Shoots of grassroots energy and democratic hope

Plus, UBI rising

Welcome to a Wednesday evening edition of Progress Report.

My wife and I sent our now eight-month-old (!) baby to daycare for the first time today, a milestone moment that produced a complicated mix of emotions that overtook my default stoicism.

There was the natural guilt that accompanies the mere thought of him feeling abandoned, which was largely counteracted by my excitement for him to learn and make friends. Then there was the anxiety about the new and not insignificant monthly expense, which soon morphed into anger at the miserable status quo that denies so many kids the opportunity for socialization at a critical age and parents the space to make a living.

Naturally and inevitably, my ire ultimately turned to Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who killed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a universal childcare system in this country back in 2021. It was an obscene act of corruption and greed, and because that’s just what’s expected of politics these days, it’s barely remembered at all.

Lots to talk about tonight, including key state and local news — ballot initiatives! prescription drugs! democracy on the brink! student debt! reproductive rights! maybe the worst tweet you’ll ever read! — after the jump!

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What We’re Tracking

Debt Ceiling: The Biden-McCarthy deal passed the Senate tonight. I wrote about the deal’s big cuts on Monday, and I’ll have a follow-up on it this weekend.

Tax the Rich: With a patchwork of local pilot programs spreading across the country and delivering almost uniformly positive results, Universal Basic Income is on course to take its biggest leap yet.

Activists in Oregon just announced that they’ve collected enough signatures to put a UBI program on the ballot in 2024.

Pitched as the Oregon Rebate, the initiative, if successful, would provide a $750 annual check to every Oregonian, including children. The program would be paid for by nudging the minimum tax on major corporations that operate in the state, from less than 1% to 3%. For context, individuals living in Oregon pay between 5% and 10% of their income in state taxes.

There’s some skepticism about UBI, in that some on the left fear that its small payments could be used as an excuse to eliminate other social safety net programs. But when they exist in parallel, the results are undeniable, as the next item indicates.