Author: A.T.

Paul Krugman reflects on Putin — and his American admirers.

Worth the read.  (Thanks, Lev.)

Also . . .

Heads up:

Third quarter estimated taxes are due Thursday.

As this graph shows, audits of the rich are way down.  If you’re a millionaire, that’s good news I guess — unless you’re a millionaire who pays her taxes and hopes her fellow millionaires do, too.  Why should you have to pay if they don’t?

The increased funding of the IRS that Republicans oppose is not for 87,000 agents to storm your home with assault weapons, as FOX news would have you fear.  (To do what, exactly?)

Rather, it’s to visit with pocket calculators to collect some of the hundreds of billions that wealthy tax cheats have stolen from the rest of us.  (Herewith, the obligatory Leona Helmsley quote.)

The Biden Bounce — “The people who said Biden isn’t smart are looking a bit dumb.  In the nick of time, he draws on five lessons to revive his presidency.”

A nice way to start the week.

The Trump Indictment — “It gives me no joy to write this piece,” laments a Trump fan in the right-wing Washington Times.

Could a Trumuppance loom?

Speaking of which . . .

The Fourteenth Amendment — can an insurrectionist hold public office?

(Also: the remarkable case of Victor Berger, ejected from Congress under that Amendment simply for writing editorials.)

BONUS

My high school classmate and soccer team forward (left forward, I’m guessing, given his politics), Farhad Vakil, was the son of Iran’s ambassador to the UN.  Mickey, as we knew him, was no fan of the Shah.  During his college years he would make nervous jokes about the SAVAK, and his being on their radar.  A few years later came the news that he had died someplace deep in Africa while doing humanitarian work, ostensibly from a disease . . . though to this day, we wonder.

All this wildly off-topic, except for two things:

> We all loved Mickey.  I look for any excuse to keep his memory alive.

> It was he who introduced me to pomegranates.

We’d go over to his place to hang out and a bowl of chilled pomegranate arils would appear.  What is better than that?

Except that if you don’t have “help” of the kind to be found in the ambassador’s residence back then, you probably know that it’s someplace between fun and annoying to dissect a pomegranate.

Everybody needs to do it at least once.  After that, it’s tempting to splurge on a pre-shucked container of arils . . . eating the seeds as well, or, more likely, spitting them out — a minor annoyance of its own.

But what if you could dispense with the shucking and the spitting altogether?

So here, now, at last, the bonus.  Behold Georgia’s Natural Organic Pomegranate Juice (as in Georgia the country, not the state) – All-Natural, Cold Pressed Pure Juice Rich in Vitamin C – Not From Concentrate – No Added Sugars or Water – No Gluten, GMOs, Preservatives – 33.81 Fl Oz Bottle.

Expensive, to be sure.  But served cold from the fridge and then further chilled over lots of ice, I can’t think of anything better.

Enjoy!

Our economic blueprint.

Even the table of contents is thrilling.

Start with that — and click any topic that catches your eye.

BONUS

Florida’s great, but  . . .

. . . A lot of New Yorkers are moving back.

Have a great week.

And if you don’t want to lose democracy, which is truly on the line . . . as it was in Europe 90 years ago when not enough people took the threat seriously . . . HELP!

Forty-two years ago this December I was home transferring my Beatles albums from LP’s onto tapes, listening to them as I went.

Something I had never done before and would never do again.

Three hours into the project, I got a call.  John Lennon had been shot.  Scot and I (before Charles, Scot) joined the throng swaying back and forth with candles outside the Dakota.  “All we are sayyyyy-ing.  Is give peace a chance.”

But really?  The one time in my life I was so focused on the Beatles is when this happened?

I had never followed the Royal Family or cared about any of that stuff (no offense) until this summer, when I happened upon The Crown.

It is so brilliantly done, and relives so much history through a different perspective, I was entranced by every episode, getting to know the Queen and her family in the most remarkable way.

Having begun in June, I finished the fortieth and final hour (until Season Five airs in November) just after midnight Wednesday.

Thirteen hours later . . .

Really?

R.I.P., Your Majesty.

At least we still have Elton John.

Not sure how we get this done in time for 2024 . . . but in purple states, especially, it seems as though we ought to try.  The case for paper ballots appeals to BOTH sides, as demonstrated here.

What do you think?

In the meantime . . .

. . . have you joined your local chapter of the League of Women Voters?  Joined Field Team 6? Joined Vote Forward? Done all you can to fund the organizing effort?

