Sky-high housing prices. Crushing rent. Healthcare bills that never seem to stop climbing. As billionaires get richer. Journalist, former Bernie Sanders speechwriter, and founder of The Lever, David Sirota, says these aren’t separate crises, they’re symptoms of the same disease: corruption built into the American political system.
Sirota speaks to Mehdi to break down how “legalized bribery” has shaped everything from housing and healthcare to tax policy. He points to campaign finance reform as the key to rebalancing power away from corporate donors and back toward voters. The goal, Sirota says, is to expose that this isn’t new to our democracy, but a deeply embedded plan that originates back to the early 1970s.
In his new book, Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America, Sirota uncovers a 50-year plan by wealthy conservatives to rig the rules of the game so that money is no longer seen as corrupting or as a form of influence, but as constitutionally-protected speech.
The two touched on a wide range of topics, including:
SCOTUS reform (“The Supreme Court has been working for the last decade to try to make it harder and harder for prosecutors to prosecute people under federal bribery status.”)
The 2024 Democratic election campaign (“Why do you feel like you need to be saying that the economy is good and people are wrong?”)
Democrats rejecting funding from AIPAC (“AIPAC has mastered maximizing its power inside of a deregulated campaign finance system.”)
Plus, the recent NYC mayoral debate, AOC as Bernie’s potential successor, the fascinating Montana Initiative, and more.
The conversation above with The Lever founder and editor-in-chief David Sirota centers around Master Plan, the new book by The Lever‘s investigative newsroom. Zeteo readers can click here to get a major discount and a free e-book version of Master Plan now. Looking for more book recommendations? Visit the Zeteo book club here for inspiration.
Paid subscribers can watch the full conversation above. Free subscribers can watch a three-minute preview. Consider becoming a paid subscriber today to skip the paywall every time.
Note: this interview was filmed the day after the first 2025 NYC mayoral debate.
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