Why We Urgently Need a Progressive Policy Infrastructure - By Rob Kall

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This author seems to believe that the 80-plus years of Leftist political domination didn't happen, that the wrecking ball of leftist policies is non-existent, and that the installation of Leftist politics at every level of government isn't actually there. The leftist control of the news media, Hollywood, public education, and corporations is near total, but not according to the author.

He thinks that the Left lacks the infrastructure to compete with the Right.

Astonishing.

The unstated truth is, the Left thought it had a lock on the power structure, but the walls of the Leftist citadel have been cracking. Conservative ideas have been seeping in, and there became more and more avenues to obtain a right-leaning perspective. Regular America has always been in varying degrees politically Right, despite American institutions tracking Leftward. 

Within the last 40 or so years prominent conservative voices began arising, like Rush Limbaugh, who articulated the things mainstream America knew in their bones to be true but never heard from the media voices. When leftist agitprop is all people see and hear, the conservative message is like a breath of fresh air.

The Leftist citadel had never been challenged before, so they didn't know what to do. But being authoritarians, dissent cannot be permitted. So rather than develop rhetorical skills or logical arguments, they simply turned to personal attacks, deplatforming, and censorship, strategies which continue to be utilized with impunity by the Left even today.

So the author wants a leftist infrastructure built to compete with the Right. He appears to have forgotten that the Left has made many abortive attempts to compete with the conservative media. Air America, Thom Hartmann, Mike Malloy, Randi Rhoads, Al Franken... None of them has gained any traction in terms of popular appeal. 

No one wants to listen to the Leftist message. 

True to form, Leftists attribute their failures to packaging, presentation, or any other reason besides the message itself. They don't understand (or refuse to admit) that their message, unless camouflaged in euphemisms and feel-good language, is just not popular. People don't like the Leftist worldview. Period.

We hope the author gets his wish, and we will witness the inevitable demise of this latest leftist enterprise, accompanied with the excuse-making as to why it failed that will inevitably follow.

It should be entertaining.

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In 1971, corporate attorney Lewis Powell wrote a memo for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that laid out a blueprint for building long-term political and ideological dominance by the right. Over the next 50 years, this blueprint evolved into a powerful, well-funded conservative infrastructure that has shaped media, courts, academia, public policy, and elections. Its latest manifestation-- Project 2025-- represents an alarming escalation: openly proposing martial law, the suspension of the Constitution, and the violent repression of dissent.

The progressive movement has no equivalent infrastructure. While there are excellent think tanks, advocacy groups, and grassroots organizations, they are fragmented, under-resourced, and often short-term in their focus. Meanwhile, right-wing forces work with billion-dollar budgets and multi-decade strategies. The left is effectively fighting with bows and arrows while the right uses nuclear drones.

Over two decades ago, I called for the creation of a Progressive Policy Development and Promotion Infrastructure and Ecosystem (PDPIE)-- a long-term, collaborative effort to counter the Powell strategy.

When I wrote about this need 20 and 21 years ago (here, here, Chaunce?? ? ? €™s Garden, more recent articles) I hoped, when it was created, that the Center for American Progress would lead the way, but it turned out to be centrist, corporatist, and disconnected from transformative goals. True progressive values-- universal healthcare, worker ownership, economic justice-- still lack a unified home infrastructure.

There are dozens of promising organizations today-- from the Roosevelt Institute and People's Policy Project to the Sunrise Movement and Social Security Works. Yet they have never come together to form a comprehensive PDPIE. What we need is coordination, not duplication. What we lack is shared vision, infrastructure, and storytelling capacity to reframe public discourse and shift the political imagination.

This effort must be independent from the Democratic Party and billionaire influence. It must be funded through grassroots donations and alliances with funders who respect democratic and justice integrity. Nearly $470 million was raised in small donations for Kamala Harris's presidential run-- this shows what's possible.

Our short-term goal is to produce a Progressive "Powell Memo"-- a foundational document to guide long-term planning. Our initiative, tentatively called the Arc of Justice Alliance, is assembling advisors, media allies, movement leaders, and scholars to help shape this strategy. We aim to develop a 50-year plan with concrete 10-, 20-, and 30-year benchmarks.

This work will focus on:

• Shared long-term goals
• New communications infrastructure
• Bottom-up democratic participation
• Strategic unification of existing orgs
• Cultural storytelling and narrative framing
• Credible public endorsements and thought leadership

We've already begun recruiting respected thinkers and movement leaders to join us. We believe in the bandwagon effect: strong names attract stronger allies. With nearly 20 key participants already on board, we're building momentum toward a national launch.

We invite you to help. Are you a leader, strategist, artist, or visionary? Do you know someone who should be involved? The future of democracy depends on what we build together-- before it's too late.

Let's create the infrastructure our values deserve.