issue: Politics

Marshall for the Hill: It’s official: House Republicans put Trump first, not America

Posted on by Max Sherrill

By Will Marshall

By installing Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), an ardent 2020 election denier, as Speaker without a single dissenting vote, House Republicans have erased any doubts about where their true loyalties lie.

Forget about “America First.” House Republicans have put Donald Trump first, abjectly surrendering to his seditious campaign to undermine Americans’ confidence in their democratic institutions.

That’s sparked the retirement of Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who warned his colleagues that Trump’s lies and lawlessness will lead Republicans to defeat again in next year’s presidential contest.

Unlike members of the Freedom Caucus, the new Speaker ostensibly is a nice guy. A change in tone is welcome, but it won’t mean much so long as GOP leaders remain mesmerized by Trump, either because they adore him or are terrified that he’ll urge his followers to turn them out of office.

Read more in The Hill

PPI Statement on Hamas Terrorism

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Today, Will Marshall, President of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) released the following statement in response to this weekend’s heinous attack on Israel and the Israeli people.

“The more we learn about Hamas’s barbaric slaughter of civilians in Israel, the more civilized people everywhere should resolve to reject the sickening moral equivocations voiced by apologists for Palestinian terrorists. No cause on earth justifies the orgy of sadism, rape, and mass murder we have just witnessed. And let us have an end to evasive euphemisms like ‘militant’ — the perpetrators of this crime against humanity are terrorists and should be so named and treated.

“We are grateful to President Biden for forcefully condemning Hamas’s depraved violence and pledging America’s steadfast support for the Israeli people at this terrible moment. The contrast between Biden’s moral clarity and unifying leadership and Donald Trump’s dishonest attempts to divide our country by politicizing the tragedy in Israel could not be more telling.

“Israeli forces are now trying to rescue hostages, bring terrorists to justice, and degrade Hamas’s ability to launch further outrages. This is a monumental task made more difficult by Hamas’s cynical tactic of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, which is yet another war crime. It’s imperative that Israeli forces proceed both resolutely and carefully, demonstrating the humanity and respect for innocent lives that their terrorist attackers lack. We see no military justification for depriving Gaza residents of food and fuel.

“The Progressive Policy Institute stands with Israel, and endorses the bipartisan congressional resolution, signed by over 400 Members of Congress, supporting Israel and outrightly condemning the terrorist attacks launched by Hamas against Israeli civilians.

“Standing with Israel against terrorism in no way implies support for Israeli government policies. Indeed, we are concerned by the authoritarian drift of recent Israeli politics. But there will be ample time and occasion to debate these matters once the immediate crisis has passed.”

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

Working-class voters abandon Sunak’s Conservatives ahead of next election

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

The Conservative Party is haemorrhaging working-class votes across the country under Rishi Sunak’s leadership, particularly those of working age, with Keir Starmer’s Labour Party on course to reverse its historic decline with working-class voters.

New research released by the Progressive Policy Institute on the eve of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool shows that the voters that were so crucial to the Conservatives’ majority at the 2019 general election are abandoning the party. Only 44% of working-class voters who voted Conservative in 2019 say they will vote for them next time. 74% of all those polled describe the Conservatives as not close to working-class people, strongly associating them with wealthy individuals and big business.

Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour is on course to turn around its historic decline amongst working-class voters – but Labour’s lead is much narrower with working-class voters than the wider electorate, with many yet to make up their minds on who to vote for. The research reveals that those who are feeling more optimistic about the year ahead are more likely to vote Conservative; however, there are far fewer of them than those who are pessimistic about the year ahead. Overall, working-class Britons believe almost everything is going to get worse, including all of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledges: the rate of inflation, the cost of living, NHS waiting lists, climate change, their personal financial situation, the number of people arriving in small boats, the level of national debt, and the country’s financial situation.

In the report, ‘Roadmap to Hope: how to bring hope back to working-class voters in an age of insecurity’, project director and former policy director to Keir Starmer, Claire Ainsley, argues that Labour must redouble its efforts to reach disaffected working-class voters as it eyes a general election campaign, with concrete plans to ‘remake the deal’ for working people.

The report includes exclusive comparative analysis of the electoral coalitions of centre-left parties around the world by Professor Oliver Heath for PPI, which shows that far from the base of social democratic parties moving uniformly to middle-upper earners, those on low to middle incomes still form the social base for winning centre-left parties. The UK Labour Party has a particular challenge to attract older voters, compared to its centre-left contemporary parties around the world.

