Ezra Klein

James Hamilton, talking about Mitt Romney’s attempts to restructure health care by ending free medical care in emergency rooms but subsidizing the needy, writes: Even so, I count it as progress of sorts if we might in this fashion find ourselves at least able to agree on what we want to buy, leaving just the […]

See if you can find which is which: For the first time since January, the Army met its monthly recruiting goal in June, but still faces what some senior Army officials say is a nearly insurmountable shortfall to meet the service’s annual quota. … But that still leaves the active-duty Army about 7,800 recruits behind […]

I wish I could believe Ruth Milkman’s optimistic op-ed on unions, but it’s a little hard when it’s peppered by omissions like this: IT is a time of trial for organized labor. Only 13 percent of nonagricultural workers are unionized. The figure is even lower among immigrants who toil at unskilled jobs in the nation’s […]

This is Matthew Holt again. I still owe you all history of why Clinton’s health reform went down, so Ezra let me stay as a guest poster. I hope he doesn’t mind me posting this but Bob Herbert’s column about the incompetence of Bushco in Iraq is beautiful, if tragic. And this line about Bush’s […]

I’m with Scott Lemieux on this one, Roe v. Wade is not the problem. Liberals, I think, are fairly desperate for some sort of rational explanation able to account for the conservative movement’s all-consuming fury over this decision and their ability to channel it into a focused and highly effective strategy of judicial intimidation and […]

Well this is fairly surprising. House Republicans are vowing to vote on Social Security before the year is through: House Republican leaders pledged to seek a vote this year on legislation creating a scaled back version of President Bush’s call for personal retirement accounts under Social Security. … Republicans said the measure would create personal […]

Not to wish ill or anything, but I hope next time this guy goes to a doctor complaining of searing throat pain, his medical professional responds: It’s for God to determine whether you’ve got strep throat or not. I can’t determine that. And until he sends me a divine prescription, I can’t offer you antibiotics.”

Last year, during the presidential debates, a girl named Tammy wandered into where my girlfriend, some friends, and I were watching Kerry’s dismantling of Bush. This was during the first confrontation, the one between the Incredible Shrinking President and his surprisingly large challenger. Bush, you’ll remember, slipped up and blamed Hussein for 9/11. Kerry caught […]

The Field Poll’s out (pdf), and it’s enough to set even Arnold’s steel-rod of a jaw a-quiver. In February 2005, 56% of voters were inclined to reelect Arnold, while only 42% wanted the guy gone. Now 39% want another go on the governator’s merry-go-round while 57% want to get off. Amazingly, the news gets worse […]

So the speech. Didn’t watch it. But, you’ll be happy to know, the girlfriend and I had an excellent Italian dinner while it was going on. I win. Nevertheless, conscientious blogger that I am, I did give it a read through. Impressive it wasn’t, but redundant it was. The nice thing about this group is […]