Ezra Klein

So my last two posts are on prostitution and (in part) homosexuality. Great. Now if I just link to Brad’s post about bathrooms, I’ll have hit the guttermind trifecta. Whoops. In any case, we had unisex bathrooms at UC Santa Cruz and it never seemed a problem. Hell, the showers were unisex too, so it […]

Generally, the callgirls (and boys) this blog talks of are congressional creatures, corporate lackeys, and folks whoring power. But Tim’s got a post on real prostitutes that’s worth taking a look at. Now, it’s not that I’m against the legalization and regulation of prostitution, but such a utopian prediction of it impact strikes me as […]

So uh, there’s this guy, DeLay, and he was like, indicted or something? Who’s he again? Late as I am to the party, this looks to be a pretty fun bash. I’m not necessarily pleased with the timing — we’re still a year out from 2006 — but beggars can’t be choosers, and powerless journalists […]

I’ve got a nice, full-throated defense of Medicaid up over at Tapped, so those who like my health care stuff should take a look.

Brad DeLong’s strike at Crowley’s small-minded article is much better than my takedown (which you can find below). The problem with the article (which some of my colleagues disagree with, so it can clearly be read different ways is the crushing condescension and disdain Crowley evinces for Clinton’s wonkery. Clinton talks too much, he’s boring, […]

Michael Crowley’s mean-spirited, caustic, and small assessment of Bill Clinton is really, in a most essential sense, bizarre. In an article written to convince you that Clinton’s a prick, Crowley, an otherwise talented reporter and analyst, manages to must the following bits of supporting evidence: • Clinton can be long-winded. Indeed, Michael Crowley even thought […]

So how will the X-Box 360 improve your life?

My cubicle-mate Matt has a mostly-right post on redistricting (in short, you don’t want nonpartisan redistricting wherever Democrats are and massive, DeLay-led gerrymandering where Republicans rule the roost, it’s unilateral disarmament) that ends is a potentially wrong way: As a general matter, gerrymandering is less important to the declining competitiveness of congressional elections than is […]

Joe Paduda on how various patients will react to consumer-driven health plans (HSA’s, MSA’s, and all the rest): Catastrophic patients – about 5% of the population…are also not affected – they’ll blow through their MSA account balance in a month or two, after which the insurance company or Medicare or Medicaid pays the rest. So, […]

Over at Feministe, they’re compiling the worst pickup lines they’ve ever heard. I remember, back in the day, a book listing bad ones, of which my favorite was: “Hey baby, I have cable.” I guess now it’d be “wireless”. In any case — I find this whole conversation fairly bizarre. Does anyone actually use pickup […]