A Progressive Compact for America
A Progressive Compact for America
Ralph welcomes political consultant and pollster, Celinda Lake, to outline a ten-point Progressive Contract for America that she and Ralph believe – if adopted by Democratic candidates— will ensure they landslide the Republicans in the midterms. Then, Ben Cohen stops by to fill us in on his “Free Ben & Jerry!” campaign to take back the brand from the conglomerate that no longer retains the social justice values of their original company. Plus, Marine Corp veteran, Matthew Hoh, tells us about the provocative speech he made on Veterans Day entitled “Armistice Day and the Empire.”
Celinda Lake is a political strategist and president of Lake Research Partners. She and her firm are known for cutting-edge research on issues including the economy, health care, the environment and education, and have worked for a number of institutions including the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governor’s Association, AFL-CIO, SEIU, CWA, Sierra Club, NARAL, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, VoteVets Action Fund, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Her international work has included work in Liberia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus Ukraine, South Africa, and Central America.
I think [a Compact for America] is a really, really, really important idea, and it’s absolutely essential to winning…And it should include concrete economic proposals. And it is noticeable that the two people who won governorships in 2025—Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill—both had contracts with their voters.
Celinda Lake
Democrats need to lay out ten concrete proposals and run on them. We have the critique of what’s going on. We understand what’s happening in real people’s lives. The third leg of the stool is offering our alternative—and a concrete alternative that people can pass on to their friends and family, that people can hold us accountable for. And the last of the ten proposals in the contract needs to be something about campaign finance reform. We have to get corporate money out of politics, or our system will continue to be rigged against us and rotting from the middle.
Celinda Lake
Ben Cohen is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and longtime anti-war activist. He is a co-founder of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s and a prominent supporter of progressive causes. He is co-founder of Up In Arms, a public education and advocacy campaign pushing for a common-sense approach to military budgeting.
What’s happened is that the company recently got owned by the Magnum Corporation, and the Magnum Corporation has disbanded that independent board of directors. I mean, it’s kind of a crazy, stupid move because it’s under that independent board (which has legal authority over the social mission and the quality of the product and the use of the trademark) it’s under that independent board that the company has grown and done so well. But they’ve gotten rid of the independent board.
Ben Cohen
When Ben & Jerry’s was in the midst of trying to fend off this acquisition, there were some new laws that were passed in Vermont that allowed a consideration of the benefit of the community with regard to a potential sale. And after the sale happened, B Corporation started. And I’ve talked with the founder of B Corp, and he was saying that one of the inspirations for starting B Corporations was what happened to Ben & Jerry’s. So B Corporations are a different legal structure for corporations which requires them to take into account the social benefit to the community and legally makes it easier to resist these efforts to have the company taken over.
Ben Cohen
Matthew Hoh is a disabled Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War and former Afghan War State Department Officer. In 2009, after being appointed to the Foreign Service, Hoh resigned his post in Afghanistan over the Obama administration’s escalation of the Afghan War. He is now an analyst and commentator on foreign and military policy issues as a senior fellow with the Eisenhower Media Network. He serves on the advisory boards of many peace organizations, including Veterans for Peace and World Beyond War, and is an associate member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
The United States recognized Armistice Day as a holiday until after the Second World War. And then in the height of the Cold War in the early 1950s, this idea of a holiday dedicated to peace, a holiday dedicated to the abrogation of warfare, a holiday that exposed just how false the motives for war are—oh that was incredibly troublesome. That was very problematic for the American empire (again, at the height of the Cold War). So there was this campaign to rename Armistice Day to Veterans Day. And this way, it became not a remembrance of the horrors of war, of what war entailed, of who profited from war. But rather a celebration of American veterans, that they have won freedoms, they have protected us from overseas enemies—and utilizing veterans, then, as a tool to crush dissent, to silence opposition.
