@rooseveltforward.org
Advocacy affiliate of @rooseveltinstitute.org. We believe that new politics and policymaking—that can equalize power in our society—are possible. www.rooseveltforward.org || Subscribe to our Substack #FiresideStacks 🔥 firesidestacks.com
Who profits from a supersized ICE?
@elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social, @bedoyausa.bsky.social and @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social break down how corporations benefit from a massively expanded detention and deportation apparatus.
🎥 Watch the video: www.firesidestacks.com/p/how-compan...
#FiresideStacks🔥
"This notion of a zero-sum fight is a construction by people who want to profit by hoarding more and more of that wealth and opportunity. It is not about immigration at all, actually." @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social www.firesidestacks.com/p/how-compan...
Bezos’ layoffs at the Washington Post are a warning: the extremely wealthy buy essential institutions and reshape them to extract more from all of us. Taxing billionaires is about breaking that power.
Read more from @igorvolsky.bsky.social in this week's #FiresideStacks🔥 : https://bit.ly/4rCLlLE
At tonight’s SOTU, Trump will toss out cherry-picked numbers. But they miss the point. The real question is simple: are working people better off than a year ago? On what shapes daily life—prices, paychecks, and job security—the answer is no.
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President and CEO @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social talks with
@bedoyausa.bsky.social and @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social about Trump 2.0’s deportation regime, protests from Minnesota and beyond, and how ICE ballooned into an $85B agency. Who profits from the detention boom? #FiresideStacks🔥
Listen here:
You know how annoying tax season is? There’s a reason for that.
A new breakdown shows how tax filing was made harder on purpose—and who benefited when the free IRS Direct File was eliminated. #TaxSeason #FreeFile https://bit.ly/3MioHsJ
Filing your taxes shouldn't be this hard.
The IRS built a free filing tool that worked.
This administration killed it.
Tax prep companies are cashing in.
This is how complexity become a profit strategy, Noa Rosinplotz in this week's #FiresideStacks🔥 : https://bit.ly/3NNVCFZ
An image featuring a quote from Elizabeth Wilkins about Zohran Mamdani's approach to people-centered policymaking, presented by Roosevelt Forward: "What truly distinguishes this approach is that Mamdani treats people-centered policymaking as a source of governing power, not just popular appeal. He has invested in building a sense of belonging that is now translating into sustained civic engagement."
New from our President and CEO @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social: @mayor.nyc.gov is reshaping the city's affordability approach, from multibillion-dollar childcare to rent freezes, wage floors, and people-led policy engagement.
Read more in our latest #FiresideStacks🔥
https://bit.ly/4rfYtWD
Affordability is at the center of people’s needs and today's politics.
Our President & CEO @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social highlights @mayor.nyc.gov as an exemplar for tackling care, housing, and wages by listening and using a people-first approach to policymaking.
https://bit.ly/4t2IZXO
You deserve food, shelter and medical care. You don't deserve an economic/political system that shames you for not being able to afford any of those www.firesidestacks.com/p/billionair...
States know the federal minimum wage is too low—that’s why 19 raised theirs.
So why do most still rely on outdated federal overtime rules?
If wages must keep up with inflation, overtime should too. Patrick Oakford in this week’s #FiresideStacks🔥
https://bit.ly/49NboIG
@elizabeth-warren.bsky.social reminds us that real economic leadership is possible if we have the guts to take on corporate power directly.
“Abundance” for the rich shouldn’t come at the expense of affordability for everyone else.
But billionaire financing of campaigns has meant watered-down oversight, abandoned pro-worker and consumer legislation, and slow walking reforms at agencies like the CFPB.
“For a lot of powerful people [...] ‘too progressive’ is code used to undermine any economic agenda that favors working people.”
🎯 from @elizabeth-warren.bsky.social at @pressclubdc.bsky.social.
The debate we should have is not left vs. right, but how we ensure working families can afford to live.
Shame tells people their suffering reflects bad personal choices. Shame isolates and silences us. Our billionaire class thrives off of — depends on — our fear, our shame, and our isolation. @fairshareamerica.bsky.social @rooseveltforward.org
www.firesidestacks.com/p/billionair...
The Trump Admin keeps putting forward flashy housing ideas that are unlikely to lower costs.
Investor bans that barely move the needle on supply, 50-year mortgages that saddle families with debt, and gutting agencies that stop abuse—do little to address the affordability crisis.
Must-read thread ⬇️
So much of what we’re told is “personal failure” is actually public policy failure. Shame keeps people silent and that silence protects the billionaire class.
@kristencrowell.bsky.social of @fairshareamerica.bsky.social in this week's #FiresideStacks🔥
https://bit.ly/4jwQW2T
6/6 The Trump Admin seems to want U.S. taxpayers to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure while companies take the profits.
We’ve seen this movie before.
Public dollars should benefit the American people—not guarantee corporate profits.
At the federal level, the fight over affordability tools continued: A DC District Court ordered that the CFPB remain funded while litigation proceeds, casting doubt on efforts to dismantle one of the govt's most effective consumer protection agencies.
We were also reminded that markets don’t police themselves. As our CEO @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social told NPR, attacks on merger review are really about protecting corporate power. When enforcement is weak, corporations raise prices, squeeze consumers, and block competition.
Similarly, @mayorofseattle.bsky.social is confronting corporate pricing power and strengthening incomes through wage floors and labor standards—treating affordability as a governing problem.
Just days into his term, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social is already working to “deliver an agenda of safety, affordability and abundance.”
The early signal: an affordability agenda that puts city authority to work—lowering prices and raising purchasing power.
We’re back! While our socials were quiet, the work of governing continued.
Over the holidays, one thing stayed clear: affordability reflects choices—about wages, enforcement, and corporate power.
Here’s what we took note of—and why it matters—as 2026 gets underway 👇🧵
Important points often overlooked in the discussions
My latest for @rooseveltforward.org on Hawley's misguided proposal to allow folks to deduct up to $25,000 in health care costs, in lieu of comprehensive health insurance protections. The catch: Many don't file, most don't itemize, & most can't wait for reimbursement open.substack.com/pub/roosevel...
@elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social's appointment of Julie Su as NYC’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice—and what it means for delivering the #GoodLife for working New Yorkers ⬇️
Important discussion featuring @elizabethwwilkins.bsky.social in conversation with antitrust experts @linamkhan.bsky.social, @bedoyausa.bsky.social, and @dohamekki.bsky.social on how good governance can rein in corporate power to protect workers and consumers.
This is how to do regulation right ⬇️
79 million Americans already struggle with medical bills or medical debt. Telling them to “pay up front and deduct it later” isn’t reform—it’s denial. @mirandayaver.bsky.social takes on Sen. Hawley's new proposal in the latest #FiresideStacks🔥 : https://bit.ly/4p6sren
@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social spoke with @nicholsuprising.bsky.social about the hope of living up to Roosevelt’s New Deal agenda.
This legacy drives the work to better serve everyday Americans.
www.thenation.com/article/poli...
