Category: Blog post

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on October 29, 2024. I’ve been warning about the dangers of Donald Trump’s fascism since he announced his first bid for president in June of 2015. Few people took that warning, or my escalating concern about the fascist features of Trump’s politics throughout his presidency, seriously. Even after January 6, people said my warnings were exaggerated or even hysterical. Now, calling Trump a fascist and talking about the threat of fascism is commonplace. But it still understates the danger. For fascism is no longer a threat. It’s here. Fascism is a major force in our politics. Fascism is a set of ideas that are entirely contrary to the foundations of the American Republic, which is why it is dangerous. It’s also a set of political practices that is already found in our country and threaten to destroy it. That Trump and Trumpism embrace fascist… Continue reading

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on October 29, 2024. Election watchers are always waiting for the “October Surprise” that could have a last-minute effect on the election. It could be that the hateful attack on Puerto Rico and Latinos that was the worst of many examples of bigotry in Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally will be the October Surprise of this election. As 8% of the Pennsylvania electorate is Latino and the majority of them are of Puerto Rican descent, this event may cost Trump Pennsylvania. A shift of only 5% of the Puerto Rican vote from Trump to Harris could add up to 30,000 votes which could be her margin of victory. But there is another October Surprise that has been gradually brewing and is likely to get some attention the weekend before the election: we are in the midst of an economic boom. Tomorrow, on October 30th,… Continue reading

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on October 23, 2024. Demonizing and stoking fear of immigrants is at the center of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign this year, as it was in 2016. Yet what Americans should really be afraid of is Trump’s opposition to immigration. For immigrants make a huge contribution to our economy and our well-being, as they have for our entire history. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t focus our attention on creating a better, fairer immigration system. We should want immigrants to enter but in a controlled way. President Biden and Vice President Harris worked closely with Republicans in Congress to frame legislation to create a well-funded and regulated immigration process. But Donald Trump demanded that Republicans reject the plan because he cares more about dividing and distracting us by blaming and shaming immigrants instead of solving problems. The truth is that people who have come to this… Continue reading

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on October 23, 2024. This is the last week in which Pennsylvania’s 2023–24 General Assembly is likely to be in Harrisburg. And the pattern we have seen for the last two years is once again evident. The Democratic-controlled House passes legislation, with bipartisan support, that addresses serious problems in our commonwealth. And the Republican-controlled Senate once again sits on its hands and does nothing. This week, the House passed HB 2565, sponsored by Representative Steve Samuelson, a bill that provides tax credits for clean hydrogen energy production, which would spur economic development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also providing tax credits for semi-conductor and biomedical manufacturing. Seventeen Republicans voted for it. It passed HB 2625, sponsored by Representative Ed Neilson, to fund public transit systems in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and thirty other smaller cities. Ten Republicans voted for it. It passed HB 2557, sponsored… Continue reading

Originally published at Pennsylvania Policy Center on July 11, 2024. July 11, 2024 Governor Shapiro and the members of the General Assembly have had about 18 months to respond to the Commonwealth Court ruling that Pennsylvania’s system of funding K–12 education is unconstitutional. And Pennsylvania politicians have had decades to recognize that far too many low-income and Black and brown schoolchildren have not received an adequate education, which has limited their opportunities and denied the Commonwealth the full flowering of their talents and abilities. The K–12 budget that we expect to be enacted soon recognizes the problem. But it does not put the state on a path to solving it. It recognizes the problem in two ways. First, for the first time in our history, the school code embraces a formula that quantifies the problem. The school code says that school districts need $4.5 billion in new funding to adequately… Continue reading