Trans Youth Under Attack; Biden’s Infrastructure Plan and U.S. Capitalism

Political Misfits

Jules Gill-Peterson, Associate Professor of English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, and author of the book ““Histories of the Transgender Child,” joins us in a conversation about latest battles to protect trans youth and trans rights that have come under assault in the states of Arkansas and South Dakota, with several other GOP led initiatives targeting trans communities. We also talk about how these are narrowly identified and represented along class and racial lines in the mainstream media and within dominant liberal narratives, the need to broaden definitions to be more inclusive and representative, and how right-wing groups use these attacks as a cudgel that threaten to erase trans people from history.
Dr. Jack Rasmus, economist, radio show host & author of 'The Scourge of Neoliberalism: US Economic Policy from Reagan to Trump,” joins us to talk about President Biden’s new infrastructure bill, how it aims to save American capitalism and reinvigorate public investment, the prospects of it being approved in Congress, how achievable its goals will be, and how investment in research and development could be enlisted in a potential economic war with China. We also talk about the fight over how this plan will be funded that has involved conversations about raising the corporate tax rate, borrowing money, and instituting regressive policies like a gasoline tax.
In our Miss the Press segment, hosts Michelle Witte and Bob Schlehuber talk about Chuck Todd’s admiration for Biden’s pragmatism and the flawed logic of this praise, and Chris Christie’s fit over Biden’s criticism of the Georgia voting rights bill which led MLB to move its all-star game from Atlanta.
The Misfits also talk about the fight for the $15 minimum wage, and how even huge corporations are recognizing that it would not hurt business or raise the costs of consumer goods, the Hunter Biden interview on CBS, Amazon’s PR disaster fighting off unionization efforts, Facebook data leaks, and an impending flood of toxic wastewater in Florida.