Matthew Hoh
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News 6/19/26
Our top stories this week are about major local progressive victories. Here in Washington, DC Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George – endorsed by a broad coalition of groups including the Metro DC DSA, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club and many more – has triumphed in the Mayoral primary. Lewis George trounced her centrist opponent, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, who was backed both by major local corporate interests, such as the realtor lobby and even the Washington Parking Association, but also Democratic Party power brokers, including two former DNC Chairs. Lewis George, hailed as DC’s answer to Zohran Mamdani, won over 50% of the vote in the first round, meaning that while this is DC’s first mayoral election under ranked-choice voting, this race will not trigger this mechanism. McDuffie, for his part, won around 36% of the vote, coming ahead of Lewis George only in Ward 3, the wealthiest in the District. While votes remain to be counted, McDuffie has conceded.
Another DSA-backed candidate is poised to win a seat on the DC council. In Ward 1, Aparna Raj appears to have come up just short of 50% but while this means the race will go to a second round of ranked-choice reallocation, given that Raj is more than 25 points ahead of her nearest opponent, her victory is all but guaranteed. This is based upon data from the DC Board of Elections. Raj’s impending victory, paired with that of Janeese Lewis George and others like Oye Owolewa demonstrates that the DC DSA is an electoral force to be reckoned with.
In more progressive electoral news, Semafor reports Bernie Sanders has endorsed former Congresswoman Cori Bush in her “comeback” bid for her old seat. Bush, a nurse and Black Lives Matter activist, was a member of the “Squad” in the House before she was defeated by a primary challenge from the right, backed in large part by AIPAC money. With the Republican redistricting in her home state of Missouri, this seat is now the sole remaining safe Democratic seat in the Show-Me State. In a statement, Bush said she was “honored to be endorsed” by Sanders, whom she called a “true leader in our movement to guarantee healthcare, housing, and childcare for all.”
Another much-publicized Bernie endorsement was announced this week: that of Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson. Pearson was originally running as a primary challenger against longtime incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen in Tennessee’s 9th congressional district, but since the state Republicans redrew the districts Cohen has decided to retire, leaving the Democratic nomination to Pearson for the taking. While this district has been drawn in such a way to make it difficult for a Democrat to win, Pearson argues that “You’ve got a number of disaffected Republican voters, you’ve got a number of distraught MAGA voters, and you’ve got fired-up Democrats, which is a perfect recipe for success for us…Because our tent is big enough for everybody who is feeling that this status quo was rigged and broken against working-class folk, and want to see a future that is more just,” per the Intercept.
Elsewhere in the South, the race in Florida’s 20th congressional district is descending into chaos. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the powerful centrist Democratic congresswoman who was drawn out of her traditional seat by the recent Republican-led redistricting is now officially running in this district, a move that “disappointed” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried, according to the Miami Herald. Fried further stated that Wasserman Schultz “[refused] to engage in meaningful dialogue about her decision.” Elijah Manley, the progressive candidate in this race, had harsher words for DWS. In a quote reported by Florida Politics, Manley stated “I’m not surprised that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is carpetbagging to FL-20, a black opportunity district, abandoning her own district and constituents…She is no different than the Republicans that are eviscerating black representation across the South. She is everything that’s wrong with the broken unpopular Democratic establishment…I look forward to retiring her from public office permanently.”
Facing down the barrel of this decision, several of the Black candidates running in the 20th convened to discuss a plan to consolidate in order to ensure the district would continue to be represented by a Black member of Congress, as it has been for the past 34 years. However, CBS reports that plan has “fallen apart” as the filing deadline passed with none of the major Black candidates bowing out. This report includes statements from Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who, the piece notes, resigned from this very seat in disgrace earlier this year amid a congressional ethics investigation, saying she is “excited to campaign in the district I have represented for the last 5 years.” Dale Holness, the former Mayor of Broward County, said, “It has to be about policies that produce prosperity for the people.” Elijah Manley, said “I think it’s going to come down to who works the hardest, and I think I’m going to work the hardest.” To this end, Manley has recently racked up major progressive endorsements in Florida, including Armando Grundy-Gomes, President of the Democratic Black Caucus of Florida, the Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida, through President Matthew Grocholske, and Black Voters Matter lead Florida organizer Jamil Davis. According to the most recent polling, Manley lags behind Wasserman Schultz 21% to 39% in initial ballot testing, but blitzes into the lead 36% to 27% after voters receive candidate biographical information, per Florida Politics.
