Good Evening, this is the Commonwealth Report. News for the public, not the powerful.
Did JD Vance Just Torpedo America’s Best Shot at a Peace Deal With Iran?
After more than twenty hours of negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan, U.S. and Iranian diplomats were actually close. According to Axios, the Iranians thought they were nearing an initial agreement by Sunday morning. Then JD Vance stepped to a podium. He declared that Iran had “chosen not to accept our terms,” announced the U.S. delegation was leaving, and called it “bad news for Iran.” Sources say the Iranians were, in a word, pissed. What were the real sticking points? The U.S. demanded a twenty-year moratorium on uranium enrichment and removal of all highly enriched uranium from the country. Iran countered with a single-digit timeframe and offered a monitored process to blend down the uranium instead. Those are the kinds of gaps that get closed at a negotiating table -- unless your vice president blows the table up with a press conference first. Talks are reportedly still ongoing. Let’s hope someone hides Vance’s microphone.
Stop Calling Them Fringe. A New Report Shows Progressive Policies Are What Most Americans Actually Want
The corporate media loves calling progressive policies radical. The Center for Economic and Policy Research just put out a new report that says that’s a lie. They call it the Majority Agenda, and here’s what it looks like: 86 percent of Americans support raising the minimum wage. 68 percent support expanding union rights. 89 percent support affordable healthcare for everyone. 93 percent think clean air and water are rights. These aren’t fringe ideas. They’re the will of the people, systematically ignored by a Congress awash in corporate cash. The CEPR report warns that the failure to pass these broadly popular policies represents a breakdown of democracy, where the tyranny of the wealthy minority has reigned. Next time someone calls Medicare for All a pipe dream, remind them it has more public support than most sitting senators. The problem isn’t the policies. The problem is who owns Congress.
Is the Senate Map Slipping Away from Republicans?
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report dropped a new Senate ratings update today, and the news isn’t good for Republicans. Four races shifted toward Democrats. Georgia flipped from toss-up to lean Democrat. North Carolina’s open seat did the same. Ohio moved from lean Republican to toss-up. And Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts saw his race downgraded from solid to likely Republican. Cook’s Jessica Taylor writes that the national environment for Republicans is increasingly sour. Democrats would need to sweep every leaning race plus all three toss-ups in Maine, Michigan, and Ohio just to reach a fifty-fifty split -- and even then, JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote would keep the GOP in control. But these numbers are moving. Trump’s chaos is driving them. And November is still seven months away. The battlefield is shifting.
Hungary Just Showed the World How to Throw an Authoritarian Out
Pay attention, America. Yesterday, the people of Hungary did something that seemed impossible just months ago. They threw out Viktor Orban -- Trump’s favorite European strongman -- after 16 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. Peter Magyar’s Tisza party won a stunning two-thirds supermajority in parliament, capturing 138 of 199 seats on more than 53 percent of the vote. Orban got just 37 percent. Nearly 80 percent of Hungarians turned out because they’d had enough. JD Vance visited Budapest just days before the election to campaign alongside Orban. It appears to have backfired spectacularly. Today, Hungarians are tearing down Orban’s anti-Ukraine propaganda posters in the streets. Magyar vowed to review every government contract and trace every financial transaction -- because, he said, the unchecked looting is coming to an end. Obama called it a victory for democracy around the world. Chuck Schumer sent a message straight at Trump: “Wannabe dictators wear out their welcome.”
Sanders Moves to Cut Off Half a Billion in Weapons Headed for a Genocide
With Congress back in session, Bernie Sanders wasted no time. He announced he’ll force another Senate vote -- possibly as soon as Wednesday -- to block the sale of nearly half a billion dollars worth of bombs and bulldozers to the Israeli military. “The extremist Netanyahu government that has committed genocide in Gaza does not need more military support from American taxpayers,” Sanders said. The death toll in Gaza now stands at more than 72,000, with another 172,000 wounded. Even under the ceasefire agreed last October, children are still being killed. Save the Children reports at least two children a day killed or injured in the six months since that deal was struck. A new Pew poll shows 60 percent of Americans now view Israel unfavorably, up from 53 percent just a year ago. The public is moving. The question is whether the Senate has the courage to follow.
Are Republicans Finally Ready to Say No Mas to Trump’s Iran Disaster?
Cracks are forming in the Republican wall around Trump’s Iran war. Democrats say there’s a real path to passing a war powers resolution, and GOP lawmakers are privately signaling they’ll join them. The breaking point could come April 29th. One House Republican, speaking anonymously, told MS NOW that if Trump doesn’t come to Congress by then, “you’ll see many of us saying no mas.” A simple majority is all it takes to pass a war powers measure -- no veto override needed. Senator Lisa Murkowski called Trump’s threats to wipe out an entire civilization inexcusable, saying they “directly endanger Americans.” Susan Collins called his social media posts threatening to annihilate Iran “completely inappropriate.” So far, only Rand Paul has actually voted with Democrats on Iran. But April 29th is coming fast. Every day Republicans stay silent, they own this war -- the chaos, the bloodshed, and the economic wreckage that comes with it. No mas, indeed.
And that’s the way it is, Tonight Monday, April 13, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
