#i hope next congress the democrats make a bunch of new laws to reform the judiciary

[charlesoberonn]

Trump is allowed to steal nuclear secrets, according to a judge he himself appointing.

(don't worry too much tho, the government is 100% going to appeal the decision, the case isn't dead yet)

[blockheadbrands]

Here’s How Texas Could Finally Legalize Cannabis

Aaron Colen of Leafly Reports:

With more conservative states such as Oklahoma, Arkansas, Utah, and North Dakota taking steps to legalize cannabis, Texas feels increasingly like an outlier. Though some lawmakers have been showing signs that they’re ready to move forward on the issue, the state faces unique challenges that could continue to hold it back.

Unlike most other legal states, Texas doesn’t allow citizen initiatives, meaning lawmakers must make the first move. And while the state Legislature passed an extremely restrictive medical marijuana law in 2015 to allow for the use of low-THC cannabis by a small population of patients, legalization advocates three years later are still struggling to build momentum.

“We’re still going to have a group of senators that are going to hold out because they’re afraid they will appear soft on crime,” said David Sloane, a criminal defense attorney whose firm specializes in marijuana cases. “They haven’t taken the time or had the courage to say that what we’ve been calling a crime for the last 40 years really isn’t.”

Where Does Texas Stand Today?

Texas technically opened its doors (albeit narrowly) to legal cannabis in 2015, when Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 339, the Compassionate Use Act. The act allows physicians who treat epilepsy to recommend low-THC, high-CBD cannabis to patients who have been diagnosed with intractable epilepsy.

The law includes some very strict restrictions about the type of cannabis that can be recommended, whom it can be recommended to, and who is allowed to recommend it under what set of circumstances.

“The reality is that it was a tectonic shift in a very conservative state like Texas.”Morris Denton, CEO, Compassionate Cultivation

First, the state defines low-THC cannabis as having less than 0.5% THC by weight and at least 10% CBD. Patients aren’t allowed to grow their own cannabis, and smokable forms of the plant remain illegal.

To qualify, a person has to be diagnosed with intractable epilepsy and then get two specialists to concur that, considering the patient’s other options for treatment, any risks associated with medical cannabis are reasonable.

This can create challenges for patients who live in rural areas of the state, where there may not be even one specialist available, let alone the necessary two.

“When you look at a state the size of Texas, with 28 million people, and you look at the number of people in the state who have intractable epilepsy, you end up [with] somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 people, and yet there are only 42 doctors registered on the Compassionate Use Registry,” said Morris Denton, CEO of Compassionate Cultivation, one of the first dispensaries licensed in Texas. “The state is going to have to loosen the reins on how doctors can get involved and how they can prescribe this medicine.”

Once patients have been approved, they can obtain the medicine—available only in the form of cannabis oil—from one of three dispensaries in the state that have been granted licenses: Compassionate Cultivation, near Austin; Cansortium Texas, which does business in Schulenburg as Knox Medical; and Surterra Texas, also located in Austin.

Surterra, which received its license months after the other two dispensaries, has had issues with its location and is not yet serving patients in Texas as it grows its first crop.

The Texas Department of Public Safety explained on its website why only three dispensaries—the minimum number under the Compassionate Use Act—were approved: “This was based on an analysis of other states’ compassionate–use programs, the number of patients in Texas with intractable epilepsy, and statutory requirements. … A decision to increase the number will be made if and when it is determined that more licenses are required in order to ensure reasonable statewide access.”

Despite the Compassionate Use Act’s severe restrictions, Denton takes an optimistic view of the law: It’s something.

“The positive about it is it’s a beginning. It’s a starting point,” he said. “All states, in their path to wherever they end up from a legalization standpoint, have to start somewhere. They have to put a stake in the ground.

“Even though there are a lot of people who would choose to be critical of that legislation because it was restrictive or onerous or too narrow,” Denton continued, “the reality is that it was a tectonic shift in a very conservative state like Texas.”

Is the Legislature Evolving?

Texas’s tradition of political and cultural conservatism continues to prevent many politicians from taking a public stand in favor of legalization. Though there’s growing support for legalization among conservative voters, elected officials remain fearful that speaking out could jeopardize their jobs.

But according to Sloane, the defense attorney, recent progress in the Legislature could signal positive changes to come.

