The past month has presented the nation with a crisis, the scope of which is so immense that it has rippled out from the novel coronavirus itself, COVID-19, to create unprecedented effects on our economic system and the way we live our daily lives. At the same time, as the pandemic continues to unfold, our inherent interconnectedness—the shared vulnerability we all have at this moment—is forcing many people to reexamine the ways in which we live our lives and organize our society.
Read More
Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his proposed $178 billion budget this week. With a Democratic trifecta in New York State, Cuomo has a strong mandate to expand the governmental services New Yorkers depend on. In order to determine what New Yorkers would like to see coming out of Albany, Data for Progress undertook a survey of 1,890 New York likely voters. The survey was conducted from January 13 through January 19, 2020, and measured support for various progressive policies and local, state, and federal candidates for office.
Read More
To study a targeting program, the variable of interest is not wins or losses, but closeness of margin to zero, since the goal is to direct money where it has the most chance of influencing the outcome(and accepting some loses in the process). Too high of a win rate suggests that resources are not being optimally allocated to the most competitive seats, and too low of a win rate suggests that either the program is not successful, or that resources are again not being optimally allocated.
Read More
Over the last several years, progressives have increased their focus on how American political institutions are biased against groups in the Democratic coalition such as people of color, working class people, and young people. Efforts to increase access to the ballot box, reduce gerrymandering, and abolish the electoral college have gained attention, as have efforts to reform the Supreme Court. However, the most antidemocratic institution in America has received relatively little scrutiny: the United States Senate.
Read More
Up until now, the central focus of the impeachment hearings has been Trump’s conduct regarding military aid to Ukraine. Here, we test other reasons to expand the inquiry. We find that substantial numbers of voters support an inquiry that focuses on obstruction of justice, seeking foreign interference in elections as well as additional grounds such as Trump’s bigotry, detention of immigrant families, and profiting off of his office. This memo briefly summarizes the results.
Read More
Since we launched our Green New Deal scorecard, Democratic candidates — moderates and progressives alike — have released plans that leverage more ambitious emissions targets, a broader array of federal policy tools, and more robust jobs and justice programs.
Read More
The Affordable Care Act allowed Americans earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line to apply for Medicaid. This has benefited millions of Americans and driven historic reductions in the uninsured rate, but thirteen states continue to refuse to implement Medicaid expansion. This leaves millions of Americans in the coverage gap: too poor to afford private insurance, but unable to qualify for traditional Medicaid because they don’t belong to specific groups (such as people with disabilities) that are categorically eligible.
Read More
In the nearly two decades since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States has dramatically increased its global military footprint in the name of national security. This has included large-scale ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, targeted air strikes, covert operations across the Middle East and North Africa, hundreds of military bases across the world, and a heavy pipeline of arms sales. This “War on Terror” posture has carried a massive price tag, both in terms of dollars spent and lives lost.
Read More