One of the best things i've read this year is from @rmabud.bsky.social and @brusselermel.bsky.social. "Without understanding how the pro-authoritarian coalition has used three interlocking levers to consolidate power, it will be impossible to build something better."

“An authoritarian coalition is embarking on a power grab unprecedented in recent US history ... each of [Trump’s] policy moves isn't simply about the policy itself, but about the consolidation of power as a whole” 🖋️ @rmabud.bsky.social @brusselermel.bsky.social www.common-wealth.org/publications...

Mamdani is not just filling the potholes with the crew. He's creating a visual and personal reminder of the dignity inherent in all of these anonymous government jobs.

We've collectively ignored the damage to the health system from the twin blows of Medicaid cuts & the expiration of ACA subsidies. But more than 800 US health facilities have either closed entirely, cut services, or are at risk, & we're just at the beginning. @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social reports.

Over at @cmmonwealth.bsky.social, @rmabud.bsky.social and @brusselermel.bsky.social have a new report on The Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation.

Grateful to @cmmonwealth.bsky.social for the opportunity to write this piece. We argue that Trump is engaged in a project of power consolidation in the presidency, executive branch, and the politically aligned oligarchs & corporations already dominating our economy and democracy. shorturl.at/pr2cK

“The authoritarian coalition has consolidated power through the assertion that the country belongs to them. The path forward is to remind them that it belongs to all of us.” Read our new briefing by @rmabud.bsky.social and @brusselermel.bsky.social at our website. 👇 shorturl.at/H0f6v

"Even as the federal government dismantles environmental regulations & guts clean energy investments, cities can still be sites of innovation when it comes to green, permanently affordable housing."@ruthygourevitch.bsky.social & Batul Hassan in @jacobinmag.bsky.social jacobin.com/2026/03/mamd...

A folk logic about it is starting to develop. People may not understand the monopolies and geopolitics of renewable energy at a gradual level. But they can see data centers, hear data centers, and read their electric bill statements. They are angry.

Every stage of this process - his arrest, spending a year in jail, being dumped on the streets to die - would be deeply shameful in a society that actually valued human life.

Trump's Friday morning so far: -- extremely disappointing 4th quarter GDP number -- inflation report hotter than expected -- Supreme Court strikes down tariffs

i think jesse jackson was one of the most important american political figures of the post-war era and i think that his 1984 and 1988 campaigns for the democratic nomination still have a great deal to teach about forging a path to a more egalitarian world. RIP.

hell yes.

What we’re witnessing at the Washington Post is the folly of entrusting self-interested billionaires with any democratic institution, especially a free and independent press. We need to a) permanently bury the myth of billionaire saviors and b) build a world-class public media system.

Great piece from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social that lays out how America's historical inability to implement baseline digital privacy protections is crashing headlong into our current authoritarian moment, provciding the Trump administration a fertile ground of public and private data on Americans.

"The fastest way to depolarize climate is to simply talk about who’s paying and who’s profiting.People disagree about a lot of things, but they do understand being ripped off.” Smart insight from Cassidy DiPaola in this piece by @dharna.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

So, to sum up, measures of underemp & Black unemp were still flashing danger, at the end of the (meh labor market) year & should be watched in 2026. Workers at the margins - people of color, involuntary part time, discouraged-are the groups who feel a downturn first, feel it longest, & recover last.

Remember how this admin gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Yeah, now it’s that much easier for their corporate pals squeeze every last penny out of your paycheck. Glad folks like @katiejwells.bsky.social are helping shine a light on this insanity ⬇️

Great piece from @hshierholz.bsky.social "Making life more affordable means not just lowering prices where possible and necessary, but also raising wages." www.ms.now/opinion/infl...

Read this as an American woman and then go break something.

New from @rooseveltinstitute.org @bilalb.bsky.social @victorpickard.bsky.social @shahrzadshams.bsky.social "The next chapter of democracy reform must treat our media system as a core infrastructure that makes democracy possible & thus demands protection from both state control & commercial capture."

