John,
Over on my personal Substack blog, Heather Lofthouse, executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action, and I co-host a video podcast we call the Coffee Klatch. Every Saturday morning we talk through the news over a cup of joe, and try to show how power and wealth are shaping the world that week.
Last week, we were joined by a very special guest: Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director, Rohit Chopra.
Rohit was fired by Trump at the same time Trump imposed a stop order on the CFPB, effectively shutting down much of its operations.
Chopra was recently described by Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorganChase (the largest bank in the United States), as “an arrogant, out-of-touch, son-of-a-bitch who just made things worse for a lot of Americans.”
I consider Dimon’s condemnation a strong endorsement of Chopra. (And for the record, I think Jamie Dimon is an arrogant, out-of-touch robber baron who has made things far worse for a lot of Americans — and will shaft even more people now that Rohit Chopra has been fired by Trump.)
Heather and I didn’t just talk to Rohit. We also assessed the fifth week of the Trump regime and how Trump has taken America over to the dark side by endorsing Vladimir Putin’s narrative of how the Ukraine war began and why Europe should defend itself rather than be an ally of the United States.
Whether the choice is posed by Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Jamie Dimon, or Elon Musk, the question is the same: Do we want democratic capitalism or oligarchy?
Please grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, head over to my personal Substack, and join in the conversation.
If you aren’t already a subscriber, you can sign up for free to get all my substacks in the future.
Robert Reich
