I think this result, from the Pew Research Center, should actually concern supporters of cap and trade: One of the quirks of the elite political debate is that it tends to occur in dense cities with extremely impressive transportation infrastructures. DC. New York. Places where cars are more of a luxury item. But that, as […]
Ezra Klein
Ezra Klein is a former Prospect writer and current editor-in-chief at Vox. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, and The Columbia Journalism Review. He’s been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more.
Posted inArticle
CRUMMY GDP NUMBERS.
The GDP numbers today verged on the obscene: January, February, and March saw a 6.1 percent contraction in gross domestic product. That’s the worst reading in since the 1950s, and significantly more dire than than the 4.7 percent predicted by economists. The chart above comes from the fine folks at the Economic Policy Institute and […]
Posted inArticle
WHAT THE SEBELIUS VOTE TELLS US ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM.
Kathleen Sebelius mustered 65 votes in the Senate yesterday. That’s something of a victory for Anti-abortion zealots managed to muster fairly — though not totally — united opposition among Republicans. Matt Yglesias looks at this and says, “if you can only get 65 votes for what should be an uncontroversial HHS appointment, then the odds […]
Posted inArticle
FUN WITH COALITION POLITICS.
Nutty as Jim DeMint’s demographic theories might be (see below post), news out of Israel reminds me to be glad that we don’t have a coalition system that abets the participation of parties meant to represent nothing but religious extremism. The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed “Mexican” influenza in deference to Muslim and […]
Posted inArticle
DEEP THOUGHTS FROM JIM DEMINT. [UPDATED.]
This is a novel response to the concern that the GOP has become an exclusively southern party: DeMint says he isn’t worried. He denied that the GOP has become a southern party, attributing Republican losses in the northeast to some northern voters who have left the region and moved south hoping to avoid labor unions […]
Posted inArticle
CHUCK GRASSLEY’S MUSICAL CHAIRS.
Over at the Iowa Independent, Mike Lillis takes a look at the changed incentives for Chuck Grassley now that Arlen Specter has ditched the party. Grassley is currently the Ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. That’s a big job. A powerful job. It makes him key to health reform and taxes and Social Security […]
Posted inArticle
PROFANE ABSTRACTS.
Speaking of SSRN, I just stumbled across “Fuck,” a paper by Ohio State Law Professor Chris Fairman, which “explores the legal implications of the word fuck.” The abstract: This Article is as simple and provocative as its title suggests: it explores the legal implications of the word fuck. The intersection of the word fuck and […]
Posted inArticle
TOO MUCH CONVERSATION. NOT ENOUGH PAPERS.
John Sides notes that the Social Science Research Network — one of the web’s leading repositories of academic papers — has started a blog. But it’s not a very good blog. It’s seen three posts in two weeks. And my hunch is that’s partially due to a poor mission statement. “The SSRN Blog will not […]
Posted inArticle
SHOULD WE PROSECUTE TORTURERS?
I don’t want to agree with Tyler Cowen on the politics of torture prosecutions, but I think I actually do: I believe that a full investigation would lead the U.S. public to, ultimately, side with torture, side with the torturers, and side against the prosecutors. That’s why we can’t proceed and Obama probably understands that. […]
Posted inArticle
ARLEN SPECTER AND JOE BIDEN: AN AMTRAK LOVE STORY.
No one will ever accuse Joe Biden of lacking for enthusiasm. “Arlen Specter has been my friend and my confidant and my partner,” he said today, using language more commonly associated with wedding proposals. “And it gives me great pleasure, great pleasure, Mr. President, to now officially be in the same caucus with Arlen Specter. […]
