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Trump Never Intended To Be Just

Trump Never Intended To Be Just

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’: Longer Renewal Times Are Making DACA Recipients Deportable

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’: Longer Renewal Times Are Making DACA Recipients Deportable

Plumes of smoke rise over the oil depot tanks hit by joint Israel-U.S.

Russia is Winning the War in Iran. Earth is Losing

The White House's Lawn.

Trump’s UFC Birthday Bash Dwarfs Flag Day’s Meaning and History

8 Keys to Working Across Differences

8 Keys to Working Across Differences

Podcast: Fear and loathing in Washington: The debt ceiling

Podcast: Fear and loathing in Washington: The debt ceiling
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumMay 15, 2023
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Here we go again. Congress is facing a June 1 deadline to avoid a totally preventable “debt ceiling” crisis. If no one flinches in this dangerous game of chicken, the U.S. economy will be dragged into a cataclysm, destroying America’s global reputation and unleashing unfathomable pain for every American family.

An artifact from World War I, the debt ceiling comes back every few years to provide existential drama — the battlefield of partisan politics. It all sounds a bit insane, but it’s only the latest crisis to be spawned by our increasingly dysfunctional political system.

On this week’s episode, Fernando is joined by Washington uber-insider Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, to discuss her mounting fear that a “default is possible” and what we can do about it.

Also, Fernando chats with Nellie Gorbea, former Rhode Island Secretary of State, for the latest installment of the X-Ray Vision interview. In this quirky conversation, Nellie shares her dream superpower, transformative leadership vision, and why Puerto Rican rum is superior to scotch.

Listen.


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How America Redraws Belonging
Community

How America Redraws Belonging

Illustration of Sojourner Truth after a Photograph
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Sojourner’s Truth

Nevada pro-democracy groups condemn SAVE Act
Elections

Nevada pro-democracy groups condemn SAVE Act

Democrats Don’t Get Why They’ve Lost Most Working Class Voters
Democracy

Democrats Don’t Get Why They’ve Lost Most Working Class Voters

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​The Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama, was the scene of violent clashes as Martin Luther King led a march from Selma to Montgomery.

Following the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais ruling, MBA students explore Selma's civil rights history and the urgent lessons of democratic leadership.

Getty Images, Kirkikis

What We Owe Democracy

The day before we flew to Alabama to lead a civil rights and leadership trek with 30 MBA students, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, a case we were watching closely in light of our upcoming trip. Writing for the majority, Justice Alito substantially narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ruling that states may draw congressional district lines on partisan grounds even when the practical effect, and many argue the intention, is to dilute Black voting power. Justice Kagan, in dissent, called it the completion of the majority’s “demolition” of the Act.

It was with this backdrop that our students stood with us on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama—the very place that birthed the Voting Rights Act, where the courageous actions of a small group of people helped, as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. so famously put it, “bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice.”

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The Best Utility Is a Public Utility
black and white electric meter
Photo by Jon Moore on Unsplash

The Best Utility Is a Public Utility

Utilities are boring until the power goes out. US Census data shows that one in three households struggles to pay their energy bills, resulting in millions of electricity shut-offs each year. Poor management by electric companies leads to more outages and wildfires. At the same time, many of us feel that we have little say in energy decisions that affect us. In Utah, the recent approval of a data center twice the size of Manhattan has left residents struggling with the real cost of growing electricity demand—on the environment and on our wallets.

Often overlooked in the conversation about cost is the fact that most of our utility sector is run for profit. There is a better way. I’m a public power organizer in New York’s Hudson Valley, and people like me from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Ann Arbor, Michigan, are fighting to take control of our investor-owned utilities and turn them public. Making electricity not-for-profit and community-owned means lower bills for customers and more say in our shared resources.

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Vote Badge with Rising Social Media Like Icons and Hearts – Digital Engagement and Online Voting
J Studios / Getty Images

Democratic Autopsy and AI

After every defeat, organizations conduct autopsies. The good ones are honest, like NASA’s Rogers Commission report after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff. In addition to identifying the infamous O-rings as the proximal culprit, it looked at organizational culture, communication failures, normalization of risk, management pressures, and institutional blind spots. The best ones are uncomfortable, and make a serious effort to understand “why did we mess this up so badly?” I’ve personally seen both good “autopsies” and bad ones throughout my decades of experience in true life-or-death realms: the SEAL Teams and as an Emergency Medicine physician.

Following the 2024 election, the Democratic National Committee produced a lengthy report titled Build to Win. Build to Last. Yet it is not a serious document because it does nothing to prepare for the unstoppable and very near future staring us right in the face. It is nearly 200 pages long and attempts to explain what went wrong and how the party should prepare for the future. It discusses organizing, communications, coalition building, fundraising, digital strategy, and voter outreach. It is filled with references to data, analytics, and technology.

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