When I first saw the news the some anonymous buyer had purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the largest paper in the state, it occurred to me that we might be seeing the next big step in the oligarchification of public life in America. To be clear, rich people have been buying newspapers for a mix of vanity and political influence for generations. There’s absolutely nothing new about it, though in the past there was usually a deeper rootedness in the communities in question. The Chandler family and The Los Angeles Times is a good example of that history. But you always knew who they were.
Now we know that Sheldon Adelson is the purchaser of the Review-Journal, and given his demonstrated willingness to buy power and influence on a massive scale, one can only imagine what a joke the paper will soon become. But here’s where things connect up, where this connects up to other strains of the oligarchification of America.
This > “An upstate New York man who admitted building a remote control for a mobile X-ray device intended to kill Muslims has been sentenced to eight years in prison.”
The budget package being voted on today by the House looks an awful lot like the ones cobbled together by then-Speaker John Boehner, a mix of provisions that incense the Freedom Caucus types and require concessions to Democrats (further inflaming the right wing of the conference) to win enough of their votes to get the thing over the hump. So how are Freedom Caucus members reacting this time? TPM’s Lauren Fox talks to some of them — and what you take away is that while Paul Ryan has bought some time he hasn’t really resolved the deeper structural issues.
Got questions? I’ve got answers. I’m answering reader questions in this thread in The Hive (sub req).
Wilmington, Delaware church collapses in massive fire. Second fire to hit the same church this month. A local TV news drone caught the moment of the collapse on video.
After letting him squirm for a day, the Republican led Senate intel committee lets Ted Cruz out of the ‘leaking classified information’ penalty box.
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There’s a flurry of chatter this morning to the effect that Ted Cruz may have released classified information in last night’s Republican debate. Marco Rubio hinted at that in the debate itself when he said he would be more careful than Cruz in not releasing classified national security information in a nationally televised debate. Now Sen. Burr (R), the chair of the Senate intelligence committee says that his staff will be looking into whether Cruz did in fact cross the line.