But we also want to take on new stories in depth. Here are a few potential topics under consideration:
1. The ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in China and how United States corporations may be benefiting from forced labor.
2. The treatment of pharmacy workers and others on the frontlines of the vaccination effort.
3. The impact of the end of the eviction moratorium, which now expires on June 30.
Today, however, we want to hear from you. Are any of these topics of particular interest? Are there other issues you'd like to see Popular Information take on?
You can leave your thoughts in the discussion thread linked below, starting now. I’ll be dropping by to participate in the discussion and answer your questions at 9:30 AM Eastern, for about an hour.
Popular Information will return to your inbox on Monday, April 26.
The most important and impactful thing you can do, and the reason I subscribe, is to be the primary sources for showing what US companies are doing with their money. We need to fix our own house in order for it to stand up for others. I ask you to not be distracted from the domestic need and to revel in the incredible impact you have had already.
Focus is important. The Coca-Colas of the country want you to get distracted.
Stay on-mission and on-message! Thank you for your incredible work. It is so simple but so important!
Important topics: The pernicious rise of Christian Nationalism as a threat to our secular government, and the many bills being passed to promote religion in schools, and the illegal funding of Christian schools with taxpayer dollars. The rash of religion based bills that discriminate and threaten to punish transgender children and adults.
I’m torn. I agree with folks who suggest you stay the course and not dilute your focus, but I am also really concerned about the right’s takeover of media. With the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, Republicans are seizing control of the narrative and shamelessly using media to promote lies, conspiracies and propaganda. Rupert Murdoch, Steve Bannon, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Fox, OANN, Newsmax, Sinclair Broadcasting, conservative talk radio, Facebook, Parker, etc. are poisoning the country. THEY enabled and promoted the Big Lie - and still do! With their outrage politics they enable Qanon, Liam Wood, Mike Lindell (sp?) — and million of dollars in small-dollar donations to the MTGs and Josh Hawleys of the world. They are brainwashing formerly/seemingly reasonable, intelligent people and multiplying their ranks. They are powerful and persuasive and it terrifies me. Who is behind them? Who profits from them? Who supports them with advertising? How do we stop them?
Tell us which corps ARE standing by their promise not to support candidates who supported the insurgency. We WANT to know so we can support them, not just the bad guys.
The genocide and forced labor of the Uyghurs is a Holocaust that doesn’t get enough attention here, so please follow the corporate money to see which American companies benefit. It’s extremely hard to stand up to China, but it must be done. For all those saying you should stick to domestic issues, remember we’re all connected, and we’re talking about American/global corporations here. Also Judd please return to your fantastic Facebook reporting. Facebook is still the evil empire and spreads the disinformation that is at the root of our divisions.
While all three of these are important stories, I subscribe to support an ongoing focus on corporate payments to candidates that are actively working to undermine our democracy. We need to keep the pressure on corporations to be accountable and to keep the public informed. Thank you for all the good reporting you have done to date.
So much to do, so little time... Given the scale of your operation (!), I would agree with others suggesting you to retain a clear focus. Your work is raising awareness of the corrupt relationship between corporations and politics. A great many problems flow from that and it seems to be your real strength/USP. However, doesn't the discussion become more interesting and meaningful if we also ask why corporations donate to political parties in the first place and how this whole system works? Obviously this is not novel, but without analyzing how this legally-sanctioned corruption works, the discussion about corporate positions on specific events/positions can seem naive. It's been striking how incredibly reluctant corporates are stop donating. Their fear of losing the control (they think) it affords them is palpable. Similarly, the GOP hissy fits in response are incredibly revealing of what goes on under our noses every day. So my two cents' would be stick to informing people and promoting critical thinking about the whole relationship between corporations and politics, who 'owns' whom, whether it's just a revolving door, and how this arrangement actively prevents policies (and politics) which are in the interests of - and are probably supported by - the vast majority of Americans. Thanks for the great work you're doing!
I'd love to see more attention paid to financial conflicts of interest of sitting lawmakers. (E.g. remember Kelly Loeffler's race - not nearly enough attention focused on her financial conflicts, including in her case actions she'd taken as a lawmaker to benefit companies she owned significant stock in.)
