Informed Rant

Billionaires, Bombs, and Propaganda: CODEPINK Warns of America’s Fascist Drift

Sun, 17 May 2026 00:10:00 -0400

As the Trump administration’s war on Iran spirals deeper into civilian bloodshed and media complicity, activists with CODEPINK are demanding answers that Washington and corporate media seem determined to avoid. In this explosive conversation with ScheerPost, CODEPINK organizing director Danaka Katowicz lays out the movement’s growing campaign to force Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to answer for the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab, Iran — an attack that reportedly killed more than 168 people, most of them children.

But this interview goes far beyond one atrocity. It exposes a collapsing media system where billionaires, mergers, propaganda, AI warfare, and state violence increasingly operate hand-in-hand. From the Pentagon’s alleged use of AI targeting systems to CNN’s responsibility to confront war crimes instead of sanitizing them, Katowicz argues that ordinary people can no longer afford to remain spectators. As Gaza burns, Iran bleeds, and dissent is criminalized, CODEPINK says the answer is not despair — it’s organizing.

Taxing Billionaires to Save California Healthcare: Tax Scholar David Gamage Explains the Wealth Tax Debate

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 19:30:00 -0400

As California confronts looming healthcare funding shortfalls and widening wealth inequality, a new proposal to tax the state’s billionaires has ignited a fierce political debate. Supporters argue the measure would generate billions to offset cuts to programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, while critics—including Governor Gavin Newsom—warn that the tax could drive the ultra-wealthy out of the state.

In this interview, journalist Joshua Scheer speaks with leading tax scholar David Gamage about the proposal, which would impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on California billionaires payable over five years. Gamage, who helped develop the policy and previously worked on Affordable Care Act regulations, explains why billionaires often pay dramatically lower effective tax rates than high-earning professionals—and why fears of a mass billionaire exodus may be overstated.

The conversation also explores how modern tax strategies like “buy, borrow, die” allow vast fortunes to grow largely untaxed, the historical roots of wealth taxation dating back to the Gilded Age, and why California could once again set a national precedent in tackling extreme wealth concentration.

The Cartel That Never Existed: Leonardo Flores Dismantles Washington’s Venezuela Narrative

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 02:00:00 -0400

In this episode of Informed Rant, host Joshua Scheer speaks with Venezuelan‑American analyst and CodePink organizer Leonardo Flores about one of the most explosive geopolitical stories of the year: the U.S. bombing raid and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro. Flores walks through the media distortions, the collapse of international law, the revival of the Monroe Doctrine under Trump, and the economic and political realities inside Venezuela that the U.S. press refuses to acknowledge.

From the myth of the “Cartel de los Soles” to the role of U.S. envoy Laura Dogu, Flores offers a detailed, historically grounded account of how Washington manufactures narratives to justify intervention — and why Venezuela’s constitutional order has held despite the assault. This is a deep dive into sanctions, oil politics, propaganda, and the future of Latin America under renewed U.S. pressure.