustment Center, the challenges of reporting while incarcerated, and what it was like to report on the prison's Covid-19 crisis as he was living through it. FURTHER READING “San Quentin Is Still Punishing People for Being Sick:” https://bit.ly/3SLx3qa The Inside/Out Journalism Project: https://bit.ly/3BTTNxt Transcript: https://bit.ly/3UU8E3V Type Investigations is a newsroom for independent investigative journalists. For our latest, subscribe to our newsletter: www.typeinvestigations.org/subscribe

It's Casual Friday! Sam speaks with David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to break down the week in news. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Francesca Fiorentini, host of The Bitchuation Room podcast! Sam and Emma first run through updates on Hurricane Ian's path of devastation, leaving millions of Floridians without power, the passing of a continuing resolution, Pelosi's poison pill on the stock trading ban, and updates on the Pentagon's funding of Ukraine. David Dayen then joins as he gets right into his recent piece breaking down the legislative process that led us to the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, starting with the Democrats packing their entire agenda into Biden's Build Back Better plan, only for it to get widdled and widdled down into the Manchin-endorsed IRA. They parse through the unifying factors of the policies that made it through the process, looking at how their longer pedigree and presence in Congress and consultant spheres separated them from other (but largely as pressing) policies, making it incredibly difficult to govern for the present when any potential legislation must have been building up for decades, before looking to what got left on the cutting room floor, with childcare, education, college, housing, and child poverty all remaining unaddressed. After summarizing the central elements of the IRA (climate change policy, prescription drug pricing, and general tax reform), Dayen walks through the story of these policy initiatives, with the climate policy stemming from discussions at the beginning of Manchin's reign in the senate between him and Ron Wyden and evolving in the wake of the failures of the Waxman-Markey bill under Obama, also exploring the history behind prescription drug pricing and touching on the role of the 2020 Primaries as a rolling thinktank for much of this policy, before wrapping up with the history the wealth taxes and the importance of introducing legislation (even if it isn't ready to pass). And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma are joined by Francesca Fiorentini of the Bitchuation Room as they dive into a new right-wing dating app where Sam can find the AnCap of his dreams, the reactions of Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, and the likes to seeing a talented classical (Black) musician dance with a flute, and the continued horror stories coming from the Right's crackdown on reproductive rights. They also discuss the Student Debt Relief lawsuits coming from the right, the state of Putin's failing invasion, plus, your IMs! Check out David's piece at the Prospect here: https://prospect.org/politics/how-policy-got-done-in-2022/ Check out the Bitchuation Room here: https://www.youtube.com/franifio Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Quip: Quip gets your smile ready, making good habits easy with all the essentials you need to care for your mouth. The quip Electric Toothbrush uses timed vibrations with 30-second pulses to guide a dentist-recommended two-minute clean. It's loved by over SEVEN MILLION mouths. You can even upgrade with a NEW Smart Motor to track and improve your brushing AND earn sweet rewards. If you go to getquip.com/majority RIGHT NOW, you'll get your first refill FREE.  Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Judith D. Schwartz is an author who tells stories to explore and illuminate scientific concepts and cultural nuance. She takes a clear-eyed look at global environmental, economic, and social challenges, and finds insights and solutions in natural systems. She writes for numerous publications, including The American Prospect, The Guardian, Discover, Scientific American, and YaleE360. Her latest book, “The Reindeer Chronicles”, is a global tour of earth repair, featuring stops in Norway, Spain, Hawai'i, New Mexico, and beyond.  Judy has a B.A. from Brown University, an M.S.J. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern. She lives and works on the side of a mountain in Vermont with her husband, author Tony Eprile, and cherishes visits from their musician son, Brendan. When it snows, she cross-country skis, and when ski season is over, she's in the garden. Three times a week she trains in Uechi-Ryu karate, and has reached the rank of shodan. Whatever she's doing, she will stop to listen to the song of the hermit thrush. Website: Judith D. Schwartz 

Pat welcomes Sarah Posner, a reporting Fellow with Type Investigations. Her  investigative reporting and analysis on the religious right in Republican politics has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Vice, HuffPost, Reveal, The Nation, Mother Jones, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The American Prospect, Talking Points Memo, and many other publications. She is a widely cited expert and frequent commentator on religion and politics. https://www.sarahposner.com/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pat welcomes Sarah Posner, a reporting Fellow with Type Investigations. Her  investigative reporting and analysis on the religious right in Republican politics has appeared in Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Vice, HuffPost, Reveal, The Nation, Mother Jones, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The American Prospect, Talking Points Memo, and many other publications. She is a widely cited expert and frequent commentator on religion and politics. https://www.sarahposner.com/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

There's a lot that President Biden gets right on China. Why doesn't the rest of his administration agree? Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, breaks down what's keeping the Biden administration from completely committing to its doctrine on China and what a coherent approach to dealings with Beijing could achieve. Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith

Dr. Cecilia A. Conrad, Ph.D. (https://www.macfound.org/about/people/cecilia-a-conrad) is CEO of Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (where she also serves as a Senior Advisor) which leverages investments in solutions to the world's biggest problems — from racial and gender equity to climate change. Dr. Conrad was formerly a Managing Director at the Foundation, where she led the MacArthur Fellows program and steered the cross-Foundation team that created MacArthur's 100&Change—an athematic, open call competition that periodically makes a single $100 million grant to help solve a critical problem of our time. She continues to manage the 100&Change competition. Before joining the Foundation in January 2013, Dr. Conrad had a distinguished career as both a professor and an administrator at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. She held the Stedman Sumner Chair in Economics and is currently a Professor of Economics, Emerita. She served as Associate Dean of the College (2004-2007), as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College (2009-2012), and as Acting President (Fall 2012). From 2007-2009, she was interim Vice President and Dean of the Faculty at Scripps College. As Associate Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Pomona, Dr. Conrad championed the College's summer undergraduate research program and expanded it to the arts and humanities, led conversations regarding the value and assessment of a liberal arts college education, nurtured collaborations between the arts and the sciences, and worked with academic departments to improve the campus climate for diversity. As a member of the faculty, Dr. Conrad contributed to the curriculum of several interdisciplinary programs and, in 2002, was recognized as California's Carnegie Professor of the Year, a prestigious national award that recognizes faculty members for their achievement as undergraduate professors. Dr. Conrad's academic research focuses on the effects of race and gender on economic status. Her work has appeared in both academic journals and nonacademic publications including The American Prospect and Black Enterprise. Before joining the faculty at Pomona College, Dr. Conrad served on the faculties of Barnard College and Duke University. She was also an economist at the Federal Trade Commission and a visiting scholar at The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Dr. Conrad is a member of the board of trustees of Bryn Mawr College, The Poetry Foundation, the National Academy of Social Insurance, IES Study Abroad, and the African Center for Economic Transformation. She is a member of the TIAA Board of Governors and of the 2021-2023 Generosity Commission. Dr. Conrad received the National Urban League's Women of Power Award in 2008 and the National Economic Association's Samuel Z. Westerfield award in 2018. She has honorary doctorates from Claremont Graduate University and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Conrad received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University. 

Justin Zorn has served as a policymaker and a meditation teacher in the US Congress. A Harvard-and-Oxford-trained specialist in the economics and psychology of wellbeing, Justin has written for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, Time, Newsweek, Wired, The Nation, The American Prospect, CNN, and other publications. Leigh Marz is a collaboration consultant and leadership coach for major universities, corporations, and federal agencies, as well as a longtime student of pioneering researchers and practitioners of the ritualized use of psychedelic medicines in the West. In her professional work, she has led diverse initiatives, including a training program to promote an experimental mindset among teams at NASA and a decade-long cross-sector collaboration to reduce toxic chemicals in products in partnership with Green Science Policy Institute, Harvard University, IKEA, Google, and Kaiser Permanente. Their book Overwhelmed? Snag the free guide, 10 Quick Ways to Conquer Overwhelm! It's my gift to you. http://OverwhelmSucks.com WHO IS MARK STRUCZEWSKI? Mark “Ski” Struczewski (also known as Mister Productivity) is a productivity expert that is obsessed with helping 100 million solopreneurs bust through overwhelm by 2032.

