GOP Health Care Bill and Trade Wars Loom, Amazon Dominates, Unifying Economic Agenda, and More

1. REPEAL, Then REPLACE…No Wait!

With no quick fix in sight for Senate Republicans (and Trump tweeting that if the GOP health care bill fails, we should totally repeal and then later replace the ACA), Roosevelt Fellow Andrea Flynn inserts some truth in this storm in Time Money and ABC News by discussing this disastrous health care bill’s impact on women.

2. Trade Wars

In a meeting with top officials this week, Trump and Pence made it clear that they’re hell-bent on imposing tariffs on steel and likely other imports. Are we on the brink of a trade war? Roosevelt Fellow Todd Tucker tells Vox how a threat to slap big tariffs on steel could actually be used as a bargaining chip for something bigger.

3. It’s Amazon’s World

As consumers turn to Amazon instead of Macy’s, big box stores and brick-and-mortar stores – and the thousands who work for them – are becoming obsolete. Can they stay open in the era of Amazon? Roosevelt’s Research Director and Fellow Marshall Steinbaum talks to KCRW about what we can expect and how we should adapt as Amazon keeps expanding.

4. A Winning Agenda

Roosevelt’s VP of Research and Policy Nell Abernathy explains why progressives (and the Democratic Party) need a public policy agenda that favors political inclusion and economic populism. It’s not an either-or decision.

5. UBI Time

Program Director Rakeen Mabud talks to the Los Angeles Times about the basics of universal income and how cash in the system could provide economic security for all, especially when so much goes to the 1% already.

What We’re Reading:

The Trump White House is planning an unprecedented attack on voting rights with the beginning of what could be a nationwide voter-suppression campaign (which is being enabled by Congress and the Department of Justice). Read more in The Nation.

Writing for Democracy Journal, Senior Fellow Jonathan Soros writes that if we want to achieve the kind of inclusive prosperity that is central to modern progressivism, we must strengthen the common ties that bind us together. Doing so requires a healthy dose of more empathy.