Listener Questions & Feedback

This week is mainly devoted to listener questions and feedback. First, Ralph answers some of the questions you have submitted over the past few weeks. Then we invite back last week’s guest, Erica Payne, of Patriotic Millionaires, to respond to your very thoughtful comments on the interview we did with that group's plan for preserving democracy by taxing the rich. Plus, Ralph highlights the outrages of the Trump/Musk assault on government programs that help ordinary people. Erica Payne is the founder and president of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of high-net-worth individuals that aims to restructure America’s political economy to suit the needs of all Americans. Their work includes advocating for a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens. She is the co-author, with Morris Pearl, of Tax the Rich: How Lies, Loopholes and Lobbyists Make the Rich Even Richer. The real reason for taxation is democracy protection. Erica Payne I think the question is not: do we need to fix the estate tax? The question is: what is the best, most defensible mechanism through which you can tax the transfer of wealth from one generation to the other in order to protect American democracy from dynastic wealth—that is sufficient that you find five generations from now Elon Musk’s kid isn’t spending as much money on these elections as their great great great great great granddaddy is. Erica Payne Austerity applied at a federal level to a society that is in distress does the exact opposite of what the proponents of austerity are saying it should do. The tightening of the belt actually cuts off the circulation of the society. Erica Payne News 5/9/25 1. While the Catholic clergy convene in Rome for the Papal Conclave, Pope Francis graces the world with one final gift. Vatican News reports, “His popemobile, the very vehicle from which he waved and was close to millions of faithful all around the world, is being transformed into a mobile health unit for the children of Gaza.” This article states this was Francis’ “final wish,” and quotes his refrain that “Children are not numbers. They are faces. Names. Stories. And each one is sacred.” The vehicle is reportedly being outfitted with equipment for “diagnosis, examination, and treatment – including rapid tests for infections, diagnostic instruments, vaccines, suture kits, and other life-saving supplies,” and it will be staffed by doctors and medics. Yet, given Israel’s track record for the destruction of medical facilities in Gaza, it is unclear how long this mobile health unit itself will survive. 2. In more distressing news from Gaza, CNN reports that “A Gaza-bound activist aid ship [part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition] caught fire and issued an SOS, after what its organizers claimed was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta…[on] Friday.” Per CNN, the ship was due to make port in Malta and pick up “a large contingent of activists” there before departing for Gaza. These included environmental activist Greta Thunberg and retired US Army Colonel Mary Ann Wright. Thunberg said this flotilla “is one of many attempts to open up a humanitarian corridor and…[try] to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza,” adding “for two months now, not a single bottle of water has entered Gaza…it’s a systematic starvation of 2 million people.” The United Nations World Food Programme said this week “its warehouses are…empty; soup kitchens that are still running are severely rationing their last stocks; and what little food remains in Gaza’s markets is being sold for exorbitant prices that most cannot afford.” 3. Pro-Palestine activists scored a major victory in Michigan this week. The Guardian reports, “Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, announced on Monday that she was dropping all charges against seven pro-[Palestine] demonstrators arrested last May at a University of Michigan encampment.” As this report notes, “The announcement came just moments before the judge was to decide on a defense motion to disqualify Nessel’s office over alleged bias.” The Guardian itself published a major report “detailing Nessel’s extensive personal, financial and political connections to university regents calling for the activists to be prosecuted,” last October. Defense attorney Amir Makled is quoted saying “This was a case of selective prosecution…rooted in bias, not in public safety issues…We’re hoping this sends a message to other institutions locally and nationally that protest is not a crime, and dissent is not disorder.” 4. In another legal victory, Prem Thakker reported on May 6th that “A federal court has [denied] the Trump administration's attempt to move Mahmoud Khalil's case…out of New Jersey.” The government attempted to move the venue to Louisiana, where they have Khalil detained. A press release by the ACLU, their New York and New Jersey affiliates, and the Center for Constitutional Rights states, “It is the fundamental job of the judiciary to stand up to…government manipulation of our basic rights. We hope the court's order sends a strong message to other courts around the country facing government attempts to shop for favorable jurisdictions by moving people detained on unconstitutional immigration charges around and making it difficult or impossible for their lawyers to know where to seek their immediate release.” 5. Trump has released his budget for Fiscal Year 2026. This budget cuts nondefense spending by 23%, per Reuters, while allocating 75% of discretionary spending to military and police, per Stephen Semler of the Cost of War Project. This includes a 13% increase in military spending that tips the Pentagon budget over $1 trillion for the first time. So much for increasing government efficiency. 6. At the same time, this country’s infrastructure and transportation safety agencies continue to crumble. Just this week, NPR reported “Hundreds of flight delays and cancellations…[hit]… Newark Liberty International Airport at once: [due to] air traffic controller staffing shortages, aging technology, bad weather and the closure of one of the airport's busiest runways.” The air traffic controller staffing shortages, a chronic issue, has been compounded in recent months by the mass layoffs initiated by the Trump administration. NBC News reports that one air traffic controller handling Newark airspace said, “Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.”\ 7. It might be nice to have competent, energetic leadership among the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee right about now. Unfortunately, the party opted to install 75-year-old, cancer-ridden Gerry Connolly to serve as Ranking Member on that committee instead of AOC. Now, Axios reports Connolly is stepping down from this position after just four months and will not seek reelection to his seat in Congress, citing his declining health. AOC, once-bitten, has opted not to seek the position a second time, the Hill reports. Instead, the top contenders emerging to fill Conolly’s seat are Stephen Lynch, a 70-year-old Congressman who won his seat in 2001 and is currently filling Conolly’s role on an interim basis, and Eleanor Holmes-Norton, the non-voting delegate representing Washington D.C. Norton is the most senior Democrat on the committee at 87-years-old, having assumed office in 1991. 8. Another ghost is coming back to haunt the Democrats: former Senator Bob Menendez. The New Jersey Globe reports, “The New Jersey Attorney General’s office will seek a court order to permanently bar…Menendez from ever holding public employment in the state following his conviction on federal corruption charges last year.” Critically if a Superior Court judge approves the action, Menendez could lose his state pension. Menendez still draws over $1,000 per month from his New Jersey public employee pension, even after being sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption last July. More recently, Menendez has sought to cozy up to Trump in an effort … Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe