Michael Schaffer

IRS Scandal: Conservatives Plan to Starve Government Pays Off

newrepublic.com — The more we learn about the IRS vetting of conservative groups, the less it looks like an abuse of power than something much more mundane-a beleaguered agency with too few resources to handle its work-load.

Apple Avoids U.S. Taxes, Then Complains Our Schools Are Lousy

newrepublic.com — It's remarkable how quickly the storm of outrage over Apple's epic tax avoidance has passed over Washington. All it took was for Apple CEO Tim Cook (2011 compensation: $378 million) to share some yuks with senators about their love for his company's products ("I love Apple.

Apple Avoids U.S. Taxes, Then Complains Our Schools Are Lousy

newrepublic.com — It's remarkable how quickly the storm of outrage over Apple's epic tax avoidance has passed over Washington. All it took was for Apple CEO Tim Cook (2011 compensation: $378 million) to share some yuks with senators about their love for his company's products ("I love Apple.

Best Conservative Rap Songs: AEI's Hilarious List

newrepublic.com — Once a year, some conservative media outlet feels peeved about the arts and publishes a listicle enumerating how a certain form or genre is inherently-often secretly-conservative. These exercises are mostly absurd, shouting out, "We will not be silenced!" when there is no danger of that at all.

Best Conservative Rap Songs: AEI's Hilarious List

newrepublic.com — Once a year, some conservative media outlet feels peeved about the arts and publishes a listicle enumerating how a certain form or genre is inherently-often secretly-conservative. These exercises are mostly absurd, shouting out, "We will not be silenced!" when there is no danger of that at all.

Increase of Suicide in U.S. Not Due to Marriage or Religion Decline

newrepublic.com — Earlier this month, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that suicide rates among middle-age Americans have surged over the last decade: an increase of nearly 30 percent, to 17.6 deaths per 100,000 people, among ages 35-64.

How Michelle Rhee Misled Education Reform

newrepublic.com — The other day I picked up a copy of The Adventures of Augie March . I hadn't remembered that Saul Bellow, writing in the early 1950s, when he was not yet forty, about Chicago in the 1920s, had been in full sympathy with the urban poor, as he definitely was not later in his career.

Hillary Clinton Movie: Winners and Losers

newrepublic.com — Hillary Rodham Clinton may or may not be starring in presidential election season TV ads come 2016. But there's also a good chance that Clinton-or at least a celluloid depiction of her back when she answered to Hillary Diane Rodham-will be featured on the big screen before then.

State bird improvements: Replace cardinals and robins with warblers and hawks.

slate.com — This article originally appeared in the Birdist. I drove over a bridge from Maryland into Virginia today and on the big "Welcome to Virginia" sign was an image of the state bird, the northern cardinal-with a yellow bill. I should have scoffed, but it hardly registered. Everyone knows that state...

The Signature Is Dead: How Technology Ruined Signing Our Names

newrepublic.com — Handwritten signatures are toast. Kaput. The number of times most of us sign our names on a weekly basis now versus, say, twenty years ago has significantly decreased, and that trend is not going to reverse itself anytime soon. In another twenty years, maybe sooner, you won't be signing anything by hand, ever.