December, 07 2021, 08:52am EDT
Patriotic Millionaires Target Senator Sinema With Pressure Campaign Over Carried Interest Loophole
The group took out full page ads with letter to Sinema in major Arizona newspapers, will protest outside her district offices with mobile billboard;
Campaign aims to pressure Sinema to support tax increases on rich to pay for Biden’s full Build Back Better Agenda
PHOENIX, Ariz.
Today, the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy business leaders and investors, launched a public campaign calling on Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to close the carried interest loophole, which allows billionaire private equity investors to pay lower taxes than most hard-working Americans. Members of the group, including Arizona-based member Karen Stewart, a former Certified Financial Planner and finance professor, have taken out full-page ads in local newspapers and will be protesting outside Sinema's district office to engage constituents and staffers directly about the pressing need to eliminate the special treatment the tax code affords the wealthiest Americans.
The campaign comes in response to Sinema's refusal to support closing the carried interest loophole to make the U.S. tax system more fair and to help pay for President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Agenda. Sinema is the only member of the Democratic Party in the Senate who is opposed to the measure.
Erica Payne, President and Founder of the Patriotic Millionaires, said,
"The carried interest is the most intellectually-indefensible, morally-unforgivable loophole in the entire tax code, and Senator Sinema's defense of it is patently absurd. Every Democrat in the Senate, even Joe Manchin, is on board with closing this ridiculous loophole except for Senator Sinema. It's time for her to decide who she works for: Arizonans, or private equity billionaires.
Karen Stewart, Arizona resident and Member of the Patriotic Millionaires, said,
"Senator Kyrsten Sinema's support for preserving the carried interest loophole for Wall Street elites comes at the expense of the tax-paying voters in her own backyard. Special interests and wealthy lobbyists should not decide the future of our nation. What American families need right now are lawmakers willing to prioritize them over the millionaires and billionaires, not a mouthpiece for the already rich and powerful."
On Tuesday, the Patriotic Millionaires also paraded a mobile billboard outside Sinema's Phoenix office, Grand Canyon University, the Arizona State Capitol, and Cronkite School of Journalism throughout the day. The billboard featured THIS image, a challenge in response to Senator Sinema's "internship" at a winery owned by private equity billionaire Bill Price.
In addition, Stewart and Payne joined Patriotic Millionaires Chair and former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl and the rest of the group's membership in penning an open letter to Sinema that appeared as a full-page ad in major local papers across the state on Tuesday. Below is an excerpt from the letter to Sinema:
"Do you think working people in Arizona should pay TWICE the tax rate on their income that multimillionaire investors like us, the members of the Patriotic Millionaires, pay on our income? Do you think that Wall Street fund managers - people who manage money for millionaires and billionaires like us but who have none of their own capital at risk - should pay HALF the tax rate on their income that working people in Arizona pay on their income?"
Full text of the letter can be found HERE.
The campaign in Arizona is part of the Patriotic Millionaires' ongoing effort to pressure legislators to support President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda and fully fund his plan through new taxes on the wealthy.
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
(202) 446-0489LATEST NEWS
200+ Global Groups Implore Congress to Prevent Trump Nuclear Attack on Iran
"The use of even a single nuclear weapon in Iran would destroy a taboo that has held since Nagasaki, with unimaginable consequences for all humanity."
Oct 30, 2026
As Iran's government takes steps to prepare the nation's people for a possible US nuclear attack, more than 200 global civil society groups on Friday implored Congress to act to stop President Donald Trump from using doomsday weapons to end his illegal 228-day war of choice that he's been unable to win by conventional means.
"In recent weeks, President Trump has threatened to 'hit Iran hard' after the US midterm elections next week," the groups—who are members of the Back From the Brink Coalition—said in a statement to congressional lawmakers. "On October 15, President Trump stated that he would not use nuclear weapons against Iran. But frequent, abrupt changes of policy have become a staple feature of his presidency, and the single statement that he will not use nuclear weapons stands against a string of threats to do just that."
As the statement noted:
On April 7, he declared, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” On May 18, he posted an [artificial intelligence]-generated image of himself pushing a red button with nuclear explosions appearing on monitors behind him. On June 8, he threatened Iran, warning that “we have the ultimate alternative, hopefully never to be used again.” On September 20, he told a reporter, “My question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up?” Speaking at the [United Nations] on September 23, he asked, “Do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly?”
"We cannot discount these as idle threats," the coalition stressed. "The use of even a single nuclear weapon in Iran would destroy a taboo that has held since Nagasaki, with unimaginable consequences for all humanity. The US president should not have the unchecked authority to launch nuclear war."
"We call on the United States Congress to act now to assert its constitutional role as the only branch of government empowered to declare war—and to make clear that it does not authorize or condone the use of nuclear weapons in Iran," the statement concludes.
Despite passing various authorizations for the use of military force, Congress has not declared war since World War II. Since that conflict—which ended with the US waging the only nuclear war in history—the United States has attacked dozens of nations.
The 1973 War Powers Resolution, passed as the US killed hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians during the Vietnam War, was an attempt to check presidents' powers to wage war without congressional authority. However, only a small handful of war powers resolutions have been passed by the full Congress—most recently this year, ordering Trump to end hostilities against Iran—and none have succeeded in stopping any military action.
