The Trump administration just launched a service promising “the largest reduction in prescription drug prices in history.” But beneath the branding is a familiar story: political theater, limited impact, and no structural reform. 🧵

Must-read 🧵 from our Director of Corporate Power and Financial Regulation @bradlipton.bsky.social on the billions this administration has cost consumers by dismantling the CFPB ⬇️

This merger would further concentrate media ownership in fewer hands, at a time when the president and his allies seem to be repurposing regulatory tools meant to protect the public interest to influence media companies' business and editorial decisions. This deal should be roundly rejected.

In Detroit, tenants are fighting back. After years of neglect by a crypto-backed landlord, residents are organizing to stop evictions and ensure longtime tenants aren’t treated like squatters. Keyontay Humphries, Chief of Staff, Detroit, shows how organizing is resisting the city's housing crisis.

Bitcoin just had its worst weekly drop in more than three years. The reasons for the dive are still under debate, but what is clear is that many working-class people who saw crypto as a safe bet suffered real losses. This is what volatile, opaque markets do.

A “March for Billionaires” took place in San Francisco this weekend. Yes—an organized rally in defense of the ultrarich. At a time of rising housing, health and child care costs, the billionaires who pay less in effective taxes than working families do not need more advocacy.

When political figures threaten lawsuits against comedians, it’s not just about individual grievances. It’s about power. Our research shows how a deregulated, profit-driven media system is especially vulnerable to legal and political intimidation. Read here: https://bit.ly/4rtcRLa

The tax law passed by Congress last year let Amazon pay just $2.8B in federal income taxes—down from more than $7B in each of the prior two years. All while its profits jumped 44.5% to $89.5B. This is the same company that announced 16k layoffs last month.

In California, a handful of billionaires are pouring tens of millions into campaigns to block a one-time 5% wealth tax—money that would fund health care cut by the federal government. From @prospect.org ⬇️

Americans still disapprove of the administration’s tariffs by a margin of 2-to-1. A majority say tariffs will be bad for their families in the years ahead, while fewer than one in five expect any benefit. That’s not surprising, given how chaotically they’ve been rolled out. 🧵

#ICYMI: Our top stories of the week ✅Making government work for working people ✅WaPo layoffs send a message about wealth & power ✅Trump’s missteps at the WTO put clean energy at risk More in the #RooseveltRundown ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4kuJxlq

The Roosevelt Institute published a 180-page report on the methodological and administrative challenges of wealth taxation and I love them for it.

The tax law passed by Congress last year let Amazon pay just $2.8B in federal income taxes—down from more than $7B in each of the prior two years. All while its profits jumped 44.5% to $89.5B. This is the same company that announced 16k layoffs last month.

Read this thread from our Director of Industrial Policy and Trade @toddntucker.com on a WTO ruling last week that went under the radar—and what it means for green industrial policy in a changing international trade landscape ⬇️

Americans still disapprove of the administration’s tariffs by a margin of 2-to-1. A majority say tariffs will be bad for their families in the years ahead, while fewer than one in five expect any benefit. That’s not surprising, given how chaotically they’ve been rolled out. 🧵

Lost in the Fed Chair nomination news: what Kevin Warsh’s leadership could mean for climate change policy. Central banks shape how economies can prepare for changes to our climate—but Warsh previously dismissed climate change as “politically charged.” Climate finance isn’t politics. It’s policy.

rooseveltinstitute.org/publications... CC: @rooseveltinstitute.org @kedseconomist.com

Today’s layoffs at the Washington Post should not be understood in a vacuum. News outlets nationwide have suffered for decades under a profit-maximizing logic that ignores the media’s civic role as a trusted messenger. The reaction from our Director of Democratic Institutions @bilalb.bsky.social ⬇️

“Why is it that even with good intentions and hard work, it can be very hard for the federal government to deliver for working people?” Hannah Garden-Monheit asked dozens of senior officials last fall. A future admin will need to rebuild government—here are her 161 recommendations for how ⬇️

The Warner Bros acquisition is about more than TV. It’s another sign of growing media consolidation—where a few corporations control what millions see, hear, and trust. Entertainment and news alike are democratic infrastructure, and concentrated ownership weakens it.

This is a terrific report by @lookheron.bsky.social on how to create institutional structures that protect free speech at public universities. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

When political figures threaten lawsuits against comedians, it’s not just about individual grievances. It’s about power. Our research shows how a deregulated, profit-driven media system is especially vulnerable to legal and political intimidation. Read here: https://bit.ly/4rtcRLa

“The independence of the Fed has rarely been tested as aggressively as it has over the last year. Warsh’s nomination to lead the Fed should not reassure Americans that those threats are behind us.” — our @mikemadowitz.bsky.social on the stakes of Friday’s Fed Chair nomination in @usatoday.com ⬇️

In California, a handful of billionaires are pouring tens of millions into campaigns to block a one-time 5% wealth tax—money that would fund health care cut by the federal government. From @prospect.org ⬇️

Our work on higher ed by @lookheron.bsky.social explores the foundation of many of today’s higher education challenges: from funding and governance to the conditions that make free speech possible on campus. 🧵

Working people pay taxes on every paycheck. The ultrarich don’t. The top 0.1% now hold $1 in every $6 of US wealth, protected by loopholes that let fortunes grow, untaxed, across generations. Extreme wealth becomes political and economic power. 🧵⬇️

