Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Do be sure to watch this video news clip on CNBC, folks

The first part of the video news clip (h/t Paul Waldman), by CNBC correspondent Eamon Javers, is smoking-gun stunning.  And sickening.  Just watch the video or read the accompanying article. The second part of it, which is a clip of White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, sure seems to me that for all his hesitation and careful […]

Several thoughts about Paul Krugman’s NYT column today – UPDATED regarding the Fourth Amendment issue, and (separately) the suddenly real possibility that Putin had the emails planted on Weiner’s laptop

Paul Krugman’s column today titled “Working the Refs,” which I linked to this morning in this post, is absolutely wonderful for its account of the breadth of what amounts to largely successful attempts at movement-rightwing takeover of so very much of American public life—journalism reportage and editing methodology, political punditry, decisonmaking by college and university […]

WHY OBAMA SHOULD FIRE COMEY*: Comey himself makes clear that he either does not understand what a law enforcement cover-up IS, or he knows what it is but acted out of fear that others may not. That’s a profoundly dangerous message to law enforcement and prosecutors nationwide. As well as to the public.

According to senior F.B.I. officials, Mr. Comey felt that he would be breaking his pledge of transparency to Congress if he did not reveal the new information from the Weiner case. And he believed that the bureau would be accused of suppressing details to benefit Mrs. Clinton — an accusation that he believed could do […]

Wall Street CEO Bonus Loophole

Sarah Anderson at Institute for Policy Studies writes about how the 1993 reform to rein in runaway CEO pay by capping tax deductions of executive compensation at $1 million created a loophole as it did not apply to stock options and other performance pay methods. More-performance-measured-income to executives paid out, the lower the company income […]

This Spade Really IS Being Called a Spade. Surprisingly.

THE F.B.I. is currently investigating the hacking of Americans’ computers by foreign governments. Russia is a prime suspect. Imagine a possible connection between a candidate for president in the United States and the Russian computer hacking. Imagine the candidate has business dealings in Russia, and has publicly encouraged the Russians to hack the email of […]

Did NYC FBI Agents Plant Those Emails on Weiner’s Computer Once They Gained Custody of It? The Evidence Appears to Suggest … Possibly.

Top Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told people she is unsure how her emails could have ended up on a device she viewed as her husband’s computer, the seizure of which has reignited the Clinton email investigation, according to a person familiar with the investigation and civil litigation over the matter. The person, who […]

Was Comey effectively extorted by NYC-based FBI agents? And did those agents illegally look at some of those emails without the prerequisite court order?

Most Democrats were outraged. “Mr. Comey said he was duty bound to inform Congress,” Bob Kerrey, the former senator and governor, told me. “Quite the opposite is the case. He was duty bound to make an announcement after he completes his examination of the emails.“ Indeed, he broke with the longstanding F.B.I. policy of not […]

Newsweek Really, Really, REALLY Needs to Retract THIS Statement

Updated  | Why did FBI Director James Comey shock Washington on Friday with an announcement that the FBI “has learned of the existence of emails” related to Hillary Clinton’s private email server, and what does it mean? The truth is Comey didn’t have a choice. Because the new information followed his sworn testimony about the […]

Economic Outcomes of Immigrants v. Their Stay at Home Counterparts: What the Data Shows

by Mike Kimel Economic Outcomes of Immigrants v. Their Stay at Home Counterparts: What the Data Shows In this post, I will test whether people from countries with relatively poor economies also tend to do poorly when they relocate to the United States. As an example, GDP per capita for Haiti is much lower than […]