Seems like this area is in line with your "follow the money" approach, and could benefit from similar data-centric work.
legislation being passed in multiple states to suppress the teaching of the history of racism, sexism et al in our public schools. the impact of slavery, jim crow, maltrearment of women needs to be openly presented to young people.
More information on or stories on: 1) corporate welfare - especially for oil and gas, farm and tech companies 2) how much each US Rep and Senator was worth when they took office and how much they are worth now or when they left office - with a sub story on how hard it is to get that information 3) the downsizing of the IRS and estimate of how much that has cost the US since the late 80's. 4) how hard it is to get a copy of police camera recording, even for an auto accident.
Please stay on the stories regarding the corrupt relationship between corporations and politics, the ongoing political actions of those elected officials who enabled and promoted the Big Lie - and still do, and the outcomes of the prosecutions of the January 6 US Capitol insurrectionists and their enablers.
I would like to see more information on the voter suppression laws and the new terror laws passed in FL that give immunity to running down protestors with automobiles. The GOP has gone so far off the rails that they are normalizing taking away the right to vote and the right to protest.
I like all of your proposed topics, but I'd be curious to read your takes/thoughts on statehood for Puerto Rico and/or Washington, D.C., and expansion of the Supreme Court (which I understand is likely to never happen).
Vaccine resistance in the US. Are there organized, politically motivated efforts to discourage covid vaccinations in the US to sabotage the Biden administrations efforts to pull us out of trump's covid quagmire. Part of trump deadender resistance to peaceful transfer of authority based on election results.
I love your work and I am sure whatever you choose will be excellent. But I am alarmed by the assassinations of environmental activists across the globe, especially in Colombia, and how American government is turning a blind eye and how corporations are benefiting from this campaign of terror against people (often Indigenous) who are struggling to protect their planet and their basic human rights.
The dreadful Republicans have raised immigration as another wedge issue - instead of doing anything about, they get the citizenry all enraged. I'd like to see a series of in-depth articles on the situation in Latin America and how the immigration problem is actually created by the United States. For instance, US corporations are investing heavily in resource extraction in Guatemala, to the point of proposing 20% of the entire country be mined for minerals. This is the source of the unrest and people are fleeing for their lives and arriving at our border. I'd like to see you attack the immigration issue and reveal the heart of the Republican hypocrisy.
I feel this one important aspect to cover and beware of, is the continuing right-wing , white supremacist ideas being propagated by Fox/Lachlan Murdoch and Tucker Carlson. ( in conjunction with voting rights restrictions)! They strike at the heart of democracy!
I think that someone needs to revisit - perhaps in conjunction with your topics 1 and 2 - the Trump administration’s (and Republican governors’) forcing of a largely immigrant workforce to work in unsafe meatpacking plant conditions last year. Not formally slave labor, but the overall economics of work today lead to it being compelled labor. The stories could be compelling if done, and they could create public outcry to support pro-union efforts if done right.
Elite criminal impunity. I almost don't care about the trespass tourists, shaman man or the shit-smearers. I care about the aggravated assaulters, the attempted murders & the murders. But they are mostly weak-minded pawns.
Who I really care about are the conspirators, the planners, the promoters, the logicians & the funders.
They are the drivers. They are the brains. They are the ones who need to be exposed. They are the ones who need to be fined and sued into bankruptcy. They are ones who need to be imprisoned for years. If they are not exposed, and most importantly if they are not punished severely, they will just keep doing it, and they will learn from their mistakes, they will recruit more of their ilk with evidence that there really are no consequences, and improve their effectiveness until they succeed.
Thanks so much for your hard work, you’re really making a difference! I’m interested in defunding FOX, removing from channel package. Also, Mitch McConnell, what behind the scene shenanigans are in his toolbox?
1. The Climate Emergency: people and companies actually changing in response to the threat of global heating versus greenwashing
2. The Covid pandemic: are we really over the worst? What will life look like in a years time? How do we stop the next pandemic e.g. does everyone need to adopt a vegan diet?
3. White Christian Nationalism: do the more frantic efforts of right-wing extremists and their sympathisers to cling to power mean the influence of white Christian nationalists is diminishing? Will it get worse before it gets better?
