Ezra Klein

Yikes, I forget how nutty John Derbyshire is. “Just jump [the shooter]. Handguns aren’t very accurate, even at close range. I shoot mine all the time at the range, and I still can’t hit squat. I doubt this guy was any better than I am.” I rather wonder how Derbyshire squares that with the fact […]

There’s a certain amount of discussion emerging now as to whether the VA Tech shootings show the need for more gun control, less gun control, or for folks to not instantly appropriate tragedies in order to kickstart dormant policy debates. For what it’s worth, I line up in the third camp, and with the LA […]

I think the precise distinction Bryan is groping for here is between being confident and being a dick.

Bruce Bartlett engages in some bloggy triumphalism over the sprawling economist coffee klatch his Supply Side article triggered over at Mark Thoma’s place. I’m with him, though. One nice thing about the blogs is that they allow experts to speak about premises and background that more traditional outlets rarely let them engage. Magazine articles and […]

What vaguely surprises me about the netroots’ affection for John Edwards is that it has no generational corollary. Among young Democrats, Edwards is at 9%, well below his national polling average (generally around 15%). Now, I know that the netroots aren’t all kids, but given their educational and information-gathering characteristics, I’d always assumed they’d track […]

Jon Chait mauls Ari Fleischer: A couple things stand out here. First, Fleischer seems to think that the concept of 40 percent is so difficult that his readers won’t understand it without a real-life illustration. Gee, Ari, you’re throwing around all these fancy numbers, but what does 40 percent really mean? Oh, 40 out of […]

How’re you still under 50 degrees? Fuck this coast. Sincerely, Ezra

If you go to PHRMA’s web page and click on the big button entitled “Straight Talk from PHRMA’s Billy Tauzin,” you get this page. Somehow, I’m unsurprised by the “404 — Page Not Found” message. Indeed, after searching awhile more, I actually did locate Tauzin’s remarks, and it turned out the 404 error was miles […]

So the AARP has decided to make a heavy move into the insurance business. This probably erases their utility as a partner in serious universal reforms, as much of the profit flowing through the insurance industry will be flowing into their coffers and any move that tamped down on industry profits would cut off some […]