Lever Time

Congress has the power to stop Trump’s unpopular war in Iran — but lawmakers have never used it before. Their excuse? An obscure immigration case from 1983. In this special episode, David Sirota tells the wild story of how a Kenyan-born immigrant and a Ralph Nader-aligned lawyer unwittingly expanded the powers of the president — and left Congress believing that it’s powerless to stop unauthorized wars. 

Listen to the rest of Master Plan: The Kingmakers.

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Last week, California Democrats killed CalCare, a proposed single-payer health care bill. Will the state ever achieve its dream of universal health care? 

Tom Steyer — a gubernatorial candidate who ran ads against single-payer health care in 2020 — says he is now the Golden State’s best bet. He also wants higher taxes for the rich, stronger environmental protections, and the abolition of ICE. The catch? He’s a billionaire running a self-financed campaign. 

Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager turned philanthropist, to discuss the collapse of Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) campaign, whether billionaires are a policy failure, and the chaotic governor’s race that has left Republicans leading in the polls.

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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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