Tim Fernholz

Joe the Plumber is ringing a little flat for me; it’s not as effective as Obama’s more personal story. But Obama did well when he addressed JTP, telling him his fine will be zero, and McCain’s somewhat flabbergasted look attests to that. As has been a trend in the debates, Obama handles the health care […]

Add Bob Schieffer to the growing ranks of journalists who buy into the neo-hooverism spreading like wildfire among the punditocracy. This austerity-for-austerity’s sake posturing isn’t helping anyone understand the real issues that underlie the economic crisis and the policies the U.S. should adopt to get out of it. As I write this, McCain is firmly […]

At a briefing this afternoon, David Rothkopf, who is, among other things, an expert in emerging markets, noted something extremely worrisome that I haven’t seen mentioned much at all: Pakistan, not the most stable country to begin with, is suffering extraordinary economic problems connected to the global financial crisis and that most pernicious of instruments, […]

Seriously, where is he finding this: [Harold Ickes] routinely shaved off a point or two from Mr. Obama’s number to account for hidden racial prejudices. That is no small factor, considering that Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain are separated by very thin margins in many polls in battleground states. Huh? Journey unto FiveThirtyEight and take […]

CBS News/New York Times released their latest poll the night before debate day — way to capture that news cycle, fellas — and they’ve got Obama up a ridiculous 14 points, 53-39. The McCain camp says polling is volatile and that this result is an outlier but, even if they’re right, when 14 is your […]

Health insurance coverage woes, math challenges, gas gouges, and the electoral map, all products of tank-based thinking this week! More private sector shortcomings. In an Economic Policy Institute report, Elise Gould traces the 5.4 percent decline in employer-sponsored insurance coverage (ESI) between 2000 and 2007. This amounts to a loss of coverage for over 3 […]

Marc Ambinder asks the question: Is it the same to call McCain a liar as it is to call Obama a terrorist or an Arab? Of course not. You can make a reasonable argument that John McCain is a liar, in that he’s said things that are false. You can’t make a reasonable argument that […]

There is an interesting piece in the Post today about Obama‘s efforts to reach out to the House Blue Dog caucus in the context of the bailout bill and his transition plans. The growing caucus will be a pivotal group for legislative negotiation in the next Congress, and the Obama camp has been responding by […]

Yesterday, Chris Hitchens endorsed Obama because of his superior character and temperament. But he also adds, “On ‘the issues’ in these closing weeks, there really isn’t a very sharp or highly noticeable distinction to be made between the two nominees.” If Hitchens really believes this is true, it may be time to hang up the […]

Jon Chait has already had a say on this post by Dan Balz, which encourages reporters to focus all of their abilities on asking stupid questions of Barack Obama, but it deserves widespread recognition for being almost as out-of-left field as Dean Reynolds‘ complaint. It’s silly on a lot of levels, the first and most […]