What The Lever Published This Week:
• LEVER TIME: Democrats Will Not Tolerate Dissent — As part of a revamped and expanded weekly podcast series, David Sirota explores how the DNC crushed 2024 primary challengers — and might have hurt Biden’s reelection chances.
• Universities Are Making Billions Gatekeeping Your Meds — The University of California has raked in a previously undisclosed $1.6 billion from Xtandi sales and now doesn’t want the government lowering exorbitant drug costs.
• Handing Taxpayers The Climate Cleanup Bill — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic legislative leaders nix a landmark proposal that would have made Hochul’s fossil fuel donors pay for their pollution.
• The Defense Industry's Inside Man In The Pacific Arms Race — A Biden envoy shaped defense policy in the Pacific islands while consulting for a private firm with major interests in the region.
• SIROTA’S SIGNALS: The Dem States Embracing Anti-Tax Zealotry — Plus, the obscure court circuit trying to repeal the 20th century, how your utility bill funds climate denial, the real reason conservatives oppose student debt relief.
• YOU LOVE TO SEE IT: Friends Of The Court Could Lose Their Benefits — Plus, a pipeline company is caught trespassing, corporations face heat for shady stock deals, and law enforcement’s pseudoscience doesn’t hold up.
The Lever In The News:
• Breaking Points — David Sirota joined Krystal Ball to discuss the launch of the new Lever Time podcast and to elaborate on the topic of the first episode, released on Friday.
• DealBook — The New York Times’ Dealbook newsletter highlighted Helen Santoro’s excellent reporting in this week’s story about universities making billions of dollars through gatekeeping medications.
I am confused about why we speak about politicians as if they do what the people want them to do. The corporations own and run the country, and when elections happen the corporations spend money on the candidates they sponsor, and just flat out own. We are a fascist, oligarchy, empire building, authoritarian, dictatorship, with no Democracy, with no working Constitution for the poor, and middle class, where people have no say in the running or decisions on how the government is run.
The corporations, Fossil Fuel Industry, the Military Industrial Complex, and the rich are actually running the country, and our politicians just work for them. The people have no say in the running of the country. We do not have a democracy, freedom or a Constitution that works for the poor and middle class. We have a fascist, oligarchy, empire building, authoritarian, dictatorship, with no input on how the country is run, by the people, the people have no say at all. The government uses propaganda, lies, and disinformation to control the people, so they think there votes count and they have a Democracy with freedom and a Constitution that work for them.
The country is run by the corporations, and the Military Industrial Complex. The elections are rigged, to make sure Bernie Sanders or Elisabeth Warren cannot get elected, only politicians who are willing to work for the corporations and the Military Industrial Complex, will be put in office. The country is only interested in empire building, that is where most of the taxpayer's money is going, the corruption is so deep, there will never be a successful audit, of the Military Industrial Complex. With the corporations buying up our politicians to make sure they get things done their way, the poor and the middle class have no chance, getting a Social Security COLA or food stamps the will keep up with the cost of living. Those of us who cannot give huge amounts of money to political campaigns, will have to live with whatever crumbs the government throws our way.
That's why Kennedy wants to become president and end Corporate Capture. He also wants to begin winding down Empire. Read his policies at Kennedy24.