Podcasts about uaw president shawn fain

UnityPoint-Meriter nurses and their supporters rally for a fair contract and promise to strike if hospital management doesn't come through in bargaining, Labor Radio speaks to folks marching at Madison's version of the national Hands Off rally, a local worker wins a wage theft case but the company has yet to pay up, UAW President Shawn Fain address the union and the world about support for Trump's tariffs, the president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and staff union speaks on a recent resolution of the UW Faculty Senate condemning the UW administration's violent response to pro-Palestinian protests last year and on the union response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the NLRB comes to a decision on the size of the Group Health Cooperative voting unit and sets an early May date on the union election.

Supreme Court greenlights Trump's mass deportations under Alien Enemies Act: A fascistic attack on democratic rights / As layoffs hit Stellantis plants and parts suppliers, UAW President Shawn Fain defends Trump trade war policies / Trump's Homeland Security Department revokes temporary protected status for tens of thousands of immigrants

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Shoot us a Text.Episode #1002: Today's show dives into Trump's game-changing 25% auto tariff and what it means for car prices, Hyundai's massive new EV plant in Georgia and OpenAI's latest AI breakthrough in image and text generation.Show Notes with links:President Trump has officially imposed a 25% tariff on vehicles built outside the U.S., effective April 3. The move is set to rattle the global auto supply chain and could result in major price hikes for consumers.The tariff increases from a 2.5% base to 25%, covering vehicles and some auto parts like engines and transmissions.Parts meeting the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) rules will get a temporary reprieve until the Commerce Department sets new regulations.Aaron Bragman of Cars.com said that 50% of all cars are imported from outside the US and encouraged potential buyers to act soon as prices could rise from $3K - $12K “If you need a new car, go get one as soon as you possibly can—lock in a price—because those prices might be going up very soon.”Manufacturers may shift production and pass higher costs to consumers and dealers, while retaliatory tariffs loom from other nations.UAW President Shawn Fain called it a victory for autoworkers, saying “Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals.”Hyundai has officially opened its state-of-the-art EV plant in Georgia, marking a historic $7.6 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing. The facility will produce Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis electric vehicles, including the much-anticipated IONIQ 9.Hyundai's project is Georgia's largest economic development investment ever, expected to create 8,500 direct jobs and over 58,000 total jobs.The 2025 IONIQ 5 was the first model built at the plant, with the three-row IONIQ 9 set to debut this spring.Hyundai recently announced a $21B investment in U.S. production, including $9B for EV expansion and $6B for a new steel plant in Louisiana.Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Euisun Chung said, “Together with the talented workforce at HMGMA, we are building the future of mobility with America, in America.”OpenAI is rolling out built-in image generation within ChatGPT, marking a big leap in AI-powered creativity. Dubbed “Images in ChatGPT”, this feature is available starting today across multiple user tiers.Users can now generate images directly within ChatGPT using GPT-4o's “omnimodal” technology.New enhancements improve “binding”, meaning the AI better understands object relationships and attributes—avoiding mix-ups like miscolored shapes.Unlike past models that produced garbled, misspelled words, GPT-4o can now render clean, legible text in images.The AI now accurately follows detailed text-based prompts, even replicating whiteboard notes and comic strip text.Research lead Gabriel Goh calls it a “step change above previous models”, with improved precision in rendering complex promptHosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

Greg Brady and the panel of: Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Former Liberal MP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Bryan Passifiume, National politics reporter for the Toronto Sun Discuss: 1-Can anything come from the Ford/Leblanc meetings? I don't think it's a waste of time, but I'm skeptical we get much here. 2. We've talked about the UAW President Shawn Fain - when he goes from being very against Trump and now is FOR tariffs - do you see his POV? He wants American cars made in America. Don't we want Canadian things made in Canada also? 3. Mark Carney - a lot of people noted he avoided media during the Leadership run….he still is. Does this change? I think this is rather unique - and isn't just about a frontrunner campaign. What do you say? 4. Does this new regulation change how often people are going to go to the USA. People don't terribly like getting fingerprinted! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Brady and the panel of: Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Former Liberal MP and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Bryan Passifiume, National politics reporter for the Toronto Sun Discuss: 1-Can anything come from the Ford/Leblanc meetings? I don't think it's a waste of time, but I'm skeptical we get much here. 2. We've talked about the UAW President Shawn Fain - when he goes from being very against Trump and now is FOR tariffs - do you see his POV? He wants American cars made in America. Don't we want Canadian things made in Canada also? 3. Mark Carney - a lot of people noted he avoided media during the Leadership run….he still is. Does this change? I think this is rather unique - and isn't just about a frontrunner campaign. What do you say? 4. Does this new regulation change how often people are going to go to the USA. People don't terribly like getting fingerprinted! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luigi Mangione featured in Rolling Stone, Menendez Bros bad news, Britney Spears fire-starter, Wendy Williams feet, Donald Trump's Tesla pitch, Le'Veon Bell incest trial, Monkeemobile Mel in the wild, and Corey Feldman loves adjectives. Rosie O'Donnell left the country and nobody noticed. Good riddance. The Menendez Brothers have hit a snag in court. Scott Peterson got beat up in prison over pickleball. Wendy Williams is fighting back against her conservators. Wendy's feet will haunt your dreams. Give her your money now. Britney Spears is going nuts on Instagram again. Zen Feldman has Jim and Them listeners emailing the show. Corey Feldman is in la la land. Give him your money now. Karen Read is about to be all over the news again. Turtleboy is on the case again. The Stock Market (including Tesla) is taking a hit. Donald Trump bought a Tesla. UAW President Shawn Fain supports tariffs. Monkeemobile Mel weighs in on tariffs affecting the lumber business. Le'Veon Bell has to pay up for allegedly raping his own cousin. Make sure you watch his next fight. We revisit the Jerry Sandusky and R. Kelly interviews. High School Track attack! Luigi Mangione was featured in a long piece in Rolling Stone Magazine. “With Love, Meghan” sucks but is still getting renewed by Netflix. Thomas Markle pops off on Meghan. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are totally getting it on again. YOU can pay $12,500 to be Gene Simmons roadie for a day. Gisele Bündchen is showing off her body to make Tom Brady jealous. Kristin Cavallari is the worst and is again complaining about Jay Cutler. If you'd like to help support the show… consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (The Drew Lane Show, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels, Jim Bentley and BranDon).

Shoot us a Text.Welcome to December as we talk about controversial Stellantis CEO, Carlos Tavares' abrupt ending. We also talk about a huge partnership between BYD and Apple, as well as Hyundai's venture into performance. Show Notes with links:Carlos Tavares has unexpectedly stepped down as Stellantis CEO following escalating tensions with the board over sales declines and stock performance. The leadership change highlights the automaker's ongoing struggles in key markets like North America.Tavares, known for his cost-cutting expertise, clashed with the board over strategic priorities for addressing sales slumps and rising inventories.The board named Chairman John Elkann to head an interim leadership committee while a new CEO is sought, expected by mid-2025.Stellantis shares have dropped 38% in the past year, with North American sales down 17% while models like the Ram 1500 and Jeep Wagoneer have an average of 112 days supply.Dealers and stakeholders criticized Tavares for his approach, with Detroit dealer Jeff Laethem remarking, “It couldn't get worse,” as inventory challenges grew.UAW President Shawn Fain added, “He's leaving behind a mess of painful layoffs and overpriced vehicles sitting on dealership lots.”BYD, Tesla's fiercest EV competitor, has become a crucial partner in Apple's supply chain, assembling over 30% of Apple's iPads and expanding its role in producing cutting-edge components like titanium frames for the iPhone Pro.BYD employs approximately 100,000 people and 10,000 engineers dedicated to Apple's supply chain, locally dubbed the "fruit chain," showcasing its significant integration into Apple's ecosystem.BYD has facilitated Apple's push to diversify beyond China by establishing production capabilities in Vietnam and India, setting the stage for a broader global supply network.Tim Cook, during his third visit to China this year, highlighted BYD as one of the suppliers “pushing the boundaries of what's possible,” cementing BYD's role as an innovation leader.BYD is venturing into AI-powered robots for factories in collaboration with Nvidia. Executive Wang Haoyu stated, “We're raising many fish in a pool... when a fish matures, we can scoop it out,” underscoring their exploratory and adaptive business model.Hyundai redefines EV fun with the 2025 Ioniq 5 N. By combining performance, quirky features, and a nostalgic twist, this SUV bridges the gap between electric efficiency and driving exhilaration.Powered by 641 HP and 545 lb-ft of torque, it nearly triples the horses and doubles the torque that the standard Ioniq 5 gets.Boasts drift modes, launch control, and specialized race-ready settings.Features “N e-shift” and “N Active Sound Plus” for fake but fun ICE sensations.Engineers balanced performance with durability for track and road use.“It's bringing that sense of connection to driving and engagement to EVs […] it's just back to what makes driving funHosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

This is the full 10-13-2024 episode of the Labor Express Radio program.  The ILA (The International Longshoremen's Association) wins their 3-day strike and a 62% wage increase!  UAW President Shawn Fain speaks to the CTU (Chicago Teachers Union). Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only labor news and current affairs radio program. News for working people, by working people. Labor Express Radio airs every Sunday at 8:00 PM on WLPN in Chicago, 105.5 FM. For more information, see our Facebook page...   laborexpress.org and our homepage on Archive.org at: http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressRadio Labor Express is a member of the Labor Radio / Podcast Network, Working People's Voices – Broadcasting Worldwide 24 Hours A Day. laborradionetwork.org  #laborradionetwork  #LaborRadioPod  #1u  #UnionStrong 

UAW President Shawn Fain got a coveted spot speaking opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to share his message of fighting against corporate greed. With one million active and retired members, Democrats are hoping the UAW will help get out the vote for a Harris-Walz ticket. Organized labor's role in the election isn't just to bring people together, but get them to work with each other, Fain told Niala Boodhoo on stage at an Axios House DNC event this week. Fain talks about worker dignity and UAW's role in the upcoming presidential election in a special podcast live from the DNC. Guests: Shawn Fain, UAW President. Credits: 1 big thing is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, and Jay Cowit. Music is composed by Alex Sugiura and Jay Cowit. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can send questions, comments and story ideas as a text or voice memo to Niala at 202-918-4893. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 Democratic National Convention is underway in Chicago. CNBC's Megan Cassella breaks down the first night's key moments, including speeches from President Biden and UAW President Shawn Fain. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) discusses Vice President Harris' economic agenda including her proposal to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. Meanwhile, the U.S. Open kicks off in just under a week; USTA CEO Lew Sherr previews the action and underscores the rising fandom of tennis in recent years. Plus, Boeing has halted testing of its 777X aircraft after a production snag, and California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed 10 new bills into law, aiming to combat retail crime. Megan Cassella - 04:10Gabrielle Fonrouge - 12:04Rep. Hakeem Jeffries - 18:02Lew Sherr - 31:20 In this episode:Megan Cassella, @mmcassellaGabrielle Fonrouge, @FonrougeGabHakeem Jeffries, @RepJeffriesBecky Quick,@BeckyQuickJoe Kernen, @JoeSquawkCameron Costa, @CameronCostaNY

UAW President Shawn Fain did not disappoint. In his DNC speech, he came out hard on Donald Trump as a scab and made it clear that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Tim Walz walked the picket line with the union. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletter Purchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make America Utopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And Be Fit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of an Afro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