Overall economic concerns and policies to address them, such as controlling energy bills and inflation, are much more important to working-class voters than cultural issues that have gained disproportionate media attention. However, tackling illegal immigration and crime are highly salient for working-class voters. 59% tended to agree that you get less in return for working hard than you did a decade ago, compared to 12% who said you get more in return.

‘Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour is on course to win over working-class voters who have been so failed by the Conservatives. They are feeling pretty pessimistic about the future, so the task for Labour is to inspire hope and belief that the deal can be re-made whereby if you work hard, you get on. That rests on offering concrete plans to improve people’s security and their prospects, and restore a sense of basic fairness to the economy and society’, said Claire Ainsley, Director of PPI’s Centre-Left Renewal Project.

The report includes PPI’s practical ideas to ‘re-make the deal’ for working people:

1.  Relentless focus on raising wages for those on low to middle incomes.
2. Stabilise supply and costs of essential goods and services.
3. Open up housing investment to the next generation.
4. Reform school education to become the driver of progress.
5. Replace ‘one rule for them’ with ‘same rules apply’.

More working-class voters said the government is not doing or spending enough to try and reduce carbon emissions (34%), compared to those saying they are doing too much (25%), or getting the balance about right (16%), showing the awareness of climate action across all social groups. That said, they have a clear view when it comes to who pays: 53% agreed that it is important to combat climate change but ‘people like me should not be paying the cost of policies to reduce global carbon emissions’, whilst 16% said they would be prepared to pay some costs and 19% said they do not believe climate action is necessary.

 

PPI’s new Project on Centre-Left Renewal resumes our long-running conversation with centre-left parties in Europe and around the world. Its purpose is to exchange ideas, strategies and tactics for making centre-left parties more competitive and improve their governing performance.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

Roadmap to Hope: How to bring back hope to working-class voters in an age of insecurity

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

INTRODUCTION

For many people, the economic and political turbulence of these past few years have made it a whole lot harder to achieve their hopes and dreams.

Every time inflation rises or mortgage costs escalate, the choices available get much more limited. Whether it’s buying a new home, retraining for a job you really want, or booking the holiday you’ve worked so hard for. The deal whereby if you work hard and do the right thing, you can achieve what you set out to, seems broken through a combination of failing markets, creaking public services, and politics unable to rise to the challenges of our times. This sense of insecurity – not knowing what the future holds – now seems semi-permanent.

This deeper-rooted belief that our governments don’t work in the interests of ordinary people has fuelled the rise of right-wing populism in many of our nations, which despite some recent success of centre-left parties, continues to gain ground. Even where right-wing populists remain at the margins, their effect on mainstream politics and society is being felt. And where the centre-left has won power, it is proving difficult to achieve more durable electoral majorities amongst a fragmented electorate, under siege from the scare tactics of the right.

The only way out of this is for the political centre-left to present and deliver a more unifying, compelling, and credible alternative to the extremities and their mainstream copyists, rooted in the hopes and dreams of ordinary people.

In January 2023, the Progressive Policy Institute launched a new project on the political renewal of the global centre-left. This report shares comparative analysis of centre-left voters, and how electoral strategies can build more sustainable coalitions.

The politics of a winning centre-left isn’t the triumph of reassurance over hope; it is reassurance so that people can realise their hopes and dreams again. The centre-left needs to reclaim hope and aspiration as well as offering security and reassurance, and in so doing, bring hope back to the many millions who deserve to have their faith restored.

Voters in the UK and beyond are looking again at what centre-left parties have to offer. But progress will only turn into lasting success if once in government, our parties are judged by voters to have met their economic, social and cultural needs and interests. This report, and PPI’s work, is in service of that goal.

Read the full report.

Marshall for The Hill: For victory in 2024, Democrats must win back the working class

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Will Marshall

A spate of recent polls showing President Biden either tied with or falling behind Donald Trump has some Democrats in a swivet. How could Biden be trailing a fabulist he’s already beaten, who’s facing 91 felony charges, and whose business empire may be crumbling around him?

It’s a good question. Today’s polls aren’t predictive of an election that’s more than a year out. But they are indicative of how little headway the president and his party have made since 2020 on their central political challenge: enlarging their party by winning back working class voters.

