Searchlight Institute
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Home of the next realignment. We think big, embrace heterodoxy, and chart the future of public policy and action.
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.Sarah Longwell: What about somebody like Zohran Mamdani? As I watched more of him, I was floored by what a good communicator he is. Even on his positions — he's this hero of the socialist left — but here he comes with pragmatic solutions. .Adam Jentleson: Totally. He's expanding his coalition. He's building a big tent. He's done a phenomenal job at talking about demanding excellence in government. If you want to be the party of government, you have any even greater responsibility to show people that you're using their taxpayer dollars responsibly.
Searchlight Institute111,430 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
THE MAN BUILDING 'ANTI-DOGE' Mikey Dickerson served under President Obama as the first administrator of the U.S. Digital Service — which Donald Trump has since taken and twisted into the U.S. DOGE Service. DOGE has caused irreparable damage. Mass layoffs. Broken services. And government spending is higher today than it was under Biden. Mikey is now senior advisor for Searchlight's Tech Viaduct initiative — where he's drafting up the plans and people to reverse the harms of DOGE and truly deliver on the promise of faster, more reliable government services. He sat down with Will Raderman to discuss building anti-DOGE. 0:00 - Mikey's early career 8:05 - Early days leading Obama's USDS 18:30 - Digitization isn't always the answer 25:15 - Mikey's takeaways from the past 15 years 34:20 - Anti-DOGE? Mamdani's PIT Crews? 45:00 - Talking benefits delivery
Searchlight Institute36,161 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
There's a path forward for transgender rights. Mara Keisling, a senior fellow at Searchlight, has been a leading advocate for trans rights and acceptance for 30 years. She’s seen public opinion shift significantly over that time. Trans Americans today are able to live freer, fuller lives than they would have all those years ago. But the resurgence of anti-trans sentiment in civil society and government should concern all of us. Over the past year, Searchlight has surveyed the American public on the rights and acceptance of trans people. More than 34,000 across six rounds of polling. The results provide Mara and advocates like her with a path forward — starting with a renewed focus on equal treatment and civil rights. Banning discrimination and harassment of trans people in the workplace or housing. Keeping politicians out of deeply personal health care decisions. Emphasizing parents and their role in deciding what’s best for their kids. Leaders should push for equal treatment and civil rights. And they should avoid aimless messaging bills or confusing language that only alienates the public and stokes anti-trans sentiment.
Searchlight Institute117,105 görüntüleme • 7 ay önce
The Bulwark's Sarah Longwell and Adam Jentleson react to a focus group asked where Democrats go from here. "Talk about heterodoxy, right? You had points of agreement between the moderates and the progressives." "You can immediately imagine how you bridge these two people."
Searchlight Institute53,961 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
.Derek Thompson: There are philosophical differences between liberals and populists that we shouldn't run away from. They exist. But the fights often obscured the degree to which individuals could hold both populist and abundance principles. And I've come to think of this somewhat cheesily as the 'abundance mullet.' Economic populism in the front and abundance in the back. Zohran Mamdani ran on freezing the rent — but here he is talking about making it easier and faster for developers to build in New York City. Mikie Sherrill ran on freezing utility increases — but her second executive order was all about supply-side renovations to encourage the construction of solar and storage by making it easier to build energy in New Jersey.
Searchlight Institute55,312 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
In his guest essay for the NYT today, Adam Jentleson makes the case for Democrats to look beyond narrow majorities, embrace heterodoxy, and build a lasting coalition that can not only pass bold legislation but fix broken institutions and restore faith in our democracy.
