publius

ACORN Is Important After All

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by publius In 2005, Peter Daou wrote a seminal essay called "The Triangle," which (among other things) examined the relationship between blogs and the "mainstream" media (MSM).  Daou's framework provides the best context for understanding the wingers' recent victory lap on ACORN.  As it turns out, the celebration has very little to do with ACORN … Read more

The Meddlesome Nelson

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by publius Brian Beutler has the latest unhelpful comment from Ben Nelson on health coverage reform.  And while it's really annoying to hear, I'm not sure it's that big of a deal. Nebraska, remember, is a very Republican state.  Bush beat Kerry by over 30 points.  Obama did much better, but still lost the state … Read more

Afghanistan’s Fork In The Road

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by publius It's easy to understand why Obama is delaying a final decision on Afghanistan strategy.  He's come to a major fork in the road — and each potential choice calls for radically different actions that can't be easily reversed. Eric Martin can correct me if I'm wrong, but Obama seems to be faced with … Read more

The GOP’s Medicare Hypocrisy

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by publius Today's Post has a decent overview of Republicans' about-face on Medicare spending.  Demagoguing Medicare cuts is quickly becoming the GOP's go-to argument.  And it's hard to recall a more brazen and cynical act of hypocrisy.  It's an argument premised entirely on the assumption that the public — and seniors in particular — will … Read more

What Merkel Means

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by publius I've already noticed some cheering in conservative quarters about the sweeping victory of Merkel's center-right coalition.  To the extent we're viewing the German election through domestic political lenses (and, as Americans, that's our God-given right), it's worth keeping relative baselines in perspective.  As Yglesias notes, much of Merkel's coalition would be considered fairly … Read more

The Benefits of McDonnell’s Thesis

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by publius I haven't followed the Virginia governor's campaign as closely as I'd like.  But it seems clear that McDonnell was pretty much running away with it before his thesis emerged.  The views in his thesis have really wounded him — and rightly so.  It's not exactly a college-era exploration.  He wrote it at 34, … Read more

Mothers For Kyl

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by publius I'm not entirely sure why including maternity care in health insurance benefits is a hill that Jon Kyl wanted to fight on.  But he did: I don't need maternity care and so requiring that to be in my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the insurance more expensive. … Read more

Did Palin Make Posner A Keynesian?

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by publius Regardless of what you think of Posner, you have to respect his willingness to write an essay like that.  It's no easy thing, after decades of being on a different "team," to be that intellectually open to re-examining your basic foundations and assumptions.  It's an admirable trait — and I hope I would … Read more

There Is Still Good In Him. I’ve Felt It.

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by publius Richard Posner just wrote one of those "read the whole thing" essays in TNR.  And it's the clearest and most persuasive theoretical grounding of recent Democratic economic policies that I've seen. It's dense in a few places, but he generally lays out pretty clearly the logic of things like the fiscal stimulus, policies … Read more

Suderman’s Misguided Attacks On The FCC

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by publius I apologize for being a broken record this week, but this week's FCC decision is an incredibly important one.  And it's important to stand up for it now, in the immediate aftermath, while opinions are being formed.  So that said, there is a great deal wrong with this Peter Suderman critique of the … Read more