Luckily for them, a lifetime of deceit continues to catch up with Trump. A New York Supreme Court justice has ruled that his real estate companies defrauded banks and insurance companies by ludicrously overstating their properties’ value. The judge yanked their licenses to do business in New York and said he’d appoint a receiver to dismantle them.

Read more in The Hill.

Ainsley for The Guardian: A centrist Labour is back. But this time it cannot take the working class for granted

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Claire Ainsley

Keir Starmer promised he would turn the Labour party around and give it back to the British people. Three years on from becoming leader, he can credibly claim to have done just that. Research released today by YouGov for WPI Strategy shows that Starmer’s Labour is closer to the public on the issues that matter most to them – and voters perceive the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak as being well to the political right of the British people.

Overall, voters characterised themselves as 4.6 out of 10 on a scale where 0 was leftwing and 10 was rightwing. They placed Keir Starmer as 3.9 on the same scale, Sunak on 7.3, and their parties not far behind with Labour on 3.3 and the Conservatives on 7.6.

Elections are fought and won in the centre ground of British politics. For an often quoted iron law of politics, it’s surprising how frequently it is forgotten by parties that dream of voters moving to them, rather than the parties themselves moving closer to voters.

The Labour party is as guilty as anyone of indulging in this myth. It has only been in power for 30 of its 120 years in existence, with more of its time spent unable to do anything for the people it was formed to represent. Yet in 2023, likely the year before a general election, it is the Conservatives who find themselves adrift from voters. YouGov’s research shows Labour beating the Conservatives in every age category under 65, and in every region and nation. More than half say they will definitely not vote Conservative next time.

Read more in The Guardian.

Marshall for The Hill: Trump won’t let America move on from his 2020 false reality show

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

By Will Marshall

Elections are about the future, not the past, as the old cliché has it. But as the 2024 presidential campaign gets underway, U.S. voters can’t seem to escape the noxious aftermath of the 2020 election.

Many would like to move on, but Donald Trump won’t let them. He wants to rerun the 2020 contest next year, only this time with him winning. Complicating his improbable bid is the belated legal reckoning he and his lackeys now face for scheming to steal the last election.

Keep reading in The Hill.

PPI Statement on the Anniversary of the Supreme Court Overturning Roe v. Wade

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

Erin Delaney, Director of Health Care Policy at the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), released the following statement ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Dobbs decision:

“Marking this tragic anniversary would not be necessary if not for the relentless mobilization of Republican extremists to curtail access to abortion and reproductive freedom.

“Forcing abortion bans against the wishes of the majority of Americans chips away at the foundation of democracy. As the Democratic Party continues to fight for federal protections, they must also turn their focus to state legislatures. Democrats must win back seats and expand their majorities by appealing to Independent and Republican voters who don’t want to see their personal liberties stripped away.

“PPI will continue to fight against far-right extremism, defend abortion rights and work to expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care for all Americans.”

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox – afox@ppionline.org

Marshall for The Hill: Democrats should junk the primaries: Here’s why

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Will Marshall

After one presidential defeat, two impeachments, two criminal indictments and, possibly, two more to come, Donald Trump has learned nothing. He still insists he won the 2020 election – by a landslide – and that he’s the victim of a vast deep-state conspiracy bent on his destruction.

It’s hard to believe: A plainly delusional 77-year old is making a third run for the White House on an explicit platform of wreaking revenge on his political enemies. Yet somehow he’s outpacing his saner Republican rivals and, in some polls, is even with President Joe Biden.

This is nuts, and it poses a riddle for Biden and the Democrats: Why aren’t they 20 points ahead? Why can’t they rally a solid majority of Americans to protect our constitutional democracy against an incendiary demagogue?

Part of the answer lies in Trump’s hold on white working-class voters, who believe he’s fighting to preserve their idea of America. Another is found in Democrats’ leftward march over the past two decades, which has made it hard for them to win across America’s pragmatic center.

Keep reading in The Hill.

PPI Announces Hiring of Mitchell Taylor as Congressional Policy Fellow, Supporting the Blue Dog Coalition

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

Today, the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) announced that Mitchell Taylor has been hired as a Congressional Policy Fellow to support the Blue Dog Coalition. Taylor will be placed in the office of Congresswoman Mary Peltola (AK-AL), the recently named Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chair for Policy and Legislative Strategy, and will provide critical policy, communications, and administrative support for the 10-member coalition.

