My Life at the Bottom of the Food Chain
I have a friend who has recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A. in History. I've been living with him this past summer, and he has been unemployed for most of it. About a month ago, he came home happy. He had found a job at an upscale restaurant in the city. After a bit of …
Less Politics, More Economics
Over the past few days, I've written on this site about the inadequacy of conservative thinking about the economic crisis that has beset the United States and the world. I've argued in particular that conservatives often overstate President Obama's culpability for the severity of the …
The Debt Deal's Biggest Losers
In my new column for The Week I discuss who has lost the most in the new debt deal: The first and most obvious loser: National security. The economist Herb Stein used to advocate a simple model of federal budgeting: a) Decide how much it costs to defend the country. b) Pay for it. …Glenn Beck Wants A Whiter Spider-Man
Glenn Beck has a problem with the new Spider-Man, and he thinks Michelle Obama is to blame. In one of Marvel's comic series, Peter Parker has been killed off and the mantle of Spider-Man will be taken up by a new character: Miles Morales, who is half-black and half-Hispanic . On his radio …
An Easy $80 Billion in Savings
Cutting at least $1 trillion in government spending over the next decade is going to require some real tradeoffs and cuts to programs (defense, social security, and Medicare) that everyone agrees need to exist in one form or another. Nonetheless, there’s also real waste. Here are more than $80 …
Seven Ideas for the GOP After Debt Day
In my column for CNN , I discuss seven ideas for the GOP to take up after the debt crisis has passed: 1) Unemployment is a more urgent problem than debt. The U.S. can borrow money for 10 years at less than 3%. It can borrow money for two years at less than one-half a percent. Yes, the …
Obama Fails His Test of Strength
Obama adviser David Axelrod offered up a sad little whistle through the graveyard after the debt ceiling deal: “In the short term, everyone suffers politically .... In the long term, I think the Republicans have done terrible damage to their brand. Because now they’re thoroughly defined by …
Boehner's New Plan - Even Deader
A few thoughts on the implications of Boehner adding a "Balanced Budget Amendment" to his debt-ceiling bill (which would now require that Congress pass a BBA before a second debt-ceiling increase could take place early in 2012): Adding the BBA makes the bill very likely to pass the House. …A Recovery Menaced By Dysfunctional Politics
In a time of fundamental uncertainty, what do we know for certain? No, that’s not a Yogi Berra kind of question. Timing of passage of an increase of some size in the national debt ceiling remains uncertain. Which side will blink first remains uncertain. Final form of the legislation …
Where is Huntsman's Passion?
It seemed a weirdly fitting protest. A single truck pulled an electronic billboard around and around the block. The billboard denounced Republicans for Environmental Protection - and their guest speaker, Gov. Jon Huntsman - as a "RINO stampede." The truck promoted a group called JunkScience.com, …
The Cost of the Crisis
The forcing of a debt-ceiling crisis seems likely to have permanent consequences, even if it is settled before Default Day, reports Bloomberg News : Conviction that lawmakers will fail sent rates on bills due next month to the highest level since March 31, data compiled by Bloomberg show. …
States Will Be Slammed by Default
A federal default could cascade through state governments, forcing tax increases and budget cuts on local taxpayers. Medicaid budgets could be slashed. Federal money for unemployment benefits could halt. State colleges could lose federal grants. The Pew Center on the States reports that …
Do You Believe in Magic?
My new column in the Week (misattributed a few minutes ago to my estimable Week editor, Ben Frumin, no relation) praises the Boehner plan for its artful use of smoke and mirrors. Tea Party Republicans confront a party establishment unanimously representing the Boehner plan as a huge …
Ratings Agencies Want to See Bush Tax Cuts Lapse
The suggestion that the US needs to cut $4 trillion in projected debt over the next ten years in order to avoid a downgrade in its debt rating, posed here in an S&P report , has gained significant traction among many on the right. Erick Erickson, when he's not denying "absolution" to the …
Oslo Killer Posted On My Site
How did this worldview of war, death and destruction arise in my peaceful, beloved country of Norway? What is the relationship between a demonizing political debate and violence? Are regulations, laws or a stricter editorial policies part of the solution? After the excruciating, but …
Obama: "Make Your Voices Heard"
President Obama last night appealed to supporters to make their voices heard, to pressure Congress to raise the debt ceiling. The demand he emphasized most: that any deal extend the administration enough credit to get past the next election. Odd priority, no? You might have expected that this …
How Bad Is Republican Fundraising? Bad.
I should be getting e-mail and telephone calls from Republicans but I'm just not. So far, I've gotten one direct mail letter from a Republican candidate for president, no telephone calls, and only generic e-mails sent to everyone on several large lists. Although I'm hardly a high-dollar donor by …
Payback's a Bitch
Consider this scenario: President Palin (or Romney or Perry or Pawlenty or whoever) is sworn in with great jubilation among movement conservatives in January 2013. Voter distaste with Democrats also led to the crushing defeat for Democratic Congressional incumbents, leaving Republicans with hefty …