Roosevelt Institute

The administration is abandoning electric vehicles—but states don’t have to. Federal support for EVs is being rolled back, putting high-paying union jobs at risk, slowing private investment, and risking lost ground in the global clean technology race. In her new blog, Roosevelt Senior Fellow Betony Jones shows how states can stabilize the EV economy—by investing in workforce training, incentivizing domestic production, and supporting clean energy infrastructure. The clean energy transition isn’t waiting—so why should states? Read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/eKS3UVPr

Affordability is becoming more elusive as prices for everyday goods keep rising. The price for durable goods rose 1.5% in the first eight months of this year, a sharp reversal from last year’s decline. As Michael Madowitz explains, today’s “low-hire, low-fire” job market isn’t offsetting those higher costs. Many workers who once relied on job-hopping for raises are now stuck in place, even as essentials from housing to childcare get more expensive. The result is a widening gap between what people earn and what life costs. More in Business Insider: https://lnkd.in/ewqkHyvZ

A look at our top stories this week ⬇️ ✅ With the shutdown over and no deal to extend ACA tax credits, the United States is doubling down on its medical debt crisis. Program Directors Stephen Nuñez and Brad Lipton explain the stakes of leaving a large segment of the population uninsured and saddled with medical debt. ✅ Reimagine America Fellow Mara Heneghan dives into the causes and solutions for the medical debt crisis, urging us to pursue a total overhaul of a broken system. ✅ Senior Fellow Darrick Hamilton and Community Change Copresident Dorian Warren detail the essential role organized labor must play in any effort to restore democracy. Read more in our #RooseveltRundown: https://lnkd.in/edgrQrUE

Part two is out now! In it, Mara Heneghan highlights how states can take action—by expanding public coverage, curbing hospital overbilling, and enforcing stronger debt protections. More on how local action can turn the tide on America’s medical debt crisis here: https://lnkd.in/e2JviF7z

Today, the CFPB proposed a rule that rolls back key fair lending protections, a move that could make it harder to hold lenders accountable for discriminatory practices. Brad Lipton, our director of Corporate Power and former CFPB senior advisor, spoke with Bloomberg Law about how the change could enable more subtle forms of discrimination in mortgages and other credit markets by limiting both federal enforcement and private legal action. Under the new rule, lenders could legally discourage certain borrowers—such as older people—from applying for loans through indirect tactics like targeted advertising or marketing. This is just the latest step in a series of moves by the administration to dismantle the CFPB and roll back long-standing consumer protections. More from Brad’s conversation: https://lnkd.in/eNdy82tf

Medical debt is a national crisis—and a policy choice. More than 20 million Americans owe $220 billion in medical debt. Behind those numbers are people making impossible choices: between paying rent or filling prescriptions, between keeping the lights on or getting care. As Mara Heneghan argues in the first half of her new explainer, this debt is the logical outcome of a health care system designed to maximize profits rather than patient health. Read more on how America’s health system made debt the price of getting care: https://lnkd.in/eC8PpHh4

The Trump administration is quietly rewriting the tax code—giving billions in new breaks to major private equity, crypto, insurance, and energy firms. Through a series of little-noticed Treasury decisions, the administration is hollowing out the 15% corporate minimum tax, one of the few measures designed to ensure the most profitable corporations pay something approaching their fair share. This is nothing more than a continuation of decades of failed trickle-down economics, rewarding the wealthy and powerful instead of working people. More from The New York Times: https://lnkd.in/gf2Grj5X

A look at our top stories this week ⬇️ ✅ Biden alumni, policy experts, former public servants, and others gathered in DC this week to discuss how to build a government that delivers. The game plan? Prioritize outcomes over bureaucratic processes and build in popular support to protect policies in the long term. ✅ A new Oxfam America report by Roosevelt Society Reimagine Fellow Rebecca Riddell explores how our political economy became an oligarchy and how we can reverse it. Roosevelt President and CEO Elizabeth Wilkins, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren, contributed forewords. ✅ Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City made clear this week: The cost of living is the issue, with groceries, utilities, and childcare front and center. Read more in our #RooseveltRundown: https://lnkd.in/e9aa3JBr

Our latest report shows what it takes to build a more effective government—one that cuts through red tape to deliver cheaper rents, reliable transit, and universal childcare. Across New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and other states, we see renewed energy behind policies that put workers first—just as FDR envisioned. Economic security is the foundation of democracy, and raising wages remains key to a #GoodLife for all. https://lnkd.in/edpB-7SE

"Today's multi-billionaire dollar media merger becomes tomorrow's engine of media censorship. The union busting, wage-suppressing tactics of despotic employers today are facilitated by the labor laws of yesteryear." Important message from our Director of Democratic Institutions 👇