Judd, I appreciate your posts, especially the details about the hypocrisy of our elected congress members and corporations. Your stats and figures are much more compelling than just the stories. I would like to see more criticism of Democratic leaders who also tell one story but then sell out.
I'd also like to see those congress members who supported the insurrection get more exposure and be forced to resign. Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley. they seem to be showing impudence again. Thanks for all your great work.
Stay focused on your main topics. Exposing corporate donations going to despicable politicians seems to be effective and elucidating. A related issue are the dark bribes of publishing contracts, speaking fees and right wing Koch brother sponsored jobs Republicans, and ultra conservative democrats, seem to get for towing the line by obstructing progress with their votes and influence. It can’t be hard to connect these dots that appear to be a straight line path.
I believe it is imperative to keep the high beam on the state of our country. No one else mediawise gets anywhere close to your coverage. Ie the GOP, fringe groups that threaten our lives like Oath Keepers, Foreign relations, Putin, China. The real picture of the state of immigration, the two America's, ie the rich one and the poor one, women's issues jobs, reproductive, farmers, big pharma, expansion of Supreme Court, agree about health care, race issues are problematic every day. The divide of rural and urban in politics, and yes even what goes on in the Democratic Party arena. How many hands are in their pockets.
And pretty please. My great question has been for over 2 years. There has to be a money trail. There had to be tax consequences...
Who the hell paid off Brent Kavanaugh's debts and how does he remain seated on the court because impartiality is certainly affected by who is in your wallet and the keeper of your secrets is reminder of how you react.
Can't seem to ever be available for your drop by to chats.
I appreciate your expertise and in-depth, follow-the-money coverage. While the topics you suggest are painfully important, as are topics suggested by other readers, I would suggest that you are in the best position to know which topic(s) are the best fits for your expertise and investigation capacity. Clearly, you do compelling and highly important data analysis from public information -- which topics will you be best able to investigate through this kind of analysis? Which are most likely to remain less-analyzed and below-the-radar without your investigation?
All kinds of good journalists are working on a number of issues: choose the ones where, by virtue of your particular talents and resources and passion, you can make the biggest impact.
As part of your pharmacy workers research, consider how CVS's monopolistic/monopsonistic hold on the market not only boxes pharmacists into situations that are restrictive, but how there is virtually no recourse for consumers to either shop elsewhere, or get their shots/other Rx needs, fulfilled elsewhere.
Don't forget that with all the unchallenged mergers CVS and other healthcare giants have succeeded in accomplishing, it's not just their hold over pharmacy, but also over the cost of healthcare insurance, retail and hospital supply chains, healthcare labor forces, all of which impacts clinical protocols, including what Rx docs are allowed to prescribe off the formularies, and at what cost.
In essence: because healthcare is so regulated and monopolized, we can't boycott/express preferences over the corporate giants currently in charge of what gets put into our bodies, who puts it there, and at what cost and under what conditions. They have made themselves inevitable in our lives. They are currently impervious to any consumer pushback.
I would stay focused locally, continue on corporate giving and any efforts legally to stop corporations from being treated like people which allows them to give in the first place. Other topics, gerrymandering, biggest corporations contributing to climate change in the US and government spending and oversight would all be interesting
Strongly support the focus on the Uyghurs and the ongoing genocide. If America ignores it, we are on the wrong side of history --it would be like ignoring the 1930s in Germany, or Rwanda in the 90s. President Biden will likely acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians on April 24th, one which was recognized by very few in the moment. We can learn from the past.
I definitely want to see reporting about the impact of the end of the eviction moratorium. I have a pit in my stomach that it will unfortunately disproportionately impact Black and brown communities the most.
Has its hour come? Go full bore on the subject of your great April 20 piece: the mass insanity of the gun industry in the US. E.g., >39 million guns sold to civilians in 2020; more than 120 civilian-owned firearms for every 100 Americans. (Thanks for asking!)
