Working Life

Anyone remember the talk show “Firing Line” with arch-conservative William F. Buckley, Jr., which ended its run in 1999? Well, it’s baaaaack…with a new host, my conservative friend Margaret Hoover, who visits with me to talk about reviving the iconic show, as well as the state of conservatism and the Republican Party. I, then, welcome […]

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The teachers’ uprisings around the nation have challenged the bankrupt ideology of supply-side tax cutting—and maybe marks a shift in the public’s view of taxes and public spending. I talk about that with Meg Wiehe, deputy director of the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy. I welcome back Arizona teacher activist Amber Gould for an […]

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You may remember that last month I did a curtain-raiser on the Jet Blue flight attendants’ union organizing campaign vote (Episode 74). Yesterday, the vote came in—and the workers crushed it, winning by a 2-1 margin. You get to hear first-hand from three front-line flight attendant activists how it all came down. I also talk […]

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Beto. He’s the guy who will send Ted Cruz into retirement.  I talk with Beto O’Rourke while he’s out driving on the campaign trail in Texas. Have you tried to live on a teacher’s salary? In Oklahoma, it means counting on visiting a food pantry to survive, as I learn in my in-depth talk with […]

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Republicans tried all sorts of tricks in their tax scam bill to target taxpayers in Democratic states, including messing with the deduction for local and state income and property taxes…except we’re smarter than they are—at least Dean Baker is. As I find out in my chat with him, Dean has found a way to keep […]

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Ironically, it was Ted Cruz who got me thinking about this element of the big fraud and scam of the Republican tax bill. During the November 28th CNN debate on taxes, Cruz, during a back and forth with Bernie Sanders, quietly pointed out that eliminating the estate tax is not part of the Senate Republican […]

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No one would suggest unions have outsized predators like Harvey Weinstein. But, sexual harassment, driven by an entrenched male culture and power structure, has been a long-time problem inside labor. And, now, in dribs and drabs, people are speaking up. I talk about it with labor activist and former AFL-CIO official Ana Avendano. And you […]

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  We’ve got great stuff on tap for our one-year anniversary episode. I start off by asking members of the Democratic National Committee “What are you thinking?” with a bizarre loyalty resolution aimed at Bernie Sanders. Then, I turn our attention to the right answer to the question of how to create economic growth—raise wages, not cut […]

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Sometimes, you have to wonder: are Democratic Party leaders dumb or just ideologically bankrupt? I talk to a leading abortion rights advocate, Vicki Saporta, about the foolish suggestion floated by some Democratic leaders that the party would not have a litmus test—and, thus, support with money and resources—candidates who are not pro-choice. How stupid is […]

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Every day, it happens: the tax system puts unfair burden on the 99.9 percent while the very wealthy and big corporations pocket huge bucks…and a lot of those bucks come right out of our pockets thanks to corporate tax subsidies. Just in time for Tax Day, I talked to three of the leading experts in […]

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