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Kevin Drum 🕸

Effectively banning abortion just isn’t popular, even in red states

2 weeks 5 days ago
Ohio, these days, is a solidly red state. And yet, yesterday Ohioans went to the polls and approved an abortion rights initiative by 57-43%. What gives? The answer is simple, but maybe not obvious. Last year Ohio passed a law (currently in court) that bans abortion after six weeks. This is effectively a complete abortion ...continue reading "Effectively banning abortion just isn’t popular, even in red states"
Kevin Drum

Workplace injuries up by 100,000 in 2022

2 weeks 5 days ago
Bad news! The number of workplace injuries increased from 2.2 million in 2021 to 2.3 million in 2022. However, the rate of injuries stayed the same: The most dangerous occupation in 2022 was transportation and warehousing. Finance had the fewest injuries:
Kevin Drum

New cars will soon have technology to prevent drunk driving

2 weeks 6 days ago
The nanny state is at it again: 🚨 The federal government has mandated that all vehicles sold after 2026 must have a kill switch that can disable your vehicle based on your driving performance. My amendment to defund that unconstitutional mandate failed tonight. Here is the roll call:https://t.co/YWufj9BuMv — Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 8, 2023 ...continue reading "New cars will soon have technology to prevent drunk driving"
Kevin Drum

Democrats sweep the election

2 weeks 6 days ago
And that's that. In Virginia, Democrats have maintained control of the State Senate and flipped control of the House of Delegates away from Republicans: That makes tonight nearly a clean sweep for Democrats. Among major races, Republicans won only the governorship of Mississippi, and that was never really in serious doubt.
Kevin Drum

Election results looking favorable for Democrats

2 weeks 6 days ago
Ohio voters have decided to put a right to abortion in their constitution. Kentucky voters have reelected their Democratic governor. A Democrat won the Pennsylvania race for its Supreme Court. The Virginia legislature is still up for grabs. Texas voters are merrily voting for every single initiative on the ballot except for one that would ...continue reading "Election results looking favorable for Democrats"
Kevin Drum

New paper suggests online services are worth $5,000 to the average American

2 weeks 6 days ago
A team of researchers released a paper recently (here) that tries to quantify how much different digital services are worth to their users. For example, here's the relative value of nine different services: Google search was the top service, beating out even meeting your friends in person. TikTok, oddly, has a low value despite its ...continue reading "New paper suggests online services are worth $5,000 to the average American"
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

2 weeks 6 days ago
As we were driving up Highway 160 to Durango a few weeks ago we could see the Ship Rock in the far distance. Ship Rock is an "iconic and religiously significant Navajo Nation monadnock that rises over 1,500 ft into the air," but from a distance I remarked that it looked like the Emerald City ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"
Kevin Drum

A brief comparison of Donald Trump’s America vs. Joe Biden’s

2 weeks 6 days ago
During Donald Trump's presidency crime skyrocketed. Mental illness among teens soared. In Charlottesville racists and Proud Boys rioted. American soldiers continued to be killed in an Afghanistan war that seemed endless. North Korea tested new missiles that could reach the US mainland. Foreign leaders fretted that America could no longer be trusted. Thousands of Trump ...continue reading "A brief comparison of Donald Trump’s America vs. Joe Biden’s"
Kevin Drum

Supreme Court looks ready to ban guns from domestic abusers

2 weeks 6 days ago
Last year the Supreme Court ruled that gun restrictions are constitutional only if they are based on America's "historical tradition" of firearm regulation. So how about a law that bans gun ownership by people who are subject to restraining orders for domestic violence? The Fifth Circuit Court, home of conservative wet dreams, naturally ruled that ...continue reading "Supreme Court looks ready to ban guns from domestic abusers"
Kevin Drum

Is it time to put “To Kill a Mockingbird” out to pasture?

2 weeks 6 days ago
A few days ago the Washington Post ran a story about some high school teachers in Washington state who wanted to stop teaching To Kill a Mockingbird. It all started when one of the teachers was listening to a podcast: The Black hosts of the show joked that “Mockingbird” ranked with Confederate monuments as something ...continue reading "Is it time to put “To Kill a Mockingbird” out to pasture?"
Kevin Drum

Egypt and the Gaza Strip

3 weeks 2 days 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?

3 weeks 2 days 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

3 weeks 2 days 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