A fight has broken out between Elon Musk and the MAGA activists and base about immigration – specifically, over H-1B visas. But what exactly IS an H-1B visa; and why is there so much heat around the issue? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s famous 900 page book, is partly “too dumb to accomplish anything at all”…

Donald Trump has been bad for America but good for American book publishers. Now that Trump is coming back we look at what the best of those books had to say about him, also, the worst: Also, Melania has published a memoir: “Melania,” where she revisits plagiarizing Michelle Obama for her 2016 RNC convention speech, and wearing that jacket that sai…

Disney unions won the biggest ever back pay settlement, and Amazon drivers in the Southland are going on strike this week - Harold Meyerson reports on the class struggle in Southern California. Also: Bob Dylan fans have been puzzled and troubled by his Christmas album ever since he released it in 2009. To help figure out what Dylan was doing, we tu…

Workers in Los Angeles and Wisconsin made major gains this week, while the NLRB is falling into Trump's hands, thanks to Joe Manchin & Kyrsten Sinema -- Harold Meyerson reports. Also: a new episode of “The Children’s Hour,” Amy Wilentz reports on “Lives of the In-Laws”—Ivanka’s father-in-law, and Tiffany’s -- and comments also on the rise of Trump'…

The GOP majority in the House will be 217-to 215 Dems – for months, until special elections in April bring it up to 220. What are the odds odds that House Republicans will be 100% united when Trump sends them his key legislation? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: “Our worst enemy right now is not Trump himself, but fatalism about our ability to stop …

Trump's terrible cabinet picks – what if the Democrats use these remaining two months to hold their own confirmation hirings? Also, are Democrats out of touch with the American people? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: A lot of people who voted for abortion rights referenda this year also voted for Trump. What were they thinking? How do they understa…

Trump's initial nominees include Matt Gaetz for Attorney General – "the group that is probably most elated by this are his fellow Republican House members who hate his guts" – Harold Meyerson discusses Trump's crazy cabinet. Also: Hope does not mean saying ‘this is not bad,’ Rebecca Solnit argues; it just means we will not give up—because we know t…

Big Picture: Trump won a landslide in the electoral college and control of the Senate; control of the House is unclear at this point. So much good work went into fighting Trump; but, a majority of voters know who Trump is and chose him. So, how did we get here? And, what do we do next? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: John Nichols looks at the elect…

If Harris wins Pennsylvania – a predominately working-class state – she probably wins the election; so, what could be the most effective closing argument to convince working-class voters there to vote for Harris? New research by The Center for Working-Class Politics tested messages and found that the strongest one singles out corporations for raisi…

World famous gambling and entertainment hub Las Vegas, Nevada is also home to one of the "the most politically potent" unions in the United States, representing hotel casino workers there: Culinary Union Local 226 -- Harold Meyerson traveled to Las Vegas to find out what this powerful union is doing to help "push Kamala over the top". Also: Latino …

One in six voters, pollsters say, are “still unsure of their choice.” What do people mean when they say they are “undecided”? Rick Perlstein says political writers have failed to understand the undecideds—and what Kamala might do to win their votes. Also: Democrat Marie Gleusenkamp Perez won a House seat in a Trump district, pointing the way for ot…

Kamala has been showing up: from "Call Her Daddy" – a podcast popular among young woman, to "The Howard Stern Show" – popular among young men; to "The View" and "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" – Harold Meyerson comments on Kamala's media blitz. Also: The polls have had disastrous failures for decades, but people continue to focus on them; Rick…

If the election were to happen today, polls point to 276 for Kamala; 262 for Trump. Also: The vice presidential debate – "Walz, who was plainly unaccustomed to dealing with such adept obfuscation, particularly when couched in Vance’s one-night-only dulcet tones" writes Harold Meyerson in The Prospect; so, what did Walz win? Harold Meyerson comments…

The polls right now show Kamala would win the electoral college if the election were held today--Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump Media stock - it's sinking fast. Plus: Trump has canceled his plan to visit Springfield, Ohio, but his lie about Haitian immigrants there eating cats and dogs continues to ricochet around the American political worl…

The Republican Party and the Trump Campaign have no field operations of their own doing door-to-door work - for the first time all of that has been outsourced to PACs with independent funding, and the largest, run by Elon Musk, has just fired the company doing its canvassing in Nevada and Arizona. Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump has made it c…

Presidential Debate 2024: Harold Meyerson on how, in dealing with Trump, "Kamala hit it out of the park"; and then, "the Republicans immediately seized upon 'Well, the moderators were hard on Trump'; but that's what happens when what you say is constructed entirely of lies." Also: Homeless vets have been trying for years to get the VA to build hous…

Bibi is keeping the war in Gaza going not only for his own political survival but to help Trump defeat Kamala - Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Trump announced Friday that he would be voting against a abortion rights ballot measure in his home state of Florida. Amy Littlefield reports on the crucial referendum in the state that had been the South’s…

With ten weeks to go until election day, we'll look at where we've been in the last several weeks – most surprising: Kamala Harris emerging as a great candidate. Harold Meyerson explains that it’s not so much that Harris has changed but that the Democratic Party has. Also: Summer Reading: M: Son of the Century is a 750-page historical novel about t…

The Trump campaign – it's not going well right now. Marc Cooper has our analysis, and advises, rather than follow the two-or-three-point difference in polling, that we should instead look at the trend lines. Also, he reminds us that at the end of July in 1988, Michael Dukakis was leading George Bush by 14 points. It’s still August — and time for mo…

Trump mostly stays home at Mar-a-Lago while Kamala and Tim Walz meet huge crowds in the swing states. Harold Meyerson comments on the current asymmetrical state of the campaign. Plus: Talking politics, and history, with Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown - he’s up for reelection this year, in a state where Biden got only 45%. (originally recorded in Octobe…

Tim Walz was a great choice for Kamala's VP - Harold Meyerson explains -- and takes up the question, what's happening to the Trump campaign? Also: JD Vance’s remark about “childless cat ladies” who “want to make the rest of the country miserable” continues to reverberate in the news. Katha Pollitt has our analysis, and rebuts Vance’s argument that …

Kamala's first 10 days have been "what any candidate would dream of" – and have given the Democrats an "energy jolt". Also, Donald's bad day with the largest annual gathering of Black journalists –Harold Meyerson comments. Next: Every four years, people die, people turn 18 and the electorate changes. Steve Philips reports on the new electorate. Plu…

America ready to elect a Black woman president? Harold Meyerson examines the opportunities facing Kamala Harris, and the obstacles to be overcome. Also: Democrats in Arizona are engaged in massive organizing to win an abortion rights referendum, elect a senator, and flip a House seat. And they are facing an Arizona Republican Party that is pretty c…

After surviving the assassination attempt: Is Trump capable of sticking with his new feeling of gratitude, calm, and unity, or are anger and megalomania built into his DNA? Harold Meyerson comments. Also: Kamala Harris – could she replace Biden on the ticket? Should she? Joan Walsh has our report. Plus, from the archives: the song “Mack the Knife” …

Where do we stand with Joe Biden – today? More Democrats are saying Biden needs to step down – Harold Meyerson comments. Also: During the Supreme Court term that just ended, the conservative majority granted new constitutional rights to hedge fund managers, big business—and Donald Trump. David Cole explains the shocking decisions that have transfor…