“We do have some growing support in the Texas Legislature,” he said. “The last legislative session [2017], we had legalization and decriminalization bills. [Rep. Joe Moody] only had like one or two co-authors four years ago (for a decriminalization bill). Last year, he had 41 co-authors. And it was bipartisan.”

Sloane is referring to House Bill 81, which would have reduced punishment for possession of one ounce of cannabis or less, removing criminal penalties and replacing them with a civil fine.

“Texans know the time has come to use our limited law enforcement resources in the most effective way possible by being smarter on marijuana policy,” Moody said during the 2017 legislative session, according to the Dallas Observer.

The bill died in committee after the Texas Freedom Caucus stalled it and dozens of other bills, causing the cannabis reform measure to miss a key deadline to reach the House floor.

Despite the snag, the 2017 legislative session showed signs of hope. The state Republican Party even added reform-minded planks to the party’s platform—a step that previously only state Democrats had taken.

In July, the Texas Tribune wrote:

Texas Democrats in favor of legalizing marijuana for non-medical purposes is nothing new. But what’s come as a shock to politicos is a push for more lax marijuana laws from Republicans, who dominate all levels of state government and haven’t typically been vocal supporters of the issue. At this year’s convention, the party approved five new marijuana-related planks to its platform, including one in support of decriminalizing small amounts for personal use and another asking Congress to re-categorize cannabis as a Schedule 2 substance, rather than Schedule 1, which includes drugs like LSD and heroin.

Direct Democracy

If lawmakers fail to make forward progress on legalization, efforts may shift toward putting the power into the people’s hands.

Texas doesn’t allow citizen initiatives on the ballot. That means nothing becomes law without the Legislature taking the first steps. And despite poll numbers that show increasing support for legalization among liberal and conservative voters alike, politicians have still been shy to act on more substantial reforms.

What’s the solution? One might be amending the state constitution to allow for citizen initiatives. It’s a tall order, but possibly a worthwhile one. A June 2018 poll by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune showed that a majority of registered Texas voters think marijuana should be legal.

“A good portion of the states that have reformed their marijuana laws on a much faster pace than ours have done so, because they have referendums,” Sloane said. “The public can grow impatient with legislators that lack the courage or the intelligence or the drive and are lagging behind what the people want. They have the ability to snatch it away from [the public] like an errant child.”

Amending the Texas constitution, however, would also require action by the Legislature. The state House and Senate would have to adopt a joint resolution by a two-thirds majority vote. In essence, state legislators would need to vote in favor of taking power out of their own hands and giving it to the voting public. The amendment would then need to be passed by a majority of state voters.

What’s Next for Texas?

Without the clear path to legalization that a citizen initiative provides, advocates for reform are aiming to make progress on various fronts, all in an effort to advance the same goal.

Grassroots advocacy groups, for example, have worked to mobilize voters and sway lawmakers.

“The first pancake is never the best pancake. It’s always the third or fourth one. So creating a program in Texas requires time and requires tuning.Morris Denton, Compassionate Cultivation

“The efforts have been huge,” Sloane said, pointing to work by the Dallas–Fort Worth chapter of NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project, and “a bunch of other start-up groups.”

“Hell, we’ve even got open-carry people advocating for legalization,” noting that Second Amendment advocates have taken issue with federal firearm rules that bar cannabis consumers from owning guns.

“I saw a young man go to federal prison for two years and ultimately hung himself because he checked ‘no’ on a box when he bought a gun that he wasn’t a user of marijuana,” Slone said, “and the records said different.”

Also moving the ball forward are state lawmakers who are willing to push past convention and respond to changing voter attitudes about cannabis, as Rep. Joe Moody has done in his efforts to pass decriminalization and legalization bills.

And finally, the state’s Compassionate Use Act has much room for improvement. Even absent a broader legalization bill, lawmakers could build on the foundation laid back in 2015.

“I think that there’s a fair amount of cleanup that needs to happen within the existing legislation,” Denton of Compassionate Cultivation said. “It was written from the perspective of creating a program that was a starting point and seeing how it goes. Now that we’ve got a program that’s in existence, that has some real-world experience and feedback, some adjustments need to be made.

“It’s kind of like that first pancake in the morning,” Denton continued. “The first pancake is never the best pancake. It’s always the third or fourth one. So creating a program in Texas requires time and requires tuning. I think the state is ready, willing, and able to listen to the feedback.”