Six more ideas:

NextGen America: Register and engage young voters.
Midterm Madness: Get involved in local and state-wide races.
Swing Left: Attend a Volunteer Orientation.
Sister District: Help win state legislative races.
Power the Polls: Become a poll worker to help elections run smoothly.
Protect the Vote: Serve as a nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer.

I saw this video last week just after posting that remarkable Heineken ad.

Both attempt to show paths to de-polarization.

If you have time, I think you’ll enjoy it, even if it leaves you, as it left me, with questions.  (E.g., just HOW do I adjust my left-brain/right-brain balance?  Pills?  Self-awareness? Therapy?  Tilting my head?)

But if you have just one minute, start here and listen to his guest’s description of “charitable ground.”

That part I got 100%.

Warren Spieker: “I loved the Heineken ad. While I consider myself a moderate, I find many of the comments in your newsletter polarizing.  I’m a former Republican who has moved toward the center.  Or perhaps I haven’t moved but my former party has shifted right.  Regardless, I believe we need to view ourselves as Americans and stop viewing either person as an ‘us’ or a ‘them.’  The ad showed how people with differing opinions can still sit down and discuss difficult topics.  It’s so much more effective than trying to simply beat them and tell them they are wrong.”

→ Amen.

FUNDING THE IRS

By our very own Professor Paul deLaspinasse:

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If You’re an Honest Taxpayer New IRS Budget a Good Thing

. . . Since someone must pay for government, tax cheating means honest people have to pay more. This writer can understand can why tax cheats want to leave the IRS underfunded, understaffed, and reliant on ancient computers.

But, what is not understandable, is the Republicans’ unanimous vote against this legislation.

Republicans have denounced the increased support for the IRS (which will produce [vastly] more tax revenue than it costs) as a vicious attack on small businesses and the little guy.

But contrary to those partisan talking points, additional auditing will focus on where it can produce the most revenue, on very wealthy taxpayers.

As IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, appointed by Donald Trump, has pointed out: “these [new] resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans.” . . .

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BONUS: THE NEXT WORDLE?

Peter Wagner: “I thought you’d like to know about a new word game my 33 year old son, Adam, created.  He has had 12 published NY Times crossword puzzles, including a few Sundays, and that passion led him to create this word game: anigrams.us.  Give it a try….it’s been gaining a lot of traction just in its first week.”

Trump on Trump — 74 Seconds To Get You Warmed Up

Wrong about birtherism; wrong about the Central Park Five; wrong to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners and commit the U.S. to withdraw from Afghanistan by May, 2021; wrong about hydroxychloroquine.  Etc. etc.

But give the man his due: when he’s right, he’s right!

It’s Not Illegal When the President Does It

Most rejected Nixon’s assertion. (Seven seconds.  Watch.)

But even the few who might agree that a sitting president is above the law, Constitutional checks and balances notwithstanding — well, what about when former presidents do something?  Like fail to relinquish Top Secret documents?

Former Republican George Conway says DOJ filing has Trump ‘dead to rights’.

“Lock HER Up” — But We’ll Riot in the Streets If You Prosecute HIM

Greg Sargent debunks the false equivalency of their misdeeds here.

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. . . [Lindsey] Graham is not just threatening political violence. He’s providing an invented rationale for it that is deeply dangerous.

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There was a time when Trump-supporting senators saw Trump for who he is.

“Any time you ignore what could become an evil force, you wind up regretting it,” Lindsey Graham concluded presciently, referring to the “race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot.”  (“You know how to make American great again?” he once asked. “Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”)

Marco Rubio, before twice voting to block the January 6 investigation:  “Leadership is not inciting people to get angrier. That’s not leadership. You know what it is? That’s called demagoguery.”

Which brings us, finally, to the point.

Demagoguery.

Is it okay to use the F word?

About a guy who kept a book of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside?  Who “would like to punch him in the face”?  Who, like Stalin, assails the press as the “enemy of the people”?  Who embraces strongmen?  Who mocks the disabled, dehumanizes asylum-seekers, insults “shit-hole countries,” invents a “war on Christmas” — and incites an armed mob to gather for a rally and then march on the Capitol?

Can he be called a fascist?  A semi-fascist?  A fascist wannabe?

Can the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and Klansmen and Q-Anon-ers and FOX commentators who support him be called these things?

The view from the MAGA Republicans is a resounding NO!

Just as Putin’s millions of nationalist supporters are convinced he and they are righteously fighting to “liberate” (and de-Nazify!) Ukraine, so are Trump’s supporters genuine in their admiration of Trump, and as certain they are true patriots.

