Sam hosts David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to touch on the big weekend in news, as well as all of the fantastic journalism going on at the Prospect. He and Sam kick it off with his recent piece “The Accidental Revolution,” first covering the absolute state of despair within the Democratic Party, from Biden’s low (and falling) approval rating, poor midterm polling, and a 2024 election map that makes it unlikely for the Democratic majority to last, all paving the road for a worst-case scenario for a filibuster-proof Republican majority in the Senate. Next, they jump to the main villain of the Democratic party under the Biden Administration, looking to Joe Manchin’s booming approval rating in WV, and get into what we can learn from the Democrats’ failures with Build Back Better, whether it be the ineffectiveness of trying to pack something for every silo of the party into a single bill, the absurdity of interest groups just shoving legislative possibilities together, and how the reconciliation process provides limited opportunity to get anything done. However, as David continues, he and Sam dive into what the American Rescue Plan alongside Democratic inaction has made room for, looking at the bill as a restoration of pre-pandemic employment rates, bolstering worker ability in the labor market, with the following great resignation preceding the biggest boom in labor organizing during the neoliberal era, seeing the largest employers in the country (Starbucks, Amazon, etc) get organized from the bottom up. Expanding on this, David and Sam dive into the role of labor in American party politics, and the hope of a labor party (either separate from the Democrats or by taking over leadership) finally coming to fruition as the true “accidental revolution” they are hoping for. Next, they look to the reaction to the other consequences of the American Rescue Plan, at its interaction with the supply chain’s effect on inflation, what Fed tactics to tighten up the labor market might mean for workers, and why addressing supply-based inflation with demand-based solutions is a complete mistake. They wrap up the interview by talking about Elon Musk’s Twitter bid, and what is happening to the subscription model (particularly in journalism) amidst massive inflation. Sam also covers DeSantis’s election crimes office bill, Marjorie Taylor Greene shooting the insurrection shit with Mark Meadows, and Jane McAlevey’s response to yesterday’s call on organizing social workers.

And in the Fun Half: Sam is joined by Nomiki Konst as they cover Fox’s Kennedy discussing the true problem in American culture: educating our kids for free, and Steven Crowder gets deep into the truly confusing topics (gay sex, how does penis go into penis??) as he tactfully (not at all) links homosexuality and pedophilia. Piers Morgan and Donald Trump discuss the stupidity of various key leaders in the Republican Party, and Sam notes how Trump’s body language constantly reflects his rightful place on the porcelain throne, Tucker Carlson dives into savior Elon Musk and his bid to rescue Twitter from the clutches of the powerful elite, and McCarthy goes to the border to do some grassroots whataboutism. Sam and Nomiki also touch on the inaction within the chaos of the Democratic party and their inability to deal with party politics, plus your IMs!

Check out David’s piece here: https://prospect.org/politics/accidental-revolution-american-rescue-plan/