Democratic members of Congress have expressed alarm at the specter of a Trump nuclear war on Iran. Hinting at the possibility, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Thursday at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC that he was recently briefed on "what the war plan would be if we restarted military operations" after the midterms, as threatened by the president.
"I will just say this, their plan is insane," Murphy continued. "It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law."
"The plan that they have developed will lead, in my view, to a prolongment and an escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests," he added.
Meanwhile, Iran is stepping up preparations for a resumption of US-Israeli attacks, including nuclear strikes. The government is currently holding a "Civil Defense Week" focused on "public preparedness, protecting people and national assets, and ensuring government support for the continuity of essential services," according to state-run Press TV.
Earlier this week, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC)—which is not one of the groups listed on Friday's statement—said that "Trump’s continued threats to annihilate an entire civilization and unleash even more destructive weapons are unconscionable. There is no military solution to this crisis, and another round of attacks would only deepen the suffering of civilians and risk igniting an even wider regional war."
“The Trump administration must change course and should invest in the multilateral regional diplomacy that is underway rather than continuing its destabilizing threats to renew attacks," the group continued. "Congress must also act to prevent further unauthorized military action when it returns after the upcoming election."
"There is still a path away from disaster," NIAC added, "but it requires choosing negotiations over confrontation.”
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Vance's Exchange With Voter on Affordability Exemplifies Why He Should Be 'Eminently Beatable' in 2028
"This is a real issue and a great question," said one observer. "JD turns it into a joke. Great closing message, dude."
Oct 30, 2026
The question posed by Kate White, vice president of the Turning Point USA chapter at Texas Christian University, at Vice President JD Vance's town hall on Thursday night was one that most politicians in his position would knock "out of the park," said one policy expert.
Armed with note cards and addressing the issue at the top of voters' and campaigns' priority lists—affordability—as well as the White House's push for Americans to have more children, White asked the vice president to explain how he and others on the right "expect us to start families young."
"A constant message that my generation hears from the right is to get married young, have kids young, have as many kids as possible, and I think what the right doesn't acknowledge most of the time is how disincentivized we are currently because of the cost of owning a home, and the general expenses of raising a family," said the student.
"The average price of a home in America now costs more than $415,000, which just feels out of reach for us,” she added.
Unfortunately for White and anyone watching the Fox News town hall who might be interested to know about ideas Vance had to bring down the cost of housing or ensure young Americans can more easily afford to start families by addressing high childcare and healthcare prices, the vice president appeared to stall for time with a joke about one of President Donald Trump's recent favorite topics: the physique of US Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).
Vance pointed out that while he had been asked four or five questions up to that point in the event, he had "only been asked one question about John Husted's ass, and it was by Jesse Watters," the Fox anchor who was hosting the town hall.
Q: How does the right and yourself expect us to start families young when the average price of a home in America costs more than $415,000 which feels out of reach for us.Vance: The reason why housing exploded is in part because we allowed 20 million illegal aliens into our country to buy homes that ought by right go to American citizens.
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 30, 2026
Patrick T. Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, observed that "the president’s seeming fascination with the body of the Ohio Senate candidate is starting to cause weird message discipline problems" in the remaining days before the pivotal midterm elections.
Trump has taken to commenting frequently on the bodies of other Republican male lawmakers, including Husted, sharing, apropos of nothing, at a recent rally: “I examined his ass, and then I looked at his shoulders. I looked at his feet. I looked at his hand. I looked at his jawline. Studied him."
He has made similar comments about US Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), Georgia's Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, while insulting the appearance of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for the Senate.
Trump's fixation contributed to Vance's failure to clearly answer what one observer called "a great question" about "a real issue" that's facing many young people.
Vance ultimately replied that White was "right" and that "most Republicans don't" pay enough attention to Americans' struggles to afford essentials and the cost of raising a family, before asserting that he is "an exception."
"Our entire movement and certainly, I think, the president of the United States, is very focused on 'how do we make it possible for young people to afford the basic components of an American dream?'" continued Vance. "That means good healthcare, that means if you work hard and play by the rules, you get a good job, you're able to buy and a house and all those things."
The vice president didn't elaborate on how the Trump administration has made those "components of an American dream" possible for young people like White. A report by the Commonwealth Fund this month found that the Republican Party's cuts to Medicaid and its refusal to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies led to the uninsured rate among working-age adults rising from 8.9% in 2024 to 11.2% this year.
The loss of the subsidies led premiums to rise by an average of 26% for insurance plans purchased through the ACA.
The president also refused to sign a bipartisan bill aimed at lowering the cost of housing this year, while his tariff policy and his illegal war on Iran have been blamed for sending the prices of gas, groceries, and other goods soaring. Mass deportation operations like the ones Trump has overseen have also been linked to reduced construction labor, resulting in fewer completed homes and higher home prices.
Instead of outlining what he believes the Republican Party has done to put home ownership and parenthood within reach for more Americans, Vance pivoted to a well-worn, debunked theory that's been pushed by Trump: "The reason why housing exploded in America is in part because we allowed 20 million illegal aliens into our country to buy homes that ought by right go to American citizens."
