This week, Democrats launched a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s behavior in office. For months, pundits have warned that an impeachment inquiry would harm Democrats in the next election. Recent survey experiments conducted by YouGov Blue and Data for Progress suggest that these fears may be misplaced, but more research is necessary (however, if you are worried about this, we have a fund to support swing district Democrats).
Read MoreToday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez released a policy package called “A Just Society,” which amounts to an ambitious ensemble of six distinct legislative projects—five bills and one resolution—that together would make dramatic reductions that would help fulfill the promise of a truly just and equal democracy. So far, polling by Data for Progress on some key planks of this package indicates that these are very popular. Most of the results released today are being made public for the first time.
Read MoreOn September 12, Senator Elizabeth Warren released a plan to expand Social Security for all current and future beneficiaries. Warren’s plan would impose new contribution requirements on income above $250,000 to increase Social Security checks by $200. When you factor in that the current average Social Security check is $1,350, Warren’s plan would increase checks by roughly 15 percent. This increase would be significant given that recent cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to Social Security, according to the AARP, “may not adequately cover [beneficiaries’] expenses that rise faster than inflation including health, prescription drug, utility and housing costs.” (Warren’s plan also includes a provision to make COLAs more adequate in the future.) It would help secure the lives of elderly Americans and Americans with disabilities, many of whom survive on fixed incomes.
The plan involves two new contribution requirements on incomes greater than $250,000—which is to say, the top 2 percent of earners in America. The first requirement, a contribution of 14.8 percent, would be on wages, divided between employers and employees, and the second, also 14.8 percent, would be on net investment income. The plan will also extend the solvency of Social Security by “nearly two decades,” according to Warren, and it will close various loopholes that the rich use to escape contributing their fair share.
Read MoreResponding to some feedback, we added all of the remaining Democratic Presidential Candidate tweets. For candidates with two handles (e.g. Kamala Harris), we included their personal account. A lot of these candidates surged to the top of the list of accounts that generate the most likes per tweet in our sample. This month Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, and Elizabeth Warren were near the top.
Read MoreA Green New Deal for Housing would combine targeted green investment in frontline communities and affordable housing with a renewed commitment to affordable housing. Data for Progress has already shown how much support there is for much of the Green New Deal agenda.
Here, we focus on housing tie-ins.
On September 5, People’s Action’s #HomesGuarantee campaign released a Briefing Book that details an incredibly bold housing justice agenda. This agenda was informed and finalized through intense consultations between grassroots leaders, housing organizers, and a team of progressive policy thinkers, coming from all around the country (full disclosure, I was on the Policy Team). If a Green New Deal for Housing is looking for housing agenda to connect to, the Homes Guarantee campaign is the leading candidate.
Read MoreFrom the start, the sheriff stood central to white supremacy. After the Civil War, sheriffs built power by leasing people leaving slavery to corporations. The history of lynchings in the United States is a history of sheriffs deciding only some people receive due process. The Republic, James Baldwin wrote, hired “the sheriff to keep the Republic white.”
And while the sheriff has decreased prominence in our public imagination, it remains a powerful force in incarceration and deportations. Each year, 11 million people go through county jails, most controlled by sheriffs. More than 800 people are dying in jail each year, with almost no accountability. About half of deportations from within the US during the Trump Administration pass through those same jails. Sheriffs patrol our rural areas, enforce evictions and issue concealed carry permits.
Read MoreIn late August,, Bernie Sanders’ proposal for a Green New Deal heavily featured his plans to take on the fossil fuel industry. He joins a growing number of 2020 presidential contenders who are proposing to phase out coal, oil, and gas production and to put workers and communities first in a transition to a new economy.
Of the 18 major Democrats remaining in the race, sixteen have taken the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge to reject campaign contributions above $200 from fossil fuel company executives, PACs, and lobbyists; thirteen support ending new fossil fuel leasing on public lands; and twelve support eliminating all fossil fuel production subsidies and tax giveaways.
Read MoreLast week, we published part one of a two-part analysis of Bernie Sanders’ “Workplace Democracy Plan.” The eighteen-point plan, released in mid-August, proposes a wide-ranging overhaul to American labor law that would change the face of work in America.
Here’s the final nine points of his plan, explained. We’re getting into some of the heftier parts of his plan, so settle in for some reading. Overall, the second half of Sanders’s plan continues to be a radical step forward. Most importantly it would strongly strengthen the positions of workers to wield power through collective action while making it harder for employers to suppress union activity. It would also ensure that all employees have protections that are sorely lacking. Where the plan falls down is in a half hearted attempt to respond to some of the centrist criticisms toward Medicare for All.
Read MoreIn an unwieldy field with upwards of 25 candidates, asking survey respondents to choose a single candidate greatly limits our understanding voters’ preferences. This is especially true early in the race when voters are actively considering several candidates. Instead, what could one infer if surveys asked voters to rank the candidate field rather than merely ask for a top choice? For example, would candidates like Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren float to the top? Or would former Vice President Joe Biden appear even more dominant when taking into account ranked preferences?
Read MoreWhile Kamala Harris’ attack on Joe Biden’s busing record drew the most media attention after the first Democratic debate, one of the most overlooked disputes from the debate concerned foreign policy.
When asked about whether he’d end the war in Afghanistan, Rep. Tim Ryan argued, “We must have our military engaged to the extent they need to be.” Immediately, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard jumped on his answer, countering, “We have to bring our troops home from Afghanistan.”
Read MoreLast week, the Sanders campaign unveiled a wide-ranging plan to overhaul American labor law. If enacted it would be the most dramatic change to labor law since the 1947 passage of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act, and would arguably match the changes from the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA, or “Wagner Act”) in scope and ambition.
But what does his plan actually mean for workers? Well, we’ve got you covered. Here’s part one of a breakdown of the eighteen points in the Workplace Democracy Plan. We’ll start with the first nine points of the plan, and explain it point-by-point.
Read MoreCongress has not raised the federal minimum wage since 2007 and today it remains at a meager $7.25 per hour. This makes it the longest period of time without an increase in the minimum wage’s 81-year history. As inflation erodes the purchasing power of the dollar every year, the minimum wage drifts further from a realistic, livable wage.
The Fight for $15 began in 2012 when a few hundred fast food workers in New York City walked off the job to demand $15 per hour and the right to unionize. Now, a once radical idea of a $15 minimum is becoming reality, in states like New York, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia.
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