On today's program Ralph welcomes Kshama Sawant—teacher, activist, organizer, socialist, and former Seattle City Council Member— to talk about the labor movement, her organization Workers Strike Back, and how she achieved so many victories for Seattle's working people. Then, Ralph welcomes the Washington Post's Marc Fisher to discuss his reporting on the "return to office" issue. Kshama Sawant is a teacher, activist, organizer, and socialist. Ms. Sawant helped organize demonstrations for marriage equality, participated in the movement to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was a visible presence in the Occupy Movement. She served in Seattle's City Council from 2014 to 2023— defeating a 16-year incumbent Democrat to become the first socialist elected in a major US city in decades. She has taught at Seattle Central Community College, Seattle University, and the University of Washington Tacoma—and she has been an activist in her union, the American Federation of Teachers Local 1789, fighting against budget cuts and tuition hikes. She is co-founder of Workers Strike Back and the host of their news and analysis broadcast On Strike.It should be extremely energizing for anybody on the Left who wants to aim to provide leadership that we actually have a historic shift going on in American working-class consciousness, where there is a willingness to fight back— a real hunger for strategy. I would say that what's overwhelmingly clear to me as somebody who's been a socialist, a Marxist, and an activist for well over a decade, is that what working people are parched for is real leadership that can actually garner the kind of victories that ordinary people are looking for.Kshama SawantBusiness unionism is this idea that the role of the labor leader is to negotiate—to make peace between the bosses and the workers. It's completely wrong. It's exactly the opposite. The role of labor leadership is to organize a fight by mobilizing rank-and-file members against the bosses, with the understanding that the interests of the bosses—the greed of the bosses—is diametrically opposed to the needs of workers. Kshama SawantIf we as working people want to win Medicare for all, we will need mass action— organized independent of the Democrats and Republicans. Kshama SawantMarc Fisher is an associate editor of the Washington Post, where he writes a column on Washington— the city, its suburbs, and the people— and issues of big-city America. For 37 years, Mr. Fisher worked as a reporter and editor across various news sections at the Post, most recently focusing on Donald Trump and major breaking-news events. He previously created and led the Metro staff's enterprise reporting group, spent a decade as local columnist and blogger, served as the paper's special reports editor, wrote about politics and culture for the Style section, worked as Central Europe bureau chief on the Post's Foreign staff, and covered D.C. schools and D.C. politics for the Metro section.Most people who work with their hands are carrying on as they always did. But since COVID, we've seen that offices have emptied out in downtowns across the country. And Washington is particularly hard hit because 15-20% of the workers work for the federal or city governments. So there's been this emptying… out of downtown Washington, which has had an enormous impact on the economy. So this is a multi-level issue and problem. And yet for many— if not most—workers, they don't see it as a problem. They see it as a benefit. Marc FisherIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 8/14/241. A shocking report from the Libertarian magazine Reason exposes “Operation Rolling Thunder,” an annual “five-day law enforcement blitz,” in which 11 different agencies – ranging from local police departments to the federal Department of Homeland Security – collude to confiscate as much cash as possible on a “20-mile stretch of freeway between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.” This piece details how officers will fabricate flimsy reasons for pulling drivers over, including “Lighting a cigarette…smelling like cologne, avoiding eye contact, being ‘preoccupied looking for the [car] rental agreement,' and having a cluttered vehicle that appeared to be ‘lived in.'” In 2022, these agencies seized “$194,000 per day or more than $8,000 per hour,” through civil asset forfeiture during this operation. Many of these drivers are never charged with so much as a traffic citation, yet are unable to recover any of their property stolen by the cops.2. Last week, Representative Cori Bush was ousted by an AIPAC-backed primary challenger. An article in Slate details how AIPAC rallied to push the Congresswoman, and fellow Black Lives Matter activist Rep. Jamaal Bowman, out of Congress – outspending both by a margin of 4-1. This piece paints their losses as the death knell of the “George Floyd Era…in Congress,” noting also that no major reforms were passed “Despite broad popular support for legislation to curtail police violence…[and] Democrats…controlling both the House and Senate in 2021 and 2022.” In her concession speech, the Hill reports Bush vowed in no uncertain terms, “AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down!” As for Bowman, rumors are now circulating that he will challenge Rep. Ritchie Torres – the “top recipient of AIPAC cash,” according to Track AIPAC – next cycle. Asked about this idea by journalist Ryan Grim, Minnesota Attorney General and former Congressman Keith Ellison said “That'd be a very good thing…I"ll put it like this, none of us own these seats.”3. In related news, a new report in the Intercept exposes the “… ‘Zionists for Don Samuels' WhatsApp Group Raising Big Money to Oust Ilhan Omar.” As this report notes this group contained at least one campaign staffer, Alex Minn – whom the campaign has since severed ties with – and major outside donors despite “Campaign finance laws prohibit[ing] coordination between candidates' campaigns and outside spending groups like super PACs.” One major donor in this group, wealthy entrepreneur Michael Sinensky, wrote “The bottom line is…we need to be supportive…of the alt right Christian Neo Nazis at the moment (like Ukraine) to fight off the socialist, Marxist, anarchists who are supporting radical Islam… Nazis are better than Islamic terrorists.”4. Last week, the Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan held a memorial for those killed in the atomic bombing of that city – and opted not to invite the Israeli ambassador “to avoid possible protests over Israel's war on Gaza,” per Al Jazeera. In response, US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel announced he would skip the event because this decision had “politicized” the event. The British ambassador to Japan also announced that she would boycott this event due to Israel's exclusion. According to the BBC, “In June, [Nagasaki Mayor Shiro] Suzuki said Nagasaki had sent a letter to the Israeli embassy calling for an ‘immediate ceasefire' in Gaza.”5. Journalist Jessica Burbank reports Palestinian American Actress Sarah Alami has called on SAG-AFTRA to “break their silence on [the] genocide in Gaza.” In a statement, Alami writes “Our union president has helped raise 60 million dollars to fund Israel's army,” and decries that many actors have “been put on Black lists in Hollywood for speaking out against a foreign government.” Alami also linked to SAG-AFTRA Members for Ceasefire, a group agitating for the Guild to take a principled stand against the genocide.6. On Monday, the leaders of France, Germany, and the U.K. issued a joint statement “calling for the immediate resumption of [ceasefire] negotiations,” stressing that “there can be no further delay…the fighting must end now...the people of Gaza need urgent and unfettered delivery and distribution of aid.” In this statement, President Macron, Chancellor Sholz, and Prime Minister Starmer also expressed that they are “deeply concerned by the heightened tensions in the region” and are “united in [their] commitment to de-escalation and regional stability,” ending this statement by writing “No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.7. Yet despite such strong words from our European allies, the Biden administration has instead taken measures sure to escalate tensions in the region. On August 9th, Zeteo reported that “The State Department…formally notified Congress of a direct sale of 6,500 joint direct action munitions (JDAM) to Israel.” This shipment, valued at $262 million, was “reportedly delayed in May, as it was…under review…[while the] U.S. sought to prevent Israeli forces from pursuing a major ground invasion in Rafah.” Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), said “It is hard to comprehend how the Biden administration can justify rewarding Israel with new weapons, despite Israel's persistent defiance of every single plea the Biden administration has made urging a modicum of restraint, and despite the very apparent fact that such sales violate black letter U.S. laws prohibiting weapons to gross abusers like Israel.” The very same day, Reuters reported that “The Biden administration…decided to lift a ban on U.S. sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia… reversing a three-year-old policy to pressure the kingdom to wind down the Yemen war.” This move is an unsubtle green-light for the Saudis to recommence their war on the Yemeni Houthis, who have had more success than anticipated in their naval campaign of blockading Israeli ports and attacking American naval vessels in the Red Sea.8. Much like the presidency of Lyndon Johnson, the Biden administration continues to pursue noble goals at home even while participating in human rights atrocities abroad. On Monday, More Perfect Union reported that “Banks, credit card companies, and more will be required to let customers talk to a human by pressing a single button under a new Biden administration proposed rule.” The pro-labor outlet goes on to say that this rule, coming from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “is part of a campaign to crack down on customer service ‘doom loops,'” and simultaneously “[the Federal Trade Commission] is…considering similar requirements for phone, broadband, and cable companies,” while “[The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor] are calling on health plan providers to make it easier to talk to a customer service agent.” Consumer advocates like Ralph Nader have long railed against the increasing difficulty of talking to real person when one calls corporate customer service lines.9. In more positive news, the UAW reports it has “filed federal labor charges against disgraced billionaires Donald Trump and Elon Musk for their illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.” This attempt to threaten and intimidate workers came during a conversation between Trump and Musk on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. Trump is quoted saying “I mean, I look at what you do…You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone.” UAW President Shawn Fain commented “When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean…Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It's disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”10. Finally, in an almost unbelievable story from the Miami Herald, “[Former President Donald] Trump flew to campaign events on Jeffrey Epstein's plane last weekend.” Apparently, this plane is now owned by a private plane chartering service, Threshold Aviation Group, and the Trump campaign “confirmed that a decal with the words ‘Trump 2024' was placed on Epstein's old plane for the trip.” As the Herald points out “Trump was in the same social circles as Epstein,” and records show he “flew on Epstein's planes six times from 1993 to 1997.”This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Shoot us a Text.Welcome to Wednesday as we are talking about the return of the Fain to the headlines in response to the Trump-Musk live conversation on X. We also talk about the tightening of the auto credit belt, as well as a shifting consumer sentiment to the use of ‘AI' in products. ​​The UAW has filed federal labor charges against former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, accusing them of implied threatening actions against striking workers.Trump suggested that employers could handle striking workers by simply firing them all. He described a scenario where, in response to a strike, the employer would tell the workers, "That's OK, you're all gone," implying that all striking workers would be dismissed.Musk, while not directly quoted in the charges, has a history of anti-union sentiments, further fueling the union's concerns.Under federal law, employees conducting lawful strikes for economic reasons, such as higher wages, can't be discharged by their employers.The charges aim to highlight the UAW's stance that Trump and Musk oppose workers' rights, and are unlikely to have any practical impact.UAW President Shawn Fain stated, "When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean."We love our daily email and today it highlighted some recent Cox Auto Data: Auto credit availability has been tightening for four consecutive months, creating challenges for dealers as customers find it increasingly difficult to secure loans, especially for used vehicles.The Dealertrack Credit Availability Index dropped to 92.9 in July, down 1.0% from June and 1.5% year-over-year, and used car loans through franchised dealers are seeing the most significant tightening.Banks are leading the way in tightening credit, marking the fifth consecutive month of stricter lending.The spread between these auto loan interest rates and other investments has widened, making loans less appealing to customers. Additionally, more buyers are dealing with negative equity, adding further risk for lenders.A recent study reveals that the term "artificial intelligence" in marketing is increasingly a red flag for consumers, suggesting a growing skepticism towards AI-powered products.The study surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults, finding that AI mentions lowered product appeal.Emotional trust drops significantly when AI is referenced, reducing purchase intentions.AI in high-risk purchases like electronics or medical devices exacerbates safety concerns.Forrester's December 2023 survey shows a split in consumer sentiment, with only 29% trusting GenAI and 73% demanding transparency when companies use AI.“When AI is mentioned, it tends to lower emotional trust, which in turn decreases purchase intentions,” said Mesut Cicek, lead author and clinical assistant professHosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

Federal labor charges have been filed against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk due to their livestream conversation about union rights. The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) claims that both individuals attempted to threaten and intimidate workers regarding strikes and union activities. During the discussion, Trump suggested firing employees who participate in strikes, contradicting federal protections under the National Labor Relations Act. The UAW's lawsuit argues that such threats violate employee rights. UAW President Shawn Fain criticized the actions of Trump and Musk, highlighting a disregard for workers' rights. Musk's recent layoffs at his companies, including after acquiring Twitter and terminating the Tesla Supercharger team, contributed to the scrutiny surrounding him.Learn more on this news visit us at: https://greyjournal.net/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tonight on The ReidOut, Joy Reid leads with a panicked Donald Trump trying to force his way back into the spotlight in the laziest way possible: with a work-from-home press conference after more than two weeks of being completely upstaged by the energy of the Harris campaign. Plus, as UAW President Shawn Fain meets with the Harris-Walz ticket, we will expose just how bad Trump's Project 2025 would be for working men and women in America. Listen now.

Shoot us a Text.We've got that little something extra to help you through your Friday, as we're talking about Rivian and Lucid's Q2 struggles (did someone say dealer network?), Tesla's Cybertruck struggles, Shawn Fain vs Donald Trump and a little fun to launch you into the weekend with some sock anecdotes.Rivian and Lucid continue to face significant financial challenges in Q2, despite receiving major investments. Both EV makers report substantial losses, raising concerns about their future sustainability amid competitive pressure from Tesla.Rivian lost $32,705 per vehicle delivered and reported a $1.46 billion net loss in Q2, a 21% increase from last year, despite a 9% rise in vehicle sales. Lucid lost a whopping $112,688 and posted a $790 million net loss in Q2,. Despite record sales of its Air sedan, the company's financial performance remains deeply concerning.Tesla's Cybertruck has been a subject of fascination and debate since its unveiling, with over 1 million reservations in the bag. However, the reality of converting those reservations into sales is proving to be more challenging.Tesla lowered the deposit requirement to $100, raising concerns about the seriousness of these reservations.The "Foundation Series" Cybertruck is currently being sold at $100,000, bundling all options together.Reports indicate Tesla is struggling to find buyers for these high-priced trucks, even reaching out to recent reservation holdersIn a heated exchange of words, UAW President Shawn Fain takes aim at Donald Trump, calling him a "scab" who "doesn't know sh*t about the auto industry." Meanwhile, Trump has seemingly shifted his stance on electric vehicles after Elon Musk's endorsement.UAW President Shawn Fain publicly denounced Trump at a speech in Detroit, calling him a “scab” and accusing him of being clueless about the auto industry. At a weekend rally, Trump admits he supports electric vehicles because “"I'm for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice," Trump also noted that he supports electric vehicles "for a small slice." He went on to add: "You want to have gas-propelled cars, you want to have hybrids, you want to have every kind of a car imaginable."A new YouGov survey reveals intriguing generational differences in sock preferences, particularly among Gen Z. Here's what the survey found about the sock choices of 5,015 U.S. adults:Ankle socks are the most popular overall, with 41% of Americans preferring them.No-show socks are favored by 15%, knee-high socks by 3%, with 5% of respondents prefer going sockless.Tall socks have a strong fan base among Gen Z, with 41% fHosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