Your newsletter key topics are uniquely strategic because we can vote, donate to opposition or boycott... in other words your topics are relevant and differentiated from other news we receive. The question to ask is “what can our readers do with this information”. It’s your USP
The MOST enduring legacy of a president is his judicial appointments, especially the lifetime appointments of younger federal judges. Our former president's impact was massive and may well be fraught with incompetence and financial entanglements. Any effect you can have by raising legitimate questions would be valuable for our democracy.
As a retired environmental scientist, I view global warming as a critical existential danger. For more than twenty years, I observed environmental changes that might appear nonthreatening in isolation, but the cumulative effects that I and other field scientists observed are alarming. Despite my fears regarding future environmental catastrophes, I consider the erosion of democratic values an even more iminent problem. The previous commentor mentioned the importance of focusing on money in politics. I concur with his assessment, but perhaps broaden your inquiries into other matters that undermine democractic government; such as institutional racism, immigration policies, and the structure of our republic.
Your follow up and persistence on stories is very valuable. Follow up on corporate pledges to not donate. Please also follow up on whether politicians have returned/donated tainted contributions as promised (think Kevin McCarthy and Fruman/Parnas).
The China story sound interesting to me because it's a human rights story but also a story that directly affects American capitolism, which ties directly into American politics
Misinformation. How can we solve problems without shared experience? Network TV once allowed us to share the moon landings and the civil rights marches. We didn't agree then but we shared some base of information. Now people making less than $15 and hour have to pay a $100 a month for internet and cable TV or over $50 a month for a phone. Missinformation is very cheap or free. Gossip is truth shared more easily!
Your work in raising awareness of the corrupt relationship between corporations and politics is awesome. I wonder what, precisely, all that money in secret off-shore accounts is used for? Surely it is not for 'regular or legal' business expenses. Is it ALL for bribes, lobbying, purchasing distressed assets on the cheap? Why have millions/billions in secret off-shore accounts? Is there something I'm missing? What's the value of having those accounts? It must be more than just tax avoidance... right?
I'd like to see a "follow the money" approach to White Supremacist groups, like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, etc.
The most important and impactful thing you can do, and the reason I subscribe, is to be the primary sources for showing what US companies are doing with their money. We need to fix our own house in order for it to stand up for others. I ask you to not be distracted from the domestic need and to revel in the incredible impact you have had already.
Focus is important. The Coca-Colas of the country want you to get distracted.
Stay on-mission and on-message! Thank you for your incredible work. It is so simple but so important!
Important topics: The pernicious rise of Christian Nationalism as a threat to our secular government, and the many bills being passed to promote religion in schools, and the illegal funding of Christian schools with taxpayer dollars. The rash of religion based bills that discriminate and threaten to punish transgender children and adults.
I’m torn. I agree with folks who suggest you stay the course and not dilute your focus, but I am also really concerned about the right’s takeover of media. With the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, Republicans are seizing control of the narrative and shamelessly using media to promote lies, conspiracies and propaganda. Rupert Murdoch, Steve Bannon, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Fox, OANN, Newsmax, Sinclair Broadcasting, conservative talk radio, Facebook, Parker, etc. are poisoning the country. THEY enabled and promoted the Big Lie - and still do! With their outrage politics they enable Qanon, Liam Wood, Mike Lindell (sp?) — and million of dollars in small-dollar donations to the MTGs and Josh Hawleys of the world. They are brainwashing formerly/seemingly reasonable, intelligent people and multiplying their ranks. They are powerful and persuasive and it terrifies me. Who is behind them? Who profits from them? Who supports them with advertising? How do we stop them?
Tell us which corps ARE standing by their promise not to support candidates who supported the insurgency. We WANT to know so we can support them, not just the bad guys.
The genocide and forced labor of the Uyghurs is a Holocaust that doesn’t get enough attention here, so please follow the corporate money to see which American companies benefit. It’s extremely hard to stand up to China, but it must be done. For all those saying you should stick to domestic issues, remember we’re all connected, and we’re talking about American/global corporations here. Also Judd please return to your fantastic Facebook reporting. Facebook is still the evil empire and spreads the disinformation that is at the root of our divisions.
While all three of these are important stories, I subscribe to support an ongoing focus on corporate payments to candidates that are actively working to undermine our democracy. We need to keep the pressure on corporations to be accountable and to keep the public informed. Thank you for all the good reporting you have done to date.
