Political Assassinations, Americans In The Peasant Class, New York City Primary Shocker...And More.

End-of-Month Link Roundup

Welcome to The Poverty Trap, a newsletter and podcast for people who are fed up with the inequality baked into America’s system and want to individually and collectively make change.

U.S. Senate Collection: “View of the Senate of the United States in Session” Engraving by J. Rogers, E. Anthony, 1850

I’m writing this post as the Senate continues to debate the Republican’s “One Big Beautiful Ghastly Bill”. The good news is the proposed sell-off of 250 million acres of federal land that I wrote about last week has been stripped from the bill, based on opposition from a few key Republicans and rulings by the Senate parliamentarian. However the draconian cuts to Medicaid, massive tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and numerous other provisions designed to cripple the poor and middle-class, remain.

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I thought I would close June (now just barely into July) with a link round-up of a few of the most important news articles and Substack posts this month, including at least one catastrophe that did not receive nearly the attention it deserved.

— First up, the most brutal, shocking news story in June was the political assassination of a Minnesota state legislator, Representative Melissa Hortman, her husband and family dog, and the wounding of another Minnesota legislator, Senator John Hoffman and his wife, all in their own homes. This story appeared on the national news for several days during the search for the killer and then again when funeral services were held late last week. But despite its gravity—it was a political assignation – the murders and attempted murders were treated like the usual blip of news and buried in the avalanche of Trump stories that immediately followed. Where is the outrage?

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— Will the majority of Americans soon be peasants, lorded over by the ultra-wealthy? Are we already there? See this recent link round-up from

Untrickled by Michelle Teheux

and enjoy the analysis of Substackers knowledgable on one of the major issues of our time.

I believe if we do not reduce income inequality soon, there’s no hope for democracy or indeed for the survival of the United States as we know it. Powerful forces seek to turn us into a handful of very powerful, wealthy people and lots of powerless peasants. Michelle Teheux, June 20, 2025

I agree.

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— This post by

The Status Kuo

provides a great analysis of the New York City Democratic primary election for Mayor…and why the upset victory of Zohran Mamdani might just be critical to the Democratic Party.

Mamdani ran a campaign consistent in its optimistic, simple messaging around the key issue of affordability. He promised rent freezes for those in controlled units and free buses. He spoke consistently about the high cost of food, addressing everything from food trucks having to charge high prices because of the bottleneck on new permits, to making commissary-style grocery stores available to low-income residents.

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Finally for today, an uplifting article from The New York Times that discusses what one action each state is doing to confront climate change and improve our natural environment. Under the current administration, any action to protect our environment and/or tackle climate change is clearly up to the states:

This Vermont Soccer Team Plays for the Planet: The Vermont Green Football Club champions environmental work and draws sold-out crowds, with the help of free ice cream [Ben & Jerry’s, of course].

Vermont Green is an amateur soccer club with a mission. Its founders want to offer quality soccer while championing a larger cause befitting Vermont, a state that has pledged to conserve half of its land by 2050 and that generates nearly all of its electricity renewably. Inspired by the Forest Green Rovers in England, known as the world’s greenest football club, the Green’s founders embraced climate action.

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Let me know what you think of these stories and whether any of them got enough attention from the national news media. Please leave your ideas in the Comment Section below.