Neil Aquino visits. UAW President Shawn Fain is out strong for the Harris/Walz ticket as he slams Trump. Fetterman gives a clinic on interviews to turn it on Trump. GOP budget is a handout to the rich. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletter Purchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make America Utopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And Be Fit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of an Afro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz are supporting organized labor during an appearance at a union hall near Detroit. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Walz addressed United Auto Workers (UAW) members, emphasizing their commitment to working people. After President Joe Biden endorsed Harris, labor organizations like the AFL-CIO and UAW also endorsed her. Harris and Walz focus on labor-friendly voters in key states like Wisconsin and Michigan to secure their support against Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance. UAW President Shawn Fain expressed confidence in Harris' ability to win Michigan and maintain the White House. In Detroit, Harris also dealt with interruptions from protesters opposing Israel's actions in Gaza, reaffirming her stance on democracy and free speech. Union members, like Jeanne Ruff, voiced their support for Harris, hoping for her to visit union shops in Michigan.Learn more on this news visit us at: https://greyjournal.net/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UAW President Shawn Fain is out strong for the Harris/Walz ticket as he slams Trump. They are trying to hide the Project 2025 book he wrote the forward to. Fetterman gives a clinic on interviews to turn it on Trump. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://politicsdoneright.com/newsletter Purchase our Books: As I See It: https://amzn.to/3XpvW5o How To Make America Utopia: https://amzn.to/3VKVFnG It's Worth It: https://amzn.to/3VFByXP Lose Weight And Be Fit Now: https://amzn.to/3xiQK3K Tribulations of an Afro-Latino Caribbean man: https://amzn.to/4c09rbE

On today's show, Ralph welcomes back Constitutional Law Expert Bruce Fein to dissect Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of Donald Trump's classified documents case in Florida. Then Ralph is joined by Haley Hinkle, Policy Counsel at Fairplay, to discuss their FTC complaint against the messaging app "NGL" and what their victory means for children's safety online. Finally, Ralph speaks with journalist John Nichols about the state of journalism in Gaza, as well as the state of the Democratic Party.Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law.  Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.I think that here, a little brief history speaks volumes of logic. The modern special prosecutor Ralph and I experienced directly during Watergate, it stemmed from the coverup of the Watergate burglars' funding by the Republican National Committee to try to save Richard Nixon. And when the Attorneys General John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst had been convicted of crimes, the vacancy was there, and Richard Nixon nominated his Secretary of Defense Elliot Richardson…[the Senate Judiciary Committee] insisted that they would never confirm Elliot Richardson unless he created the special prosecutor and appointed Archibald Cox. Because they could not trust the executive branch to investigate itself—that's the absence of separation of powers. You can't have the executive branch be a judge in its own case. So the purpose of the special prosecutor was to strengthen separation of powers by ending the absolute control that the President or Attorney General would have over prosecutorial decisions. Bruce FeinHaley Hinkle is policy counsel at Fairplay, where she advocates for laws and regulations that protect children and teens' autonomy and safety online. Ms. Hinkle has also worked on issues at the intersection of government surveillance technology and civil liberties. What we have seen over the last couple of decades of the Internet with these types of anonymous platforms that encourage either anonymous messaging within your peer group or within a specific geographic area…is that encouraging minors to talk about and to each other anonymously within a limited community always leads to really horrific cyberbullying outcomes. Because anonymity empowers people to say things they wouldn't normally say. Haley HinkleThe other piece [of our FTC complaint] is really trying to shift some responsibility onto tech itself for considering specific issues and harms and specific safeguards and tools that will help make kids and teens more safe, and help their parents understand that there are certain default protections in place. And that's why we've really been advocating for the Kids Online Safety Act to try to shift responsibility onto the platforms to consider specific harms in the duty of care…at the point of product design rather than trying to address these things after the fact.Haley HinkleJohn Nichols is a national affairs correspondent for the Nation, and associate editor of the Capital Times. He has written, co-written, or edited over a dozen books on topics ranging from histories of American socialism and the Democratic Party to analyses of US and global media systems. His latest, co-written with Senator Bernie Sanders, is the New York Times bestseller It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism.What has taken so long for international media in general to pay attention to the circumstance in Gaza? Not just talking about reporting from on the ground, but to give it the priority, to give it the seriousness that it has long deserved. For generations. And so this is part of a much deeper problem, part of a much deeper challenge. John NicholsThe last couple of months, I think, have caused media organizations to frankly feel a measure of shame for their failure to cover up to this point, their failure to take it seriously, and frankly their failure to fight to be in a position to give the coverage that's needed. So they're stepping up now. And it took way too long, but it is important. It is absolutely vital that they are saying what they're saying.John NicholsDemocrats should be thinking very, very seriously about whether they want to have an open convention or a closed convention. And frankly, if they go with a closed convention, if they stage-manage things and don't accept the dialogue—don't accept the discourse that frankly is necessary at this point, not just on the issues, but even on the question of the nomination itself—if they don't do that, I think the dangers are a) obvious and b) potentially profound.John NicholsOne of the reasons— in addition to his performance on the debate with Trump—so many leading Democrats asked [Biden] to step aside is because they saw the whole ticket crumbling all the way down to the local elections around the country. Not just Congress, but state legislatures, governorships, city councils just collapsing. And that's still a very great concern for them.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 7/16/24 1. Axios reports a bipartisan gang of Senators has reached a deal to ban stock trading by sitting lawmakers. This group, which includes Senators Jon Ossoff, Gary Peters, Jeff Merkley and Josh Hawley have agreed to a deal which would “immediately prohibit members of Congress from buying stocks and selling stocks 90 days after the bill is signed into law…ban member spouses and dependent children from trading stocks starting in March 2027..[and impose] Penalties for violating the law [totaling] either…the monthly salary of a lawmaker or 10% of the value of each asset they buy or sell.” This is the most promising iteration of the stock trading ban thus far. Action on this bill is expected later this month.  2. In Rafah, scenes of carnage abound. NBC reports the major southern Gaza city, once considered a “safe zone,” has become “an empty husk with almost every…building completely leveled.” NBC was given rare access to the city by Israeli forces as ceasefire negotiations ramped up last week; what they found were “Homes destroyed, buildings reduced to rubble and few signs of life other than sporadic gunfire. That's all there is to see now in...the city…that was once home to more than 1 million people.” NBC further reports that Israel is launching new military operations in northern Gaza.  3. In the UK, pro-Gaza independent MP and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, along with the other four pro-Gaza independent MPs recently elected, have penned a letter to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy reminding him of his and his Government's “obligations under international law,” with regard to the ICJ's ruling that Israel is engaging in “plausible genocide.” These MPs call on Lammy to “immediately suspend all provision of weapons and weapons systems to the Government Israel...Immediately restore and increase UK funding to UNRWA…Impose sanctions on individuals and entities inciting genocide against Palesinians...[and] Regonise the State of Palestine,” among other demands. Yet quite to the contrary, the Middle East Eye reports Lammy “will not withdraw [Britain's] objection to the…ICC…prosecutor's application for arrest warrants targeting…Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant,” despite campaign promises to do so.  4. POLITICO reports the Department of Justice is “planning to sue RealPage Inc., a software company used by landlords across the country… [accusing] the company of selling software that enables landlords to illegally share confidential pricing information in order to collude on setting rents.” This is the latest in an ongoing effort by the Biden administration to crack down on “rent gouging among corporate landlords.” The Biden administration has also signaled it intends to propose capping rent increases at 5% nationwide, per Axios.  5. Detroit-based journalist Phil Lewis reports “CNN [is] quietly disband[ing] its Race and Equality team.” This team was presented as evidence of a “significant, sustained commitment to ensure race coverage is a permanent part of [CNN's] journalism,” when it was announced in during the George Floyd protests in July 2020. A CNN spokesperson confirmed “For all intents and purposes, the team is not a team anymore.” This comes amid news that the cable news channel will “lay off 100 employees as it restructures its newsgathering operations.” 6. This week, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien addressed the Republican National Convention. He is the first Teamster ever to address the RNC. In this speech, O'Brien sought to praise Republicans whom he believes have stood up for labor and urged the GOP to stand up for American workers. In terms of specific policies, O'Brien called on the Republicans to reject the “economic terrorism” of companies exploiting labor and bankruptcy laws to bilk American workers and stressed the need for “corporate welfare reform,” paid for by individual taxpayers. O'Brien's speech has drawn much criticism from the Left. It remains to be seen whether it will sway the Republicans toward a more pro-labor agenda.  7. On the other end of the labor spectrum, UAW President Shawn Fain is sounding the alarm about President Biden's reelection. At the Netroots Nation conference in Baltimore last week, Fain said “We're speaking truth to those who need to hear it most and that's the Democrat Party.” He urged the party to not put “our heads in the sand and hide from reality — we tried that in 2016 and it didn't work,” per Bloomberg. UAW, which endorsed Biden in January, is reportedly weighing their options in light of the pressure on Biden to step aside. CNBC reports Fain met with the union's executive board last week to discuss next steps.  8. The American Prospect reports the DNC is seeking to do an end-run around a contested convention by having delegates vote early in a virtual roll call beginning as early as July 22nd. While this virtual roll call procedure had already been approved for the convention – on dubious grounds – the early voting is a new tactic the Biden team is deploying to stave off challenges to his nomination. This underhanded campaign is being met with push-back from delegates and House Democrats. The Prospect's Luke Goldstein reports “One [California] delegate told me: ‘I have the same feeling I did when I was campaigning in Michigan for Hillary in 2016; everyone is acting like we're winning but it really feels more like we're losing.'” Punchbowl News has published a letter being circulated among House Democrats expressing “serious concerns” about the early virtual roll call, arguing “It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats– from delegates, volunteers, grassroots organizers and donors to ordinary voters – at the worst possible time.”  9. In June, the FEC declared that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is eligible to receive federal matching funds for her campaign. Yet, Stein's campaign manager Jason Call reports “Congress robbed the fund and Treasury is refusing to pay us $270,000,” the campaign is rightfully owed. Call added “The Green Party takes no corporate money. We are following the rules. And the playground bullies are continuing to rig the system for the war machine and other corporate interests.”  10. Finally, in some positive news, Axios reports “Just 13% of workers in the U.S. are now earning less than $15 an hour; two years ago, that number was 31.9%, per new data from Oxfam.” The data also show “Even accounting for inflation — $15 an hour in 2024 has the same buying power as about $14 in 2022.” Yet even with these encouraging trends, Oxfam warns that wages are still too low. Senator Bernie Sanders has recently introduced a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2028.  This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard.   Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

In this episode, I am joined by someone who I greatly admire. He's not the flashiest leader. He doesn't make headlines every day, but in my opinion, he is a modern-day hero, and one of the brightest leaders in the labor movement. His name is Shawn Fain and he is the President of the United Auto Workers. The UAW, under Shawn's leadership, recently secured a historic contract with huge pay and benefit increases for workers at the Big Three automakers–GM, Ford and Stellantis. But the UAW did not stop there. Under Shawn's leadership, they have launched a massive new initiative to organize non-union auto plants in the South. And they have notched several more historic victories in recent months. In April, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee voted to join the union, becoming the first large nonunion auto plant in the South to do so. Weeks later, the union negotiated a new contract bringing significant pay and benefit improvements for its members at several North Carolina factories owned by Daimler Truck.The campaign hasn't been without its setbacks. Last month the UAW narrowly lost a unionization vote at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama following a concerted anti-union effort from corporate interests and the state's governor. Both the US and German governments are currently investigating Mercedes for the intimidation and harassment they inflicted on their own workers during the campaign.But just this week, UAW electric vehicle workers in Lordstown, Ohio reached a tentative agreement that will more than double their wages by the end of the contract.So I am very excited to talk about the success of the UAW and the resurgent labor movement with my guest, UAW President Shawn Fain.

