How Authoritarians Took Over the GOP
Contrary to commonly reported views among political observers, the assault on our democracy did not begin with Donald Trump, nor will it end with him. Rather, it is the culmination of a decades-long shift in the Republican Party away from the constitutional principles conservatives share with most Americans to the authoritarianism embraced by radicals within the party.
Leader Spotlight
Cathy Giessel: Model for Governing, Election Reforms
2024-06-20T18:16:38-05:00A popular politician who served 10 years in the Alaska state Senate, including two years as Senate president from 2019-21, Cathy Giessel was defeated in the 2020 Republican primary for working too closely with the Democratic minority. Voting reforms passed that year opened a path for her re-election in 2022.
Progress Updates
Setting Priorities
“You do the math. You solve one problem, then you solve the next one and then the next
and if you solve enough problems you get to come home.”
– Matt Damon as Mark Watney from the film, The Martian
Not every problem can be our top priority. Our challenge is to establish a common set of priorities so that they don’t compete with each other for attention and resources. If we are successful, we won’t get to go home like Mark Watney, but we will make our home more politically, socially, and ecologically sustainable.
Problem Briefs
Access to Healthcare
Many Americans lack access to affordable healthcare. Access is limited by high cost, lack of insurance coverage, and a shortage of healthcare providers. Efforts in government to resolve these problems are deeply polarizing and typically provoke powerful industry interests that stand in the way of expanding access. Yet, the complex marketplace for healthcare services doesn’t always incentivize better care for more people.
Climate Change
Climate change is happening now, impacting us faster and sooner than predicted. The increasingly frequent floods, wildfires, and extreme weather events are causing damage in a growing number of communities around the country that are just now realizing the meaning of climate change. The specific damage varies by region, but recent reports indicate the costly impacts of climate change are no longer only predictions of the future. Whether or not you believe in climate change, those predictions are now also descriptions of the present.
National Debt
The national debt has increased in all but four years since 1980. Its ongoing rise reflects an imbalance between tax and spending policies. The higher the debt, the greater the risks – to economic growth and stability and to our ability to address the next economic crisis when it occurs. While the debt may not be the most urgent problem facing the nation, it has the potential to undermine our ability to respond to those issues that demand action such as climate change and access to healthcare.
Threats to Voting Rights
The lie of a stolen election, the January 6 attack on Congress to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results, and the candidacies of hundreds of election deniers is putting at risk the very heart of our democracy – the right of all eligible citizens to vote and have their vote counted. Add in the volatile mix of Americans who now think democracy no longer works and those who no longer support the separation of church and state, and it becomes clear that we are in a struggle to preserve what President Ronald Reagan called “the shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.”
Our Focus
The American Leader is a news and reference resource aimed at surfacing and keeping front-and-center the knowledge and aspiration needed to address the nation’s systemic problems – because solving those problems is how we protect our democracy. Often hidden beneath the surface of the 24/7 stream of headlines and attention seekers is a deep bench of American leaders who are attempting bold or innovative ideas to solve the systemic problems that shape our lives. Like noise-cancelling headphones, we eliminate the distortions, distractions, and obfuscations of the news cycle, so that you can learn from these leaders, get inspired, and do something that makes life a little better for your community.
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