We’re Having the Wrong Debate About a $15 Minimum Wage
The Democratic Party has moved left on myriad issues in recent years, but perhaps nowhere more dramatically than on the minimum wage. It wasn’t long ago that President Barack Obama and Democrats in...
View ArticleMississippi Quotes John Roberts to Defend Its Racist Election Law
Virtually every state in the Union elects its governor and other statewide offices by popular vote. Mississippi does something different. First, a candidate must win a majority of the statewide popular...
View ArticleBiden’s Pitch to Voters: Dream Small
If there’s one thing Joe Biden wants people to know about his new health care plan, it’s this: It is not Medicare for All. “Read the plan,” he told reporters about his proposal, which would bolster...
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The Banality of Lindsey Graham
It may be hard to believe now, but Lindsey Graham was once considered a relative moderate. During the Obama years, the South Carolina senator backed legislation that would create a legal path to...
View ArticleFacebook Is a New Form of Power
Typically for Silicon Valley, Facebook’s June announcement of plans to launch a global, digital currency—Libra—spoke of empowering billions of people, especially those without access to banking. Also...
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Svetlana Alexievich’s Child’s-Eye View
Svetlana Alexievich was born in 1948 in Ukraine, three years after the end of World War II. Shortly afterwards, her father moved the family back to his homeland, Belarus, where Alexievich would grow up...
View ArticleDon’t Depoliticize Abortion
Last week, when Planned Parenthood Federation of American abruptly pushed out President Leana Wen after less than a year in her position, it brought a long-simmering debate at the organization into the...
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What Women Want
The notion of “privacy” has done a lot to protect predators. The #MeToo movement has tried to trespass on that boundary, to remove the veil that had hidden the behavior of successful men. But ordinary...
View ArticlePlease Don’t Blow the Mueller Hearings
When lawmakers question witnesses on Capitol Hill, they typically do so in order of seniority. That’s why Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most prominent House Democrats despite being elected only...
View ArticleAfter 48 Years, Democrats Still Haven’t Gotten the Memo
In 1971, soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote a memo to Eugene Sydnor Jr., the education director at the United States Chamber of Commerce. Powell told Sydnor and the Chamber that...
View ArticleThe Obscene Difficulty of Depriving a Troubled White Man of a Gun
Darryl Varnum, a technology contractor for the Pentagon, is facing federal charges for threatening to kill Florida Democratic Representative Frederica Wilson over a vaccination bill. He’s a gun owner,...
View ArticleThe Cruelty of Trump’s Attack on Food Stamps
As a candidate, Donald Trump frequently promised to “fix” poverty. As president, he has continued to make a big show of concern for poor Americans. “We want to lift every American family out of poverty...
View ArticleBiden’s Big, Obvious Ideas for Criminal-Justice Reform
Joe Biden, ahead of two major speeches before black civil-rights groups later this week, unveiled his plan on Tuesday for reforming America’s broken criminal-justice system. “Equality, equity,...
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Beyond Pelosi
Every time I see Nancy Pelosi patiently spell out the higher political wisdom of refraining from impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, I think of Alan Greenspan. That’s obviously not because...
View ArticleCalifornia Looks to Give Gig Workers Their Due
Konstantine Anthony, a 38-year-old Uber driver, usually starts his morning by picking up a commuter in Burbank, California, and heading over the hills on Highway 5 toward downtown Los Angeles. From...
View ArticleThe Democrats’ New Climate Plan Can’t Be Serious
On Tuesday afternoon, the top three Democratic members of the House Energy Committee unveiled what they called a “bold new initiative” to tackle the climate crisis. Meant as a more moderate alternative...
View ArticleWhich Boris Is Britain Going to Get?
After eighteen years in political office, and a lifetime with his eyes on the prize, Boris Johnson has become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Defeating Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in the...
View ArticleThe Media Missed Mueller’s Clear Case for Impeaching Trump
Even before Robert Mueller’s appearance before Congress on Wednesday reached the halfway point, some in Washington concluded that it was a major setback for impeaching President Donald Trump. “So far,...
View ArticlePuerto Ricans Are Tired of Being Powerless
On Monday, frustration that has been building in Puerto Rico erupted, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans flooding the streets and calling for governor Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation. The island and...
View ArticleThe FBI’s Trump-Russia Investigation Continues
It would be understandable if you missed it because it came close to the end of seven hours of repetitive, somewhat inscrutable testimony, but Special Counsel Robert Mueller did make news Wednesday....
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