Dems vs Schumer: Harold Meyerson; Trump vs. Universities: Erwin Chemerinsky; Tripping in Topanga: Oliver Sacks

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As the Senate prepares to vote on the Republican budget, Harold Meyerson talks about what’s at stake for Democrats who join Chuck Schumer in voting with Republicans, and the great majority in the opposition. Plus: unions take Trump to court over firings.

Also: The Supreme Court ruled against Trump last week in the first test of his refusal to release money appropriated by Congress, and more than a dozen more similar cases are likely to come before the court –– probably including a challenge to his withholding hundreds of millions from research universities on the grounds that they have failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. Erwin Chemerinsky comments –– he’s dean of the Law School at UC Berkeley.

Plus: from the archives: Oliver Sacks recalls Tripping in Topanga (recorded in 2012, he died three years later).

Trump, the Universities, and the Courts; plus the Case of Stephen Miller

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The Supreme Court ruled against Trump last week in the first test of his refusal to release money appropriated by Congress, and more than a dozen more similar cases are likely to come before the court –– probably including a challenge to his withholding hundreds of millions from research universities on the grounds that they have failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. But what if Trump defies court decisions that go against him? Erwin Chemerinsky comments –– he’s dean of the Law School at UC Berkeley.

Also: The man in charge of Trump’s plan to deport ten million undocumented people is Stephen Miller, who has a “seething, visceral, unquenchable hatred” for immigrants –– that’s what Nation columnist David Klion says, as he examines a life that “defies any easy explanation.”  Transcript HERE   3-12-2025

After the SOTU: Harold Meyerson; Trump’s defeat at the Supreme Court: Rob Weissman; The Week in Protest: John Nichols

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Trump’s forgettable State of the Union speech shows he remains in campaign mode, rather than governing: Harold Meyerson comments.

Plus: Trump suffered a big loss at The Supreme Court in the first challenge to his unconstitutional seizure of power: an order to release USAID funding appropriated by Congress. The suit was brought by Public Citizen; their co-president, Robert Weissman, will explain.

Also: John Nichols with our protest update for the week. Topics include: includes Tesla dealer showroom picketing; Ukraine support demonstrating; national park protesting, and Town Hall yelling.  3-7-2025

The Supremes’ First Trump Case of 2025, plus This Week’s Protest Roundup

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On this week’s episode of Start Making Sense: Trump suffered a big loss at The Supreme Court in the first challenge to his unconstitutional seizure of power: an order to release USAID funding appropriated by Congress. The suit was brought by Public Citizen; their co-president, Robert Weissman, will explain.

Also: John Nichols with our protest update for the week. Topics include: includes town hall yelling; Tesla dealer showroom picketing; Ukraine support demonstrating; national park protesting, and Town Hall yelling.

Transcript HERE   3-5-2025

Ro Khanna Is Doing More Than Voting “No”

The Silicon Valley progressive talks about the short-term and long-term strategies for defeating Trump and Trumpism. 

Ro Khanna represents Silicon Valley in the House, where he’s a member of the Progressive Caucus. He’s a key strategist for the Democrats. We asked him about the immediate task of protecting democracy, and then the longer-term project of winning back working-class voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party and helped make Trump president.

This interview has been edited and condensed—you can listen to the full interview here.

Jon Wiener: Last week the House narrowly passed a preliminary budget. What’s in this bill?

Ro Khanna: Well, look, the Republican budget is a cruel, atrocious budget—$2 trillion of Medicaid cuts. They’re basically going to put a per capita cap on every state. What does that mean? If you live in California, my state, or you live in Ohio, your state’s going to get less money for Medicaid. That means millions of people will not be covered who were covered, particularly under the Affordable Care Act that expanded coverage. It means rural hospitals will shut down. It means outpatient services for mental health, behavioral therapy will shut down…

… continued at The Nation, HERE 3-3-2025

Trump’s falling support: Harold Meyerson; Democrats and the Working Class: Ro Khanna and Tom Geoghegan

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“The Coup Has Failed” writes David Dayen in The American Prospect; no president has been less popular than Trump after his first month in office, and “the thing about populism is you have to be popular” – Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: House Progressive leader Ro Khanna says “economic empowerment” for the working class should become the Democrats’ “defining cause.” And he comments on this week’s battle in the House over the Republican budget.

Plus: Thomas Geoghegan argues that, to win back the working class, Democrats need to “promise something big – and keep it simple.” His suggestions: a bigger and better Social Security program, and an end to employers’ freedom to fire workers for any reason.  2-28-2025

Ro Khanna and Thomas Geoghegan on What is to be Done

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House Progressive leader Ro Khanna says “economic empowerment” for the working class should become the Democrats’ “defining cause.” And he comments on this week’s battle in the House over the Republican budget.

Also: Thomas Geoghegan argues that, to win back the working class, Democrats need to “promise something big – and keep it simple.” His suggestions: a bigger and better Social Security program, and an end to employers’ freedom to fire workers for any reason.

Transcript HERE   2-26-2025

House Republicans face an impossible task: Harold Meyerson; The first big election of 2025: John Nichols

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The House budget plan could see deep cuts to Medicaid but, “the political basis for cutting Medicaid because ‘this can only hurt the Democrats’ is really no longer the case;” also, on Kash Patel’s confirmation as the new director of the FBI: “there’s nothing like reconfiguring the FBI so it carries out whatever Donald Trump wants, which is what Kash Patel would do” – Harold Meyerson has our political update.

Plus: The first big election of 2025 will be in Wisconsin, which elects a new Supreme Court Justice on April 1. Elon Musk is spending hundreds of millions in that race. That’s both a threat, and an opportunity for Democrats. John Nichols will comment.  2-21-2025

Elon Musk’s First Political Contributions of 2025; plus The History of Culture Wars

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The first big election of 2025 will be in Wisconsin, which elects a new Supreme Court Justice on April 1. Elon Musk is spending hundreds of millions in that race. That’s both a threat, and an opportunity for Democrats. On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols will comment.

Also: How did we end up with Trump back in the White House? We got here in part because Republicans built a movement over several decades centered on what are called “the culture wars.” But there’s a long history behind the culture wars, going back at least a century to the Scopes Trial, in 1925, about teaching evolution. It’s still an issue today. Adam Hochschild is on the show to explain.

Transcript HERE   2-18-2025

How the Courts Can Stop Trump

The former national legal director of the ACLU analyzes recent efforts to block the president’s executive orders. 

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed to block Trump’s executive orders, and he has lost virtually every case thus far. Courts have enjoined his freezing of funds, enjoined his efforts to shut down USAID, enjoined his efforts to buy off government officials by paying them till September to do nothing, enjoined his orders barring transgender women from being put in women’s prisons for their safety, enjoined his effort to overturn birthright citizenship. Basically, the courts are doing their job—thus far. But what if he defies them? Or what if the Supreme Court reverses all the lower court actions? We asked David Cole, who recently stepped down as National Legal Director of the ACLU to return to teaching law at Georgetown. He writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New York Review of Books, and he’s legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.

… continued at The Nation, HERE 2-18-2025