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Matthew Cunningham-Cook has written for Labor Notes, the Public Employee Press, Al Jazeera America, and the Nation.
Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas helped create a financial disaster as head of Chicago Public Schools, making bond deals worth $666 million — whose exorbitant interest payments to Wall Street are now robbing the city’s school system.
Under existing law, Joe Biden and his health secretary have the power to lower the price of medicines developed with taxpayer funds. They’re refusing to do so for the $180,000-a-year cancer drug Xtandi — after a furious lobbying campaign by Big Pharma.
Sen. John Thune, a former railroad lobbyist, is positioning himself to help kill rail safety legislation meant to prevent disasters like the recent East Palestine derailment. It’s one of many examples of the rail industry’s “revolving door” in Washington, DC.
Utility companies flooded Ron DeSantis’s campaign coffers with donations. Now, the Florida governor is allowing them to withhold information about widespread power shutoffs to their struggling customers.
Ohio governor Mike DeWine is bungling the cleanup after the recent train derailment in East Palestine, which released harmful pollutants. His refusal to announce a disaster declaration is grounds for scrutiny of his connections to the railroad industry.
In the wake of a disastrous rail accident in Ohio, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg says he doesn’t have the power to compel the rail industry to upgrade its safety equipment and procedures. But he does.
For years, rail companies have resisted federal safety regulations to cut costs. The major train derailment in Ohio last weekend, which resulted in the emergency evacuation of residents nearby, is the fruit of such profit maximization.
Workers at a soft drink maker owned by private equity megafirm KKR say the company is stalling in contract negotiations and denying workers more than six weekends off per year. Ironically, KKR’s union busting is funded in part by union pension investments.
Prisoners in Massachusetts may soon be forced to choose between their organs and their freedom: Democratic legislators in the state are proposing a law that would allow prisoners to donate organs or bone marrow in exchange for up to a year off their sentence.
Billionaire Kelcy Warren has sued Beto O’Rourke for defamation over old campaign ads. Judges who could be presiding over the case have previously taken election funds from Warren, making a ruling for Warren — and against free speech — more likely.
Nurses at two hospitals in New York City are on strike, fighting for wage increases and against chronic understaffing. Meanwhile, executives of these nonprofit institutions are making millions of dollars at the expense of patient care.
For years, Wall Street firms have inked secret deals to give certain investors preferential treatment. The SEC proposed reforms to regulate these “side letters” — but the industry wants to maintain its ability to enrich some investors at the expense of others.
The cryptocurrency exchange FTX recently collapsed in spectacular fashion. Yet a lawsuit linked to the exchange is currently attempting to force crypto into the retirement market.
After forcing a contract on exhausted railworkers last week, President Joe Biden vowed to keep fighting for them to have paid sick leave. If he’s serious, here is how he and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg could fulfill that promise.
The booming railroad industry has delivered multimillion dollar payouts to CEOs and shareholders in recent years. The industry has also shoveled millions of dollars into campaign contributions — no wonder Congress knocked down pro–rail worker legislation.
Joe Biden is standing with railroad barons to force a deal on workers who are demanding a reasonable amount of paid sick leave. It’s the latest and possibly starkest example of the chasm between his pro-worker rhetoric during his campaign and his presidency.
Many of AARP’s members count on Medicare to survive. Yet the group is boosting Medicare’s privatization — perhaps because it has already raked in nearly a billion dollars from its involvement in that privatization.
Public pensions with investments in private equity face severe losses amid the economic downturn. But with the industry’s shady contracts and anti-transparency laws, fund managers have no obligation to disclose their real performance.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX cryptocurrency exchange, rose swiftly as a Democratic mega-donor, rubbing shoulders with elites as he lobbied for crypto-friendly regulation. With FTX collapsing now, it’s clear his politicking demanded scrutiny long ago.
Progressive and leftist voters are always told we’re too extreme. The midterm results should quash that narrative.