But I want to be the "New" Denmark
18
When it comes to puns and double-entendre, the Bezos affair is a 'target rich' environment. I hope you both had fun.
As for Trump and investigations, I don't think there's any danger of 'hitting a dry hole' going down nearly any "rabbit hole" of investigation into Trump's dealings. Trump is dirty down every one of those holes, and with Trump I prefer the term 'rat hole' to "rabbit hole". Rabbits are fluffy soft furry bunnys - Trump is far closer to 'rat' than rabbit.
20
Dear Bret: The next time that you feel your baked in republicant reflex to lament higher taxes on the rich, please remember two things.
A lot of your fellow republicants won’t be happy until taxes are zero.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said it best: “I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.”
18
I don't understand why most journalists are ignoring that Northam claimed he had never seen his Medical School yearbook. That is why the photo took him by surprise and why he wondered if he was even in that photo and then determined he wasn't.
It's not hard to imagine that he had never seen the book. I never saw my college yearbook and I have no idea what's in it. Do people really care about yearbooks or their content in their mid-20s? It's more of a high school thing.
10
Given the long-time Trump/Pecker connections, gotta' wonder if any Federal resources used to obtain 'dirt' on Bezos. I assume so.
4
As I read, I wondered if you were going to manage the entire column without referencing AOC and the Green New Deal. Glad you got around to it.
The GND is centered around the absolute necessity of responding to climate change. Mother nature doesn't care about liberal or conservative or socialism vs. capitalism or what is too radical or too expensive. She's warned us with hurricanes. She's warned us with firestorms. If we continue to mess with her, she is going to step on us. Then maybe she'll give the cockroaches a shot at being apex critter. Or possibly the lizards. She had a real good run with lizards a while back.
Of all the miserable things the Republicans are up to these days, the worst by far is their refusal to acknowledge our problems with the environment and their support for a President who is determined to make them all worse. That's not merely bad or criminal. That's insane. Species suicide really shouldn't be part of a political party platform.
I did enjoy the part about Bezos' Pecker, by the way. Can't spend all one's time worrying about human extinction.
13
What? You talk about Bezos as if that is a consequential issue in today's darkest hour in the throes of Trump. Bezos was lucky with AMZN, and a bunch of his wealth, probably most of it, was courteous of a virtually unregulated stock market that allows a person to glean enormous wealth over and above what that person, in today's world, is worth.
Bezos thought he could do anything and be immune, He could cheat on his wife, and get away with it, but didn't. So who cares if this stock enhanced billionaire got caught as I don't think its going to make any difference in respect to Congressional legislation, the Trump Russian collusion which might end up as traitorous, or the irrational actions he and his worthless cabinet members and aides cook up to enhance the chaos in our government.
Who cares? Not I, and I'm sure mega millions of Americans who have better things to think about such as how they're going to pay rent, put gas in their cars or feed their family. Enough with this nonsense.
3
It's difficult for me to joke around about Mr. Bezos' personal life as it's just that - his. That said, perhaps there's some hope that the process will somehow humble the man and have him re-think his "business model". Paying real, living wages to his workers would be a good place for him to start. Using the "Henry Ford" model, they could then turn around and afford a few of the many things Amazon (or the local grocery store) has for sale, or put a little money away for a rainy day
8
Yes, Miriam, reiteration, redundancy, and
glitchy repetition do get my semi full attention.
But please don't tell the proofers how much fun you got from seeing the anomaly in our
renowned medium, which Walter Cronkites honor by getting clues for brief elaborations.
1
‘We are not Denmark!’ True. But generally in all the ways that make that sad, not something to aspire to.
5
Is, perchance, the Brett Stephens claiming that "cable TV is obsessing about this stuff 24/7" the same Brett Stephens who appears, constantly, on cable TV's MSBNC obsessing about this stuff?
Just wondering.
4
How is any of this going to rid the world of Donald J. Trump in a position of power? Foolish or unrelated question you ask? Well, the fact that your columnists and much of the public care to pay attention to any of the powerful Bezos' "private" life ~ while not calling for and demanding the shut down of Trump and abuse of his elected power ~ is just more fuel for the collapse and defeat of this country from within to the glee of Trump's foreign creditor and nuclear weapons huggers.
3
In any political situation where people are oppressed, there is a class of imprisoned thought-leaders, writers and dissemblers who make their living by spinning the most unbelievable mythical yarns about how "everything is OK." Likewise, there is an alternate class of pundits who make *their* livings by saying "everything is NOT OK."
Then "everything" collapses and it becomes clear who was right.
The Republicans -- and to a lesser extent the Democrats -- have created a set of laws that favor their own elite constituencies. Wall Street, Big Pharma, Big Medical, the Military Industrial Complex and the 1%. These elite interests captured the Republicans Party and to a lesser extent the Democratic Party.
The Republicans currently represent a body of people interested in not becoming poorer, the Democrats represent a body of people interested in gaining a greater share of the wealth. This story of hoarding of resources, the means of production and the power that comes from it is as old as dirt and goes back thousands of years ago when there were created the first agricultural grain surpluses that were worth hoarding. Now there was something worth creating an army to fight and control. Grain was the ancient world's oil.
Eventually the elites overstep their domination of society -- and you get Tea Parties, Occupy, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In historical context, there's really nothing new here. Over the centuries, only the players change.
1
The economic reality is we are many $ trillions in debt. A debt so huge it will take decades to pay down.
Yet every politician keeps on promising more stuff.
Or reducing costs for one group while increasing costs to others, which is somehow mysteriously linked to campaign donations. Must be a coincidence.
I guess fiscal responsibility is an unsellable idea.
2
Debt is no fun but it only matters as a percentage of the cash coming in... just like your mortgage. So it doesn’t necessarily matter if it grows, only if it grows faster than your ability to pay, which is not true in the case of the US.
2
"handling the whole thing well" ROFL
2
Re: "I would love to hear a Democrat say, as Hillary Clinton did, we are not Denmark! "
What's wrong (rotten?) with Denmark? Except for the number of millionaires or billionaires per 1000, they do better than the US in most indicators of population health, well-being and happiness. And it is a free-market economy.
https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-fairytale-nation-how-denmark-compares-to-the-united-states-2015-10
Me, I'd chose Denmark over the USA anytime. But then again, I'm a Canadian.
7
@Denis Pelletier
Mr. Pelletier
Both Canada and Denmark are great if like freezing all winter in the dark.
2
My thinking is that something neurological is going on with him. I feel badly for his wife.
1
I agree with Bret 100% to the point where I'm not sure I can call myself a Democrat anymore.
"I would love to hear a Democrat say, as Hillary Clinton did, we are not Denmark! And I fear the Democrats’ new progressivism will so turn off voters that they’ll re-elect Trump as the better of two bad alternatives. "
I'll never call myself a Republican, but the Democratic party is becoming the party of Sanders and AOC, whom I'm not in agreement with. I fear that the liberals are going to scare people off.
I’m impressed.
A man commits aduktery and sexts pictures ic his privates. Where I come from, the sexting would result in court-ordered therapy and mandatory registration as a sex offender.
But in The New York Times, Jeff Bob Bezos is a hero for standing up for his right to sext pics of his privates over the internet.
All of which proves that the owners of liberal rags give each other a pass for sexual perversion.
Now, imagine Donald Trump getting caught sexting pics of his privates and expressing outrage at being outed. Want to take bets that The New York Time wouldn’t be rushing to laud him?
"...I can’t support the Democrats, either, as long as they’re repudiating their belief in traditional liberalism for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda."
