David Madland

More and more we look like the countries you don't want to emulate -politically or economically

One of the reasons democracies are generally rich and autocracies generally are not.

Businesses and entrepreneurs as well as families can’t make good plans based on junk information. It may be possible to ignore the impact in the short run, but in the long run this will lead to slower growth and quite possibly a major financial crisis.

The government workers analyzing the data will do their best, but they will increasingly be subject to political pressures – or outright meddling.

Lots of headlines on this, but I think many are underestimating how bad it is that Trump fired the BLS commissioner for reporting truthfully. This is not a methodological disagreement but rather a sign that we may not have any accurate economic numbers coming out of the U.S. government.

White House doubles down on baseless "rigged" claims about poor jobs data "The president wants his own people there," economic adviser Kevin Hassett said about the firing of the BLS commissioner.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Power Half-Hour is a livestreamed, bi-weekly roundtable w/ a rotating group of guests! This episode features @thecity.nyc's @clauirizarry.bsky.social, @laborradionet.bsky.social's @bhamharold.bsky.social, & @americanprogress.bsky.social's @davidmadland.bsky.social: poweratwork.us/power-half-h...

Despite ‘No Tax on Tips,’ Trump’s Big ‘Beautiful’ Bill Is Bad for Tipped Workers “No tax on tips” is a symbolic tax break that is very limited and poorly targets the workers who need tax relief the most. Many among the small number of workers who will benefit will also face the bi...

Many tipped workers will be worse off under Trump tax law.
www.americanprogress.org/article/desp...

Director of Media Relations American Progress has an immediate opening for a Director of Media Relations. The Director will serve as a senior member of the Communications team and will work closely with policy staff from America...

Job opening to help my colleagues and me www.americanprogress.org/job/director...

The Working Class Is More Left Than You Think A new survey shows that even Trump’s working class coalition is moving leftward on social issues.

An important new study by the Center for Working Class Politics shows the working class is moving left on social issues—just not as fast as the Brahmin left—and on economic
issues the Brahmin left is catching up and on some issues overtaking the proles. My latest.

newrepublic.com/article/1981...

Reads: Negotiating Tech: An inventory of U.S. union contract provisions for the digital age.

Exciting new resources from our Tech and Work team: a searchable inventory of collective bargaining provisions related to digital workplace technologies. It includes provisions from more than 175 agreements, drawn from a review of over 500 contracts! laborcenter.berkeley.edu/negotiating-...

According to our research, 11% of Trump voters can be won back. Here’s how | Dustin Guastella Democrats need to win back the working class in 2028. Our research shows what does and doesn’t work

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What the Working Class Really Believes A new study tracks the evolution of working-class beliefs, and those of more upper classes, over the past 65 years.

A new study reveals that the working-class beliefs has gotten slightly more conservative on social and economic issues over the past 65 years, while the middle/upper class has gotten more liberal. What should Dems do? From Harold Meyerson:
https://trib.al/BXy2rDl

The Right of the People by Osita Nwanevu: 9780593449929 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books A bold case for reimagining the American project and making American democracy real—from a formidable new voice in political journalism “The first thing I’ve read that provides a rigorous...

New book to check out
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/704686...

They're Coming for Your Overtime Pay While loudly touting “no tax on overtime,” the Trump administration has begun rulemaking and congressional Republicans have begun the legislative process on policies that would rollback overtime prote...

New report highlighting Republican plans to gut overtime nationalpartnership.org/report/theyr...

Much of the decline in working-class male union support for Democrats in 2024 occurred among the youngest voters—those ages 18 to 29.

Similar gender gaps occurred among Hispanic and white working-class union members.

Male union members with a college degree supported Harris by a margin of 9.2 percentage points, compared with nonunion men with a college degree. Union men without a college degree were slightly more likely to support Trump than their nonunion counterparts.

Working-class women union members supported Harris by a margin of 14.1 percentage points, compared with nonunion women voters—a slightly higher margin than among college-educated union women (13.7 percentage points).

Union voters were 8.2 percentage points more likely to vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, compared with nonunion voters. This margin is nearly twice as large as the 2016 margin of 4.4 percentage points and slightly higher than the 7.7 percentage point margin Joe Biden won by in 2020.

Women Are Driving the Rise in Union Member Support for Democrats Working-class and college-educated union women increasingly support Democratic Party presidential candidates, but support is lower among working-class union men.

Our new report analyzes why union member support for Democrats reached a recent high during the 2024 election after falling to a low point during Donald Trump's first presidential election in 2016. www.americanprogressaction.org/article/wome...

Robodebt: When automation fails Lessons from Australia's use of algorithms to detect welfare fraud become more relevant in the age of AI

New, from me: how might automation fail in public services?
The Australian Robodebt case provides a compelling set of insights that governments lurching toward AI or algorithms need to pay attention to. 🧵
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Progressive economic policies unite voters across education levels The AWF Union Podcast is the nation’s premier daily labor program. David Madland from the Center for American Progress joined us on today’s show.

Always great to talk with Ed Ferenc.

awf.labortools.com/listen/progr...

Cut College Sports’ Gordian Knot: Go Straight to Collective Bargaining (Part I) ✦ OnLabor The Case for College Sports Bargaining This is Part I of a two-part series on collective bargaining in college athletics. Federal judge Claudia Wilken’s June 6 settlement approval in the House v. NCAA...

The way forward for NCAA and its athletes -- collective bargaining
onlabor.org/cut-college-...

Veterans Veterans

We think this dismantling of the best public health care system in the country is vitally important, which is why we've created a special section for veterans coverage at @prospect.org.

FDA Drops Union Relations Under Trump’s Labor Bargaining Order The FDA formally advised managers Monday that the agency will no longer recognize or engage in labor relations with union organizations, according to an email obtained by Bloomberg Law.

Trump's union busting continues.
news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-a...

Rep. Budzinski says passing the PRO Act is the way to connect with working-class voters — from my discussion with @repcasar.bsky.social and @budzinski.house.gov last week on the future of working-class voters.

Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Casar: “The PRO Act isn’t just anti-inequality. It is both anti-inequality and pro-democracy” — from my discussion with @repcasar.bsky.social and @budzinski.house.gov last week on the future of working-class voters.

Hello. I've written a book called The Right of the People. It's about democracy and why we should have one in America. Out August 12th. You may pre-order it now. This is the first of many reminders. Thank you.

Bookshop: shorturl.at/ykg4a
Amazon: shorturl.at/0d7A3
Barnes & Noble: shorturl.at/EFA9I

Representing Working-Class Voters Please join the Center for American Progress Action Fund for a discussion with congressional representatives about how best to promote an agenda for today’s working class.

Rep. Budzinski and Rep. Casar both think winning the working class starts with a focus on economics. So glad I got to moderate a discussion with these rising stars. Watch the full video here
www.americanprogressaction.org/events/repre...