Also how do you know DC isn’t a crime-free zone? Because the president lives there
MSNBC anchor/co-host of The Weekend: Primetime, Sat/Sun 6-9pm. Fmrly WashPost syndicated op-ed columnist. Currently on leave. Econ, politics, immigration, tax, etc. + occasional theater nerdery.
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Also how do you know DC isn’t a crime-free zone? Because the president lives there
As a friend recently put it: the venn diagram of people who assured us the gun violence was worth it because we need the guns to protect ourselves against a tyrannical federal government and the people cheering on Trump as he deploys the military to take over American cities is a circle
Once more for those in back: They were never going to be able to implement a mass deportation program without prioritizing people like this. Criminals and gang members are too hard to find and apprehend. Regular folks who show up to work, church, and their scheduled immigration appointments are not.
"Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company led by the sons of US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, is creating a way for investors to bet that President Donald Trump’s signature tariffs will be struck down in court."
More on the Goolsbee Rule here (from 2020) www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/wit...
Remember the Goolsbee Rule, also called the “pathological irony of crisis”: If you lose credibility, your statements begin to mean the opposite of what you say.
Increasing political pressure on the Fed by half as much as Nixon did, for six months, raises the price level more than 8%. www.nber.org/papers/w32461
Every five years, the Fed Board in DC votes to approve the reappointment of all 12 regional Fed presidents. This is typically a routine matter. But if Trump has enough governors willing to do so, they could decline to reappoint the regional Fed presidents. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/b...
This Is What—and Who—We’re Losing in RFK’s Purge open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
Mongers, ranked: 1. Cheese 2. Fish 3. Rumor 4. Iron 5. War 6. Conspiracy
A respected network of hospitals and cancer centers is halting enrollment in clinical trials for children with brain cancer after the federal government said it would no longer provide funding to the group. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...
Until the TCJA, the top 400 US individuals by wealth and the full US population both had effective tax rates of ~30%. The TCJA reduced the Top 400 individuals’ total effective tax rates to 23.8% in 2018 – 2020, well below those of the full population (still ~30%). www.nber.org/system/files...
This rule would have meant I couldn't do my Ph.D. in America. I did do it in America. Became a professor. 12 thriving U.S. labs are now headed by trainees from my research lab. Like me, they are all working hard to enrich American knowledge and society. With this self-harming rule, none of that.
Most Trump tariffs are not legal, US appeals court rules www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Trump just ended the century-old "de minimis" exemption, which allowed items worth less than $800 to be shipped to the country duty-free, or without having to pay any tariffs. In response, postal services from around the world have begun suspending shipments to the US www.nbcnews.com/business/bus...
Catherine is right about this; a lot of the biggest changes to immigration will take years to manifest, including mass deportations. The price shocks are not going to be sudden.
I wrote about this a few months ago. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
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Much of Trump's econ damage is slower-burning, longer-term—politicizing Fed, discarding rule of law, shaking down firms, degrading data, destroying talent pipeline, alienating trade partners etc These will have costs in the short-term, sure. But biggest costs will be evident in coming years, decades
I'm often asked why dire predictions about how Trump would destroy economy haven't (yet) come to pass. Part of the answer is that he's paused/delayed/reversed some things (e.g., TACO on tariffs). But part of the answer is about actions like this, on student visas...
Needless to say, I would not have been able to complete my PhD had this rule been in effect when I was a student. What a nightmare.
This is illegal. www.gao.gov/blog/what-po...
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A reminder that PhD students are also teachers. It'll be much harder to run undergraduate programs too with this change.
The new proposed rule would also effectively end automatic OPT - the program that allows students to work for a short period of time after they graduate (which means e.g. they can accept a position at a US tech company while waiting to enter lottery for a longer-term skilled-worker visa)
In reality, his admin is sabotaging the student visa program. And Trump’s “settlements” with top universities like Columbia have included requirements to reduce international enrollment. www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...
Recall that last year Trump said he wanted to staple green cards to every international grad student’s diploma and much of the press reported it as fact. Three days ago he suddenly declared he’d bring in 600k Chinese students (?). This is basically the opposite of what his admin has actually done
These are exactly the kinds of students we should be hoovering up and then convincing to stay and work/found their companies here. Even Trump has said so. But this is what happens when you outsource your immigration policy to Stephen Miller, who hates immigrants more than he loves America.
Roughly half of STEM doctorates go to international students each year. Historically most of them have wanted to stay in the US after graduation nces.ed.gov/programs/coe...
Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
This is telling: People I spoke to are talking about CDC in the past tense. www.statnews.com/2025/08/28/c...
Border Patrol arrests 2 firefighters for being in the country illegally as they battled Washington’s biggest wildfire www.cnn.com/2025/08/28/u...
Full resignation letter from Demetre C. Daskalakis, a CDC leader, does not hold back. "The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning. My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so. I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud."
In a significant policy shift following the firing and departure of over 100 immigration judges, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday that temporary immigration judges will no longer need to have experience in immigration law.
so when is the musical episode of the Gilded Age coming
Trump administration moves to bar states and even private (!) nonprofits, such as Red Cross, from helping undocumented immigrants after disasters. Evil. s2.washingtonpost.com/4467742/68af...
Denmark summons US envoy after report of Americans carrying out influence operations in Greenland apnews.com/article/denm...
Justice prevails! www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...
Wikipedia has apparently decided that Lisa Cook has indeed been ousted. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal...
“The Fed was off limits” If only that policy applied to the entire administration.
Trump Mobile social media account encouraged followers to place their Trump Phone preorder, promising “the wait is almost over.” This was joined by an image that looks nothing like the one of the T1 phone currently on Trump Mobile website. Instead looks rather suspiciously like a Samsung Galaxy S25
something something drown it in the bathtub bsky.app/profile/axio...
can you imagine how apoplectic the GOP would be if Biden did this? Or my god, Obama? bsky.app/profile/axio...
something something means of production
Why Haven’t Sanctions on Russia Stopped the War? The Money Is Still Flowing. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/b...
What is the point of this? Whom does it help? www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/c...
Cocaine is making a comeback, driven by European demand that has overtaken the US as the world’s largest market. In Colombia, the world’s largest producer, cocaine production rose 53% btw 2022 and 2023. on.ft.com/4mnbjAc
As AI-related investment has risen since 2023, residential and nonresidential investment have declined or flatlined. This may suggest that a relatively rate-insensitive AI buildout is crowding out more interest-sensitive forms of investment. www.economist.com/finance-and-...
“The president of the arts center cited the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” as the type of programming that could be more broadly appealing to audiences.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/a...
Somehow this keeps happening www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
“Instead, the FBI enlisted the local police and stormed Bolton’s house at dawn. To send a message. Not to Bolton. But to the rest of us.” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
You can tell yourself we are not living under a personalist authoritarian regime or you can listen to the spokesperson for that regime
Taps the sign The institutions of this economy depend on the institutions of this democracy.
What Danielle said. According to the Yale Budget Lab, the average effective tariff rate in this economy right now is 18.2% Let me put that another way. President Trump has raised taxes on American businesses and consumers by -- on average -- 18.2%
Are there any crimes this mayoral administration hasn’t yet (allegedly) committed?
According to this story, DOJ will investigate people who burn the flag and then try to prosecute them for something else because burning the flag is protected activity. www.cnn.com/2025/08/21/p...
Immigration data on the arrival of international students in July show a significant decline compared to a year earlier, including a drop of almost 50% for students from India. www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...
Remarkable open letter from Bill Burns. "If intelligence analysts at the CIA saw our rivals engage in this kind of great-power suicide, we would break out the bourbon. Instead, the sound we hear is of champagne glasses clinking in the Kremlin and Zhongnanhai." theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
arewethebaddies.gif
BREAKING — Dept. of Defense civilian employees all received an email a short while ago offering them the opportunity to support ICE and CBP “as they fulfill the President's intent to ensure a safe and orderly immigration system.” Full text of email and attached memo from Sec. Def. Pete Hegseth:
www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-a...
In 2024, about one-quarter (26%) of adults experiencing unsheltered homelessness had a serious mental illness and a similar share had a chronic substance use disorder www.kff.org/mental-healt...
“I just wanted to be her friend,” Winnie Greco said. “I just wanted to have one good friend. It’s nothing.” www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
The most boring season of Jack Reacher yet: Jack Reacher Guards Pete Hegseth's Ex-Wife's Second Home
Not to mention that the reason people don’t trust govt data is because idiots like this told them not to.
Trump surrogate attacking government statistics by failing to add correctly is almost too perfect (16% + 30% ≠ “2 out of 3”)
Thank you John
Thank you Charles. Caring for a newborn now but will be back writing soon. ✍️
Why are we taking advice on how to administer democratic elections from Putin
Of every 1,000 children born in Kenya, 32 don’t make it to their first birthdays. But a decade-long study found that by giving $1,000 to poor families, infant mortality rates lowered by nearly half — a much bigger drop than has been credited to routine immunizations.