Bret: Why do you feel compelled to lie about the Democrats? No Democrat is anticapitalist. You know this and still insist on repeating this lie. And ruinously expensive? Tax cuts aren't ruinously expensive? Especially ones for the rich? The military isn't ruinously expensive? Maybe you have to lie so much because you know virtually your entire world view is wrong? You know that these measures will succeed, just like Social Security succeeded, just like Medicare succeeded. Sol the only thing you have left is lies.
11
At the end of the day, it's pretty simple: How the government allocates and spends our tax dollars is a reflection of what we value as a society. It's not crazy or "ruinous" for government to work for the welfare and betterment of its people; it's just a choice.
16
Democrats are not anti capitalist. In fact not worrying about obtaining healthcare or paying off student loans would free up entrepreneurship.
Clean air and clean water wouldn’t hurt either.
15
Bret, there's nothing "anticapitalist" about progressive policy proposals. We already live in a democratic socialist country, this is a matter of extending democratic socialism to heath care, college and maybe some other sectors, like early child care, to help the middle class with essential services in sectors that have irresponsibly raised prices well beyond inflation for DECADES, with no adult supervision. Blame college presidents, and hospital and pharmaceutical CEO's for getting us to this point. Democratic socialism, in fact, will help save capitalism. Yes, the wealthy will have to pay higher taxes, but so what, they can afford it.
7
Remember that when someone decides that YOU are wealthy...
3
Message to Bret: Equality has a cost; so does greed.
Many prefer the costs associated with equality, livable wages, affordable access to healthcare, clean air and water, education; housing and justice. Why don't you join us?
15
For a white guy to present in blackface as a 'joke' in the 80s is at the least a spectacular failure of empathy. For a medical student to do so is a profound failure of judgment as well. I don't want an unempathic doc with bad judgment. And I don't want a leader who hasn't yet produced a mote of remorse, only regret that he got caught.
@Not that kind of doctor. I remember when i was in law school at UCLA in the late 70s/early 80s. I met the occasional med student in my social interactions in those years. With one honorable exception, i found the med students to be smart in a narrow area of knowledge and quite dumb elsewhere.
5
I agree. The Bezos story is huge. AMI, which is presently under a DOJ plea deal, has tried to extort Bezos with stolen texts and photos into running pro-Trump news in the Post pertaining indirectly but definitively to Trump income, Trump Republican government policy, and likely Trump Republican malfeasance.
Is Brett correct? Is it likely or possible that a government agency actually stole the texts and photos which AMI was using to extort Bezos? Was it the Trump White House that gave them to Mr. Pecker? Why was Pecker so desperate to stop Bezos from finding out how he got the stuff? This is even worse than I thought it was.
The Democrats should do every necessary investigation--but they should conduct all of them quietly with sobriety and veracity, behind closed doors as needed. They should make all of their public noise about rescuing health care, building infrastructure, saving Social Security, rolling back the tax-cut-for-the-rich, etc.
Thanks, as always, for this iteration of "The Conversation" which has become one of the very best parts of the Times--
8
It is perplexing that Pecker is ‘apoplectic’ about the National Enquirer being labled political, that is clearly the case, who doesn’t know that to be true.
It now seems likely, Trump will sign the bill and then start lying about actually winning, even if he obviously did not. As just an observer of Trump, it surprises me that pundits think, under these circumstances, he would veto the bill. From where I sit, Donald Trump would never veto the bill this time. He’s a slow learner, but his “I will take the mantle” blunder in the Oval Office likely penetrated.
As a Virginian and a Democratic volunteer, I support Gov. Northam and A.G. Herring staying in office, we voted for democrats and they are doing good jobs, perfect, they clearly are not. Lt. Gov. Fairfax is more troubling due to the nature of the
charges, quite upsetting and the first accuser is very credible, the second, I know little about, but two claims makes it worse obviously. Investigation is needed, but how do you really investigate something like this fairly? Christine Blasey Ford was extremely compelling and believable, and Brett Kavanaugh is on the Supreme Court for life!
9
It's a fun conversation, with lots of memorable phrases (my favorite: the Axis of Pecker).
My one quibble is about public access to the president's tax returns. If candidates have the practice of volunteering this information, then fine, but that does not make an obligation on others. The returns should be pursued only by law enforcement professionals with an appropriate warrant. This right of privacy should extend to anyone in public service -- even the odious Donald Trump.
Dave Pecker, an interesting man. I knew him when was CFO for CBS Magazines, one of the most brilliant but ruthless guys I ever met. He made his boss Dematis lots of money on multiple spinoffs of the magazines.
2
Bret and Gail, you failed to mention the other Trump connection to the Pecker Peaking case; that of Chris Christy and New Jersey pension funds directed to the private equity fund that controls American Media and the National Enquirer. See here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-08/bezos-s-bombshell-puts-enquirer-allegiances-back-in-spotlight and here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-12/n-j-officials-press-enquirer-s-hedge-fund-owner-over-bezos-feud
4
In terms of the selfie situation, Anthony Weiner needs to be brought in by David Pecker to divert attention from surname attacks. Weiner could also serve as counselor to Jeff Bezos on dangers of poorly designed selfie distribution.
4
"I’m attached to no party"
Well, that is quite a confession. Thing is, you sound like, talk like, and act like a capitalist, and as any decent capitalist knows Sophistry is the best foot you can put forward. So of course your attached to no party other than your own personal welfare, sort of like Trump.
1
When I was in college, a couple times I saw guys go to Halloween parties as used tampons. Would they now be (virtually) banned from public office?
Probably should be so, but, they were just being stupid.
2
Concerning Bezos, in several months no one will care.
1
I marvel at how stupid AMI was.
I think they thought that not asking Bezos for one of his billions,
that their offer was one he couldn't refuse.
They thought they had him by the (blank).
That a massive humiliation was to be avoided at some cost by Bezos.
And of course the statement they wanted that it "was not political", proves to me that that's all it ever was.
I would not be surprised if the revengeful Trump was at least informed of these doings.
2
The Bezos story is tawdry. Very tawdry. People's (who should know better) irresistible tendency to act like morons, and millions more people's and media's thirst for it shows how low US culture has fallen.
1
I'm vaguely curious about this emerging thing about how, well, apparently just about *everybody* now takes cellphone pictures of their genitals and slings them around on the internet. There was a column in this paper a few day back that claimed 88% of Americans. You think? It's not like I'm so square and it's so shocking to me. More that it just seems ... stupid. Just doesn't seem real.
5
Is this really a BIG story to millions of Americans and worthy of being on the front page or is it a BIG story to the NY Times because it is in competition with the Washington Post which is owned by Mr. Bezos?
1
Bret Stephens,as usual, is an apologist for plutocracy, and furthermore seeks to normalize awful demonstration of racist sentiment as a simple peccadillo to be forgiven and forgotten. His sentiments belong on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal not offered prominence at the NYT.
2
THE Republicans are the slaves of Big money until we find a way to end thatDemocracy is on the way out in America
1
Here's hoping the billionaire can take down the Pecker sleaze. Not because billionaire's are any better --they often do terrible things, especially the GoP kind. (Bezos seems to be ok even if he is obscenely rich). But rather because the sleazy Pecker is facilitating a very bad president supported by some very bad billionaires whose agenda is self serving, based in ignorance and prejudice. This agenda is doing considerable harm to America.
The campaign propaganda value of National Enquirer headlines alone was valued at $ hundreds of millions in these pages not long.
