A time for questions

A time for questions

The day before the election, the Seattle Review of Books published a piece of mine which examined Against Democracy —a contrarian treatise written by Jason Brennan. The author’s arguments essentially boiled down to two deficiencies related to collective rule: 1) people are susceptible to supporting positions and politicians that do not serve their best interests and 2) public discourse tends to the lowest common denominator of society. Where myself and Brennan disagreed was whether or not these two very real issues were insurmountable. He ultimately views democratic citizens as irredeemable, while I consider my fellow citizens as reformable. As the reality of Hillary Clinton’s loss began to sink in last Tuesday night, I turned to Paul Constant (the co-founder of the Seattle Review of Books) and asked him if I could add an addendum to my piece: “Ignore all of the arguments I have hitherto made. Democracy is a terrible form of government.” In all seriousness, Americans should take the result of November 8th, 2016 as an opportunity to reflect on our responsibilities as civic participants. Is our government structured in the best way possible? If not, how could we improve it? Will building the wall help give identity to our people? Will registering Muslims make us safer? Now is a time for questions, not answers.

Daily Clips: November 16, 2016

Daily Clips: November 16, 2016

We must rethink globalization or Trumpism will prevail Thomas Piketty believes “Trump’s victory is primarily due to the explosion in economic and geographic inequality in the United states ovver several decades and the inability of successive governments to deal with this.” The man who would kill Dodd-Frank Read about Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican “who wants to overhaul financial regulation” and “is under consideration to be Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary.” Donald Trump is “planning register for Muslims” This is how it begins. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren join the Democratic leadership While this is good news, it’s infuriating to see Schumer giving senior roles to “centrists” like Joe Manchin (D-WV). Have they learned nothing from this election? Shoppers ramp up spending ahead of key holiday shopping season Capitalism for the win. All must be right in America. Tweet of the day China tells Trump climate change isn't a hoax it invented https://t.co/eWVQtI28t3 pic.twitter.com/7qV3RfzTTE — Bloomberg (@business) November 16, 2016

Daily Clips: November 15th, 2016

Daily Clips: November 15th, 2016

Gwen Ifill dies I remember watching the PBS News Hour with my grandparents and parents at a very young age. I remember being amazed at how sophisticated the conversation seemed. I remember really liking Jim Lehrer and his monotone drawls. I remember loving Gwen Ifill. She was a soft-spoken, yet critical reporter. I will miss her. The republic repeals itself  Andrew Sullivan…take a bow. A sobering read that simultaneously inspires and dampens the spirits of those against Trump. FBI: Hate crimes spike, most sharply against Muslims Horrifying. It’s only going to get worse. Examining how Washington State voted in the presidential election Here’s the likelier explanation for Trump’s overall underperformance: the Puget Sound is doing pretty well economically right now. A poll earlier this year by Strategies360 showed that King County residents say, by an over two-to-one margin, that they’re happy with the direction of Washington State. Compare that to recent national polls that show Americans think the country is on the wrong track by the same margin. Democrats once represented the working class. Not any more Robert Reich and Thomas Frank have been banging this drum for awhile. Their arguments are sound and convincing. Can cities counter the power of Donald Trump? It is cities that can, perhaps, find a way to allow black and white to join in opposition to monopoly power rather than, by setting them against one another, assure its consolidation. It is in cities where Martin Luther King, at the end of his life, devoted himself to the pursuit of racial justice for both blacks and whites in his Operation Breadbasket. That must be the model.

Daily Clips: November 14th, 2016

Daily Clips: November 14th, 2016

After last week’s disastrous federal results, I failed to publish any clips. In truth, I failed to do anything of consequence all week. He Who Must Not Be Named is now my president. That stings. Consequently, I will do everything in my power to not link to stories about him or his alt-right buddies. It’s just too painful for me at this point in time. On the alleged failure of “liberal progressivism” Excellent discussion over at the political blog, Crooked Timber. The author takes issue with the claim that “liberal progressivism” has held a hegemonic grip on society for thirty years. He even throws in some Rawlsian terms, which got me excited. Is Political Science This Year’s Election Casualty? No. What a terrible hot take. UPS air maintenance workers vote 98 percent to authorize strike Contract talks remain deadlocked over health-care benefits. Another example of greedy workers ruining capitalism! A blueprint for a new Democratic Party But electing individual progressives does little to change the broad dynamics of American politics or American capitalism. In fact, it can create a kind of placebo effect: sustaining the illusion of forward motion while obscuring the fact that neither party is structurally built to reflect working-class interests. Tweet of the day: Irony…Hamilton's Federalist#68 says electoral college was created to reverse the election of an unfit candidate. @JoyAnnReid @KevinMKruse pic.twitter.com/CoO9jv08rO — Douglas A. Blackmon (@douglasblackmon) November 12, 2016

Daily Clips: November 8th, 2016

Daily Clips: November 8th, 2016

And so it ends. The Washington Post’s Editorial Board calls out GOP; claims they are “rigging” election by pushing voter suppression. Voters could legalize marijuana for quarter of all Americans. Inclusive growth and inequality in Europe Tweets of the (big) day: Is this Brexit day in the US? I hope so. — Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) November 8, 2016 Pls vote for Hillary today. Even if you don't like her, its necessary to block a dangerous lunatic ultimate power. #ThisTimeIsDifferent — Bill Maher (@billmaher) November 8, 2016

