Tim Fernholz

Read Rob Farley and this news analysis to get a sense of the current conditions in Gaza: Political situation unclear, Hamas’ forces still at large and seeking to assert political control over the strip. Meanwhile, their support from Palestinian civilians is in flux following Israel’s assault. Some civillians seem to be blaming Hamas for the […]

In a smart piece of reporting, Erik Eckholm takes a look at how the drop in in federal interest rates is leaving Legal Aid societies high and dry, forcing them to cut back on the lawyers and paralegals who assist the poor with civil litigation. The rate decline, though generally welcomed as a blow against […]

One idea making the rounds is that Barack Obama’s foreign policy is likely to be a continuation George W. Bush’s second-term approach to world affairs. People come by this observation after noticing that Bush didn’t solve his international problems, so Obama will have to tackle nearly the same portfolio, and because Obama has retained Defense […]

Jon Chait reacts to Obama’s discussion of a possible compromise on EFCA legislation during an interview with the Washington Post today: The point of card check is that union elections have become a joke. Employers hold captive propaganda meetings, and routinely violate labor law by intimidating workers and firing organizers with no serious enforcement. That’s […]

Yesterday’s tale of a U.S. Airways jet that was successfully ditched in the Hudson river after losing both its engines is one of those rare moments of national joy, an unalloyed good story. The veteran pilot, Chesley Sullenberger, successfully performed the difficult maneuver of landing the plane safely on a body of water. The cabin […]

TAPPED hasn’t had anything to say about President George W. Bush’s farewell address last night, but we ought to mark the moment. We’ve been arguing with and about this man for the last eight years, and now his epoch comes to an end. Unfortunately, it was an entirely substance-lessevent: Unlike presidents past, Bush didn’t choose […]

The Senate has gone and released the second half of the TARP funds, $350 billion of what could be deployed as an augmentation to the stimulus legislation. Remember that this money goes out in loans and it is possible that the public will actually make a profit off these investments; the entire program will not […]

Today, the House produced a fact-sheet of further specifics on the stimulus package. No real surprises in it for those of us who have been following the legislation for a while, though I am pleased to note that my own parochial interest, HUD, has been rewarded with money to retrofit public and affordable housing to […]

One of the signature challenges of the current recession is its global aspect; no matter what policy changes are undertaken here in the United States, the interconnected nature of the world economy leaves conditions here in the U.S. somewhat at the mercy of decision makers in other countries. More than one observer has suggested that […]

As an early detractor of Caroline Kennedy’s Senate ambitions, I’m pleased to note that a plurality of New Yorkers would rather she didn’t get the seat and prefer New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, even though a plurality also thinks that New York Governor David Paterson will select her to represent the state. Cuomo is […]