Another major political story from Florida is the comeback bid of former Congressman Alan Grayson. Grayson, who won a House seat in 2008, lost it in the Tea Party wave of 2010, won another seat, ran unsuccessfully for Senate, and then sought a comeback in 2018 is running in Florida’s 7th congressional district, AOL reports. Grayson, known during his time in Congress for his “combative style and frequent clashes with Republicans,” is seeking to unseat scandal-plagued incumbent Republican Congressman Cory Mills. As this piece notes, Mills has “faced allegations ranging from sextortion claims made by a former girlfriend to accusations that he embellished aspects of his military record,” as well as what appears to be clear instances of corruption, such as driving government contracts to entities he owned. However, before these two have any chance of facing off against one another, both will have to get through his own party’s primary.
Looking to Latin America, the outgoing President of Colombia Gustavo Petro, has published a fascinating op-ed in the Washington Post. In this piece, President Petro emphasizes how his government – considered one of the most opposed to American intervention in the region – has cooperated with the United States on shared objectives including stopping the “deadly flow of drug trafficking and transnational criminal violence.” Throughout the op-ed, Petro goes to great lengths to talk up Trump and how they have collaborated on mutual goals, even ending the piece by writing that “with continued U.S.-Colombia partnership, we can truly make the Americas great again.” This apparent about face from Petro, culminating in an obsequious appeal to Trump’s favor, has led many to speculate about Petro’s motivations here, including fear for his own safety, possible persecution within the American legal system or intervention in Colombia if his designated successor Ivan Cepeda ultimately wins the Colombian runoff presidential election this month. Whether or not this stratagem will work remains to be seen, but with Trump, flattery can get you everywhere.
In neighboring Peru, votes continue to be counted in the razor’s edge race between Keiko Fujimori and Roberto Sánchez. The votes for the election, held on June 7th, are almost completely counted now – the tally stands at 99.38% – and at the moment Fujimori leads by around 39,000 votes. However, around 140,000 votes have been formally challenged, with 60% of those coming from Fujimori strongholds like Lima as well as Peruvians abroad. This from Reuters. Peru’s political system has been wracked by instability, with the country going through nine presidents in the last ten years. Another painstakingly close election is unlikely to restore stability no matter who comes out on top.
Finally, we turn to the Middle East, where it seems the numerous parties involved in the latest round of peace talks may have finally reached a deal. According to Al Jazeera, in addition to the US-Iran agreement, rooted in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which includes financial concessions to the Islamic Republic, Israel and Hezbollah are pursuing a ceasefire in Lebanon. However, Israel’s notoriously loose interpretation of ceasefire agreements jeopardizes both this deal and MOU. Journalist and expert Rania Khalek states simply that “From Iran’s perspective, continued Israeli strikes would be a violation of that understanding.” Vice President JD Vance, who has been intimately involved in these negotiations, expressed a sharp warning to Israel not to jeopardize the deal and risk alienating Trump, their “only ally” left. Trump for his part is already hedging, saying “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit…If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” per CNN. A report in the Hill indicates that Republican Senators would largely oppose the deal if it were submitted for their approval, but given the increasing concentration of foreign policy powers in the executive branch, it is unlikely the Senate will even be consulted.
This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.
Discussion about this episode
https://www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/p/a-progressive-compact-for-america
Thank you! I love and support this ‘Contract for America’ :
• Raising the federal minimum wage
• Raising Social Security benefits
• Restoring taxes on the super-rich
• Establishing a children’s tax credit
• Instituting Medicare for All (-/- the super-super-rich)
• Cracking down on corporate crooks
• Adopting social safety nets
• Passing labor law reforms
• Investing in crumbling public services and infrastructure
• Ending corporate welfare
• Exporting this ‘Contract for America’ to all other countries in the world that need the same, because of the same corporate-crooks, Me Myself and I super-rich and other predators.
Let's make it happen.
Claire the correct spelling in today’s interview should be ‘the word CONTRACT is misspelled as COMPACT’ 🙏
Thank you! I changed it. This word makes more sense to me too.