Shoot us a Text.It's Tuesday, and we're talking about how Shawn Fain is under investigation, how a letter suggests Tesla would be better off with the dealer network, and how Apple is embracing AI.UAW President Shawn Fain is under investigation for alleged retaliation against other union leaders, raising significant concerns within the organization. Independent federal monitor Neil Barofsky is investigating claims from UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock, who alleges retaliation for her refusal to authorize certain expenditures. Fain also faces accusations of retaliating against Rich Boyer, leader of the union's Stellantis department.Fain took over Boyer's duties at the end of May. Complaints alleged that the change came because Boyer refused to engage in acts of financial misconduct to benefit others, according to the court filing.Barofsky's probe began in February, and has faced document turnover delays. Only 2,600 of approximately 116,000 relevant documents have been reviewed, with the DOJ alleging that “[the Union's position is] making it difficult, if not impossible, for the Monitor [Barofsky] to fulfill his mandate to remove fraud, corruption and illegality from within the UAW."”Fain's response, “Taking our union in a new direction means sometimes you have to rock the boat, and that upsets some people who want to keep the status quo.”Haig Partners has published an open letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, urging him to consider a strategic partnership with dealers to propel Tesla into its next growth phase. They argue that such a partnership could transform Tesla's market position and profitability.Haig argues for the Advantages of Dealer Partnership:Buying Experience: Dealers provide in-person interactions, trade-ins, financing, and insurance.Service Improvements: More service centers reduce wait times and increase convenience.Higher Margins: Dealers can offer added benefits, allowing for higher vehicle prices.Capital Efficiency: Dealer networks require no investment from Tesla, freeing up capital.Support for Self-Driving Tech: Dealers can help deploy and maintain Tesla's robotaxi fleet.Apple's WWDC keynote revealed major AI advancements for its devices, focusing on enhancing user experiences across various platforms.Apple Intelligence (AI): New personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, emphasizing security and on-device processing.Siri Upgrade: Deep integration with enhanced control and ChatGPT support for better query handling.AI in Apps: New features in Mail, Messages, Photos, and more, including email summarization and custom emojis.New Features in iOS 18: RCS support, scheduled texts, satellite SMS messaging, and more colorful Tapback options.Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

On today's program, Ralph welcomes two guests who have worked as civic advocates for more than fifty years—chemical engineer and environmentalist Barry Castleman, and solar energy advocate Ken Bossong. How do they maintain their civic stamina over more than five decades? That's what Ralph wants to know. Then, Ralph is joined by our resident international law expert Bruce Fein, to discuss breaking news from the International Criminal Court. Barry Castleman is a chemical engineer, environmentalist and researcher specializing in health issues. He is the author of Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects and has worked with public interest groups around the world over the past 50 years on the control of asbestos and chemical hazards. Mr. Castleman has been involved in rule-making on asbestos by numerous federal agencies as a consultant to the agencies and to environmental groups. He has testified as an expert witness in civil litigation in the US on the history of asbestos as a public health problem, and the reasons for failure to properly control asbestos hazards.I remember speaking to students at Johns Hopkins about 30 years ago about careers in international public health, and talking to them about how they should try and listen into themselves and think about what it is they'd really like to do, what they're really interested in, and try to follow that. Rather than following the money or auctioning themselves off to the highest bidder when they graduate from Hopkins.Barry CastlemanYou lose your innocence reading these corporate documents. They're unbelievable in terms of showing that all of these decisions about health and safety and environment are business decisions to the people who make them. And the wanton, reckless, willful disregard of public health is clear. So making these documents publicly available is an extraordinary public service.Barry CastlemanKen Bossong is the Executive Director of the Sun Day Campaign, a non-profit research and educational organization he founded in 1992 to aggressively promote sustainable energy technologies as cost-effective alternatives to nuclear power and fossil fuels. Mr. Bossong has advocated for solar energy and other renewable energy for more than 50 years, and he previously served as Director of the Critical Mass Energy Project at Public Citizen. Nearly 100% of all the new generating capacity in the United States in the month of March—which is the most recent month for which there are statistics—came from solar alone. There was none from coal. There was only one megawatt from natural gas. There was, I think, three megawatts from oil. And there was zero from nuclear. So the only resource that's growing and scaling up rapidly is solar. Coming in second place is wind. The fossil fuel technologies and nuclear power combined are producing very little.Ken BossongWhat keeps me going? Basically the bad guys. I am always ginned up by the challenge of confronting people who are doing things which I consider to be socially, environmentally irresponsible. And as you pointed out with the example of the oil companies, there's never been a shortage of people who are trying to do things that I think are damaging. Ken BossongBruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law.  Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.Although it doesn't really change a whole lot on the legal chessboard, the more countries that recognize a Palestinian statehood, the more pressure there will be on the United States to do something that acknowledges their right…The one other element that comes into play, however, is that there are various tribunals, jurisdictions that can be employed only by a state... So the more that we have international recognition of a Palestinian state, it then would have standing instead of South Africa to go to the International Court of Justice and say—we want a declaration that genocide is being committed against us by Israel. So there are small ways in which I think the greater the recognition, the greater the legal standing Palestine has as in at least some international body.Bruce FeinIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 5/22/241.  On May 20th, the International Criminal Court announced it would seek arrest warrants related to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. Bucking pressure from western governments, the ICC will pursue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges including “Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare…[and] Extermination…as a crime against humanity.” The Court also announced it would seek arrest warrants for Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for their alleged international offenses. The ICC's decision was met with indignation by Israel and its western allies, including President Joe Biden, who said “What's happening is not genocide,” per the Guardian. Mousa Abu Marzouk – the first chief of Hamas' politburo, and the head of Hamas' international relations – writes in Media Review Network “Hamas stands ready to appear before the ICC with witnesses and live testimony and bear the burden of any judicial finding against it or its members after a full and fair trial with rules of evidence; with examination and cross examination into [what] we have done or not over the many years of our leadership as a national liberation movement. Is Israel?”2. On May 19th, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed when his helicopter was forced to make a “hard landing” near the Iranian/Azerbaijan border. Many suspect Israeli involvement in this crash, largely due to Israel's history of assassinating Iranian officials. Israel however denies any involvement. The Middle East Monitor, relaying what Israeli officials told Channel 13, reports “The message Israel is sending to the countries of the world is that Tel Aviv has nothing to do with the incident.”3. Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog has sent a letter to dozens of congressional Democrats “accus[ing] lawmakers of aiding…Hamas…misrepresenting Israeli policy and…inappropriately trying to influence President…Biden,” per the Huffington Post. This letter – a response to moderate Democrats Jason Crow and Chris Deluzio's May 3rd letter alleging that Israel is breaking U.S. law – has rankled Democrats in Congress. One staffer told the Huffington Post that multiple parts of the letter “verg[ed] on offensive,” and another said “the tone of this letter is not reflective of the fact that the U.S. is the primary guarantor of Israel's security. An unaware reader would assume that Israel is the superpower in this relationship and the U.S. the recipient of aid.” Yet another aid put it this way, “Never before have we received such a harsh letter from the Israeli government. But then again, never before have we been so critical of their actions.”4. Independent investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein reports “The National Counterterrorism Center, created in the wake of 9/11 to combat al Qaeda, is now working overtime to find evidence of foreign funding of pro-Palestinian student protesters.” Klippenstein continues “The effort follows repeated calls by Congress for the federal government to investigate university protesters' purported links to Hamas, and coincides with a push by the FBI and homeland security bureaucracies to link the campus demonstrations to foreign actors. Tempting as it might be to laugh off the specter of foreign powers directing undergraduate protesters, evidence of this would provide the legal basis for the intelligence community to spy on Americans. Absent a foreign connection, the protests are constitutionally-protected speech.” Civil liberties advocates have long warned of the American anti-terrorism apparatus being weaponized against internal dissent. During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, the Trump administration infamously worked feverishly to cook up some connection between foreign governments and supposed domestic “antifa” leaders. The fact that the Biden administration is seeking to do the same speaks to just how enticing it is for the federal government to use trumped up terrorism accusations to silence legitimate protests.5. In a chilling new installment of the campus crackdown on pro-Palestine activity, POLITICO reports the California State University system has “placed Sonoma State campus President Mike Lee on leave… after he agreed to protesters' demands to involve them in university decision-making and pursue divestment from Israel.” In a statement, CSU Chancellor Mildred García derided president Lee for his “insubordination and the consequences it has brought upon the system.” The message is clear: any degree of violence in confronting the student protesters is acceptable, engaging with their demands is not.6. In more higher education news, the Harvard Graduate Student's Union – organized under the UAW – has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the university over their response to campus pro-Palestine protests, per Bloomberg labor reporter Josh Eidelson. “[The union is] claiming the school's retaliation violated students' right as employees to protest over workplace issues.” This charge will test the limits of workplace speech protections and we will be watching closely to see where the board lands.7. Last week, workers at two Alabama Mercedes-Benz plants voted against joining the United Autoworkers by a margin if 2,045 to 2,642, per 1819 News. UAW President Shawn Fain blamed the loss on union busting by the corporation, stating “Mercedes engaged in egregious illegal behavior. The federal government as well as the German government are currently investigating Mercedes for the intimidation and harassment they inflicted on their own workers. We intend to follow that process through…This is a David and Goliath fight. Sometimes Goliath wins a battle. But David wins the war.” Fain went on to say “Justice isn't about one vote or one campaign. It's about getting a voice, getting your fair share. And let's be clear: workers won serious gains in this campaign. They raised their wages, with the 'UAW bump.' They killed wage tiers. They got rid of a CEO who had no interest in improving conditions in the workplace. Mercedes is a better place to work thanks to this campaign, and thanks to these courageous workers.” Finally, Fain noted the similarities between this campaign and the previous attempts to unionize Volkswagen plants, stating “[Mercedes] told the workers to give the new CEO a chance. That's exactly what Volkswagen told its workers in 2019. And in 2024, Volkswagen workers realized it's not about a CEO. It's about a voice on the job, it's about getting our lives back, and getting our time back. The only path to do that is through a union contract.”8. CNN reports that on Tuesday May 14th, the Justice Department  “notified Boeing that it [had] breached [the] terms of its 2021 [deferred prosecution] agreement in which the company avoided criminal charges for two fatal 737 Max crashes.” This report goes on to say “Families of victims and lawyers representing them met with the Justice Department late last month to persuade the Biden administration to end the agreement in light of multiple safety lapses at Boeing this year and in past years after the 2021 agreement was reached.”  Following this meeting, attorney Paul Cassell said the deferred prosecution agreement was “rigged” and “pledged to hold Boeing accountable for its ‘fraud and misconduct.'” 9. On Monday May 20th, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange won the right to appeal his extradition to the United States. Per Democracy Now! “Assange's lawyers argued before the British High Court that the U.S. government provided ‘blatantly inadequate' assurances that Assange would have the same free speech protections as an American citizen if extradited from Britain. Assange…faces up to 175 years in prison for publishing classified documents exposing U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.” This is a major victory for Assange. Yet, as Chip Gibbons, policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent puts it “[Assange is] not out of Belmarsh [Prison] yet…This could still end in him being sent to the U.S. And the person who can stop this is Joe Biden.”10. Finally, according to Washington Post labor reporter Lauren Kaori Gurley, “[Over 400] physicians have filed to unionize with SEIU, in what they say would be the first doctor's union in Delaware and the Mid-Atlantic.” These physicians – employed by ChristianaCare, Delaware's largest private employer – have laid out a list of grievances they hope to address by organizing, including “patient safety concerns due to understaffing and inadequate resources…the erosion of the physician-led model of care...[and] the moral injury caused by the pressure to prioritize...profit over patient needs.” Gurley further highlighted that a key priority of this doctor's union is “combating excessive corporatization,” in healthcare.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard.  Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Shoot us a Text.We're coming in hot after an insane ASOTU CON as we dive into Carvana's recovery in 2023, the UAW's setback at a Mercedes plant, and how Gen Alpha kids are shaping their parents' buying decisions.Show Notes with links:Automotive News' second ever Used Only List reiterates that 2023 was a pivotal year for used-vehicle-only retailers, with CarMax still in front, Carvana recovering its position despite numerous challenges, and some other players falling off the board.CarMax tops the list again, selling 765,572 used vehicles, down 5.2% from the previous year.Carvana sold 312,847 used vehicles in 2023, down 24%, but focused on profitability.Vroom and Shift Technologies faced significant setbacks, with Shift filing for bankruptcy and Vroom winding down operations.DriveTime Automotive saw a 7.2% increase, selling 110,027 used vehicles.Sonic Automotive's EchoPark increased sales by 15%, selling 73,676 vehicles.Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia said, "We were not super well positioned to handle all of that change, nor were many of our peers."The UAW faced a significant setback as 56% of workers at the Mercedes plant in Alabama voted against unionization, marking a blow to the union's efforts to organize more Southern facilities.Over 90% of the factory's 5,000 eligible workers voted, with 56% opposing the union with Mercedes officials actively campaigning against unionization, presenting their plans to address employee concernsMercedes worker Melissa Howell said, "We have the company's ear, for the first time in a long time."Another worker, Rick Webster, said, "The No. 1 issue for me is a better work-life balance."The defeat is a major setback for UAW President Shawn Fain, who has revitalized the union with a combative approach.The UAW plans to continue its $40 million organization drive targeting various factories, including Hyundai and Toyota plants.UAW President Shawn Fain said, "While this loss stings, these workers keep their heads held high. We fight the good fight and continue forward."Gen Alpha, children aged 8 to 13, may not be the foremost generation on every brand's radar yet, but it's time retailers start thinking about them and their interests. Here are the numbers according to a new survey conducted by DKC's analytics group:95% of Gen Alpha parents learn about new products or brands from their child.49% of these parents' purchasing decisions are influenced by their child's opinion.About 90% of Gen Alpha children find ways to make money through chores, allowance, and online selling.91% of parents say their children love to shop, with 92% finding “interesting new products.”Top retailers for Gen Alpha kids include Walmart, Amazon, Target, Nike, GameStop, Five Below, Shein, Costco, Dollar Tree, and Sephora.Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

The Labor Notes Conference last month was chock full of almost 8,000 union troublemakers. A highlight was UAW President Shawn Fain and dozens of members who are rebuilding a more […] The post Reassessing the Legacy of Walter Reuther appeared first on KKFI.