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON LEAFLY, CLICK HERE.

https://www.leafly.com/news/politics/heres-how-texas-could-finally-legalize-cannabis

[elizabethcariasa]

November tax moves to make you, not the IRS, thankful

My mind boggles at the number of Thanksgiving pumpkin pies that can be made from this collection! It's just a small part of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden's 2017 pumpkin patch. (Photo by Kay Bell)

Hello, November. You're a welcome month, as you bring us cooler weather, Thanksgiving goodies (yay pumpkin pies!) and some time to make year-end tax moves.

In fact, we get even more time, an extra hour this month thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time and rolling back our clocks 60 minutes on Nov. 5. It's not a lot of time, but every minute counts when it comes to taxes.

Working around tax reform: That's especially true this year with tax reform looming. And yes, I chose that ominous-sounding word intentionally.

Most of us agree that a simpler, more accessible tax code would be better. Most of us also would love to pay fewer and less taxes. And those are the ostensible goals of the Republican tax-writers.

I am concerned, however, with the GOP's decision to keep Democrats out of the process. Every person of every political persuasion has to deal with the Internal Revenue Service at some point.

The speed at which they plan to rewrite the tax code also is worrisome. I'm seeing lots of unintended, and likely bad, tax consequences coming out of this debacle debate.

That said, we're here now. So let's focus on what the current Internal Revenue Code says, how we can make its provisions work for us and our 2017 taxes and hope Congress doesn't screw up our tax planning.

I know, that's a huge hope! But let's forge ahead with some November Tax Moves.

Take care of your health and health care: It's open season again for Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, enrollment. Yes, it's still the law and the IRS says until it's repealed and replaced, it will enforce the minimum essential coverage reporting rule.

Without coverage for the full year, you'll owe a tax penalty. The advance premium tax credit, however, could help you pay your policy's cost.

If you get your health insurance at work, you're fine. You also might be able to take advantage of a medical flexible spending account, or FSA. If you do, you need to start looking now at how to spend down that tax-favored account.

Yes, some bosses allow FSA owners to roll over up to $500 into next year's account. Other offer a grace period until March 15 of the next year for the prior year's FSA money to be spent. But just in case you must use or lose your FSA money by Dec. 31, plan your medical treatments now so you don't face end-of-year panic spending.

And if you're planning to deduct medical expenses on your Schedule A, remember that the threshold is now 10 percent of adjusted gross income for everyone, regardless of age.

In that case, look at deductible medical expenses and treatments you can take care of in these last two months of the year so you can claim them on your 2017 taxes.

Decide about deductions: Speaking of deductions, now is a good time to look at whether you want to itemize or claim the standard deduction.

Your decision could change, of course, depending on Congressional tax reform. Still, it's always a good idea to look at your options early.

Most people take the standard route, especially since those deduction amounts typically are bumped up a bit each year thanks to inflation. But if you think you'll itemize, consider bunching your expenses now.

Bunching is a tax planning strategy that lets you shift deductible expense into the tax year where they'll be more valuable. Moves range from scheduling aforementioned medical treatments to simply renewing a work-related subscription or membership if those costs will be worth more in 2017.

If, however, you find they won't do you any tax good — and the medical procedure isn't time critical — you can push them into the coming 2018 tax year. It's much easier to make these choices now, and start collecting the receipts, with 60 days left than to scramble at the end of the tax year.

Assess your assets: It's always wise to look over your portfolio periodically. The end of the year is an obvious reassessment period.

But getting a head start can be wise. With Thanksgiving on the way and Christmas and other December holidays on Turkey Day's tailfeathers, you don't want to be rushed as you analyze which assets to keep and which to dump.

If you decide to cash in some strong performing stocks, that could help reset your basis if you decide to buy back new shares in that company.

You will, however, owe capital gains tax, so remember to also look at selling some losers. Those less-than-stellar investments can offset your gains and the taxes you would owe. And if you have more losses than gains, you can use up to $3,000 to claim again your ordinary income.

You also might want to look at donating appreciated stock to your favorite charity rather than selling it. You'll get the charitable tax deduction without having to pay tax on the gains and the charity gets a nice gift.

More moves to make: These are just a few suggested tax actions to take this month. You can find more in today's #TaxBuzzChat where several of my tax-oriented Twitter pals and I discussed actions to take now and by Dec. 31.

