Lever Time

Tax Day sucks — confusing forms, piles of receipts, and expensive tax prep software. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A simple fix called return-free filing, proposed by Ronald Reagan decades ago, could save Americans millions of hours and billions of dollars. So who keeps shooting it down? 

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota traces the 40-year dogfight over your tax return.

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Right now, Big Tech is mobilizing a network of super PACs with more than $100 million in the bank to influence the 2026 midterm elections. Their number-one target? One of their own: a former Palantir engineer who's running for Congress in New York’s 12th District.

On this week's episode of Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with New York Assemblymember Alex Bores to find out exactly what he did to land on the AI industry's most-wanted list.

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Hours-long TSA lines, air traffic controller shortages, and skyrocketing flight prices. Deadly crashes, failing safety regulations, and international threats. There’s no doubt about it: U.S. air travel has been a hot mess in 2026. How did we hit such turbulence? And how does the current crisis tie into a decades-long master plan to hold airplane safety hostage for political gain?

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Bill McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project, to answer the question everyone is asking: Is it still safe to fly?

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Earlier this month, FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that the FBI has been buying Americans’ location information from data brokers, sidestepping traditional warrant requirements. 

Lawmakers like Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have been on the front lines trying to ban this practice, but that requires reforming FISA Section 702, one of the country’s most powerful — and least understood — surveillance laws. 

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Wyden and Sean Vitka, executive director of Demand Progress, to ask some big questions about the executive branch’s abuse of spy powers: How has a post-9/11 loophole quietly allowed federal agencies to access Americans’ phone calls, texts, and emails? Why have efforts to rein in these executive powers repeatedly stalled? And what happens as AI gives the government new tools to conduct warrantless surveillance?

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This week on Lever Time, we’re sharing an excerpt from our investigative series Master Plan: The Kingmakers. In this new season of our award-winning podcast, David Sirota and our team of journalists expose the decades-long plot to turn the president into a king. 

Visit MasterPlanPodcast.com to hear the full episode and subscribe to Master Plan: The Kingmakers.

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