Rakeen Mabud

From rent to utility bills: the politicians and advocates making climate policy part of the affordability agenda As the Trump administration derides climate policy as a ‘scam’, emissions-cutting measures are gaining popularity

"The fastest way to depolarize climate is to simply talk about who’s paying and who’s profiting.People disagree about a lot of things, but they do understand being ripped off.” Smart insight from Cassidy DiPaola in this piece by @dharna.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

So, to sum up, measures of underemp & Black unemp were still flashing danger, at the end of the (meh labor market) year & should be watched in 2026. Workers at the margins - people of color, involuntary part time, discouraged-are the groups who feel a downturn first, feel it longest, & recover last.

Remember how this admin gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Yeah, now it’s that much easier for their corporate pals squeeze every last penny out of your paycheck.

Glad folks like @katiejwells.bsky.social are helping shine a light on this insanity ⬇️

Opinion | Everyone is talking about affordability – and making the same mistake "As lawmakers grapple with the cost of living, they need to remind Americans – again and again – that pay is a policy choice," Heidi Shierholz writes.

Great piece from @hshierholz.bsky.social "Making life more affordable means not just lowering prices where possible and necessary, but also raising wages." www.ms.now/opinion/infl...

Read this as an American woman and then go break something.

New from @rooseveltinstitute.org @bilalb.bsky.social @victorpickard.bsky.social @shahrzadshams.bsky.social "The next chapter of democracy reform must treat our media system as a core infrastructure that makes democracy possible & thus demands protection from both state control & commercial capture."

We finally have jobs numbers out this morning from September and take a look at this: big jump again in Black women's unemployment, now 7.5% from 6.7% in August.

This figure has been ticking up all year. This is now the highest unemployment rate Black women have faced in 4 years, since mid-2021.

🚨 Today, Common Wealth launches the Green Planning Commission.

A major new initiative to tackle the twin crises of our era: climate breakdown & the affordability crisis.

To meet these challenges, we need a new era of democratic planning.

🧵

https://www.common-wealth.org/green-planning-commission

How do we break out of the doom loop of authoritarianism & deep inequality? On 11/6, Future Currents is hosting @bilalb.bsky.social (@rooseveltinstitute.org) @povertyscholar.bsky.social (Cornell) & Erica Gallegos (Childcare for Every Family) to discuss. Register today us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Opinion | A Nazi Tattoo Exposes Democrats’ Greatest Weakness

If you read one piece today, read this one from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

WSJ - Federal economists and researchers responsible for measuring hunger in America are placed on indefinite paid leave. https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/usda-puts-food-researchers-on-leave-ef287cd7

Exclusive | Trump Administration Cancels Annual Hunger Survey The government has been measuring food insecurity since the mid-1990s, but now says the report has become “overly politicized.”

Trump is cancelling an annual government survey that measures hunger in America, rather than allow it to show hunger increasing under his tenure.

This follows the playbook of many non-democracies that cancel or manipulate reports that would otherwise show less-than-perfect news.

Tenants Seek to Unionize One Private Equity Firm's Entire Housing Portfolio By organizing renters across Capital Realty Group’s affordable housing complexes, the Tenant Union Federation hopes to bring sectoral bargaining to negotiations with large landlords.

In the last six weeks, the Tenant Union Federation launched seven (7) majority tenant unions, across five (5) states, representing 1000 units of housing owned by Capital Realty Group, a New York-based corporate landlord. The first portfolio organizing of its kind...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

They watched ICE detain their dad. Now D.C. neighbors escort them to school. Immigrant neighborhoods across the District have organized “walking school buses” to shuttle kids to classes during President Donald Trump’s federalization of D.C. police.

Some coverage of the federal takeover of DC would leave you thinking the main consequence is National Guardsmen laying mulch.

No. It is masked agents terrifying schoolchildren.

Please read this crucial article from @teoarmus.bsky.social on how DC communities are trying to protect families.

So grateful to be invited into this conversation with @msmagazine.com and @carmenriosss.bsky.social alongside @lenorepalladino.bsky.social.

I found it personally helpful to take a moment to reflect and regroup in the fight for a just society, and I hope this conversation helps others as well.

widespread adoption of crypto
+ proliferation of AI
+ softening of the labor market
+ enforcement “replaced by crypto industry toadies”

= “It is a great time to be a scammer.”

NEW: I spoke with a woman named Andrea about her experience being detained by ICE after calling the cops for help during a domestic violence incident.

She was recently postpartum, breastfeeding & put in an all-male facility. She was detained for 2.5 months.

it was both *fun* and *deeply depressing* to revisit 2021 and all the arguments @rmabud.bsky.social and I made then for how investing in care would benefit the ENTIRE economy

thanks @msmagazine.com @carmenriosss.bsky.social for the opportunity

Women Can't Afford to Wait for a Feminist Economic Future (with Premilla Nadasen, Rakeen Mabud and Lenore Palladino, Aisha Nyandoro, Gaylynn Burroughs, and Dolores Huerta) Meet the Voices Premilla Nadasen, history professor at Barnard College and author of Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement and Care: The Highest Stag...

ep three of looking back, moving forward is live
@msmagazine.com! today's topic: economic justice 💰

feat. premilla nadasen, @rmabud.bsky.social + @lenorepalladino.bsky.social, aisha nyandoro, nwlc.org's gaylynn burroughs, and *the* dolores huerta.

tune in!

TOMORROW: @gruberg.bsky.social @vanessawilliamson.bsky.social @mauricewfp.bsky.social @akapczynski.bsky.social & I will be talking about how to build power in this new world we're living in. Need inspiration? Someone to ask all your unanswered questions? Join us! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Opinion | New York City Has the Power to Bring Down Grocery Prices. All Cities Do.

The always brilliant Zephyr Teachout in the @nytimes.com: "People are tired of being squeezed at the checkout counter while corporate giants count their profits. They want groceries they can afford, stores they can trust and fair prices, not rigged ones." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/o...

Opinion | Now Can We Stop Talking About What a Maverick Trump Is?

somehow one of the most underrated facts in american politics is that trump is a republican who does republican stuff www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/o...

A new article from me and Ellis Chen at @lawfaremedia.org on the gutting of the IRS and why the destruction of a nation's tax capacity is part of the pattern in democratic erosion.

Trump’s Cuts to Science Funding Could Hurt U.S. Economy, Study Shows Reducing federal support for research and development could cause long-run economic damage and reduce government revenue.

IMPA’s new research on the long-run costs of cutting federal R&D funding is featured in today’s @nytimes.com
The findings are clear: plausible cuts would shrink U.S. GDP for generations.

📉 Read the article: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/b...

📄 Full report: impa.american.edu/costs-of-cut...

Halving the IRS workforce in the middle of tax season - Marketplace The second Trump administration is reportedly working on a plan to dramatically reduce the workforce at the Internal Revenue Service.

Here's me telling Marketplace morning report that yes, cutting the IRS workforce in half is a very bad idea.

Opinion | There Is No Going Back The president’s opponents, whoever they are, cannot expect a return to the Constitution as it was.

Yeah so the Constitution isn’t really in effect right now

To review, the FAA administrator was forced out because of a business vendetta of Elon Musk’s, Trump froze the hiring of new ATCs despite staff shortages, Musk launched an underhanded attempt to hollow out the whole federal workforce, and then the first US airliner crashed in 16 years.