Thread by @rooseveltinst

For nearly a decade, the Roosevelt Institute has called on policymakers to rewrite the rules of our economy—to make it fairer, more inclusive, and more productive.

The #AmericanJobsAct is a major step toward doing that. bit.ly/3mdAsiQ

For generations, policymakers used the power of the state to redistribute income upward and remove economic decisions from the democratic process.

This market-oriented approach failed to generate sustainable livelihoods for most Americans, especially for communities of color and those globalization abandoned. bit.ly/3ugr2WC

This $2.3 trillion package starts to move in a new direction, using the power of the government to tackle the intertwined crises this pandemic has amplified: climate, care, supply chains, and racial and economic inequality. bit.ly/2PhrViN

While the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allocated $357 billion in new spending (about $442 billion in current dollars), the 2021 #AmericanJobsPlan allocates significantly more than that for *each* crisis.

Instead of relying on markets, the #AmericanJobsAct invests $971 billion in greening our transportation, homes, water, and power systems.

Instead of leaving the quality of care jobs to markets, reinforcing and exacerbating years of racism and sexism, it invests $637 billion in care, education, and training, and uses the power of government to raise wages and give home workers an opportunity to collectively bargain.

Instead of trusting multinational companies to keep in mind resilience, redundancy, and national security, it invests $654 billion in manufacturing capabilities and repeals incentives for offshoring jobs.

And the climate, care, and supply chain plans reinforce one another and make racial inclusion and support for unions a core, nonnegotiable principle, including through the #PROAct.

The #AmericanJobsPlan—if enacted—represents a first step to rewriting the rules. But we cannot stop there.

The #ClimateCrisis demands investments many times over this $2.3 trillion package. bit.ly/3gZ3rUZ

(See here for a side-by-side between what was announced yesterday and what the THRIVE Agenda proposes: over 10 years, an investment of $10T in climate, a figure closer to the 3–5% of GDP required to completely decarbonize the US economy.)

https://twitter.com/Ben_Beachy/status/1377322111392436232

We must raise the #MinimumWage to $15. bit.ly/3a83nPw

And we must deepen and secure our democracy, including by raising taxes even further on the wealthy and curbing the corrosive effects of inequality. bit.ly/3aT1O8E

Given the urgency of these challenges, now is not the time to worry about the deficit or spending too much. The far greater risk is doing too little. bit.ly/3oS3OmR

This is a big plan, and we at the Roosevelt Institute will—like the rest of the nation—be spending the days and weeks ahead digging into the details and assessing what it means for the broader progressive agenda.

Stay tuned!