Ben Beckett is an American writer in Vienna.
Given the programs’ popularity, the only way to break Social Security and Medicare is an economic shock. It’s possible that manufacturing such a shock is behind Republicans’ refusal to raise the debt ceiling.
The Right plans to seize on the debt ceiling to ram through unpopular ideas. The strategy could force Democrats to choose between government paralysis or draconian cuts to the federal budget — possibly even Social Security and Medicare.
Republicans don’t have enough power to pass anything on their own. But they still have plenty of power to cause chaos and, depending on how Democrats react, force terrible budget cuts on the country.
With dueling investigations into Donald Trump and Hunter Biden, low-energy presidential campaigns based on not being the other guy, and maybe a government shutdown, 2023 will see political gridlock. Except in the conservative Supreme Court, that is.
Donald Trump’s call to “terminate” the Constitution is every bit as outlandish as we’ve come to expect. But it’s also a political dud, reflecting the low-energy mood that pervades his newly announced presidential campaign.
Democrats’ midterm strategy was to campaign on issues where they had an edge and little else. If they don’t start to offer voters a meaningful comprehensive vision for the future, Republicans are poised to emerge victorious from the coming period of gridlock.
Over the last decade, the American right has developed a successful organizing model that combines national messaging with local mobilizations. The stalled-out left could stand to learn a thing or two.
Voters agree American democracy is in trouble, but they’re divided on why and don’t seem too concerned. The Left needs a strong message condemning right-wing attacks on democracy and connecting the topic to the bread-and-butter issues voters care about.
GOP leaders are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare if they take back the House this fall. Elected Democrats won’t have the will or power to stop them unless ordinary Americans are willing to put up a real fight.
The Right’s claims about the country aren’t just wrong, they’re often downright goofy. But conservatives’ complete disconnect from reality is nowhere near enough to dislodge them from power.
Despite Democrats controlling the White House and Congress since 2020, it has largely been the Right that has taken the political initiative and set the terms of the political conversation. Expect that to get worse after November.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis recently decried the efforts of “woke capital” to reduce carbon emissions. Two things are true at once: his attacks are disingenuous, and supposedly environmentally conscious corporations are not going to stop climate change.
It’s good that Donald Trump and his cronies are facing increasing legal pressure. But the threat of Trump’s politics won’t go away until we change the conditions that gave rise to them.
In Michigan, conservatives are aiming to use technicalities to block popular referenda to protect reproductive freedom and make voting easier. Their efforts are part of a long and increasingly brazen right-wing campaign to restrict democracy.
After the mass shooting in Buffalo, don’t expect conservative leaders to stop promoting the “great replacement theory” that inspired the gunman.
Climate change is making “natural” disasters like floods far more disastrous for Americans across classes — and our public protections for the victims of those disasters are nowhere near adequate to help them recover.
Whatever the results of the FBI’s investigations into Donald Trump, recent revelations show we can’t trust the national security state to stop the next conservative power grab.
Salman Rushdie was seriously injured in a stabbing, decades after reactionaries called for his death. He deserves the unqualified support of everyone who values freedom of expression.
Candidates who amplified false claims about Donald Trump winning in 2020 did very well in this month’s primaries. Their victories are one more step in the direction of authoritarianism.
As they do their best to keep the Left weak, Democrats have spent more than $40 million in 2022 to support far-right Republican candidates.