The underlying problem is not inflation. It’s corporate power. The entire American economy is concentrated into the hands of a few greedy, corporate giants with the power to raise prices.
Our oil & gas dependence is a death sentence for the climate. It also gives dangerous amounts of power to petro-states like Russia. By quitting our addiction to fossil fuels, we can stand up to Putin and avert a climate catastrophe at the same time.
Private equity is shutting out millions of people from buying their own homes. In 2021, private equity investors bought nearly 1 in 7 homes in top metro areas. This is essentially a direct transfer of wealth from the working class into the pockets of private equity managers.
Robert explains why common myths about the minimum wage fall short, and why raising it will help ordinary working people without contributing to inflation.
Elon Musk’s father owned shares in an emerald mine in Africa. Bill Gates’ mom helped Microsoft get a deal with IBM. Jeff Bezos’ garage-based start was funded by a quarter-million dollar investment from his parents. “Self-made billionaires” are a myth.
Repeat after me: Wages aren’t pushing up prices. Corporate profits are pushing up prices. Instead of raising interest rates and slowing the economy toward a recession, Congress and Biden should be taking aim at corporate price gouging.
The corporate takeover of American politics was rapid and ruthless. In 1976, I watched as thousands of corporate lobbyists descended on Washington. Fast forward to today, and lobbying has become a $3.7 billion dollar industry. It all began with the Powell Memo.
Every month we get reporting on prices. We get reporting on jobs. We get reporting on wages. You know what we don’t get? Reporting on corporate profits. Corporate America wants to keep it this way. Workers get blamed for inflation. Corporations get cover for their greed.
Who else is sick of our government subsidizing the health care industry when millions can’t afford insurance, subsidizing Big Oil while they destroy the planet, and bailing out Wall Street when they crater our economy?
Billionaires have found one more way to fleece the public: sports stadiums. And if we don’t play ball, they’ll take our favorite teams away. This kind of billionaire hardball is why State Farm Stadium, home of this year's Super Bowl, was built in the first place.
96% of the highest-paid workers in the US have paid sick days. Just 38% of the lowest-paid workers get them. Only in America do we call working people ‘essential’ but deny them paid sick leave.
Airline ticketing fees. Concert fees. Bank overdraft fees. Fees for everything. Corporations call them “convenience fees” or “service fees.” Probably because they “conveniently” “serve” to pad their bottom lines, costing Americans at least $29 billion per year. It’s all a huge scam.
Silicon Valley Bank. Signature Bank. First Republic Bank. Together, these three failed banks held more assets than the 25 banks that collapsed during the 2008 financial crash. How can we prevent this financial meltdown from getting worse? Make banking boring again.
Let’s set the record straight: Workers are not “paid what they’re worth." This is a myth peddled by the rich to exploit workers and hoard unconscionable wealth. It’s designed to make us think that nothing can be done to change what people are paid. Don’t fall for it.
"These are the invisible workers of America, tens of millions of them, working harder than they have ever worked before and barely making it. They keep America going — we should keep them going."
Watch my 1995 speech busting right-wing minimum wage myths.
Social Security taxes are rigged for the rich — and the program is in danger because of it. A CEO earning $20M/yr pays Social Security taxes on ~1% of their income. Meanwhile, a normal worker pays Social Security taxes on 100% of their income. How does that make any sense?
Your Prime Day reminder that Amazon allegedly tricked customers into paying for its subscription service and then made it harder for them to cancel. Now the FTC is suing Amazon for scamming millions of consumers. But Amazon's shady shenanigans don't end there.
Put on your shades and grab your picket signs because it's a Hot Labor Summer. Here's why thousands of workers are on strike.
Starbucks has: -Fired scores of pro-union workers -Closed unionized stores -Threatened to withhold improved wages and benefits from stores considering unionizing -Packed stores with corporate managers to scare organizers Does that sound like a “progressive” company to you?
Smaller seats. Less legroom. Out of control fees for in-flight meals, checked bags, or even carry-ons. Charging us $25 to print a boarding pass! Why does flying suck so much these days? It has a lot to do with power — and how greed has overtaken our entire economy.
March 25, 1994: -Ace of Base had the #1 song -D2: The Mighty Ducks hit movie theaters -The Labor Department proposed a national workplace smoking ban I can only claim credit for one of those things.
Should billionaires go the way of the dodo?
Nothing tells you how important unions are like corporations controlled by the richest men on earth suing to dismantle the government agency that protects the right to organize. Here’s what you need to know.
No matter what you hear on Fox News, immigrants are good for the economy and our society. Watch.
Boeing’s descent reveals everything wrong with American capitalism today.
Americans are still struggling to get by while corporations are raking it in. Here’s how corporate price gouging is continuing to drive inflation.
The ultra-wealthy can’t cheat death, but they can use death to cheat taxes. Let me explain.
Trump’s second term will expose a reality that has been hidden from many Americans: the raw, stinking power of the American oligarchy. I’m hopeful that America will see this reality for what it is and respond to it.
Trump’s about to preside over the strongest job market in history. But just like his father's fortune, he didn’t build it — he inherited it.
The NFL announced that private equity will be allowed to invest in the league’s franchises for the first time ever. Be warned: Private equity ruins everything it touches.