BY WILL MARSHALL
Following a high-profile organizing campaign that drew international attention, workers at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, have voted overwhelming against joining a union. While National Labor Relations Board officials are still sifting through contested votes, the anti-union forces lead by almost a 3–1 margin.
The emphatic rejection was a bitter blow to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which launched the first-ever drive to organize an Amazon warehouse. Its fight to organize the largely African American workforce was likened to past civil rights struggles in Alabama and cast as a “David vs. …
by Will Marshall, President and Founder of PPI
President Biden’s bold plan to give America a shot at overtaking China in the race to electric cars and trucks is hitting a couple of speed bumps.
The first is China’s dominance of the raw materials needed to scale up electric battery production for U.S.-made cars and trucks. The second is a standoff between two South Korean battery makers for pole position in the burgeoning U.S. electric vehicle market.
Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan throws a lot of good ideas and money at the first problem. …
By Veronica Goodman
The Biden administration released its American Jobs Plan yesterday — a bold package with critical investments in infrastructure and America’s workers. Among its more ambitious aims is $100 billion set aside for workforce development. This includes a long overdue investment to diversify career pathways, through approaches such as apprenticeship programs, a focus on sector partnerships, and a new and robust program for dislocated workers. There is a lot to cheer for in the AJP — here are five ways it gets it right in pairing job creation with next-generation training programs.
By Will Marshall, President and Founder of PPI
In 1212 (CE), thousands of European children afire with religious zeal set off on foot to free Jerusalem from infidels. The ill-fated “Childrens’ Crusade” didn’t make it past Genoa and ended with many young marchers being sold into slavery.
What’s happening today on the U.S.-Mexico border isn’t as dramatic, but it’s bad enough. More than 14,000 unaccompanied teenagers and children, mostly from Central America, have trekked to the border in hopes of finding asylum in post-Trump America. U.S. …
by Tressa Pankovits
Supporters of Cindy Marten, President Biden’s nominee for deputy U.S. secretary of education, laud her success in closing achievement gaps during her eight years as superintendent in San Diego. Unfortunately, such claims are false.
Linda Darling-Hammond, who led Biden’s transition team on education, cites Marten’s “enormous work” and “knowledge base on how to improve schools and close opportunity and achievement gaps” for poor and minority students as her lead qualification. When the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee holds its hearing on Marten this Wednesday, it should scrutinize that claim.
Complaints against Marten include inequitable treatment…
by Arielle Kane
The 2020 election confirmed the political divide between rural and urban America has grown deeper. President Joe Biden overwhelmingly won the nation’s metro regions, but former-President Donald Trump made the contest more competitive than expected by rolling up huge margins in rural areas, where 20 percent of Americans live. Determined to start bridging that chasm, Biden has promised to launch a new “rural agenda” aimed at addressing the stark disparities in health, income and opportunity that have fueled populist anger in the nation’s rural communities.
People who live in rural areas are often underserved, lower-income and more…
by Kaitlin Edwards
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a very disruptive effect on the daily routines of children. As the virus spread across the country last spring, over 50 million children in the U.S. were affected by school closures. These kids not only dealt with secondhand stress from the strain put on their families, they also lost all of the academic and social benefits of in-person school. And while remote learning may be a temporary fix during closures, new concerns have risen now that classrooms are virtual environments and exposing children to an unprecedented amount of screen time. …
by Michael Mandel
Some have questioned the need for the size of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan just signed into law by President Biden. Leaving aside the benefits of the individual pieces of the bill, there are several reasons why “going big” is the right thing to do.
- As of February 2021, employment in service occupations is still down 14% compared to a year earlier.
- The fall in employment has hit precisely the Americans with the least financial resources.
- Because of loan forbearance, current bankruptcy and foreclosure rates underestimate the true hidden economic damage from the pandemic.
- As we…
Although he’s only been in office 46 days, Biden already has done more to lift the nation’s morale and make the economy work for everyone than his predecessor managed in four turbulent years.
by Will Marshall, PPI President
Barring some 11th hour drama in the House, President Biden is expected to sign his $1.8 trillion American Rescue Plan into law this week. It’s a landmark achievement that gives us reason to hope our government may not be broken after all.
Although he’s only been in office 46 days, Biden already has done more to lift the nation’s morale and make…
Under current law, both Michigan and Georgia treat ocular health differently than other types of health care.
by Arielle Kane
Michigan and Georgia state legislators are considering legislation that would expand access to telehealth services for contact lens and eyeglasses prescription renewals. While a seemingly small change, it would make it easier for consumers to get new glasses and contacts and help push the states toward more innovative health care more broadly. This week I had the opportunity to testify to both state legislatures why I agree with these proposed changes.
Under current law, both Michigan and Georgia treat ocular…
Progressive Policy Institute
Radically Pragmatic. We seek to advance progressive, market-friendly ideas that promote American innovation, economic growth, and wider opportunity.