Our lives would be much better without the billionaires and agenda Peckers of the world. So here's a thought. When you go through the checkout line and see a news rack with the National Enquirer prominently featured turn around and launch a complaint with management and ownership. Over and over again. Tell your friends. And stop shopping there-- if that's an option until we breach the tipping point and NE is removed. As for the billionaires--vote for Democrats who hold improved income equality as an ideal and is willing to undo trump's income tax legislation garbage and go even further.
Yes, we can do this... We don't need to be billionaires or Pecker sleaze to do the right thing and make it happen.
1
Stephens is bemusing. He reasons like Chief Justice Roger Taney in the Dred Scott decision. That is, no white man is obligated to take consideration of the feelings of a black man. Stephens, you are not the one being humiliated, ridiculed and dehumanized. Your white skin gives you a pass and you did not face the wounds inflicted by slavery, Jim Crow and widespread discrimination justified by the stereotypes you gloss over.
My black family came from the south and both of those stereotypes were hated. When my father told us to stop acting like the blackface coon man or Stepin-Fetchit it was said with anger. We all thought that people who acted this way held us back. The KKK was a whole another degree. My WWII and Korean War veteran father kept weapons just in case the KKK came for a visit because they hated medaled black veterans.
Stephens whitewashes and elides history as conservatives always do. I now look at Northam in a different light and you do not. He should have disclosed what he did if it were honorable and harmless.
2
Bret you are the Times savior & the only reason I read the Times.I have been a Democrat for most of my 85 years, but this is not my Fathers Party. My father was a Liberal & like a dutiful son i followed him and became a liberal.We didn’t have anti semites in the Liberal Party when my Father was a Liberal or for that matter when I became a Liberal, and Israel was but a Dream.A dream that has materialized & remains the best event in my life.No it’s not perfect, but what is ,including the Country I love & live in America.
Keep standing up for common sense & fairness, Your the best.
1
Bret claims to be a learned man, and not of the current Trump GOP clan. Yet he dumps all over the GND referendum. One which isn't a bill, but a bold idea and platform upon a goal. One which most learned people who believe our best and brightest, including our Military apparatus, that Climate Change, Armageddon, what have you, is a very real thing and is happening and will happen 3 times as hard as it ramps up into a loop system.
Whew...
All that said Bret, you nor any Con. has put forth a plan of preventiveness. In fact it seems their/your idea is to make it worse and pay triple the amount to ameliorate those decimated from said destruction and pains to come.
Short sighted, definitely not conservative, and shows a lack of care for humanity.
So...Bret, what is YOUR plan and intentions.
Democratic's (or at least some...) have put forth their ideals, do you have ANY?!
3
The only thing big about this story is - surprise- he's no better than anyone else, and just as dumb when it comes to being scammed.
I recall driving on the interstate in the 70's here in Texas and seeing a Klan rally in a field, complete with burning cross and people dressed in white robes. Almost 50 years how much has changed?
Bret
It doesn't surprise me your stance on Northam. He can do anything he wants, be as racist as he wants to be, but he CANNOT be the Governor of Virginia. Even Bobby Lee is rolling in his grave.
It's his physician ego that refuses to resign, M.D.=mini-God.
On to more relevant topics, explain to us and Gail why you want Roe V Wade turned over.
How many unwanted children have you adopted? We're waiting.
It's entertainment plus, especially for a celebrity obsessed culture.
Guy who couldn't get a prom date makes billions; fools around on wife of many years; mistress's brother hates her adulterous geek, who owns a propaganda rag constantly attacking president, and leaks compromising text-jpegs to tabloid to embarrass paramour; geek-billionaire manipulates ad nauseam sympathetic Sovietized mass-media as leverage against tabloid to bring in the heat.
Doesn't get better … well, it just may. Stay tuned.
3
If Pecker isn't prosecuted for blackmailing Bezos at Trump's request. If they are not all compelled to testify in a court of law concerning the crime — then it will be clear that there is no rule of law in this country.
If this is settled out of court with billionaire to billionaire hush money than Bezos is no different than Stormy Daniels. Also why hasn't Pecker's press empire been immediately indicted for violating their agreement with the Mueller investigation?
Ronan Farrow announced that he to had been threatened with blackmail so this is not a one off but a potential conspiracy to control the free press by intimidating journalists and newspaper owners. This is not about dick picks. Again, if the story isn't fake news than this should be playing out in court.
That the government is waiting around to see how the billionaires knock it out and what they have to say in the press before they pursue this crime is a real tragedy, and telling of what life in our new plutocracy is going to be like going forward.
4
Gail and Bret,
Wow! We think this will really get BIG (sorry about the upper case-we’re beginning to think it’s fashionable.
If the US government had a hand in the hacking, perhaps we can justify it as a “Morality’ hack. But let’s get to the point, would it not put Donald Trump in the same league as the Saudi Prince Salman? True, it’s not as if Trump ordered the dismemberment of Jeff Bezos, but I’m sure we can find an appropriate word in the English language (which the US president has very nearly castrated).
We will watch this one breathlessly!
So Billy Crystal, Sarah Silverman, Jimmy Fallon’s etc blackfaces should be considered within context and are all fine.
Megan Kelly commited “the crime” of stating that black face use was not uncommon when she was growing up, and she is fired on the spot. The woman didn’t defend blackfaces, she didn’t even wore one, but...wait...
Same with the billionaires hating: Bill Gates and Warren Buffet O.K. Koch brothers not ok. Doesn’t matter that all three are big philanthropists. Rolleyes to the double standards.
Blackface: technically not illegal is criminalized.
Infanticide: technically a crime, is legalized (even with fanfare like NY).
This country has lost it.
You appear to be missing the point.
1
Who cares about this very selfish and egotistical billionaire?!
I’m dismayed that you, Mr. Stephens, oppose single payer health care. America already spends more than any nation - we will be able to afford. What you need to concern yourself with, Mr. Stephens is all those 6, 7, 8 figure income CEO’s and upper management persons working for health insurance, pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies. Single payer will end the need for all these too expensive personnel. Mr. Stephens, think about their reduced wealth and the disruption to their lifestyles.
3
A bit off topic ...but should we say go Nevada.
The state has a majority women elected to congress and state position.
Hurray to Nevada!
It's about time we put women on top...we can see what mess was created by numerous presidents, senators and congressmen...bringing it on women!
I was trying to write a comment to this article, but they closed the comment section...
A Woman, Just Not That Woman’: How Sexism Plays Out on the Trail
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/politics/sexism-double-standard-2020.html#commentsContainer
So here we go...
Double standard is alive and well, but she persisted, remember Elizabeth Warren.
This article By Maggie Astor just proves once again that we're very regressive society in every way...how we treat women, how we can't reconcile the race issue, how that affects the way we vote, and how we're unable to move from that stupor as a country...are we going to move ahead or fighting state vs. state, black vs. white, women vs. men, tearing us at the seams.
Been there before...didn't we.
What is the definition of insanity, remind me again.
Put the women in charge, it's long overdue!!!
Every progressive society already did, and no one complained.
Patriarchy is so outdated, it's simply not cool.
1
A strange thing in a strange time. A fifty some thing year old guy with a bundle of growth children does a "below the belt selfie" with a person who is not his kids' mom.
1
Bret is bringing up the fatuous excuse,"How can we pay for it?" The GND is not hard to fund - because if we do not pay for it now, we will have tremendously more expensive problems later. Bret is mistakenly thinking that we have the luxury of time. We are in big trouble.
3
Crony Capitalism is what is ruinously expensive, and is destroying the environment on which we all depend.
