Ezra Klein

With Bush publicly considering a payroll tax hike, we’re starting to get “wheels come off” stories on Social Security privatization. The LA Times, for instance, has a nice one centering on conservatives furious at the president for considering tax hikes. Considering that many Republicans were simply looking for a way out of supporting the bill, […]

Been wondering what Medicaid is and what the issues around it are? Plumer’s got you covered.

MSNBC is hosting a panel discussion on Social Security, specifically the president’s new coupling of private accounts and a payroll tax raise. The panel is: • Joe Scarborough, host and former Republican Congressman; • Hugh Hewitt, conservative radio host/blogger; • Dennis Prager, conservative writer; • Rachel Maddow, host on Air America. That’s a 3 to […]

My opinion on this is the same as my reaction to finding that Reid was creating a Democratic War Room: Great, but we didn’t do that before!? For those who don’t like following links, the move is simply the DNC granting the DCCC and the DSCC access to Demzilla, the massive computer voter database. Previously, […]

Rick Perlstein e-mailed this morning to say that he too trudged through a Hewitt book for the good of his readers. Not only do I sympathize, but I’m a great believer that authorial sacrifices like reading Hugh Hewitt mandate long-lasting rewards. So go give his review the half-life it deserves, I’m sure it’ll aid his […]

I haven’t said anything on the Lebanon/Syria situation because I don’t know anything about Lebanon or Syria. I do, however, know enough to recommend Praktike’s comments on the matter. And by the way, are you reading Liberals Against Terrorism? Cause if you’re not, you should be. Even Haggai’s hanging out there now.

Will the prime minister be Jafari? Chalabi? A third candidate? I don’t know, but I know who to ask: A close aide to al-Sistani, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance leaders will visit his office in Najaf to get his blessing for their choice for prime minister. If they cannot agree, al-Sistani will […]

Mark Schmitt’s post on the narrow missions of foundations reminded me of something Nick Confessore wrote a few weeks back in his New York Times Magazine expose of Bush’s tax plans (behind the archive so no link): Within Republican circles, Norquist’s job is to organize other organizations, making sure the different branches of conservatism are […]

This is a very, very stupid poll. If George Washington came back from the dead and tried to capture the presidency, I’d vote for Bush as well! Why? Because he knows who Osama bin Laden is. And he has likely heard of the internet, not to mention Medicare. And his context isn’t centuries old. The […]

You should read Ed Kilgore’s comments on the latest salvo in the abortion battle, wherein Carol Tobias of the National Right to Life Committee firmly rejected Hillary Clinton’s call for compromise. As Ed notes, hardcore anti-choice folks don’t see a moral difference between birth control and abortion procedures, forcing them to explain that publicly drives […]