You see, Sean, when a billionaire takes a crap in a solid gold toilet, that creates economic rainbow sparkles that shower down on the working poor. It’s good for everybody. (Flickr/Gage Skidmore) One surprising thing about the campaign Mitt Romney ran in 2012 was that cutting taxes, a theme you might have expected from someone […]
Paul Waldman
Paul Waldman is a weekly columnist and senior writer for The American Prospect. He also writes for the Plum Line blog at The Washington Post and The Week and is the author of Being Right Is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.
Posted inPaul Waldman
Photo of the Day, Back From the Heavens Edition
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying American astronaut Barry Wilmore and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova back to earth after six months aboard the International Space Station (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Hillary Clinton and the Faith of Republicans
View image | gettyimages.com When it comes to Hillary Clinton, Republicans have faith. They don’t think they’re going to have to rely on some kind of clever messaging in order to undo her presidential candidacy; all that will be necessary is to uncover the truth. This faith springs from the belief, which they hold as […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Time For Everyone to Dial It Back On the Iran Letter
I don’t remember the last time a letter from a bunch of senators generated as much news as the one Senator Tom Cotton and 46 other Republicans sent on Monday to the government of Iran. It’s quite a coup for Cotton himself, and something of a black eye for the Republicans, given that it has […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Photo of the Day, Old-Timey Washington Edition
District of Columbia Public Library Commons This photo is from the White House Easter Egg Roll, circa 1905. It was apparently taken not long after passage of the All Americans Must Wear Hats Act, a controversial piece of legislation that President Theodore Roosevelt signed despite not being much of a hat-wearer himself. It was repealed […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Don’t Worry About Jeb Bush — He’ll Be Fine
View image | gettyimages.com A lot of the news around Jeb Bush of late has concerned his potential hurdles and the skepticism he supposedly inspires among the Republican base. So we get articles with titles like “In Iowa, Jeb Bush Risks Support With Unpopular Stances” and “NBC News Poll: Republicans Are Divided Over Jeb Bush […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Absurdity of Asking Whether Hillary Clinton Can ‘Satisfy Her Critics’
If you watched or read the coverage of Hillary Clinton’s press conference yesterday, there’s a phrase you heard, in one variation or another, over and over. “Clinton’s email explanation won’t placate critics,” said the AP. “Her defense…is unlikely to satisfy her critics or stop the questions,” said The Washington Post. Democrats, said National Journal, “worry […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Photo of the Day, Damage Control Edition
View image | gettyimages.com Hillary Clinton, answering a few questions from reporters about her emails today. Unfortunately, no one shouted “What about your gaffes?”
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Gaze In Wonder Upon My Bootstraps, Voters, For I Am Just Like You
In every election campaign, candidates assure voters that despite their fancy suits and smooth talk, they come from the humblest of origins. We were poor, they say. No running water! My mother made our clothes from old rice sacks! Dinner was one slice of bread to share between my siblings and me! And if that […]
Posted inEnergy and the Environment
Photo of the Day, Mindless Tech Slavery Edition
View image | gettyimages.com Attention, my subjects. Behold this watch. You will buy it. Is it because you want it? Silly question-I have presented it unto you, and therefore you want it as much as you have ever wanted anything, even if it doesn’t actually do much that the device in your pocket doesn’t already […]