Also, It always seems to be white people who want a freebie for past actions. Time doesn't make it ok. Truth is required before reconciliation, and Gov Northam seems to have a hard time figuring out what the truth is. One can do wrong, take responsibility, apologize, provide appropriate restitution to right the wrongs that you previously did. That is how one moves forward. Time alone is not enough.
Gail Collins and Bret Stephens appear to want no Truth which is amazing for people who work for a newspaper. But then it is easier to just look away, than deal with America's not so distant racist past.
Sarah Silverman is appalled by her own blackface, has taken responsibility, apologized, and appears to be working in a better direction. That is dealing with it. Why Ms Collins and Mr Stephens can't see a difference is beyond me.
1
If providing healthcare without requiring ruinous payouts is "socialism", then I'm a socialist. The fact is, paying for universal healthcare will cost plenty, and just taxing the rich more won't cover it. But a humane, equitable and well-supervised system would be worth all the higher taxes it would require. The phrase is "life, liberty and property", but the liberty and property aren't worth much in the absence of the "life" part.
5
I feel like I have been living in a Tom Wolfe novel for the last three years.
5
With even a bit of adroitness the "socialist" scare tactics can be turned against republicans. First make clear what we already have that IS socialist. The Most Popular Programs of our federal government are the socialist ones. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Then there's the socialist infrastructure of our highway system and bridges. Very popular. National park and monuments and preserves... pretty darn socialist and pretty darn popular.
Then make two salient obvious points about capitalism. It works best when it is made to distribute wealth generation more broadly. Which is to say very high marginal tax rates on extreme wealth, no loopholes.
Corporate rules have to be changed to favor the broader public interest. The public allows corporations to exist in the first place. So the public interest must be heeded. Specifically, the CEO class must be held accountable for all corporate wrongdoing, and their remuneration may not include golden parachutes at all. Their pay must be decoupled from the short term gains that lead to anti-competitive behavior and other negative actions on the full spectrum of stakeholders.
OK three points. Corporate lobbying and the sleazy crony capitalist revolving door must be stopped completely. Corporate interests are important for lawmakers to be aware of, but lobbyists aren't need for that. Lawmakers are beholden to the people according to the constitution. Corporations are poison to democracy when they are allowed direct influence.
4
Stephens, like most conservatives, is full of feathers and hot air when it comes to the affordability of programs like social insurance and health care.
Two facts: From the 1930 when America first discussed government program to pay benefits to retired workers, the disabled and survivors of deceased workers, conservatives have plugged their ears and babbled "It's too expensive/" This despite the fact Germany's system had already survived seven decades, incluldin several great depressions, several European wars, including the one to end all wars. Ninety years after our system began, they're still chanting the same line, however shopworn.
The same adamantine refusal to accept the facts in evidence afflicts their approach to health care for all Americans. "We can't afford it" they scream,
Plain fact is America already pays more for health care than all the other civilized nations, who already conver all their citizens with one of three systems. They pay a smaller share of GDP than we do for the rube goldberg system we have, that leaves poor people without health care, or with family impoverishing debt. Basbies die because they are unfortunate enough to be born in America. Everybody else around the world can do it, and for less, Conservatives are sure we can't.
Fact is, if we fix health care, we free up money to fix both infrastructure AND schools, AND student debt.
Time to shove the conservatives out of the way and get on with the people's business.
19
Can I ask the editors of the New York Times to please cut back on this kind of snarky writing? It is beneath the newspaper's stature and distracts us from the seriousness of the world we now find ourselves in. I want and expect the New York Times to hold the high ground of journalistic standards.
8
I am so glad someone brought this up:
***Billy Crystal did “blackface” for a Sammy Davis Jr. impression, and I don’t think Crystal is racist in any respect. Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman, to name a few boldface names, have all done blackface. If we’re going to start excommunicating people from public life for this, we’re going to destroy a lot of people who almost surely intended no harm.***
So now please discuss why it’s okay for Donald Glover, Nick Cannon and others to do whiteface.
Yes, context is everything, and the ugly history of black face is unique. It also matters a lot that a certain man put that horrible photo on his med school yearbook page. But if you are going to categorize by intention, and give a pass to some beloved, PC-passing performers, you need to look at all intention. Nick Cannon’s white “character” was not created or performed with neutral intention. Hate goes both ways. It’s wrong no matter where it comes from.
1
Anyone who texts a below the belt selfie should be deported for stupidity.
Don't they know that every single text is stored forever on databases everywhere around the world just like everything else that goes over the internet? One from Bezos would be worth money.
This is proof that money makes you stupid.
1
> traditional liberalism
Liberalism has been social liberalism for a long time. Recently, traditional civil libertarians were all republican until your right wing decided that folks like Brett were ruining their perfect white world.
Jeff Bezos and his disclosure of the rift between him and the National Enquirer, believed to be associated with several third parties--Trump and Prince Salman, may have opened up another avenue of investigation for the Special prosecutor. So far, we are aware of Putin's influence on Trump, but listening to Trump's refusal to accept the facts surrounding the killing of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi by the Prince and some of his security staff makes you wonder if Prince Salman has some thing over Trump?
4
Yes, Trump has turned policy making into a circus with lots of clowns and no ringmaster. However, taxing the hyper rich to fund valuable social fairness, training and education while eliminating needless exemptions of investment income from fair taxation doesn't sound like a ruinously expensive policy agenda. It sounds like progress. Bezos and Pecker's donnybrook over hacking and invasions of privacy is fun to watch and adds to the circus atmosphere. But there's no equivalency between Republican lawlessness and Democratic seeking of justice. None whatsoever.
2
I have a feeling that...how shall I say this?...Mr. Bezos likely has no reason to be embarrassed by the 'scandalous' photos.
Even so, I'm glad he's decided to turn over the log and see what crawls out. Embarrassed or not, his privacy was violated for extortion.
5
The Amazon logo makes more sense now
4
When I was a senior in high school in 1964 I read “Black Like Me,” by a white journalist named John Howard Griffin, who had his skin darkened by injections of some sort (which was bad for his health) and then traveled in the American South. His descriptions of how he was treated by whites taught this white guy why segregation and Jim Crow laws were so wrong. Nowadays Griffin would be criticized for cultural appropriation or something. I also like Amos and Andy TV show. When Tim Moore, the black actor who played Andy, died, I wrote a letter of condolence to his family. I was still in grade school. Now Amos and Andy is regarded as flat-out racist. Times change. Nuance and perspective matter. 1984 Virginia apparently was behind 1960s California in some respects. None of us is perfect.
1
@Tom W -- "bad for his health" == it killed him.
OKAY by me if Trump commits suicide, but it's his homicidal tendencies that trouble me. I.e., let him feel the pain, all by himself. And that isn't possible if we have another shutdown.
4
As a whole, the Democratic Party is not socialist, though it does favor safety net programs for all Americans. I'm not seeing a lot of presidential candidates talking about free college, though they are talking about healthcare for all and increasing taxes on the wealthy that were disastrously lowered by Republicans without regard for the poor, the deficit or the debt.
I'm actually sorry that Mr. Stephens lost his GOP, because the current one is terrible, even worse than it's been in the past few decades. Maybe it's time for a new party to rise from the ashes of the GOP as it is now.
3
Jeff found himself caught up in a "honey trap" and now he's handling it well. Too bad he risked his family and fell for it in the first place. Therein is the stupidity.
70
@lechrist He must be proud of his accoutrements, like Anthony Wiener- he ought to know that everybody sees EVERYTHING.
4
@lechrist
The divorce was already happening.
But if he was serious about seducing somebody, all he needed to do was send a photo of his net worth (post divorce).
