The Economist Interview: “Donald Trump’s economic strategy is unimaginative and incoherent.” More …
Globalization: Sending Jobs Overseas
“In his 1998 book Turbo-Capitalism, Edward Luttwak gave what is still the most succinct and accurate reading of the new system’s economic consequences. ‘It enriches industrializing poor countries, impoverishes the semi-affluent majority in rich countries, and greatly adds to the incomes of the top 1 percent on both sides who are managing the arbitrage.’ Left unexplained was what had happened to make trade suddenly produce consequences so widely divergent from those it had produced for centuries.” More …
What a New Study on Vouchers Means for Trump’s Agenda
“The Trump administration has promoted private-school scholarships as a means of empowering families. But they may undermine a child’s academic success.” More …
Roger Ailes Was One of the Worst Americans Ever
“Fox News founder made this the hate-filled, moronic country it is today.” More …
There Are Diseases Hidden in Ice, and They Are Waking Up
“Long-dormant bacteria and viruses, trapped in ice and permafrost for centuries, are reviving as Earth’s climate warms.” More …
House GOP Majority Leader to Colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays Trump’
“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.” More …
We said, They said, Trump said
“As the Trump administration swings from one crisis to another, the president and his staff aren’t always on the same page. POLITICO took a look at the Trump administration’s evolving storylines, from Russia to the border wall.” More …
Health Insurers Plan Big Obamacare Rate Hikes — and They Blame Trump
“The growing frustration with the Trump administration’s management — reflected in letters to state regulators and in interviews with more than two dozen senior industry and government officials nationwide — undercuts a key White House claim that Obamacare insurance marketplaces are collapsing on their own. Instead, according to many officials, it is the Trump administration that is driving much of the current instability by refusing to commit to steps to keep markets running, such as funding aid for low-income consumers or enforcing penalties for people who go without insurance.” More …
Is There a Point to All This Cruelty from the Department of Education?
“While we’re on the subject of bad hiring in the executive branch, let’s not forget that Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education, was the single most obviously unqualified Cabinet nominee—Grizzlies!—in the history of the republic. On Thursday, from The Washington Post, we find that DeVos is finding ways to fulfill her life’s dream of destroying public education and monetizing all those bright shiny faces.” More …
Rupert Murdoch Is Reportedly Advising Trump While DOJ Investigates Fox
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Fox News owner and CEO Rupert Murdoch is reportedly advising President Donald Trump on a near-daily basis at the same time as the Justice Department is investigating his company, an ethical breach that could undermine the credibility of the inquiry. The Justice Department is currently engaged in a wide-ranging investigation of Fox News. The inquiry includes a review of the network’s “settlements made with women who alleged sexual harassment by former Fox News boss Roger Ailes,” as well as “possible misconduct by Fox News personnel” over a period of years, and has grown to include the United States Postal Inspection Service, which has jurisdiction over some financial crimes.” More…