I sent a note to Ralph's team too, because I want to share his great podcast, but CONTRACT is misspelled as COMPACT in so many places. It reminds me of a comic I saw once that said "I do my best proofreading after I press SEND" hahaha
It's "Compact" not "Contract." Newt Gingrich's 1995 thing was a "Contract."
Thanks. Great list. What needs to change in the USA:
1. Impoverished working class
2. Endless war
3. Militarized police
4. Largest prison system in the world
5. Corporations legally exploit the vulnerable
6. Wealth transfering into the billionaire class.
7. Legislative bodies, courts, & media all hostage to corporate power.
8. Unaffordable health care, housing, medications, and education.
9. Non-living wages.
10. Student debt
You can't change the DNC. It's rotten from the top down. It's full of criminal recidivists and zionists.
Right on the mark!!! Must stop being polite.
Blue dog sounds innocuous! They are traitors!!!
Thanks Ralph and team for the discussion with Celinda Lake and the campaign tool of a ‘Progressive Contract for America’.
I always point back to my vetted source when sharing across social media but I would first ask that your essay and graphic has multiple typo’s where the word CONTRACT is misspelled as COMPACT…can you correct this asap please? Even the header line and graphic image are misspelled.
👍✊💕
We meant to say "Compact" not "Contract." An agreement between parties; a covenant or contract.
Steve, thanks for your note, but everyone will see it as a typo for contract. When Celina Lake says to make each of the ten bullet points a one sentence concise statement, how messed up would that be to constantly explain why Democrats would choose COMPACT to mean CONTRACT? Voters complained in 2024 about verbiage used and they said many times the Republicans spoke in terms that is not just for the elites.
Really? It's just a synonym. But point taken.
An addendum to the new contract with USA outlined above. Antitrust and anti monopoly laws have been an abject failure since 1980 and Reaganism/SCOTUS corruption/GOP complicity. I propose that a single new law/constitutional amendment replace the current mismash of laws and regulations. Enact a law that says ALL corporations can only have 5% or less national and international market share for any product or service they sell to the consumer public. There would be mandated quarterly or annual mandatory audits by a reinvigorated and funded IRS. Then the top 20 corporations will have to compete against each other on price, quality and customer service. Market share law would also have these provisions: 1) any market share above 5% must be divested/sold off. 2) all employees must have 67% of all voting stockholder shares, with the 33% left going to outside investors. 3) Citizen United corporate personhood SCOTUS decision is forever repealed. 4) Natural monopolies that cannot be divested would then be forced to become chartered federal NONprofit corporations like AMTRAK and the USPS. All of the internet and social media companies and the entire military industrial complex are obvious candidates for that change.
One idealogy is that Democrats are the party of the poor. Try simply identifying the politic of Democrats as the party of common sense and stop attacking the millionaire class and billionaire class. After all many with big money do identify with environmental, educational and technological paths that benefit everyone including the old and new money wealth in the USA.
Good glory carlspackler. Corporations and big money are the enemy of the middle and poor classes. Their exorbitant power destroys democracy. If you doubt that, a major research study was done by highly regarded academicians and professors Gilens & Page revealing oligarchic governance led to miniscule legislative benefits for the middle and poor socioeconomic classes. Please do yourself and us a favor and google Gilens & Page to judge for yourself. "Oligarchic systems often maintain a facade of democratic processes while the levers of power are manipulated behind the scenes. This can result in a gradual erosion of public trust in institutions, a skewing of the political landscape and the suppression of voices advocating for broader societal interests."(Democracy toolkit)"In an oligarchy, the interests of the middle and poor classes are rarely served. Because political and economic power is concentrated in the hands of a wealthy few, governance typically prioritizes protecting elite assets, enforcing tax structures favorable to capital, and maintaining the socioeconomic status quo."(Oxfam)
Here in Maryland’s Congressional District 3 , now represented by first‑term House member Sarah Elfreth who got $4.2 million from AIPAC affiliates during her first 18 months in office. We are working to replace her with Austin Dyches, a social democrat and a veteran. Look him up and support him.