"When he was taken into custody Friday morning, immigration agents tied his dog to a tree and then unclipped his collar, allowing the animal to run loose on Sepulveda Boulevard, according to the GoFundMe page." www.latimes.com/california/s...
But her emails etc www.npr.org/2025/08/16/n...
Wonder what Foxnews would be talking about all day this week if Obama had done this?
Photo taken moments before the agents say the statue made a “furtive gesture”
Rule of law is critical to a healthy business environment and economic growth. Every minute companies waste trying to appease, or avoid angering, a fickle president is time they don’t spend improving their operations or figuring out how to appeal to customers. www.axios.com/2025/08/15/w...
How valuable are family connections? New working paper finds that working for a parent’s employer increases initial earnings by 24%, primarily by providing access to higher-paying firms. matthewstaiger.github.io/matthewstaig...
The Institute of Education Sciences lost 90% of its staff. Combined with the contract terminations, the federal research infrastructure in education is on life support.
Trump’s #XiToo Moment (by @scottlincicome.bsky.social) www.cato.org/commentary/t...
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NYC office visits hit pre-pandemic levels for the first time, report says www.axios.com/2025/08/13/n...
How does this keep happening www.404media.co/ice-adds-ran...
From a friend riffing on Trump’s Kennedy Center Honors takeover. Some of these are sending me
Per Friends of BLS, Bureau of Labor Statistics has lost 20% of its staff since Jan, including 1/3 of leadership. As I wrote in July, I requested these figures at least a dozen times from BLS/DOL. They blew me off. Other agencies have sustained similar losses www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
U.S. Ethics Agency Warns Bessent Over Conflicts of Interest www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/u...
Texas DA once paid for an abortion — then charged a woman who had one with murder, court filing claims www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
The White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America’s 250th anniversary to ensure the museums align with President Trump’s interpretation of American history. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Holy ****. For months —years — I have warned that Trump’s assault on federal statistics was beginning to resemble actions taken by authoritarian governments in China, Venezuela, Stalin-era USSR. Critics said I was being hyperbolic. How do they feel about this threat below? bsky.app/profile/atru...
CDC shooter expressed discontent with coronavirus vaccines before firing hundreds of bullets at headquarters Friday, officials say The attack has left many CDC employees angry at RFK Jr’s criticism of the agency and false claims about vaccines.
The volume of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the way most Canadians visit—dropped by 37% last month compared to July 2024, according to new data from Statistics Canada, following a 33% drop in June. There was also a 26% decline in air travelers from Canada year-over-year.
An "economist" so dumb I had to explain to him how the import price index works last month will now lead the BLS, kill me
I don’t think I have ever publicly criticized any Presidential nominee before. But E.J. Antoni is completely unqualified to be BLS Commissioner. He is an extreme partisan and does not have any relevant expertise. He would be a break from decades of nonpartisan technocrats.
“This is the sort of thing only the worst populists do in the worst emerging economies,” economist Phil Suttle said of McEntarfer’s dismissal in a note to clients. www.wsj.com/economy/trum...
🚨 New: Trump Media awarded CEO Devin Nunes $5.9 million in stock on Weds. The company recently reported a quarterly loss of $20 million on $883,000 in revenue—or about what a mall-based Chick-fil-A typically brings in. 1/ me, for @forbes.com
Fuck it. I’m releasing these. The police seized all of my lasers during this operation. I have a court date in my future. #FreeLordLaser #FreeLadyLaser I will tell the whole story later. But it was all worth it to release these images on this day. “Good men must not obey the law too well.”
Mexico’s President Says U.S. Forces Are Unwelcome in Her Country www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/w...
mews you can use
Seizing the property of private organizations to punish dissent is totalitarianism. It is illegal, anti-Conservative, Soviet, and sickening. Yet people who drool ‘freedom’ whisper not a word to object. Lift not a finger.
Deaf guy tried to show ICE his ID. An agent grabbed it and didn't return it. So he tried to type a message about his disability but an agent grabbed his phone. He was left w/ no way to communicate w/ the men seizing him. He was a DACA recipient (a "dreamer"). He spent nearly a month in detention.
OK this part of the Billy Long ouster news is funny. Literally abandoning him on an ice floe www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...
