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Trump Proposal Would Endanger the Health and Safety of Nursing Home Residents
Fair Arbitration Now Coalition Leads Week of Action to Protect Seniors
WASHINGTON
More than 75 organizations in the Fair Arbitration Now (FAN) Coalition are leading a week of action aimed at stopping the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) from reversing critical protections for nursing home residents harmed by mistreatment and legal violations. CMS is seeking public comment by Monday, Aug. 7 on its plans to weaken the rule.
Last year, the Obama administration issued a rule prohibiting forced arbitration "rip-off clauses" in nursing home contracts. These clauses deny residents access to the courts to seek compensation for fraud, abuse or neglect - instead forcing them to seek redress before corporate-friendly arbitrators, with hearings that are held in secret and biased against residents, and offer few grounds for appeal.
Nursing home admissions can be a stressful and confusing time for seniors and their families, who are in no position to evaluate the coercive fine-print terms in contracts. Nor are they likely to appreciate the important constitutional rights they are giving up by entering into a forced arbitration agreement or walk away from the contract if they object to provisions intended to rip them off.
The Obama administration rule was a major step forward for nursing home residents' rights to hold abusive nursing homes accountable.
The attempted reversal by the Trump administration would hurt nursing home residents and their families at a time when they are already vulnerable. FAN joins the organizations standing up this week to demand that the administration reverse course.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Schumer Among Top Dems Who Marched at NYC Israel Parade With Accused ‘War Criminal’ Smotrich
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the "annihilation" of Gaza and has led forced displacement efforts in the West Bank.
Jun 01, 2026
Numerous headlines over the weekend focused on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's decision not to attend the city's Israel Day Parade on Sunday, with Israeli officials condemning his absence and outlets emphasizing that he was breaking "with a decades-long political custom because of his support of Palestinian rights."
But with the Israeli government's approval rating plummeting among the US public, including Jewish Americans, since Israel began its US-backed assault on Gaza more than two-and-a-half years ago, progressives were asking not why Mamdani skipped the parade—but why top Democratic officials such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) chose to take part in it, especially considering the involvement of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The International Criminal Court requested a warrant for Smotrich's arrest last month over his efforts to forcibly expel thousands of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank, a violation of international law. He has played a key role in efforts to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which have ramped up since October 2023, when Israel began attacking Gaza's entire population of over 2 million Palestinians in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack. He also publicly called for the "annihilation" of Gaza in 2024.
The New York Times reported that Smotrich was not part of Israel's official delegation that was sent to take part in the annual parade, whose theme this year was "Proud Americans, Proud Zionists," but he marched nonetheless.
The Israeli government sent about 10 members of the Israeli Knesset to take part in the event, including two members of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit Party. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who said last year that Israel was “rushing toward Gaza being wiped out," was also part of the delegation.
As Smotrich was joining establishment Democratic figures from New York state in the parade—including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, US Rep. Dan Goldman, Attorney General Letitia James, and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin—Ben-Gvir on Sunday was publicly calling for the Israel Defense Forces to "flatten" Beirut's suburbs in the IDF's incursion into Lebanon—"a direct incitement to mass civilian destruction," according to Middle East Eye.
"Why is it controversial for Zohran to skip a parade because of his principles but not for Democratic politicians to march with a fascist bigot like Smotrich?" asked Ben Rhodes, a former national security official under the Obama administration.
At the parade, Schumer spoke about his view that Jewish Americans' "security and our safety is never safe as long as we lack a place of refuge, a homeland," but Ali Abunimah, director of Electronic Intifada, wondered how the Senate leader's involvement in a parade with officials who have openly called for ethnic cleansing would make hundreds of thousands of Muslim New Yorkers, including thousands of Palestinian Americans, feel about their own safety.
"How can all New Yorkers feel safe, especially Muslims and Palestinians, when the New York City police commissioner marches with genocidal criminals like Smotrich for the same supremacist cause?" said Abunimah, suggesting Commissioner Jessica Tisch should be removed for her involvement in the parade. "Would Mayor Zohran Mamdani keep a police chief who marched with [the Ku Klux Klan]?"
The city's Democratic Socialists of America chapter called for Smotrich to "be arrested to face justice for his horrific crimes against Palestinians and humanity," and said that "every politician who marched with him aligned themselves with Israel’s crimes."
Along with the participation of Smotrich and Eliyahu, Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed noted that at the parade, the flag of the IDF's Golani Battalion, which was behind the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics in Rafah last year, was displayed at the event.
Beth Miller, the political director for Jewish Voice for Peace, took issue with a statement by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that condemned Mamdani for not taking part in the parade, calling it "the city's largest and most visible Jewish celebration."
"It's antisemitic to conflate Jews and Israel. Which is exactly what the ADL is doing by calling the 'Israel Day Parade' a 'Jewish celebration,'" said Miller. "As a Jewish person who lives here, I'm pretty fucking glad we finally have a mayor who isn't at a parade celebrating atrocity crimes."
Ryan Grim of Drop Site News pointed out that while New York City was welcoming the Israeli delegation, including officials from the country's extreme right, commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur were barred from entering the United Kingdom. Both have vehemently criticized Israel and were flagged as potentially not being "conducive to the public good.”
Journalist Krystal Ball of the online show "Breaking Points" said sardonically that the two concurrent events displayed "Western values."
