From the Left
/Politics
Why Biden can’t govern from the center
I keep hearing that Joe Biden will govern from the “center.” He has no choice, they say, because he’ll have razor-thin majorities in Congress and the Republican Party has moved to the right.
Rubbish. I’ve served several Democratic presidents who have needed Republican votes. But the Republicans now in Congress are nothing like those I��...Read more
Trump attempted a coup and must be removed
Call me old-fashioned, but when the president of the United States encourages armed insurgents to breach the Capitol and threaten the physical safety of Congress in order to remain in power, I call it an attempted coup.
Last week’s rampage left five dead, including a Capitol police officer who tangled with the pro-Trump mob. We’re fortunate...Read more
Seditious members of Congress must be held accountable
I’ve been in or around politics for over a half-century now, and I never imagined how low and loony the Republican Party would become. Twelve Republican senators say they will object to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory on Wednesday when Congress meets to formally certify it.
They are joining a growing movement in the GOP to defy the ...Read more
Trump’s presidency has tested the broken windows theory
Most of the 74.2 million Americans who voted to reelect Donald Trump — 46.8 percent of the votes cast in the 2020 presidential election — don’t hold Trump accountable for what he’s done to America.
Their acceptance of Trump’s behavior will be his vilest legacy.
Nearly 40 years ago, political scientist James Q. Wilson and ...Read more
Trickle-down economics doesn’t work but build-up does
How should the huge financial costs of the pandemic be paid for, as well as the other deferred needs of society after this annus horribilis?
Politicians rarely want to raise taxes on the rich. President-elect Joe Biden promised to do so, but a closely divided Congress is already balking.
That’s because they’ve bought into one of the most ...Read more
Bezos and McConnell exemplify COVID-19 capitalism
As a former secretary of labor, I often receive mail from workers with job complaints, who apparently believe I still have some authority. But the email I received a few days ago from a worker at Amazon’s Whole Foods delivery warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, was particularly distressing.
She said that six of her co-workers had tested positive...Read more
Biden and his team must tackle structural inequality
“It’s time we address the structural inequalities in our economy that the pandemic has laid bare,” President-elect Joe Biden said last week as he introduced his economic team.
It’s a good team. They’re competent and they care, in sharp contrast to Donald Trump’s goon squad. Many of them were in the trenches with Biden and Barack ...Read more
The dangerous seduction of ‘back to normal’
“Life is going to return to normal,” Joe Biden promised last week in a Thanksgiving address to the nation. He was talking about life after COVID-19, but you could be forgiven if you thought he was also making a promise about life after Donald Trump.
It’s almost impossible to separate the two. To the extent that voters gave Biden a mandate...Read more
Trump is stress-testing American democracy
Financial regulators subject banks to stress tests to see if they have enough capital to withstand sharp downturns.
Now America is being subject to a stress test to see if it has enough strength to withstand Donald Trump’s treacherous campaign to discredit the 2020 presidential election.
Trump will lose because there’s no evidence of ...Read more
Who gains from Trump’s refusal to concede?
Leave it to Donald Trump and his Republican allies to spend more energy fighting nonexistent voter fraud than containing a virus that has killed 246,000 Americans and counting.
The cost of this misplaced attention is incalculable. While COVID-19 surges to record levels, there’s still no national strategy for equipment, stay-at-home orders, ...Read more
Can Biden heal America when Trump and his allies don’t want it healed?
In case you missed the news, Joe Biden was elected president of the United States. With almost all ballots counted, Biden has more than 75 million votes and Trump some 71 million. The Electoral College isn’t even close.
But Donald Trump still has not conceded, and some leading Republicans say he shouldn’t.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ...Read more
FAQs about Trump, Biden and the election
Q: You’ve been in or around politics for more than 50 years. How are you feeling about Tuesday’s election?
A: I’m more frightened for my country than I’ve ever been. Another four years of Donald Trump would be devastating. Nonetheless, I suspect Joe Biden will win.
Q: But in 2016, the polls ...
A: Polling is better now, and Biden’s ...Read more
Reversing the Republican power grab
Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed on Monday as the ninth justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. This is a travesty of democracy.
The vote on Barrett’s confirmation occurred just eight days before Election Day. By contrast, the Senate didn’t even hold a hearing on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. Obama nominated Garland ...Read more