Why do we hate disability?  Why does design neglect disability? How do disabled people tap into their creativity to make the world accessible? Laura Mauldin is a writer, sociologist, and interdisciplinary scholar based in Brooklyn, NY. She's currently an associate professor at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses broadly on disability, care, and technology. Her first book, Made to Hear: Cochlear Implants and Raising Deaf Children, documented the structure and culture of the systems we've designed to try to make deaf kids hear. Currently, she is writing a nonfiction book on spousal caregiving that weaves together research, memoir, and cultural commentary. She's recently published articles in The American Prospect, Baffler Magazine, and the Los Angeles Review of books connected to spousal caregiving. Most recently, she launched the new website DisabilityAtHome.org which documents the daily hacks that disabled people and caregivers have devised to make life work at home.  Episode Mentions: Book: Made to Hear: Cochlear Implants and Raising Deaf Children by Laura Mauldin Website: disabilityathome.org Article: Care Tactics: Hacking an Abelist World by Laura Mauldin Article: Finding Comfort at Home: New Website Logs Solutions to Everyday Problems for Disabled People and Their Caregivers Follow: Liz Jackson Follow: Imani Barbarin Website: Well Spouse Association Other related content: Website: engineeringathome.org Link: Designing for Disability - TED Talks Follow Laura: Twitter | LinkedIn Episode Website: https://mailchi.mp/designlabpod/lauramauldin More episode sources & links Sign-up for Design Lab Podcast's Newsletter Previous Episode Newsletters and Shownotes Follow @DesignLabPod on Twitter Instagram and LinkedIn Follow @BonKu on Twitter & Instagram Check out the Health Design Lab Production by Robert Pugliese Edit by Fernando Queiroz Cover Design by Eden Lew Theme song by Emmanuel Houston Indexed in the Library of Congress: ISSN 2833-2032