There are really two questions here:

1. Is it fair to use the fascist (or “semi-fascist”) label?
2. Even if it is, is it wise?

As to the first, depending on your definition, it seems to me arguably early to do so — while arguing, also, that the most ardent MAGA Republicans sure seem headed in that direction.

Would Trump like to be President for life, like Putin and Xi and Kim?  I kinda think so — don’t you?

Would his most besotted followers like to see that, too?  Even if it means no longer allowing free and fair elections?  It sure seems that way.

As to the second question, I think the F word needs to be deployed, if at all, only with qualification, always acknowledging that the large majority of Trump voters are fine people who embrace the same values most Democrats do . . .

. . . and even many of the same non-extreme policy positions (e.g., a Roe-like middle ground on abortion, sensible gun-safety reform, reasonable taxation of the super-rich).

Most of them, I think, do not want to see America lose her democracy and slip down a fascist slope.

And so, as we ponder how, if at all, to use the F word, I leave you with Tom Nichols’s excellent recent essay: Is It Okay To Use The F-Word?

Have a great Labor Day and great week to come!

But first . . .

It won’t surprise you to know I thought the President was spot on last night.

If you’re looking for ways to help save democracy . . .

(I’m sorry but “Lock her up!”  “Hang Mike Pence!” and “Jews Will Not Replace us!” are not the chants of people who believe in democracy, even if their leader “loves them” and sees many of them as “very fine people.”)

. . . have you joined your local chapter of the League of Women Voters?  Joined Field Team 6? Joined Vote Forward? Done all you can to fund the organizing effort?

Six more ideas:

NextGen America: Register and engage young voters.

Midterm Madness: Get involved in local and state-wide races.

Swing Left: Attend a Volunteer Orientation.

Sister District: Help win state legislative races.

Power the Polls: Become a poll worker to help elections run smoothly.

Protect the Vote: Serve as a nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer.

And now . . .

Last Labor Day weekend, I tagged Heather Cox Richardson’s daily letter to be posted this Labor Day weekend.  (Time flies.)

What progress we’ve made since 1911 — in no small part thanks to a woman most have never heard of, Frances Perkins.

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September 5, 2021
Heather Cox Richardson

On March 25, 1911, Frances Perkins was visiting with a friend who lived near Washington Square in New York City when they heard fire engines and people screaming. They rushed out to the street to see what the trouble was. A fire had broken out in a garment factory on the upper floors of a building on Washington Square, and the blaze ripped through the lint in the air. The only way out was down the elevator, which had been abandoned at the base of its shaft, or through an exit to the roof. But the factory owner had locked the roof exit that day because, he later testified, he was worried some of his workers might steal some of the blouses they were making.

“The people had just begun to jump when we got there,” Perkins later recalled. “They had been holding until that time, standing in the windowsills, being crowded by others behind them, the fire pressing closer and closer, the smoke closer and closer. Finally the men were trying to get out this thing that the firemen carry with them, a net to catch people if they do jump, the[y] were trying to get that out and they couldn’t wait any longer. They began to jump. The… weight of the bodies was so great, at the speed at which they were traveling that they broke through the net. Every one of them was killed, everybody who jumped was killed. It was a horrifying spectacle.”

By the time the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was out, 147 young people were dead, either from their fall from the factory windows or from smoke inhalation.

Perkins had few illusions about industrial America: she had worked in a settlement house in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood in Chicago and was the head of the New York office of the National Consumers League, urging consumers to use their buying power to demand better conditions and wages for workers. But even she was shocked by the scene she witnessed on March 25.

By the next day, New Yorkers were gathering to talk about what had happened on their watch. “I can’t begin to tell you how disturbed the people were everywhere,” Perkins said. “It was as though we had all done something wrong. It shouldn’t have been. We were sorry…. We didn’t want it that way. We hadn’t intended to have 147 girls and boys killed in a factory. It was a terrible thing for the people of the City of New York and the State of New York to face.”

The Democratic majority leader in the New York legislature, Al Smith—who would a few years later go on to four terms as New York governor and become the Democratic presidential nominee in 1928—went to visit the families of the dead to express his sympathy and his grief. “It was a human, decent, natural thing to do,” Perkins said, “and it was a sight he never forgot. It burned it into his mind. He also got to the morgue, I remember, at just the time when the survivors were being allowed to sort out the dead and see who was theirs and who could be recognized. He went along with a number of others to the morgue to support and help, you know, the old father or the sorrowing sister, do her terrible picking out.”

“This was the kind of shock that we all had,” Perkins remembered.

