Searchlight Institute
@searchlightinstitute.org
Home of the next realignment. We think big, embrace heterodoxy, and chart the future of public policy and action.
DIGNITY IN LOOKING FOR WORK. In a new paper, Searchlight’s Will Raderman details how — and why — lawmakers should enhance Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to FULLY COVER the cost of living for American workers. Workers deserve stability during their job search. Full stop.
FIRST IN WAPO: Searchlight's Will Raderman is out with a new report detailing how to expand Unemployment Insurance to FULLY cover the cost of living for ALL American workers. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Here’s an idea to help workers displaced by AI
An influential think tank suggests how to pay for higher unemployment benefits in an era of workforce anxiety.
washingtonpost.com
There are plenty of wins in BAAJA — the new bipartisan permitting reform deal announced by @whitehouse.senate.gov & @heinrich.senate.gov. One of those wins? NEW federal oversight over utilities and how they spend their money.
🚨 The time to pass bipartisan permitting reform is NOW. @janeaflegal.bsky.social: "If a Democratic president comes into office in 2029 and we haven't cleared the decks ... we're in real trouble. We have to get this done before 2028."
NEW MEMO: BAAJA is a good deal and Democrats should take it. Here are FOUR detailed reasons why. 1. Building a Better Grid 2. Holding Data Centers & Utilities Accountable 3. Keeping Politics Out of Permitting 4. Cutting Red Tape From @janeaflegal.bsky.social and Pavan Venkatakrishnan.
America's data center buildout is shifting dramatically toward rural census tracts. Are new federal tax benefits part of the calculus? @mollytaft.com takes a closer look in their latest column — featuring new research from our team at Searchlight.
NEW: starting jan 1, a new federal tax windfall could kick in for rural data centers around the country new research from @searchlightinst.bsky.social shows dozens of projects potentially eligible for the break — as hyperscalers battle backlash against dcs
Rural Data Centers Are in for a Big Federal Tax Break
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, data center projects in rural areas could be eligible for major tax benefits starting next year. Some hyperscalers do not seem eager to take the free cash.
wired.com
🚨 New Searchlight research, shared first with @mollytaft.com and WIRED, finds MORE THAN 100 planned data centers in rural America will be eligible for new tax benefits starting next year. www.wired.com/story/rural-...
Rural Data Centers Are in for a Big Federal Tax Break
Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, data center projects in rural areas could be eligible for major tax benefits starting next year. Some hyperscalers do not seem eager to take the free cash.
wired.com
Donald Trump’s indiscriminate and chaotic immigration agenda — and his Administration's overtly racist way of talking about it — has achieved what would've been unthinkable a year ago. Democrats now lead by a seven-point margin on immigration.
As Republicans become even more ideologically aligned with Trump's tariffs and his reckless war in Iran, Democrats are embracing ideological diversity. Heterodoxy, @adamjentleson.bsky.social writes, is why Democrats lead in 2026's toughest-to-win races. www.wordsinsearchlight.org/p/this-is-ho...
This is how you build a supermajority
It’s always been the secret third thing
wordsinsearchlight.org
SEARCHLIGHT x HEATMAP @janeaflegal.bsky.social and @emilypont.bsky.social took the stage to discuss permitting reform, grid modernization, and the future of climate tech, clean energy, and decarbonization.
Democrats are right to push for a permitting reform deal with Trump. As @janeaflegal.bsky.social and Pavan Venkatakrishnan argued in the Wall Street Journal: If Democrats are serious about climate change, a permitting reform deal today would pay dividends when they retake power.
SEARCHLIGHT x @cleantomorrow.org Thanks to everyone who joined our NYC Climate Week kick-off last night!
Democrats are running on popular economic ideas — but they start to lose people from ideological rigidity on other issues. @adamjentleson.bsky.social: "What I advocate for is loosening up. Giving people room to come into this big tent that we want to build."
Polling has become cheaper and easier to fake. @charlotteeffect.bsky.social details the danger that our warped information ecosystem could bring to 2028.
"Essentially, every single poll silently bakes in the pollster’s assumptions about who will show up on Election Day." Searchlight's @charlotteeffect.bsky.social writes in The Argument about how the line between polling and election forecasting has blurred. www.theargumentmag.com/p/polling-ha...
Polling has become a playground for grifters, liars, and frauds
I'm a pollster and this is getting ridiculous.
theargumentmag.com
Democrats are running candidates who fit the states that they're aiming to win, like in Iowa and Kansas. They've got a real shot at flipping seats in those states — which voted for Donald Trump in landslides just two years ago.
Asking Democrats running in swing races — whose election depends on winning skeptical Trump voters — to focus on climate in their messaging makes any future climate policy less possible. It’s time the climate advocacy community realized that. www.wordsinsearchlight.org/p/i-know-a-m...
I know a misleading climate poll when I see one
The climate community needs to update their theory of policy change
wordsinsearchlight.org
For years, Democrats have chosen 50+1 Thinking, conceding that races could only be won on thin margins and that power changes hands every election. But to achieve progress the level of the New Deal, they will need to think bigger. It's time for Supermajority Thinking.
We hope you've enjoyed taking and sharing our Political Neighborhoods Quiz! @charlotteeffect.bsky.social sat down to react to your results, thoughts, and questions. What neighborhood did you get?
The American electorate is heterodox — only 14% is completely conservative and 10% is completely liberal. We mapped out that heterodoxy for the New York Times. Here's what we found.
Politics is often described as "a battle between liberals and conservatives" — but most voters have much messier views than labels suggest. We call it heterodoxy. And, for the New York Times today, we mapped it out.
It's a beautiful day in the political neighborhood — all nine of them. From the Liberal Arts Left to Cul-de-Sac Conservatives, Lawn Sign Liberals to the Center Square. What kind of neighbor are you? Take the quiz! www.searchlightinstitute.org/political-ne...
What’s Your Political Neighborhood?
Answer 16 quick either/or questions about the role of government. There are no right answers, so pick whichever side you lean toward, even if only a little.
searchlightinstitute.org
All across America, there are kids as young as five years old who've racked up debt simply for wanting to eat a school meal. Let's put an end to this ridiculous cycle, Scott Moore writes. www.wordsinsearchlight.org/p/why-do-we-...
Why do we have a debtor class of five year olds?
Kids should eat free at school. It’s that simple
wordsinsearchlight.org
Gas is $5. Diesel is $6. People can't afford to buy groceries. The groceries might kill you. Voters are worried about those real issues. They are not worried about the DSA or any factional debates within the Democratic Party.
KIDS EAT ... FREE! Kids don't pay when they hop on a school bus. They shouldn't have to pay for a meal, either. We're making the case to feed kids, fund schools, and end lunch debt across America.
NEW The feds subsidized free, universal school meals during the pandemic, and it worked well @searchlightinst.bsky.social thinks we should bring back the idea, make it permanent Here's what they have in mind, based an early look they gave to @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/exclusive-...
EXCLUSIVE: The Next Big Dem Proposal: Let Kids Eat Free
School lunches were free to all kids during the pandemic; a prominent think-tank wants to bring back the idea and make it permanent.
thebulwark.com
Democrats can’t afford to wait. They should strike a bipartisan deal on permitting reform today to make it easier to build clean energy tomorrow.
🚨 @volts.wtf and @janeaflegal.bsky.social spend two hours discussing the future of clean energy and grid modernization in today's episode of Volts! www.volts.wtf/p/building-a...
Building a big, abundant, clean grid
A conversation with Jane Flegal.
volts.wtf