Question for today: What exactly is the difference between the way Poland’s autocratic rulers have disabled its Supreme Court and the way the Republicans have taken over the U.S. courts? Poland, where the governing party has an absolute majority in parliament, is in trouble with the leaders of the European Union and many of its […]
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Adding Insult (More Precisely, Discomfort and Anger) to Injury
Airline passengers, abandon all hope. On Tuesday, Donald Trump’s Federal Aviation Administration decreedthat it would do nothing about the relentless shrinkage of airplane seats and legroom. Rejecting a plea from Flyers’ Rights (a passengers’ organization) and a judge’s order that it reconsider its position, the FAA said that such concerns as passenger comfort were none […]
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How Big Business and Big Banks Are Using Their Tax Windfalls
In the topsy-turvy world of the past few weeks, it’s comforting to know that some things haven’t changed. Economic inequality, for instance, continues to surge. Recent data make clear what any sentient observer could have predicted a year ago: The benefits of the Trump tax cut have gone chiefly to major shareholders, with little to […]
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A Big Thank You to Our Readers
Our spring solvency drive set a goal of $50,000, and our readers came through with a total of $57,960. Thanks so much to all. The week’s events make clear that the Prospect’s voice is needed more than ever. The November election—and more fundamentally the survival of our republic—will come down to a contest of energy […]
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How Democrats Should Fight the Battle for the Court
Mitch McConnell has said he’ll bring President Trump’s nominee to succeed Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court to the Senate floor before the midterm elections. There’s really nothing Democrats can do to prevent that, and they don’t have the votes to block confirmation. On a straight party-line vote, assuming John McCain is absent, Trump’s nominee […]
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The Court: First Muslims, Now Public Employees
The Supreme Court has ruled, 5-4, in the Janus case that public-sector unions may not collect “fair-share” fees from workers who benefit from union contracts but choose not to join the union as dues-paying members. This in effect extends “right to work” principles to the entire public sector, the largest source of union growth in […]
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Barbarians in Robes:
The Committee to Defend Rich, Bigoted Old White Men (Preferably Patriarchal in the Pope Benedict Mode, and Zealously Republican)—otherwise known as the five Republican justices on the Supreme Court—is on a roll. The Committee is closing out this session with a bang, delivering a satchel of decisions that harks back in its economics to the […]
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Can Trump Pull This Off?
Trump’s base loves his immigration stance of zero tolerance. His approval ratings are 90 percent among Republicans. He keeps repeating that the separation of families at the border is the fault of Democrats, and that he saved the day with his executive order requiring detained families to be kept together. The situation is so muddled—and […]
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Trump’s Full-Blown Trade War
It’s one thing for Trump to demonize Mexicans. Disgracefully, that’s popular with his base, and it also confuses some of the progressive community, because NAFTA really does need to be renegotiated. It’s quite something else to invite retaliation from China with a tit-for-tat tariff war that could be devastating for American farm exports (in mostly […]
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The Three Kinds of Republican Officials
As Republican senators’, representatives’, and executive branch officials’ responses (ranging from deficient to depraved) to the separation of families at our southern border makes clear, there are three kinds of Republicans currently in office: the Failures, the Cowards, and the Bigots. There are overlaps among these categories, of course, but they’re typologically useful nonetheless. The […]
