Thirteen ballot initiatives that could raise wages, ban fracking, protect immigrants, and house the homeless.
This article by Simon Davis-Cohen appeared in The Nation, November 5th, 2018,
In less than 36 hours, the nail-biting will be over. At last we’ll know whether Donald Trump and his congressional cronies will enjoy two more years of unfettered power—or whether a “blue wave” will sweep enough Democrats into office to chip away at GOP control. And we’ll know, at last, where the opposition to the president stands after two years of organizing, activism, and resistance.
But as we wait, it’s worth turning our attention, at least briefly, to an altogether different part of the electoral landscape, one where progressives aren’t just fighting to reclaim lost ground but have a real chance of moving their agenda forward: cities.
Throughout the country—from Youngstown to San Francisco, Nashville to Baltimore—progressive ideas are on the ballot this Tuesday, and at least a few of them could find their way into lived policy. The ideas range from taxing rich corporations in order to fund clean energy to taxing even richer corporations to build housing for the homeless; from banning fossil-fuel extraction to building a public bank. Some of the measures are modest, others truly radical. But taken together, they reflect an encompassing progressive agenda, a map for social, economic, and even environmental change at a time when progressives have little ability to move the needle on the national stage. MORE…