After decades of our government denying healthcare to veterans they exposed to poisonous toxins, the PACT Act - which will eventually provide this hard-fought-for care - is now law. In this episode, learn exactly who qualifies for these new benefits and when, discover the shocking but little-known events that led to their poisonings, and find out what exactly happened during those 6 days when Senate Republicans delayed the passage of the PACT Act. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! View the shownotes on our website at https://congressionaldish.com/cd257-pact-act-health-care-for-poisoned-veterans Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD249: A Few Good Laws CD205: Nuclear Waste Storage CD195: Yemen CD161: Veterans Choice Program CD124: The Costs of For-Profit War CD107: New Laws & Veterans' Health Care What the PACT Does and Doesn't Do “BREAKING NEWS! Huge Step Forward for Veterans: PACT Act 2022 Adds New Presumptive Conditions for Burn Pit, Agent Orange, and Radiation Exposure.” Aug 10, 2022. VA Claims Insider. Abraham Mahshie. Aug 10, 2022. “Biden Signs PACT Act to Expand VA Coverage for Toxic Exposure, but Some Are Left Out.” Air Force Magazine. Leo Shane III. Aug 4, 2022. “Now that PACT Act has passed, how soon will veterans see their benefits?” Military Times. “The PACT Act and your VA benefits.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA Sidath Viranga Panangal, Jared S. Sussma, and Heather M. Salaza. Jun 28, 2022. “Department of Veterans Affairs FY2022 Appropriations” [R46964]. Congressional Research Service. “VA health care.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “Eligibility for VA health care.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “Your health care costs.” U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Toxic Exposures Burn Pits “Ten things veterans should know about burn pits.” November 20th, 2014. VAntage Point. “DoD concedes rise in burn-pit ailments.” Feb 8, 2010. Military Times. “Operation Desert Shield.” U.S. Army Center of Military History. “Operation Desert Storm.” U.S. Army Center of Military History. Agent Orange Donnie La Curan. April 1, 2021. “Agent Orange Laos Victims Never Acknowledged by U.S.” Veterans Resources. Charles Dunst. Jul 20, 2019. “The U.S.'s Toxic Agent Orange Legacy.” The Atlantic. Patricia Kime. May 11, 2020. “Report Claims Vietnam-Era Veterans Were Exposed to Agent Orange on Guam.” Military.com. “Clinic Issues Report Confirming Guam Veterans' Exposure to Dioxin Herbicides Like Agent Orange.” May 11, 2020. Yale Law School. “Agent Orange - Johnston Island Atoll, AFB.” Vietnam Security Police Association. Susan E. Davis. Apr 9, 1991. “The Battle Over Johnston Atoll.” The Washington Post. Enewetak Atoll Chris Shearer. Dec 28, 2020. “Remembering America's Forgotten Nuclear Cleanup Mission.” Vice. “The Radiological Cleanup of Enewetak Atoll. March 2018. U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Dave Philipps. Jan 28, 2017. “Troops Who Cleaned Up Radioactive Islands Can't Get Medical Care.” The New York Times. Palomares, Spain Nuclear Accident “New Federal Suit Filed Against VA on Behalf of Veterans Exposed to Radiation at Palomares Nuclear Cleanup.” November 1, 2021. Yale Law School Today. Dave Philipps. June 19, 2016. “Decades Later, Sickness Among Airmen After a Hydrogen Bomb Accident.” The New York Times. “Palomares Nuclear Weapons Accident: Revised Dose Evaluation Report.” April 2001. United States Air Force. U.S. Department of Energy. February 1966 “U.S. Position on Minimizing Soil Removal.” U.S. Department of Energy Archives. Thule, Greenland Nuclear Accident Robert Mitchell. Jan 21, 2018. “Cataclysmic cargo: The hunt for four missing nuclear bombs after a B-52 crash.” The Washington Post. MAAS v. U.S. 897 F.Supp. 1098 (1995). United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division. “Project Crested Ice: The Thule Nuclear Accident Volume 1 [SAC Historical Study 113].” June 1982. History and Research Division, Headquarters, Strategic Air Command. Captain Robert E. McElwee. “Project Crested Ice: USAF B-52 Accident at Thule, Greenland, 21 January 1968.” U.S. Defense Technical Information Center. South Carolina Nuclear “Storage” Doug Pardue. May 21, 2017 (Updated Jun 28, 2021). “Deadly legacy: Savannah River site near Aiken one of the most contaminated places on Earth.” The Post & Courier. Gulf War Illness “What is Gulf War Syndrome?” Johns Hopkins Medicine. “UTSW genetic study confirms sarin nerve gas as cause of Gulf War illness.” May 11, 2022. UT Southwestern Medical Center Newsroom. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination “Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims | Veteran Owned Law Firm.” The Carlson Law Firm on YouTube. “Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.” Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “Summary of the water contamination situation at Camp Lejeune.” Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “Health effects linked with trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride exposure.” Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “Camp Lejeune Water Contamination History.” Oct 18, 2009. St. Lawrence County Government. St. Louis Area Nuclear Contamination Chris Hayes. Jul 27, 2022. “Flooding around nuclear waste renews residents' fears.” Fox 2 Now - St. Louis. Jim Salter. Mar 19, 2022. “West Lake Landfill cleanup slowed after more nuclear waste found.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jesse Bogan. Dec 20, 2021. “Concerns linger as completion date for Coldwater Creek cleanup pushed to 2038.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Evaluation of Community Exposures Related to Coldwater Creek.” Apr 30, 2019. U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Robert Alvarez. February 11, 2016. “West Lake story: An underground fire, radioactive waste, and governmental failure.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “Westlake Landfill, Bridgeton, MO.” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Atomic Homefront.” HBO Documentaries. Hanford Waste Management Site “Hanford's Dirty Secret– and it's not 56 million gallons of nuclear waste.” Jul 26, 2019. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Biden Drone Bombing “'Cutting-edge technology used to eliminate Zawahiri.'” Aug 7, 2022. The Express Tribune. Jon Stewart People Staff. August 11, 2022. “Jon Stewart Shares His Emotional Reaction to Signing of Veterans Health Bill: 'I'm a Mess'” People. Republican F*ckery Ryan Cooper. Aug 3, 2022. “Republicans Just Exposed Their Greatest Weakness.” The American Prospect. Jordain Carney and Anthony Adragna. August 1, 2022. “Senate GOP backtracks after veterans bill firestorm.” Politico. “Roll Call 455 | H. J. Res. 114: To Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.” Oct 10, 2022. Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Foreign Wars No One Talks About Ellen Knickmeyer. Jun, 16 2022. “GAO: US Failed to Track if Arms Used Against Yemen Civilians.” Military.com. Joseph R. Biden. June 08, 2022. “Letter to the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate regarding the War Powers Report.” The White House. Muhammad Fraser-Rahim. Oct 16, 2017. “The Deaths of Four Elite U.S. Soldiers in Niger Show Why Trump Must Wake Up on Terrorism in Africa.” Newsweek. Overseas Contingency Operations Emily M. Morgenstern. Updated August 13, 2021. “Foreign Affairs Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Funding: Background and Current Status” [IF10143 ]. Congressional Research Service. Todd Harrison. Jan 11, 2017. “The Enduring Dilemma of Overseas Contingency Operations Funding.” Center for Strategic and International Studies The Law S. 3373: Honoring our PACT Act Jen's Highlighted PDF of S. 3373 - Final Version Timeline of Votes and Changes June 16, 2022 Senate Roll Call Vote July 12, 2022. “Comparative Print: Bill to Bill Differences Comparing the base document BILLS-117hr3967eas.xml with BILLS-117S3373ES-RCP117-56.” U.S. House of Representatives. July 13, 2022 House Roll Call Vote July 27, 2022 Senate Roll Call Vote August 1, 2022. “Amendments Submitted and Proposed.” Congressional Record -- Senate. Audio Sources President Biden signs the PACT Act, expanding healthcare for veterans exposed to toxins August 10, 2022 PBS NewsHour on YouTube "Justice has been delivered": Biden says top al-Qaeda leader killed in drone strike August 1, 2022 Global News on YouTube “Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims | Veteran Owned Law Firm.” The Carlson Law Firm on YouTube Senator Toomey on State of the Union with Jake Tapper July 31, 2022 CNN Clips 7:00 Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA): Here's what you need to keep in mind, Jake. First of all, this is the oldest trick in Washington. People take a sympathetic group of Americans — it could be children with an illness, it could be victims of crime, it could be veterans who have been exposed to toxic chemicals — craft a bill to address their problems, and then sneak in something completely unrelated that they know could never pass on its own and dare Republicans to do anything about it because they know they'll unleash their allies in the media and maybe a pseudo-celebrity to make up false accusations to try to get us to just swallow what shouldn't be there. That's what's happening here, Jake. 10:40 Jake Tapper: So one of the questions that I think people have about what you're claiming is a budgetary gimmick is, the VA budgets will always remain subject to congressional oversight, they can't just spend this money any way they want. And from how I read this legislation, it says that this money has to be spent on health care for veterans who suffered exposure from toxic burned pits. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA): This is why they do this sort of thing, Jake, because it gets very deep in the weeds and very confusing for people very quickly. It's not really about veteran spending. It's about what category of government bookkeeping, they put the veterans spending in. My change, the honest people acknowledge it will have no effect on the amount of money or the circumstances under which the money for veterans is being spent. But what I want to do is treat it, for government accounting purposes, the way we've always treated it for government accounting purposes. Because if we change it to the way that the Democrats want, it creates room in future budgets for $400 billion of totally unrelated, extraneous spending on other matters. Senator Toomey on Face the Nation with John Dickerson July 31, 2022 CBS News Clips 4:10 John Dickerson: 123 Republicans in the House voted for this, 34 Senate Republicans voted for it. Same bill. This week, the bill didn't change but the Republican votes did. Why? Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA): Now, the Republican votes didn't change on the substance of the bill. Republicans have said we want an amendment to change a provision that has nothing to do with veterans health care. The Republicans support this. The Democrats added a provision that has nothing to do with veterans health care, and it's designed to change government accounting rules so that they can have a $400 billion spending spree. 6:25 Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA): Honest Democrats evaluating this will tell you: if my amendment passes, not a dime change in spending on veterans programs. What changes is how the government accounts for it. John Dickerson: I understand, but the accounting change, as you know, is a result — the reason they put it in that other bucket is that it doesn't subject it to the normal triage of budgeting. And the argument is that the values at stake here are more important than leaving it to the normal cut and thrust of budgeting. Jon's Response To Ted Cruz's PACT Act Excuses July 29, 2022 The Problem with Jon Stewart on Youtube Clips 00:20 Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): What the dispute is about is the Democrats played a budgetary trick, which is they took $400 billion in discretionary spending and they shifted it to a mandatory one. Jon Stewart: What Ted Cruz is describing is inaccurate, not true, bulls ** t. This is no trick. Everything in the government is either mandatory or discretionary spending depending on which bucket they feel like putting it in. The whole place is basically a f * ing shell game. And he's pretending that this is some new thing that the Democrats pulled out, stuck into the bill, and snuck it past one Ted Cruz. Now I'm not a big-city Harvard educated lawyer, but I can read. It's always been mandatory spending so that the government can't just cut off their funding at any point. No trick, no gimmick, [it's] been there the whole f**king time. 1:50 Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX): What's the Republicans made clear is, if we leave that spending as discretionary — don't play the budgetary trick — the bill will pass with 80 or 90 votes. Jon Stewart: I don't know how many other ways to say this, but there was no budgetary trick and it was always mandatory. And when they voted in the Senate on June 16, they actually got 84 votes. And you know who voted for that? Ted f*cking Cruz and every other one of those Republicans that switched their votes. There was no reason for them to switch the votes. The bill that passed the Senate 84 to 14 on June 16 has not had one word added to it by Democrats, or spending fairies, or anybody else. It's the same f*cking bill. ‘I Call Bullshit!' Jon on the PACT Act Being Blocked in the Senate July 28, 2022 The Problem with John Stewart on YouTube Clips 3:20 Jon Stewart: June 16, they passed the PACT Act 84 to 14. You don't even see those scores in the Senate anymore. They passed it. Every one of these individuals that has been fighting for years, standing on the shoulders of Vietnam veterans who have been fighting for years, standing on the shoulders of Persian Gulf War veterans fighting for years, Desert Storm veterans, to just get the health care and benefits that they earn from their service. And I don't care if they were fighting for our freedom. I don't care if they were fighting for the flag. I don't care if they were fighting because they wanted to get out of a drug treatment center, or it was jail or the army. I don't give a shit. They lived up to their oath. And yesterday, they spit on it in abject cruelty. These people thought they could finally breathe. You think their struggles end because the PACT Act passes? All it means is they don't have to decide between their cancer drugs and their house. Their struggle continues. From the crowd: This bill does a lot more than just give us health care. Jon Stewart: It gives them health care, gives them benefits, lets them live. From the crowd: Keeps veterans from going homeless keeps veterans from become an addict, keeps veterans from committing suicide. Jon Stewart: Senator Toomey is not going to hear that because he won't sit down with this man. Because he is a fucking coward. You hear me? A coward. 5:15 Jon Stewart: Pat Toomey stood up there — Patriot Pat Toomey, excuse me, I'm sorry. I want to give him his propers, I want to make sure that I give him his propers. Patriot Pat Toomey stood on the floor and said “this is a slush fund, they're gonna use $400 billion to spend on whatever they want.” That's nonsense. I call bullshit. This isn't a slush fund. You know, what's a slush fund? The OSO, the Overseas Contingency Operations Fund. $60 billion, $70 billion every year on top of $500 billion, $600 billion, $700 billion of a defense budget. That's a slush fund, unaccountable. No guardrails? Did Pat Toomey stand up and say, this is irresponsible. The guard rails? No, not one of them. Did they vote for it year after year after year? You don't support the troops. You support the war machine. 7:10 Jon Stewart: And now they say, “Well, this will get done. Maybe after we get back from our summer recess, maybe during the lame duck…” because they're on Senate time. Do you understand? You live around here. Senate time is ridiculous. These motherfuckers live to 200 — they're tortoises. They live forever and they never lose their jobs and they never lose their benefits and they never lose all those things. Well, [sick veterans are] not on Senate time. They're on human time. Cancer time. 8:20 Jon Stewart: I honestly don't even know what to say anymore. But we need your help, because we're not leaving. These people cannot go away. I don't know if you know this, you know, obviously, I'm not a military expert. I didn't serve in the military, but from what I understand, you're not allowed to just leave your post when the mission isn't completed. Apparently you take an oath, you swear an oath, and you can't leave, that these folks can leave because they're on Senate time. Go ahead, go home, spend time with your families, because these people can't do it anymore. So they can't leave until this gets done. Senator Toomey PACT Act Amendment Floor Speech July 26, 2022 Senate Session Representative Mark Takano PACT Act Floor Speech July 13, 2022 House Session 3:38:20 **Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA): The way this country has dealt with toxic exposure has been piecemeal and inadequate. President Biden recognizes this, too. Shortly after he was sworn in, I met with the President about our shared priorities for veterans. Upon learning of my goal to pass comprehensive legislation to help toxic-exposed veterans, the President leaned over to me and talked about his son, Beau, who served near burn pits in Iraq and Kosovo. It might be hard for most Americans to imagine what a burn pit looks like because they are illegal in the United States. Picture walking next to and breathing fumes from a burning pit the size of a football field. This pit contained everything from household trash, plastics, and human waste to jet fuel and discarded equipment burning day and night. Beau Biden lived near these burn pits and breathed the fumes that emanated from them. President Biden believes that con- stant exposure to these burn pits, and the toxic fumes they emitted, led to Beau's cancer and early death. It was during that meeting when I knew I had a partner in President Biden. Atomic Homefront 2017 HBO Documentaries “This Concrete Dome Holds A Leaking Toxic Timebomb.” November 27, 2017 Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Foreign Correspondent Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Today we are joined by Nelson Lichtenstein. Nelson is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of History at the University of California Santa Barbara, where he directs the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1966 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1974. Thereafter he worked in publishing in New York and taught at The Catholic University of America and at the University of Virginia before joining the UCSB faculty in 2001.He is the author or editor of 16 books, including a biography of the labor leader Walter Reuther and State of the Union: A Century of American Labor (2002, 2013 revised). His most recent books are Achieving Workers' Rights in the Global Economy (2016); The Port Huron Statement: Sources and Legacies of the New Left's Founding Manifesto (2015); The ILO From Geneva to the Pacific Rim (2015);The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business (2009, 2010); The Right and Labor in America: Politics, Ideology, and Imagination (2012); A Contest of Ideas: Capital, Politics and Labor (2013); and American Capitalism: Social Thought and Political Economy in the Twentieth Century (2006). He has served on the editorial board of numerous journals and now is a member of the editorial board of the University of Illinois Press series in working-class history.As director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy, Lichtenstein and other UCSB faculty, including Alice O'Connor, Mary Furner, Eileen Boris and Stephen Weatherford, have created an interdisciplinary research and education initiative that hosts conferences and workshops that contribute to an understanding of the issues and ideas, past and present, illuminating the character of American capitalism and of the working class that sustains it. The Center administers an undergraduate minor in Labor Studies and a graduate-level Colloquium in Work, Labor, and Political Economy. Recent conferences, including “Beyond the New Deal Order” (2015), “The American Labor Movement: Crisis and Creativity” (2014), and “The Port Huron Statement at 50” (2012), are designed to probe historically resonate issues and help train a new generation of labor intellectuals.Professor Lichtenstein has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, the University of California, and from the Fulbright Commission and the Oregon Center for the Humanities. In 2008 he was elected to the Society of American Historians and in 2012 the Sidney Hillman Foundation awarded him its Sol Stetin Award for lifetime achievement in labor history. His reviews and opinion pieces have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Dissent, New Labor Forum, American Prospect, and academic journals. Reporters often seek is comments when they write on labor, politics, and supply chain issues. You can find more about Nelson on his Twitter @NelsonLichtens1.Show Notes:Nelson Lichtenstein | Department of History, University of California Santa Barbara@NelsonLichtens1 | Twitter The Making of the New Left | The New YorkerWhat Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History | Smithsonian MagazineThe Mine Wars (Documentary) | PBSThe Significance of the Battle of Blair Mountain, 100 Years Later | The Appalachian VoiceMajorities of adults see decline of union membership as bad for the U.S. and working people | Pew Research CenterThe Upstart Union Challenging Starbucks | The New Yorker@SBWorkersUnited | TwitterWhat Company Owns The Most Real Estate? | Prudential California Fredrickson, et al. v. Starbucks Corporation Case No. 1212-15734 | Starbucksoregonclassaction.comThe Teamsters' new chief is readying UPS drivers for a strike as he heads toward contract negotiations — and key moves show he's not bluffing | Business InsiderUPS Teamsters Kick Off Contract Fight | International Brotherhood of TeamstersAmazon Workers Are Organizing a Global Struggle | The Intercept‘What Choice Do I Have?' Freight Train Conductors Are Forced to Work Tired, Sick, and Stressed | Motherboad, Tech By Vice NewsJimmy Hoffa: A closer look at the labor leader's life, work and disappearance | WDIV Local 4 DetroitU.S. Steel Tower | Official Website