At MS NOW, Steve Benen wrote that "Vance’s statistic is wildly inflated and totally at odds with actual data—the idea that 20 million undocumented immigrants have the resources to buy up American real estate is nonsensical."
Benen noted that another factor Vance pointed to, a ban on Wall Street investors buying up homes, "actually made some sense, though it touched on a problem Vance neglected to mention"—that the ban was part of the bipartisan housing bill that Trump refused to support.
Vance concluded by suggesting that young people should simply start families even if they are struggling to afford groceries, housing, childcare, student loan payments, and other necessities.
"Go ahead and do it, because you’re never going to regret getting married and having kids," he said.
Aside from the lapses in logic within the vice president's answer to the question, journalist Ahmed Baba said his approach to the exchange displayed "the political instincts of a gnat. The charisma of a concrete slab. The saucelessness of an unseasoned chicken. Unprecedented levels of lame."
Should Vance, widely seen as the successor to Trump's MAGA movement, become the Republican presidential nominee in 2028, said journalist Mehdi Hasan, "he will be eminently beatable. He is an awful politician."
Campaign strategist Charles Monaco said the exchange illustrated how the people in Trump's orbit "have so long ago given up on their most basic job of answering to voters."
"All they do," he said, "is answer to the increasingly deranged attention vortex of Trump."
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As Big Oil Reports Billions in Q3 Profits, Climate Groups Say Tax Them to 'Protect Communities'
A Greenpeace campaigner said the revenue should be used to help everyday people deal with "price shocks and extreme weather, and accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels."
Oct 30, 2026
As US fossil fuel giants on Friday followed European companies in reporting their soaring profits for the third quarter of this year, and as President Donald Trump's illegal Iran War drives up prices worldwide, climate campaigners renewed calls to tax the corporations wrecking the planet.
Chevron and ExxonMobil respectively reported adjusted earnings of $10.4 billion and $17.5 billion for July-September, a day after UK-based Shell and the French firm TotalEnergies said their adjusted earnings were $10.8 billion and $9.1 billion—announcements that all came after Trump, who is personally invested in the industry, bragged that "we're making a freaking fortune."
Collectively, major firms in the United States have "earned more than $130 billion in profit as people pay much higher prices for gasoline, diesel, and other fuel," The New York Times reported Friday, after analyzing "the performance of more than 50 large US oil and gas companies, most of them producers or refiners, in the six months from April through September."
Not only are fossil-fuel companies killing people with pollution and helping to destroy the conditions for life on this planet, they absolutely flourish when there’s war.Has there ever been a more demonic industry?
[image or embed]
— Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) (@doctorvive.bsky.social) October 30, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Meanwhile, as greenhouse gases in the atmosphere climb to unprecedented highs ahead of the next United Nations climate summit, COP31, the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University estimates US residents have paid at least $81.5 billion more for gasoline and over $66 billion for diesel, or a total of $147.8 billion, since Trump began bombing Iran in February.
"Trump called on polluters to finance his campaign as a quid pro quo in exchange for his administration doing all it can to tear down protections for people and the environment," Sierra Club's director of beyond fossil fuels policy, Mahyar Sorour, noted Thursday. "That $1 billion campaign investment is bringing big returns for the biggest oil and gas companies that heeded the call and are now expected to double their Q3 earnings over last year as energy prices skyrocket due to Trump's war in Iran."
"It's not just Big Oil that is profiting off of Trump's action: The president himself is lining his own pockets and bragging about it on stage while Americans struggle to make ends meet," Sorour stressed. "Trump does not care about people's health or about building a secure, clean energy future. He cares about himself and his friends in Big Oil getting richer. We need to rein in Big Oil and Gas profiteering and enact a windfall profits tax."
Rebecca Newsom, global political lead at Greenpeace International, pointed out Friday that "every time a crisis pushes up the prices, the same oil and gas giants are there to cash in. This is fossilflation. The rest of us pay, at the pump, at the checkout, and again through the climate disasters driven by the fuels the industry intends to extract down to the last barrel."
"This is where decades of fossil fuel dependence have led us, and governments that keep letting these corporations off the hook are leaving households to foot the bill," she continued. "It doesn't have to be this way. If governments permanently increase taxes on oil and gas profits and clamp down on corporate profit shifting, hundreds of billions of dollars could be raised, while supercharging a shift in investment towards cleaner, more secure renewable energy."
According to Newsom, "That revenue should protect communities from price shocks and extreme weather, and accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels."
Candice Fortin, US campaigns manager at the group 350.org, highlighted that the fossil fuel industry's latest profit reports came just days before Americans head to the polls next Tuesday for elections that will determine control of Congress for the rest of Trump's second term.
"As we head into the midterms, energy affordability is on everyone's minds," she said. "Families and small businesses want reliable electricity they can afford, and communities want a say in how their land, water, and energy resources are used. Yet as people struggle with energy bills and the impacts of extreme weather, the biggest oil companies are forecast to make billions."