Gerrymandering and voter suppression are the top issues - progress on every other issue begins and ends there. Keep up the great work!
All of these subjects are worth covering but environmental issues are at the top of my list because they affect everyone and everything.
So much to do, so little time... Given the scale of your operation (!), I would agree with others suggesting you to retain a clear focus. Your work is raising awareness of the corrupt relationship between corporations and politics. A great many problems flow from that and it seems to be your real strength/USP. However, doesn't the discussion become more interesting and meaningful if we also ask why corporations donate to political parties in the first place and how this whole system works? Obviously this is not novel, but without analyzing how this legally-sanctioned corruption works, the discussion about corporate positions on specific events/positions can seem naive. It's been striking how incredibly reluctant corporates are stop donating. Their fear of losing the control (they think) it affords them is palpable. Similarly, the GOP hissy fits in response are incredibly revealing of what goes on under our noses every day. So my two cents' would be stick to informing people and promoting critical thinking about the whole relationship between corporations and politics, who 'owns' whom, whether it's just a revolving door, and how this arrangement actively prevents policies (and politics) which are in the interests of - and are probably supported by - the vast majority of Americans. Thanks for the great work you're doing!
Guns. Follow the guns. And the money. How are gunmakers stacking the lawmakers in their favour?
I'd love to see more attention paid to financial conflicts of interest of sitting lawmakers. (E.g. remember Kelly Loeffler's race - not nearly enough attention focused on her financial conflicts, including in her case actions she'd taken as a lawmaker to benefit companies she owned significant stock in.)
Seems like this area is in line with your "follow the money" approach, and could benefit from similar data-centric work.
Keep up the good work!
legislation being passed in multiple states to suppress the teaching of the history of racism, sexism et al in our public schools. the impact of slavery, jim crow, maltrearment of women needs to be openly presented to young people.
More information on or stories on: 1) corporate welfare - especially for oil and gas, farm and tech companies 2) how much each US Rep and Senator was worth when they took office and how much they are worth now or when they left office - with a sub story on how hard it is to get that information 3) the downsizing of the IRS and estimate of how much that has cost the US since the late 80's. 4) how hard it is to get a copy of police camera recording, even for an auto accident.
Please stay on the stories regarding the corrupt relationship between corporations and politics, the ongoing political actions of those elected officials who enabled and promoted the Big Lie - and still do, and the outcomes of the prosecutions of the January 6 US Capitol insurrectionists and their enablers.
Who benefits from gun proliferation and how can we do something about it
I would like to see more information on the voter suppression laws and the new terror laws passed in FL that give immunity to running down protestors with automobiles. The GOP has gone so far off the rails that they are normalizing taking away the right to vote and the right to protest.
I like all of your proposed topics, but I'd be curious to read your takes/thoughts on statehood for Puerto Rico and/or Washington, D.C., and expansion of the Supreme Court (which I understand is likely to never happen).
Vaccine resistance in the US. Are there organized, politically motivated efforts to discourage covid vaccinations in the US to sabotage the Biden administrations efforts to pull us out of trump's covid quagmire. Part of trump deadender resistance to peaceful transfer of authority based on election results.
I love your work and I am sure whatever you choose will be excellent. But I am alarmed by the assassinations of environmental activists across the globe, especially in Colombia, and how American government is turning a blind eye and how corporations are benefiting from this campaign of terror against people (often Indigenous) who are struggling to protect their planet and their basic human rights.
I just want to thank you both for the wonderful work you do. Shining the light on things people try to keep hidden is a wonderful thing.
The continuing attempts all over the country to suppress voting rights .
The dreadful Republicans have raised immigration as another wedge issue - instead of doing anything about, they get the citizenry all enraged. I'd like to see a series of in-depth articles on the situation in Latin America and how the immigration problem is actually created by the United States. For instance, US corporations are investing heavily in resource extraction in Guatemala, to the point of proposing 20% of the entire country be mined for minerals. This is the source of the unrest and people are fleeing for their lives and arriving at our border. I'd like to see you attack the immigration issue and reveal the heart of the Republican hypocrisy.
