The Twilight of the Deficit Hawks: President Biden's willingness during the State of the Union to hold Republicans accountable for wanting to cut social spending is indicative of one optimistic trend: the era of bipartisan deficit hawkery is coming to a close. Read David Dayen on how the paradigm on social programs in Washington has shifted.

Will the Education Culture War Backfire on Republicans?: The GOP’s culture war on K-12 education is a false pretext for the same old agenda of undermining public schools. But according to new polling, as Jarod Facundo explains, parents have vastly different priorities.

Biden Forges a New Democratic Paradigm: During this week’s State of the Union address, President Biden exhibited empathy, strength, and mastery of political improvisation as he prioritized economic relief to America’s working class—the kind of rhetoric that just might get him re-elected, Harold Meyerson argues.

Electric-Vehicle Charging Swerves Around Speed Bumps: BP is trying to temper outrage that it is increasing oil and gas production by investing $8 billion in so-called energy transition projects like electric-vehicle charging, but this mixed bag of priorities is raising concerns about the future of electric vehicles. Gabrielle Gurley has the story.

The Working-Class Roots of ‘Woke Capital’: Rather than placing workers’ savings into the care of ESG investors who have differing interests at heart, Jeffrey Sklansky argues, retirement funds should place the power back in their hands by establishing collective rights to investment.