James Baratta

@jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

Writing Fellow @prospect.org. Send tips to jbaratta (at) prospect (dot) org. DM for Signal.

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

We often talk about the judiciary in the context of hot-button issues like Roe, but the courts are just as much an enabler of oligarchy. Zachary Groz looks at a new report that names 10 judges most responsible for the corporate court, including several nominated by Democrats.

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

Iowa has been trending right for years, but failures by Republicans have given an opening to Democrats—if they can convince Iowans that they care about the working class.
Davide Mamone spent some time in Iowa and has this report.
prospect.org/2026/10/06/d...

@jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

“But in Clayton, who was confirmed as DNI in August, Trump is empowering a Cabinet-level official to set administrationwide policy over a transformative technology with the potential to affect every part of the U.S. economy” – via @politico.com

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

We are in the middle of our fall fundraising campaign, and our readers have really stepped up. We're about 30% of the way to our goal.
If you believe in the power of journalism to change the world, this is the moment to support. Thank you!
prospect.org/donate

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

ICYMI from yesterday, the story is that Senate Dems voted against a "ratepayer protection" bill because they didn't want to hand Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) a win. The reality is that bill was merely advisory and would do less than states like *Alabama* are already doing!
from @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social.

@naomibethune.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

@jamesjbaratta.bsky.social and I spent the summer getting to know the residents of Lowndes County, AL. They're fighting to stop the development of a hyperscale data center; a struggle sustained by the community's rich tradition of civil rights and environmental justice advocacy. Read here:

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

Data center construction has migrated to places of low resistance: poor, often Black areas where corrupt deals are commonplace and the harms to residents invisible. Lowndes County, Alabama, in the heart of the Black Belt, is one of those places. 🧵
prospect.org/2026/10/01/d...

prospect.org‘I Know I Couldn’t Live Here’: Standing Up to a Data Center in Alabama’s Black Belt - The American ProspectFaced with little transparency about a mammoth facility, Lowndes County fights back.
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@cbsnews.comReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

Democratic lawmakers are warning that the proposed $67 billion merger between NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy could reduce competition and raise electricity prices for consumers.

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

OpenAI’s unlawful incidents are piling up. I’m not talking about the models; I’m talking about what its executives are accused of doing to obtain the data to create the models. AI is following its master down a road of deceit. And we don't have the will to hold those responsible accountable.

@levernews.comReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

🚨 UPDATE: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce just sued Hawaii over its new challenge to Citizens United. Hawaii’s law bars corporations and other organizations from spending to support or oppose state candidates. The Chamber says that violates the First Amendment.

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

The imminent landlord bailout, a settlement of litigation over the COVID-era eviction moratorium, is dominated by affiliates of Starwood Capital, a private equity firm that itself received direct and indirect federal assistance during COVID.
Zachary Groz reports.
prospect.org/2026/09/25/p...

@ddayen.bsky.socialReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

The Trump administration is setting up a fake deadline in the middle of the lame duck session to force clearance of warrantless spying again, despite blowing its own statutory deadline to declassify a potentially damning FISA court opinion. @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social has more.

@energyandpolicy.orgReposted by @jamesjbaratta.bsky.social

The Edison Electric Institute wants regulators to preserve an SEC classification of recovery bonds that could cost customers billions. EPI's @suesturgis.bsky.social has more:

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