Tim Fernholz

One thing we learned in the aftermath of the financial crisis is that ratings agencies like Standard & Poor’s or Moody’s did not do a very good job assessing the quality of financial products. They graded mortgage securities packed with predatory subprime loans AAA (as good as cash, essentially) prior to their 2008 transformation into […]

“If the Obama administration’s goal were truly fairness, it could propose an increase in the average tax rate on higher-income earners without raising marginal rates—for example, by limiting deductions,” writes former Bush economic adviser Glenn Hubbard. Hubbard should do a little research: The Obama administration has twice proposed returning itemized tax deductions to their Reagan-era […]

The latest fuss over Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan — a perennial topic, apparently, because it’s the only Republican public policy proposal with even vague specifics — has prompted another controversy: Megan McArdle sniping at Paul Krugman over which congressional organ does which tax estimate. More on that fascinating issue down the road, but let’s […]

Yesterday, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would abide by his chamber’s traditions and not campaign against Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Reid, who had earlier seemed like an likely victim of GOP electoral ambitions, has gained steam in recent months, generally leading Tea Party favorite Sharon Angel, the Republican nominee, in public opinion polls. […]

Yesterday’s yearly reports from the trustees of Social Security and Medicare yielded new information about how the Democrats’ Affordable Care Act will affect the cost of health care. The report [PDF] concludes the bill “improves the financial outlook for Medicare substantially” to the point where Medicare, which provides health insurance to the elderly, will see […]

If it seems like business has a greater voice in American discourse than workers, you’re right: [F]ully 61% of stories included a government representative of some kind, including those from state and local government. … Representatives of business, those identified as clearly speaking on behalf of the company or corporation, were the next most prominent […]

In further discussion of our broken Senate, David Frum dissents, arguing that the 111th Congress has passed quite a bit of legislation, and that it’s not “‘obstructionism’ for the Senate to decline to act like the British House of Commons, enacting whatever it pleases the chief executive to propose.” But that elides the point: It’s […]

The mainstays of conservative Christian activism — the Family Research Council and the Christian Coalition — are launching a new campaign to protect the wealthy from tax increases, according to subscription-only Roll Call. The tax hikes, they say, are a “family values issue.” Hmm. While in the broadest sense, almost anything is a family values […]

Not to be piling on, but I think Ezra Klein makes an important point here: The ideas and proposals of conservative intellectuals like Reihan Salam have little to do with the decisions made by Republican legislators. This isn’t to say that Democrats are slavishly following the footsteps of progressive policy wonks, but you can plausibly […]