Lever Time

Is the TurboTax era over? Recently, the IRS announced they plan to roll out a free program that will let Americans directly file their taxes online without using expensive tax-assistance programs. The move could have happened more than two decades ago, if not for corporate lobbyists. Today on Lever Time, we look at the 20-year war waged by tax-prep companies like Intuit and H&R Block to stop the government from letting people file online for free. In the early 2000s, alarmed by calls from the George W. Bush White House to create a public tax filing platform, Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, went on a lobbying blitz. The government agreed to back down, but only if tax-prep companies allowed low-income taxpayers to file for free. On paper, the tax-prep firms agreed — but in reality, they used deceptive tactics to manipulate taxpayers into paying for their software.

Behind nearly every hamburger or chicken nugget handed out in a school cafeteria is JBS Foods, a multi-billion dollar conglomerate run by a billionaire butcher family who bribed their way to become the world’s largest meat processor. Today on Lever Time, we look at how JBS captured the meat market, harmed workers, pulverized the environment, and generally tainted all your lunch meats with a hefty dose of corporate corruption.Every year, the U.S. government gives JBS Foods millions of dollars in subsidies, on top of the millions more it pays the company to supply meat for school lunches and the military. Despite JBS’ long history of illegal behavior, its market dominance has made it impossible for the government to avoid working with them, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. JBS isn’t an outlier; today, a handful of companies control most of the country’s agricultural supply. 

Is Ticketmaster too big to fail? It’s the question some musicians and small venue owners are asking in the wake of the Justice Department’s decision to sue Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment over its alleged monopoly in the music industry. Today on Lever Time, Morgan Harper, an antitrust expert, and Greg Saunier, founder of the indie band Deerhoof, debate the strength of the Justice Department’s case, and whether a win in court would meaningfully benefit musicians, independent music venues, and fans themselves. Ticketmaster has drawn the ire of musicians for decades. In 1994, members of the rock band Pearl Jam went to Congress alleging Ticketmaster was engaged in price gouging — but nothing happened. Instead, the government allowed Ticketmaster to grow even bigger, giving it massive influence over most of the music industry, gouging customers, and strong-arming musicians into signing away the rights for their tours. 

Today on Lever Time, we dive into the heart of Capital One and hear from a former employee about the credit card titan’s tactics to keep customers forever submerged in debt. When President Joe Biden moved to cap credit card late fees in March, the financial industry revolted — filing multiple lawsuits against the administration of a man once dubbed one of the banking industry’s favorite senators.Why are the credit card giants so threatened by losing their junk fees? How exactly have they assumed so much control of our financial lives?In today’s episode of Lever Time, David Sirota and Arjun Singh go deep into the heart of the credit card industry and its lobbying army to hear how the industry has muscled its way into people’s wallets. 

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Jerusalem-based journalist Nathan Thrall to discuss what life has been like in both Gaza and the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attack in Israel. The pair also explores what is motivating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue the war, and why Netanyahu’s iron-fisted approach to the Palestinian territories may be the norm, not an outlier, in Israeli politics. 

For months, Joe Biden has struck a defiant tone in his support of Israel despite the concerns of allies and nationwide protests. Biden has been a fervent supporter of Israel throughout his political career, but his current moves appear to be driven by three close advisors who have consolidated control over the administration’s Israel policy. Today on Lever Time, David Sirota and Arjun Singh look at the people shaping Biden’s Israel decisions and get an on-the-ground report on how the war has played out in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. The Lever is subscriber supported. To become a subscriber, and get access to exclusive bonus content, head here: https://www.levernews.com/

Since 2021, economists and pundits have tried to blame inflation on workers and rising wages. But a new bombshell exposé spotlights a different cause: oil companies engaging in an alleged price-fixing scheme with Saudi Arabia and other countries that may have fueled roughly one-third of all U.S. inflation in 2021. A recent Federal Trade Commission case uncovered text messages and documents suggesting the founder of a big oil company colluded with the Saudi government and other oil-producing countries to keep energy prices high. Another lawsuit alleges multiple American oil companies were engaged in a price-fixing scheme. Today on Lever Time, Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project discusses his groundbreaking reporting on the matter — and explains how this alleged collusion could have played a major role in the country’s inflation crisis. 

As colleges and police departments crack down on campus protests, law enforcement are using tools borrowed from corporate America’s ballooning surveillance regime to spy on students — and anyone else they deem a threat. When New York City police raided Columbia University on Tuesday to remove student protesters from a building they’d occupied, Mayor Eric Adams justified the move by claiming “outside agitators” had infiltrated the group. If the claim was even true, how did authorities get that information? What sort of technologies are authorities using to monitor the protesters — and where did these spy tools come from?This week on Lever Time, David Sirota and producer Arjun Singh look at college protests in the age of total surveillance. They talk with Alistair Kitchen, a student journalist who’s been reporting from Columbia’s campus, and explore how corporate America has taught the intelligence community new ways to use consumer data to spy on people everywhereIf you’d like to follow Alistair Kitchen’s reporting, subscribe to his newsletter here: https://substack.com/@alistair Our work is subscriber supported. If you want to support us, and hear exclusive podcast content, head to levernews.com

After years of pressure, the Department of Transportation announced it would require airlines to automatically refund flyers the cost of canceled or significantly delayed flights. Days later, a bipartisan group of senators — who also happen to be some of the largest recipients of campaign cash from the airline industry — unveiled new legislation that could undermine that rule. In this episode of Lever Time, Lever reporter Katya Schwenk unpacks how a small line in a massive bill could quietly kill a consumer protection rule that was years in the making. Our work is subscriber supported. If you want to become a subscriber, and get access to exclusive podcast content and articles, sign up here at levernews.com 

Thirty years ago, Amazon was a quirky internet bookseller. But even back then, founder Jeff Bezos wanted to build an empire. Today, Amazon has inserted itself into almost every facet of daily life, and it’s done so by ruthlessly muscling out competition — likely using illegal market tactics.For years, regulators watched Amazon’s growth and failed to investigate claims that the company violated federal law by engaging in predatory pricing. That changed last year when Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan announced she and 17 state attorneys general were suing Amazon and charging it with being an illegal monopoly. The thing is, Amazon probably could have been sued a long time ago. On this week’s Lever Time, David Sirota and Arjun Singh unpack how an ideological movement successfully suppressed efforts to challenge corporate monopolies in the United States for nearly half a century and enabled Amazon’s unprecedented rise. To become a Lever premium member and get access to exclusive bonus podcast content and more, head to levernews.com to subscribe.