Congress Warns of Economic Chaos as Facebook Details Plans for Its Own Currency
Andrew Harnik/AP On Wednesday, representatives on the House Financial Services Committee peppered a Facebook executive with questions about Libra, the social media giant’s proposed cryptocurrency. Democrats and several Republicans raised repeated concerns about whether Facebook’s plans mark a dangerous corporate overreach that would impede government’s ability to oversee monetary policy. They asked David Marcus, the…
Trump’s Defenders Say He’s an American Exceptionalist. Not Long Ago, He Claimed the Opposite.
Alex Wong/Getty As just about everyone knows by now, President Trump tweeted on Sunday that four “progressive” Democratic congresswomen should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Following this tweet and his subsequent doubling-down on it, many have condemned his statements as racist. But many also…
Background Briefings Are a Scourge
Technology journalist Brian Merchant says he’s tired of PR flacks from tech companies refusing to talk unless it’s off-the-record: After my experience with Amazon, I decided that on all matters of importance, I am no longer going to listen to a public relations representative try to change my mind on background with unquotable statements attributable…
Pence Staffer Says Elaine Chao Is a Better Immigrant Than Ilhan Omar
Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via ZUMA There’s a key difference between Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), according to Darin Miller, the deputy press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence: Chao is a good immigrant who “worked hard and assimilated,” but Omar “seems content to criticize America at every turn.” That’s the gist of…
No, Kamala Harris Isn’t Being Preposterous
Over at National Review, John McCormack says that Kamala Harris is being “preposterous” about her Medicare for All plan: “Senator Sanders says that that is impossible to achieve without a middle class tax hike,” CNN correspondent Kyung Lah says. “I’m not prepared to engage in a middle class tax hike,” Harris replies, suggesting that taxes…
LA Needs an Old Approach to Homelessness
Homeless in LA.Kevin Drum A couple of years ago LA passed a big bond measure to address its homelessness problem. The money is mostly earmarked for permanent shelter, which is, needless to say, expensive and time-consuming to build. I’ve long thought that this makes little sense, but I’m no expert—as people are fond of reminding…