He's so smart he forgot to get a pre-nup?
5
@CW
You don’t know if the divorce was happening anyway, or because Mackenzie found out he had a sidepiece.
The messy stuff is indicatative of what happens when guys think with their small head. But once Pecker tried extortion, Bezos manned up.
14
Regarding Ralph Northam: I don't know about you, but tasteless pranks were a varsity sport in the colleges I attended. And there's no better opportunity for a prank than the yearbook, a publication that could haunt a person for life. So, for my money, the blackface-KKK photo on Northam's Med school yearbook page was an irreversible prank. Check out your own yearbooks and see if I'm right.
1
"Pecker politics." I'm still laughing.
1
Pardon me if I don't buy a ticket for the Jeff Bezos midlife crisis tour. Classic case of a man who reaches his age and goes cuckoo over a collagen enhanced other woman.
6
Axis of Pecker. Good one. Is that a triple entendre?
The idea that Pecker isn't using the Enquirer and his media empire for political gain is ludicrous. I followed, and kept, the issues leading up to the 2016 election. The front page was either about Hillary's failing health, her campaign's corruption, or years as a crime boss at State (and how ironic is that??).
Like this White House, Trump's circle of corruption gets curiouser and curiouser, and sleazier and sleazier, by the day.
5
What does Alexa say about this whole story?
2
So did Bezos, Pecker, Cohen, & Stormy conspire with Assange, Putin, Maduro & the "Black Face" Democrats to........uh........well, it's an idea. Just thought I'd put it out there.
3
May I respectfully suggest that white people refrain from excusing someone's racist behavior by claiming that they "almost surely intended no harm." Perhaps the adjudication of harmful effects is best left to those targeted by racism and whose families have suffered by these actions. On a personal note, as a Jew, I recall the pain and alienation caused by plenty of anti-Semitic comments and jokes spoken by those who I knew full well were not actually "anti-Semites." Still hurt, though.
11
"And maybe we might even disagree a bit more." Such polite disagreement and respectful discourse! It's practically on the Endangered Species list in North America!
1
Too bad these two wouldn't address the actual story's heart: Sanchez's brother is closely tied to the Saudis. Was Sanchez herself a plant? Was this affair engineered to make Bezos "blackmailable"? Is that what the Bezos investigators uncovered? There's much to understand and expose.
But have a couple of laughs.
6
“[R]uinously expensive policy agenda,” you say, Bret?
Well just how “expensive” do you think unchecked climate change will be? I’d say—as the experts say—it’d be ruinously expensive.
Half measures won’t protect us. We must be bold and ambitious, just as the leaders of the Green New Deal have shown us. Our future—which is to say, our children—depend on it.
6
Trump's (infantile) power struggle... Trump says "I'm going to close the govt till I get what I want." Then the republicans say "its all the democrat's fault that Trump didn't get what he wants" and so it goes....
Trump will keep doing stuff like this till he either WINS (democracy ends) or LOSES (goes to the ever-after, or ends up in Jail, which ever happens first).
4
"Right now, Northam’s real moral jeopardy is that he has contradicted himself and is doing a duck-and-cover move."
Northam's real moral jeopardy was not acknowledging that his actions existing in a larger context - he could have leaned into the fact that Virginia was founded in slavery, and continues to marinate in it, even in liberal circles. His moral failing is not recognizing that the "him too" accusations are actually a "we too" moment.
3
How is it that Canada and most western European countries manage to afford all these things?
They finance them with higher taxes.
But they get valuable services from these taxes.
Many people in the U. S. appear to be unable to recognize the benefits provided by government. They focus only on the costs.
2
Whenever Bret Stephens discusses anything that he sees as socialist, he comes off as a college sophomore who is trying to gain control of his little chapter of College Republicans.
The big problem is that despite what he, The National Review and Fox News claim, the vast majority of Americans, including the majority of Republicans, support higher taxes for the rich.
And he can claim that it's a "ruinously expensive policy agenda" but then he needs to explain how Reagan, Bush II, and Trump have all presided over cutting taxes while increasing spending, while their fellow travelers in Congress hold up all policy proposals on the grounds of debt fear when a Democrat is in the White House and then get amnesia when a Republican is installed there. That has been ruinously expensive.
7
"I can’t support the Democrats, either, as long as they’re repudiating their belief in traditional liberalism for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda."
This is the problem of Bret Stephens in a nutshell. It's intellectually dishonest to call a desire to bring the United States more in line with the rest of the Western world in terms of taking care of its citizens "ruinously expensive." I mean, what have tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals been for the country if not ruinously expensive? And for what, so they can buy more yachts?
Policies enacted by governments "of the people" are meant to help people. There's money collected in taxes, and a serious political party makes choices to decide how that money will be spent. Why is the Democratic policy agenda ruinously expensive, but unfunded wars are not? Why isn't saving the planet at the top of our agenda? How can Bret not see that if we prioritize a green future, our grandchildren will inherit a habitable planet, and ruthlessly avaricious people like him and the rest of the GOP post-Trump will still make money doing it?
21
Seriously, Gail:
"In an age when it’s hard to ignore any big political scandal, we’re going to be reminded of this one every time we see a package from Amazon,'
Given the subject matter, wouldn't "delivery" have been preferable to "package?"
5
I'm a European living in NYC, so I struggle with why America can't provide healthcare for free or at least heavily subsidised to everyone... it's hard to be here spending a third of my income on healthcare BEFORE anything even happens to me. Two years ago I was seriously sick and it took my life savings and a credit card to cover the debt being sick got me into. It made me think, what would I have done if I didn't have savings and the means to repay the credit card? Would I not have been treated? Would I be in debt for the rest of my life, because I needed emergency care for several days? I would love to stay in the US and live correctly, paying taxes, supporting the economy with my disposable income, but will I be able to afford healthcare in my old age? The English system is not perfect, but it works for all people at all levels.
8
Let's please get something straight: blackface in service to an admiring imitation of the single most electrifying performance - ever - on TV is not racist. Ditto as an homage to Sammy Davis.
Anonymous blackface smiling next to a klansman in a yearbook, however - that's racist. It is really not that difficult to distinguish the contexts.
And Governor Shaggy (it wasn't me) is a first class dope.
7
Hmm...now that you mention it, those Amazon boxes are rather suggestive. And I always thought the logo was hinting at a stock price always trending upward:)
1
Those condemning Bezos for his wealth should look in the mirror and realize that what Bezos indulged in with his consenting adult mature partner was human that majority of us indulge in on a daily basis regardless of our wealth.
2
No, we are not Denmark. But maybe we should be.
16
Apparently people are pleased to see that figure fallen from apotheosis. Remember Anthony Weiner’s selfie incidents? The recount is he was severely condemned. He was banished from the Congress. He was resigned. And he was married. The Clinton family clearly declared that Weiner couldn’t be absolved due to their worry over his ex-wife, Huma Abedin. His situation is comparable with Bezos. However Weiner isn’t rich or owns a news agency. Plausibly he doesn’t have secrecy which is coerced from other sources or use the dirty pieces to threaten. Without potencies, he hasn’t cajoled people to incite several global incidents. Apart from the background, Weiner and Bezos have a lot of similarities. Then why should we praise Bezos despite he has been involving in odoriferous behaviours?
Because unlike Werner who was sharing with underage girls and indulging in rape fantasies, Bezos is involved in a consenting relationship with another adult and nothing in law or social norm bars such consensual behavior regardless of wealth or social status.
I say more power to Bezos.