This Day in Legal History:On May 6, 1882, a pivotal moment in U.S. immigration history occurred with the signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act by President Chester A. Arthur. This federal law marked the first and only time that the United States explicitly barred a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating to the country, specifically targeting Chinese laborers. The Act not only prevented Chinese workers from entering the U.S. but also prohibited them from becoming U.S. citizens, denying them the legal rights and protections afforded to citizens.The enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act was driven by widespread anti-Chinese sentiment in the Western U.S., where economic competition, racial prejudice, and cultural misunderstandings had stoked public and political pressure against Chinese immigrants. Labor movements, particularly on the Pacific Coast, rallied against Chinese laborers, who were often scapegoated for low wages and economic hardships experienced by white workers.Senator Joseph Hawley of Connecticut stood as a vocal opponent of the Act, predicting its harsh judgment by future generations. His prophetic criticism highlighted the injustice embedded in the legislation, foreseeing its negative historical assessment. Indeed, the Act was seen in hindsight as a significant breach of American ideals regarding immigration and equality.The Chinese Exclusion Act laid the groundwork for subsequent restrictive immigration policies. It was not until December 17, 1943, amid World War II and shifting geopolitical alliances, that the Magnuson Act was passed by Congress at the behest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion laws, albeit with limited Chinese immigration still imposed, and allowed Chinese residents in the U.S. to become naturalized citizens, signaling a slow transformation in American immigration policy towards inclusivity. Today, the Chinese Exclusion Act is often studied as a stark example of racially discriminatory legislation, reminding us of the ongoing journey toward broader civil rights and equality in America.The U.S. Labor Department has introduced a new rule to expand overtime protections, which is causing concern among employers about potential legal challenges similar to those experienced in 2016. Previously, an attempt to increase overtime eligibility was halted by federal courts just days before its implementation, causing confusion for businesses that had already adjusted pay and staffing. The current rule aims to increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility among "white collar" workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Starting July 1, employees making less than $43,888 annually will be eligible for overtime, expanding to less than $58,656 by January 1, capturing an additional 4 million workers.Employers face the choice of either raising salaries to maintain exemption or restructuring staffing to manage overtime costs. The new rule represents a significant increase from the current threshold of $35,568, with a projected economic impact including a $1.5 billion annual income shift from employers to workers. This change not only increases wages through overtime but also by encouraging salary raises to keep certain employees exempt. Despite the risk of legal setbacks, businesses are advised to prepare for the changes, assessing their economic and cultural impacts and making necessary adjustments. This rule is also expected to positively affect the workforce by potentially increasing hiring and converting part-time jobs to full-time positions.The substantial changes in salary thresholds affect millions of workers, making it a crucial legal and economic issue.Employers Mull OT Rule Compliance Strategy Despite Legal Déjà VuIn Massachusetts, the practice of using six-person juries in civil cases, initially a necessity during the pandemic, is finding continued favor among litigants, lawyers, and judges due to its efficiency. The state's Supreme Judicial Court had mandated smaller juries as a temporary measure but reverted to the standard twelve-person juries in January. Despite this, the legal community is less insistent on the larger jury size, recognizing the speed and cost-effectiveness of smaller juries, especially given the ongoing backlog of cases caused by court closures during the pandemic.Judges and attorneys have observed that smaller juries expedite the trial process, from jury selection to trial proceedings, as they reduce logistical complications like scheduling conflicts among jurors. For example, Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp noted his positive experiences with juries of six to eight members, highlighting their efficiency in managing cases. Additionally, the flexibility in jury size is seen as a tool to help clear the dockets and maintain the flow of judicial processes.While there is some concern about the potential impact of smaller juries on trial outcomes, with opinions varying depending on whether a party has the burden of proof, the consensus is that smaller juries do not inherently disadvantage either side. They also minimize the risk of a hung jury by reducing the number of jurors who might disagree. Nonetheless, the importance of preserving critical jury selection processes, like peremptory challenges and thorough voir dire, is emphasized to ensure that smaller juries remain fair and unbiased.Overall, the shift towards smaller juries is seen as a practical adaptation that balances judicial efficiency with the need for fairness in the legal process, suggesting that this practice may continue to be utilized to manage the caseload effectively while addressing the constraints of the judicial system.Massachusetts Judges, Trial Bar Embrace Six-Person JuriesBerkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate headed by Warren Buffett, faces significant legal challenges regarding its utility business, particularly with wildfires in Oregon. Greg Abel, recognized as Buffett's likely successor, stated during Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting that all litigation against the utility, specifically targeting PacifiCorp, is baseless and will be contested. This statement follows a recent lawsuit where 1,000 victims claimed $30 billion in damages, alleging PacifiCorp's responsibility for the 2020 Oregon wildfires. This comes in addition to $825 million already paid or owed by PacifiCorp for other related wildfire claims.Abel acknowledged that managing wildfire risks has been a substantial challenge, marking the first time such issues have caused considerable financial strain on one of Berkshire's utilities. Despite methods available to utilities to mitigate wildfire risks—such as insulating wires, managing vegetation, and burying transmission lines—the practice of shutting off power during high-risk scenarios was not initially adopted by PacifiCorp. Abel noted that the cultural focus at Berkshire's utility companies had been on maintaining power supply, especially to critical services like hospitals and fire stations, even during the wildfires.Recently, legislative actions in Utah have allowed utilities to impose surcharges to fund wildfire prevention and limit liability on certain claims, which Abel referred to as the "gold standard." Moving forward, Berkshire is adjusting its policies to shut off power proactively during wildfires and is investing cautiously in its utility operations to enhance their safety and reliability without unnecessary expenditure. Abel emphasized the importance of disciplined investment in this area, reflecting Buffett's philosophy of avoiding further loss by not investing additional resources unwisely.Berkshire executive calls wildfire claims against its utility business unfounded | ReutersThe United Auto Workers (UAW) successfully ratified a new labor agreement with Daimler Truck, continuing its recent series of successful negotiations that began with the Detroit Three automakers last fall. This progress in labor negotiations underscores a significant period of union activity aimed at expanding UAW's influence within the auto industry, especially targeting non-union U.S. factories primarily owned by foreign automakers.A significant milestone was achieved when workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant in Tennessee voted to join the UAW, an effort led by UAW President Shawn Fain to unionize American factories operated by overseas companies. This victory is part of a broader strategy to address worker conditions and wages across the industry, notably as the UAW sets its sights on upcoming union votes, such as the one at the Mercedes assembly plant in Alabama scheduled between May 13 and May 17.The timeline of UAW activities highlights aggressive organizing efforts and strategic negotiations over the past year, marked by notable wage increases across various companies and successful contract negotiations impacting around 150,000 U.S. workers. These efforts are part of a larger UAW campaign to enhance worker rights and compensation in the traditionally non-union sectors of the U.S. auto industry, signaling a potentially transformative period for labor relations in this sector.UAW workers ratify deal with Daimler as focus shifts to voting at Mercedes | Reuters Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Ralph welcomes back medical journalist and New York Times bestselling author, Jean Carper, to elaborate on her latest book, “100 LIFE OR DEATH FOODS: A Scientific Guide to Which Foods Prolong Life or Kill You Prematurely.” Plus, the latest news about Boeing and the UAW.Jean Carper is a medical journalist, and wrote “EatSmart” (a popular weekly column on nutrition, every week for USA Weekend Magazine)  from 1994 until 2008; she is still a contributing editor, writing health and nutrition articles. Ms. Carper is also a former CNN medical correspondent and director of the documentary Monster in the Mind. She is the best-selling author of 25 books, mostly on nutrition and health. Her latest book is 100 LIFE OR DEATH FOODS: A Scientific Guide to Which Foods Prolong Life or Kill You Prematurely.The reason I wrote the book was that I knew there is no other book like this. Nobody has taken a scientific look at all the studies that are being done on specific foods with conclusions as to how they are going to affect longevity. It is a totally new field. It really only started several years ago where scientists are getting interested in this. I thought of all the things that would be the most interesting about a food, and whether or not you wanted to eat it would be, “Oh, how long does it prolong my life? Or on the other hand, is it likely to shorten my life?”Jean CarperLess-developed countries with their natural food from over the history of their cultures are very often far superior [in longevity studies] to the so-called corporatized Western diet.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantis1. The International Criminal Court at the Hague is preparing to hand down indictments to Israeli officials for committing war crimes. The Guardian reports the indicted are expected to include authoritarian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, among others. These indictments will likely focus on Netanyahu's strategy of intentional starvation in Gaza. Yet, lest one think that the United States actually believes in the “rules based international order,” they have touted so frequently, the Biden administration will not allow these indictments to be effectuated, baselessly claiming that the ICC does not have jurisdiction in Israel. Democracy Now! reports State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told the press “Since this president has come into office, we have worked to reset our relationship with the ICC, and we are in contact with the court on a range of issues, including in connection to the court's important work on Darfur, on Ukraine, on Sudan, as well. But on this investigation, our position is clear: We continue to believe that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the Palestinian situation.” Former Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth – who has faced retribution for his past criticism of Israel – called this “the height of hypocrisy.”2. Even as the United States shields Israel from international legal consequences for its crimes, an internal state department memo indicates the American diplomatic corps is increasingly skeptical of the pariah state. Reuters reports “senior U.S. officials have advised Secretary of State Antony Blinken that they do not find ‘credible or reliable' Israel's assurances that it is using U.S.-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law.” This memo includes “eight examples of Israeli military actions that the officials said raise "serious questions" about potential violations of international humanitarian law…[including]  repeatedly striking protected sites and civilian infrastructure; "unconscionably high levels of civilian harm to military advantage"; taking little action to investigate violations or to hold to account those responsible for significant civilian harm and "killing humanitarian workers and journalists at an unprecedented rate."” The State Department however will only release a “complete assessment of credibility” in its May 8th report to Congress.3. On Tuesday, the Guardian reports, an army of NYPD officers – including hundreds of armed officers in riot gear and heavy vehicles such as police busses, MRAPs, and “the Bear,” a ladder truck used to breach upper story windows – stormed the campus of Columbia University and carried out mass arrests at the college's Hamilton Hall – which had been non-violently occupied by students and renamed Hind's Hall after Hind Rajab, a six-year old Palestinian girl murdered by the IDF. Hamilton Hall was among the buildings occupied by anti-Vietnam War Protesters during the Columbia Uprising of 1968. Mayor Eric Adams used as a pretext for this militarized police action a claim that the student protest had been “co-opted” by “outside agitators”; there has been no evidence presented to support this claim. The NYPD also threatened to arrest student journalists, and the Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb, per Samantha Gross of the Boston Globe, and videos show the cops arresting legal observers and medics. Columbia University President, the Anglo-Egyptian Baroness Minouche Shafik, has requested that the NYPD continue to occupy the Morningside Heights campus until May 17th.4. At the University of California Los Angeles, the New York Times reports “U.C.L.A. asked for officers after a clash between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters grew heated overnight.” This misleading report fails to clarify that, as Alejandra Caraballo of Harvard Law puts it “the police stood aside and let a pro Israeli lynch mob run wild at UCLA. They did nothing for two hours as violent Zionists assaulted students, launched fireworks into the encampment, and sprayed mace on students.” The accompanying videos must be seen to be believed. This is yet another glaring example of media manipulation on behalf of Zionist aggression against non-violent student protesters.5. In the nation's capital, a peaceful pro-Palestine encampment at the George Washington University continues to hold in the face of increasing pressure. The Washington Post reports that the university requested the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to clear the encampment last week, but the cops demurred. The Post article cites an unnamed D.C. official who “said they had flashbacks to June 2020, when images of mostly peaceful protesters being forcefully shoved out of Lafayette Square by U.S. Park Police officers with batons and chemical irritants made national news.” The university has issued temporary suspensions and did attempt to clear the encampment over the weekend, but failed to do so. Now however, congressional Republicans are heaping pressure upon the university and District of Columbia Mayor Bowser. According to the GW Hatchet, “[Representatives] Virginia Foxx and James Comer — who chair the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, respectively — wrote [in letter to Bowser and MPD Chief Pamela Smith] that they were “alarmed” by the Metropolitan Police Department's reported refusal to clear the encampment.” and threatened to take legislative action. Senator Tom Cotton, infamous for his New York Times op-ed calling for the deployment of the national guard to shut down Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, sent a letter to Bowser on Tuesday, writing “Whether it is due to incompetence or sympathy for the cause of these Hamas supporters, you are failing to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens by letting a terrorist-supporting mob take over a large area of a university…Your actions are a good reminder of why Washington, D.C. must never become a state.” So far, the District's leadership has exercised a rare and commendable restraint. One can only hope that continues.6. Looking beyond individual campuses, the Appeal reports over 1,400 students and staff have been arrested at “protest encampments or…sit-ins on more than 70 college campuses across 32 states during the past month.”  This piece followed up on these arrests by contacting prosecutors and city attorneys' offices in every one of these jurisdictions – and found that “only two offices said they would not charge people for peacefully protesting.” These were “ Sam Bregman, the prosecutor for Bernalillo County, New Mexico, [which] includes the University of New Mexico's Albuquerque campus….[and] Matthew Van Houten, the prosecutor overseeing Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.” Incredibly, this piece was published even before the recent mass arrests at Columbia and the City College of New York, which are estimated at nearly 300, per CNN.7. Bringing the civil war within the Democratic Party on this issue into full view, the College Democrats of America – the official student outreach arm of the DNC – has issued a statement commending the “heroic actions on the part of students...for an end to the war in Palestine…[and] for an immediate permanent ceasefire.” This statement goes on to say “Arresting, suspending, and evicting students without any due process is not only legally dubious but morally reprehensible,”  and excoriates the White House for taking “the mistaken route of a bear hug strategy for Netanyahu and a cold shoulder strategy for its own base,” noting that “Each day that Democrats fail to stand united for a permanent ceasefire…more and more youth find themselves disillusioned with the party.”8. Moving beyond Palestine, hard as that is, the American Prospect is out with a chilling new story on Boeing. This report documents how the late Boeing whistle-blower John “Swampy” Barnett – who died under deeply mysterious circumstances during his deposition against the aviation titan last month – was ignored, mocked, and harassed by his corporate overlords. When he tried to raise the alarm that Boeing's practices could be in violation of Section 38 of the United States Criminal code “The whole room…burst out laughing.” When he found planes riddled with defective and nonconforming parts and tried to report it, a supervisor emphatically declared “We're not going to report anything to the FAA.” Yet even more than Boeing's rancid corporate culture, this piece takes aim and corporate criminal law – specifically the Y2K era AIR 21 law which “effectively immunizes airplane manufacturers…from suffering any legal repercussions from the testimony of their own workers.” Per this law, “the exclusive legal remedy available to aviation industry whistleblowers who suffer retaliation for reporting safety violations involves filing a complaint within 90 days of the first instance of alleged retaliation with a secret court administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that lacks subpoena power, takes five years or longer to rule in many cases, and rules against whistleblowers an astounding 97 percent of the time, according to the Government Accountability Project.” No wonder Boeing acts as though they are above the law.9. The United Auto Workers union continues to rack up victories. On Tuesday, More Perfect Union reported “ Mercedes-Benz has abruptly replaced its U.S. CEO in an effort to undercut the union drive at Mercedes's plant in Alabama…In a video shown to workers…new CEO Federico Kochlowski admits that ‘many of you' want change and [promised] improvements.” As Jonah Furman, Communications Director for UAW, notes “Mercedes workers have already:-- killed two-tier wages-- gotten their UAW pay bump-- [and] fired their bossand they haven't even voted yet!If that's what you get for just *talking* union, imagine what you can win when you *join* the union.”Moreover, UAW President Shawn Fain issued a statement decrying the mass arrests of anti-war protesters, writing “The UAW will never support the...intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice…This war is wrong, and this response against students and academic workers, many of them UAW members, is wrong…if you can't take the outcry, stop supporting this war.”10. Finally, the New York Daily News's Chris Sommerfledt reports “[New York City's] largest cop union [the Police Benevolent Association] is suing Police Commissioner Ed Caban and Mayor Adams for implementing a new “zero tolerance” policy on NYPD officers using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs.” The fact that the PBA is suing this ardently pro-cop mayoral administration is alarming enough, but the fact that enough NYPD officers are using steroids to warrant this policy – and enough for the union to step in on their behalf – raises an even more alarming question: how many roid-rage fueled NYPD cops are terrorizing marginalized people on the streets of New York City? Perhaps this could explain some of the NYPD's outrageous, disproportionately violent behavior in recent years.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Ralph welcomes Professor Theodore Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security Policy at MIT. We discuss the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel/ Palestine and breakdown what the weaponry being used in both conflicts tells us about the intentions and capabilities of all parties involved. Plus, Ralph answers listener questions!Theodore Postol is Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Emeritus in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. His expertise is in nuclear weapon systems, including submarine warfare, applications of nuclear weapons, ballistic missile defense, and ballistic missiles more generally. He previously worked as an analyst at the Office of Technology Assessment and as a science and policy adviser to the chief of naval operations. In 2016, he received the Garwin Prize from the Federation of American Scientists for his work in assessing and critiquing the government's claims about missile defenses.We have a very complicated situation. In some ways, there's no right or wrong. There are different groups of people with deep ethnic commitments, and a central government in Kiev that has acted in a way that's completely intolerant of a significant fraction of its own citizens who happen to be of Russian descent. And right from the beginning, there was hostility from the West.Theodore PostolThere's a long history of the central Ukrainian command not supporting their troops at the battlefront. This is a real problem with the troops. The morale of the troops has been tremendously affected in an adverse way by the sense that their military leadership is not concerned about their life. It's one thing to ask a soldier to go risk their lives or lay down their life for their country and be providing everything you can to protect them and make it possible for them to fight. It's another thing when you're sending them to a certain death just because it looks good.Theodore PostolThe people in leadership roles are clueless, to a point that it's astonishing. The last situation that I know of historically where the leadership was so clueless was Tsar Nicholas II in 1917.Theodore PostolIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantisNews 4/23/241. According to AP, the United States has vetoed Palestine's latest bid for full membership in the United Nations. The vote in the 15-member U.N. Security Council was 12 in favor, including close U.S. allies like France, Japan, and South Korea, with the U.K. and Switzerland opting to abstain. Only the United States voted against the resolution. If U.S. had not blocked the resolution, the question would have gone to the full U.N. General Assembly, where no country holds veto power. While the U.S. claims this vote “does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood,” these words obviously ring empty. Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the council “The fact that this resolution did not pass will not break our will and it will not defeat our determination…The state of Palestine is inevitable. It is real.” 140 countries recognize Palestine. Palestine currently sits as a non-member observer state at the U.N.2. Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, a prominent Palestinian-American academic, was arrested at her home in Jerusalem last week, Democracy Now! reports. According to this report, Dr. Shalhoub-Kevorkian “was suspended by Hebrew University last month after saying in an interview Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.” Sarah Ihmoud, a co-founder of the Palestinian Feminist Collective who teaches at College of the Holy Cross is quoted saying “We see this as yet another example of Israel attacking Palestinians wherever they are, whoever they are. It underscores that no Palestinian is safe under Israel's racist apartheid rule.” Now, Ryan Grim of the Intercept reports that Dr. Shalhoub-Kevorkian is communicating trough family that she is being tortured in Israeli custody. Maddeningly, it appears unlikely that President Biden will hold Israel to account for the possible torture of an American citizen.3. Left-wing Israeli journalist Nimrod Flaschenberg reports Israeli refusenik Tal Mitnick and Sofia Orr “were both sentenced this week by the Israeli army to prison terms of 45 days+15 days probation. This will bring Sofia to a total of 85 days and Tal to 150. The Israeli army is relentless. But these brave kids are not about to give up.” This is Mr. Mitnick's 4th term in military prison and Ms. Orr's third, accoring to Pressenza. The international press agency further reports “probation is unprecedented and aims at deterring the refusers by enabling the military court to extend their next sentence beyond the 45-day limit…[and] In addition to Mitnick and Orr, conscientious objector Ben Arad is serving his first term of 20 days in prison.”4. Much has been made of the recent pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University. Prem Thakker of the Intercept reports, organizers of these protests say over 50 Barnard students and over 30 Columbia students have been suspended, with Barnard students losing access to dining and housing services. Reports on the ground show the universities dumping students belongings in the street. At the protests themselves, organizers emphasize that Jewish and Muslim students shared prayer space, and stress “Columbia wants you to believe we are enemies to protect their genocidal investments, but there is no deeper solidarity."5. Following SUNY Binghampton's adoption of a BDS resolution, New York State Legislators sent a letter to SUNY Chancellor John B. King calling for the expulsion of the student leaders behind that campaign. Moreover, this letter calls for “the ouster of any faculty and committee members who played a role in promoting or supporting this resolution.” This letter was signed by both Republican and Democratic state legislators in Albany. As prominent DSA member Aaron Narraph aptly put it, this campaign against the student activists constitutes “our very own mccarthyism.”6. In more campus news, The Lens, a New Orleans based outlet, is out with a blistering report on LSU's pay-for-play arrangement with fossil fuel companies. They write “For $5 million dollars, Louisiana's flagship university will let an oil company help choose which faculty research projects move forward. Or, for $100,000, a corporation can participate in a research study, with ‘robust' reviewing powers and access to resulting intellectual property.” This report links to documents that outline LSU's fundraising pitch to oil and chemical companies, and “Records [which] show that after Shell donated $25 million in 2022 to LSU…the university gave the fossil-fuel corporation license to influence research and coursework for the university's new concentration in carbon capture, use, and storage.” It is telling that, like pro-Palestine speech, the so-called campus free speech defenders are not standing up to corporate capture of research institutions.7. Against the backdrop of escalating diplomatic tensions in Latin-America over Ecuador's raid on the Mexican embassy, Progressive International reports “Ecuador [has voted] NO in the referendum on investor-state arbitration…rejecting President Noboa's underhanded efforts to override the Constitution to protect foreign investors over labor rights, Indigenous communities, and environmental regulations.” The Investor-State Dispute System – which places international corporations on the same legal footing as sovereign governments and hands over adjudication to the World Trade Organization – has come under heavy fire by left-wing skeptics of so-called ‘free trade' in recent years, contributing to the ultimate demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal engineered in the late Obama era. The ISDS has had a particularly troubling history in Latin-America, with tobacco companies suing Uruguay over anti-smoking legislation to name just one example. At the same time however, Ecuador overwhelmingly passed an anti-gang referendum in a victory for Noboa, per Reuters. Expect to see more about Ecuador in the coming weeks.8. Techcruch reports “Tesla is recalling all 3,878 Cybertrucks that it has shipped to date, due to a problem where the accelerator pedal can get stuck, putting drivers at risk of a crash, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.” This article goes on to say “The recall caps a tumultuous week for Tesla. The company laid off more than 10% of its workforce on Monday, and lost two of its highest-ranking executives.” The Guardian now reports that Tesla plans to cut prices on the Cybertrucks, which cost over $100,000 each. We beseech our listeners to be wary of these vehicles and to do thorough research on Tesla's auto safety record.9. In more transportation news, transportation blog Second Ave. Sagas reports “The feds are threatening to sue [New York City] if city vehicles [such as NYPD patrol SUVs] do not stop parking on sidewalks and crosswalks in ways that ‘impede the access of people with disabilities to pedestrian pathways.'” According to the Justice Department's letter, “The City of New York (and, more specifically, the NYPD) has failed to ensure that the pedestrian grid is ‘readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities,'... NYPD vehicles and the personal vehicles of NYPD employees frequently obstruct sidewalks and crosswalks in the vicinity of NYPD precincts…a recent study identified parking behaviors at 91% of the NYPD's precincts that resulted in obstructions to sidewalks and crosswalks with the potential to render those pathways inaccessible.” We commend the Justice Department for taking action to ensure the ADA is enforced, even against the NYPD which routinely behaves as though it is above the law.10. Finally, the United Autoworkers have prevailed in their union election at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant, winning by an overwhelming 2,628 to 985 margin, per the Guardian. This marks the first time workers have unionized a foreign-owned auto plant in the South and serves as a repudiation of the anti-union campaign backed by Republican Governors such as Tennessee's own Bill Lee. UAW President Shawn Fain responded to this campaign, saying “They're liars…These politicians are showing that they're just puppets for corporate America, and they don't give a damn about working-class people. They don't care about the workers being left behind even though the workers are the ones who elect them.” Seizing on the momentum of victory,  said “The workers at VW are the first domino to fall. They have shown it is possible…I expect more of the same to come. Workers are fed up.” UAW now plans to target a Mercedes plant in Alabama; according to the union, “A supermajority of Mercedes-Benz workers have filed a petition with the…NLRB…for a vote to join the UAW.” As the Guardian notes, “Mercedes has been considerably more outspoken against the union than VW was, with a top Mercedes official telling workers: ‘I don't believe the UAW can help us to be better.'” Yet Fain is confident, saying “At the end of the day, I believe that workers at Mercedes definitely want a union…and I believe a big majority there will vote in favor.”This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