I feel this one important aspect to cover and beware of, is the continuing right-wing , white supremacist ideas being propagated by Fox/Lachlan Murdoch and Tucker Carlson. ( in conjunction with voting rights restrictions)! They strike at the heart of democracy!
I think that someone needs to revisit - perhaps in conjunction with your topics 1 and 2 - the Trump administration’s (and Republican governors’) forcing of a largely immigrant workforce to work in unsafe meatpacking plant conditions last year. Not formally slave labor, but the overall economics of work today lead to it being compelled labor. The stories could be compelling if done, and they could create public outcry to support pro-union efforts if done right.
Elite criminal impunity. I almost don't care about the trespass tourists, shaman man or the shit-smearers. I care about the aggravated assaulters, the attempted murders & the murders. But they are mostly weak-minded pawns.
Who I really care about are the conspirators, the planners, the promoters, the logicians & the funders.
They are the drivers. They are the brains. They are the ones who need to be exposed. They are the ones who need to be fined and sued into bankruptcy. They are ones who need to be imprisoned for years. If they are not exposed, and most importantly if they are not punished severely, they will just keep doing it, and they will learn from their mistakes, they will recruit more of their ilk with evidence that there really are no consequences, and improve their effectiveness until they succeed.
Thanks so much for your hard work, you’re really making a difference! I’m interested in defunding FOX, removing from channel package. Also, Mitch McConnell, what behind the scene shenanigans are in his toolbox?
I would love to see reporting on:
1. The Climate Emergency: people and companies actually changing in response to the threat of global heating versus greenwashing
2. The Covid pandemic: are we really over the worst? What will life look like in a years time? How do we stop the next pandemic e.g. does everyone need to adopt a vegan diet?
3. White Christian Nationalism: do the more frantic efforts of right-wing extremists and their sympathisers to cling to power mean the influence of white Christian nationalists is diminishing? Will it get worse before it gets better?
Judd, I appreciate your posts, especially the details about the hypocrisy of our elected congress members and corporations. Your stats and figures are much more compelling than just the stories. I would like to see more criticism of Democratic leaders who also tell one story but then sell out.
I'd also like to see those congress members who supported the insurrection get more exposure and be forced to resign. Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley. they seem to be showing impudence again. Thanks for all your great work.
The top two for me are misinformation and the climate crisis. These have both become existential issues. Thanks for the great work that you do.
Stay focused on your main topics. Exposing corporate donations going to despicable politicians seems to be effective and elucidating. A related issue are the dark bribes of publishing contracts, speaking fees and right wing Koch brother sponsored jobs Republicans, and ultra conservative democrats, seem to get for towing the line by obstructing progress with their votes and influence. It can’t be hard to connect these dots that appear to be a straight line path.
I like all three and suggest police reform at local levels
I believe it is imperative to keep the high beam on the state of our country. No one else mediawise gets anywhere close to your coverage. Ie the GOP, fringe groups that threaten our lives like Oath Keepers, Foreign relations, Putin, China. The real picture of the state of immigration, the two America's, ie the rich one and the poor one, women's issues jobs, reproductive, farmers, big pharma, expansion of Supreme Court, agree about health care, race issues are problematic every day. The divide of rural and urban in politics, and yes even what goes on in the Democratic Party arena. How many hands are in their pockets.
And pretty please. My great question has been for over 2 years. There has to be a money trail. There had to be tax consequences...
Who the hell paid off Brent Kavanaugh's debts and how does he remain seated on the court because impartiality is certainly affected by who is in your wallet and the keeper of your secrets is reminder of how you react.
Can't seem to ever be available for your drop by to chats.
LoL. Lucky you.
I appreciate your expertise and in-depth, follow-the-money coverage. While the topics you suggest are painfully important, as are topics suggested by other readers, I would suggest that you are in the best position to know which topic(s) are the best fits for your expertise and investigation capacity. Clearly, you do compelling and highly important data analysis from public information -- which topics will you be best able to investigate through this kind of analysis? Which are most likely to remain less-analyzed and below-the-radar without your investigation?
All kinds of good journalists are working on a number of issues: choose the ones where, by virtue of your particular talents and resources and passion, you can make the biggest impact.
