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Articles by Ryan Cooper
Will Cornyn cave and vote to confirm Blanche as AG?
Will Cornyn cave and vote to confirm Blanche as AG? The Texas senator has every reason to vote no, including Trump’s career-ending support for Ken Paxton in the Texas primary. Several days have elapsed since the confirmation hearing of Todd Blanche to be attorney general last Wednesday and Thursday, but the Judiciary Committee chair, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, still has not scheduled a vote. That’s because Sen.
No time to compromise on ICE
No time to compromise on ICE If they are not careful, Democrats could get outmaneuvered on the details of trading funding for reform. To hear Donald Trump tell it, his administration and the Democrats have a deal to keep the government open and reform the excesses of ICE. “Hopefully, both Republicans and Democrats will give a very much needed Bipartisan ‘YES,’” Trump posted on Truth Social, explicitly endorsing the deal. What’s the deal?
The ICE murder and the broader battle
The ICE murder and the broader battle Its Gestapo tactics are stimulating a mass revulsion. Wednesday’s cold-blooded murder by an ICE agent of a peaceful legal observer, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, brings America one step closer to a civil war between cities and states defending their citizens and a Trump administration using fascist-style tactics to have a secret police force provoke confrontations, arrests, and in this case, a killing.
A closer look at Trump’s EU trade deal
A closer look at Trump’s EU trade deal His game is to intimidate, prevail in the headlines, and sacrifice details in the fine print. Trump desperately needed a win this weekend, to take everyone’s minds off the Jeffrey Epstein debacle. And the headlines about his trade deal with the EU gave him what he wanted. But the one-page “framework agreement,” negotiated in just an hour, left many details for later, and the details contradicted some of Trump’s boasts. The optics were classic Trump.
Biden’s Prostate Cancer
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If Trumpworld’s Security Norms Had Been in Place Before
The Latest from the Prospect Bubble Trouble An AI bubble threatens Silicon Valley, and all of us. BY BRYAN McMAHON
K. Harris vs. T. Hallinan, 2003
With the switch at the top of the Democratic ticket, Donald Trump has become a target-rich environment for Kamala Harris’s prosecutorial chops. "I took on perpetrators of all kinds," Harris told Democratic campaign staffers earlier this week, recalling her days as, successively, a Bay Area deputy DA, San Francisco’s top DA, and California’s attorney general. "Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.
A Paler Shade of Gray
It wasn’t the few spectacular gaffes, like referring to Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump." It was the groping for words, the meandering free associations, and the plain evasion of hard questions that failed to allay fears of fellow Democrats. The performance, taken as a whole, simply reinforced the picture of Biden as a frail old man.
Mega-Financiers Are Flocking to Trump
Twenty-four years ago, when then-President Bill Clinton asked Congress to establish permanent normal trade relations with China, and Congress did just that, the chief argument that Clinton and the bill’s proponents made was that bringing China into the world capitalist system was sure to push the country in a democratic direction. Capitalism and democracy, they repeatedly averred, were inextricably linked.
Congress Poised to Kneecap Antitrust Division
The senators who worked to increase merger filing fees and DOJ Antitrust budgets are not happy. "Diverting these fees is just wrong," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), in a statement to the Prospect. "We passed strongly bipartisan legislation with an 88-8 vote to ensure that the Antitrust Division at the Justice Department has sufficient resources to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.
Kuttner on TAP: Time to Call BS
Do you recall Rep. Elise Stefanik’s passionate statement of outrage when a gunman massacred worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh? Me neither, because there wasn’t one. Or how about her eloquent speech attacking the “Jews will not replace us” marchers at Charlottesville? Nope. Stefanik is late to the party. The far right is philosemitic only when it serves their purposes.
Kuttner on TAP: Biden’s Nakba
Israel and Palestine’s Existential War The shock of the October 7 attacks has exposed just how much is at stake, and the decisions being made now will reverberate for decades. BY MAIRAV ZONSZEIN Electric Vehicles Labor Uphill The UAW agreement with the Big Three builds a base of good jobs in EVs, and could help the entire transition. But interest rates are a huge impediment right now.
How to Oust Menendez: The Agnew Precedent
How to Oust Menendez: The Agnew Precedent Nixon’s vice president resigned in a plea bargain that spared him prison time. The premise in the coverage of the indictment of New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez for in flagrante bribery and corruption is that he cannot be forced to resign. Despite the increased calls for his resignation, Menendez seems determined to hold onto his seat. Menendez’s prime goal, however, has to be avoiding a conviction that would send him to prison.
The Punditocracy vs. the UAW
The Punditocracy vs. the UAW Commentators argue that the union is asking for too much. But a big win may help the UAW organize the non-union competition. Yesterday, what we might politely term the non-labor wing of the Democratic punditocracy weighed in on the UAW strike against GM, Ford, and Stellantis. They didn’t like it.
Can the UAW Strike Help It Expand to Non-Union Plants?