Some good political recommendations on the first part of the program but compromises will be necessary, $25 an hour as a national wage is completely unrealistic in our rough economy and under the current dictatorial leadership. We should be learning the lessons that Hungary did with their defeat of Victor Orban. They focused on the corruption, and had a positive and realistic message. Policies should have broad appeal for politicians to be viable, not be linked up with controversial things that cause significant segments to block out potential political reform and recovery of democratic ideals.
As far as "Ben and Jerry's" goes, this was never a righteous company as the product is unhealthy and they fought environmental recommendations all along such as not buying milk from dairy farms that use atrazine on their fields and other highly toxic practices. If you want to have dental problems, eat plenty of ice cream and soft drinks, they never fail. Yogurt by contrast can be consumed without sugar and other unhealthy or weird things added and it does have health benefits.
Good to have some of the former military or intelligence people on your program who are frequent guests on many Youtube interview programs week by week.
I remember my days in San Francisco in the 60's and early 70's and I had a successful poster company and one of my best sellers was one called " This is the first day of the rest of your life'
I think today that would be a good slogan for the Democratic party . If you had one day to live what would you do ,, Democrats? I bet you would say more than the rich have all the money , gas prices are to high .we need better healthcare .If you thought the competitive leader was a wack o and about to throw you off the bridge ( your choice the Brooklyn or the Golden Gate ) what would you do ? Leadership requires a specific plan of action not just suggestions on how to make life better. More than 60% of all American voters people think that the wack-o leader of the other party and his constitutiots have them at the guardrail. What's your "exact plan of action" Democrats ? Jump and or try and swim or step back and take the bridge back ?
Who was that , that said "it's your bridge if you can keep it "? good luck America have a great day my friends
That's all old talking points - it's boring, and it sounds like it's designed to protect the careers of people with good jobs. The point right now is simpler - post-boomers are finding it hard to pay rent and buy food on the wages we get.
So a 'Progressive Compact' should be shorter - more revolutionary:
1. Return funding of the M.I.C. to 1980 levels;
2. Tax the Rich;
3. Break up the monopolies;
4. Fund What?;
5. And Why?
Isn’t unilevere owned by compass group, the largest hospitality employer?!
I am a great respecter of Ralph Nader. But on occasion he speaks out of both sides of his mouth. He decries our oligarchic state while simultaneously encouraging voting for Democrats, or Genocrats as I call them. Since both parties have supported Israel and its Genocide of the Palestinians. No matter what blather they, like the multimillionaire ($27 million) Ro Khanna, has spewed, the billions for Israel keeps pouring out. YOU CAN’T VOTE OUT AN OLIGARCHY! I watched five minutes of his “Progressive” guest. Her comments about data centers without any reference to there actual purpose… bye. In the upcoming federal elections I support a complete BOYCOTT!!
Interesting. Ro Khanna's strong support for Maine's outspoken anti-oligarchy pro-workers Platner and his relentless push to open the Epstein files are two efforts highly prized making Senator Maria Cantwell's (not an oligarch) record - in contrast - a feeble sister in service of the people. I'm curious what you define as Khanna's "blather." "In fact, the California Democrat made headlines as the first sitting member of Congress to sign the "PEACE Pledge", which formally commits lawmakers to rejecting donations from AIPAC, its affiliated PACs, and other large donor networks promoting unconditional support for Israel." (The Intercept). You support a complete boycott. Hmm. Doesn't that ultimately translate into support for Trump and his Trumpistas? Now, is that supposed to represent power to and for the People? Really? Hmm.
I understand the desire to support progressive change. I’m a progressive (not a Democrat or a Republican). I seriously supported Bernie. That’s when I learned, the Democratic Party is a repository of Progressive failure. It’s where progressivism is corralled and safely contained, to protect capitalism. Ro Khanna may be a decent rich person, but he’s not the slightest threat to capitalism, which has killed our democracy, and is killing our country, and a large hunk of the world.
https://substack.com/@futuredude/note/c-278887794?r=84ns6&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I have grown to share your view of the nihilistic nature of capitalism...and, sense revolutionary change is an incremental process until it reaches a threshold when a central concept/experience/consciousness shifts into a new level (100th monkey)....(personal experience).
How many of us sing the one in the beginning?