2
Unfortunately, we are probably a lot closer to the end of public schools at any level than we are to free college. This country was built on greed and its life’s blood is money. While we talk about freedom and democracy, capitalism rules our lives. Whether it’s Trump or Bezos, it’s still the oligarchy. They run our lives and mete out anethesia in the form of cheap goods to keep us satiated and complicit in whatever today’s scheme is.
9
The Bezos saga has made for great reading. I get the the bigger implications of it, but those are not what has kept me riveted on the drama. As I tried to post on another Times article — I was censored, probably because I used the perfectly acceptable, anatomical word for what Bezos photographed, ahem — I was both amused and disappointed to learn that the grand Jeff Bezos is as silly as any other man who photographs his (fill in whatever term the Times deems acceptable). The wealthiest man in the world is just another guy amazied my his own physiological reactions! Ay caramba.
My take on this is that it’s just further proof that we need more women in corporate leadership, and in all levels of government. All the way to the top! Women don’t have that “complexifier“ taking up too much of their attention all the time. We have more room for computing capacity. Plus common sense.
(Because I love a good drama, I’m on tenterhooks waiting to see what happens with the girlfriend’s devious, email-stealing-and-leaking brother. Will Jeff forgive? Will Lauren be left in the lurch? Will lawsuits be filed? Is Mackenzie laughing?)
18
@Passion for Peaches Excellent post. I will go further and say Jeff fell for a honey trap set by his enemies.
8
Gail and Bret, Yes the Bezos Story Is Big.
But it will be HUUUUUUUGE, as Bernie would say, if and only if, Bezos expands Bernie’s two-word sound-bite of a campaign slogan, “Political Revolution” into an expanded “Washington Post” mast-head banner of “Democracy Dies In Darkness under the Empire” of Emperor Trumpius.
2
As heartless as this sounds, it's hard to have much sympathy for the world's richest man.
42
@John Doe-Especially given who Bezos has hired for his legal team: David Boie who paid Israeli investigators to dig up dirt on Harvey Weinsteins' victims, Jonathan Sherman who previously represented The National Enquirer's parent company AMI as it worked to squash negative stories about President Trump, and Martin Singer who represented Bill Cosby. I don't get the logic of why Bezo's would hire these people when more principled lawyers are available.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/08/business/media/jeff-bezos-ami-nationa
6
@John Doe it is as heartless as it sounds.
8
@John Doe maybe have some heart for his kids and wife?
6
Well, Brett. Every civilized country in the world has universal health & most of those have Pharmacare as well. What are you afraid of?
22
Why is it that my fellow Americans can only deal in extremes? We can either be in a crumbling country where the rich have everything and everyone else has zero OR we can be Venezuela and some sort of "socialism" nightmare where we are rioting in the streets. There is no degree whatsoever in between. There is really no single element of successful social democracies that we can't utilize to some degree in our society? None? Nothing? You can't look at other places with low obesity, better social safety nets, better life expectancy, better education, better infrastructure and not find one single idea or project we could have here? Just stop now.
23
Not if brown peoplay benefit.
@Scott S.- A pendulum spends far more time swinging through the middle between its extremes then it does at its extremes. It’s a sucker bet to bet against the people of the United States. Eventually we wake up and change our minds. In fact, changing our minds is what we excel at.
1
If nothing else, Governor Northman’s predicament has a lot of us searching back through our pasts for stupid stuff.
Growing up in PA, it would have never occurred to me to put shoe polish on my face. But way back when I was training to be a docent at a museum in Oakland CA, I quoted a sentence from an artist in a description of his work that contained a word considered a slur against Asians. I got called on that immediately, and then there was the time I used a type font called “chopsticks” on a flyer. Got called on that one, too. Even though that font was used on most Chinese takeout menus at the time.
I will say that studying history has a lot to do with learning what is offensive. Travel and exposure to other cultures and religions goes a long way too. We only have one world and it’s up to us make it inclusive to everyone.
9
I’ll take a big spenders debated by the other side ,to a sociopath ,
Regressing to age toddler.Universe help us survive the
Tantrum king who pretends so well, till Muller finishes.
5
Bret says "I can’t support the Democrats, either, as long as they’re repudiating their belief in traditional liberalism for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda."
Should heath care or climate change even be considered as capitalist concerns? Conservatives love to frame both as though they are, but nether issue has anything resembling a controlled 'supply side' (doctors are not the supply side of health care, disease is). Is it really appropriate to sit back and wait for 'market forces' to solve these vexing problems? Serious illnesses are already been "ruinously expensive" to a many a family, and that's on top of the physical and emotional toll of the illnesses themselves. Why wouldn't a supposedly civilized nation work toward a way to provide decent health care for all (as most other advanced countries have)?
And as we know from experience with other preventative measures, there may be significant costs associated with preserving our planet, but they will still be far cheaper than the cost to repair it (if repair even remains possible).
It's one thing to disagree on the ways to solve serious problems. It's a whole other thing to deny that they need to be solved, or dismiss them as too expensive to bother to try. The recent Democratic proposals may not be perfectly practical, but at least their proponents recognize that we have to do something before things get worse. The other side can't say they same.
20
Word is that the source of many if not all the Bezo sexts is none other than the brother of his new mistress. If true, Bezo's real problems have little to do with some grand political conspiracy. They are much closer to home...like in his own adulterous bedroom. Wonder if this mistress had motivations to break up the Bezos marriage? I can only think of a couple hundred billion of them.
3
"A Man Without A Party", I saw that!
It starred Cliff Robertson, or Peter O'Toole, right?
Why aren’t you referencing the News of the World phone hacking scandal that brought down Rupert Murdoch and News International? There is precedent for going after “journalists” who violate the privacy of phone communications— both of celebrities and private citizens. The British investigation demonstrated that it wasn’t just pulic figures and the Royal Family who were hacked, but priavte citizens whose tragedies were fodder for the tabloids. If Jeff Bezos is being hacked, who else’s phones are providing leads for the National Enquirer’s scandal stories?
134
You know what's "ruinously expensive", Bret? The future of doing things we are today, where the majority of people can't afford even basic healthcare, the very, very few accumulate and control ever more absurd levels of wealth, and the mass destruction caused by an economy based almost entirely on false consumption makes less and less of the planet livable. Please get your head out of the sand. Time is running out
13
So, Bret, what exactly is wrong with the quality of life for citizens in Denmark? And what is wrong with striving for an equally good quality of life? Betcha your response will refer to some kind of amorphous “ethnic problem”.
10
Jeff Bezos should sell his private parts pictures on Amazon's Prime at 0.99 cents. I bet he'd make a couple of million bucks. Not that he needs the money.
1
Anyone remember the French Revolution? How'd that turn out for the 1%?
14
Every other "first world country" has implemented the policies that Bret thinks are outrageously expensive, and those other countries are not even close to being as prosperous as we are in this country. Maybe if we took our blinders off and actually studied other nation's achievements we'd be able to come up with some improvements of our own. We can't live on the investments made by the Democrats in the people of this country by way of the old GI Bill and infrastructure investments for ever.
14
I am deeply concerned about the invasion of Jeff Bezos' privacy. It must be awful for him that a company could collect his private information and sell it for profit.
7
Privacy is incontrovertible. However doesn’t Bezos obtain others’ dirty pieces by intruding their privacy vehemently? He admitted he was having some information and threatening the opponents in exchange for his decency by his power and wealth. It is unaccountable that why he made the announcement. It is starting to become a judicial matter. His lawyers must warn him of any utterance, scribbles or blunders which will be considered as slanders, libelous or a possible counter in the future. Let’s assume his announcement is slurs because of vexation. Perspicuously he steps on dynamites which aren’t prudential. Again let’s assume he has an unassailable familial supports, he should not choose to be prodded or goaded. It is unfavorable.
