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a house made of brown cardboard in a person's hands.

Homelessness Just Declined in the U.S.–Trump’s Plans Will Take Us Backwards.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance

The Feigned Confusion of JD Vance: Erasure by Design

Protesters gather at the Wisconsin State Capitol, holding signs.

Trump's Water Policies Put America's Drinking Water at Risk

A miniature residence of the President of the United States, the White House, against the backdrop of 100 US dollar bills.

Trump’s State Capitalism Marks a Radical Break in U.S. Policy

K Street profiting from the Trump revolving door

The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumApr 24, 2019
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
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Lobbying firms linked to the Trump administration have made plenty of rain this year.

This seems no more true than with the firm created by Trump campaign fundraiser Brian Ballard after the 2016 election. Ballard Partners reported $4.2 million in revenue between January and March from a roster of clients recently expanded to include General Motors and Boeing and also featuring GEO Group, a private prison contractor hoping to benefit from an illegal immigration crackdown at the southern border.

The firm brought in $10 million in its first year and $18 million last year thanks to several "revolving door" moves. Faces at the firm now include Raj Shah, previously White House deputy press secretary, and Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and Trump transition team member.

A Center for Responsive Politics survey of how K Street has been absorbing former Trump administration officials also found:

  • Turnberry Solutions employs former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Jason Osborne, who was a senior Trump campaign advisor.
  • Avenue Strategies has original campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and was co-founded by senior campaign advisor Barry Bennett.
  • Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's D.C. office is run by Marc Lampkin, a major 2016 campaign fundraiser.
  • Holland & Knight has Scott Mason, who ran congressional relations for the campaign, and Lauren Maddox, a member of the Trump transition team.

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Mamdani is ignoring 40 centuries of economic lessons

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani arrives prior to speaking about the fiscal year 2027 budget in New York City on May 12, 2026. Mamdani has led the charge to freeze rents on one- and two-year leases for New York City’s 1 million rent-regulated apartments.

(Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Mamdani is ignoring 40 centuries of economic lessons

Last week, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a citywide freeze on rents.

The response from economists can be summarized as “oy.”

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America's Blue Collar Workers Shouldn’t Be the Fall Guy for Everyone Else’s Prosperity
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Photo by Pickawood on Unsplash

America's Blue Collar Workers Shouldn’t Be the Fall Guy for Everyone Else’s Prosperity

One of the worst mistakes a Democratic President ever made was Bill Clinton's signing of the NAFTA trade agreement. The impact of free trade agreements—economically and politically—has been terrible for the American blue-collar worker and for the Democratic Party. I don't believe Donald Trump would be in the White House today were it not for NAFTA and the other trade agreements.

As early as 2011, I wrote a post, "Democrats Better Pay Attention to the Needs of the Middle Class." The middle class was clearly hurting due to job losses from globalization and wage stagnation since the 70s. And they were angry. But the Democratic Party paid no attention.

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Spectators on a stadium with USA playing.

As political loyalty shifts from institutions to personalities, democratic accountability suffers. Examine the rise of political fandom in democracy.

tomazl / Getty Images

Democracy Needs Citizens, Not Fans

Democracy often rests on the idea that citizens are political equals. They may be associated with different social organisations and ideological traditions, but in the democratic culture, they interact as citizens with equal rights and equal opportunity. In a democracy, devotion was never expected; it was developed to institutionalise disagreement among equals. The democratic system is associated with impersonal rules instead of personal loyalty, where institutions regulate power and citizens have the freedom to interrogate those who govern them.

However, contemporary political culture in India deviates from this democratic spirit. The status of citizenship is gradually turning to the fandom. The success of politicians is increasingly not measured by their ability to contribute to the path of development but by the size of their digital audiences, social media trends, public spectacles, and emotional engagement. The normalisation of social media has accelerated this transformation. Followers, likes, views, and recommendations become a new form of political capital. In this culture, politicians are often more motivated to gain attention than to achieve meaningful policy outcomes. Consequently, politics now resembles celebrity culture, where popularity and visibility are often mistaken for political efficiency.

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