We Are Sliding Back Into the Middle Ages www.nytimes.com/2026/05/17/o...

1/ Policy is downstream of culture. That's something I've believed for a long time — and sitting down with comedian, director, and Emmy and Peabody winner @wkamaubell.bsky.social at Guaranteed Income Now in Austin, TX last week, he gave me a sharper way to say it:

In Atlanta last month, we asked local leaders what a #GoodLife means to them. Their answers were clear: Affordable and quality housing. Access to healthcare. Jobs with dignity. And above all: more time with family and less time stretched thin trying to make everything work. 📹

If you read one thing about AI this week, make it this, from @eli.bsky.social and @newpublic.org newpublic.org/afterthefeed

1/ $160 and 9 hours. That’s what filing taxes costs the average American, not in taxes, in fees to private companies that have spent decades lobbying to keep the system complicated. 🧵⬇️ 🔗 economicsecurityproject.org/resource/the...

1/ Last week, under the shadow of the Michigan state capitol, I gave a keynote address to the hundreds of people gathered to ask a question 250 years in the making: Are we fulfilling the promise of democracy in America?

Keynote @nataliefoster.bsky.social opened her speech with an analogy from Ada Limon of "unsung third stanzas" in American "songs" for democracy. "The promise was work hard, play by the rules and the country will reward you. But that unsung stanza is unless you are born into poverty." #mlppforum

On Thursday, April 30, Kim Warren and I attended @michleague.bsky.social 2026 Public Policy Forum! A day dedicated to being in community with so many others! TY @nataliefoster.bsky.social for your book! Let’s continue to make #EarlyChildhoodMatterMost #AASAEarlyEd #TeamWISD

1/ I’ve been working with cash transfers for over a decade and one of the questions I repeatedly get asked is: Wouldn’t giving people cash disincentivize work?

1/ This week the @workingfamilies.org launched the Working Families Guarantee: a bold agenda built on the conviction that in the wealthiest country in history, everyone should be able to afford the basics.

your annual tax season reminder that filing your taxes could be way easier and more affordable - if it weren't for corporations spending millions on lobbying to keep the system deliberately confusing. this is why we can't have nice things.

Great work by @rooseveltinstitute.org @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

1/ In a media ecosystem that rewards clickbait, doomscrolling, and outrage, people are desperately craving hope grounded in real solutions. That was one of the main takeaways from our content creator convening in Venice, CA, last week.

A public option for inhalers is coming, thanks to California: calrx.ca.gov/albuterol/

New ways of thinking about Guarantees: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/30/o...

1) When we outsource what makes us human—our ability to think, learn, and love—to technology, that’s a political, economic, and spiritual collapse waiting to happen. @nataliefoster.bsky.social @economicsecurityproject.org

We're thrilled to have @nataliefoster.bsky.social co-founder of the Economic Security Project, as this year's keynote speaker for the 2026 Public Policy Forum. 📅 Register before 4/24: bit.ly/2026mlppforum 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Join our growing list of sponsors: bit.ly/4jFL6w5

The Affordable Care Act is turning 16 years old, despite all odds. Let me tell you a story. 1/ Sixteen years ago, I was leading the digital team at Organizing for America, President Obama’s grassroots organizing arm.

The Trump admin needs to stop playing games with travel and disaster response, and support the Democrats' bill to fund TSA and FEMA without sending additional money to ICE or CBP, which still have $150 billion in unspent funding from the 2025 Reconciliation bill. www.ms.now/news/dhs-ice...

Long overdue www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/t...

Hello? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/u...

Today I pre-ordered Protest: Respect It, Defend It, Use it, by Annie Leonard and Andre Carothers #patagoniabooks www.theprotestbook.com

The US “social safety net” wasn’t designed just as emergency aid. Under FDR’s New Deal, it was a power-balancing project meant to give ordinary people the economic freedom needed for democracy to function. Our new paper from Jamie Keene explains why we’ve lost that vision and how to rebuild it. 🧵

"Politicians need to learn the lessons of hundreds of years of infrastructure policy and once again embrace the role of government in providing high-quality infrastructure." @ganeshsitaraman.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/o...

None of this is funny. Just a total embarrassment. It feels like every day he's the president the stakes become more existential. That no Republican will even talk about impeachment or the 25th Amendment is a damning indictment and proof that none of them are fit for office.

