Sam Mellins is a journalist and writer living in New York City.
Democrat Ricardo Lara is running for reelection as California state insurance commissioner in today’s primary. A new complaint alleges that he’s secretly accepting insurance industry donations after swearing them off — and it’s not the first time.
For decades, companies have used arbitration agreements to shirk responsibilities to their customers and employees. Now the tables are starting to turn, as customers and employees use such agreements against corporations.
Insurance companies are leaving homeowners at the mercy of climate catastrophes they helped create.
California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara could be playing a key role in fighting climate change in the state. Instead, he has taken campaign money and gifts from fossil fuel interests — and done “almost nothing” to address climate catastrophe.
Insurance companies not only offer coverage to fossil fuel projects, but also use millions of people’s premiums to invest in the fossil fuel industry’s expansion. We can’t stop climate change without reeling the insurers in.
Wall Street private equity firms are gaining control of retirement systems like California’s public pensions and fast-tracking the corporatization of the public sector.
A new report suggests the United States may have unfettered rights to the information countries desperately need to scale up COVID-19 vaccine production, save lives, and end the pandemic. Joe Biden needs to share that information around the globe.
Biden’s political history is anything but pro-labor. But his moves thus far to strengthen workers’ rights through the National Labor Relations Board have actually been very promising.
The leftist electoral wins at the local, state, and federal level in New York City have been much discussed. But the Left is also notching victories in western New York, challenging the moderate Democrats often at the helm in the region.
During his first week in office, Joe Biden signed an executive order pausing oil and gas leases on federal land. But a few months later, it’s clear the modest action will do little to rein in US carbon emissions.
Unions desperately need labor law reform through the PRO Act. But even if that bill remains off the table in the near future, Joe Biden can take immediate action through executive orders to roll back corporate union-busting like Amazon carried out in Bessemer, Alabama.
To fight for historic worker rights legislation, the PRO Act, major unions and the Democratic Socialists of America are joining forces like never before.
Emily Gallagher is New York’s state assembly member for the fiftieth district and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. In an interview with Jacobin, Gallagher discusses how socialists led the way on calling for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s removal from office, the current state budget fights, and how DSA electeds are crafting a new, leftist approach to governance.
The City of Chicago has now fully banned the police department from collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport undocumented immigrants. That’s because two socialist city council members, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez, pushed for years to end that collaboration.
Public defender and racial justice organizer Erika Ballou won a Las Vegas judgeship with the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America. Next month, she’ll take the bench with the aim of upending the criminal justice status quo.
Janos Marton says that the Manhattan district attorney’s office is “extremely punitive when prosecuting low-income communities of color and pretty weak when prosecuting the rich and powerful.” He says, in an interview with Jacobin, that he is running for DA to change that, aiming to reduce the number of people in jail, stop drug prosecutions, and go after bad bosses who steal workers’ wages.
The New York City Democratic Socialists of America has built an electoral powerhouse with no paid staff and just a few years of political experience. Here’s how they pulled it off.