The next Sunday, concerned New Yorkers met at the Metropolitan Opera House with the conviction that “something must be done. We’ve got to turn this into some kind of victory, some kind of constructive action….” One man contributed $25,000 to fund citizens’ action to “make sure that this kind of thing can never happen again.”

The gathering appointed a committee, which asked the legislature to create a bipartisan commission to figure out how to improve fire safety in factories. For four years, Frances Perkins was their chief investigator.

She later explained that although their mission was to stop factory fires, “we went on and kept expanding the function of the commission ’till it came to be the report on sanitary conditions and to provide for their removal and to report all kinds of unsafe conditions and then to report all kinds of human conditions that were unfavorable to the employees, including long hours, including low wages, including the labor of children, including the overwork of women, including homework put out by the factories to be taken home by the women. It included almost everything you could think of that had been in agitation for years. We were authorized to investigate and report and recommend action on all these subjects.”

And they did. Al Smith was the speaker of the house when they published their report, and soon would become governor. Much of what the commission recommended became law.

Perkins later mused that perhaps the new legislation to protect workers had in some way paid the debt society owed to the young people, dead at the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. “The extent to which this legislation in New York marked a change in American political attitudes and policies toward social responsibility can scarcely be overrated,” she said. “It was, I am convinced, a turning point.”

But she was not done. In 1919, over the fervent objections of men, Governor Smith appointed Perkins to the New York State Industrial Commission to help weed out the corruption that was weakening the new laws. She continued to be one of his closest advisers on labor issues. In 1929, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt replaced Smith as New York governor, he appointed Perkins to oversee the state’s labor department as the Depression worsened. When President Herbert Hoover claimed that unemployment was ending, Perkins made national news when she repeatedly called him out with figures proving the opposite and said his “misleading statements” were “cruel and irresponsible.” She began to work with leaders from other states to figure out how to protect workers and promote employment by working together.

In 1933, after the people had rejected Hoover’s plan to let the Depression burn itself out, President-elect Roosevelt asked Perkins to serve as Secretary of Labor in his administration. She accepted only on the condition that he back her goals: unemployment insurance; health insurance; old-age insurance, a 40-hour work week; a minimum wage; and abolition of child labor. She later recalled: “I remember he looked so startled, and he said, ‘Well, do you think it can be done?’”

She promised to find out.

Once in office, Perkins was a driving force behind the administration’s massive investment in public works projects to get people back to work. She urged the government to spend $3.3 billion on schools, roads, housing, and post offices. Those projects employed more than a million people in 1934.

In 1935, FDR signed the Social Security Act, providing ordinary Americans with unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services.

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a minimum wage and maximum hours. It banned child labor.

Frances Perkins, and all those who worked with her, transformed the horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire into the heart of our nation’s basic social safety net.

“There is always a large horizon…. There is much to be done,” Perkins said. “It is up to you to contribute some small part to a program of human betterment for all time.”

Happy Labor Day, everyone.

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Have a great weekend.

Early in our relationship at a party in Miami Charles asked me to get him a beer.

I came back with a Heineken and he exploded.

How could anyone so dislike Heineken?  But of course, as I eventually realized, it wasn’t the taste of the beer that so upset him . . . it was that I hadn’t cared enough to remember he didn’t like Heineken.  (I never made that mistake again.)

Were he alive today, I think these four minutes might have won him over.

Even if you hate beer, see what you make of it.

Per Jesse Kornbluth, over on Head Butler:

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. . . James Fallows found it. Call it “Let’s have a beer.” He writes: “A major academic research project finds the intervention that most successfully reduced partisan animosity and anti-democratic attitudes was watching this Heineken ad, I kid you not. The Heineken experiment is basically an argument for some kind of mandatory national service—its ‘ice breaker’ and ‘bridge building’ tasks show the power of doing something together as a foundation for connection, conversation, understanding.” Please watch it.

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And spread the word.

Last week I posted about student loan forgiveness and why I thought what the Administration has come up with is well thought through and strikes a sensible balance.

I just watched Trae Crowder’s three minute take on the same topic.  A similar perspective, but way more fun.

Enjoy.

Also fun:  The Palm Beach Post on Florida’s “beloved Governor Ron DeSantis.”

Was the duly authorized Mar-a-Lago search “a raid?”

To quote DeSantis:

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It’s not a raid. . . . These people did their jobs, they’ve been smeared as the Gestapo for doing their jobs.

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Except — oh, wait — he wasn’t talking about Mar-a-Lago.

Enjoy.