Why States Must End Junk-Fee Creep
Why States Must End Junk-Fee Creep Convenience fee. Processing fee. Late fee. Amenity fee. Rather than competing on the basis of a clear, upfront price, some American companies have built entire business models around junk fees. States have the power to restore meaningful competition while saving families and small businesses billions of dollars. In an […]
The Case for New Cities
The Case for New Cities It has become a truism that America can’t build anymore. Housing, infrastructure, and all nature of public goods are nearly impossible to build and irrationally expensive when we do so. The facts are stunning for such a diverse and dynamic economy. California is annually building 100,000 fewer homes than it […]
The Rise of AI Systems
An introduction to AI systems at the intersection of agentics, governance, and safety Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be the new hype, but it is actually not new at all. Early applications of AI, although quite limited, have been around since the 1950s. Over the last several decades, the capacities of artificial intelligence have grown exponentially, […]
How to Choose
To govern successfully, liberals must relearn the art of setting priorities There are no miracle cures in politics or policy. Governing successfully at any level—federal, state, or local—means setting priorities, which by definition means disappointing people. Often powerful ones: donors, allies, even entire constituencies. As the federal government does less and becomes more mired in […]
The Lives of Men
Democrats lost credibility with boys and young men. Winning them back starts with listening and taking them seriously. In April, after President Trump declared Liberation Day and his punishing tariffs started playing havoc with the market but before he pulled back in the face of nearly unanimous outrage, Fox News ran a segment on “Trump’s […]
Listening to MAHA
Why Democrats need to stop defending the public-health status quo and pay closer heed to concerns raised by MAHA as they reckon with its popularity among voters The year 2020 was a universally difficult time, after which many aspects of life seemed to become a little harder and a little worse for everyone. The COVID […]
Why We Need a New Working-Class Movement, Not Just Another Political Campaign
Not Just Another Political Campaign During the many hours I spent talking to swing voters during the 2024 election, one interaction has come to illustrate the dynamic that I believe ultimately sunk Democrats. It also holds the key to mounting a strategic resistance to Trump at this moment. During the many hours I spent talking […]
How to Reach Young Voters
For the first time in two decades, the Democratic Party lost the popular vote—not just to any Republican, but to Donald Trump. This was not a matter of Kamala Harris’s candidate quality—the problem runs deeper. One of the most significant shifts in this election occurred among young voters. While they still leaned Democratic overall, the […]