Category: Kevin Drum

This chart sits at the middle of a big controversy: This is CBO’s estimate of how many people would skip buying health insurance if the individual mandate were repealed. Within two years, 12 million people would drop out, and they’d do it because the tax penalty for non-insurance went away: “In CBO and JCT’s estimation,…

David Dinkins was mayor of New York City from 1990 to the end of 1993. His successor, Rudy Giuliani, was credited for turning around New York’s crime problem, but current mayor Bill DeBlasio thinks that’s unfair: “Dinkins got a raw deal largely because of race,” Mr. de Blasio said in a telephone interview before his…

I have three new notes to offer about the Republican tax plan. You have to see them to believe them. The Republican plan eliminates deductions for student loan interest, alimony payments, moving expenses, major medical expenses, school supplies purchased by teachers, and tax credits for parents who adopt children. Sure this hurts some people, but…

As long as we’re mocking Fox News today, let’s see how their response to the Roy Moore news is evolving through the day. Here it was shortly after the allegations were first published: The “Clinton Cult” stuff is still top and center. Moore is covered below that, and the headline is “Baseless Attack.” A few…

The LA Times today says that Obamacare has finally become a political winner for Democrats: In Maine, voters resoundingly backed a ballot measure to expand Medicaid through the federal healthcare law….And worries about healthcare in Virginia helped fuel a solid victory for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam and Democratic legislative candidates across the state. That…

Does this look like the kind of guy who can pull off a Trump impersonation?Dan Herrick via ZUMA National Review editor Rich Lowry explains how Trumpists have turned on Ed Gillespie so fast it’s a wonder they didn’t suffer whiplash: As of last week, Gillespie looked to be gaining on Ralph Northam fast (I thought…