"We need an energy system that puts people first," Fortin argued. "That means protecting households from losing access to essential electricity during extreme heat and cold, expanding affordable solar and wind power, and ensuring that new sources of electricity demand, including data centers, do not drive up bills or place additional pressure on communities. It also means making sure oil and gas companies pay their fair share towards the costs of the crisis, rather than leaving the public to pick up the bill."
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'Absurd and Outrageous': UK Bars Entry to Climate Scholar, Palestinian Rights Advocate Andreas Malm
"This is a drift toward authoritarianism that didn't begin with me, and it's not going to end with me either."
Oct 30, 2026
The United Kingdom's Labour government has barred Swedish climate scholar and Palestinian rights advocate Andreas Malm from entering the country, without explanation, just days before he was scheduled to speak at a conference that will also feature a cofounder of Palestine Action—an organization banned by the UK government on highly dubious grounds.
Malm, an author and associate professor of human ecology at Sweden's Lund University, said Friday that he was "dismayed" by the UK Home Office's decision this week to cancel his Electronic Travel Authorization, noting that he has "been going to the UK for decades—this is where I did my archival research for my PhD dissertation and lectured at dozens of universities and participated in even more conferences."
Malm said the UK government's move was "nothing short of scandalous," and he linked the decision to his scheduled appearance at the conference organized by the socialist magazine Tribune. The event was billed as a discussion of "domination and resistance in the age of [US President Donald] Trump," featuring Malm and Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori.
"This is a drift toward authoritarianism that didn't begin with me, and it's not going to end with me either," Malm told Al Jazeera. "If I'm now being deemed a threat to the public good because I'm supposed to have a conversation with someone from Palestine Action, this is guilt by association."
Verso Books, Malm's publisher—including of his 2025 book The Destruction of Palestine Is the Destruction of the Earth—said in a statement Friday that it is "shocked and disturbed by the Labour government’s decision to ban one of our leading authors."
"Never in over 55 years of publishing has a British government revoked the right of one of our authors to enter the country," said Tariq Ali, the chair of Verso's board of directors. "We can only assume, since no reasons have been given for banning him, that Andreas' positions on Palestine, no different from the [International Criminal Court] and UN commissions, is the cause."
"Verso Books condemns the silencing of critical voices and stands in support of writers and scholars who continue to speak out about important issues and contribute to open intellectual discourse," Ali added. "We urge the government to restore Andreas Malm's electronic travel authorisation immediately and allow him entry into the country."
Jeremy Corbyn, the former UK Labour leader who now serves as the Your Party MP for Islington North, joined the chorus denouncing the cancellation of Malm's travel authorization.
"This is an absurd and outrageous decision," Corbyn wrote on social media. "What kind of society are we living in where world-renowned authors and campaigners are treated as enemies and threats? The real threat is this government’s assault on freedom of expression."
"This is not an isolated incident—and the government should know that it is gaining a bad reputation for censorship and repression," added Corbyn. "We know why the government has taken this decision: because it wants to silence criticism of Israel, as well as its own complicity in genocide. It will not succeed."
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With 'Largest Coordinated Port Action Ever,' Dockworkers in 22 Countries Strike Against Gaza Genocide
"We, the workers in the ports, know very well that without us nothing moves. Without our hands, containers remain still, ships are not loaded, the war machines are blocked."
Oct 30, 2026
Dockworkers in more than 20 countries—from France to India to Greece—are withholding their labor on Friday to demand an end to Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza and highlight the role that commercial ports play in fueling deadly militarism worldwide.
Organizers said the work stoppages, led by dockworkers' unions at 113 ports across 22 countries, would be the "largest coordinated port action ever," easily surpassing the international day of action held in February. No Harbour for Genocide, a collective of trade unions and others supporting the day of action, said $2.8 billion worth of cargo will be halted at Mediterranean ports, where workers are planning to strike for 24 hours.
"A cargo refused in one port sails on to the next," said No Harbour for Genocide. "Refused in every port, it stops, and the workers have enforced the embargo that governments announced and did not."
In a joint statement last month announcing the day of action, dockworkers' unions from Türkiye, Morocco, Italy, France, Greece, Italy, and Basque Country laid out their demands:
- An immediate end to the genocide of the Palestinian people and the opening of safe corridor for humanitarian aid.. An end of colonization, occupation and apartheid imposed to Palestinian People and the recognition of an independent Palestinian state recognized by the international community on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
- An end to the war in the Middle East. No support, no facilitation, no participation in the US-Israeli war against Iran, Lebanon or any other imperialist intervention. Military fleets and bases out of the region. We express our full solidarity to the people of Cuba and Venezuela and Sudan menaced by US imperialism and we call for defend people's sovereignty, resources, territorial integrity, peace with justice, and the right for resistance for self-determination.
- Ports must not be used for the transport of weapons, ammunition, military equipment and troops. We call on unions to strengthen vigilance, to inform workers, to expose the cargoes of war, and to organize mass collective resistance with all our rightful available means and our struggle.
- An end to the militarization of ports and critical infrastructure. Ports belong to the peoples and the workers. They are not bases for NATO, the USA or the EU, nor tools of shipowners and monopoly groups.
- No to the war economy and armaments. The money must go to wages, collective agreements, health, education, social needs, and the protection of life and safety at work.