As part of your pharmacy workers research, consider how CVS's monopolistic/monopsonistic hold on the market not only boxes pharmacists into situations that are restrictive, but how there is virtually no recourse for consumers to either shop elsewhere, or get their shots/other Rx needs, fulfilled elsewhere.
Don't forget that with all the unchallenged mergers CVS and other healthcare giants have succeeded in accomplishing, it's not just their hold over pharmacy, but also over the cost of healthcare insurance, retail and hospital supply chains, healthcare labor forces, all of which impacts clinical protocols, including what Rx docs are allowed to prescribe off the formularies, and at what cost.
In essence: because healthcare is so regulated and monopolized, we can't boycott/express preferences over the corporate giants currently in charge of what gets put into our bodies, who puts it there, and at what cost and under what conditions. They have made themselves inevitable in our lives. They are currently impervious to any consumer pushback.
I would stay focused locally, continue on corporate giving and any efforts legally to stop corporations from being treated like people which allows them to give in the first place. Other topics, gerrymandering, biggest corporations contributing to climate change in the US and government spending and oversight would all be interesting
The upcoming trials of the Insurrectionists and a look at who they are and what would make them do such a thing .
Strongly support the focus on the Uyghurs and the ongoing genocide. If America ignores it, we are on the wrong side of history --it would be like ignoring the 1930s in Germany, or Rwanda in the 90s. President Biden will likely acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians on April 24th, one which was recognized by very few in the moment. We can learn from the past.
I would like to see a piece about the shadow pandemic of Domestic Violence. It was exacerbated during the lockdown and there is very little coverage
I definitely want to see reporting about the impact of the end of the eviction moratorium. I have a pit in my stomach that it will unfortunately disproportionately impact Black and brown communities the most.
Guns and Big Pharma. Especially support given politicians
Has its hour come? Go full bore on the subject of your great April 20 piece: the mass insanity of the gun industry in the US. E.g., >39 million guns sold to civilians in 2020; more than 120 civilian-owned firearms for every 100 Americans. (Thanks for asking!)
Your newsletter key topics are uniquely strategic because we can vote, donate to opposition or boycott... in other words your topics are relevant and differentiated from other news we receive. The question to ask is “what can our readers do with this information”. It’s your USP
The MOST enduring legacy of a president is his judicial appointments, especially the lifetime appointments of younger federal judges. Our former president's impact was massive and may well be fraught with incompetence and financial entanglements. Any effect you can have by raising legitimate questions would be valuable for our democracy.
As a retired environmental scientist, I view global warming as a critical existential danger. For more than twenty years, I observed environmental changes that might appear nonthreatening in isolation, but the cumulative effects that I and other field scientists observed are alarming. Despite my fears regarding future environmental catastrophes, I consider the erosion of democratic values an even more iminent problem. The previous commentor mentioned the importance of focusing on money in politics. I concur with his assessment, but perhaps broaden your inquiries into other matters that undermine democractic government; such as institutional racism, immigration policies, and the structure of our republic.
Your follow up and persistence on stories is very valuable. Follow up on corporate pledges to not donate. Please also follow up on whether politicians have returned/donated tainted contributions as promised (think Kevin McCarthy and Fruman/Parnas).
Poverty wages to pharmacy workers please! CVS etc not paying a wage their employees can live a healthy life!
The China story sound interesting to me because it's a human rights story but also a story that directly affects American capitolism, which ties directly into American politics
Misinformation. How can we solve problems without shared experience? Network TV once allowed us to share the moon landings and the civil rights marches. We didn't agree then but we shared some base of information. Now people making less than $15 and hour have to pay a $100 a month for internet and cable TV or over $50 a month for a phone. Missinformation is very cheap or free. Gossip is truth shared more easily!
Your work in raising awareness of the corrupt relationship between corporations and politics is awesome. I wonder what, precisely, all that money in secret off-shore accounts is used for? Surely it is not for 'regular or legal' business expenses. Is it ALL for bribes, lobbying, purchasing distressed assets on the cheap? Why have millions/billions in secret off-shore accounts? Is there something I'm missing? What's the value of having those accounts? It must be more than just tax avoidance... right?