The Soccer OG - Having a proper football conversation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  It's Casual Friday! Sam hosts David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to break down the week in news. Then, Sam is joined by Jordan Holmes and Dan Friesen, co-hosts of the Knowledge Fight podcast, to discuss the recent Alex Jones-Sandy Hook trial. First, Sam walks through Merrick Garland's first impactful moment as Donald Trump put him front and center in the raid on Mar-a-Lago, also touching on today's IRA vote in the House, the banning of gender-affirming care for ADULTS in Florida, and Europe seeing its worst drought in five centuries. David Dayen then joins as he and Sam discuss how Manchin's Inflation Reduction Act impacts the US' healthcare infrastructure, looking first at its changes to ACA and ARP exchange rates, before diving deep into its empowerment of Medicare to negotiate drug prices, and why it's so important despite its limitation to 10 drugs per year, and not kicking until the next presidential election is over, meaning a Ron DeSantis or Donald J. Trump might be able to take credit for capped Medicare prices. Next, they move on to the Climate provisions of the IRA, with David walking through the positives we can take, including significant investment in domestic production in next-gen tech, particularly when it comes to EVs and batteries, before parsing through the myriad carrots that drive the bill's policy, how it employs the tax code throughout all of this, and why this essentially deputizes the US Treasury to interpret out climate provisions. After expanding on the tax credits that come from EVs that don't yet exist, they wrap up by taking on Manchin's disastrous fossil fuel provisions, from wider-scale requirements to lease fossil fuel extraction before leasing any permits for building renewable energy sites, to literally just “let me build my pipeline.” Then, Dan Friesen and Jordan Holmes join as they reflect on the evolution of the Alex Jones Conspiratorial Multiverse, his slow shift to Televangelism, and how the roots of his income (beyond largely being fear-driven) are still obscured from even the most learned Info Warrior. And in the Fun Half, Sam and the MR Crew dive into the the interesting push by Republicans in Congress to now all of a sudden hate the FBI. Steve Doocy has had just about enough of that, as he spars with Elise Stefanik and Steve Scalise over their inability to "back the blue" anymore now that they've raided Trump's home. Then they look at whether Brian Kilmeade's producers hate him or if they were really that dumb to accidentally put on screen a photoshopped image of a Florida judge on Jeffrey Epstein's body onboard the Lolita Express. Then, the MR universe gets a look behind the curtain as to what went down when Sam was able to mole his way onto the Dennis Prager Show (for approximately 5 seconds), and how, despite Prager's aching for it, he won't engage in spirited intellectual debate. Plus, your IM's! Check out David's work at the Prospect here: https://prospect.org/topics/david-dayen/ Check out Knowledge Fight here: https://knowledgefight.com/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Bestselling author, journalist, and historian, Eric Alterman, joins us for an exciting conversation discussing his book, Lying in State: Why Presidents Lie -- And Why Trump Is Worse. Eric is a Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. From 1995-2020, he was The Nation's “Liberal Media" columnist and is now a contributing writer to the magazine and also to The American Prospect, where he writes the weekly “Altercation” newsletter. He has been named a Media Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, a Schusterman Foundation Fellow at Brandeis University, a Fellow of the Society of American Historians and a member of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Alterman is the author of the national bestseller What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News, as well eleven other books, including We Are Not One: A History of America's Fight Over Israel, to be published in November, 2022 by Basic Books. He is also the winner of the George Orwell Prize, the Stephen Crane Literary Award and the Mirror Award for media criticism (twice). He holds a Ph.D in US history from Stanford minoring in Jewish Studies, an M.A. in international relations at Yale and a B.A. from Cornell. He lives in Manhattan and tweets at @eric_alterman and has an open Facebook Page.

Democrats have passed historic legislation covering items like healthcare and climate...without a clear majority in the senate. So why are President Biden's ratings so low? Shikha Dalmia of George Mason University's Mercatus Center and Ryan Cooper of The American Prospect stop by to discuss the issue and what they believe the party can do about it ahead of the general election. Then, Brown University professor Wendy Schiller stops by to discuss the dangers of Democrats spending money in Republican primary elections.

Read Sara Jaffe in the August 2022 issue of The American Prospect magazine. Today's labor quote: Cesar Chavez. Today's labor history: MA marijuana retailer hit with $300K in fines for wage theft. @wpfwdc #1u #unions #LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO Proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

It's Casual Friday! Emma hosts Ryan Cooper, managing editor at The American Prospect, to round up the week in news. Emma first discusses Sinema's role at the front and center of Biden's agenda, finally agreeing to the Manchin-Schumer “Inflation Reduction Act” provided they eliminate their carried interest tweaks, before also covering the booming employment rate, charges being brought against the officers involved in the coverup of Breonna Taylor's murder, and China's initiation of sanctions against Pelosi. Then, Ryan Cooper joins as he and Emma dive deep into an extended conversation on Sinema's role in the IRA-2022, covering the beautiful bate and switch by Chuck Schumer (almost like he's been a senator as long as I've been alive!) and Joe Manchin, getting the CHIPS act passed along the way, and forcing the GOP into digging their own grave by trying to put a stop to veteran victims of burn pits getting healthcare. Expanding on this, Cooper explores McConnell's behind-the-scenes freak-out regarding the legislative rug that was once under his feet but is no longer, before turning to the role of figures like John Stewart in putting the burn pit story front and center, and getting even organizations like Newsmax to put the GOP on the spot, particularly as the fight for abortion already had their feet held up to the fire. This brings them to the topic of the midterms, as they cover the importance of candidates like Fetterman especially as the GOP, even in the most purple of states, continues to advance their fascistic agenda of minoritarian and theocratic rule, before they wrap up the interview by tackling the tensions behind Pelosi's visit to China, and the future of American liberals' imperialist war hawkery. And in the Fun Half: Emma and the crew cover Crowder's coping with conservative cognitive dissonance (the only solution being, of course, to retreat to your prior convictions), Tucker's embarrassing attempt at taking on Jon Stewart, and Stewart's lovely response that reflects the intimacy of their relationship. They also discuss Dick Cheney passing the baton of “greatest threat to the American republic” to Donald Trump, Fox's continued infatuation with AOC, and Victor Orbán, notorious covid authoritarian, appears at CPAC to call for fewer drag queens and more Chuck Norrises. Check out Ryan's work here: https://prospect.org/topics/ryan-cooper/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here: https://am-quickie.ghost.io/ Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Get the free Majority Report App!: http://majority.fm/app Check out today's sponsors: Sunset Lake CBD: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Great company, great product and fans of the show! Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com. Shopify: Scaling your business is a journey of endless possibility. Shopify is here to help, with tools and resources that make it easy for any business to succeed from down the street to around the globe. Shopify powers over 1.7 million businesses - from first-sale to full-scale. Shopify gives entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business - so upstarts, start-ups, and established businesses alike can sell everywhere, synchronize online and in-person sales, and effortlessly stay informed. Go to https://shopify.com/majority for a FREE fourteen-day trial and get full access to Shopify's entire suite of features! Follow the Majority Report crew on Twitter: @SamSeder @EmmaVigeland @MattBinder @MattLech @BF1nn @BradKAlsop Check out Matt's show, Left Reckoning, on Youtube, and subscribe on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/leftreckoning Subscribe to Discourse Blog, a newsletter and website for progressive essays and related fun partly run by AM Quickie writer Jack Crosbie. https://discourseblog.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