- Health and safety measures in the workplaces. Not one worker dead for profits. An end to intensification, subcontracting, dangerous conditions, and employer arbitrariness.
- Collective agreements with real wage increases, stable jobs with rights, a retirement policy with better pensions, and a reduction of working time. Technological developments, mechanization, automation, the use of AI and the development of ports must serve the needs of workers, and not lead to the intensification of work or the disappearance of their jobs.
"Our strength lies in organization. It lies in our unions, in general assemblies, in collective decisions, in solidarity among workers from different countries," the unions said. "We, the workers in the ports, know very well that without us nothing moves. Without our hands, containers remain still, ships are not loaded, the war machines are blocked."
Al Jazeera noted that of the ports participating in Friday's actions, "Genoa, Livorno, and Gioia Tauro in Italy, Marseille in France, Piraeus in Greece, and Tangier in Morocco all have proven links to weapons shipments to Israel."
Dockworkers International Day of Action across 5 Continents and 113 PortsIn Pireaus, at COSCO’s terminals, dockworkers are holding the picket lines. Their message is clearDockworkers do not work for war! Ports for the peoples and for peace, not bases for imperialists! https://t.co/cpOwK8XLhV
— PAME Greece International (@PAME_Greece) October 30, 2026
The strikes come as Israel's genocide in Gaza continues despite a ceasefire agreement that putatively took effect last October. A United Nations report published earlier this week noted that "Israeli authorities and forces continue to commit genocidal acts" in Gaza "even after the so-called ceasefire agreement, with the intent to destroy the Palestinian people, in whole or in part."
The report found that Israel—which is armed and supported diplomatically by Western governments, principally the United States—has "committed war crimes and the crimes against humanity of extermination, persecution, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence" in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
Port Workers and Communities for Palestine said in a statement Friday that will be demonstrating at the Port of Elizabeth in New Jersey. The coalition said the New Jersey port is the only port on the East Coast of the US where a protest is expected. Demonstrations are also expected in Oakland and San Francisco, California.
"We know that, regardless of what union leadership may decide, workers everywhere stand in solidarity with Palestine," said Port Workers and Communities for Palestine. "We will be out there on Friday to show them that they are part of this movement too. Workers have the power to stop the war machine."
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'He Cannot Undo the Cruelty': Ramaswamy Stops Airing Vile Attack Ad After Over a Week of Outrage
"Vivek Ramaswamy should never have run his despicable ad in the first place, and it’s totally unsurprising that he took it off the air in the most cowardly way possible."
Oct 30, 2026
Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Thursday that his repulsive attack ad featuring his Democratic opponent's estranged biological mother will no longer air on television after more than a week of nationwide outrage.
Ramaswamy did not apologize for running the ad, in which Donna Arthur calls her daughter, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, a liar. The ad doesn't mention that Arthur lost custody of Acton and her brother after their stepfather—Arthur's husband—was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12.
Ramaswamy’s campaign initially planned to spend $4 million airing the ad in Ohio, but tracking data shows it spent just a quarter of that total.
"It ran to completion, and we've put up four other ads," Ramaswamy, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said during a campaign stop in Vandalia on Thursday.
Addie Bullock, a spokesperson for Acton's campaign, said in a statement on Thursday that "Vivek Ramaswamy should never have run his despicable ad in the first place, and it’s totally unsurprising that he took it off the air in the most cowardly way possible, without even the hint of an apology to Dr. Acton, her family, or to the people of Ohio."
Others said that discontinuing the ad doesn't reverse the damage inflicted by Ramaswamy, who—according to polling commissioned by a Republican group—has fallen further behind Acton in the days leading up to next week's midterms.
"Vivek Ramaswamy may have stopped airing his vicious attack on Amy Acton, but he cannot undo the cruelty of creating it," said civil rights attorney Areva Martin.
The ad began circulating on social media on October 19, without paid-for disclosures required by federal law. Ramaswamy confirmed two days later that his campaign was behind the ad, and announced plans to spend millions airing the spot even as it sparked bipartisan backlash—including from Ohio's outgoing Republican governor.
But US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance defended the ad, with Trump encouraging Ramaswamy to keep it on the air and dismissing Acton's account of childhood sexual assault.
“The Press is trying to convince everyone that this Ad is bad, because it’s so good!” Trump wrote in a social media post. “Who wouldn’t use such an Ad?”
The White House's public defense of the ad stands in contrast to the message Ramaswamy received privately from "multiple Republicans" before the spot aired, according to Zeteo.
“It’s siding with the rapist protector mom,” an unnamed Trump adviser told the outlet of Ramaswamy's ad. “This was never a good idea."
NEW on @zeteo_newsSources say Amy Acton's mom seemed mentally unwell when Ramaswamy's ad was filmed & she had trouble keeping a coherent narrative on the past.Some wanted to vet her more but *Ramaswamy himself* pushed ahead.@JSweetLI & Swin Suebsaeng:https://t.co/2yl7Vh0K5P
— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) October 28, 2026
Ramaswamy's ad led the editorial board of Ohio's largest newspaper, The Plain Dealer, to reverse its recently announced policy against endorsing candidates in major races and publish an endorsement of Acton.
