Socialist programs that come from non-socialists, like California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s low-cost insulin production program, don’t arouse the same level of right-wing hysteria. They also don’t arouse the same level of left-wing enthusiasm.
ON TAP
Posted inTAP
The Shrapnel Presidency
Trump’s minions planned a firing of 60 howitzer shells over a freeway in L.A. to harass Gov. Newsom and local residents. Instead, friendly fire hit VP Vance’s entourage.
Posted inNewsletters
Trump Keeps Overreaching: Will It Backfire?
No university has agreed to his latest extortion plan. And his vindictive partisan shutdown of the NY-NJ Gateway tunnel project could be a life preserver for Democrat Mikie Sherrill in the close New Jersey governor’s race.
Posted inNewsletters
The Racist Roots, and Racist Present, of Today’s Republican Party
The MAGA movement—both the Trump administration and the institutional Republican Party—is embracing as its central ideology not the democratic and egalitarian credos laid out in the Declaration of Independence, but the white racism of 1619 Virginia.
Posted inNewsletters
Trump’s Tariff Tantrums
The Supreme Court will soon rule on whether Trump’s aggressive and impulsive use of tariffs is an illegal usurpation of Congressional authority spelled out clearly in Article I of the Constitution. The right to levy tariffs is reserved to Congress, except where explicitly delegated to the president. Congress has done this in three laws, each […]
Posted inNewsletters
Mamdani: Son of La Guardia and FDR
Zohran Mamdani delivered a major speech to lay out the stakes in the upcoming mayoral election. To the historically sentient, the speech was replete with echoes of New York’s previous progressive heroes—Franklin D. Roosevelt, Fiorello La Guardia, and A. Philip Randolph.
Posted inNewsletters
What’s Behind the Viral Katie Porter Attack
The surprisingly wide-open race for governor of the nation’s most populous state emerged from its slumber last week when a three-minute clip of former California Rep. Katie Porter, who has been leading Democrats in all polls, went viral on the internet. It reinforced persistent rumors and evidence that Porter comes off as combative and angry. […]
Posted inNewsletters
More Sneak Attacks on Social Security
In his campaign for president, Trump promised to protect Social Security and Medicare. On paper, Social Security, which has its own revenue sources via payroll taxes and trust funds, is protected from both the budget cuts of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill and from the impact of the government shutdown. But Trump keeps trying to […]
Posted inNewsletters
The Rift in American Socialism
As Election Day draws near in New York City, entire genres of attack-pieces against Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani have emerged. Today’s New York Times, for instance, contains a long analysis of just how much some of Mamdani’s proposals will cost, though equivalent dollar estimates of how much they will boost the city’s economy are […]
Posted inTAP
Mamdani Courts the Cops
Even before he formally declared for mayor, Zohran Mamdani’s supporters and critics agreed on one thing: His toughest challenge would be addressing the issue of public safety in New York and winning over a highly skeptical police force. In July, all 13 NYC public safety unions endorsed Mayor Eric Adams, who has since dropped out. […]
