LEVER WEEKLY: This Is How It’s Supposed To Work

This is Lever Weekly, a recap of our work from the past week. If you only read one email from us all week, this should be it.

Below you will find a breakdown of our reporting, podcasts, videos, and live events — a feature open to all subscribers. Following that, we are providing paid subscribers with an original column, written by a member of The Lever, connecting the dots on our coverage to deliver important takeaways.

In this week’s column, exclusively for paid subscribers, David Sirota explores how, in a rare turn of events, it looks like politicians may actually try to protect people from more dangerous derailments like the Norfolk Southern accident in Ohio.

Rock the boat.

Stuff The Lever Reported This Week:

• Where Is Buttigieg On The “Bomb Train” Threat? — Buttigieg’s Transportation Department has yet to walk back a controversial Trump rule allowing trains to transport explosive liquefied natural gas.

• Rail Lobbyists Pay Politico To Tout Train Safety — The Beltway newsletter is running ads about the railroad industry’s alleged commitment to safety as rail lobbyists fight new safety rules.

• Private Equity’s Senator Gets Big Payout — Retiring Sen. Pat Toomey is joining Apollo Global Management after helping enrich the private equity industry during his time in Congress.

• Hochul Vetoed Key Rail Safety Bill — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul calls for new rail safety regulations — after rejecting legislation requiring trains to be staffed with at least two crew members.

Stuff To Watch & Listen To:

• LEVER TIME: How to Derail the Anti-Safety Train Lobby (w/ Rep. Chris Deluzio) — On this week’s Lever Time: David speaks with Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Penn.) about the latest efforts to hold railroad companies accountable.

• Movies vs. Capitalism: Working Girl (w/ Ele Woods) — On this week's MVC, the group unpacks the original "girlboss" movie, Working Girl.

• Defensiveness and Demagoguery in East Palestine — Matthew Cunningham-Cook appears on the Citations Needed Podcast to discuss the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and the human stakes of decades of bipartisan deregulation and union-busting.

Thank You To Our Newest Lever Leaders:

Lever Leaders provide us with our highest level of support and score additional perks in return.  Each week, we highlight folks who’ve taken that step, and the reasons they say they’ve done so.

• Kevin P. Moran: It’s sad we can’t rely on legacy media today, but Sirota has been a lifelong activist for truth and justice and I support that.

• A Very Thankful Subscriber: The Lever’s ability to continually break critical news and expose stories that others aren’t willing to cover compelled me to further support this important work.

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This Is How It’s Supposed To Work

By David Sirota

In the Schoolhouse Rock version of America, the press raises awareness about a problem, informed voters pressure both parties’ lawmakers, who then say “you’re right, there oughta be a law” — and then the legislative process proceeds.

This is how America’s political process is actually supposed to function, but almost never does in the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is modern Washington. And yet in a rare turn of events, the process seems to be working right now, which (to borrow a Bidenism) is a big f-ing deal.