This is super important to watch.
In addition to being slow to react to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Maria and inclined to blame Puerto Rico itself for a lot of the problems, there’s been something specific about his comments. He keeps talking about Puerto Rico’s public debt. Read More
As I tried over the last year or two to understand the world of Trump, one thing I tried hard to get my head around was the stark and often comical pattern of Trump Organization loyalists’ strict public subservience to Trump. They’re not just loyal. Dignity jettisoning protestations and affirmative declarations seem to be part of the deal. What I heard or read again and again is that there’s a pretty clear if perhaps unspoken deal in the Trump universe. If you work for Trump as one of his people – not the thousands who must work for various Trump businesses but the high level, visible retainers – you get to enjoy the lifestyle. But the price is total loyalty, total self-abnegation and whatever loss of dignity is required to serve Trump.
Many people seem to be happy with that bargain. Read More
A quick Editor’s Brief on Tom Price’s pricey chartered flights (sub req).
In a new story at NBC News, Steve Kornacki says there is a new GOP uprising underway leading into the 2018 election. It is a replay or the next stage of similar eruptions in 2010 and 2012 and to a lesser extent in 2014. We know the pattern: establishment Republicans get picked off by increasingly radical or simply crazy ‘grassroots’ conservatives. Many end up losing races to Democrats which a more conventional Republican could have won. But some or most get through. Read More
A top Saudi education official lost his job this week after he oversaw the creation of a new Saudi high school history textbook which had a picture of then-Prince and later King Faisal signing the UN Charter in 1945 with Yoda sitting next to him. And we should all be grateful to be alive in a day when such an amazing story came to pass.
One component of the President’s tax cut plan is eliminating the inheritance tax. This is a huge mistake, both for society and the economy. You may be confused because you know about it as the ‘estate tax’ or after years of conservative yakking ‘the death tax.’ But it is actually a tax on inheritances. And though it is far from sufficient, a robust tax on inheritances is a critical part not only of combating wealth inequality but also creating a productive economy. Read More
Racist activists working to put together a replay of Charlottesville tiki fest, this time in Charlotte.
Here is some news which is altogether of the moment but which I had missed. In fact, from what I can tell it’s received relatively little news attention at all beyond Richmond – and not terribly much even there. A state commission in Virginia is planning an anti-slavery monument which will be built in downtown Richmond, specifically on Brown’s Island. So far, nothing terribly remarkable. But one of the 10 figures to be honored in the monument is Nat Turner, who led the largest and deadliest slave rebellion in United States’ history in 1831. Read More
I’ve mentioned in several posts over recent weeks and months that we’re going to be experimenting with some new ways to cover the news, provide guidance in following the news and breaking down what I’ve called the ‘fourth wall’ of news. We’re going to start with what we’re calling ‘Editor’s Briefs’. Read More