It's a fresh week and we're talking about the UAW's landmark unionization victory at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant. We also cover Dealer response and legal threats over new sales models from Scout and Sony Honda Mobility as well as Tesla's swift response to a safety recall with a riveting fix. In a historic win for the UAW, employees at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant in Tennessee voted decisively to unionize, marking the UAW's first significant success in the South.After two prior attempts, the UAW succeeded with 2,628 votes for and 985 against, setting a new course for worker representation in Southern automotive plants.This victory at Chattanooga, previously the only VW plant globally without union representation, may signal a broader shift in the U.S. auto industry.UAW President Shawn Fain celebrated the win, noting its potential to catalyze further unionization across the region: "Once you see the first domino fall, you're going to see a lot more follow."As Scout and Sony Honda Mobility venture into the U.S. market with plans to potentially bypass traditional dealership networks, dealer associations are gearing up for a possible legal confrontation.State dealer associations are advocating for Scout and Sony Honda Mobility to adhere to the traditional franchised dealer model, citing legal and regulatory concerns with direct sales modelsThe dealer groups have voiced their readiness to challenge these plans legally, emphasizing the advantages of the franchise model in a nationwide advertising campaign which included taking out a full page ad in Automotive NewsGeoffrey Pohanka, hinted that the absence of a clear commitment to using dealerships might suggest a move towards direct sales, stating, "Silence speaks."John Devlin, the 2024 chairman and CEO of the Pennsylvania Automotive Association, expressed strong sentiments about the situation: "After two years of asking and getting nothing, frustration is very high." He also added, "We think this is going down the wrong road. I hope that there's good news at the end of this, but we wanted to proactively get out ahead of it."Tesla has responded swiftly to a significant safety concern with the Cybertruck's accelerator pedal by introducing a rivet-based solution to prevent the pedal pad from slipping off.Tesla temporarily stopped Cybertruck deliveries and issued a recall after discovering that the pedal pad could detach and become lodged, causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably.The repair involves a fast but precise procedure where Tesla technicians drill a hole and install a rivet to secure the pedal pad, ensuring it stays in place.Total materials, less than $1.  Total time, less than  1 minute. The fix, demonstrated at Tesla's "Cyber Takeover" event in California, is touted as a quick "35-second recall fix," though initial setup involves critical measurements and checks.Hosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email