Dr. Palley earned his bachelor's degree from Oxford University and both his master's and Ph.D. in Economics and International Relations from Yale University. Thomas has been featured in numerous prominent journals and has featured in publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, American Prospect, and The Nation. He previously served as Chief Economist for the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent arm of government that analyzes bilateral trade between the US and China. Dr. Palley has authored several books including Restoring Shared Prosperity, Financialization, The Economic Crisis, and From Financial Crisis to Stagnation. Dr. Palley joined the Henry George School to discuss his vision of periods of American economic history, how the myth of“free markets” precluded the reality of mixed-market economies, and how financialization changes firms' social behavior. To check out more of our content, including our research, visit our website: https://www.hgsss.org/

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 800 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more Mark Leibovich new book is "Thank You for Your Servitude" THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVITUDE is Mark Leibovich's unflinching account of the moral rout of a major American political party, tracking the transformation of Rubio, Cruz, Graham, and their ilk into the administration's chief enablers, and the swamp's lesser lights into frantic chasers of the grift. What would these politicos do to preserve their place in the sun, or at least the orbit of the spray tan? What would they do to preserve their “relevance”? Almost anything, it turns out. Trump's savage bullying of everyone in his circle, along with his singular command of his political base, created a dangerous culture of submission in the Republican Party. Meanwhile, many of the most alpha of the lapdogs happily conceded to Mark Leibovich that they were “in on the joke.” As Lindsey Graham told the author, his supporters in South Carolina generally don't read The New York Times, and they won't read this book, either. All that cynicism, shading into nihilism, led to a country truly unhinged from reality, and to the events of January 6, 2021. It's a vista that makes the Washington of This Town seem like a comedy of manners in comparison.  Mark is a recipient of the National Magazine Award for profile writing. He is the author of four books, including the number one New York Times bestseller This Town, about the political culture of twenty-first-century Washington, D.C. He recently joined The Atlantic, after a ten-year stint as chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine. Before arriving at the magazine in 2012, Leibovich covered national politics in the Times' Washington Bureau. He previously worked at The Washington Post and the San Jose Mercury News. He lives with his family in Washington, D.C. Ari Rabin-Havt is a photographer, author, and veteran of numerous political campaigns and organizations. Rabin-Havt served as deputy campaign manager on Senator Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign and was a Sanders aide from 2017 to 2021. Prior to working for Sanders he was host of The Agenda, a national radio show airing Monday through Friday on SiriusXM and served as an advisor to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, John Kerry and former vice president Al Gore among others.  His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Jacobin Magazine, The American Prospect, The New Republic and  other publications. He has been a guest on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and Al Jazeera. Ari is a PADI Dive Master and an avid scuba diver who enjoys photographing large apex predators in their natural habitat.  Singer , Songwriter and Voice Over Artist Pete Coe is the "Annoying American Abroad" Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll   

