“A government of the people, by the people. A beautifully American ideal, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history. As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything. However, regardless of our political affiliations we believe the very foundation of our electoral process…
Since states around the country began offering early voting in mid-September, inspiring images of citizens lining up to exercise their franchise have become commonplace. In some cities, they’re showing up well before dawn to claim their place in line. In others, they endure rainstorms or turn the wait in line into an outdoor dance party. The electorate’s enthusiasm extends to mail-in…
As we head into the home stretch of the most consequential election of our lifetimes, it has never been more critical to ensure that every American voter has the ability to exercise this most fundamental democratic right of voting, and that we maintain our commitment to free and fair elections in which every vote is counted.…
So often people talk about the Democratic Party as the party of pluralist, pie-in-the-sky idealism and the Republican Party as the party of practical, results-driven business. At last night’s Democratic National Convention, though, one of the world’s most successful, results-driven business leaders, Michael Bloomberg, made some key points. Bloomberg, of course, is not just a great…
When, How and Why CEOs Should Speak Out
Since taking office in 2017, Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he’s on the verge of replacing the extremely popular Affordable Care Act with “something so much better.” Usually, he claims the timetable for unveiling his healthcare plan is “about two weeks.” Last month Trump was at it again. “We’re signing a health-care plan within two weeks, a full and complete…
“I built the greatest economy in the World, the best the U.S. has ever had,” Donald Trump tweeted in June. “I am doing it again!” Obviously, the first part of that tweet is a towering Trump lie. Trump inherited a great economy from his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and for a while, he…
From the moment Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign in June 2015, I’ve been a Never Trumper. That was because he’d spent zero minutes of his life as a public servant — and virtually every minute of his life engaged in narcissistic self-promotion. He started out slapping his name onto skyscrapers and casinos, and then less grandly,…
In one important measure of democracy, America is unfortunately not first. Or even 20th. In fact, according to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, the United States ranks near the bottom for voter turnout among its peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, just 26th out of 32 countries. In the top…
During the 2016 presidential campaign, a truism emerged that the best way to understand Donald Trump is to take him seriously, not literally. This has always struck me as nonsense, for two reasons. First, it creates an artificial divide where there is in fact a natural unity: Taking someone literally is an obvious early step in…
Collusion. Corruption. Covfefe. In 2017, it was easy to get distracted — and distraught — by President Trump’s Category 5 tweetstorms and the news cycles they drove. And thanks to the connectedness we now experience through social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, we often feel every newsworthy event with both apocalyptic urgency and a sense of fatigue that can paralyze us…
As technology entrepreneur and former State Department senior advisor Alec Ross suggests in his New York Times best-seller, The Industries of the Future, prosperity goes to societies “that don’t just double down on the past but that can adapt and direct their citizens toward industries that are growing.” As an entrepreneur and investor, I’ve always focused on the future,…
Each time someone buys Trumped Up Cards until Inauguration Day, I’m donating $10 to the ACLU When we started selling Trumped Up Cards to the public in September, we noted that we’d be giving all profits to charities already working to make America great. Our first area of focus will be on organizations that protect civil liberties. As…
WE MUST VOTE YES on PROP 62. In California, all executions take place in San Quentin prison. In 2010, the administrators there built a new “lethal injection room” for this purpose that has yet to be used. The medical exam table in the center of the room is outfitted with tranquil mint-green cushions and a set…