3000 No Kings events. That’s because America is at an inflection point. Communities are hurting. People are afraid, and they can’t afford the basics. 3,000 No Kings events are already planned across the country & more are being added every day. That’s people power. www.nokings.org/news/over-30...

"Imagine the internet is a toll road everyone must use. Then, one day, the toll road decides to start its own trucking company. That’s what massive online platforms like Google and Apple are doing, said @teriolle.bsky.social of @economicsecurity.us" www.courthousenews.com/california-s...

Brilliant www.allure.com/story/planne...

Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis was a test case for something much larger: how far federal power could be pushed inside American cities. 👌 piece by @jehaby.bsky.social and mayor Jacob Frey: www.ms.now/opinion/minn...

💡 A fresh brief from @economicsecurityproject.org shows what the evidence is actually telling us about guaranteed income (GI) and work — and it debunks common myths with real data from California’s pilots: economicsecurityproject.org/resource/gua...

Guaranteed income + employment. Great brief on what the data shows from the @economicsecurityproject.org team. economicsecurityproject.org/resource/gua...

Interesting event 🚨 at Cal on 3/10 besi.berkeley.edu/event/what-d...

Hegseth’s reckless demands are dangerous and unethical. I’m grateful to Dario and the team at @Anthropic for resisting the threats and pressures to give Hegseth unchecked power to surveil us or start a war www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

4 key expenses — groceries, housing, health care and transportation — have eaten up a larger fraction of Americans’ spending in recent years, leaving people feeling squeezed even under supposedly good economic conditions. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The State of the Union is in less than 2 weeks. The president will claim he’s lowered costs—but many of his policies have done the opposite. As we approach #SOTU, we’ll be comparing this administration’s rhetoric against the reforms our economy actually needs for citizens to have a #GoodLife. 🧵

Love is an action. Immigrants deserve safety, dignity, and joy—today and always. Join me in taking action to ensure we protect and stand up for immigrants. #ToImmigrantsWithLove #IStandWithImmigrants

Young voters are part of Trump’s coalition that is showing signs of fraying ahead of the coming midterm elections, where history is already against the party that controls the White House, and the GOP has the barest of control in Congress. www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

Teri Olle, VP at Economic Security California, underscores the urgent stakes of AI policy, asking who gets to decide what this technology means for people, and who it will serve. ✍️ @nathanheller.bsky.social in the @newyorker.com 🔗 www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

just want to reiterate that literally every D senator voted to claw back this money. (yes, including fetterman.) this is very much the mainstream view in the party right now.

Today, we honor the birthday of Franklin D. Roosevelt—a leader who guided the nation through crisis with bold vision and unwavering resolve. While it may be his 144th birthday, FDR’s ideas still speak to our current economic and political moment. 1/6 🧵

1/ On January 1, California became the first state in the country to sell low-cost insulin under its own label, breaking Big Pharma’s price stranglehold with a #publicoption.

Where Would We Be If Joe Lieberman Hadn’t Killed the Public Option? newrepublic.com/article/2025... via @newrepublic.com

1/ America just built a $200B checkbook to shape global markets—and almost no one noticed.

Trump’s fight with Jerome Powell tests the outer limits of his power - great piece by ⁦@mtkonczal.bsky.social in @vox.com www.vox.com/policy/47496...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Cammie Croft Demands Closure of Delaney Hall After Death in ICE Custody “The death of Jean Wilson Brutus while in ICE custody is horrific. This facility must be shut down now." #NJ11 #Immigration 1/5

📅 On Dec 17, 2–3:15 p.m. ET, join @aspeneop.bsky.social for “Back to the Future of Work: Revisiting the Past and Shaping the Future.” We’re closing out a yearlong look at a decade of #FutureOfWork insights — and exploring what comes next. 🔗 Register: www.aspeninstitute.org/events/back-...

Thoughtful piece on taxation and AI www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...

Cook County just made history. With its 2026 budget, the County becomes the first in the nation to make #guaranteedincome permanent, putting money directly back into families’ pockets. ESIL is proud to partner on this nation-leading effort.

Meta’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp helped define today’s social media landscape—and this decision shows how difficult it is to unwind consolidation years later. 1/ 🔗 www.businessinsider.com/meta-wins-ft...