The recently signed gun law, S. 2938: Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, contained a surprise dingleberry postponing a regulation designed to save seniors money on their pharmaceutical drugs by prohibiting kickbacks to an industry few have heard of: Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). This little-known but extremely powerful industry deserves much of the blame for ever rising prescription drugs costs in the United States. In this episode, Jen gives you the scoop on PBMs and how they make their money at the expense of Americans who are most dependent on medications. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! View the shownotes on our website at https://congressionaldish.com/cd255-pharmacy-benefit-managers-pbms We're Not Wrong Berlin Meetup Contact Justin at WereNotWrongPod@gmail.com Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD134: The EpiPen Hearing US Healthcare Landscape Jessi Jezewska Stevens. Apr 23, 2020. “A Brief History of the Great American Healthcare Scam.” Bookforum. Tanza Loudenback. Mar 7, 2019. “The average cost of healthcare in 21 different countries.” Insider. Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden. 2019. “Insulin: Examining the Factors Driving the Rising Cost of a Century Old Drug [Staff Report].” U.S. Senate Finance Committee. “Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population.” Kaiser Family Foundation. Sara R. Collins and David C. Radley. Dec 7, 2018. “The Cost of Employer Insurance Is a Growing Burden for Middle-Income Families.” The Commonwealth Fund. PBMs What are PBMs? JC Scott. Jun 30, 2022. “Drug manufacturers are root cause of high drug costs; PBMs drive costs down.” The Hill. Zach Freed. Jun 22, 2022. “The Pharmacy Benefit Mafia: The Secret Health Care Monopolies Jacking Up Drug Prices and Abusing Patients and Pharmacists.” American Economic Liberties Project. Adam J. Fein. Jun 22, 2021. “The Top Pharmacy Benefit Managers of 2020: Vertical Integration Drives Consolidation (rerun).” Drug Channels. “Flash finding: How drug money from sick people really works.” Nov 11, 2021. 46brooklyn. Adam J. Fein. Feb 3, 2019. “Don't Blame Drug Prices on ‘Big Pharma.'” The Wall Street Journal. How PBMs Make Money “DIR Fees.” National Association of Chain Drug Stores. “How PBMs Make Money: PBM Practices & Profits.” RxSafe. True North Political Solutions. Oct 25, 2017. “White Paper: DIR Fees Simply Explained.” Pharmacy Times. ACA “Vertical Integration” Loophole Peter High. Jul 8, 2019. “A View From Inside Cigna's $67 Billion Acquisition Of Express Scripts.” Forbes. Angelica LaVito. Nov 28, 2018. “CVS creates new health-care giant as $69 billion merger with Aetna officially closes.” CNBC. David Dayen. Oct 12, 2018. “Why the Aetna and CVS Merger Is So Dangerous.” The American Prospect. Jeff Byers. April 12, 2018. “Optum a step ahead in vertical integration frenzy.” Healthcare Dive. Graph: Optum opens up wider market for UnitedHealth Group Graph: Optum's pharmacy business contributes the majority of its revenue Susan Morse. May 10, 2017. “Secret weapon: UnitedHealth's Optum business is laying waste to old notions about how payers make money.” Healthcare Finance. Lobbying “Client Profile: Pharmaceutical Care Management Assn.” Open Secrets. The Demise of Independent Pharmacies Christine Blank. Oct 17, 2019. “Independents Prepare to Close Up Shop.” Drug Topics. Paulina Firozi. Aug 23, 2018. “The Health 202: Here's why rural independent pharmacies are closing their doors.” The Washington Post. What Is a Formulary? Ana Gascon Ivey. May 19, 2020. “A Guide to Medication Formularies.” GoodRx. Previous Delays in Rebate Regulation Paige Minemyer. Jan 29, 2021. “In a win for PBMs, Biden administration delays rebate rule.” Fierce Healthcare. Paige Minemyer. Jan 12, 2021. “PCMA sues Trump administration over rebate rule.” Fierce Healthcare. “Incorporating the Effects of the Proposed Rule on Safe Harbors for Pharmaceutical Rebates in CBO's Budget Projections—Supplemental Material for Updated Budget Projections: 2019 to 2029.” May 2019. Congressional Budget Office. The Gun Law Passage Process Office of the Clerk. May 18, 2022. “Roll Call 212 | Bill Number: S. 2938.” U.S. House of Representatives. Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board. May 12, 2022. “Republican lawmakers should be ashamed for failing to honor Justice Joseph Hatchett.” Miami Herald. Annie Karni. Apr 12, 2022. “House G.O.P., Banding Together, Kills Bid to Honor Pioneering Black Judge.” The New York Times. Background on Most Important Provisions Mary Katherine Wildeman. May 26, 2022. “Data show most school shootings carried out by young adults, teens.” CT Insider. Jeffrey Pierre. May 26, 2022. “Experts say we can prevent school shootings. Here's what the research says.” NPR. The Dingleberry Erik Sherman. Jun 30, 2022. “Gun Safety Bill Extends Drug Middlemen Protection From Anti-Kickback Measure.” Forbes. Molly Rutherford. Jun 28, 2022. “Gun legislation provision puts drug supply chain profits over patients.” The Hill. Marty Schladen. Jun 22, 2022. “Deep inside the gun bill: a break for prescription drug middlemen.” Iowa Capital Dispatch. Poland Train Station Taylor Popielarz, Maureen McManus and Justin Tasolides. Mar 25, 2022. “‘The help given is remarkable': Inside the Poland train station that's become a hub for Ukrainian refugees.” Spectrum News NY1. The Law and the Regulation S. 2938: Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Senate Vote: 65-33 (All Nos GOP) House Vote: 234-193 (All Nos GOP) Jen's Highlighted PDF of S. 2938: Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Fraud and Abuse; Removal of Safe Harbor Protection for Rebates Involving Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Creation of New Safe Harbor Protection for Certain Point-of-Sale Reductions in Price on Prescription Pharmaceuticals and Certain Pharmacy Benefit Manager Service Fees U.S. Health and Human Services Department November 30, 2020 Audio Sources The State of Competition in the Pharmacy Benefits Manager and Pharmacy Marketplaces November 17, 2015 House Committee on the Judiciary Witnesses: Bradley J. Arthur, R.Ph., Owner, Black Rock Pharmacy David Balto, Law Offices of David A. Balto PLLC Amy Bricker, R.Ph. Vice President of Retail Contracting & Strategy, Express Scripts Natalie A. Pons, Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, CVS Health Clips 53:48 Bradley Arthur: The Big Three PBMs control almost 80% of the entire market and these PBMs have the upper hand both in negotiating the contract with the payer, as well as strongly influencing the actual plan design itself. The PBM industry typically states that they can use their economic power to harness enhanced market efficiencies, but for whom? However, the staggering annual revenues that continue to grow each year of the big three suggests that these efficiencies are going directly to their corporations' bottom lines. Small community pharmacies like mine are faced on a daily basis with the impact of the PBMs' disproportionate market power. Community pharmacies routinely must agree to take-it-or-leave-it contracts from the PBMs just to continue to serve our long-standing patients. As if that weren't enough, the PBMs also directly set the reimbursement rates for pharmacies, the very same pharmacies that stand in direct competition of some of these PBM-owned mail-order and specialty pharmacies. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the PBMs present employer and government payers with carefully tailored suggested plans designs that steer beneficiaries to these PBM-owned entities. Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for Change, Part I January 29, 2019 Senate Committee on Finance Witnesses: Kathy Sego, Mother of a Child with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ph.D., President, American Action Forum Mark E. Miller, Ph.D., Vice President of Health Care, Laura and John Arnold Foundation Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP, Director, Memorial Sloan Kettering Center for Health Policy and Outcomes Clips 1:57:30 Sen. John Cornyn (R - TX): Can anybody on the panel explain to me why we have a general prohibition against kickbacks — they call them rebates — under the Social Security Act, but we nevertheless allow it for prescription drug pricing? What's the sound public policy reason for excluding prescription drug pricing from the anti-kickback rule under federal law? Douglas Holtz-Eakin: I can't explain that and won't pretend to. [laughter] Sen. Cornyn: I thought I was the only one who didn't understand the wisdom of that. Well, it's not a transparent arrangement and it does produce upward pressure on drug prices. And obviously, the negotiations between the PBM and the pharma in terms of what the net cost is, is not transparent, nor is it delivered to the consumer. Is it Dr. Miller? Dr. Bach? Peter Bach: It's delivered to the consumer indirectly through the reduction of the total cost of the benefit, but it is not delivered to the actual consumer using the drug, and that is a disassociation, that is a problem. Because it essentially reverses the structure of insurance. Lowering the total costs are people who use it the least, and raising the costs are people who use it the most, relative to if you allowed the rebate to be used at the point of sale, including all discounts. 1:59:49 Douglas Holtz-Eakin: If we had the negotiation be about the upfront price, so instead of a high list price and a rebate, you just negotiate a lower price, that would be the price that Ms. Sego would pay and insurance companies would look at that and say, okay, she's not paying as much as she used to, we're going to have to make up that money somewhere else and they might raise premiums. That means that people who don't have extreme insulin drug costs would pay a little bit more in a premium every month, and people who have extremely devastating medical conditions and high health care costs would get less costs. That's exactly what insurance is supposed to do. And so the rebate system is more than giving strange incentives on pricing. It's undercutting the purpose of insurance in general. Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for Change, Part II February 26, 2019 Senate Committee on Finance Witnesses: Richard A. Gonzalez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AbbVie Inc. Pascal Soriot, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, AstraZeneca Giovanni Caforio, M.D., Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Jennifer Taubert, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Merck & Co., Inc. Albert Bourla, DVM, Ph.D., Chief Executive Office, Pfizer Olivier Brandicourt, M.D., Former Chief Executive Officer, Sanofi Clips 1:22:03 Albert Bourla: Adverse incentives that favor higher cost biologics are keeping biosimilars from reaching patients. In many cases, insurance companies declined to include lower cost biosimilars in their formularies because they would risk losing the rebates from covering higher cost medicines. I can't think of a more concerning example of a broken system and we need to do something about it. 1:33:35 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R - IA): So many of you have voiced support for the recent rebate rule proposed by the administration. Should the administration finalized this rule, will you commit to lowering your drug prices? Richard Gonzalez [CEO, AbbVie]: Mr. Chairman, we are supportive of the rule. We'd like to see it in its final form, obviously, to make a final decision, but we are supportive of taking the discount to the patient at the point of sale. Sen Grassley: Okay. AstraZeneca? **Pascal Soriot [CEO, AstraZeneca]**The same for us Senator, I would go one step further: if the rebates were removed from the commercial sector as well, we will definitely reduce our list prices. Sen Grassley: Okay. And Bristol? Giovanni Caforio [CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb]: We have the same positions. Sen Grassley: Okay. Johnson and Johnson? Jennifer Taubert [EVP, J&J]: Yes, we're supportive, and that definitely would be my goal. We would just need to see the final legislation, provided that there aren't additional fees that are added into the system to compensate for the rebates. Sen Grassley: Merck? **Kenneth C. Frazier: I would expect that our prices would go down if we change the system. Again, on the commercial side as well as the Medicare side. Sen Grassley: Okay, Pfizer? Albert Bourla [CEO, Pfizer]: It is a very clear intention that we will not keep a single dollar from these rebates. We will try to move every single penny to the patients and we think if this goes also to the commercial plants that will be even better for more patients. Sen Grassley: Okay. Sanofi? Olivier Brandicourt [Former CEO, Sanofi]: Lowering list price has to be linked to better access and affordability at the counter for the patients. 1:35:20 Sen. Ron Wyden (D - OR): Is it correct that your company, and nobody else, sets the starting price for all drugs sold by Pfizer? Yes or no? Albert Bourla: It is a negotiation with PBMs and they are very powerful. Sen. Wyden: But you still get to set the list price? Albert Bourla: Yes, but we set this price and the rebate limit(?). 1:35:40 Sen. Ron Wyden (D - OR): Is it correct, when a hypothetical patient, let's call her Mrs. Jones, goes to pay for her drug at the pharmacy counter, her coinsurance is based on the price of the drug you set? Albert Bourla: It is correct in many cases. Sen. Wyden: Okay. I just want you all to know that the number one reason consumers are getting hammered, is because these list prices, which you have the last word with respect to where they are, are unaffordable. And the high prices are tied to what the consumer pays at the pharmacy counter. And all this other stuff you talk about, the rebates and the discounts and the coupons, all this other stuff is window dressing, all of that. And the fact is on Part D, 40% of the drugs don't even have a rebate. So I want it understood, particularly because I've asked you, Mr. Borla, I think you and others in the industry are stonewalling on the key issue, which is actually lowering list prices. And reducing those list prices are the easiest way for American consumers to pay less at the pharmacy counter. 