April 16, 2024 | UAW President Shawn Fain Part 2; F-150 Lightnings shipping again by Automotive News

This week on Face the Nation, we speak to Sen. Jim Lankford (R-OK) and Sen. Time Kaine (D-VA), as lawmakers rush to finalize a bipartisan deal and secure the southern border. White House envoy Amos Hochstein joins us in studio to discuss diplomacy in the Middle East; CBS News reporter Charlie D'Agata tells us about his experience reporting in the region. Save the Children CEO Janti Soeripto gives us an update on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain tells us what's next after his union finally endorsed President Biden last week. Plus: CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez joins us from Eagle Pass, Texas to discuss the crisis at the southern border.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In late October, after a six-week strike, the United Auto Workers reached a historic contract deal with the big three Detroit automakers. This week, as membership votes to approve the contract are underway, President Joe Biden rallied with the UAW president in Illinois to celebrate the tentative agreement between the union and the automakers. This week on Deconstructed, UAW President Shawn Fain joins Ryan Grim to discuss the victory. Fain was elected president of the union earlier this year by the union membership, in the first UAW election in which members could directly vote for the union president. Fain discusses the recent win, the union election that led to his victory, corruption inside union ranks, and the broader labor reform movement for direct democracy within unions.If you'd like to support our work, go to theintercept.com/give, where your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference.And if you haven't already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every week. And please go and leave us a rating or a review — it helps people find the show. If you want to give us additional feedback, email us at Podcasts@theintercept.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Planning for a general strike Robert sits down with labor journalist Kim Kelly to discuss UAW President Shawn Fain's plan for a 2028 General Strike.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ralph welcomes Craig Mokhiber, who just resigned his post as the director in the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the United Nations over the UN response to the bombing of Gaza. Then, we are joined by CODEPINK peace activist, Medea Benjamin, who was recently arrested at a hearing on Capitol Hill, featuring Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for protesting the weapons bill for Israel moving through Congress.Craig Mokhiber is lawyer and specialist in international human rights law, policy and methodology, and he has served the UN since 1992. Until his recent retirement, Mr. Mokhiber served as Director in the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He has also served as the UN's Senior Human Rights Advisor in both Palestine and in Afghanistan, led the team of human rights specialists attached to the High Level Mission on Darfur, headed the Rule of Law and Democracy Unit, and served as Chief of the Economic and Social Issues Section, and Chief of the Development and Economic and Social Issues Branch at OHCHR Headquarters.What was really at the center of my letter was a sense that in the United Nations, international law had been subverted or pushed aside in favor of an approach to political expediency. That, first of all, ignored the norms and standards of human rights and humanitarian law. And secondly, it's failed miserably to improve the situation in Palestine and Israel.Craig MokhiberHamas is not just Hamas's armed wing. Hamas is also effectively a local government that provides services. Hamas is not supported by everyone in Gaza by any means. Palestinians who belong to many different parties have many different perspectives from liberal to conservative. And so, I think this continuous focus on Hamas and an effort to depict Hamas as ISIS, with all sorts of fantastical stories, is an intentional distraction away from the reality—which is the 2.3 million interned civilians in Gaza who have no say over what happens in their lives and who are on the receiving end of the Israeli bombs.Craig Mokhiber[This $14.5 billion in military aid to Israel] is being called the genocide tax on the American people— who I think if they were polled would say, “Let Israel pay for its own blunders on October 7th.”Ralph NaderMedea Benjamin is the co-founder of the women-led peace group CODEPINK and the co-founder of the human rights group Global Exchange. Her most recent book, coauthored with Nicolas J.S. Davies, is War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict.Many of us, for weeks, have been going into their offices, doing sit-ins in their offices, joining in with the constituents in their districts, and trying to get them to come out for a ceasefire— to no avail.Medea BenjaminIt's incredible the level of insanity of giving more money to Israel that could create a regional war there, continuing to fund (to the tune of $61 billion) the war in Ukraine that could lead to a regional war there, and then tacking on some more money to provoke China.Medea BenjaminCongress is behaving like an autocracy. It is blockading itself from the American people. It is putting its own power up for sale. It is ignoring the facts abroad. It's alienating huge portions of the world, and they don't care.Ralph NaderIn Case You Haven't Heard with Francesco DeSantis1. President Biden is facing a collapse in his 2024 polling related to his blind support for the Israeli military. A Gallup poll shows Biden's disapproval rating among young people has hit nearly 60%, rivaling the collapse in support for LBJ as the Vietnam war dragged on. According to the same poll, Biden has dropped 11 points with Democrats overall since September. Among Muslim Americans, Time reports only 17% say they now plan to vote for Biden in 2024 – a steep decline from the 59% who voted for him in 2020.2. Many Democrats are sticking with Biden despite his deeply unpopular position on Gaza, but not Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian and represents a significant Muslim American population in her Michigan district. In a recent video made with Means TV, Tlaib signals “There is no excuse for Joe Biden's support of Israel's genocidal campaign in Palestine. Don't count on our vote in 2024.”3. On Monday, October 23rd, the AFL-CIO held a tense meeting of its executive council regarding Gaza. The New York Times reports “Mark Dimondstein, the president of the postal union, argued that Israel and…Palestin[e]…should be combined into a single state [and] called for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. to demand a cease-fire, according to four people familiar with the contents of the meeting.” He also described himself as “[an] anti-Zionist Jew.” Randi Weingarten,  president of the American Federation of Teachers, asserted “Israel's right to defend itself, [and] said she backed establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel,” Noting “That has been part of the Democratic platform for as long as I can remember.” Mr. Dimondstein, responded that he is “not part of the Democratic Party.”4. The International Federation of Journalists reports that the West Bank shrine venerating Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh – murdered by an Israeli sniper who was never brought to justice in May 2022 – has been desecrated. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said “I have visited this site myself and know firsthand how important it had become to those who mourn Shireen's loss. It is hard to see this destruction as anything other than a cruel act of vengeance, of a kind that can only exacerbate tensions in Palestine. The sooner the ICC gives this case the attention it deserves, the better.”5. Anti-war sentiment is even taking hold in Israel itself. Israeli journalist Oren Ziv reported on an Israeli anti-war protest on October 28th, highlighting that this was the first such demonstration and that the protesters blocked roads near the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv. This comes as the situation within Israel grows increasingly tense, with reports of Palestinian students being trapped in a dorm at Netanya Academic College as an Israeli mob outside changed “death to Arabs,” per the Middle East Eye. 6. Even the Pope has weighed in on the growing violence, joining calls for a ceasefire. The pontiff issued a statement reading “Let the arms cease. Stop, brothers and sisters: war is always a defeat — always, always!”7.  In major domestic news, the United Auto Workers union has triumphed in their strike against the Big Three automakers. On October 30th, UAW and General Motors reached a deal, following similar agreements being reached with Stellantis and Ford. Axios reports that details of these deals include “25% wage hikes over four and a half years…cost-of-living adjustments…[bringing top wages] over $42 an hour by 2028…[and eliminating the] despised two-tiered wage scale for newer hires,” all key demands of the striking workers. These deals also provide “permanent jobs for temp workers and boosts retirement income, including 401(k) contributions,” and protections for EV workers. Reuters quotes UAW President Shawn Fain saying “We wholeheartedly believe our strike squeezed every last dime out of General Motors…They underestimated us. They underestimated you."8. The Washington Post is out with a blockbuster new report on how payday loan firms have gone to war with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. According to the report, “Powerful financial firms that offer high-cost, short-term loans to poor Americans have blocked at least five federal investigations into their business practices since the start of last year, part of a broad and aggressive campaign by payday lenders to neuter or eliminate their chief watchdog agency in Washington.” These firms have fought the CFPB tooth and nail in the courts, successfully bringing a case to challenge the existence of the Bureau itself to the Supreme Court. As that case winds its way through the legal system, these firms have “cited the pending Supreme Court decision to slow ongoing CFPB investigations or fight off the agency's recent punishments.”  Lisa Gilbert, the executive vice president of Public Citizen, which filed a briefing with the Supreme Court in defense of the CFPB, noted that “The really big-picture implication is all of the rules of the last 12 years could be called into question.”9. Finally, the Intercept reports progressive House Democrat Jim McGovern and conservative House Republican Thomas Massie are circulating a letter calling on President Biden to end the judicial persecution of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange. This letter emphasizes that “Deep concerns about this case have been repeatedly expressed by international media outlets, human rights and press freedom advocates,” and noted a previous letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland which stressed that “[e]very day that the prosecution of Julian Assange continues is another day that our own government needlessly undermines our own moral authority abroad and rolls back the freedom of the press under the First Amendment at home.” Hopefully this left-right coalition in favor of press freedom will prevail.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

There’s been a lot of talk about the ever-growing U.S. federal deficit lately. That discussion has largely revolved around spending cuts. But the flip side of the issue— that is, increasing revenue — is largely ignored. We’ll get into what increasing the government’s revenue could look like and how an approaching expiration date for some Trump-era tax cut provisions could impact taxpayers in the coming years. Also, we’ll hear from UAW President Shawn Fain about the union’s tentative deal with Ford and the outsized CEO salaries that made headlines this year. Here’s everything we talked about: “UAW President Shawn Fain: We’ve got a tentative deal with Ford” from Detroit Free Press “CD282: Chaos Fires McCarthy” from Congressional Dish “Pentagon spending stuck in neutral even as lawmakers back budget boost” from Politico “Do CEOs make too much money?” from Marketplace “Let’s talk about revenue and the budget deficit” from Marketplace “The Problem With a $2 Trillion Deficit” from The New York Times podcast “The Daily” Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap! The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We'll have news, drinks, a game and more.

There’s been a lot of talk about the ever-growing U.S. federal deficit lately. That discussion has largely revolved around spending cuts. But the flip side of the issue— that is, increasing revenue — is largely ignored. We’ll get into what increasing the government’s revenue could look like and how an approaching expiration date for some Trump-era tax cut provisions could impact taxpayers in the coming years. Also, we’ll hear from UAW President Shawn Fain about the union’s tentative deal with Ford and the outsized CEO salaries that made headlines this year. Here’s everything we talked about: “UAW President Shawn Fain: We’ve got a tentative deal with Ford” from Detroit Free Press “CD282: Chaos Fires McCarthy” from Congressional Dish “Pentagon spending stuck in neutral even as lawmakers back budget boost” from Politico “Do CEOs make too much money?” from Marketplace “Let’s talk about revenue and the budget deficit” from Marketplace “The Problem With a $2 Trillion Deficit” from The New York Times podcast “The Daily” Join us tomorrow for Economics on Tap! The YouTube livestream starts at 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, 6:30 p.m. Eastern. We'll have news, drinks, a game and more.

