{Spoiler Alert: This is a personal, partisan, pro-democracy letter. After reading, please file this away in your Now or Never folder.}
Memorial Day has just passed, and we are reminded that freedom is not free and cannot be taken for granted. What we’ve fought for in the past is under attack today, from within. We have two Republican presidential candidates, and their enabling politicians and base, who couldn’t care less about democracy, human rights, or social justice.
As I’ve become more and more aware that everything on the progressive agenda depends on political power, my foundation’s voter engagement program has become its largest. But our grantmaking took a pause as I was faced with a rare affliction among us plutocrats: funder block, the realization that one isn’t able to make rational choices among competing claims for funding (of course, we don’t have to be rational because we aren’t accountable).
I recently attended the semi-annual convening of the Democracy Alliance (DA), a group of progressive high-end donors and foundations, in the hopes of finding the cure. (The gathering was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, suggesting we might humbly call ourselves the “charlatans in Charlotte”). The agenda was to focus on what progressive organizations were working on in the South, a region that is grossly underfunded by northeast and west coast monied progressives. My agenda was to seek guidance in resolving the issues causing my decision-making anxiety, including which strategies and community organizations would be most effective in advancing democracy.
The DA’s official program puts forward 60+ organizations doing good work, yet comes up short on strategic thinking. However, on the second evening, over cocktails on the resort’s fake grass lawn, lightning (metaphorically) struck. I was provocatively asking funders–and activists–what they thought “winning” meant, which forced me to answer my own question. It isn’t just about winning a Senate seat or even the Presidency. If we are to save democracy, and enact policies that a significant majority of citizens want, we must not only win the political trifecta, but do so with a majority of electeds who are committed to ending the filibuster in some form on Day 1, fix the Supreme Court on Day 2, and pass H.R. 1 (the democracy act) on Day 3. Once implemented, we’ll have the key structural reforms to create a just society. As I heard my own words, I felt the excitement of moving from Funder Block to Thunderbolt!
Sure, I was still faced with difficult funder choices, but I had a goal to work towards, albeit a quixotic one. And I could see how the people gathered in Charlotte could and should, in their respective roles, align in a Thunderbolt plan that has the following timetable and results:
Between now and Labor Day: Funders make the Crisis Charitable Commitment — Money has had a lot to do with getting us into the crisis we’re in, and it can help get us out of it. There are thousands of nonprofit organizations that will be doing the hard work on various aspects of Thunderbolt, e.g., voter engagement and issue development, who are right now budgeting and assessing their capacity for the next 18 months. Chronically underfunded, especially in “off” years, it is critically important that these nonprofits get more and early money. Funders: Don’t hoard. Give big and now.
Labor Day to Election Day (November 5, 2024): The People elect a Trifecta — Grassroots and grasstops organizations pull out all the stops to not only win a trifecta (President, Senate and House), but have gotten candidates on record supporting Congress’ first three acts of filibuster, Supreme Court and voting reforms.
Inauguration Day (January 20, 2025): The President Channels MLK — You can’t make this stuff up: Inauguration Day is Martin Luther King Jr. Day! The President reaffirms that the arc of the moral universe, while long, will once again bend toward justice.
January 21, 2025: The Senate ends the filibuster — For all intents and purposes, the Senate has been gerrymandered to benefit Republicans for nearly thirty years. A Daily Kos chart shows that even today, with a 50-50 split, Republican Senators represent only 43.5% of the population compared to the Democrats 56.5%. Senate rules, requiring 60 votes (the filibuster) on most legislation, exacerbates the lopsided nature of representation, making it nearly impossible for a slim majority of Senators, and a large majority of the population, to pass meaningful legislation. A simple majority vote can make the Senate more representative.
January 22, 2025: Congress passes the Supreme Court 21st Century Act ( “11-22” ) — Expansion of the Court and term limits have become essential pro-democracy reforms. There have been 16 presidential terms since President Kennedy, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, yet fifteen justices have been Republican appointees versus nine Democratic appointees! “11-22” would, simply by a vote of Congress, add two more justices, going from nine to eleven, and subject all Justices to 22-year term limits (and ethics rules). In this way, every President would get to select two justices, creating a court that would then be more reflective of both the electorate and the times.
January 23, 2025: Congress passes the For the People Act (H.R.1) — H.R.1 is a precondition for democracy in America, as it addresses issues of voting rights, campaign finance reform, election security, and more. This bill was passed in the House of Representatives in 2019 and 2021, but it stalled in the filibustered Senate. No more.
What does all this add up to? Think Minnesota, where the trifecta resulted in laws protecting women’s rights, voting rights, gun safety, expanded public childcare, green energy and more. This is what’s possible. Nationally it can’t be done with the current Supreme Court, the Senate filibuster and denial of voting rights standing in the way. To do it nationally, we need Thunderbolt.
My monthly letters have shied away from the where-to-give (although we have a bias of promoting investments in democracy and racial justice) and focused on how much more the ultra-rich and rich foundations should be giving. But clearly the “need” and “how much” are connected. Thunderbolt, which is just the code name for “winning” for justice and democracy by supporting the amalgam of nonprofit organizations directly or indirectly working toward that goal, is the most compelling reason I have for funders to step up to the plate. I’ll repeat what I wrote above: Money has had a lot to do with getting us into the mess we’re in and can help get us out of it. As Elvis would say, it’s now or never. This is the rainy day.