For two years, the grown-ups in the room restrained Trump. He managed to get rid of all of them—an attorney general in Jeff Sessions who wasn’t willing to do all of Trump’s bidding; some White House chiefs of staff such as Reince Priebus who acted to protect him from himself; the traditional generals who served […]
ON TAP
Posted inTAP
Why Willie Sutton Is a Sounder Guide to Taxing Wealth Than Chuck Lane
 Today, the Economic Policy Institute and the Institute for Policy Studies are holding a conference entitled “Taxing the (Very) Rich,” featuring such luminaries as New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, author Barbara Ehrenreich, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal and Jan Schakowsky, and a veritable minyan of economists. Moreover, a number of certifiable gazillionaires, […]
Posted inTAP
Trump: The Wrong Version of the Right Policy, Take Two
As we’ve seen, Trump has moved into the vacuum on trade policy left by globalist Democrats and Republicans who care more about corporate interests than about working Americans. Trump has also made far more of an issue of China’s abusive mercantilism than previous administrations of either party. The trouble is that Trump is royally screwing […]
Posted inTAP
Iran War Justification: Repurposing an Old Lie
 It’s not just Donald Trump’s ongoing rants about Hillary Clinton’s emails—which featured prominently in his declaration of candidacy for re-election earlier this week in Orlando—that suggest a president and administration waging the battles of yore. Now, their rationalizations for going to war against Iran are the same spurious ones that the George W. Bush administration […]
Posted inTAP
The China End-Game
We are now familiar with Trump’s signature style: Create a Trumped-up crisis, pull back from the brink at the 11th hour, and pose as the hero who saved the day. There is only one thing wrong with this method. When applied to genuinely thorny policy challenges, it only simulates progress and leaves genuine problems unresolved, […]
Posted inTAP
To the Barricades! How to Counter Trump’s New Deportation Orders
Inasmuch as virtually every policy Donald Trump implements is grotesque, it’s a good thing he telegraphs his punches. Last night, the Tweeter-in-Chief gleefully tweeted that his immigration goons would begin deporting “millions” of undocumented immigrants next week. The Supreme Three-Year-Old isn’t much for keeping secrets; be thankful he wasn’t president on the eve of D-Day. […]
Posted inTAP
Facebook World Domination Announcement Set for Tuesday
Tomorrow, Facebook is set to unveil its own currency, because that’s a thing companies do now. It’s a throwback to 19th-century coal and lumber companies that would pay workers in scrip. But in this case, Facebook has 2.5 billion users instead of a few thousand laborers, giving it the potential to dominate the payment system. […]
Posted inTAP
The Supreme Court of the Republican Party?
Last Sunday, close to a million people jammed the streets of Hong Kong to protest pending legislation that would permit the government of mainland China to extradite Hong Kong residents for whatever constitutes “crimes”—actual or ideological—in the eyes of Xi Jinping’s government. Yesterday, Carrie Lam, the CEO of Hong Kong’s Beijing-dominated government, said that she […]
Posted inTAP
A Great Union Threatens a Strike and Makes a Questionable Endorsement
As usual, the union of America’s hotel and (some) food-service workers is having an interesting week. Earlier this year, UNITE HERE executed a brilliant, multi-city series of strikes at Marriott Hotels. Its members walked picket lines holding signs bearing the inspired slogan, “One Job Should Be Enough”—a reference to the fact that, in the high-cost […]
Posted inTAP
They Got Plans!
By one metric, at least, the still-developing 2020 Democratic primary process is already a stunning success. I speak here of the so-called Ideas Primary. Prodded in part by Elizabeth Warren, but not only by Warren, an increasing number of Democratic candidates are coming up with genuinely progressive, in-depth proposals that were nowhere in the Democrats’ […]
