Good Day, this is the Commonwealth Report.
News for the public, not the powerful.
Will Taxpayers Get Stuck Bailing Out The AI Billionaires?
House progressives are drawing a line before the AI bubble bursts. The American Prospect obtained a seven page resolution from Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar and Maxine Waters declaring Congress must refuse to bail out AI firms that collapse. AI companies hold trillions in debt raised in opaque, unregulated private credit markets, with data center borrowing running multiples higher than projected revenues. Stock prices have inflated beyond the dot com giants of the 1990s. The White House AI czar held stakes in at least 449 AI linked companies while pushing deregulation. Waters put it plainly. “The American people should never again be forced to foot the bill for billionaires’ reckless bets.” We bailed out Wall Street in 2008. Nobody went to jail. The tech oligarchs are betting we’ll do it again.
GOP Gerrymander Backfires As Black Voters Flood The Polls
After the Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais, Republicans rushed to dismantle majority Black districts across the South. The Bulwark reports Black voters have cast 160,000 more ballots than at this point in 2022, led by Louisiana and South Carolina. Young Black voters are driving it. TargetSmart’s Tom Bonier called that “somewhat surprising” since early voting usually skews older. In Tennessee, Republicans carved Memphis into 3 pieces, yet Shelby County turnout is up eight points, and Democrats are spending in a district Trump would’ve won by 20 plus. In South Carolina, Black voters are roughly 30 percent of the early vote. Strategists warn the numbers are incomplete. Try to erase people from the map and they show up to remind you they exist.
Why Won’t The Pentagon Investigate Elon Musk’s Starlink Slowdown?
Nine senators, four Republicans and five Democrats, asked the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate why Starlink and its military version Starshield were throttled in Ukraine. Ukraine says the slowdown hampered its drone interceptions. The watchdog said no. It told the senators Tuesday the Air Force should handle it. A congressional aide told the AP the office could easily investigate and chose not to. Musk admits SpaceX throttled Starlink, claiming Ukraine broke the terms of service. Kyiv denies it. He says any Starshield changes were the US government’s call. Trump denies ordering any restriction. JD Vance hints at coordination with Musk. Senator Jeanne Shaheen called the refusal “concerning” and demanded an independent review. An unelected billionaire can switch off a nation’s defenses and the watchdogs look away. That’s not national security. That’s oligarchy.
The news you need. Twice every weekday.
Is Darline Graham’s Husband Tied To Companies That Armed Putin?
Senator Darline Graham, running for her late brother Lindsey’s South Carolina seat, runs as a China and Russia hawk. Drop Site News reports her husband, Larry Nordone, is a senior executive at a Cosmox Outdoors subsidiary. Cosmox merged in 2021 with Chinese weapons maker ZZM. ZZM’s website recently listed Poly Technologies and Norinco as “partners and clients.” The US sanctioned Poly Technologies in 2024 for arming Russia against Ukraine. When the Washington Post asked, both websites went dark and returned with the arms companies scrubbed. Cosmox says the sites were outdated and denies any dealings. Graham’s campaign didn’t respond. Lindsey Graham was the Senate’s loudest voice for arming Ukraine. His sister’s household now links, through her husband’s employer, to a firm that counted Putin’s arms supplier as a client. Voters deserve answers by Tuesday.
FDA Scientists Revolt As RFK Jr. Pushes Unproven Peptide Injections
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wanted the FDA to declare certain injectable peptides safe so compounding pharmacies could sell them. The agency’s own scientists said no. The AP, citing 6 people familiar with the plan, reports most FDA scientists opposed it, warning it would undermine the agency’s job of keeping unproven products off the market. Kennedy’s department found a workaround. Instead of a rule, HHS is telling the FDA not to enforce its rules against pharmacies compounding the substances. So these drugs, promoted for muscle growth and energy, get sold without any FDA finding that they’re safe or effective. Kennedy calls himself a “big fan” of peptides and says he’s used them himself. When the Health Secretary’s hobby overrides the scientists, the FDA stops being a watchdog and becomes a rubber stamp.
While Your Grocery Bill Climbs, Trump Declares War On A Golf Course Judge
With prices squeezing families and the midterms five days away, here’s what the president did Wednesday night. He was on Truth Social raging about a golf course. He wants to turn Washington’s East Potomac Golf Links, a 106 year old public course, into a championship venue. His administration cut 430 trees there with under a day’s notice. Judge Ana Reyes ordered Monday that he give 10 days’ notice before any more irreparable changes. So Trump posted photos of a filthy stairwell and torn netting and announced he’d hold Reyes “fully responsible” if anyone is hurt or killed there. He’s already called her a crazed lunatic. She’s getting death threats. Working people are checking grocery prices. The president is checking stairwells at a golf course. That tells you whose problems he’s working on.
And that’s the way it is, Today Thursday, October 29, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann.
