Politics

An Old Idea for a Guaranteed Income Is Back in Style

A new proposal for a negative income tax could eliminate poverty in the United States.

Max B. Sawicky

Is Gerrymandering Forever?

Gerrymandering guarantees undemocratic elections. Activists in Wisconsin are organizing to win an uphill battle for a fairer process.

Katjusa Cisar

The For the People Act Isn’t Dead

Don’t believe the pundits—there’s a growing grassroots movement to save American democracy and pass sweeping voting rights reform.

Mahnoor Imran and Adam Eichen

How the Potency of Social Wages Can Beat Back Neoliberalism

At the core of President Biden’s American Families Plan is an understanding that workers are paid too little in market wages and that government has a responsibility to change that.

Jack Metzgar

We Have a Jobs Crisis and an Environmental Crisis. The Answer to Both Is a Civilian Climate Corps.

From Bernie Sanders and AOC to the Sunrise Movement, progressives are working to establish an updated version of a New Deal program to meet the challenges of economic and climate upheaval. Its time has come.

Jeremy Mohler

Landlords Are Going to Take Away All Your Wage Gains

This is what happens when you treat housing as just another market.

Hamilton Nolan

Joe Biden Says He Stands With Unions. This Is His Moment to Prove It.

The longest national nurses strike in over a decade could also be a "watershed moment" for Medicare for All.

Mark Dudzic and Rand Wilson

The Only Way to Stop the GOP’s Democracy Doom Loop

Republicans are on a warpath against voting rights. Democrats alone won’t block them—we need mass grassroots resistance.

Eli Day

Democrats Are Wasting Precious Time with a Measly "Bipartisan" Infrastructure Deal

The bipartisan plan is a drop in the bucket. Democrats need to forget Republicans and pass a bold package that makes massive public investments.

Max B. Sawicky

How To Murder a Good Idea With Conventional Wisdom

"Defund the police" is a completely rational policy prescription. Political pundits don't care.

Hamilton Nolan

India Walton, Buffalo's Black Socialist Mayor to Be, Is About to Make History

Walton, a longtime community organizer, won a stunning primary victory over the Democratic incumbent in Buffalo, New York where she’s poised to usher in a new era of municipal socialism.

Nick Vachon

One Way to Boost Workers and the Labor Movement? Give Unions Power Over Unemployment Insurance.

A reform from Belgium in the early 1900s would both increase unemployment insurance benefits and decrease the cost of labor organizing. It’s time for the U.S. to embrace it.

Francisco Diez

Don't Just Send People Money During a Pandemic—Do It All the Time

The evidence is in: Sending out direct cash payments has been a full-blown success—and we can’t afford to stop.

Jim Pugh

Joe Biden’s Progressive Economic Turn Was Shaped By Social Movements

Years of grassroots organizing helped create the conditions for Biden to embrace bold policies on government spending.

Mark Engler and Paul Engler

Biden Says He Backs a Just Transition for the Climate Crisis. Advocates Say, “Prove It.”

While the administration has taken some early steps to provide support for energy workers and frontline communities in the transition away from fossil fuels, experts and activists say the crisis demands a more transformative approach.

Rachel M. Cohen

Words That Mean Nothing

Our political discourse is dominated by issues that don't exist

Hamilton Nolan

House Progressives Are Urging Democrats to Ditch the GOP and Pass a Bold Infrastructure Plan

Facing obstruction from Mitch McConnell and Republicans, a group of nearly 60 Democratic lawmakers are pushing for an investment "that truly meets this historic moment."

Kenny Stancil

Lies, Damn Lies, and Inflation

Austerity is about to make its political comeback.

Hamilton Nolan