2:12:45 Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE): First is eliminating rebates to PBMs. That's the first one, eliminating rebates to PBMs. The second is value based arrangements. And the third is increasing transparency industry-wide on how you set your prices. 2:13:20 Richard Gonzalez: We clearly support providing the discount at the patient level, eliminating rebates essentially. 2:14:10 Pascal Soriot: If the rebates, as I said earlier, were to be removed from Part D and the commercial sector, we would actually reduce our list prices. 2:15:10 Giovanni Caforio: I would say that not only do we support all three elements that you mentioned, but I do believe those three elements together with the continued effort to develop a generic and biosimilar market would mean significant change, and would clearly alleviate the concerns that patients have today. 2:14:44 Jennifer Taubert: We are very supportive of all three elements that you outlined 2:15:52 Kenneth Frazier: We too support all three. 2:15:55 Albert Bourla: All three elements are transformational for our industry, will disrupt it. However, we do agree that these are the three things that need to be done and also I believe that will have significant meaningful results if we do. 2:16:10 Olivier Brandicourt: We support the three Senator, but we want to keep in mind at the end of the chain the patient has to benefit, so if rebates are removed it has to be to the benefit of patients. Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE): Good, thanks. 2:18:10 Albert Bourla: 50% of the American people are in commercial plans and these rebate rules apply to Medicare. If the rules apply to all, definitely the list price will go down. 2:18:30 Albert Bourla: The list price is not irrelevant, it's very relevant for a lot of people because they have to pay list price during the deductible period. However if the rebate rule is applied, then they become irrelevant because the patients will not be paying the list price at the purchase point. 2:19:10 Sen. John Thune (R-SD): How would manufacturers respond if the rebate rule were finalized for government programs? I mean, what does that what does that mean for the commercial market? Albert Bourla: Senator, as I said before, all these proposals that they're discussing, [undistinguishable], eliminating the rebate rule, are transformational and will disrupt the way we do business. I don't know exactly how the system will evolve, and I really don't favor a bifurcated system. I would like to have a transparent single system across both parts. So we need to see how the whole thing will evolve. 2:25:26 Johnny Isakson (R-GA): Who sets the discount and who sets the rebate? 2:26:20 Richard Gonzalez: We negotiate with payers, so managed care and PBMs— Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA): You're a supplier though, so you have to go negotiate with the PBMs and those people, is that right? Richard Gonzalez: Correct, and they negotiate aggressively. Sen. Isakson: Is that pretty much true with everybody, that they're the major component between the end retail consumer price and the origin of the product? Richard Gonzalez: Yes, Senator. Sen. Isakson: Well, that seems like that's someplace we ought to focus, because that's where the distorted numbers come in. Johnson & Johnson, Janssen, in your testimony, you talked about your average list price of 8.1%, up, but an average net price change of only 4.6%. So while your gross went up 8.6, your net went down 4.6 In the same pricing period. How does that happen? If you're setting the price, how does it not go up on the bottom? Jennifer Taubert: Yeah, and in fact, in 2018, our net price actually declined 8.6%, so even more than that. The intermediaries in the system are very, very effective negotiators— Sen. Isakson: Tell me who the intermediaries are. Jennifer Taubert: Those would be the PBMs and the insurers. Sen. Isakson: …and the insurance companies? Jennifer Taubert: Right, and they set the formularies for patients. Sen. Isakson: And they're not the same. They're two different people? Jennifer Taubert: Yes, correct. 2:40:45 James Lankford (R-OK): All of you have mentioned the rebate issue has been a problem and that insurance companies and PBMs are very effective negotiators. Part of the challenge of this is, health insurance companies pay their PBM based on the quality of their negotiation skills, cutting a price off the list price. And so if a list price is higher and a rebate is higher, that also gives preference to them. So the difficulty is, as you raise list price, and the rebate gets larger, the insurance company gives that preference, making it harder for biosimilars. Am I tracking this correctly? 2:43:00 Albert Bourla: Here in the US, the penetration of biosimilars is much lower than in other places, but it is disproportional to different parts of the US healthcare system. For example, in open systems, systems where the decision maker it is a PBM, the one biosimilar we have has a market share of 5% in the US. In closed systems, in systems like Kaiser, for example, integrated healthcare systems where the one who decides has the whole cost of the healthcare system in its interest, we have 73%. 5% and 73% for the same product. I agree with what Mr. Fraser said that we need to create incentives, but I would add also that we need to break this rebate trap that creates significant disincentives for providers, and the healthcare system, and insurance companies. 3:19:25 Kenneth Frazier: If you went back a few years ago, when we negotiated to get our drugs on formulary, our goal was to have the lowest copay by patients. Today the goal is to pay into the supply chain the biggest rebate, and so that actually puts the patient at a disadvantage since they're the only ones that are paying a portion of the list price. The list price is actually working against the patient. 3:19:50 Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT): Why do we have a system today? Where you all are setting, I'll just say very, very high list prices, which is the starting point for negotiation. Why? Olivier Brandicourt: Senator, we're trying to get formulary position. With those list prices. High list price, high rebates. It's a preferred position. Unfortunately the preferred position doesn't automatically ensure affordability at the end. Kenneth C. Frazier: Senator, If you bring a product to the market with a low list price in this system, you get punished financially and you get no uptake because everyone in the supply chain makes money as a result of a higher list price. Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for Change, Part III April 9, 2019 Senate Committee on Finance Witnesses: Steve Miller, MD, Former Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, Cigna Corporation Derica Rice, Former Executive Vice President and President, CVS Health and CVS Caremark William Fleming, Pharm.D., Segment President, Healthcare Services, Humana Inc. John Prince, Chief Executive Officer, OptumRx Mike Kolar, JD, Interim President & CEO, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Prime Therapeutics LLC Clips Sen. Ron Wyden (D - OR): Pharmaceutical Benefit Managers first showed up decades ago, back when prescription drugs were being utilized more extensively. The PBMs told the insurance companies, “we're the ones who know drug pricing, we will handle the negotiations for you.” But there is little evidence that the pharmaceutical benefit managers have actually held down the prices in a meaningful way. In fact, most of the evidence shows just the opposite. Pharmaceutical Benefit Managers actually make more money when they pick a higher price drug over a lower price drug. Colleagues, let's remember that all the way through this discussion, benefit managers make more money when they pick a higher price drug over a lower price drug. The logic on this isn't exactly complicated, graduate-level economics. PBM profits are based on taking their slice of the prescription-drug pie. More expensive drugs means there's a bigger pie. When there's a bigger pie, [there are] bigger slices for the pharmaceutical benefit managers. 50:24 Mike Kolar: Rebates and the role they play have been key areas of focus in the drug cost debate. In our view, rebates are a powerful tool to offset high prices, which are set by pharmaceutical companies, and pharmaceutical companies alone. The fact that rebates are not offered on many of the highest cost drugs, and that studies show no correlation between prices and rebates underscore that rebates are a key to mitigating rather than causing high drug prices. We pass rebates through fully to our plans, and we believe our plans should be able to choose how to apply these rebates in ways that best serve their members and market needs by balancing premiums and cost sharing. 56:05 Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): I'd like to talk about consolidation, including the recent integration of PBMs with insurance companies. Last year I wrote to the Justice Department on the issues, it reported that the three largest PBMs who are before us today now covers 71% of Medicaid, Medicare Part D enrollees and 86% of standalone Drug Plan enrollees. 57:45 Derica Rice: This is a highly competitive space. In addition to the three that you've pointed out here, CMS has noted there are over 60 PBMs across the US. Therefore, the competition, there's many options for the employers that are out there, government entities, as well as unions to choose from given their specific needs. 1:10:35 Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI): So when we look at Express Scripts has 100 million Americans covered, CVS 90 million, OptumRx 65 million, Prime Therapeutics 27 million, Humana 21 million, and yet Americans still pay the highest prices in the world. Even though you are negotiating for millions of people. The VA has its own pharmacy benefit manager service, they negotiate for 9 million veterans, and they pay, on average, 40% less for the same drugs that the rest of the healthcare system pays for. Despite greater volume, you are unable to secure these kinds of low prices. With all due respect, you guys are pretty bad negotiators. Given the fact that the VA can get 40% less. And so I'd like to know from each of you why that's the case. Dr. Miller? Steve Miller [Former EVP and Chief Clinical Officer, Cigna Corporation]: Yes. Part of the equation is giving patients choice. At the VA, they actually limit their formulary more than any of us at this table do. So oftentimes, they'll have one beta blocker, one ace inhibitor. And so if it's going to get to that level of choice, then we could get better prices also. Sen. Stabenow: Let me jump in, in the interest of time. I know you create nationwide drug formularies, you have pre-authorization, you give preferred status to certain medications. So you don't use any of those tools that the VA is using? Because you do. Steve Miller: We definitely use those tools, but we also give people choice. It's crucial for both physicians and patients to have the choice of the products they want to be able to access. Many of our plans want us to have broad formularies and when you have more products, it means you move less market share. Sen. Stabenow: So basically you're saying a 40% premium gives them more choice. 1:24:30 Sherrod Brown (D-OH): If the administration's rebate rule were finalized as proposed, would you in some way be required to change the way you do business? Mike Kolar: Yes, Senator we would. John Prince: Yes. William Fleming: Yes. Derica Rice: Yes. Steve Miller: Yes. Sen. Brown: Thank you. 1:25:05 Sherrod Brown (D-OH): What percentage of prescriptions that you fill across Part D actually receive a rebate? Roughly what percentage? Mike Kolar: So Senator, approximately 8% of the prescriptions that we cover in Part D are associated with a rebate. Sen. Brown: Okay, Mr. Prince? John Prince: Senator, I don't know the exact number, I know our overall business is about 7%. Sen. Brown: Okay, thank you. William Fleming: About 7-8%. Derica Rice: Senator, I do not know the exact number but we pass through 100% of all rebates and discounts. Sen. Brown: [Grunt] Steve Miller: 90% of the prescriptions will be generic. Of the 10% that are branded, about two-thirds have rebates. So it's about seven-- Sen. Brown: 7-8% like the others. Okay. To recap, PBMs do not set drug prices. Forcing you to change the way you do business -- as the administration's rule would — will not change that fact. And while the rule might impact a small percentage of drugs and Part D that receive a rebate, it does nothing to lower costs, as your answer suggests, for the other 90% of prescriptions you fill. Most importantly, absolutely nothing in the proposed rule would require Secretary Azar's former employer or any other pharma company to lower the price of insulin or any other drug. It's important to establish that, so thank you for that. 1:41:40 Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV): Let me ask you, Dr. Fleming, in your testimony, you say Humana's analysis of the rebate rule -- and we're talking about the administration's rebate rule now — found that approximately 17% of beneficiaries will see savings at the pharmacy counter as a result of this rule. Can you tell me a little bit more about who these people are? And what kind of conditions do they have? William Fleming: Senator, there will be a number of members who are taking brand drugs for which we get rebates and so it could vary all the way from the common chronic conditions, things like diabetes or hypertension or high cholesterol, all the way over to occasionally, not usually, but occasionally on the specialty drug side. When you think of some medications like treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, places where there's competition. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