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Sanders Sovereign Wealth Fund Plan Would Give US Public 'Direct Ownership Stake' in AI Giants
Sen. Bernie Sanders said his new bill would "guarantee that the trillions of dollars potentially generated by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us—not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer."
Jun 01, 2026
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday announced he will soon introduce legislation that would give the American public "a direct ownership stake" in the largest artificial intelligence companies in the US by establishing a sovereign wealth fund, which would ensure everyone benefits from the rapidly advancing technology.
Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in a New York Times op-ed that his American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would create the new fund by imposing a one-time, 50% tax on the stock of OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI behemoths. The sovereign wealth fund, a government-owned investment vehicle, would both "give the public a direct role in determining the future of this technology" and "guarantee that the trillions of dollars potentially generated by AI are used to improve the lives of all of us—not simply to make the richest people in the world even richer."
The senator emphasized that "this is not an original idea," noting that scholars and even leading AI companies have proposed some version of a public wealth fund to broadly distribute AI-related gains. Sanders also observed that Norway and Alaska have sovereign wealth funds, and that "even President [Donald] Trump, in an executive order, has proposed establishing an American sovereign wealth fund."
"I recognize that for the government to have a major stake in a company, particularly one for which AI is only part of its business, is complicated," Sanders wrote. "More details—including the specific spending priorities and the mechanics of implementation—will be included in the legislation I unveil in the coming weeks."
"But the principle is simple: When a public resource generates wealth, the public should share in that wealth. AI is being built on a public resource far more valuable than oil: the accumulated knowledge, creativity, and labor of mankind," he continued. "The future of AI and the fate of humanity must not be decided behind closed doors in Silicon Valley. It must not be dictated by billionaires seeking to maximize their power and profit. It must be decided by workers, parents, teachers, artists, scientists, communities and the American people. It’s our future. We must decide it."
Sanders has been among the most prominent voices expressing grave concerns about the potential for AI to turbocharge inequality and spark catastrophic unemployment. Last year, Sanders' office released a report warning that AI could eliminate nearly 100 million US jobs over the next decade.
"Corporations are already using AI to cut jobs. Amazon, Walmart, UnitedHealth Group, JPMorgan Chase, and other companies are openly telling investors that AI will allow them to slash payrolls—even as they post tens of billions in profits and reward CEOs with pay packages of $25 million, $35 million or more," the report said.
Sanders' call for an AI sovereign wealth fund comes days after a pair of progressive lawmakers—Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas)—separately called for new taxes on AI to fund jobs initiatives, universal healthcare, and other programs to prevent the kinds of large-scale economic displacement that experts and corporate executives say is looming.
“Taxing AI is one way we make sure the winnings from AI benefit all Americans, rather than channeling them only to the wealthy few," Warren wrote in TIME last week. "If millions of people lose their jobs to AI, we’ll need the funds to deliver universal healthcare so those workers are not bankrupted by a visit to the doctor."
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‘Absurd and Cowardly’: Labour Government Slammed for Barring Hasan Piker, Cenk Uygur From UK
"An Israeli politician who oversaw genocide? Here's a red carpet!" one critic said in response to the ban.
Jun 01, 2026
The UK government is drawing heavy criticism for barring Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker, two prominent critics of Israel, from entering the country.
According to a Monday report from The Guardian, the UK's Home Office cancelled electronic travel authorizations (ETA) for both Uygur and Piker on grounds that their presence in the country "may not be conducive to the public good."
Uygur took to social media shortly afterward and said the UK banned him due to his criticisms of Israeli influence over US policy.
"I didn't get banned for criticizing the UK, but for criticizing Israel," Uygur wrote. "They broke the irony record by saying it was because I said Israel might control other governments."
"Think about it," Uygur added, "if I had said that the Israeli government controls the British government so thoroughly that they'll ban someone from coming to the UK just for criticizing Israel, they would have said that was an antisemitic statement. This is absolutely Kafkaesque."
Shortly after Uygur's post, Piker, who is Uygur's nephew, accused the UK government of barring him for similar reasons.
"The UK has revoked my visa as well," Piker wrote. "All at the behest of Israel. The west is betraying 'liberal values' for a genocidal fascist foreign government."
UK commentator Owen Jones noted the "double standard" in the UK's decision to bar Israel critics such as Uygur and Piker, but not applying the same restrictions to Israeli politicians who have engaged in genocidal rhetoric against Palestinians.
"An Israeli politician who oversaw genocide? Here's a red carpet!" wrote Jones. "And you can say anything, however murderous, about Palestinians and freely enter. If you say: 'I'm glad Israel wiped Gaza from the face of the earth,' in you come!"
Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the UK Labour Party, the current ruling party whose government decided to bar the two Israel critics, described the move as "an absurd and cowardly decision from an increasingly authoritarian government."
"Let us call this what it is," Corbyn added, "an attack on the freedom to criticize Israel, as well as the UK government’s own complicity in genocide."
Jemimah Steinfeld, chief executive of the Index on Censorship, told The Guardian that the ban is "paternalistic" on the government's part because it "assumes we are just passive consumers of views rather than people who can think, judge, and challenge."
Steinfeld also predicted that the ban would ultimately be ineffective.
"It confers an underdog status to the people not allowed to enter, it could embolden other countries to follow suit, and it feels fairly meaningless in the internet age where people can simply go online to hear what they have to say," she said. "Free speech is tested by hard cases and, in this instance, the UK is failing."
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