PLUS: More from PPI's experts, can't-miss reports and events, and more! 

View this email in your browser ([link removed])


** [link removed]
Progress Report
------------------------------------------------------------
News, events, and must-read analysis from the Progressive Policy Institute.
[link removed]


** ICYMI – Ben Ritz for the New York Times:
Joe Manchin Has Given Democrats a Chance to Save Their Agenda
------------------------------------------------------------

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia seemingly dealt a terrible setback to President Biden’s agenda on Sunday, when he told Bret Baier of Fox News that he could not support the version of the Build Back Better Act passed by the House last month. Although Democrats were rightfully frustrated by the way in which Mr. Manchin expressed his concerns, he was raising a valid critique: This bill was deeply flawed, and the “compromises” his colleagues made did nothing to address the concerns he has been consistently raising since this summer.

Other Democrats may not realize it, but Mr. Manchin may well have given them a gift. They should’ve gone back to the drawing board months ago, when it first became clear that their budgetary gimmickry was turning the bill into a confusing mess. Now, they will have to — and if they revise the bill to cut the number of programs they propose while making the ones they do propose permanent and easier for Americans to navigate, it could deliver Democrats both lasting policy change and the political victory they so desperately need.

Joe Manchin Has Given Democrats a Chance to Save Their Agenda ([link removed])
by Ben Ritz, Director of PPI's
Center for Funding America's Future
for The New York Times
READ MORE ([link removed])
[link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F12%2F21%2Fopinion%2Fmanchin-build-back-better-democrats.html Tweet ([link removed]: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2021%2F12%2F21%2Fopinion%2Fmanchin-build-back-better-democrats.html)
[link removed] Forward ([link removed])
New from the Experts

From PPI Chief Economist Dr. Michael Mandel:
Strong Digital Growth in 2022 Swing States
⮕ PPI ([link removed])

From Center for Funding America's Future Director Ben Ritz:
Social Security Needs Solutions, Not Gimmicks
⮕ Newsweek ([link removed])

From PPI Fiscal Policy Analyst Brendan McDermott:
Surrendering to COVID-19 is the wrong cure for inflation
⮕ The Hill ([link removed])

ICYMI: From PPI's Paul Bledsoe:
The Role of Natural Gas in Meeting Global Energy and Climate Change Goals
⮕ PPI ([link removed])
Hot Off the Press

WSJ: Biden’s Worker-First Trade Policy Rankles Foreign Partners ([link removed])

The pursuit of the worker-centric policy could come at the expense of establishing U.S. global leadership on trade, said Ed Gresser, a former senior policy official for the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office during the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations.

“The administration wants to show America’s back,” said Mr. Gresser, now vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank. “It will be much harder to achieve that if what we’re seeing is the U.S. not participating in trade policy discussions and remaining in more nationalistic and more fearful mode.”

⮕ WSJ ([link removed])

Insider: Biden wanted to build back better, but Manchin shot down his signature $2 trillion bill, preserving America as it is for now ([link removed])

"Democrats have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve American society, not just for a few years, but permanently," Ben Ritz, a budget expert at the centrist Progressive Policy Institute, wrote in a New York Times op-ed. "Doing so would give them some clear victories they can point to with voters that lay the groundwork for future success."

⮕ Insider ([link removed])

The Hill: Democrats look to scale back Biden bill to get it passed ([link removed])

Democratic lawmakers, lobbyists and experts at think tanks believe Manchin might be won over if the bill is revised to include fewer programs for a longer period of time.

“That is the way forward here,” said Ben Ritz, director of the Center for Funding America’s Future at the Progressive Policy Institute, who has advocated for a bill with fewer items.

“Most of the party is starting to come around to that,” Ritz added.

⮕ The Hill ([link removed])
New on the Pod
[link removed]

[link removed]

ICYMI - On this Radically Pragmatic episode, Paul Bledsoe, author of a new PPI report titled "The Role of Natural Gas in Limiting European Union Emissions: Key Opportunities to Cut Methane, Coal and CO2" sits down to explain the major implications for U.S. and global climate policy, as well as some of the key recommendations from the report.

What exactly are Organ Procurement Organizations? And how are so many of them failing and stopping Americans from getting the organs they need? Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8) and Jennifer Erickson join the podcast to talk about reforming America's system for organ donation. When 90% of Americans approve of organ donation, why do we still have critical shortages of so many organs? And what can we do to change things? Listen to find out!


** Don't Miss This PPI Event
------------------------------------------------------------
ICYMI – Responding to Increased Demand for Innovative Schools Reinventing America's Schools - WATCH NOW!
[link removed]

PPI’s Reinventing America’s Schools Project (RAS) recently hosted a one hour webinar on enrollment trends during the pandemic, as part of a series co-sponsored by RAS and The 74 Million.

Stream the full webinar here! ([link removed])
Don't Miss This PPI Report
ICYMI – Hidden Prices and Higher Tuition: The Case for Transparency in Higher Education Pricing and Advanced Credit
[link removed]
PPI recently released a report outlining several root causes of the lack of affordable and accessible higher education in America. Report authors Paul Weinstein Jr. and Veronica Goodman propose increasing price transparency and ensuring prospective students get the credit they’ve earned before beginning their degree.

Read the report here ([link removed]) .

============================================================
Getting Social
** ([link removed])
** FOLLOW PPI ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Spotify ([link removed])
** LinkedIn ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 Progressive Policy Institute, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in to programming.

Our mailing address is:
Progressive Policy Institute
1156 15th Street NW
Ste 400
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]