a Better Bubble™

Kevin Drum 🕸

Egypt and the Gaza Strip

1 year 7 months ago
Egypt has been a full partner with Israel in the Gaza blockade ever since it began. They have also been resolute about banning immigration from Gaza to Egypt, including refugees in the current war. Why? Over at New York, Benjamin Hart asks Steven Cook: I think that the Egyptian position on this is a principled ...continue reading "Egypt and the Gaza Strip"
Kevin Drum

Do you know what time it is?

1 year 7 months ago
Jon Chait remarks on a phrase that's become common on the right recently: “The Federalist Society doesn’t know what time it is,” said Russell T. Vought, the former Trump budget director who is orchestrating his planning.... A conservative who knows what time it is recognizes that the left is poised to permanently seize power, and ...continue reading "Do you know what time it is?"
Kevin Drum

Right-wing catastrophism is now an intellectual movement too

1 year 7 months ago
Damon Linker today in the New York Times: A coalition of intellectual catastrophists on the American right is ... giving the next generation of Republican officeholders, senior advisers, judges and appointees explicit permission and encouragement to believe that the country is on the verge of collapse. Some catastrophists take it a step further and suggest ...continue reading "Right-wing catastrophism is now an intellectual movement too"
Kevin Drum

Raise taxes or cut Social Security and Medicare? Those are your choices.

1 year 7 months ago
No special reason for posting this. I just felt like it. It shows primary federal spending (i.e., not including interest) and revenue since 2000: In the early 2000s spending and revenue were in sync. Then, thanks partly to a mild recession and partly to George Bush's tax cuts, revenue fell. The same thing happened again ...continue reading "Raise taxes or cut Social Security and Medicare? Those are your choices."
Kevin Drum

National Review: Biden is a clandestine agent of China

1 year 7 months ago
Over at National Review, Andy McCarthy wanders ever further down the rabbit hole of abject lunacy: On the latest episode of his podcast The McCarthy Report, National Review Institute fellow Andy McCarthy reacted to the revelation that Joe Biden’s brother, James, wrote him a $40,000 check when a $400,000 payment from a Chinese concern came ...continue reading "National Review: Biden is a clandestine agent of China"
Kevin Drum

Reining in illegal immigration doesn’t have to be either punitive or difficult

1 year 7 months ago
For Republicans, one of the nice things about their waning support for Ukraine is that it means they can credibly threaten to vote against it unless Democrats throw in some goodies for them. As usual, the goodies they want involve border security. Politico reports that one concession President Biden is considering is a tweak to ...continue reading "Reining in illegal immigration doesn’t have to be either punitive or difficult"
Kevin Drum

Destroying Hamas is fine, but the demands of basic human decency haven’t suddenly been repealed

1 year 7 months ago
I've seen several TV interviews with Hamas leaders over the past week, and I have to say I'm surprised they even do interviews. al-Qaeda never did interviews, and with good reason. Even a friendly reporter is likely to have some tough questions for outfits like al-Qaeda or Hamas. In any case, I've now seen one ...continue reading "Destroying Hamas is fine, but the demands of basic human decency haven’t suddenly been repealed"
Kevin Drum

SBF is guilty

1 year 7 months ago
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried was long and complicated, but the jury's deliberations weren't. After a few short hours they've already returned a guilty verdict: The conviction cements Bankman-Fried as one of the largest financial fraudsters in history, whose victims suffered nearly $10 billion in losses after FTX misappropriated customer funds to spend lavishly on ...continue reading "SBF is guilty"
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

1 year 7 months ago
We were lucky that the eclipse a couple of weeks ago lined up nicely with leaf season in Colorado. The scenery was chock full of brilliant yellow aspens, like this copse a little north of Durango. It was all very pretty.
Kevin Drum

Are people suing employers to keep working at home?

1 year 7 months ago
The Wall Street Journal says more and more workers are filing discrimination complaints if their company won't let them work from home: The number of charges filed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination against individuals with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder rose by at least 16% for each condition from 2021 to ...continue reading "Are people suing employers to keep working at home?"
Kevin Drum

Survey results: Should bicyclists get out of the way of right-turners?

1 year 7 months ago
Yesterday I put up this picture: As a matter of courtesy, not law, I asked what this bicyclist should do. Just stay there because it's a bike lane and that's that? Or, because it's also a right-turn lane, move up a bit and let the right turners make their turns? I genuinely didn't know how ...continue reading "Survey results: Should bicyclists get out of the way of right-turners?"
Kevin Drum