We finally have jobs numbers out this morning from September and take a look at this: big jump again in Black women's unemployment, now 7.5% from 6.7% in August. This figure has been ticking up all year. This is now the highest unemployment rate Black women have faced in 4 years, since mid-2021.

🚨 Today, Common Wealth launches the Green Planning Commission. A major new initiative to tackle the twin crises of our era: climate breakdown & the affordability crisis. To meet these challenges, we need a new era of democratic planning. 🧵 https://www.common-wealth.org/green-planning-commission

How do we break out of the doom loop of authoritarianism & deep inequality? On 11/6, Future Currents is hosting @bilalb.bsky.social (@rooseveltinstitute.org) @povertyscholar.bsky.social (Cornell) & Erica Gallegos (Childcare for Every Family) to discuss. Register today us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

If you read one piece today, read this one from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

WSJ - Federal economists and researchers responsible for measuring hunger in America are placed on indefinite paid leave. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/usda-puts-food-researchers-on-leave-ef287cd7

Trump is cancelling an annual government survey that measures hunger in America, rather than allow it to show hunger increasing under his tenure. This follows the playbook of many non-democracies that cancel or manipulate reports that would otherwise show less-than-perfect news.

In the last six weeks, the Tenant Union Federation launched seven (7) majority tenant unions, across five (5) states, representing 1000 units of housing owned by Capital Realty Group, a New York-based corporate landlord. The first portfolio organizing of its kind... www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Some coverage of the federal takeover of DC would leave you thinking the main consequence is National Guardsmen laying mulch. No. It is masked agents terrifying schoolchildren. Please read this crucial article from @teoarmus.bsky.social on how DC communities are trying to protect families.

So grateful to be invited into this conversation with @msmagazine.com and @carmenriosss.bsky.social alongside @lenorepalladino.bsky.social. I found it personally helpful to take a moment to reflect and regroup in the fight for a just society, and I hope this conversation helps others as well.

widespread adoption of crypto + proliferation of AI + softening of the labor market + enforcement “replaced by crypto industry toadies” = “It is a great time to be a scammer.”

NEW: I spoke with a woman named Andrea about her experience being detained by ICE after calling the cops for help during a domestic violence incident. She was recently postpartum, breastfeeding & put in an all-male facility. She was detained for 2.5 months.

it was both *fun* and *deeply depressing* to revisit 2021 and all the arguments @rmabud.bsky.social and I made then for how investing in care would benefit the ENTIRE economy thanks @msmagazine.com @carmenriosss.bsky.social for the opportunity

ep three of looking back, moving forward is live @msmagazine.com! today's topic: economic justice 💰 feat. premilla nadasen, @rmabud.bsky.social + @lenorepalladino.bsky.social, aisha nyandoro, nwlc.org's gaylynn burroughs, and *the* dolores huerta. tune in!

TOMORROW: @gruberg.bsky.social @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social @mauricewfp.bsky.social @akapczynski.bsky.social & I will be talking about how to build power in this new world we're living in. Need inspiration? Someone to ask all your unanswered questions? Join us! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

The always brilliant Zephyr Teachout in the @nytimes.com: "People are tired of being squeezed at the checkout counter while corporate giants count their profits. They want groceries they can afford, stores they can trust and fair prices, not rigged ones." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/o...

somehow one of the most underrated facts in american politics is that trump is a republican who does republican stuff www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/o...

A new article from me and Ellis Chen at @lawfaremedia.org on the gutting of the IRS and why the destruction of a nation's tax capacity is part of the pattern in democratic erosion.

IMPA’s new research on the long-run costs of cutting federal R&D funding is featured in today’s @nytimes.com The findings are clear: plausible cuts would shrink U.S. GDP for generations. 📉 Read the article: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/b... 📄 Full report: impa.american.edu/costs-of-cut...

Here's me telling Marketplace morning report that yes, cutting the IRS workforce in half is a very bad idea.

Yeah so the Constitution isn’t really in effect right now

To review, the FAA administrator was forced out because of a business vendetta of Elon Musk’s, Trump froze the hiring of new ATCs despite staff shortages, Musk launched an underhanded attempt to hollow out the whole federal workforce, and then the first US airliner crashed in 16 years.