1
Higher taxes on the one percent to pay for new social programs will not make those programs 'ruinously expensive'.
It will makes those programs affordable, without bankrupting ordinary citizens, and without markedly affecting the incomes and lives of the one percent.
Win-Win.
19
Education makes people economically more productive and politically the type of citizen that makes democracy work. If we oppose free college for those who are qualified but cannot afford it on the ground it is socialism and too expensive, shouldn't we also oppose publically supported K through 12 school? This explains why Republicans have done all they can to destroy public education in this country. Or as Trump once famously put it, "I love the uneducated."
18
@Victor James
Victor, you would not disagree I hope, that the public education system has devolved into a tool used by the ultra liberals to cram down the throats of innocents all kinds of radical ideas and hopefully turn them into life long Democrats. There is not space in these indoctrination camps called "public schools" for a diversity of ideas.
That's the problem a lot of conservatives have with public education.
1
@Pat
By radical ideas, I suppose you mean science.
3
Most sentient people would disagree with this nonsense.
2
Mr. Stephens is woefully mis-informed about what it means to live in Denmark and to pay for the system that makes the quality of life there so good. Having lived in Denmark, I'd cheerfully pay what it costs. The big difference in taxation, though, is that they don't blow up a significant portion of their national wealth in military expenses. The admittedly high taxes actually pay for things the citizens want--healthcare, schools, infrastructure, and more.
18
Term limits are bad because the politician will spend his time figuring out his next job?
Without term limits, doesn't he spend endless public time fund raising for the next election and figuring out which benefits to subtly give to his campaign donors so they keep giving?
I'd rather no entrenched politicians making it a career.
7
I agree that billionaires and big corporations need to be taxed more. It is extremely unfair that employees at McDonald's or Walmart etc are forced to depend on taxpayer funded food stamps & other benefits to make end meet even when they work full time. What kind of capitalism is that? THe right calls new Dem ideas 'socialism', Whats a good word for the extreme capitalism we have now with inequality soaring, children going hungry in the most powerful & richest country in the world? Nobody should make fun of the new Dem ideas, because big, bold ideas are desperately needed to fix the lopsided 'extreme' capitalism that leaves behind millions!
6
I'm an American living in Canada. Although I pay more in taxes to get health care, I can say that we have a higher standard of living here. I can actually save money whereas in the US I was always nickled and dimed to the point where at the end of the year I had nothing.
16
So long as there are Government bailouts of banks and Corporations Bret cannot claim that the Democrats are Anti-Capitalism. The GOP is Anti-Capitalism. The GOP is for Corporate Welfare.
Now that issue is straightened out, what happened to the discussion on Jeff Bezos?
8
The Democratic candidates need to improve their messaging:
It’s time to make clear that Socialism is not the same as having a societal view in addition to individual rights,freedom and free markets.Norway and Germany spring to mind, not Venezuela or Cuba.
Second, When Kamala Harris says that Medicare for All will mean the elimination of private health insurance she shows a staggering ignorance of how single payer systems work.All countries with such systems have “ top up” private insurance for those who want more choices in terms of providers,facilities or timing of appointments,admissions or procedures.
We Dems can blame the DNC for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by anointing an unelectable candidate in 2016.By 2020 we will have suffered the consequences for too long.The nominee must be he or she who can defeat Trump, not the one who sounds most like Rachel Maddow.
7
@David Boyko You act like Trump won with 60% of the vote.
I must confess, I am not a big fan of this "clever" political banter back and forth. I find it choppy and tiresome.
4
Gail, the ueber socialist countries in Europe - as our dear arch-righties like to paint them - , students attending a public university don't pay any tuition.
The less-moneyed among university students get stipends for books, housing and living cost.
On the other hand, not one single student gets a full freebie because of having been a great "athlete" during their high school years in varying sports.
14
There is much to be learned from Denmark. If the US had Denmark’s healthcare system we would literally save a trillion $ a year— enough to erase the deficit and pay for all kinds of infrastructure and college tuition goodies. You could start to pay down the debt (OK, joking). Even switching to Swiss medicine (next most expensive after U.S.) would save 24% and more than wipe the deficit.
But learn from your betters and ignore losers. Denmark gets 3% power from imported nuclear (NIMBY) and 20% from coal. They could learn from nuclear France and so could the US. We should kill coal completely and also most of fuel oil grid power. We would for now keep natural gas and cows and some of gasoline. Jet fuel is just 5% of energy. Air travel is the last best use of fossil fuel.
Let’s be reasonable. Kill the worst first. Copy the best. Stealing better-working systems is the most reasonable action there is. Only nationalistic pride prevents it.
11
"Everything sleazy always seems to wind up with a Trump connection."
No, Trump is the mother of sleazy himself.
As to "we are not Denmark". Well I don't think Denmark is the only country that offers free university education and universal healthcare. How about Germany, Switzerland, not to mention Norway, the beloved land of the liar-in-chief that does not provide too many willing to immigrate here.
Again, on "ruinously expensive" programs, where is Bret when the GOP was pushing the tax cut for corporations and the rich bill?
9
It will be interesting to see if socialism is a loser for D’s or not, though certainly “Medicare for All” may be loser of a slogan. The R’s may have a point that it would be ruinously expensive and perhaps ruin a benefit that older Americans rely on.
“Guaranteed Health Care” would be a much better approach, because, after all, that is the point. No one should be denied care, at a cost that won’t bankrupt them. Perhaps a public option is the solution, but that would be expensive too.
Certainly, however we should begin the discussion with the fact the US pays more for health care with poorer results. With that as the focus, it seems we must consider where and to whom the extra money is flowing. Re-directing that flow would be big fight, and I’m not sure it could be won. There are legions of personnel working for insurance companies that could be doing the same for a public option. The investors who own those insurance companies would be a different matter.
It is a foundational sort of battle, with big consequences.
This is for Gail--Bret is hopeless. If one believes, as you and most people believe, that if the government wants to institute a program that costs X dollars, we have to find X dollars either by borrowing or by raising taxes. That foolish idea is the basis for Pelosi's paygo rule.
But this idea is clearly wrong because the government can create money out of thin air. Really. BUT if the government creates X dollars, we have to worry about its effect on prices, i.e. inflation. The new X dollars may cause prices to rise so much we would get too much inflation. That's where taxes come in. We can simply tax enough of the X dollars back so inflation is not too bad. The purpose of taxes is to control the amount of money in the private sector, NOT to pay for stuff.
The good thing is that prices do not just depend on the amount of money in the economy. They also depend on the velocity of the money and the value of all the stuff we can produce.
Let's skip velocity (I'm tired writing about it). Prices depend INVERSELY on the value of the stuff we produce--more stuff, lower prices. Now if the program X pays for facilitates production, we may not need to tax very much at all. Most of the programs you advocate do tend to help increase production. That is why taxes do NOT have to go way up.
The thing is that unlike your personal finances, the finances of the federal government are not a zero sum game (unless you too have printing press in your basement).
3
When Bernie made Denmark an example I knew he was out of touch with reality (and there was a funny segment on TV where they asked the Danes if they thought the US could be like Demark, causing much laughter in an already cheerful country.)
But still, I'd take the socialism thing head on. Be like preisdent Reagan, use dumbed down charts and say "This is our plan; this is their plan." Most middle class folks will choose the socialist plan so long as it isn't labeled socialism.
