Daniel Laurison

How a $30 Billion Welfare Program Became a ‘Slush Fund’ for States Republicans and Democrats alike decry the lack of oversight for America’s famous antipoverty experiment.

Good report here on how very little TANF funds actually go to supporting low income families. It has become a slush fund for states to spend on things that have little to do with program’s mission.

“How a $30 Billion Welfare Program Became a ‘Slush Fund’ for States”

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

I say intentionally or unintentionally and I get people commenting on posts all the time saying "these weren't suicides, they murdered those kids"

But the political authorities of our day genuinely believe they are doing good by withdrawing care and instead insulate themselves from trans suffering

No idea where that link came from.

We did not appreciate this at all with our first kid - I would guess most new parents don't! - but really did with our 2nd. They are so much easier when they can't get themselves into trouble. (Kids are now 18 & 16, but I watch an 18-month-old a few hours a week and I am reminded every time.)

There is a laundry list of things 20 GOP Senators & 5 Reps could sign onto tomorrow if they suddenly now have genuine concerns for equal & fair representation in 🇺🇸 government. That they will support exactly zero of these, while complaining about VA/CA & trying to suppress more votes, is the tell.

That's a great question; I don't know - my guess based on past conversations is some will be newly motivated to vote Trump et al out in 2028, but a lot more will only come out if there's a real effort to connect with them well before the election.

The Death and Rebirth of the Queer Bookstore Hi! Before we get started… Right now, you can get a Humble Bundle including everything Annalee Newitz and I have published with Tor for just $18 (plus...

Queer bookstores died in 2010. We had a funeral and everything!

Except... a ton of people decided to roll up their sleeves and start *new* queer bookshops, all over the place. In cities. In tiny towns.

My latest newsletter is about the rebirth of the LGBTQ bookshop:

buttondown.com/charliejane/...

Why Delia Ramirez thinks DHS needs to be dismantled "Why would we ever want to give them more money to keep doing what they’re doing?"

In solidarity w/ communities being hurt by ICE, I'm donating all new revenue from today's newsletter to The Energy CENTS Coalition, a St. Paul nonprofit that helps struggling folks pay utility bills. If you'd like to support a good cause & PN, sign up for a sub using the buttons in today's edition 👇

When we choose our politicians based on how many rich people they went to high school with, this is the result.

I have been on food stamps. I know politics isn’t a sport. It isn’t about scoring points on cable news. Politics is our actual lives.

But I am building the campaign funding on the fly.

the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex

We've always done this, but in particular in 2026, one of @runforsomething.net's top priorities is recruiting candidates who have lived experience with the affordability crisis. That's not about ~identity politics~ -- it's about giving people a sense that their leaders *care* because they *get it.*

"People want to feel genuinely listened to and cared about by those who have, or seek, political power – so political leaders need to spend more time in low-income and working-class communities, having meaningful two-way conversations with constituents that don’t end abruptly when the polls close."

This is absolutely the most important thing I’ve read in a long time. If you care about democracy, read it and share it.

Check out this important new research from Daniel Laurison et al on low-income and working-class Pennsylvanians about what politics means to them.

Thanks for sharing!

This is important work! Read it!

Important study of why people don’t vote

My family's Christmas Eve dinner, inspired by my partner's mom's Swedish immigrant community, involves a LOT of cheese and crackers (hard tack, specifically). I don't know if it quite qualifies as a holiday FOR cheese but it is a holiday WITH much cheese.

Great! Glad it looks useful, would be very happy to connect, very cool that you're writing a trade book on the topic!

Virginia’s New Governor Ends ICE Program. Local Contracts Remain, For Now. - Bolts Abigail Spanberger left the 287(g) program, which empowered state law enforcement to detain immigrants. Will Democrats also bar local police and sheriffs from the program?

NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program.

This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE.

Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.

Fascinating work on nonvoters by @daniellaurison.bsky.social.

“Non-voters are concerned about being good citizens and good members of their communities, but they feel that people in politics ignore them and their experiences. They think their communities are neglected by people in power.”

thanks!

Building a more inclusive politics is not all about formal rules & institutions, it's also about how politics is done in a more informal way.

(This is a message I send backwards in time to myself)

“People want to see themselves reflected in politics, campaigns, candidates, and government – so party leaders and government officials need to recruit more people from low-income and working-class backgrounds, to serve at every level.”

thank you for boosting!

Thanks!

Understanding the Political Disconnect Swarthmore College’s Healthy Equitable and Responsive Democracy (HEARD) Initiative finds voter disconnection and discouragement – not apathy – keep people from polls

Seems like something @perrybaconjr.bsky.social might be interested in? www.swarthmore.edu/understandin...

Among our pool of working-class and low-income people generally, they were the most likely to have had families who talked about politics, or be part of explicitly political groups, etc - and they were not generally coming from generations of poverty or precarity.

Some had connections to politics, were in political groups etc. Those people were especially likely to be downwardly mobile, college-educated or college dropouts in low-wage/working-class jobs or unemployed.

Great question - we heard some of the same kinds of things from regular voters, though less often and less intensely. For some I think voting was habit (and there is lots of evidence that if people form the habit they keep it up), for some a duty, and/or they thought it might be actually help.