3703 - Abdul Beats AIPAC; Trump's IRS is Imploding w/ Stephanie Mencimer
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What were the major primary election results and why is Abdul El‑Sayed’s win significant?
It is Wednesday, August 5th, 2026. My name is Sam Seder. This is the five-time award-winning majority report. We are broadcasting live steps from the industrially ravaged Gowanus Canal in the heartland of America, downtown Brooklyn, USA. On the program today... Stephanie Menemster, staff reporter, Mother Jones Washington Bureau, on to discuss her piece, The IRS is Imploding. But meanwhile, not a romp, but a big night for progressives in Michigan as Abdul El-Sayed wins in dramatic fashion. The 13th District, Donovan McKinney, wins and will be the 7th DSA-er sent to Congress. In Michigan's 7th, Will Lawrence will win or has won and will be facing a Republican incumbent. Meanwhile, bad news in Missouri, Cori Bush wins.
Handily defeated by Wesley Bell and his APAC money. Hartzell Gray in the fourth didn't cross the finish line, but came very close. Teeing up a 2028 run, in my opinion. Kansas voters reject the idea of an elected Supreme Court. Missouri voters reject making referendums harder for people to call for. And out of the White House, supposedly a new deal on the opening of the Strait of Hormuz because it's Wednesday and Tuesday. The stock market is still open until Friday. Meanwhile, as the deadline is looming for Max Miller to drop out of Ohio's 7th District re-election, he remains defiant. He's a fighter. He'll smack you around. ICE arrests reach record highs in July. New report, more than 50 detainees are either parents or spouses of active U.S.
military. And good news. If you're a corporation, Trump administration refunds $100 billion to corporations in Liberation Day tariff refunds. However, if you're one of the consumers who paid for that. You're screwed. I'm sure they'll pass those savings along. Oh, of course. Federal appeals court bars the Trump EPA from canceling $20 billion in climate change grants. Private companies hiring comes in way below expectations. And a piece of SpaceX rocket crashes into the moon. Ah! It sneaks up on you. What are you going to do? All this and more... on today's uh majority report uh welcome ladies and gentlemen thanks for joining us emma is out today uh we were here uh rather uh late this uh last evening uh brian was in here like what 7 15 and i slept here cleaning up the place exactly um
When we left, the race had not been called by anybody except for me. First. You heard it here first, folks. Exactly. The race was a lot tighter than most of the polling would have had us believe. I think it's down to one point now or somewhere around there, but it has been called by the AP. Haley Stevens has conceded. nbc had called it late last night maybe at three or four in the morning but nobody else had um but uh it it appears it is um really um clear um i know that emma was upset when i called it uh based upon just gut instinct and wanting to troll her uh yes hopefully it was a moment of growth I think everybody understands that. I mean, according to Emma, I would have caused the win. Right. If I could have caused the loss, then I certainly could have caused the win.
I should tell you, although it's not magic, people had already voted. And so it had nothing to do with my my premature calling of the race. But this is a big victory. A couple of things just to keep in mind. We don't know yet. We probably will. But we don't know yet how many Republicans voted in this. It's an open primary. Anybody could have voted in there. I don't think there's substantial numbers of Republicans who voted. But it wouldn't surprise me if there was some. It's a tight race. Rural areas went with Stevens. Concentrated areas where there are black voters, particularly older black voters, went with Stevens as well. There's going to be a challenge for El Saeed, obviously, in running against Rodgers.
I think he has a better shot than Haley Stevens would have had because she didn't seem to motivate anybody without huge gobs of money. I mean, really, you're talking almost 10 to 1. He spent one dollar on every vote. She spent ten dollars on every vote is a way to look at it. It's actually the numbers are more inflated than that, obviously.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What were the major primary election results and why is Abdul El‑Sayed’s win significant?
0:07–8:22
2
How did the hosts break down the Michigan Senate primary vote count and the implications for the Democratic caucus?
8:22–15:37
3
What did Mallory McMorrow say in her endorsement and how did El‑Sayed’s victory speech unfold?
15:37–22:18
4
Why is the IRS considered to be imploding and what personal experiences sparked Stephanie Mencimer’s investigation?
22:18–30:20
5
How have decades of underfunding and recent budget cuts affected IRS staffing and taxpayer service?
30:20–38:53
6
What do the latest IRS performance metrics (call wait times, live‑operator rates, audit data) reveal about the agency’s dysfunction?
38:53–47:08
7
What actions are Congress and the Biden administration taking—or failing to take—to rebuild the IRS?
47:08–54:31
8
How does the show transition to the Fun Half and what final thoughts do the hosts share about government agency decay?
54:31–59:20
Speakers
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