November 15—In this discussion with the New York Times' Ezra Klein, columnist and author Michael Lind describes the overweening influence of NGOs, institutions and, most importantly, the wealthy donors who fund them, on setting both policy priorities and the terms of political discourse in the Democratic Party. The recent election results highlight the dangers in allowing a small set of wealthy Americans, unanswerable to any kind of electorate, to possess such outsized influence on the Party's priorities and messaging. In a related article, former chief of staff to Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, Adam Jentleson, asks the vital question: When Will Democrats Learn to Say No? so that they might built the kinds of supermajorities needed to build a truly social democratic America.
October 21—With manufacturing jobs at a fraction of their 20th century peaks, one of the largest contingents of blue-collar workers now staff the giant warehouses from which companies like Walmart and Amazon distribute goods to American consumers. This New York Times article looks at a group that has yet to learn to flex its potential political muscle.
August 16—Britain recently elected a social democratic Labour Party government for the first time since 2014. This Guardian piece examines Labour's commitment to using government to boost investment while also upskilling the workforce, an approach also favored by the Biden administration.
August 10—The Covid-19 pandemic and government response to the crisis induced Inflation at levels not seen for decades. Though inflation has nearly returned to "normal" levels, the 20 or more percent increase in prices of major consumer goods since 2020 is a major factor in this year's elections, topping many voters' lists of concerns. In a talk to the Economic Policy Institute Joel Bernstein, White House Council of Economic Policy chairman, discusses what he and other economists are learning from the nation's "round trip" to hyper-inflation and back.
July 20—America's broken political system is frequently laid at the feet of the Internet and its bunkered echo chambers. While this analysis certainly contains a large dose of truth, two current Washington Post columns, one from well-known columnist Fareed Zakaria and another from Harvard scholar Danielle Allen, look at the effect of a different culprit—our system of primary elections—in promoting extreme views and discouraging constructive dialogue.
March 7—This AP article look at problems in the UK's single-payer healthcare system reminds us that for social democracy to really work, it must be implemented efficiently.
March 5—Though TSD would never question but that the United States is a working democracy, there are several respects in which our democracy could be improved. One of these is the primary system, which gives outsized influence to voters living in early primary states. This AP articles looks at the issue on the eve of Super Tuesday.
February 13—A recent study from MIT and the Brookings Institution finds that the nation's poorest counties, generally Republican strongholds, have benefited disproportionately from President Biden's efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing. The study credits measures associated with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act with the ongoing surge in manufacturing capacity, though voters in red districts benefiting from the Biden programs remain loyal to Donal Trump.
February 12—A CNN analysis finds Biden struggling to recreate his winning 2020 coalition.
January 21, 2024—21.3 million Americans have signed up for Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) health plans in this year's open enrollment season, including 5 million first-time enrollees, signaling the growing importance of this key plank in American social democracy.
November 5—This Governing article looks at primary challenges to far-left candidates from more centrist Democrats in local elections around the country. Chatham University political scientist Jennie Sweet-Cushman is quoted as saying, "There's this shift for voters in [Allegheny County, PA] where the [Demcratic] party has moved so left in many ways that they're starting to entertain more moderate Republicans." For more on the county executive race in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), seen by some as a bellwether for the nation, see this Washington Post link: "How a Pittsburgh county election foreshadows the 2024 presidential race".
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.
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.
It may seem axiomatic that so-called "right to work" laws (union leaders like to call them "right to work for less" laws) would be bad for both workers and for the party that chiefly champions workers' concerns—Democrats. After all, the driving force behind these laws is the disempowerment of non-management labor. Now we have proof, in a study conducted by Boston and Columbia universities and the Brookings Institute, that when states pass "right to work" (for less) laws, Democratic voting share diminishes, as do the number of elected officials hailing from working-class backgrounds. Unions are a foundation of any working social democracy: those of us who want a fairer, saner, and more compassionate society must stand unequivocably for the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively.