In a new radio interview, [Massachusetts senator-cum-New Hampshire senate candidate Scott] Brown professes support for protecting people with preexisting conditions and other general goals of the law. But he reiterates his support for repealing Obamacare, claiming its goals should only be accomplished by states: “I believe states can do it better. They can certainly cover preexisting […]

In 2015, I predict that Obamacare enrollment will soar, matching 2014’s success. This may seem counter-intuitive. After all, in recent months, the public’s perception of Obamacare seems to have soured. The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation’s health care tracking poll for July reveals that 53% of those surveyed last month said they view the Affordable Care […]

What impact would Congress have on corporations if it were to change the amount of tax-deductible executive performance-based compensation downwards from $1 million to $500,000? The portal to the upper 1% of household taxpayers in income is $500,000 in normal income. If Congress were to limit tax-deductible performance-based income to $500,000, the change would put […]

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, some 10 million previously uninsured adults gained coverage during the open enrollment period that began on October 1, 2013. Last month, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that the share of Americans who are “going naked” has plummeted from 21 percent in September of 2013 to 16.3 percent […]

Recent census date points to a Widening wealth gap: The Census Bureau released updated data this week on the net worth of American households, drawn from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. These totals reflect all assets including money in checking accounts, owned homes, rental properties, 401ks, stocks and vehicles, offset by liabilities like […]

I remember in the late sixties and early seventies in the little suburb town where I lived in Ohio, the police chief had files on ‘potential threats’, including candle light vigil participants such as my parents.  Feelings of fear were common, and some quick to judge: Mike Konczal takes a look back at some of the […]

Remember that old jingle Burger King used in it’s advertisements? Well it looks like Burger King is determined to have it “their” way by merging with Canada’s Tim Hortons in a take over of the company. Not that Canadians will be happy with this merger as they were not according to rumor the last time […]

RATTLING. SIMPLY PLAIN DAMN. CAN ANYBODY ON LENGTHY ISLAND COME TO THIS CANINE’S RESCUE? — Title of this post of mine from Friday as translated by … a computer that lives elsewhere. Sorry.  I couldn’t resist. I don’t live on Lengthy Island, but still thought it was hilarious. Seriously, though: I’m grateful for the repost […]

In my last post, I gave an introduction to the massive data work underlying Capital in the Twenty-First Century, as well as two clear results from Piketty’s work. First, he showed that the optimistic Kuznets view after World War II that inequality was well on its way to being conquered was wrong, based on putting […]