Building Back America
The American Prospect breaks down Biden’s American Jobs Plan, American Families Plan, and a variety of tax measures, analyzing each component with insights on prospective policies and if these elements go far enough.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
Why Progressive Groups Struggled With the Biden Agenda
The way Build Back Better unfolded made it an insider’s game, wasting serious effort and hundreds of millions of dollars from outside organizations. Read more
Sep 27, 2022
Illustration by Angie Wang
How Policy Got Done in 2022
To understand the Democrats’ big climate and health care bill, you must go back decades. Read more
Sep 26, 2022
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Can Ocean Shipping Go Green?
Everyone agrees that ocean shipping must decarbonize. The question is how, and how fast. Read more
Aug 22, 2022
Seth Wenig/AP Photo
Our Bewildering Economy
What are the contradictory trends and policy choices? And does the Inflation Reduction Act live up to its name? Read more
Aug 8, 2022
Justin Rex/AP Photo
Bipartisan Highway to Hell—or Heaven?
State and local governments will decide if the infrastructure package makes climate change better or worse. Read more
Aug 8, 2022
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer Have a Surprise for You
An 18-month odyssey culminates in a smaller-than-promised, bigger-than-expected agreement to lower health care costs, tax corporations, and protect the planet. Read more
Jul 28, 2022
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP Images
May Build Back Better Never Be Spoken Of Again
Today on TAP: Negotiations with Joe Manchin are over. Let’s keep it that way. Read more
Jul 15, 2022
Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
Senate Moves Forward on Exceedingly Modest Drug Price Reform
The details on the latest in the endless negotiations on the Biden agenda Read more
Jul 8, 2022
Evan Vucci/AP Photo
The Silence of the Joe
Today on TAP: The president is missing. Read more
Jul 7, 2022
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Mitch McConnell Once Again Takes Advantage of Democratic Fecklessness
Today on TAP: Senate Democrats can’t move because they’re standing on their own feet. Read more
Jul 1, 2022
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Build Back Better Is a Pittance
Today on TAP: Floods, fires, droughts, and the increasing uninhabitability of much of the American West demonstrate that we should be spending a great deal more. Read more
Jun 22, 2022
Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via AP
Skyrocketing Rent Is Driving Inflation
So why does no one care? Read more
Jun 21, 2022
Eric Gay/AP Photo
The Fossil Fuel Industry Should Pay for Its Own Cleanup
A federal orphan well capping program shoves the cost of oil and gas production onto the public. There’s a better option. Read more
Jun 15, 2022
Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP Images
Why the War FOR Poverty Has Made Gains
Discontinuing the expanded Child Tax Credit has plunged millions of families back into poverty and its anxieties. Read more
Jun 2, 2022
Susan Walsh/AP Photo
Biden’s Main Legislative Accomplishment Is in One Man’s Hands
Mitch Landrieu is overseeing the bipartisan infrastructure law. His record does not inspire confidence in how that might be handled. Read more
May 30, 2022
Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo
California Might Pass Its Own Personal Build Back Better
The Golden State is set to spend its capital gains haul on massive public investments in climate. Read more
May 20, 2022
Jeff Chiu/AP Photo
Federal Highway Removal Program Raises Hopes in California
But transit advocates and local leaders in communities of color worry that new infrastructure plans could repeat the harms of the past. Read more
May 16, 2022
Dominick Sokotoff/Sipa USA via AP Images
Build Back Better Dies … Again
In a final admission of defeat, the administration is rebranding its ‘Build Back Better World’ foreign-policy initiative, removing references to its failed domestic agenda. Read more
Apr 28, 2022
Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via AP
The Accidental Revolution
Democrats got one thing right—the American Rescue Plan. It might just realign U.S. politics. Read more
Apr 21, 2022
Elaine Thompson/AP Photo
The American Rescue Plan’s Child Care Test Run
As an example of the promise of long-term investment in child care and early learning, it was wildly successful. But the money runs out soon. Read more
Apr 11, 2022
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
Joe Manchin Insists That Democrats Do Unpopular Things
It turns out voters hate it when you snatch away hundreds of dollars a month. Who knew? Read more
Apr 7, 2022
Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Democrats Creating Their Own October Surprise
Imminent congressional inaction on Affordable Care Act subsidies will doom 14 million people, the party’s midterm chances, and health care reform for a decade. Read more
Mar 30, 2022
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
The Progressive Caucus Unveils Its Day One Agenda
A blueprint for executive action includes 55 different items Biden can implement without Congress. Read more
Mar 22, 2022
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
The Democratic Party’s Biggest Problem Is Its Conservative Wing
Rep. Stephanie Murphy got everything she wanted, and it’s a disaster, so she’s retiring. Read more
Mar 21, 2022
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If Only There Were an Infrastructure Bill to Deal With This Oil Crisis
By pouring money into fossil fuel infrastructure, the bipartisan law is already showing its tragic inadequacies. Read more
Mar 14, 2022
Francis Chung/E&E News/Politico via AP Images
Oh No, Joe Manchin’s Talking About a Deal Again
The umpteenth iteration of what Manchin wants out of the Biden agenda is here: some energy investments, paid for by tax and prescription drug reform. Read more
Mar 7, 2022
Rebecca Santana/AP Photo
Tearing Down Highways to Revitalize Communities—and Create Jobs
New projects in Black and brown neighborhoods divided by the mid-century interstate highway push can be job creation engines. Read more
Mar 7, 2022
Saul Loeb/Pool via AP
The Biden Identity
Joe Biden tells us who he is and who he isn’t—which will help him, God willing and the creek don’t rise. Read more
Mar 2, 2022
Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images
Inflation-Fighting Legislative Agenda Takes Shape
An ocean shipping regulatory bill got attached to a broader reshoring bill. There’s now an emerging bipartisan agenda to dismantle misguided, corporate-friendly policies. Read more
Feb 8, 2022
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP Images
The Fight to Save the Manchin Nursing Home
The Manchin empire extends to a nondescript nursing home in deep coal country. It’s a relic of a social welfare system that has collapsed. Read more
Feb 3, 2022
