Wealth Extraction

Nobody Voted for This War. Nobody Gets the Old World Back.

by

The American presidency, in the wrong hands, with every institutional check removed, is powerful enough to destroy countries and break the interdependent global systems the modern world runs on.

The Leadership

I never fully understood how powerful the President of the United States actually is until now. When that position is held by a man with no capacity for consequence, no institutional check left to slow him down, and a circle of people who know exactly how to use him — he can destroy a country.

Read more

They’ve Been Picking My Pocket for Six Years

by

I live in Arizona, and for six years we have been targeted by a coordinated national campaign to scare voters with propaganda about election fraud. It has never produced a shred of evidence, because there was never any evidence to find. The Department of Justice is now demanding the voter files of five million Arizonans. … Read more

The Veto Queen Story Is Missing Its First Three Chapters

by

Arizona voters will hear that Katie Hobbs vetoed 401 bills. That number is real. The context behind it — the audit that cost taxpayers at least $8.6 million, the structural reasons Arizona was targeted, and the wealth extraction agenda those vetoes blocked — is the part the attack ads leave out.

ICE Detention: Racism Meets Extraction

by

ICE detention has been restructured into a large-scale system of wealth extraction. Government authority is used to move public money to private corporations, while enforcement practices determine who bears the human and economic costs. In this system, extraction politics—the use of governmental power, budgets, and enforcement authority—works in tandem with extractive capitalism, in which private firms convert public policy into guaranteed revenue.

Read more

ICE Detention Contracts: Public Cover for Private Profits

by

Federal-private detention contracts exemplify wealth extraction—channeling public funds to profit-driven corporations. This analysis focuses on ICE detention contracts.

  • ICE routes detention funding through cities.
  • Cities retain a small administrative cut.
  • Pre-selected private contractors capture the bulk of profits without competitive bidding.

This local mechanism forms the third tier of a broader three-tiered extraction system: federal agency diversions, legislative reallocations from social programs, and city intermediaries via IGSAs.

In 2025, Congress appropriated $75 billion to ICE over four years—tripling the scale of this extraction system.

This post expands on a shorter version published on Substack: ICE Detention Contracts: Cities as Intermediaries for Private Profits.

Read more

Stephen Miller: Racism as a Governing Tool

by

Ideological brokers provide the narrative framework that makes extractive policies appear reasonable and even necessary. Stephen Miller exemplifies this role by framing immigration as invasion and rights as conditional. His positions supply the justification for enforcement expansion, visa limitations, and resource redirection—enabling wealth extraction through structured policy while limiting political participation for targeted groups.

Hakeem Jeffries and Extraction Politics: Rhetoric, Fundraising, and Leadership Choices

by

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries claims to be a champion against corporate influence in politics. Last month, he criticized Republicans for prioritizing “MAGA billionaire donors” over everyday Americans. This month he endorsed Democratic proposals to curb “corporate influence in our broken campaign finance system.”

Read more