https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-tiktok-ban-bill/ The last chapter in Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States is called “Bipartisan Consensus” and is mostly him talking about the Clinton administration’s privatization of Conrail, deregulation of banks, and other right-wing policies. In the last 250 years of American history, a New Democrat has won a majority of the …
Yearly Archives: 2025
Ceasefire deal overview
The ceasefire is pretty simple when you get down to it. Hamas will release all hostages. Israel will release most hostages. Israel ends its blockade on Gaza. Hamas will not rebuild its military abilities. That’s pretty much it. It does not solve the fundamental problems that underlie the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These problems are: Giving Palestinians …
Gaza Hostage Crisis Resolution
Almost titled this Iranian Hostage Crisis 2024 edition. The stages of this event are: Yay! The war can end and there can finally be elections in Israel and Palestine. Nothing good was ever going to come from this war. Hold on… the timing of this is very similar to the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1980-1981… …
A Message from the New Democrats
A conversation with the New Democrats. To all the people who have lost their homes in California, we are sorry fires keep breaking out on federal land. We have not restored the Forest Service budget since 2017. But you must understand, as part of our master strategy, we need to compromise with the Republicans to …
Trump’s keys
Trump will be reinaugurated in 9 days, and there are already telling signs of what the Republican nominee’s keys might look like in 2028. It is unlikely Republicans will have a lot of keys in 2028, no matter who is on the ballot. Year Party mandate No primary contest Incumbent seeking re-election No third …
Biden’s legacy
In 10 days Biden’s legacy will be cemented and Donald Trump will again be President of the United States. Trump will in his second term be the same as he was in his first, mostly ineffective, but bent on the goal of dismantling every piece of progress from his predecessor’s administration. Legislative achievements, Domestic policy …
It doesn’t really matter if its causation
Sure… there may be a clear correlation between people who throw their money solely into annuities and bonds going bankrupt, but are we sure it is causal? Sure… GDP per capita, long life expectancy, democracy, low corruption, and high press freedom are highly correlated, but how do you know it is causal? Sure… vaccinated people …
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Trump’s second foreign policy
Let’s compare Marco Rubio’s positions vs those of Joe Biden Issue Biden/Blinken Trump/Rubio Israel Unconditional support Unconditional support Ukraine Restrictions on aid that can be used Restrictions on aid Visa policy Restrictive Restrictive Europe Ambivalent Ambivalent There are large and important differences between Biden and Trump regarding domestic policy, and we have seen this in …
Recipe for success
Since finishing my degree in the field, I’ve spent the last ten years of my life poring over political economic data. I’ve read many books, but most importantly, I’ve pored over large datasets and come to some conclusions. Press freedom, democracy, corruption, income, inequality, life expectancy, education levels, and visa restrictions are closely connected. If …
Three terms in a row
Shower thoughts… how many times has a single party held the presidency for at least three terms in a row? Reagan – Bush: 1981-1993 Roosevelt – Truman: 1933-1953 Harding – Coolidge – Hoover: 1921-1933 McKinley – Roosevelt – Taft: 1897-1913 Lincoln – Johnson – Grant – Hayes – Garfield – Arthur: 1861-1885 Jefferson – Madison …