The Blue Dog Coalition is led by Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02), Co-Chair for Administration, and Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03), Co-Chair for Communications and Outreach, in addition to Congresswoman Peltola. Together, these Democrats represent the three most GOP-leaning districts in the House Democratic caucus.

“I am excited to join the Blue Dog team and look forward to helping its members advance common sense policy solutions,” said Mitchell Taylor. “After starting my career working in the Senate, this PPI fellowship opportunity will allow me to take on an expanded policy portfolio in the House and provide support to this exciting group of members who are committed to breaking gridlock and getting things done.”

Prior to joining the Blue Dog Coalition as a PPI Congressional Policy Fellow, Taylor worked in the office of U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R‑KS). Taylor is also a member of the DC New Liberals, a local chapter of the Center for New Liberalism, a grassroots organization fighting for center-left, pragmatic policies.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives comprised of fiscally-responsible Democrats, who are leading the way to find common sense solutions. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people. Learn more about the Blue Dogs by visiting https://bluedogcaucus-golden.house.gov/.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

PPI Urges Congress to Swiftly Pass President Biden’s Debt Ceiling Compromise

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

Ben Ritz, Director of the Progressive Policy Institute’s Center for Funding America’s Future, released the following statement on the reported agreement-in-principle to raise the debt ceiling:

“Congress should immediately pass the debt limit increase and budget compromise negotiated by President Biden and Speaker McCarthy.

“On the one hand, this package does not represent our ideal policy. The decision to freeze spending only on domestic discretionary programs is backwards. This part of the budget funds critical long-term public investments in infrastructure, education, and scientific research. Meanwhile, taking both increased revenues and any cuts to other programs that comprise 85% of non-interest spending off the table in negotiations leaves our budget on a clearly unsustainable path. It is, at best, a punt on tackling our fiscal challenges.

“But on the other hand, this compromise is currently the only plausible way to take the threat of defaulting on the national debt off the table for the remainder of President Biden’s first term. Congress must pass it now, and in the future, lawmakers should seek out a better mechanism for encouraging fiscal discipline without calling into question our government’s constitutional obligation to repay its debts.”

PPI has consistently condemned the GOP’s efforts to take the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to extract ideological policy concessions. It has also supported the bipartisan Responsible Budgeting Act to end debt limit brinkmanship and create more sensible mechanisms for encouraging fiscal discipline.

PPI’s Center for Funding America’s Future works to promote a fiscally responsible public investment agenda that fosters robust and inclusive economic growth. It tackles issues of public finance in the United States and offers innovative proposals to strengthen public investments in the foundation of our economy, modernize health and retirement programs to reflect an aging society, and transform our tax code to reward work over wealth.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Brussels, Berlin and the United Kingdom. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

Find an expert at PPI.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox – afox@ppionline.org

Bledsoe for The Messenger: Biden Needs To Remind Voters He’s Always Been Pro-Business

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

By Paul Bledsoe

A new AP poll found that only 31% of Americans approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, a result both shocking and familiar. Shocking because no modern president has received such poor marks during a period of very low unemployment and a growing economy. But it is also familiar because it shows Democrats have a chronic political problem regarding the economy: Many voters don’t trust them on economic issues even though Democratic presidents have demonstrably better records of producing job growth, income improvements and avoiding recessions.

As research has found, of 17 recessions over the last century, 13 began under Republican presidents, including all of the biggest: the Great Depression and the major recessions of 1981, 2007 and 2020. The last Democratic recession occurred more than four decades ago.

Why don’t voters believe it? One problem is that the far-left of the Democratic Party reflexively indulges in anti-business rhetoric, and often in policies, led today by the Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wing of the party. If you spend time bashing the very companies that produce most jobs, growth and wealth, it should come as no surprise that most Americans don’t trust you to help the private sector be more productive. So, while issues like income inequality are important to address, as recent Biden legislation helped do, condemning the private sector as a political strategy often ends up backfiring.

Read more.

This story was originally published in The Messenger on May 24, 2023.

 

Pankovits for Medium: Chicago’s Mayoral Election Should Be a Warning to Democrats Who Have Abandoned Public Education

Posted on by The Progressive Policy Institute

By Tressa Pankovits

Earlier this week, former Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) negotiator Brandon Johnson became Chicago’s 48th mayor. “Progressives” are celebrating, but when it comes to prioritizing high quality public schools, the new mayor couldn’t be more regressive.

