thanks again joe manchin!

feels almost quaint to post about how much the big banks are spending juicing their stock prices with major spending on stock buybacks

$33 billion *in one quarter*

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

The affordability and climate crises are inseparable. @cplusc.bsky.social's new strategy to put the working class in charge of climate & economic transformation is an essential intervention to build towards the economy we need and deserve. Honored to get to work on this with the CCI team.

The Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation The authoritarian coalition is using three interlocking levers of power to consolidate control: political and institutional control, cultural and narrative power, and economic power.

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."

Thank you so much, issac!

The Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation The authoritarian coalition is using three interlocking levers of power to consolidate control: political and institutional control, cultural and narrative power, and economic power.

“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.

GOP War on Health Care Destroying Hospitals at Home and Abroad - The American Prospect More than 800 health care facilities are at risk or have already closed since Republicans severely cut funding last year. The worst is still ahead.

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.

The Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation The authoritarian coalition is using three interlocking levers of power to consolidate control: political and institutional control, cultural and narrative power, and economic power.

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 Power Grab: The Authoritarian Coalition’s Strategy of Power Consolidation The authoritarian coaltion is using three interlocking levers of power to consolidate control: political and institutional control, cultural and narrative power, and economic power.

“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

Zohran Mamdani Wants to Build Housing. He Should Build Green. After his White House meeting last week, Zohran Mamdani has a tentative plan to build 12,000 units of affordable housing in Queens. It’s a chance to tackle the climate and affordability crises simulta...

"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.

From rent to utility bills: the politicians and advocates making climate policy part of the affordability agenda As the Trump administration derides climate policy as a ‘scam’, emissions-cutting measures are gaining popularity

"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 ⬇️

Opinion | Everyone is talking about affordability – and making the same mistake "As lawmakers grapple with the cost of living, they need to remind Americans – again and again – that pay is a policy choice," Heidi Shierholz writes.

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...

Opinion | A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness

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. www.wsj.com/politics/policy/usda-put...