We’re expecting to see text of a budget resolution tomorrow. That would be the first of many steps in enacting a reconciliation bill, which can be passed even with all Democrats opposed.
We’re expecting it to be a slush fund for ICE and CBP, but we’ll have a few more details tomorrow. Follow along.
starting to think mega-projects for big business subsidized by public dollars are not actually a path to sustainable economic development
The looting of the country continues
Everyone should read this description of how the Roberts Court abused the Supreme Courts own rules and traditions to turn the previously rarely used "shadow docket" into a tool for legislating a right wing agenda from the bench.
These "interim rulings" aren't interim; they are policy. Gift article.
Final note: Desmond Meade talks in this clip about the use of the term "returning citizens" instead of ex-felon: youtu.be/lnQc3uzRETg?...
Meade led a successful campaign to restore voting rights for people with felony convictions in FLORIDA.
Knows something about talking to "the people"
It's true that jargon can get in the way of understanding when communicating with people unfamiliar with these differences.
But blaming a term, rather than your own misuse of it, is a weird way to go.
And in this case "person in prison" is a jargon-free people-centered shorthand for "inmate"
That's a big diff!
~1.4 million - people in prison after conviction
~3.7 million - people on probation or parole
~450k - people detained pretrial
To say nothing of people on home confinement or community supervision.
Or the roughly 1 in 3 American adults with a criminal record of some kind
Of many reasons this is dumb, one is that "justice involved population" has a definition broader than people in incarceration after conviction (i.e. "inmates").
People who are "justice involved" include:
- people pending trial
- people on probation or parole
- people arrested but not charged
It’s so funny that they pubbed this the day before “john roberts invented the trump era shadow docket to make sure fossil fuel companies could keep killing you and make money doing it” bsky.app/profile/cris...
When the expanded CTC expired in 2022, each $1,000 in lost benefits reduced consumer sentiment by 1.7 points—with effects lasting nearly two years—long after the checks stopped, from @jacobbastian.bsky.social and Melody Harvey www.nber.org/papers/w35059
Couple pieces of news out of last night’s debut Ask Governor Sherrill call-in show
First: Sherrill says FIFA needs to help pay for World Cup transit. Otherwise she’ll approve fare hikes — possibly as high as $100 for trips between Manhattan and MetLife on game days gothamist.com/news/nj-gov-...
Second: Slim chances for a second wind. Sherrill is pursuing a wide range of energy development but the sector that had been fast tracked for years — offshore wind — remains on hold in NJ due to federal policies
gothamist.com/news/nj-went...
Note to NJ policymakers: increasing tax workforce generates revenue for the state!
starting to think the world cup will not be creating magical economic growth and pay for itself
Trump Attacks Pope as Too Liberal and `Weak on Crime’ President Trump lashed out at Pope Leo XIV, a critic of the U.S. war in the Middle East, saying he was “terrible for foreign policy”
Once again, the Times uses a “Trump says with great force” formula for the hed and highlights the supposed intensity of how he says it in the subhed—using their tried-and-true Trumpian catchphrase, ”lashed out,” which, I noted the other day, they’ve used more than 60 times in headlines.
Hoping "the pope is weak on crime" demonstrates the absurdity of the "soft on crime" attack line.
Politicians still run in fear of "soft on crime" and journalists still credulously report on it, even though it's an empty term
Happy Appomattox Day to all that celebrate
🚨 New Report 🚨
AI data centers were the main driver of the 20% electric bill increase New Jerseyans saw last June. By 2030, these facilities will use 10% of our state's entire electricity supply.
Read the full report:
www.njpp.org/publications...
Recent protections for New Jersey's immigrant communities are a good first step, but don't go far enough to defend the state's residents.
"There’s more to do to protect the people of New Jersey,” said @marleinau.bsky.social.
njurbannews.com/2026/03/30/w...
🚨 New Analysis 🚨
A fee tied to individual employees’ health coverage will encourage employers to find loopholes and harm workers.
Revenue raisers should focus on ensuring that the ultra-wealthy and corporations pay for health care, while protecting Medicaid enrollees.
www.njpp.org/publications...
A WIRED analysis of DHS records identified dozens of specialized federal agents who used force against US civilians during the largest known deployment of its kind in US history. www.wired.com/story/border...
Not April Fools
Maine’s budget committee added a tax on millionaires to its plan, which could prompt a notable departure for Gov. Janet Mills, who has long opposed calls to increase income taxes.
via @mainemorningstar.com
This case is only happening because a racist president created an ultraconservative Supreme Court, and a handful of extremely thirsty law professors are trying to get the racist president’s attention for an appeals court judgeship. It’s all very stupid and embarrassing, and also *really might work*.
A single vote for Trump in the birthright citizenship case would be as bad as anything the Court has done since Bush v. Gore. This issue has been settled for more than a century. It is the jurisprudential equivalent of asking what 2+2 is. Any answer other than 4, something is deeply, deeply wrong.
The Effects of California's $20 Fast Food Minimum Wage on Prices Jeffrey Clemens, Olivia Edwards, Jonathan Meer & Joshua D. Nguyen WORKING PAPER 34990 DOI 10.3386/w34990 ISSUE DATE March 2026 We analyze the effect of California's $20 fast food minimum wage (Assembly Bill 1228), enacted in September 2023 and implemented in April 2024, on consumer prices using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Indices for food away from home across 21 metropolitan statistical areas. Food away from home prices in California's four in-sample MSAs increased by 3.3 to 3.6 percent relative to 17 control MSAs through December 2024. Our estimates are stable across a number of specifications. Placebo tests on price indices for goods and services that were not affected by the policy, including food at home, show no differential increases in California's MSAs. The price increases we estimate likely arise in part from spillovers to the full-service sector, as well as changes in the production functions and product quality choices of limited service restaurants.
CA’s $20 fast food minimum wage raised fast food prices by only 3%. The reason minimum wage increases keep not reducing employment and barely increasing prices is monopsony power.
www.nber.org/papers/w34990
Advocates, community leaders, and residents from across New Jersey gathered on Monday, March 30, at New Jersey Institute of Technology ahead of the final Senate Budget Committee public hearing to demand a state budget that prioritizes working families over corporate profits.
Hot take: the hash brown, rather than any of the breakfast meats, is the best addition to an egg and cheese
Taxes are good actually
