Timothy Sumer

The train derailment disaster in East Palestine, Ohio catapulted the degraded condition of the US's freight rail network into national consciousness. But workers have been sounding the alarm for years. Long hours, short staffs, poor sick leave, and dangerously extended trains have raised the risks inherent in railroad operations for workers and the public in order to fatten the profit margins of corporate rail carriers. While the Department of Transportation has called for stricter regulation in the wake of East Palestine and other recent disasters, rank-and-file workers say it's not enough. The problem is not simply one of inadequate regulation, but the power of private, profit-driven interests to shape what is ultimately public infrastructure. Thus comes the call to nationalize the railroads. But how might this be accomplished, and how effectively can it solve the problems plaguing the rail system today? Journalist and professor Kari Lyderson and former Railroad Wor...

We visit with a noted writer and economist, Arnold Kling, who questions whether the massive federal bank bailout has done more harm than good.... ( read more ) LEARN MORE ABOUT: Bank Failures REVEALED: Best Investment During Inflation HOW TO INVEST IN GOLD: Gold IRA Investing HOW TO INVEST IN SILVER: Silver IRA Investing Bank bailouts have been a hotly debated issue in recent years. On one hand, some argue that they are necessary to prevent a collapse of the financial system and the wider economy. On the other hand, others claim that they are unfair and reward reckless behavior by banks. In 2008, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, governments around the world began bailing out banks in order to prevent a complete financial meltdown. In the United States, Congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which provided hundreds of billions of dollars to banks and other financial institutions. Similar programs were implemented in other co...

Speakers - John Clarke, writer, lecturer at York University, and former organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. - Sam Gindin, author of The Making of Global Capitalism and former Assistant to the President of the Canadian Auto Workers. Politicians, the media, central bankers and the average worker have all been talking up the recent acceleration in the cost of living. Just a short time ago price rises of just 2% might have been considered ‘inflationary’. In the current phase of the Covid pandemic, inflation in core capitalist states, including Canada, is now running at the 5-7%, far ahead of wage settlements and bumps in income supports for welfare. Inflation always carries important consequences for workers living standards, collective bargaining and meeting basic needs for the poor. Inflation always generates class conflict, most directly and immediately over distribution but indirectly eventually over questions of power over capital and the state. How much o...