Debunking Dodd-Frank Myths, Roosevelt Awards, an Obituary for KS Tax Cuts, and More

1. Unleashing Wall Street

Are conservatives suffering from memory loss? House Republicans passed the Choice Act on Thursday, a sweeping deregulation of the financial sector based off a false narrative about the Dodd-Frank Act and the 2007-2008 financial crisis. In his powerful New York Times op-ed, Roosevelt Fellow Mike Konczal debunks these conservative Dodd-Frank myths. Read our new report and download our myth vs. fact sheet.

2. Championing Rooseveltian Values

In front of hundreds of thinkers, advocates, and elected officials, we honored three progressive leaders – Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz – for their commitment to public service at our annual FDR Distinguished Public Service Awards (DPSA).

3. R.I.P. Kansas Tax Cuts

Lawmakers finally rolled back Republican Governor Brownback’s signature tax policy over his (repeated) objections. In 2012, Governor Brownback promised that his tax cuts would spur economic growth. Five years later, Kansans are still waiting. Program Manager Eric Harris Bernstein explains in our blog.

4. Community Banking is Alive, Well

If you look at the best available data on the state of community banking, it becomes difficult to buy the story that Dodd-Frank hurts community banks. Program Director Katy Milani sets the record straight on the state of community banking on our Roosevelt blog and CBS News.

5. Ideas for Health Care & Foreign Policy

The Roosevelt network rolls out their final week of this year’s top student-generated policy ideas from across the nation with a selection of proposals for health care and foreign policy, including empowering patients, teaching health insurance in health classes, and increasing military transparency.

What We’re Reading:

The New York Times Magazine reports on one of the most shameful public health failures in the country today — LGBTQ black men in the American South are still contracting H.I.V. at higher rates than any population in the world.

Writing for the American Prospect ‘s “White Working Class and the Democrats” series, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg explains how Democrats don’t have a “white working-class problem,” they have a “working-class problem,” which progressives have been reluctant to boldly and honestly address since the election.