At the risk of exploiting unforeseeable turns of events to validate all my priors, I want to argue that the unfolding of the 2020 Democratic primaries does not invalidate a class-based approach to politics. The exponent of this notion whom … Continue reading
MaxSpeak
I ought to get my wonk on and write about the priority of bolstering state and local government resources, since I’ve worked on this intermittently since the 80s. This crisis will blow a huge hole in state government budgets, due … Continue reading
The title was a phrase that I believe emerged after the 2008 financial meltdown. There was also a book title about a hedge fund that effectively went belly-up but was saved by action of the Federal Reserve. The latter title … Continue reading
It’s been said that there are no atheists in foxholes, and more recently, no fiscal conservatives in a recession. In the same spirit, calls for the Federal government to send money are coming from some unlikely quarters. There are obvious … Continue reading
“It was wonderful to find America, but it would have been more wonderful to miss it”. – Mark Twain, The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson The Story of Thanksgiving (updated) MaxSpeak Summary: Among Puritan Christian fundamentalists, the Pilgrims were treacherous, murderous … Continue reading
Many comrades have trouble getting their arms around the removal of the most depraved, reactionary president in memory. Not surprisingly, nobody in their right mind wants to launch a new Cold War against the Satanic Russians. Nevertheless, heartfelt encouragement of … Continue reading
Jacobin tees off again on Elizabeth Warren’s M4A proposal. I’m afraid I don’t think much of Higgenbotham’s argument. At the start, he centers the political difficulty of M4A on the resistance of providers. That is certainly one pole of resistance. … Continue reading
Just read this blast from Brother Matt, lambasting Warren’s M4A financing plan as “a disaster.” Wrong on several counts. Every count, actually. Matt castigates Warren’s employer tax as a “Medicare head tax,” contrasting it unfavorably with a straight payroll tax. … Continue reading
Here’s the draft of a work in progress, shared with the permission of the author. All of the Above: How to Tax the Wealthy by Victor Thuronyi Executive Summary Substantially raising taxes on the wealthy not only raises technical issues … Continue reading
“Politics is not arithmetic.” – Álvaro Cunhal, former Secretary-General, Partido Comunista Português My friend, the semi-notorious Matt Bruenig, responded to my bit in Jacobin on Andrew Yang and Universal Basic Income (UBI) on his Peoples Policy Institute website, so here … Continue reading