On the Prospect website David Dayen on the increasingly bizarre thought processes that dominate congressional Republicans’ actions Bob Kuttner on the failure of Dodd-Frank to rein in increasingly risky banking practices Ryan Cooper on Ken Paxton’s acquittal as a measure of the party’s control by Paxton’s bigoted billionaire buddy Can the UAW Strike Help It Expand to Non-Union Plants? Probably not directly, but a good contract is a good selling point to workers at those factories.
It Took a Village to Try to Seize the Presidency
It Took a Village to Try to Seize the Presidency As the Georgia indictments make all too clear. With 19 indicted conspirators and 30 unindicted conspirators, there are now almost as many Republicans caught up in Fulton County’s wheels of justice as there are Republican candidates for president. At some point, we may want to indict those candidates (among whom only Chris Christie and, lately and reluctantly, Mike Pence have noted that Trump appears to have broken the law), too.
Prophets With Honor
"A prophet is not without honor save in his own country," sayeth the Bible. And in a brilliantly complementary insight, John Maynard Keynes wrote, "it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally." Prophets whose views challenge orthodox certainties are seldom honored in their own lifetimes or their own countries. They are often ridiculed and scorned. If they are academics, they risk not getting tenure.
Electric Vehicles vs. Hybrids
The other day, Peter Coy, a writer whom I usually admire, had a column in The New York Times that seemed peculiar. His story, titled "A Climate Hawk’s Issues With Electric Vehicles," was counterintuitive: Electric vehicles are actually more harmful to the environment than hybrid cars. So I read the column again, and did a little digging.
The Roberts Court’s Cynical Use of Free Speech to Allow Discrimination
In many ways, the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the right of a Colorado web designer to refuse to do business with a same-sex couple is the most insidious of the Roberts Court’s recent string of far-right decisions overturning protections for minorities. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for a 6-3 Court, framed the case as being entirely about free speech—in this case the freedom of the web designer, Lorie Smith, not to tacitly support same-sex marriage.
The Path to Soft Fascism
PARIS – Paris in late June appears reassuringly normal. The country is well governed. Systems work. The Métro runs on time. The cafés are full. There is a spirit of celebration in the streets. June 21 was the annual daylong Fête de la Musique, celebrating the first day of summer with bands and impromptu singing and dancing on nearly every street corner. June 23 brought a massive gay pride march. On June 24, much of the city was blocked to car traffic for a huge bike race.
Kuttner on TAP: Team Biden
Joe Biden is not always everything that the progressive movement hopes, but let’s take a moment to salute his outstanding appointees. They include: Gary Gensler, who has resisted pressure from the financial industry and its friendly press, and has intensified his efforts to protect both investors and the financial system from the intricate scams of crypto.
UPS Workers Beat the Heat
Negotiations between UPS and approximately 340,000 workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters have been ongoing for several weeks, in advance of a July 31 expiration of the current contract. A strike, which would be the nation’s largest ever and the first for UPS since workers walked out in 1997, would take a large chunk of the logistics sector offline and disrupt the national economy.
A Visit to Hallowed Ground
The NHS, founded right after World War II by the great postwar Labour government of Clement Attlee, remains a model for the world. The Tories, who have been in power since 2010, are doing their best to starve it. The waiting list for elective services has about doubled since 2012; doctors and nurses are overworked and underpaid. But the system still gives priority to prevention and basic acute care. Even a besieged NHS is far better, fairer, and more cost-effective than our system.
Battlefield Reports From Our New Civil War
If there’s anyone who’s still mystified about why congressional Democrats and Republicans can’t come to an agreement on anything so basic as honoring the debts they’ve incurred, may I gently suggest they take a look at what Democrats and Republicans are doing in the particular states they each completely control.
What Happens if Biden Caves on the Debt Ceiling?
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, solicited estimates from various government departments on what that 22 percent cut would mean. They told her that just for starters, 60,000 people would not be able to attend college; 200,000 children would get kicked off Head Start; 100,000 families would lose child care; and 1.2 million people would be removed from WIC nutrition assistance.
The Soaking at Bed Bath & Beyond
One thing about the Bed Bath & Beyond bankruptcy doesn’t add up and cries out for an investigation by the SEC or the Senate Banking Committee, or both. While the company was obviously cratering, it still managed to sell a lot of stock. Someone promoted the stock sale, made money unloading it, and some poor suckers bought it. They took the bath. Here’s some history. From its founding in 1971, Bed Bath & Beyond grew into an iconic retailer with 1,550 stores.
A Teacher Answers Back
Watching the news, you might think that teachers are the most disrespected workers in America. Reading state budgets, you might think they’re the most underpaid. That first assertion is true only if you limit your intake to the anti-teacher jihads that the right is currently waging. As poll after poll makes clear, however, the great majority of Americans actually think well of their teachers—and perhaps even more important, support their freedom to teach.
