@suzmkahn
Historian of social insurance and feminism. VP Think Tank @rooseveltinstitute.org & Roosevelt Forward. Previously @32bjseiu.bsky.social, @seiu.org, @columbiauniversity.bsky.social History Dept linktr.ee/suzmkahn
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Roosevelt Institute President and CEO Elizabeth Wilkins.
On Thursday, CEO @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social met with @mayor.nyc.gov to talk about what it takes to govern—investing in public capacity and building the talent pipeline to deliver for working people. That’s the Roosevelt tradition: pairing big ideas with the capacity to deliver lasting results.
Wanted to share the Workplace Justice Lab's latest piece on the story behind the story of the Minneapolis occupation through the eyes of our close partners in organizing, government and small business.
conta.cc/3O8RFvL
I love this guy, very calming using historical analogy reading his city council for filth.
!!!! (I thought I was just doing something wrong)
Somehow minor in the scheme of things, but marriage as the solution to the affordability crisis is still 🤯.
Let's be clear: The nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Fed threatens harm to American workers and families.
The subdued market reaction isn’t an endorsement—w/o a majority of FOMC votes, he'd be unlikely to shift policy significantly. bit.ly/49PZleT
My take 👇
A just tax system is essential to rebuilding our democracy. Proud to publish @bdgesq.bsky.social's new paper on one way to get there.
OK a quick 🧵 on one aspect of the report
In this Neo-McCarthyist moment, how can progressives make sure that expanding public higher education does not come at the expense of academic freedom and freedom to protest on campus?
In a way, the question is easier to answer that I thought
Across the board the essential civic institutions behind our democracy, are being weakened by the extremely wealthy. We see it in higher ed, we see it in media, etc. A democracy agenda is an anti-oligarchy agenda.
We genuinely didn't know where the research would end up, but when @lookheron.bsky.social came back with the argument that the missing link in the story was the growing power of trustees it made perfect sense.
This project was born out of conversations about how the free college fight in 2019 and 2020 barely touched issues like free speech, curriculum, and academic freedom. That would be impossible today, but if we are serious about equity we can't stop calling for real public investment in higher ed.
One of the best days of the year is when we get to welcome new fellows! So excited for this new group to formally join our team!
New from me: A brief for @rooseveltinstitute.org on the logic of YIMBY policymaking and its applicability to other domains. What principles underlying the YIMBY agenda are transferrable to thinking about energy, healthcare, and other areas? Short 🧵 to follow. rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
You may have heard that "social security is going to go bankrupt." Many younger people assume social security will not be there for them when they retire. In my latest paper I correct the record. SS is not going bankrupt but we'll need to revisit it soon 🧵
rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Today, New Mexico launched its universal childcare initiative. Last month I wrote about it for Roosevelt Institute -- historic state endeavors like this should show lawmakers at all levels of government that Americans are sick and tired of waiting for bold action on childcare. shorturl.at/Sm2tZ
Excited that my new book review came out at the same time as Corrine Low's essay on what the medical professions can teach us about how to organize jobs to be family friendly. There's a lot to be learned by looking at how women organize work when they have numbers.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/02/o...
a sharp @suzmkahn.bsky.social review in @washingtonmonthly.com on After the Spike. Parenting will always have something of an "opportunity cost" but that doesn't mean there's not a lot policy can do to make it a better option
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/11/02/a...
Image featuring a classical architecture building with columns, overlaid with a text quote from Elizabeth Wilkins of the Roosevelt Institute, "In Building a More Effective, Responsive Government: Lessons Learned from the Biden-Harris Administration, former Biden-Harris senior officials Hannah Garden-Monheit and Tresa Joseph draw from the insights, recommendations, and candor of more than 45 former public servants and tell a broader story we can’t forget: The problems with these institutions did not start with Donald Trump or Elon Musk, worse as they now are. These problems are, in part, what results from decades of bipartisan neglect, disinvestment, and deference to markets."
NEW 📰: Building a more effective government that moves beyond the status quo requires honest reflection.
Drawing on interviews with more than 45 former senior Biden officials, our latest report offers 161 practical recommendations for better governance.
https://bit.ly/4312Zid
Roosevelt Forward quote graphics that reads "With this much volatility, it’s precisely the wrong time to turn off the data tap. And it really is shut off, making the economy harder to read in addition to gumming up the work of straightforward governing."
No jobs data. No inflation report. No roadmap. This isn’t a technical glitch, it’s a threat to democratic governance.
In #FiresideStacks🔥, @mikemadowitz.bsky.social warns how the shutdown has silenced the federal stats that keep our economy functioning.
bit.ly/4726aag
Americans' trust in media hit an all-time low this week. But the trust numbers for public media look totally different. The public is wary of how commercial pressures impact news fairness and accuracy — and for good reason.
rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/trust-i...
Quote graphic for a new publication
Even before the admin went after higher ed, public colleges faced 50 years of decline—hollowed out by privatization, financialization, and disinvestment.
@lookheron.bsky.social’s new report traces that history & shows how we can build a more equitable education system today:
https://bit.ly/3WlV9vv
New Mexico is making history: the first state to guarantee no-cost universal childcare.
💡 A bold step toward affordability that shows what’s possible when leaders prioritize families.
@lbilik.bsky.social on why federal lawmakers should take note. rooseveltinstitute.org/blog/new-mex...
You are going to hear a lot over the next few years about how SS is doomed and we need to privatize it or whatever. But it is not doomed. We have already figured out several possible ways to right to the ship. And we could have done so at any time in the last 2 decades. We knew this was coming...
👇🏾right here. We need to understand the machine behind the machine - corporate consolidation means fewer heads to knock together when out of control state power comes knocking. It means a small group of wealthy individuals doing deals with a corrupt set of leaders. Consolidation is bad for democracy.
Truly wild stuff going on tonight in DC
White House pushing congress to get an unprecedented Fed Nominee confirmed late tonight (around 8PM per @vtg2.bsky.social / @politico.com )
1/
Exciting news from New Mexico, proving that states continue to innovate in the face of the federal government's decades of inaction on childcare. Don't let anyone tell you there isn't nationwide demand for childcare as a public good. shorturl.at/tTENi
"People are experts on what’s not working in their lives. And when so many say they don’t have the time to both care for their loved ones and make a living, policymakers need to take that cue." - @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social is essential reading.
democracyjournal.org/magazine/78/...
"Childcare undergirds everything we care about as Americans." - Great conversation between @lbilik.bsky.social and @ehaspel.bsky.social in today's Fireside Stacks.
www.firesidestacks.com/p/raising-a-...
"The program my grandfather signed into law on this day in 1935 is under attack—not just in rhetoric, but through deliberate acts of administrative sabotage."
Today on Fireside Stacks, a warning and a call to action.
www.firesidestacks.com/p/social-sec...
Infographic titled "A New Blueprint for Politics" by Roosevelt Forward, listing four strategies
Trump’s second term is about consolidating power through sabotage and deregulation.
The latest #FiresideStacks 🔥 offers a path for how we can challenge and move beyond the myths that have made the Right's harmful vision a reality. www.firesidestacks.com/p/reclaiming...