Paul Blest

North Carolina

Reporter and Researcher at More Perfect Union

political reporter @moreperfectus. music @longreliefnc agent @erikhane previous @viceunion @gmgunion forever @discourse_blog. tips: [email protected]

Articles

Don't Cry for Paul Weiss

1 month ago | discourseblog.com | Paul Blest

President Donald Trump won a big capitulation from a white-shoe law firm on Thursday — and the law firm probably couldn’t be happier about how it ended up. Trump issued an executive order last week blacklisting Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison from federal contracts and security clearances. The entire reason for this was that Mark Pomerantz, a former partner at the firm, worked on the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into Trump’s financial crimes.
Trump’s Federal Funding Chaos Puts Meals on Wheels on the Chopping Block

1 month ago | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest

By Paul Blest, More Perfect UnionJoanne, a senior living in Raleigh, North Carolina, clutched her lunch from Meals on Wheels last week as she explained how the rising cost of rent, medicine, and food is eating away at her income. “If I didn't have this, I don't know what I would do,” she told More Perfect Union. “You [get to] an age where you don't want to beg.
There's Only One Way to Bring Elon Musk Down

2 months ago | discourseblog.com | Paul Blest

This is how it’s going to go: Elon Musk’s foray into buying a government for himself and all of his dumbest friends will be replicated, over and over again, by successive titans of industry with varying social politics. As the all-out push toward artificial intelligence and market consolidation continues, these titans will come increasingly from tech companies, hedge funds, and private equity firms.
Trump Said Immigrants Ruined This City. Here’s the Real Story.

2 months ago | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest

By Paul Blest, More Perfect UnionLast year, the city of Springfield, Ohio, was thrust into the national spotlight when both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance falsely accused Haitian immigrants of kidnapping and eating their neighbors’ pets during the campaign. “I knew that there was gonna be chaos,” Carl Ruby, a local pastor and longtime immigration advocate, told More Perfect Union.
This Is How Saudi Arabia Bought Donald Trump

Jan 23, 2025 | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest

By Paul Blest, More Perfect UnionJust days after he won the U.S. presidential election last year, President Donald Trump appeared at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event flanked by top allies Elon Musk and Dana White, the UFC CEO. Someone much more obscure to an American audience was there too: the head of the $930 billion Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Yasir Al Rumayyan.
Pro-Labor Legislators Can Fight Back Against What's Coming. Here's How.

Jan 8, 2025 | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest |Jordan Zakarin

by Paul Blest and Jordan Zakarin, More Perfect UnionAs Donald Trump prepares to assume office for the second time and his corporate allies prepare to wield much more power on issues of worker power, pay, and safety, lawmakers in some Democratic trifecta states say that their party should lead the way in enshrining Biden-era employee protections and beyond.
Here's the Real Reason Why Americans Can't Afford to Retire

Jan 6, 2025 | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest |Judy Cai

By Paul Blest and Judy Cai, More Perfect UnionEveryone knows that retirement in America is in crisis. The National Council on Aging found earlier this year that nearly half of all adults over the age of 60 had an income below the standard needed to afford basic needs, and tens of millions of households with older adults are financially struggling. So who’s to blame?
USPS Workers Are Fed Up and Fighting for a Better Deal

Nov 27, 2024 | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest |Jordan Zakarin

By Paul Blest and Jordan Zakarin, More Perfect UnionThere’s an uprising happening across the U.S., and it involves worsening job conditions, opaque backroom negotiations, and hundreds of thousands of letter carriers in American cities and suburbs who want a better deal. Despite the promise of a historic contract, more than 225,000 workers in the National Association of Letter Carriers have been working without one since May 2023 — more than 500 days.
This State Is Seeing Child Labor Violations Skyrocket

Nov 22, 2024 | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest

by Paul Blest, More Perfect UnionIn 1914, Arkansas voters passed a ballot initiative banning child labor, becoming one of the first states to do so. As local papers reported at the time, the amendment passed with the largest majority of any measure on the ballot that year, and by December the state had started sending “employment certificates” to schools. Last year, more than a century after that landmark victory, Gov.
Did Ballot Referendum Language Doom an Anti-Slavery Measure?

Nov 15, 2024 | substack.perfectunion.us | Paul Blest

by Paul Blest, More Perfect UnionOne of the most stunning results to come out of last Tuesday was the news that a ballot referendum in California that would have banned the use of slave labor in prisons narrowly failed. In a state where incarcerated people can still be forced to work against their will for pitiful wages, some pointed to the news of Proposition 6’s failure as evidence that Californians are much more conservative than how they’ve voted in recent elections.