October 31—In a state Donald Trump carried in 2020 with 62 percent of the vote, Democratic Kentucky governor Andy Beshear is up in the polls in this fall's contest with the state's Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron. Informed observers credit good governance and a focus on state and local issues for Beshear's success—thus far—in swimming against the red tide.

October 27—Gavin Newsom's quest to build gun control into the U.S. Constitution is surely quixotic under America's current political dispensation: with the majority of state legislatures, 75% of which must approve of constitutional amendments, under Republican control. But the California govenor's campaign reminds us that Democrats will need to significantly increase their base of support among American voters if real change is to be achieved.

October 25—The news site Governing takes a look at Alaska's 2022 experience with rank choice voting. A study by the Unite America Institute, a non-profit that advocates for voting changes and greater bipartisanship, found that the system, in which voters' second choices are counted if their first-choice candidate does not make the run-off, led to less advantage for incumbents and closer elections, and forced candidates to speak to the broader middle rather than their party's extremes.

October 24—Writing in The Guardian, former advisor to both Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal, describes the chaos which is the current GOP.

October 24—The defeat of Poland's rightist Law and Justice party by a coaltiion of centrist and center-left groups in recent parliamentary elections has brought the country back into the mainstream of Western European social democracy and rendered Hungary's nationalist rightist government under Victor Orbán the odd man out in the European Union. A commentary from Austrian political scientist Ivan Krastev.

October 20—A major failing of American society, from a social democratic standpoint, is the lack of a coherent strategy to accompany American youth, particularly those not college-bound, on their quest to find a solid livelihood. One of the country's bluest states, with both legislative chambers and the governor's mansion in Democratic hands, is now proposing a comprehensive plan which includes high-school level apprenticeships leading to industry-recognized credentials and tighter collaboration with community colleges.

October 20—The Labor Department has proposed raising from $35,568 to $55,068 the salary threshold below which employers must pay overtime rates of time-and-a-half for executive, administrative and professional (EAP) workers. The proposed change was published in the Federal Register on September 8 and is subject to a 60-day comment period through November 7. The measure is likely to face court challenges.

October 11—The state politics site Governing takes a look at how the Biden administration's signature infrastructure bill, the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, is spurring upgrades in the nation's rail system. The Social Democrat applauds investment in public transportation, crucial to a saner and more ecologically sustainable civilization. And credit where it is due to Joe Biden: politics matter, vote Democrat!

October 11—This Guardian article takes a look at the Culdesac community outside of Phoenix, a 17-acre site which will eventually house 1,000 residents, with shops and services found in most American neighborhoods, but with one typically American fixture missing: automobiles. Featuring mediterranean architecture and public plazas, this innovative car-free community points the way to better built environments for Americans: kudos to the development's founders, Ryan Johnson and Jeff Berens!

October 10—The intervention of government in private-enterprise economies, particularly through targeted subsidies to industries a government wishes to foster, has long been out of favor. But the Biden administration, with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act has put the concept back on the map. In this Guardian opinion piece, UCAL Berkeley economics professor Barry Eichengreen looks at some of the pros and cons of industrial planning.

October, 2023—Politicians and activists have for more than a decade been brandishing Census figures showing the women make 70-some cents to each dollar a man makes, with the typical implication that employers are routinely, and on a wholesale basis, paying women employees less salary for the same work. The extensive investigations of Harvard professor Dr. Claudia Goldin, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, reveal that the reasons for gender wage discrepancy are far more complicated than that. In an interview with Harvard Magazine, Professor Goldin shares her insights.

Average rents increased 18% between 2017 and 2022 with no let-up in sight. The Governing article looks at efforts by state governments and advocacy groups to keep American workers in homes they can afford.

The lack of affordable housing is a problem besetting every major urban area in the U.S. This article from Governing looks at California's multi-pronged approach to the problem.

A look at how a coordinated approach involving government and non-profits effected a steep reduction in homelessness in America's fourth largest city.

Key to any discussion of living wages and the social safety net (embracing such programs as the Earned Income Tax Credit, minimum wage laws, social security or child care subsidies) is a knowledge of how much money a person or family needs to maintain an acceptable standard of living. The Economic Policy Institute has issued an updated version of their wonderful tool for gaining insight into this critical question. The Cost-of-Living calculator will tell you how much income is needed to support anywhere from a single person to a family of 6, in any city or county in the country. Two major take-aways will occur to anyone who spends some time with the calculator: (1) the cost of living varies tremendously between different areas (mainly rural vs urban) and (2) in urban areas, current minimum wage laws and the EITC fall far short of providing a basic living for workers at the low end of the wage spectrum.