Daily Clips: November 7, 2016

Daily Clips: November 7, 2016

Racism and sexism are extremely bad for the economy: Hamilton Nolan is now writing at Deadspin, and he is already providing excellent economic analysis to his new outlet. Dems are likelier than not to win the Senate majority:  Democrats need to pick up four seats to win the Senate. Wall St. soars as FBI clears Clinton ahead of Election Day:  Investors probably just love her populism. Obama’s plan to destroy America has failed miserably:   Republicans’ eagerness to exploit and encourage that kind of stupidity is what makes it so difficult to resolve ordinary political differences. Because in order to resolve them, both sides have to accept that they are in fact ordinary, that the world is not going to end if one side prevails, and that somebody who has a substantive disagreement with you about policy isn’t necessarily a demon bent on ripping you open and feasting on your entrails. Tweet of the day: Hillary passed Obama in total black voters who participated in Early Voting in Florida. 2012: 539,0002016: 564,000 (not counting today) — Adam Smith (@AdamSmith_usa) November 7, 2016

Daily Clips: November 4th, 2016

Daily Clips: November 4th, 2016

Sec of State Kim Wyman falls under sway of big-money corporate lobbying: Kim Wyman, who is a Republican, loves to tell Washington voters that she is not interested in partisan bickering. So it therefore appears somewhat odd that she went to “closed-door meetings” sponsored by the NRA and others. In fact, just last month there was a weekend retreat put together by Koch Industries where they “shot pheasant and clay pigeons.” Minimum-wage advocates chastised Washington’s secretary of state, Kim Wyman , who is in the midst of a re-election campaign. She has benefited from a blitz of radio advertisements paid for by the Republican group that sponsored the May meetings with industry representatives. Ms. Wyman declined requests to comment. The US economy created 161k jobs in October: The unemployment rate fell to 4.9%, as well. Study: Obama tax hikes on rich didn’t hurt economy, or rich : Would you look at that. State ballot initiatives on gun control appear likely to pass: Washington, Maine, and Nevada all look posed to win big on Extreme Risk Protection Orders and universal background checks, respectively. Tweet of the day:

Daily Clips: November 3rd, 2016

Daily Clips: November 3rd, 2016

GOP lobbied to limit voting hours in North Carolina: Of course they did. Progressives are headed for big election day wins on wages, weed, and guns: While regulating firearms has proven impossible on the federal level, Nevada, California, Maine, and Washington are all on pace to pass tougher gun laws next Tuesday. In the Silver State, the measure would require firearm transfers to go through a licensed gun dealer, except in instances of a temporary transfer or of a gift between immediate family members. Mainers are considering a similar expansion of background checks. In California, voters are likely to ban large-capacity magazines and require certain individuals to pass background checks before buying bullets, while Washington is set to allow judges to issue temporary violence restraining orders to deny people who are found to be a danger to themselves or others access to firearms. Current polls show all of these measures passing, although Nevada’s is more hotly contested than the others. How Trump pushed millennials out of the Republican party:  Obvious explanations, but well written. Gun buyers stockpiling firearms ahead of Election Day:  Lovely. Tweet of the day: WA has the most upside down tax code in the nation: time to #cleanupthetaxcode . #WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/nCyIMORCa3 — All in for WA (@AllInForWA) October 26, 2016

Daily Clips: November 2nd, 2016

Daily Clips: November 2nd, 2016

Relax! The US recovery is just getting started:  This article has a juicy headline but the substance is actually more related to the recession and its effects. Black turnout falls in early voting, a bad sign for Clinton:   But this election could determine if the Obama-era level of participation among blacks is sustainable. It could also show that the Democratic Party, which has benefited enormously from population shifts that have left the country more diverse, is facing a demographic reckoning of its own. US militia girds for trouble as presidential election nears: The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, estimates there were 276 active militias last year, up from 42 in 2008. Seattle bumps Boston as the most expensive U.S. housing market that’s not in California:  Lovely. Tweet of the day: So, today is the one-year anniversary of Seattle's declaration of a state of emergency on homelessness. — Heidi Groover (@heidigroover) November 2, 2016

Kansas Proves That Trickle Down Economics Doesn’t Work

Kansas Proves That Trickle Down Economics Doesn’t Work

I interrupt your long week of freaking out over weird poll results—seriously, you can stop reading the news right now —to highlight this very important Los Angeles Times piece by Michael Hiltzik . As you probably know, Governor Sam Brownback’s leadership in Kansas is the most straightforward example of trickle down economics that we have in the United States right now . Brownback and a supermajority of conservative state legislators have done everything in their considerable power to enact into law the three main pillars of trickle down economics, which I will recount for you right here: Tax cuts for the rich. Deregulation for the powerful. Wage suppression for everyone else. Brownback immediately cut the income tax for the wealthiest Kansans and passed “business-friendly” laws like exempting pass-through business income from taxes. The thinking with trickle down economics is that when government redistributes the wealth to the top one percent, that money trickles down—ugh, that image—to everyone else. This is why Republicans refer to really rich people as “job creators.” No other state has gone this far in the effort to create a trickle down economy; Kansas is in uncharted waters, here. So how’s it going? Hiltzik says the state’s income tax collection has fallen by more than 20 percent, and even the Brownback administration’s own financial report… …painted a “doom and gloom scenario” in which the gross state product had declined from 2014 through 2015, and that growth in personal income, nonfarm employment and private industry wages all trailed the region and the country as a whole. Sales tax collections were up, but that’s because Brownback enacted two sales tax increases to compensate for his other tax cuts. The general effect was to burden the middle class and poor with costs that wealthier Kansans escape. Huh. So it looks to me that when you take money from the middle class and give it to the richest people in your economy, the richest people tend to keep that money. Who would’ve thought? Seriously, look at the map at the top of Hiltzik’s story  and tell me everything in Kansas is fine.  It’s
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