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Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs

Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs

Coins on top of countries.

If Countries Stop Buying U.S. Debt, Everything Changes.

Redistricting

Redistricting

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs on stage

Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

The End of the American Era

The End of the American Era

A fictional, fanciful sign depicts the results of voter suppression through the unfair, partisan manipulation of district lines (gerrymandering).

The worst congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s

Cruz suing FEC over post-election fundraising limits

The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumApr 02, 2019
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Sen. Ted Cruz is suing the Federal Election Commission over its limits on how much he can reimburse himself for his 2018 re-election campaign expenses.

Cruz put $260,000 of his family's money behind his bid to fend off Democrat Beto O'Rourke, which is $10,000 more than the law says he's entitled to raise after the election to pay back personal loans. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, Cruz says the limit violates his and his donors' First Amendment rights to express themselves by financing political speech.

BuzzFeed News, which reported on the suit, notes the section of the law he is challenging "is known as one of the so-called millionaire provisions of the law — rules aimed at limiting the advantages of wealthy candidates in an election cycle."

A spokesman for the Federal Election Commission declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

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Electoral Reforms

Stopping the Descent Toward Banana Republic Elections

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Congress Bill Spotlight: Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act

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Democracy

Call for a Constitutional Convention Veils Anti-Constitutionalism and Portends Political Chaos

Introducing The Expand Democracy 5

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Defining the Democracy Movement: Karissa Raskin
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Defining the Democracy Movement: Karissa Raskin

The Fulcrum presents The Path Forward: Defining the Democracy Reform Movement. Scott Warren's interview series engages diverse thought leaders to elevate the conversation about building a thriving and healthy democratic republic that fulfills its potential as a national social and political game-changer. This initiative is the start of focused collaborations and dialogue led by The Bridge Alliance and The Fulcrum teams to help the movement find a path forward.

Karissa Raskin is the new CEO of the Listen First Project, a coalition of over 500 nationwide organizations dedicated to bridging differences. The coalition aims to increase social cohesion across American society and serves as a way for bridging organizations to compare notes, share resources, and collaborate broadly. Karissa, who is based in Jacksonville, served as the Director of Coalition Engagement for a number of years before assuming the CEO role this February.

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Business professional watching stocks go down.
Getty Images, Bartolome Ozonas

The White House Is Booming, the Boardroom Is Panicking

The Confidence Collapse

Consumer confidence is plummeting—and that was before the latest Wall Street selloffs.

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Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship
Getty Images, Mykyta Ivanov

Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship

The current approaches to proactively counteracting authoritarianism and censorship fall into two main categories, which we call “fighting” and “Constitution-defending.” While Constitution-defending in particular has some value, this article advocates for a third major method: draining interest in authoritarianism and censorship.

“Draining” refers to sapping interest in these extreme possibilities of authoritarianism and censorship. In practical terms, it comes from reducing an overblown sense of threat of fellow Americans across the political spectrum. When there is less to fear about each other, there is less desire for authoritarianism or censorship.

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"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

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