Ezra Klein

If you’re trying to figure out whether or not to oppose Schwarzenegger’s redistricting scheme, Brad Plumer and Matt Singer lay out the stakes. Put simply: the proposition is more partisan hackery. While the board that “redistricts” will indeed be nonpartisan, the methodology it uses is internally rigged against Democrats. It’s like having an independent typist […]

By Neil the Ethical Werewolf It looks like the Iraqi Constitution is going to barely meet the requirements for passage — majority support overall, and 1/3 support in at least 15 of the 18 provinces. I wish I could hope that this is a hopeful sign. The Sunnis came out fairly strongly against it, and […]

Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math I promised everyone a rationale for my pollyannish but ill-received claim that Democrats will gain seats if a clear majority votes for a Democratic Congressman. So break out your quill pens, your carbon paper, and your abacus, and we’ll take a look at recent congressional results.

By Ezra Guess the LA Times didn’t find my op-ed convincing. They came out today in favor of Prop. 75, the “paycheck protection” initiative, arguing that the state’s public employee unions ought to be weakened and the proposition passed. They do this admitting that the law is poorly written (the “issue education” loophole) and its […]

By Pepper of the Daily Pepper It isn’t pretty. Neil Boortz, a conservative talk-show host, doesn’t get the kind of spotlight that Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter do. He doesn’t even rank up there with Michael Savage. About all he’s got going for him is a last name that translates rather well into […]

My friend Jesse at Pandagon is leaving blogland for the bluer, better-paying pastures of Ted Strickland’s campaign for governor. Longtime readers will know that Jesse and I shared online real estate for over a year, and it was, for me, a time of great growth as a writer, as a political thinker, and as a […]

By Neil the Ethical Werewolf Suppose you had the money and power to start three small liberal organizations — 527 groups, think tanks, PACs, ninja strike teams, or whatever. What would they be? Leave your answers in the comments if you like. Here are the answers that come to my mind: 1. A 527 group […]

Shakes here… In Ezra’s earlier post, Good Night, and Good Luck, he references: the idea of the news anchor as advocate, the concept that enormously trusted, unelected individuals could be beamed into millions of homes and use their status and reach to shape tomorrow’s stories, not just publicize yesterday’s tales. That was real bias. But […]

By Pepper of the Daily Pepper, who just saw this on CNN and is teed off enough to post again CNN just flashed up videos of a riot in Toledo, Ohio. Some citizens were understandably and justifiably agitated by a Neo-Nazi rally that was being staged in that city. So people freak out. A building […]

By Ezra I keep forgetting to mention this, but I’m really conflicted on the President’s Tax Advisory Commission’s recommendation to shut down the health insurance deduction: In the case of employer-paid health insurance, the main proposal the panel discussed would limit tax-free premium payments to the average cost of the premium the government pays for […]