This week on the Mark Levin Show, Hunter Biden received a $250,000 wire originating in Beijing, with the beneficiary address listed as Joe Biden's Delaware home. The money came from Hunter's Chinese business partners in 2019, which is more evidence against the Biden Crime Family despite Democrats saying there is no proof. There have been zero search warrants and zero subpoenas issued against Hunter or Joe, which is a completely different treatment than Bob Menendez or Donald Trump. Also, the demands of UAW President Shawn Fain for a 40% salary increase and a 32-hour work week have nothing to do with job security or electric vehicles. Fain does not represent the people, but instead, he is screwing the people and a propagandist. People like Fain and Chuck Schumer are trying to process illegal immigrants to replace union workers as fast as possible because they do not stand with the patriotic American union workers. No union boss should have this kind of power. It's shocking how many lawyers in the House Oversight Committee and House Judiciary Committee do not understand the basics or the history of impeaching Presidents. The immigration laws have been intentionally eviscerated by Joe Biden and has not faithfully executed them under his oath of office, which is a violation of the Constitution and meets the threshold for impeachment. A President cannot and must not unilaterally decide he will not adhere to immigration laws and subsequently change the culture of our country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Wednesday's Mark Levin Show, the Democrat party is a typical autocrat party that seeks to destroy the nuclear family, our border and sovereignty, and our capitalist economic system, and their media demonstrates day in and day out that they are all in. When you do not have an honest Democrat party or media, this is what you get. The January 6 committee destroyed most of the information they gathered and is forcing their version of what happened to be the truth in order to destroy Donald Trump. They are changing our language and changing our reality, which is exactly what autocrats do. Also, the demands of UAW President Shawn Fain for a 40% salary increase and a 32-hour work week have nothing to do with job security or electric vehicles. Fain does not represent the people, but instead, he is screwing the people and a propagandist. People like Fain and Chuck Schumer are trying to process illegal immigrants to replace union workers as fast as possible because they do not stand with the patriotic American union workers. No union boss should have this kind of power. Later, Mark is joined by Donald Trump Jr. to talk about the gross undervaluation of the Mar-a-Lago estate and the miscarriage of justice and judicial abuse of Donald Trump. Finally, Mark speaks with author Jason Rantz about his new book What's Killing America: Inside the Radical Left's Tragic Destruction of Our Cities. Order the book: https://a.co/d/cZsyaRt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Krystal and Saagar discuss the WGA reaching a tentative agreement after striking for almost 150 days, Democrats freak over Trump plus 10 over Biden poll, Biden to join the picket line at UAW in historic move, UAW President Shawn Fain shreds the Big 3's lies on Car prices, a literal former SS Nazi was honored by Zelensky in the Canadian parliament, Matt Gaetz fights with Maria Baritromo on the politics of the government shutdown, cable TV caters to it's remaining audience with The Golden Bachelor for elderly viewers, Krystal looks at the legalized bribery established by recent examples in SCOTUS and Senator Menendez, and Saagar looks into how Ibram Kendi's Anti Racism center is collapsing under the grift.To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show uncut and 1 hour early visit: https://breakingpoints.supercast.com/Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Krystal and Saagar discuss the WGA reaching a tentative agreement after striking for almost 150 days, Democrats freak over Trump plus 10 over Biden poll, Biden to join the picket line at UAW in historic move, UAW President Shawn Fain shreds the Big 3's lies on Car prices, a literal former SS Nazi was honored by Zelensky in the Canadian parliament, Matt Gaetz fights with Maria Baritromo on the politics of the government shutdown, cable TV caters to it's remaining audience with The Golden Bachelor for elderly viewers, Krystal looks at the legalized bribery established by recent examples in SCOTUS and Senator Menendez, and Saagar looks into how Ibram Kendi's Anti Racism center is collapsing under the grift.To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show uncut and 1 hour early visit: https://breakingpoints.supercast.com/Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Krystal and Saagar discuss the WGA reaching a tentative agreement after striking for almost 150 days, Democrats freak over Trump plus 10 over Biden poll, Biden to join the picket line at UAW in historic move, UAW President Shawn Fain shreds the Big 3's lies on Car prices, a literal former SS Nazi was honored by Zelensky in the Canadian parliament, Matt Gaetz fights with Maria Baritromo on the politics of the government shutdown, cable TV caters to it's remaining audience with The Golden Bachelor for elderly viewers, Krystal looks at the legalized bribery established by recent examples in SCOTUS and Senator Menendez, and Saagar looks into how Ibram Kendi's Anti Racism center is collapsing under the grift. To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show uncut and 1 hour early visit: https://breakingpoints.supercast.com/ Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Krystal and Saagar discuss the WGA reaching a tentative agreement after striking for almost 150 days, Democrats freak over Trump plus 10 over Biden poll, Biden to join the picket line at UAW in historic move, UAW President Shawn Fain shreds the Big 3's lies on Car prices, a literal former SS Nazi was honored by Zelensky in the Canadian parliament, Matt Gaetz fights with Maria Baritromo on the politics of the government shutdown, cable TV caters to it's remaining audience with The Golden Bachelor for elderly viewers, Krystal looks at the legalized bribery established by recent examples in SCOTUS and Senator Menendez, and Saagar looks into how Ibram Kendi's Anti Racism center is collapsing under the grift. To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show uncut and 1 hour early visit: https://breakingpoints.supercast.com/ Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's another EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Noah Kulwin and Brendan James to discuss the most recent season of the Blowback podcast. Then, she's joined by freelance writer Garrison Lovely to discuss his recent piece in The Nation entitled "Confessions of a McKinsey Whistleblower." Emma starts off by reacting to remarks UAW President Shawn Fain made on CNBC, in response to a question about UAW withholding their endorsement of President Biden. Then, she's joined by Noah and Brendan to discuss Season 4 of Blowback, and Emma's devastation that a postscript from the movie "Rambo" did not, in fact, hand it to the mujahideen in Afghanistan, despite the movie being a love letter of sorts to them regardless. Noah dives into some of the history of the mujahideen, and how the U.S. began involvement with them and supporting them as a Cold War battleground state in the conflict against Russia. Brendan breaks down the antecedents to the Iraq and Afghanistan war, and how all of the elements of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan from the 1970's-1990's, especially their support and eventual rejection of the mujahideen, lead directly into the 20+ year conflict that defined the 21s century. Then Emma is joined by Garrison, who discusses his early employment as an intern, and then full-time staffer at McKinsey Consulting, and how it shaped his views on America capitalism. Garrison explains his work involving the carceral state, and how McKinsey tried to make its mark on American prisons, and also dives into some of the absolutely unbelievable corporate-speak that McKinsey has introduced into the lexicon, like "right-sizing", and how those signifiers mask and obscure some of the more insidious characteristics of the work being done at the firm.  And in the Fun Half, Emma is joined by Matt Binder and Brandon Sutton and check in on some of the Senate Republicans, like Josh Hawley, who are getting a little antsy about Mitch McConnell's leadership as Minority Leader after his most recent freeze-up. They then dive into Mehdi Hasan's masterful skewering of Vivek Ramaswamy, who was constitutionally incapable of answering why Trump was the best President of his life time, but also a sore loser who committed abhorrent acts on January 6th. They then get into the REAL, hard-hitting news of the day: Tucker Carlson's bombshell interview with convicted felon and serial fabulist Larry Sinclair, who outlined the (most likely fictional) night where he had (alleged) sex with Barack Obama and smoked crack with him (it was actually cocaine, we think.) They top it off by hearing Tim Pool's thoughts on the matter (would it shock you that he compared it to Christine Blasey Ford's testimony against Justice Kavanaugh)? Plus, your calls & IM's! Check out Blowback here: https://blowback.show/ Check out Garrison's piece here: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/mckinsey-whistleblower-confessions/ Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow 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 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 Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse 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 Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/  

It's Casual Friday! Sam is joined by Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. Then, he is joined by MR alum extraordinaire Jamie Peck to discuss what exciting things she has coming up. And THEN, he's joined by Matthew Film Guy! First, Sam runs through updates on Donald Trump's Georgia case and the GOP's case against Fani Willis, Mitch McConnell's return to the Senate, national union action, the end of another COVID support program, and the Texas Supreme Court upholding a ban on trans-affirming care for minors, before watching UAW President Shawn Fain rail against the “policy failure” that is the existence of billionaires. Heather Parton then joins as she and Sam work through the Georgia GOP's ongoing attempt to impeach Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Governor Brian Kemp's rejection of that, and why that might not help back the radicals down. Expanding on the far-right's role in the legislature, they then tackle Kevin McCarthy's ongoing debacle as he attempts to give his colleagues a baseless impeachment against Biden in exchange for NOT shutting down the entire government, and why they still want both, before quickly running through the NLRB's massive decision in a case against Cemex. They wrap up by more broadly assessing the state of Joe Biden and his administration heading into the 2024 election. Jamie Peck then dives into the upcoming debut of her variety show “The Woke Mob” with Jake Flores, this Saturday in New York, before parsing through the ongoing organizing and protest against Atlanta's Cop City, what Cop City is, and why – despite massive public disapproval for the project and over 100k signatures for a referendum – the Atlanta City Council is taking every chance to undermine attempts to stop the project. Matthew Film guy helps wrap up the program as he and Sam discuss the recent gift-giving debacle involving Ronald Raygun, the ongoing WGA-SAG strike, and gives his recommendations of the book-turned-movie Dogs of War and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Wild Pear Tree. And in the Fun Half: Sam covers Tucker's flailing pivot to ‘X' and strong relationship with Hungary, Ed from Seattle discusses yesterday's interview's portion on Hannah Arendt, and Jack from Cleveland platforms Rudy Giuliani's legal fund. Michael in Miami expands the conversation on Rudy's troubles, plus, your calls and IMs! Check out Digby's blog Hullaballoo: https://digbysblog.net/ Check out Digby's work at Salon: https://www.salon.com/writer/heather_digby_parton Check out Jamie's show in New York City this Saturday!: https://wl.seetickets.us/event/THE-WOKE-MOB/564089?afflky=TVEye Check out the "Everybody Loves Communism" podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/everybodylovescommunism Check out Matthew's Letterboxd here: https://letterboxd.com/langdonboom/ Check out Matthew's film discussion group here: https://www.commonpointqueens.org/program/cultural-arts-and-jewish-heritage-classes/ Check out Matthew's eBay auction here! https://www.ebay.com/itm/115464749223 Call and help out Rudy Giuliani here: 1-800-224-4919 Become a member at JoinTheMajorityReport.com: https://fans.fm/majority/join Subscribe to the ESVN YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/esvnshow 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 Brandon's show The Discourse on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ExpandTheDiscourse 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 Matt Binder's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/mattbinder Check out Ava Raiza's music here! https://avaraiza.bandcamp.com/ The Majority Report with Sam Seder - https://majorityreportradio.com/

It's Casual Friday! Emma hosts Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and co-host of the Politics of Everything podcast, to round up the week in news. Then, she's joined by Francesca Fiorentini, host of The Bitchuation Room podcast! Emma starts off with some more harrowing updates from the wildfires in Maui, where residents were advised by police to jump into the ocean to escape the blaze. Then, MR bestie Alex Pareene joins Emma and the crew to break down the big headlines, starting off with the big win for abortion rights and democracy in Ohio after Issue 1 was rejected by voters. Emma and Alex discuss, given the consistent success that left-leaning issues have had with ballot measures in purple-to-red states, sometimes even more success than actual Democratic politicians, what liberals and the national Democratic party can learn from this. They also wonder if, given the success on the ground in referenda like Issue 1, as well as voters, liberal and independent, now having seen the Republicans assault on democracy with their own eyes on January 6th, 2021, whether the "abortion & January 6th" political strategy is the most salient one going into 2024. They then touch upon the January 6th indictment brought down by Special Counsel Jack Smith on Trump, and how Emma was "libbing out" over the impressive and effective nature of how streamlined Smith made the indictment, seemingly intentionally so. Emma brings up Sam's contention about how Trump is running in the 2024 primary, and how it differs slightly from 2020 and 2016: that Trump, due to all of the legal arenas that he is exposed in going into 2024, is essentially fighting for his life, existentially and politically. News breaks as this discussion is going on, with the announcement from Attorney General Merrick Garland now announcing that he has, upon request, appointed David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden. This is SEPARATE from the Robert Hur special counsel into Biden's possession of classified documents, a trend that, Alex points out, has never worked to make Republicans trust that Democrats are being properly overseen and investigated. This leads to a very well-earned discussion on the unique uselessness of Garland as a Cabinet official, compared to someone like FTC chair Lina Khan.The topic turns to Ron DeSantis, whose presidential campaign has continued to crater, and how, in retrospect, it seems as if this implosion has been all but inevitable. Alex marvels at how, even after 7 years of Donald Trump, no one in the Republican Party seems to have any idea on how to actually "deal" with Trump, especially now that, as Matt points out, DeSantis's candidacy is essentially contingent upon an act-of-god taking Trump out of the primary. The MR Crew take a stroll down memory lane, exemplifying Trump's debate prowess in pantsing his fellow primary opponents when Ted Cruz tried to explain "New York values" to a debate audience, remarks that Trump proceeded to destroy him on. This is proof, for Alex, that it almost seems silly that Trump wouldn't want to participate in the first debate in a few weeks, because nothing endears him to voters more, because the talk radio and pro wrestling instincts are actually Trump's strongest (and not DeSantis's). Emma and Alex end their chat discussing yet another bombshell ProPublica report on Justice Clarence Thomas's seemingly endless benefits, trips, and gifts he received from a number of extremely rich benefactors, and what, if anything, congressional Democrats might do to try to rein in corruption on the Supreme Court. The lack of oversight on these unimpeachable justices, and the lack of coherence of any political message coming from the Democrats on what they plan to do to combat the undemocratic nature of the court, will inevitably lead to disillusionment in rank-and-file voters. One last appeal against blanket reverence for institutionalism is made, and then Emma lets bestie Alex go. Then, Francesca joins the MR Crew right before she was going to head out to walk the picket line in solidarity with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. They react to CNBC's Jim Cramer's bone-deep fear of UAW President Shawn Fain, and how, per Cramer, the man is seemingly as charismatic as Malcolm X and as frightening as Freddy Krueger. They then take a look into the romance of Ron and Casey DeSantis and how, during an NBCNews interview, Casey outlines how, when she was undergoing treatment for cancer, Ron...picked up their kids from school. They get a few more laughs in at DeSantis's expense, revisiting some of his extremely unnatural retail politicking, before Francesca jumps off. And in the Fun Half, Emma takes a look at Al Gore's recent TED Talk where he eviscerates the idea of pushing more chips into the middle of the table and investing in carbon capture (something the Biden Administration is literally doing right now), as well as the pick-me girl musings of Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez on Barbenheimer. Plus, your IM's! Check out the Politics of Everything podcast here: https://newrepublic.com/podcasts/the-politics-of-everything Catch Francesca and comedian Matt Lieb LIVE at the Punchline in San Francisco on Tuesday October 17th! 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