Good Morning, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
White Resentment Confirms What LBJ Warned Us About 60 Years Ago
Lyndon Johnson once told Bill Moyers that if you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best Black man, he’ll empty his pockets for you. Sixty years later, science has caught up. A new study from University of Delaware political scientists Sumeyye Iltekin Gocer and Joanne Miller, published in Sage Journals, found that white Americans, even poor ones, turn against the social safety net the moment they think nonwhites might benefit too. Researchers asked over 700 white respondents whether their group was losing politically compared to minorities. The ones who said yes suddenly opposed economic redistribution, even when it would have helped them. In nearly every other wealthy democracy, high inequality drives demand for stronger programs. Not here. Here, white resentment beats white self-interest every time. So why can’t we have universal healthcare, real wages, or affordable housing? Because a chunk of this country would rather drown than throw anyone else a rope. That’s the cage LBJ described. And we’re still locked inside it.
Will Your Memorial Day Burger Cost You a Mortgage Payment?
Fire up the grill. Trump’s war with Iran has already cost the average household an extra $291 at the pump, and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy says we’ll spend $3.5 billion more on gas over Memorial Day weekend alone. By year’s end, the average family could be out $1,450. National gas prices are pushing $4.48 a gallon, with analysts warning of $5 next month. And it’s not just gas. A Century Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative analysis shared with Scripps News found cookout staples up 13 percent on average. Six ears of corn now run $5.90, up from $2.97 last year. That’s a 98 percent jump. Inflation is at its highest since 2023. Trump promised cheap groceries. He delivered an oil war and a tariff tax on your hamburger.
Why Is the Mainstream Press Burying Trump’s Stock Trading Scheme?
Judd Legum at Popular Information has documented something jaw-dropping, and most of corporate media won’t touch it. Trump’s own financial disclosures show more than 3,600 trades in the first quarter alone, worth between $220 million and $750 million. And the pattern is sickening. On March 11, Trump visited a Thermo Fisher plant in Ohio and bought between $15,000 and $50,000 of its stock the same day. He praised Apple manufacturing and bought Apple. He bought Micron, Dell, Palantir, Nvidia, and Boeing right before talking them up or cutting government deals for them. He scooped up Nvidia stock just before clearing the company to sell chips to China. Bloomberg called the trading “astonishing.” CNN, CBS, NPR, PBS, Politico, and Fox haven’t said a word. JD Vance, asked about it this week, scolded the reporter for not being “objective.” This is the most brazen self-dealing in presidential history, and the press is asleep at the wheel. Watergate looks like a parking ticket.
Has Israel’s Security Minister Crossed Every Line That’s Left?
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, posted video of himself parading around 430 zip-tied flotilla activists at the port of Ashdod. The activists, including Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Canadian citizens, had tried to bring aid to starving Gazans. Israel seized their boats in international waters. In the footage, Ben-Gvir waves an Israeli flag while activists kneel with their heads on the ground in stress positions. The national anthem blasts over loudspeakers. He tells guards “don’t be bothered by their screams.” A woman shouts “Free Palestine” and gets shoved to the floor. Ben-Gvir struts past her saying, “Welcome to Israel. We are the landowners here.” Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Canada all summoned Israeli ambassadors. Even Netanyahu publicly rebuked him. Even Mike Huckabee criticized him. When the U.S. ambassador to Israel says you’ve gone too far, you’ve gone way too far. This is the face of the government our tax dollars keep arming.
Will Trump Actually Bill You for His Gilded Ballroom?
Trump swore his White House ballroom would cost taxpayers nothing. Now Senate Republicans are scrambling to slip $1 billion of public money into a border security bill, with $220 million specifically aimed at the ballroom Trump’s already bulldozed the East Wing to build. The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled it doesn’t qualify under budget reconciliation rules. Trump called Senate Majority Leader John Thune and demanded he fire her. Thune refused. And here’s the kicker. Republicans now admit they don’t actually have the votes. Even Susan Collins is asking why Secret Service priorities weren’t in the regular budget request that came out just last month. Louisiana’s John Kennedy told NOTUS they’re going back to square one. So Trump’s blaming a career civil servant to cover for his own party walking away from him. He’ll tear down a wing of the people’s house for a gold-plated dance hall, then send you the bill. That’s not leadership. That’s a kleptocracy with bunting.
And that’s the way it is, Today Thursday, May 21, 2026. I’m Thom Harmann.