Searchlight Institute25,193 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
DON'T BAN 'EM; MAKE 'EM PAY! Jane Flegal served as Senior Director for Industrial Emissions in the Biden White House. At Searchlight, she's spearheading novel policy ideas that can turn America's data center buildout into massive public benefits for working families. There are already more than 4,000 data centers across the country. Instead of a moratorium on these facilities, Jane proposes an American Grid Infrastructure Fund — a new system which would ensure: 1. Families only pay for the electricity they use, and never pay more because of data centers 2. Data centers invest in the grid by funding massive, generational upgrades to the electricity system we all use — ending decades of neglect 3. Regulators can hold companies accountable to every single commitment they make In addition to the Fund, she has also proposed that states use tax incentives to 'make data centers better grid citizens:' take-or-pay load commitments, full cost causation, and more. Jane and Danielle Deiseroth sit down to discuss. 0:00 - State tax abatement 7:12 - A federal moratorium vs. modernizing the grid 11:50 - Permitting reform ... and then what? 17:02 - Why this moment needs bigger ideas 25:10 - Revisiting the Inflation Reduction Act 30:10 - Climate hushing; 'don't say climate'
Searchlight Institute42,585 görüntüleme • 4 ay önce
It's a beautiful day in the (political) neighborhood.
Searchlight Institute11,928 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
THE CASE FOR FREE PRIMARY CARE David Bowen helped write the Affordable Care Act. Now he's a senior fellow at Searchlight, focused on the future of American health care. That future: Free primary care for all — no copays, deductibles, or paying out of your pocket. A new public option for health insurance that strongly competes with private plans to lower costs and improve care. And more to come. David sat down with tré easton to discuss the plan and Searchlight's efforts to move beyond some 16 years of frozen health care debates and inaction. 0:00 - Why pair free primary care with a public option? 3:33 - Concerns with health care tied to employment 5:49 - Lessons from the ACA 7:18 - Working with the Medicare for All coalition 11:31 - Changes for those on Medicare 12:34 - Adding more loved ones to your family plan 16:36 - Time with Sen. Ted Kennedy during the ACA fight 20:49 - Building upon the ACA as a 'starter home'
Searchlight Institute31,088 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD Searchlight's tré easton and Spooky Charlotte Swasey sit down to discuss our polling series on shifting attitudes towards American foreign policy. For decades, it was said that "politics stops at the water's edge;" in other words, political leaders were able to put their differences aside and agree on how America should interact with the world. We've found that's no longer the case among voters. While public opinion on foreign policy remains divided, there's a clear appetite for government to focus more on domestic affairs. 0:00 - Why not poll current events? 2:14 - Nuance is necessary 6:45 - Younger vs. older voters 10:40 - Not isolationism 13:55 - Promoting democracy 17:57 - Problems with partisan perception 20:30 - "Stupid Wars" sweet spot 23:50 - You can't put lipstick on a war pig 25:10 - A fundamental political divide 29:51 - USAID 33:50 - What surprised us 35:16 - Elevator pitch to 2028ers
Searchlight Institute12,967 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
.Symone D. Sanders Townsend: Graham Platner's team pushed back and denied that it was trying to influence the process ... Maybe we all need a shared definition of what 'influence the process' is. tré easton: The fact that Graham Platner thinks that he can dictate anything at this point is so laughable to me. You forfeited that right when you lied to your constituents, your supporters, your volunteers, your staff, to a group full of Senate Democrats who were trying to vouch for you. No, you don't get to dictate anything. You don't get to go back and forth in these cute little press statements on Twitter. You get to put out a press release saying that I have ended my campaign and the Maine Democratic Party gets to move on and replace you.
Searchlight Institute19,914 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
.Marc J. Dunkelman: The misunderstanding here is that those who say we need to attack corporate power are just taking the Brandeisian notion of it. And the abundance ethos harkens back to the old ideas that existed from the turn of the twentieth century through the 1960s — that we should be building up government power so that government is capable of taking on these corporations. That we have people in government who can make discretionary decisions about where we're going to build transmission lines, how we're going to improve transit, where we're going to build housing, how we're going to regulate this and that. We want bureaucracies to be able to move speedily and make decisions in the public interest. It's the reforms we've seen since the 60s and 70s that have slowed government down so they cannot be responsive to the corporate challenge. The idea that we should abandon abundance in the name of attacking corporations misses the point that government should be a competent institution that can accurately — and thoroughly — review and challenge corporations when they're doing wrong.
Searchlight Institute24,623 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