FDR believed freedom meant economic security—and he acted on it. Instead of asking Americans to gamble their futures, he built the public infrastructure that made a #GoodLife possible, especially for the most vulnerable. That legacy still sets the bar, and we honor it this Jan 30th. 6/6

@oxfaminternational.bsky.social reports billionaire wealth has reached a new peak. Policy needs to catch up. The FAST proposal from @bdgesq.bsky.social offers a practical way to tax the ultrarich in the US ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4btkkp0

#ICYMI: Our top stories of the week ✅ A FAST way to tax the ultrarich ✅ Why Trump’s housing plan misses the mark ✅ Defending free speech on campus More in the #RooseveltRundown ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4c93Fai

On FDR’s 144th birthday, his granddaughter—and our Board Chair—Anna Eleanor Roosevelt remembers how he used the day to fight for something bigger than himself. 🧵

Important 🧵 from our Principal Economist on today's Federal Reserve Chair announcement:

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 🧵

Our Director of Corporate Power & Financial Regulation with a 🧵 on the importance of bank exams and what slashing them means for working people. And correct 🔗 to @reporterev.bsky.social's article👇https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/cfpb-to-slash-bank-examinations-switch-to-all-virtual-reviews

Working people pay taxes on every paycheck. The ultrarich don’t. The top 0.1% now hold $1 in every $6 of US wealth, protected by loopholes that let fortunes grow, untaxed, across generations. Extreme wealth becomes political and economic power. 🧵⬇️

@fortune.com covered our Tax Fellow @bdgesq.bsky.social’s new report released this morning outlining a new model for a nationwide ultrawealth tax. Extreme wealth = extreme power. Here’s a concrete way to rein it in. ⬇️

A just tax system is essential to rebuilding our democracy. Proud to publish @bdgesq.bsky.social's new paper on one way to get there.

NEW📰: A constitutionally sound tax plan to make the ultrarich pay their fair share that: ✅ Targets extreme wealth ✅ Closes trust & inheritance loopholes ✅ Ties payments to cash events, making it enforceable Read our latest from @bdgesq.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/4rk6wBM

OK a quick 🧵 on one aspect of the report In this Neo-McCarthyist moment, how can progressives make sure that expanding public higher education does not come at the expense of academic freedom and freedom to protest on campus? In a way, the question is easier to answer that I thought

As we await a Supreme Court ruling on tariff authority, a new @bloomberg.com analysis finds this admin followed through on just 27% of its tariff threats. Tariffs can be a serious policy tool—when used strategically. This approach has been anything but. www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Our work on higher ed by @lookheron.bsky.social explores the foundation of many of today’s higher education challenges: from funding and governance to the conditions that make free speech possible on campus. 🧵

Education. Housing. Health and child care. The building blocks of the American dream are no longer affordable, new polling from @nytimes.com confirms. As the government ignores rising costs, the #GoodLife afforded to prior generations slips further out of reach. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/u...

We shouldn't have to rob our futures to survive the present. Asking Americans to tap retirement savings to afford overpriced homes doesn't fix the market—it just shifts the risk. Allison Zelman explains why we need FDR-style structural reform, not more individual risk. https://bit.ly/3NGi9V7

This project was born out of conversations about how the free college fight in 2019 and 2020 barely touched issues like free speech, curriculum, and academic freedom. That would be impossible today, but if we are serious about equity we can't stop calling for real public investment in higher ed.

NEW📰: Concentrated wealth and power threaten free speech at public and private colleges alike. @lookheron.bsky.social argues the real issue isn’t public funding, but governance, power, and who is willing to defend academic freedom when it’s under pressure. https://bit.ly/4aeVtnD

The admin is talking affordability—but hasn’t shown it’s serious about the policy. You can’t tackle credit card debt while kneecapping the CFPB, fix housing while blocking new supply, or claim industrial policy if it’s purely political. Our @bradlipton.bsky.social w/ @emilystewart.bsky.social ⬇️

Last week marked 16 years since the Citizens United decision. The consequences for our politics have been disastrous. Billionaire spending has skyrocketed—and it’s no coincidence that economic policies ever since have overwhelmingly favored entrenched wealth over the working class.

Regulation isn’t good or bad by default. The question is whether it serves the public interest. @resnikoff.bsky.social’s report on lessons from YIMBYism offers a pragmatic framework for generating supply—from housing to childcare—for the people who need it most. https://bit.ly/49uNdj8

At Davos, the president just bragged that he could “crush” the housing market if he wanted to. But his administration’s recent, haphazard housing proposals—like a 50-year mortgage and letting people tap 401(k)s for down payments—are more theater than attempts at structural reform.

🎊 Exciting news: We’re proud to introduce our 2026 cohort of think tank fellows! This inspiring group will help advance our #GoodLife vision of shared prosperity and power for working people. Meet the new Roosevelters ⬇️

#ICYMI: Our top stories ✅ Why Americans are increasingly worried about the 2026 economy ✅ Lessons from the YIMBY movement on supply and subsidy ✅ Meet the Roosevelt Institute’s 2026 think tank fellows More in the #RooseveltRundown ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4jXh4Ex