Yearly Reminder: Dr. King Had A Lot More To Say Than That One Sentence

My (apparently) annual reflections on “The content of their character” day

America’s Unique Medical Debt Problem

We charge patients way more than other counties.

The free high-resolution photo of horizon, cloud, sky, track, sunrise, sunset, road, sunlight, morning, train track, highway, dawn, train, cityscape, dusk, transport, evening, weather, station, train station, atmospheric phenomenon , taken with an unknown camera 12/26 2016 The picture taken with The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of horizon, cloud, sky, track, sunrise, sunset, road, sunlight, morning, train track, highway, dawn, train, cityscape, dusk, transport, evening, weather, station, train station, atmospheric phenomenon , taken with an unknown camera 12/26 2016 The picture taken with The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Biden and Congress Stop Rail Strike

Washington has imposed a contract that workers rejected.

Why Not Direct Democracy?

Would bypassing politicians altogether make the system more just?

Thursday Tabs

The free high-resolution photo of horizon, cloud, sky, track, sunrise, sunset, road, sunlight, morning, train track, highway, dawn, train, cityscape, dusk, transport, evening, weather, station, train station, atmospheric phenomenon , taken with an unknown camera 12/26 2016 The picture taken with The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of horizon, cloud, sky, track, sunrise, sunset, road, sunlight, morning, train track, highway, dawn, train, cityscape, dusk, transport, evening, weather, station, train station, atmospheric phenomenon , taken with an unknown camera 12/26 2016 The picture taken with The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Impending Rail Strike Could Derail Economy

An impasse over schedule flexibility could have widespread impact.

Federal Employees Take Another Pay Cut

What’s being billed as the largest hike in years is anything but.

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Constitution

Is it time to call the whole thing off?

House Passes Marriage Protection Bill

The symbolic vote attracted a handful of Republican votes.

Minority Rule in a Winner-Take-All System

How long can the unsustainable be sustained?

Watergate at 50

Half a century have passed since a botched burglary changed history.

photo of working, person, military, construction, cutting, team, helmet, build, labor, job, workers, laborer, task, construction worker, sledge hammer photo of working, person, military, construction, cutting, team, helmet, build, labor, job, workers, laborer, task, construction worker, sledge hammer

Why America Can’t Build

Are we too regulated for our own good?

Finland and Sweden Apply to NATO, Turkey an Obstacle

A diplomatic nightmare brewing since last week is now upon us.

Are the Teachers Quitting?

The plural of anecdote is not data.

Public Schools vs The Public

The pandemic seems to have broken the social contract.

Warren’s Argument for Court Packing

It’s not compelling.

Massive Worker Backlash?

The equivalent of Pennsylvania’s entire labor force is sitting on the sidelines.

Back to SCOTUS Reform and “Legitimacy”

Doing nothing is still a choice, and the legitimacy crisis is here, like it or not.

Two Nations, Indivisible

We’re an incredibly divided country but splitting it into two is impossible.

Biden Fires ‘Independent’ Social Security Administrator

President Trump’s destruction of longstanding norms continues under his successor.

Retail Employees as Vaccine Police

The new CDC guidelines raise some serious questions.

Following the Science Isn’t Our Nature

The reaction to the pandemic has long since been about much more than the pandemic.

Republican Split with Big Business Greatly Exaggerated

Look at who’s lined up against H.R. 1.

Maryland Removes Police Protections over Hogan’s Veto

The Free State may have gotten just a little freer.

Did the Boomers Ruin America?

An interesting but uneven debate.

Vaccine Mandates and Education

The politics and the science are in conflict.

United States Less Democratic Than it Used to Be

Multiple indicators point to a decline in the representativeness of the American system.

It’s Time to Reopen Schools Everywhere

The evidence is too clear to ignore at this point.

Return of the Technocrats? Or Sinking in the Swamp?

Policy wonks are seeing a refreshing return to the normal order. Some believe that’s a bad thing.

Are “Liberal” States Shrinking?

Thinking about unsupported narratives and a little bit about data usage.

high-resolution photo of post, road, street, spring, green, letter, color, communication, blue, box, mailbox, mail, art, mailboxes, message, postal, letters, postbox, shape, contact, letterbox, postage, mailing, correspondence, urban area, e mail high-resolution photo of post, road, street, spring, green, letter, color, communication, blue, box, mailbox, mail, art, mailboxes, message, postal, letters, postbox, shape, contact, letterbox, postage, mailing, correspondence, urban area, e mail

Biden Can’t Fire Postmaster General

When an apolitical process gets politicized.

I Have Seen the Future of Work and it Sucks

A world in which we’re all contractors is a dystopian utopia.

DC Area Schools Not Opening

The lousy hybrid option has been scrapped in favor of a worthless virtual one.

NFL to Play ‘Black National Anthem’ Before Games

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” will reportedly precede the “Star-Spangled Banner” in the opening week.

Pediatricians Urge In-Person School

Contra the CDC, the AAP says getting kids to class outweighs the modest risk of their catching COVID-19.

Virginia Cracking Down on Workplace Safety, Filling OSHA Void

The Commonwealth is the first state in the nation to issue regulations.

Police Are Above the Law

The system makes it next to impossible to punish bad cops.

After the Protests: What Then?

How to translate understandable frustration at injustice into tangible reform?

Schools Under Pressure to Re-open

Until our kids go back to school, we can’t go back to work.

Food Shortages in Our Future

The bad news keeps on coming.

Virginia’s Stunning Transformation

A disgraced governor is signing a wave of progressive legislation

America Ready for a Gay President?

It’s a reasonable question but not the right one.

No, Citizens United Didn’t Ruin Our Democracy

Money has increasingly dominated American politics but the court case had little to do with it.

Paul Volcker, Fed Chairman Who Slew The Inflation Dragon, Dies At 92

Paul Volcker, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board who put an end to the rampant inflation that threatened to choke the American economy, has died at 92.

Louisiana Reelects Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards

In what many are seeing as a rebuke of the President, Louisiana voters re-elected Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards over his Republican opponent.

Joseph Kennedy III Enters Race Against Ed Markey For Senate

A familiar name has entered the race for the Democratic Senate nomination in Massachusetts.

NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo Finally Fired In Choking Death Of Eric Garner

More than five years after the fact, the NYPD officer who applied an illegal chokehold that resulted in the death of Eric Garner has finally been fired.