The Next Generation’s Priorities
October 27, 2022
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on How to Save a Country
The Roosevelt Rundown features our top stories of the week.
House Leadership: The Next Generation
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is a rising star in the Democratic Party and the likely front-runner to be the next House leader. He’s also quite the policy wonk, as Roosevelt’s Felicia Wong and The New Republic’s Michael Tomasky learn in a new episode of How to Save a Country.
What drives the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and what’s his vision for the next generation of leadership?
On the heels of what he calls “one of the most productive legislative sessions in the history of the country”—Rep. Jeffries discusses what implementation of clean energy investments will require, why solving the affordable housing crisis is one of his top priorities, and how progressives can better communicate their accomplishments and goals.
“We’re going to have to do a better job moving forward, of recognizing that there’s a distinction between governing and messaging,” he says. “You govern in fine print. You message, you persuade, you communicate in headlines.”
Listen now, and follow for new podcast episodes every Thursday.
How Tax Policy Can Curb Monopoly Power
“[T]he current tax rules—which exacerbate corporate consolidation—are not natural or necessary. They are in fact long due for a rethink and a rewrite,” Roosevelt’s Niko Lusiani writes in the introduction to “Tax and Monopoly Focus.”
Published this week by Balanced Economy Project, the Tax Justice Network, and the Roosevelt Institute, the essay collection explores the role our tax code can play as an anti-monopoly tool, and includes a wealth tax piece by Lusiani and Emily DiVito.
“Just as today’s tax system contributes to corporate consolidation, so . . . too can our tax policies help restructure the economy to disrupt concentrated economic power and drive a more dynamic, multiplayer economy,” Lusiani writes.
What We’re Reading
Is the Cure for Inflation Worse than the Disease? [feat. Roosevelt’s Mike Konczal] – Vox
Who’s Really to Blame for Inflation [by Roosevelt fellow Lindsay Owens] – Boston Globe
The Wreckage of Neoliberalism – The Atlantic