"A candidate who uses childhood sexual abuse as a weapon against the person who endured it has crossed a line that Ohioans should defend, whatever their party," the editorial board wrote. "We are better than this. We have a responsibility to show it."
"And our endorsement of Acton rests on more than Ramaswamy’s failure to meet a basic standard of decency," the editorial added. "She has earned consideration on her own record, her preparation, and her commitment to the people she seeks to serve."
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Debt After Death: How Unchecked Corporate Power Even Makes Dying More Expensive
"No one should be forced into debt just to bury a loved one, but as corporations exploit families," said Groundwork Collaborative's leader, "loved ones are being driven to the brink to pay for a dignified death."
Oct 29, 2026
Americans are struggling with the soaring cost of living—and dying, according to a Groundwork Collaborative report released Thursday.
The think tank's associate director of policy and advocacy, Zoe Butler, analyzed data on related topics, from life insurance to funeral expenses, and explained how deaths—especially unexpected ones—can affect US households.
As "Death, Debt, and Paperwork: How the Business of Dying Is Burying American Families" details, "the average funeral now costs $7,726, before cemetery plots, headstones, and other add-ons that can push the total above $10,000."
Data from 2023 shows that "funeral homes charge a nondeclinable basic services fee of $2,495 for both cremation and burial, along with $395 to transfer the body to the funeral home," plus additional charges for using facilities for services. The report notes that "even lower-cost options still carry added fees, including about $400 for cremation and $295 for an urn."
"For burial, costs increase further with additional required services," the publication continues. "These include over $1,000 for embalming and other preparation of the body, as well as $2,500 for a casket. Burial also introduces a separate set of expenses outside the funeral home, including $1,000 to $3,000 for a headstone, around $1,000 for a burial vault, and $1,000 to $2,500 to open and close the grave."
"Prices have surged 310% since 1986, far outpacing overall inflation of 193%," Butler highlighted. "As prices increase, more families are going into debt to cover funerals, with the share rising from 14% in 2024 to 37% in 2025."
Deaths can also mean navigating probate, "the often costly legal process of settling a loved one's estate," she wrote. Probate fees can take 3-8%, so "even modest estates in probate can lead to thousands of dollars in legal and administrative expenses."
"For example, a family inheriting a $250,000 home may have to pay $7,500 to $20,000 in probate-related expenses," the document says. "Fewer than 1 in 4 Americans have a will, and just 13% have a living trust, one of the few tools that lets assets pass to heirs without going through probate."
Some families dealing with a relative's death are assisted by life insurance, but "coverage is uneven and increasingly inadequate," the report stresses. "Nearly half of Americans do not have life insurance, meaning many families cannot cover funeral expenses or manage immediate costs after a loss."
"Access to employer-sponsored coverage is also highly unequal," according to the analysis. "While 77% of full-time workers have access to employer-provided life insurance, only 14% of part-time workers do. Just 20% of workers in the bottom tenth of wages have access to coverage, compared to 91% of top earners."
Additionally, 40% of new policies "are term-limited rather than permanent, meaning coverage can expire before a person dies," the report explains—so some "families may spend years paying into life insurance policies that ultimately provide no support for funeral expenses or other end-of-life costs."
It not only catalogs the costs of death in the US, it also points out that "median household savings are roughly $8,200, meaning many households have little cushion to absorb these costs."
The publication also offers "a path forward," urging Congress to cut prices and boost transparency with legislation that would "require funeral homes to provide standardized and itemized pricing online, including all fees and third-party costs," as well as "prohibit hidden fees and forced bundling of services."
Other actions Congress could take include expanding the Social Security Death benefit and creating a basic life insurance program administered through the Social Security Administration. There are also several probate-related proposals for states and localities.
"No one should be forced into debt just to bury a loved one, but as corporations exploit families at their most vulnerable moments, more and more grieving loved ones are being driven to the brink to pay for a dignified death," said Groundwork president and CEO, Lindsay Owens in a statement.
"Funeral companies are raising prices, hiding costs, and taking advantage of a system that gives grieving families no time and no transparency," she added. "Policymakers must act to bring down prices, increase accountability, and ensure families can access what is already theirs without delay."
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Before Citizens United, Corporations Spent $12.8 Million on 2010 Elections. In 2026? $737 Million
"This election cycle shows beyond any doubt that we desperately need a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United," said the co-president of a prominent consumer advocacy group.
Oct 29, 2026
Data published Thursday by a leading consumer watchdog group revealed that corporate spending on US elections has soared by more than 5,000% since an infamous 2010 Supreme Court ruling that opened the floodgates of outside political contributions—a staggering increase that critics said underscored the need for major campaign finance reform.
Public Citizen released an analysis of newly filed federal campaign finance data showing that corporate political spending has grown exponentially since the 2010 midterm election cycle, the first of the Citizens United era.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission affirmed corporate personhood and that unlimited political spending by corporations, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other groups is a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment that government cannot restrict. The decision ushered in the era of super political action committees (PACs)—which can raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on campaigns—and secret spending on elections with so-called “dark money.”
