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Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs

Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs

Project 2025: How the White House Plans to Gain Control Over U.S. Elections

Project 2025: How the White House Plans to Gain Control Over U.S. Elections

Redistricting

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Podcast: Vital Signs of Democracy

Podcast: Vital Signs of Democracy
Debilyn Molineaux
By Debilyn MolineauxFeb 09, 2023
Debilyn Molineaux

Debilyn Molineaux serves as the catalyst for the American Future project to help everyday Americans discover and believe in a future that will be "worth it" to work together for the sake of our nation.

Debilyn brings a passion to her work that is contagious to all around her. Hailing from a conservative, agricultural community, Debilyn started her career as a small business owner, working with community businesses to promote and grow their own operations through advertising and marketing. After engaging other women business leaders, Debilyn was inspired to become more active in the political process. Her own personal experiences -- as a small business owner, a local candidate for office, and an elected president of a national organization -- have given her enormous insight into the challenges facing citizens who want to get involved and organizations that want to scale their impact.

Debilyn is a serial entrepreneur, co-founding many organizations and transpartisan projects over her 20+ year career in establishing the democracy ecosystem. She has co-founded the Bridge Alliance, Living Room Conversations and the National Week of Conversation. She formerly was co-publisher of The Fulcrum and continues as advisor for Citizen Connect, Listen First Project, AllSides and other organizations, individuals within the democracy ecosystem.

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Every story we hear on the news, online or in a meme about government and our fellow citizens will become the future we create. That's what Vital Signs of Democracy is -- a quick score to let us assess how we in the USA are weakening or strengthening our collective story about our democratic republic. Are we telling stories that support autocracy? Or democracy? Our podcast is an overview of the latest competing narratives for the future of our nation. We will explore how the latest news impacts the score. We'll end each episode with stories we've found that tell a better story for us to consider.

In this extended, inaugural episode, we outline what Vital Signs of Democracy is, and examine how the news, in aggregate, tells us a story about the future of our democratic republic, or democracy for short. Included in this episode is an overview of the two primary "Make America Great" stories that are competing for our attention. One is the MAGA story or returning to a nostalgic past. The other story to make America great is to advance to a multicultural, pluralistic society. Each of these stories demonize the people who prefer the other story. We include commentary about corporate media, social media, the issues used to divide us to profit (for media) or to motivate voters issue by issues. Listen to this episode and find a new way to think about the news.

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The Psychology of Politics

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The Psychology of Politics

Have you ever wondered why so many otherwise reasonable people are completely bananas about politics? We all know plenty of normal and decent folks who spout wacky political views. But it’s not just our neighbors who’ve gone mad. All over the country, Americans pick and choose the facts they want to believe, champion policies they don’t understand, hold contradictory views at the same time, admire immoral politicians, loathe decent ones, and so on.

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Addressing Economic Inequity Among Domestic Violence Survivors

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Addressing Economic Inequity Among Domestic Violence Survivors

The 2024 film, “Anora,” about a young woman victimized by sex trafficking, recently won five Oscars at the Academy Awards. Perhaps, it is a signal of more awareness and less stigma surrounding the pervasiveness of domestic violence at all levels of society.

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Layoffs at the EPA May Impact Federal Funding for Communities

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Layoffs at the EPA May Impact Federal Funding for Communities

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Among those laid off was James Clark, an Environmental Protection Agency employee who lost his job while on his honeymoon. “It’s just very sad to see someone like Elon Musk take a chainsaw on live TV and say what we do doesn’t matter,” said Clark.

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Getty Images, Tasos Katopodis

Congress Avoids a Shutdown But at What Cost?

On March 14, the GOP-led Senate passed a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government running until September 30. The bill’s passage was made possible by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s last-minute reversal—shifting from opposing the measure and advocating for a shorter extension to allowing the bill to advance. His decision was purely tactical: he feared Democrats would be blamed for a shutdown.

Schumer’s move provided the necessary votes to overcome procedural hurdles, effectively thwarting a Democratic filibuster. While Republican support for Trump’s budget was unsurprising, the Democratic leadership’s decision to go along was a stunning concession. It handed the Trump administration a significant victory while further eroding Congress’s budgetary authority, shifting more spending power to the executive branch.

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