Our progress updates bring you the news filtered through a results-focused lens. We ask: Has the event, action, or utterance changed anything? In particular, has it contributed tangibly to resolving any of the problems that we focus on here? Our reports demonstrate progress towards a solution – or regrettably, a regression from possible resolution. If our editors do not agree that the event, action, or utterance has moved the needle of progress one way or the other, then it won’t be reported here.
A Glimmer of Hope for Ending Debt Limit Showdowns
The next vote on paying the nation’s bills will be after the ’22 election, creating an opening for a campaign about the country’s soaring national debt – and discussion about how to depoliticize the borrowing cap that funds it.
Mainers Again Flex Their Independence to Protect Their Vote
A ballot initiative to ban foreign money from influencing state elections and support an amendment to the US Constitution to regulate campaign spending reflects Maine’s continuing role as a laboratory for voting reforms aimed at strengthening the power and voice of local citizens.
Medicare Model Helps States Control Costs – Within Limits
Following innovation of a Medicare-style pricing model for the Montana state employee health system, other states have achieved varying degrees of success.
Projections for Building Back Better Expose a Clear Fiscal Choice
While fueling progress on climate change, access to healthcare, and income inequality, the Biden plan would add to record debt. If it passes, how will voters make responsible budgeting an issue next year?
Nashville Handicapped in Fighting Climate Change
Despite important progress on emissions reduction and climate adaptation, Tennessee’s biggest city lacks support from key players and has yet to go all-in to meet its climate change goals.
Desire to Respond to Climate Change Takes Lake Oswego Only So Far
Despite strong civic engagement, the city of Lake Oswego will need to overcome limited municipal resources, state bureaucracy, and the absence of federal leadership to more effectively adapt to climate change
Is Now the Time to Expand Medicare?
President Biden’s proposal to add three new benefits ignores concerns over looming Medicare insolvency and our historically high national debt.
Pushing for Real Policy Debate
When we interviewed Maya MacGuineas earlier this year, she made her case for real policy debate by putting serious ideas on the table and challenging others to do the same. We couldn't include them all in our profile of her, so we decided to excerpt some of her comments here.
Election Security, Voter Suppression & Voter ID: Behind the Debate
The voter ID debate pits election security concerns against worries about suppressing voter access. It is a false choice and a distraction from more dangerous threats to election integrity.
Hyperventilating Over the Debt Ceiling
Raising the debt ceiling will make Congress confront past spending decisions, but puts no limits on future spending despite claims by some congressional leaders.
Gloomy Climate Report Obscures Effective Actions
The UN’s latest warning is “code red for humanity” and cast its usual pall over the news cycle, overshadowing the many successful efforts focused on counteracting climate change.
Voting Rights Battle: Partisan Conflict or Attack on Democracy?
The battle being waged over voting rights in state legislatures and the US Congress has been too easily mischaracterized as a partisan fight. Texas Democrats walked out to avoid a floor vote and bring attention to a state-by-state attack on our democracy.