According to the data studied by Public Citizen, corporate spending totaled $12.8 million for the 2010 election cycle. By the 2012 cycle, it had surged to $84.9 million. During the 2016 cycle, it spiked to $117.9 million.
NEW from @publiccitizen.bsky.social:Corporate money in the 2026 midterms has reached an unprecedented $737 million, October filings show.Full report: www.citizen.org/article/corp...
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— Rick Claypool (@rickclaypool.bsky.social) October 29, 2026 at 10:55 AM
For 2026, spending this cycle—over $737 million—accounts for "40% of the $1.8 billion corporations have spent on federal elections" since 2010," Public Citizen said.
"Cryptocurrency, online betting, and Big Tech interests—including companies involved in [artificial intelligence] and data centers—have collectively contributed $391 million toward the 2026 elections," the group noted. "This accounts for more than half of corporate political spending reported this cycle."
The analysis shows that the 50 largest donors and organizations had collectively contributed $2.77 billion, with Republican-aligned contributors accounting for roughly 60% of that amount.
Elon Musk—the world's richest person and first trillionaire in history—led the pack, giving over $445 million to conservative candidates and causes. This, after the tech titan and former de facto head of the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency poured more than a quarter billion dollars into the campaign coffers of then-former President Donald Trump's successful reelection bid and Republican congressional candidates during the 2024 cycle.
“Corporations are exploiting Citizens United to drive their political spending to unprecedented levels,” Robert Weissman, Public Citizen's co-president, said Thursday.
“These corporations aren’t investing this money because they are civic-minded or want to advance a particular viewpoint," he continued. "They are spending to buy influence, determine outcomes, and shape policy. This election cycle shows beyond any doubt that we desperately need a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and put the people, not corporations or the super rich, back in charge of elections."
Democrats are trying to do just that. Last year, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) led more than two dozen lawmakers in introducing the We the People Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would reverse Citizens United.
The following month, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led 39 upper chamber Democrats plus Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Angus King (I-Maine) in reintroducing the Democracy for All Amendment. The proposal would allow Congress and state legislatures to impose some limits on money raised and spent to influence elections, distinguish between people and corporations, and prohibit corporate election spending.
But it might not take a constitutional amendment—something that is exceedingly difficult to pass, by design—to undo Citizens United.
Mother Jones reported Thursday that Montana could become a testing ground for a new legal strategy to reverse the effects of the ruling without having to overturn the decision. Instead, Montana is challenging corporations’ legal powers under state law rather than targeting their constitutionally protected political "speech" in the form of spending.
The strategy, known as the Montana Plan, will be put to voters on Election Day in the form of Initiative 194, which would prohibit corporations, nonprofits, labor unions, trade associations, and other special interests from spending money to support or oppose candidates, political parties, or state and local ballot measures. Violators could forfeit their state-granted privileges, including limited liability.
If approved, it could provide a model for other states seeking to curb corporate political spending and anonymous campaign financing.
Other efforts include a Sanders-led push for the Democratic Party to ban super PAC and dark money spending in its primaries.
"We cannot allow billionaires and powerful corporate interests to continue undermining democracy by injecting unlimited amounts of money into the political process," Sanders and seven Senate backers of his proposal asserted last year.
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'They Are Terrorizing Us': Video Shows ICE Agents Slashing Tires of Lawful Observers
"We hope that sharing our story will bring attention to their reckless and unconstitutional attacks on our communities.”
Oct 29, 2026
A video taken from the car of two legal observers in the Portland, Oregon area shows an unmarked vehicle with emergency lights flashing, following close behind their car on a street in the suburb of Hillsboro.
About 15 seconds into the video, both cars stop and two masked people get out of the unmarked vehicle and approach the other car, with one carrying a sharp object that they use to puncture the back tire. They approach a second time a few seconds later, slashing the tire again.
Both of the masked people are wearing vests emblazoned with the name of their government agency: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The people who filmed the attack, identified as AP and MP in an administrative complaint filed with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday, had been observing and filming the agents in a Safeway parking lot in Hillsboro, and had used whistles and honked their car horn to alert people about ICE's presence, before the officers started following them.
Filming ICE agents and other federal officers who have been deployed to carry out President Donald Trump's mass deportation operation is legal under the First Amendment, as top DHS officials were forced to admit under oath last February.
At the time, people across the nation were reeling from the killings by DHS agents of two legal observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.
Numerous videos were posted on social media of federal agents threatening people and demanding that they stop exercising their constitutional right to film immigration enforcement operations, with one officer in Maine telling a woman her name would end up in a "nice little database" if she didn't stop recording him and that she'd be considered a "domestic terrorist."
In the administrative filing, the legal observers in Hillsboro emphasized that "what happened to us is not unique, and that is what is so terrifying."
“We observe and record public ICE activity in order to shine a light on their abusive behavior and to create a record of what our government is up to," they said. "Because of that, they are terrorizing us and anyone else who dares to exercise their First Amendment right to hold our government accountable. We hope that sharing our story will bring attention to their reckless and unconstitutional attacks on our communities.”
In the administrative complaint, filed by the ACLU and the ACLU of Oregon, the legal observers and their attorneys demanded that the DHS investigate the October 7 incident and discipline the agents who slashed the tire.