Joe Biden is currently on his first trip to the Middle East as President, which will include a controversial meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah”, but with gas prices punishing American consumers, and Russia and China court Riyadh, Biden's tone and policy toward the Kingdom has rapidly evolved. Council on Foreign Relations' Martin Indyk and Democracy for the Arab World Now's Sarah Leah Whitson join Deep Dish to discuss the human rights, energy, and geopolitical dimensions of the US–Saudi relationship.  Like the show? Leave us a rating and review wherever you get your podcasts. Reading List: The Case for a New U.S.-Saudi Strategic Compact, Steven A. Cook and Martin S. Indyk, Council on Foreign Relations, June 2022  America's Middle East ‘Withdrawal' Breathes Its Last Breath, Sarah Leah Whitson, The American Prospect, June 24, 2022 

In Robert Kuttner's new book, “Going Big: FDR's Legacy, Biden's New Deal, and the Struggle to Save Democracy,” he explains how we got to our present political inflection point, how high the stakes are, and what comes next. Kuttner — who co-founded the Economic Policy Institute as well as The American Prospect — joins Jon Schwarz to discuss.https://join.theintercept.com/donate/now See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A quick note at the top of the episode here. What follows is a quick addendum to our episode with Dr. Kristen Mark where we discussed sex education. Dylan wrote an article on his blog where he elaborated on false polarization on the topic of sex education. So we got on a call and chatted about that topic for a few minutes. This addendum was recorded after the episode on attitudes about abortion, but before the Supreme Court decision was made official. So STAY TUNED for our second episode about how mental health is linked to abortion and lack of abortion access, which should be dropping in the next few days. Dylan's article about Sex Education. False polarization happens when we exaggerate or overestimate the differences between political groups. This can lead to further polarization and animosity. We don't want this! Dems vs Republicans, libs vs cons, voters vs party, party vs politicians There is bipartisan support for not just sex education, but across the board, there is bipartisan support for a wide variety of policies and political beliefs. As one article from the American Prospect puts it, “Most Americans are Liberal, even if they don't know it”

This week, bipartisanship emerged in the Senate, where 14 Republicans voted with Democrats to move forward with a gun safety bill. What should we make of this latest effort? Guest host Kimberly Atkins Stohr talks gun politics with David Dayen, executive editor at The American Prospect, on the left; and Sarah Isgur, staff writer and host for The Dispatch, on the right. Republican election officials appeared before the House Select Committee investigating January 6 to detail how they stood up to former President Trump. How worried should Americans be about our next elections? Special guest Rick Hasen, UC Irvine professor of law and political science, joins to answer that question. Plus, the legal case of “Happy” the elephant could have far-reaching implications for animal rights.

Emma hosts Alex Sammon, staff writer at the American Prospect, to discuss his recent article "The RNC's Ground Game of Inches." Then, Emma is joined by Joe Eskenazi, editor and columnist at Mission Local, to discuss San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin's recall last night. First, Emma covers the continued kabuki theater around gun control as Schumer now shifts to a smaller deal, Matthew McConaughey speaking on the Uvalde tragedy before staging a photo op with Henry Cuellar, and touch on the recall of Chesa Boudin. Then, she's joined by Alex Sammon as they dive into his coverage of the RNC's mass investment in community centers as they begin to gun for very specific impoverished communities, first discussing the complete runaround that Sammon saw as organizers and facilitators refused to return calls or discuss the centers, forcing him to attend in person. This gave him an intimate view of these centers, which have been cropping up across the US since the GOP's realization that they actually are not THAT far behind in polling with communities of color, and that just bringing around certain communities in certain states can have massive dividends, as they shift to a grassroots movement that is reminiscent of left-wing organizing that focuses on meeting community needs. Sammon then dives specifically into his experiences at the community center in Robeson, North Carolina, a historically blue district in a supposedly blue state, and how the GOP took advantage of growing racial tensions between Native and Black populations alongside an economic collapse in the wake of the NAFTA replacement, as he explores the complete swap between organizing tactics of the GOP and Democrats, as the former shifts to a ground game, with these community centers offering daily programming with a clear association to the right, whereas democrats have chosen to go after airplay in districts where myriad people have no internet access. They wrap up their discussion by touching on what this says about the complete failures of Democratic messaging under Biden. Next, Emma is joined by Joe Eskenazi in reaction to the successful recall of Chesa Boudin, San Francisco's reform-focused DA, and the complete lack of surprise around the result. Next, he looks to flesh out the dynamics that were working behind the scenes, with the wealthier enclaves of the city, alongside real estate investment and a big SF PAC, and why, no matter how important it is, following the money is not a tangible electoral tactic, just as confronting emotions with statistics (e.g. no, SF does NOT have a crime wave) is unsuccessful when the wealthy constituency believes to the heart in the antisocial behavior of the poorer communities. They wrap up the interview by diving deeper into Boudin's relationship (or lack thereof) with the SFPD, walking through the obvious refusal to work (whether a work stoppage, underperformance, or both) for his office, why this is so common in relationships between Police forces and their governing officials,  how Mayor London Breed took advantage of this and used Boudin as her scapegoat, and what the conversation around San Franciscan politics should look like moving forwards. And in the Fun Half: Emma takes a very quick call with Justin from Ohio on why in the world Democrats try to appeal to the need for strong opponents, the absurdity (and obvious homophobia) of going from “parents' rights” to making it illegal for a parent to bring a child to a drag show, and Steve Scalise discusses the total lack of regulation around planes (must've never flown in one). Chris Coons comes to Joe Biden's defense for bolstering his allyship with MBS, Charlie from NJ discusses the “what if it was YOUR [daughter, child, wife, sister, Black friend]” talking point making its way into the gun control debate, and Tulsi Gabbard takes on the most pressing issues in American politics: Hunter Biden's sex scandals and her social media following. The Queen of England appears more lifelike than ever, and Steph from NY proposes a waterworks public project, plus, your calls and IMs!   Check out Alex's piece here: https://prospect.org/politics/rncs-ground-game-of-inches-convert-minorities-into-republicans/ Check out Joe's work at Mission Local here: https://missionlocal.org/author/joee/ Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the AMQuickie newsletter here:  https://madmimi.com/signups/170390/join Join the Majority Report Discord! http://majoritydiscord.com/ Get all your MR merch at our store: https://shop.majorityreportradio.com/ Check out today's sponsors: Established Titles: Get an amazing gift for your dad this Father's Day! Go to https://establishedtitles.com/majority and get 10% off today. StartMail: Free email services like Gmail and Yahoo aren't really free. You pay with your privacy! Internet giants exploit your data by selling it to the highest bidder. But with StartMail, you can feel safe again. StartMail keeps your email private – every email can be encrypted, even if the recipient doesn't use encryption. Start securing your email privacy with StartMail. Sign up today and you'll get 50% off your first year! Go to https://www.startmail.com/en/majority/?pk_campaign=majority&pk_source=podcast. 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How did abortion rights become a battlefront in the culture wars?Felicia Kornbluh has been a participant observer in the fight for reproductive justice. Kornbluh is a professor of history and of gender, sexuality and women's studies at The University of Vermont. She is also chair of the board of the Planned Parenthood of Vermont Action Fund. Kornbluh's work to advance reproductive justice carries on the tradition of her mother, an attorney and who was a key player legalizing abortion in New York in 1970. Kornbluh chronicles her mother's activism journey in a forthcoming book, “A Woman's Life Is a Human Life: My Mother, Our Neighbor, and the Journey from Reproductive Rights to Reproductive Justice in New York and the Nation.”The day after Politico leaked the Supreme Court draft opinion with the bombshell news that Roe v. Wade would likely be overturned, Kornbluh wrote an article for the American Prospect titled “Advice to Progressive Menfolk.” Kornbluh began her piece with the admonition, “Don't you dare be surprised.”Speaking of the forces that have aligned to make abortion illegal, Kornbluh told the Vermont Conversation, “This is a crowd of people who really just aren't that happy with the 20th century. … They want to incapacitate the federal government. They don't want to engage in federal taxation that takes money away from some people and gives it to other people. Those were 19th century legal ideas. I think that's very, very dangerous.”As abortion rights hang precariously in the balance, Kornbluh sees an opportunity. “I don't want to sugarcoat the situation that we're in right now, but I'm optimistic in two ways,” she said. “One is that in the 1960s and 1970s, it was not easy to win abortion rights or other reproductive rights. It was a very hard fight, but it was an effective fight. And I think every time we look at a really ambitious social movement in American history, we see that the organizing really works. When people come together from diverse backgrounds, and they give it everything they got, they win.”