The Progressive Case For States’ Rights

By 2040, 70 percent of Americans will live in 15 states. The Republican Party, led by a president elected by a minority of voters, is advancing a set of policies that fewer and fewer Americans support, and with four sitting Supreme Court justices appointed by either President Trump or President George W. Bush, who also lost the popular vote, the impact of this imbalance of power is likely to be felt for decades to come. With political divisions seemingly becoming ever more intractable, are fears that the United States is on the brink of a second civil war really so far-fetched? In his November cover story “Rebirth of a Nation,” Jonathan Taplin proposes that, in order to protect and advance the interests of the majority, progressives must fight to counter federal power, in favor of a new emphasis on states’ rights.

In this episode, Taplin joins web editor Violet Lucca to discuss why decentralization is the way forward, how states like California are leading the way, and why he is not optimistic about the so-called blue wave in the upcoming midterm elections.

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