You also will find more November Tax Moves in the ol' blog's right column, under the bright red heading of the same name, just below the countdown clock ticking off the time left here in tax year 2017.

Check them out and take advantage of those the ones that fit your financial and tax situations. That way you'll have a few more things to be thankful for on Nov. 23.

Ads by Amazon

[christophergill8]

November tax moves to make you, not the IRS, thankful

My mind boggles at the number of Thanksgiving pumpkin pies that can be made from this collection! It's just a small part of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden's 2017 pumpkin patch. (Photo by Kay Bell)

Hello, November. You're a welcome month, as you bring us cooler weather, Thanksgiving goodies (yay pumpkin pies!) and some time to make year-end tax moves.

In fact, we get even more time, an extra hour this month thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time and rolling back our clocks 60 minutes on Nov. 5. It's not a lot of time, but every minute counts when it comes to taxes.

Working around tax reform: That's especially true this year with tax reform looming. And yes, I chose that ominous-sounding word intentionally.

Most of us agree that a simpler, more accessible tax code would be better. Most of us also would love to pay fewer and less taxes. And those are the ostensible goals of the Republican tax-writers.

I am concerned, however, with the GOP's decision to keep Democrats out of the process. Every person of every political persuasion has to deal with the Internal Revenue Service at some point.

The speed at which they plan to rewrite the tax code also is worrisome. I'm seeing lots of unintended, and likely bad, tax consequences coming out of this debacle debate.

That said, we're here now. So let's focus on what the current Internal Revenue Code says, how we can make its provisions work for us and our 2017 taxes and hope Congress doesn't screw up our tax planning.

I know, that's a huge hope! But let's forge ahead with some November Tax Moves.

Take care of your health and health care: It's open season again for Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, enrollment. Yes, it's still the law and the IRS says until it's repealed and replaced, it will enforce the minimum essential coverage reporting rule.

Without coverage for the full year, you'll owe a tax penalty. The advance premium tax credit, however, could help you pay your policy's cost.

If you get your health insurance at work, you're fine. You also might be able to take advantage of a medical flexible spending account, or FSA. If you do, you need to start looking now at how to spend down that tax-favored account.

Yes, some bosses allow FSA owners to roll over up to $500 into next year's account. Other offer a grace period until March 15 of the next year for the prior year's FSA money to be spent. But just in case you must use or lose your FSA money by Dec. 31, plan your medical treatments now so you don't face end-of-year panic spending.

And if you're planning to deduct medical expenses on your Schedule A, remember that the threshold is now 10 percent of adjusted gross income for everyone, regardless of age.

In that case, look at deductible medical expenses and treatments you can take care of in these last two months of the year so you can claim them on your 2017 taxes.

Decide about deductions: Speaking of deductions, now is a good time to look at whether you want to itemize or claim the standard deduction.

Your decision could change, of course, depending on Congressional tax reform. Still, it's always a good idea to look at your options early.

Most people take the standard route, especially since those deduction amounts typically are bumped up a bit each year thanks to inflation. But if you think you'll itemize, consider bunching your expenses now.

Bunching is a tax planning strategy that lets you shift deductible expense into the tax year where they'll be more valuable. Moves range from scheduling aforementioned medical treatments to simply renewing a work-related subscription or membership if those costs will be worth more in 2017.

If, however, you find they won't do you any tax good — and the medical procedure isn't time critical — you can push them into the coming 2018 tax year. It's much easier to make these choices now, and start collecting the receipts, with 60 days left than to scramble at the end of the tax year.

Assess your assets: It's always wise to look over your portfolio periodically. The end of the year is an obvious reassessment period.

But getting a head start can be wise. With Thanksgiving on the way and Christmas and other December holidays on Turkey Day's tailfeathers, you don't want to be rushed as you analyze which assets to keep and which to dump.

If you decide to cash in some strong performing stocks, that could help reset your basis if you decide to buy back new shares in that company.

You will, however, owe capital gains tax, so remember to also look at selling some losers. Those less-than-stellar investments can offset your gains and the taxes you would owe. And if you have more losses than gains, you can use up to $3,000 to claim again your ordinary income.

You also might want to look at donating appreciated stock to your favorite charity rather than selling it. You'll get the charitable tax deduction without having to pay tax on the gains and the charity gets a nice gift.