"In addition, we request that your offices undertake a comprehensive investigation of the pervasive pattern of ICE agents unlawfully retaliating against individuals who observe, gather information about, and record ICE agents performing their duties in public," reads the complaint. "We urge you to make recommendations for institutional changes to ICE training, oversight, and accountability consistent with your findings in order to prevent further abuses by ICE personnel. More specifically, we strongly urge ICE to adopt policies and implement training and instruction consistent with the First Amendment right to observe, gather information about, and record law enforcement officers performing their duties in public."
The ACLU has represented several observers who have been surveilled, intimidated, and harassed by federal agents for filming enforcement operations. In Memphis, Tennessee, the group has represented observers who have recorded the operations of the Memphis Safe Task Force, which is made up of more than 30 federal, state, and local agents who have spent more than a year "carrying out mass traffic and street stops and breaking into homes."
"Task Force agents are systematically retaliating against those who record them, including threatening to arrest them, stopping and questioning them without reasonable suspicion of any crime, sitting outside their homes, and even using excessive force against and arresting them," according to the ACLU.
The Hillsboro incident took place as DHS was threatening to target so-called "sanctuary" cities like Portland, where local police are restricted from participating in immigration enforcement operations.
“Masked federal officers have no business coming to Oregon to injure or intimidate people,” said Kelly Simon, legal director of the ACLU of Oregon. “Oregonians have the right to support their neighbors and communities by filming and documenting government abuses, and Oregonians should not have to fear retaliation when they exercise their right to record law enforcement.”
Scarlet Kim, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said that "the right to record publicly visible law enforcement activity is fundamental to our democracy."
"Like many people across the country, our clients have been observing and recording ICE activity in their community," she said. "These videos have proven critical to exposing ICE’s abuses. If we cannot see and document what our own government is doing on our streets, we cannot hold it accountable for running roughshod over our rights.”
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Not Just Food and Fuel—Inflation Numbers Show 'Worrying Trends' as Midterms Loom
With inflation climbing to 3.6%, "instead of focusing on delivering lower prices, Trump is touting Big Oil's Iran War windfall."
Oct 29, 2026
Less than a week before the US midterm elections in which voters may end Republican control of Congress, the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday released inflation data highlighting the nation's persistent affordability crisis under GOP leaders, including President Donald Trump.
In September, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index rose 3.6% from a year ago, up from 3.4% in August, according to the BEA. Core PCE strips out food and energy prices, the latter of which has soared as Trump has waged an illegal war on Iran. That increased 3.1%, up from 3% the previous month.
The "bottom line," said Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long, is that "inflation is back near a three-year high."
"It's largely due to war in Iran, but there's legitimate concern that inflation is spreading beyond energy," the economist explained. Referencing the "core" figure, she noted some "worrying trends."
Long pointed to a "big rise in goods prices" that "is largely driven by Trump's tariffs (big move up since 2025) and now war."
The expert also noted that "service sector inflation is picking up again."
She further observed that "rent prices are no longer improving" and housing inflation is "moving sideways."
The inflation update comes just days after the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers announced last week that its Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 48 this month, nearing the record low of 44.8 from this past May, and Trump celebrated fossil fuel industry profits from his war during a weekend campaign rally in Georgia.
Trump told the crowd he was advised against highlighting how the industry—which helped him get elected two years ago and in which he is significantly invested—is "making hundreds of billions of dollars," given that "people are paying a little higher" for gasoline and diesel.
"I can just see the fake headlines," he said. "President Trump is talking about all the money they're making while people are suffering at the pump. That will be the headline. But I said, I don't give a damn, I'm going to say it: We're making a freaking fortune."
As of Thursday, the national average for a gallon of gasoline was $4.23 and $6.33 for diesel. The Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University estimates US residents have paid at least $81.1 billion more for gas and $65.9 billion for diesel, or a total of $147 billion. That's over $619 per household, for just gas.
Some estimates are even higher. A Monday report from Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee states that US households "have now spent an additional $101 billion on gasoline since the start of the Iran War, or an average of $856 in gas costs per family."
Meanwhile, oil giants Shell and TotalEnergies announced their sizable third-quarter profits on Thursday, and companies such as BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil are expected to follow suit on Friday.
"Inflation remains high, working families are paying $4.23 at the pump, and meager pay raises aren’t keeping up with rising prices," Alex Jacquez, a former Obama administration official who is now senior vice president of policy, advocacy, and research at Groundwork Collaborative, said in a statement.
"Instead of focusing on delivering lower prices, Trump is touting Big Oil's Iran War windfall," Jacquez stressed. "Skyrocketing prices and economic growth largely driven by AI spending do not add up to an economy that works for working families."
Democrats in Congress have seized on cost-of-living concerns ahead of the midterms, including Sen. Ed Markey, who is up for reelection in Massachusetts. He said Thursday that "inflation is up. Margins are tighter."
"Prices are skyrocketing—and small business owners are on the frontlines of Trump's war on Main Street," Markey added. "Small businesses and workers should not have to bear the costs of Trump's reckless economic policies."
This article has been updated to credit the Climate Solutions Lab at Brown University for its fuel cost tracker.
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