by Linda Beale Defending the IRS Against Right-Wing Attacks The IRS is a government agency that endures all kinds of hostile attacks.  Most people don’t really like to pay taxes.  Even I don’t really “like” paying taxes, though I do recognize the importance of paying taxes and supporting the societal infrastructure that pays for the […]

In 2014, Joseph Hall explained why this could be an issue. “The US Department of Justice is seeking to drastically expand its abilities to search computers remotely through an obscure change in the rules of criminal procedure. This would have the effect of making it easier for law enforcement to remotely break into and search […]

Thing of beauty. Not everything worked but I haven’t seen anything so devastating since Colbert in 2006 Stephen Colbert Roasts Bush at 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner Open thread for all things 2016 related.

Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism has just pointed to The unfairness of housing purchases through time.     New Deal democrat and Barkley Rosser (at Econospeak) have pointed to problems with rental prices.  NDd continues with this post, also pointing to Bill McBride at Calculated Risk… by New Deal democrat Rents are going through the roof! Rent […]

This too really matters. Disgusting and outrageous.

I’m not a fan of Organizing for Action.  I think they’ve squandered a chance to be effective, and judging from the emails I’ve received from them they’ve focused mainly on things I don’t care about or don’t support.  In short, it’s been much more a centrist/center-left organization than a truly progressive one, because the Obama […]

by New Deal democrat Would the real “real median household income” please stand up? Real median household income is among the most important measures of economic well-being.  So why do three surveys compiled from 3 different sources give 3 very different results? Let me point out initially what real median household income is NOT.  It […]

There are limits to the analogy between Clinton’s 2008 primary contest with Obama and Sanders’s primary contest now with her.  Clinton doesn’t get that.  But she needs to figure it out because the differences matter. — There are limits to the analogy between Clinton’s 2008 primary contest with Obama and Sanders’s primary contest now with […]

This post is related to the debate about fiscal policy and medium run growth which has become entangled with the Sanders or Clinton debate (which I will attempt to avoid). Some extremely Keynesian economists (DeLong, Pro Growth Liberal,, Menzie Chin, Paul Krugman, and (warning pdf) C and D Romer have expressed skepticism about the possibility […]