This should be a national wakeup call for moderates. During the pandemic, many Democrats ignored parents’ demands. That abetted the party’s surrender of the historic trust we long enjoyed on education policy. Now, the elevation of a CTU leader to the most important office in the biggest city in the Midwest — where the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will hold its convention next summer — makes reclaiming our mantle as the “education party” harder.

Read more on Medium.

Ainsley for The Guardian: The centre left is on the up around the world. Here’s what Keir Starmer can learn from it

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Claire Ainsley

Those of us who desperately want to see the back of this dismal Conservative government should take heart from the recent local elections in England. We should also be encouraged by the successes of the centre left around the world, which has defeated the political right in elections in Australia, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the US, after a dramatic decline in support for social democratic parties after the 2008 financial crisis.

But if we can learn one thing from these recent successes, it is that there is nothing inevitable about the return of social democracy. Granted, after the pandemic, many voters have grown weary of the failure of the political right to address their need for security and prosperity as they face the cost of living crisis. But voters everywhere remain sceptical of the ability of politics and politicians, from all parties, to act in their interests. They are sceptical too of the capacity for government to change their lives for the better, at a time when we badly need to renew the modern state in the face of the perma-crises hitting all our nations.

The metaphor that the pendulum inevitably swings back from right to left and back again ignores the simple fact that of the 123 years of the Labour party’s existence, it has only been in power for just over 30 of them. If there is a pendulum, it gets stubbornly stuck on one side. The UK Labour party needs to take learning, not comfort, from the tentative revival of the centre left.

Read more in The Guardian.

PPI Partners with Progressive Britain to Host Conference Featuring Labour Leader Keir Starmer

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) partnered with Progressive Britain to host their 2023 conference, Ambition for Britain, featuring Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer MP and leading center-left politicians and thinkers. As part of an ongoing dialogue between the U.S. and U.K., Will Marshall, President of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), and Claire Ainsley, Director of PPI’s Project on Center-Left Renewal, led a panel discussion providing a global perspective on the need for a strong center-left alternative to right-wing populism and nationalism.

“Now more than ever, the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries need strong center-left parties to turn back the tide of rising reactionary nativism and nationalism,” said Will Marshall, President of PPI. “The UK Labour party is working to expand their voting base to build bigger governing majorities. Ahead of the next U.S. election in 2024, the Democratic party must take a similar approach to win back working-class voters.”

“Across the world, center-left parties are seeing a revival in voter support as the political right fails to answer the everyday challenges of today and tomorrow,” said Claire Ainsley, Director of the Project on Center-Left Renewal and former Executive Director of Policy to Labour leader Keir Starmer. “The UK Labour Party can take inspiration and learn from their success, as well as heed the warnings that right-wing populism has not gone away. Center-left parties across the world can work together and learn from each other to continue winning and creating lasting coalitions.”

Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer highlighted recent local elections where the Labour party had its strongest result in more than a decade, winning in all parts of the country and winning back many Brexit voters.

The Project on Center-Left Renewal is focused on working with center-left parties in Europe and around the world to exchange ideas and compare notes to build winning coalitions that last. Last month, members of the project traveled to Australia to meet with members of the Australian Labor party, who won the recent 2022 federal elections. Their recent victory in the New South Wales state elections means they are in government in every state except Tasmania.

The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.

Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.

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Media Contact: Amelia Fox, afox@ppionline.org

Marshall for The Hill: ‘America Firsters’ pose a false choice on Ukraine

Posted on by Alyssa Brown

By Will Marshall

Republicans seem to be racing backward in time, resurrecting old tenets that defined their party’s outlook in the 1920s and 1930s: Christian fundamentalism, nativism, protectionism and isolationism.

Long discredited by events, these reactionary shibboleths are risen from the dead and lurching like zombies across the U.S. political landscape. We hear their echo in today’s red state crusade to stamp out women’s reproductive rights, the hysteria over immigrant hordes “replacing” whites and the Trump administration’s high tariff policies, which remain on the books despite having failed to reduce U.S. trade deficits.

The former president also dredged up the hoary isolationist slogan, “America First” to signal his rejection of key pillars of America’s post-war internationalist strategy — open trade, security alliances and the formation of world bodies dedicated to collective problem-solving.

Read more in The Hill.