More moves to make: These are just a few suggested tax actions to take this month. You can find more in today's #TaxBuzzChat where several of my tax-oriented Twitter pals and I discussed actions to take now and by Dec. 31.

You also will find more November Tax Moves in the ol' blog's right column, under the bright red heading of the same name, just below the countdown clock ticking off the time left here in tax year 2017.

Check them out and take advantage of those the ones that fit your financial and tax situations. That way you'll have a few more things to be thankful for on Nov. 23.

Ads by Amazon

  from Tax News By Christopher http://www.dontmesswithtaxes.com/2017/11/november-tax-moves-to-make-you-not-the-irs-thankful.html

[takebackthedream]

The Stunning Disappearance of Candidate Trump by Robert Borosage

Donald Trump’s totemic first 100 days in office have been greeted with brutal reviews. Ironically, the most positive comments involve the neck-snapping series of flip-flops Trump has sprung on signature populist issues. The chattering classes have greeted these with deep sighs of relief.

In their view, the “axis of adults,” as neo-conservative Max Boot puts it, has taken control. The marauding Rasputin, Steve Bannon, has been rebuked. The “corrupt political establishment” that Trump railed against has taken hold.

Rather than relief, this should worry anyone concerned about the future of the country. And Trump’s casual shedding of his agenda makes a fundamental reassessment among Democrats all the more imperative.

Let’s quickly review the promises Trump abandoned. In the campaign, his America First posture declared NATO “obsolete,” but now he salutes it as a “great alliance.” He railed against the $6 trillion wasted on endless conflicts in the Middle East and promised to end our dalliance with regime change. Now he’s doubled down on wars from Afghanistan to Somalia, and his Secretary of State declared that the United States will be dedicated to “holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world.” He was going to stay out of Syria, now his Defense Secretary boasts (falsely) that his cruise missile attack took out 20 percent of its air force.

Trump promised to join with Russia to take on ISIS and praised Vladimir Putin; now Trump and relations have reached to a new nadir. He was going to label China a currency manipulator, but now he isn’t. Trump promised to rip up NAFTA, but recently his Commerce Secretary suggests that the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal that Trump scorned might provide a model for changing it.

Domestic populist pledges are also on the cutting room floor. Trump vowed to defend Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; now he embraces the Ryan health care plan that would have gutted Medicaid. He boasted he would cover everyone with cheaper and better health insurance. The Trump-backed GOP replacement plan would instead have deprived an estimated 24 million of insurance. The rich wouldn’t benefit from his tax cut plan, he promised, now they will clean up. He was “ashamed” of Fed Chair Janet Yellin, now he’s open to reappointing her. Mexico would pay for the wall, now it won’t. He’s going to “clean the swamp,” but he’s assembling the most corrupted and conflicted administration since Grant. He mocked both Bush brothers. Now he’s not only hiring former Bush aides, but he’s even embraced Jeb Bush’s signature destructive assault on public schools.

I could go on. But among the punditry, this retreat has been widely applauded. On “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” ABC political director Rick Klein commented “If you look at the way that he has been moving, despite all of the talk about broken campaign promises, he’s actually moving closer to the mainstream of the Republican Party. Maybe even the broader, bipartisan mainstream about America’s role in the world. That heartens a whole bunch of Capitol Hill Republicans.”

Doyle McManus, the excellent political reporter from the LA Times, suggested that Trump abandoned his populist promises because he was mugged by reality:

“Two weeks of head-spinning policy reversals have put Trump squarely inside the chalk lines of conventional Republican conservatism on both economics and foreign affairs.

His impulsive management style and his fact-challenged rhetoric are still intact. But most of his policy positions are now remarkably similar to those espoused by the GOP’s last establishment nominee, Mitt Romney, in 2012.”

This gelding of Donald Trump has occurred with remarkable rapidity. Trump can and will do immense damage to everything from climate policy to deportations, but his populist posturing turns out to be toothless.

The sighs of relief, however, are misplaced. Trump had it basically right when he said in his inaugural address that:

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished — but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered — but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

President Obama’s administration surely represented the best of this establishment, with major reforms drawn, as his hagiographer Jonathan Chait puts it, from a store of Republican ideas. Obama ran a remarkably clean administration, saved the economy from free fall, and called attention to the challenges of climate change and inequality.