The Fed’s Own Economists Challenge Interest Rate Folly
Minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting show that all members of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee agreed to keep strangling the economy with still more quarter-point rate hikes later this year, and some even wanted half-point hikes. Maybe they should read this study by the Fed’s own staff economists, which found that the Fed’s inflation target of 2 percent is impossible to reach without a deep recession.
How Monopoly Destroys Democracy
My granddaughter, who is in the eighth grade, competes in a relatively new sport known as Cheer, a kind of cross between traditional cheerleading and competitive gymnastics. You are probably aware of Cheer, but you may not be aware that every aspect of the sport is controlled by a corporate monopoly called Varsity, which in turn is owned by the private equity firm Bain Capital. As our friend Matt Stoller has reported.
The African American Studies AP Debacle
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." —George Orwell, Animal Farm On Wednesday, after a threat from Gov. Ron DeSantis to ban the new Advanced Placement curriculum on African American studies in the state of Florida, the College Board released a watered-down version. The new curriculum is mainly historical.
Can Medicare Advantage Be Contained?
Medicare Advantage is a lucrative private insurance product masquerading as part of Medicare. It’s actually an HMO for seniors, offered by every major insurance company, using the trusted Medicare brand and relying on Medicare payments. Medicare Advantage programs attract customers by covering some things not covered by traditional Medicare, such as vision care and hearing.
The Labor Board Gets a Raise
After nine lean years during which its budget had not increased by so much as a penny, the National Labor Relations Board has finally secured an increase in the 2023 funding bill that Congress will vote on this week. That doesn’t mean that nine fat years for the nation’s labor relations regulator are about to commence, but it does mean the NLRB will not be compelled to furlough staff and can make some badly needed hires in the coming year.
The Fed Keeps Throttling the Economy
The Federal Reserve Board’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, as expected, raised short-term interest rates another half-point. In the Fed’s official statement, there was no acknowledgment that inflationary pressures have been easing. Even the lower-than-expected increase in the Consumer Price Index, released yesterday, tempered neither the Fed’s action nor its rhetoric.
The New York Times Is in the Tank for Crypto
In a recent post, I noted in passing the oddly soft coverage of the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried in The New York Times. The Times managed to compare the woes of FTX to a bank run, to blame Bankman-Fried’s competitors for undermining his credibility, and to take his professed charitable intent at face value. Since I wrote, the Times coverage has only gotten worse.
Bankman and the Bastardization of Bankruptcy
At this writing, Sam Bankman-Fried has appointed a new CEO of his company, John Ray III, as well as five new "independent" board members. He has hired a legal team comprised of America’s fanciest bankruptcy lawyers. They are preparing a very complex bankruptcy filing in a Delaware court that will allow him to write off debts while he tries to raise new capital. And his lawyers are trying to persuade the bankruptcy judge to allow Bankman-Fried and his team to keep control.
Sam Bankman-Fried: A Common Crook
What has almost gotten lost in the Sam Bankman-Fried saga is that the former billionaire’s scam was a fundamental violation of the securities laws—using customer funds to place his own bets. His personal control of both the exchange FTX, and his investment company, Alameda, and the comingling of their funds, puts Bankman-Fried right up there with Ponzi and Madoff as common crooks and outright felons. Bankman-Fried’s disgrace will have some salutary side effects.
How Are You Going to Pay for That? ebook by Ryan Cooper - Rakuten Kobo Original
How Are You Going to Pay for That?
Ryan Cooper on Finances: Cryptocurrency’s here to stay; be wise
Something has changed since Bitcoin became the first crypto currency in 2009. The total value of all crypto currencies now approaches $3 trillion. Sotheby’s and Christie’s, the global auction houses, have auctioned over $165 million of crypto assets so far in 2021, and they accept bids in Ethereum. The Lakers will play in Crypto.com arena, formerly Staples Center. Coinbase is a publicly traded company.
CPA: It’s never too late to begin budgeting
An old joke about accountants is that they solve problems you didn’t know you had with solutions you don’t understand. That may not be a fair judgment of our profession, but it wouldn’t be funny if there weren’t some truth behind it. Accountants commonly get stereotyped as the bean counters, number crunchers and form fillers, dealing with minutiae most people would rather not be concerned with.
A Political Movement, Defining Itself by What It Hates
As Donald Trump went from reality television star to United States president, an obscure, fervently Trump-backing right-wing movement calling itself the “alt-right” gained wide attention. That raised a question: How should journalists, politicians or even ordinary citizens think about this group? In his book “Alt Right: From 4chan to the White House,” the BBC journalist Mike Wendling demonstrates that good old reporting is the answer.
Elizabeth Warren’s Moment (Again)
Elizabeth Warren first came to national prominence in 2008, the last time the brew of corporate and regulatory corruption took down the financial system and crashed the economy. Today’s crisis is not as severe, but the dynamics are identical. The current banking mess is an echo of 2008 because it blends the speculation of reckless bankers with the corruption of legislators and regulators.
Adam R. Houston
Canadian Online Publishing Awards 2023 Gold Best Continuing Coverage of a Story 2019 Silver Best Column Best Podcast
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