But the endless wars without victory or purpose continued. Income inequality worsened. Catastrophic climate change outstripped the reforms. The banks were bailed out and homeowners left to sink. The middle class struggled to stay afloat, and the working class fell further behind. The impoverishment and isolation of our ghettos and barrios worsened. Austerity blocked any effort to rebuild the country. Our politics grew more corrupted by big and increasingly secret money. The best of mainstream politics offers little hope for most of America.

Trump’s rapid surrender exposes what we all knew to be true: that his populism was a posture, not a policy. He has no interest in or capacity for taking on the establishment to forge fundamental change.

That is why the debate inside and outside the Democratic Party about an alternative course is so vital. Assuming America can survive four years of Trump, Americans will still be looking for a way out.

The threats posed by the Trump and the march of Republican reaction across the states make this debate difficult. Progressive activists want Democrats to unify to resist Trump. The assaults on basic decency demand mobilized resistance. The attempts to roll back all of the progress of the past years force progressives to defend what has been achieved rather than push boldly for what should come next.

Bottom of Form

And of course, the Democratic political establishment is happy to use the call for resistance to decry any inter-party debate as divisive. Senator Bernie Sanders has joined with DNC Chair Tom Perez to stump across the country to rouse progressives against Trump. But when Sanders argues that the Democratic Party must make a “fundamental reassessment,” when he says it has been losing elections because it hasn’t put forth a bold agenda for change, he triggers a social media storm that he’s destroying the party, dividing it, and isn’t even a Democrat anyway.

Democrats have suffered crushing electoral losses from the White House to the Congress to statehouses and legislatures. Democrats have been clear about what they oppose, but they should also be using this time in the wilderness to debate what they are for.

The fight between the Wall Street wing of the Party and the Sanders wing is, and should be, a big deal. There are fundamental choices at stake.

Do Democrats continue to see the United States as the “indispensable nation,” enforcing our values by policing the world? Or do they warn against crossing the world for “in search of monsters to destroy,” and support spreading our values by example, and by building international law and institutions.  Sadly, as was demonstrated when Trump decided to drop 59 cruise missiles on Syria, there is more debate inside the Republican Party than the Democratic Party on military intervention.

Will Democrats continue to champion a corporate-defined globalization policy? Or will they elaborate a new course, combining balanced trade with industrial policy, while curbing piratical corporate behavior? The labor-led broad coalition that torpedoed the Trans-Pacific Partnership before Trump was even elected has set the stage for this reappraisal.

Will Democrats continue to remain defensive about government and wedded to modest reforms? Or will they embrace the modern equivalent of Roosevelt’s Economic Bill of Rights — including the right to a job, a living wage, health care, public education from pre-K through college, and retirement security?  The Sanders campaign that featured the call for Medicare for All, tuition-free college, for a $15 minimum wage were the beginnings of this crucial debate.

Are Democrats for sustaining our neo-liberal economic policies or for structural change in our economy: curbing Wall Street, breaking up the big banks, enforcing anti-trust policy, empowering workers and their unions, fostering cooperatives and worker controlled companies?

Will Democrats continue to embrace the corrupted big money politics that they universally decry, or will they not only talk reform but walk it, building a small donor, volunteer, activist party that can challenge big money politics?

This debate can’t be suppressed. Academics and policy mavens should use these years in opposition to generate new and bolder ideas. Political leaders should be defining agenda and message. What the party stands for should be at the center of the DNC’s efforts to redefine itself.

And this will occur only if the impassioned citizen movements roused to resist Trump and Republican assaults demand a bolder agenda from the politicians that seek to represent them. This isn’t an easy path to navigate. Next week in Washington, People’s Action – which I am associated with – will bring together over 1,000 activists from states across the country in its “Rise Up” Convention. Even as they ramp up for the coming battles against Trump, they will discuss principles of a bold people’s agenda and how elements of it can be moved at the state and local level. Similar gatherings and initiatives are vital if this debate is to go forward.

In less than 100 days, the political establishment has tempered Donald Trump. He clearly has neither the energy or the capacity to forge a new populist position and coalition to change our course. But the county still desperately needs reconstruction, and more and more Americans are looking for change. Progressives should use these years to define and drive a vision and agenda to meet that demand.

Cross-posted from The Nation