3
Why can't we be like Denmark, sometimes? Is it fair to say that democrats under Obama were repudiating traditional liberalism for anticapitalist rhetoric and ruinous policies? Come on? We spend so much on healthcare in America and everyone agrees that the system is broken. The Affordable Care Act tried to address this and helped so many people, but there is so much more to fix. America is the only country where people get bankrupt over healthcare. We should have fair policies. We all agree it should be fair and not cruel. This is the agenda democrats need to put forward: FAIRNESS. Americans are reasonable and pragmatic. They will get it if this is explained as a "fairness for all" plan. Fair immigration policies, fair health policies, fair environment policies, fair economic policies, fair tax policies etc etc.
5
@MykGee
I agree with you these are "FAIRNESS"issues. The Democrats have to find a word to describe what they propose. Something that sticks. They need to stop allowing the Republicans to characterize their humane
ideas by branding them as Socialism. By the way what is wrong with the word Socialism?
4
There is a musical here somewhere, or at least an off Broadway revue.
1
We’re talking about the edges of the parties here. AOC no more represents the mainstream democrat than Trump does the mainstream republican. May I ask that a future conversation focus on Bret’s middle party? (Let’s not call them independents...)
"..And I fear the Democrats’ new progressivism will so turn off voters that they’ll re-elect Trump as the better of two bad alternatives"
Yep, maybe not as far as voting for Trump but I am not a fan of the democrats tilt to a full blown socialist agenda.
4
I am a proud democratic socialist and will never support another republican candidate in my life. I voted for Nixon, Reagan (the first time), George H. W. Bush and didn't vote for Clinton. G.W. Bush was the beginning of the end, for me, and he was much worse than I anticipated. So, I voted for Obama twice. Now, with the election of Trump, I am convinced that republicans hate America, hate our Constitution and would be happy to install a dictator that would force their agenda on all of us. It won't happen. I pray that the Republican Party dies soon so that a respectable party can take its place. I will vote for democratic-socialism every time. It's better for Americans and it's better for America. I'm tired of living in the wealthiest country with third-rate social programs, e.g., The best healthcare almost no one can afford.
20
The only outcome that might benefit America is to find a link between MSB and Trump exposing his corrupt self dealing on his family financial interests highlighting why Trump brought his family into our govt and that was to enrich themselves.
3
"...ruinously expensive policy agenda."
With $1 Trillion in debt and life expectancy going down, can the Dems' policy agenda really be any more ruinously expensive than the Reagan-y, neo-liberal-y, lousy results-y policy agenda we've got going now?
7
So Brett wishes more people would say as Hillary Clinton did “we are not Denmark”. Gee It really would be a shame if we were to emulate a nation that most surveys acknowledge as the happiest people in the world.
6
Does Brett realize that the Military Industrial Complex of the United States is the second largest socialist economy in the world after China?
20
Never thought it that way. But you’re right.
3
"health care for everyone, free college tuition for those who can’t afford to pay, and federal work programs for the unemployed"
Gosh, haven't we had each of those at some time in the past?
When I was young, most people had affordable health care; you could get assistance in paying for college and few people could not afford it at all; and I do believe I've read something about the WPA, the Hoover Dam, and some famous photos by Dorothea Lange?
So why is all that some kind of horrifying "socialism" now?
And why do we invest less in our people than European countries?
As to being ruinously expensive, I've never heard anyone talk like that about years of wars, embroilment in conflicts without a clear, achievable aim, the F-35, welfare or sweetheart deals for big businesses, or even Trump's many golf trips and rallies in place of real work.
We have a lot of money. We just spend it stupidly.
16
"...they’re repudiating their belief in traditional liberalism for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda."
Why do republicans insist on telling liberals and democrats what they stand for? What can be more ruinous and expensive than the republican tax giveaway? Or a $20B wall?
Health care, education and environmental protection only seem like liberal ideas since republicans became anti health care, anti education and anti environment.
Ask the military if rising seas are a national security threat. They'll tell you yes.
Ask the poor in the red states if medicare and medicaid should be abolished. They'll say no.
Don't bother to ask the trumpists about education. Anyone with a brain is labeled elitists and disregarded as having their intelligence equal to the other's idiocy.
We went to the moon and the bottom of the ocean when people challenge themselves with ideas that weren't readily solvable.
People who say it can't be done shouldn't interfere with those who are doing it.
8
"cable TV is obsessing about this stuff 24/7." Only cable TV? Not the New York Times, where I read about it every day? Go ahead and have fun with articles like this, but believe me, plenty of people are desperate to know and understand what's going on in relation to issues of substance.
2
The world that is dreamed up by Stephens and the like, does not exist, except in their warped minds. Every US citizen, apart from the 1 percent, would, 'beamed up' to Denmark, think they were brought to paradise... good and affordable health care, no guns, free schools and universities, etc. Come over Brett....
7
Maybe we could just give him his wall, pass the budget, get government rolling again then just yank away the wall. Kinda like Lucy snatching the football from Charlie Brown's kick at the last minute. What can he do? Threaten to shut down government at the next budget wrangle? What, keep that football ready to kick for, like 10 months? I don't like to see everyone crawl around in the mud at his level but since his negotiation style is to stiff his contractors, it may be ok to return the favor.
1
Question @BretStephensNYT -- we need to address the big elephant in the room. Without his base, Trump would falter. WHO IS THIS BASE? How can these people be so deluded as to vote AGAINST their own welfare, and pump up a man who actually despises them all once he's off stage or camera? Trump will eventually be gone... and what of this base? What is it, like 30% or more of the population? That's nightmare territory. Our society is failing and maybe it's because of anemic educational opportunities and bad parenting. Where are the social programs to help achieve a better society? The GOP turned "social" into a curse word, that's why. The GOP must go...
7
@GaryK
Unfortunately the base is the Electoral College.
1
I support Northam not resigning, but I still think he is lying about the picture. Try to tell me that when the yearbook came out, he wasn't all over it, admiring his page up and down! Naturally he scrutinized it as any young person would. Even though it is 35 years later--and I can believe he might forgot names--but if he does not have Alzheimers, I DO NOT BELIEVE he cannot remember the basic elements of the picture on his yearbook page--as in who are the people in the picture.
1
Republicans had their chance to accept more centrist policies like a carbon tax, AIC, etc. They didn't. That's why Democrats have left the middle and fled further left. Bret pines for a centre that other Republicans have refused to allow.
8
Queen Victoria (yes, her) admonished an acquaintance to never commit to paper anything you would not wish to have read in a court of law. That applies to social media as well and we all would be enjoying much calmer existences if we only had the decency and sense to listen to that good woman.
5
"And I fear the Democrats’ new progressivism will so turn off voters that they’ll re-elect Trump as the better of two bad alternatives."
Let me see if I understand you correctly Bret, trump has been routinely trashing our environmental protection laws. He has forsaken clean renewable energy development and research for dirty acid rain coal. He promised cheap excellent health care coverage for all Americans and then supported Republican efforts to gut Obamacare and offered no alternative. trump promised a massive infrastructure rebuilding program, crickets. He promised a wall to be paid for entirely by Mexico instead we get government shutdowns. He promised to drain the swamp, so far Mueller has indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 34 of trumps associates in the Russiagate investigation and are closing in on he and his family. trump has incarcerated children at the border. So the Democrats focusing on government paid for college education and job retraining, infrastructure rebuilding to help employ the unemployed, national healthcare, better border security all paid for by the filthy rich sounds pretty good to this American.
24
Amen, Steve, Amen!
2
"There are a number of Democrats who’d like to move toward a society that offers health care for everyone, free college tuition for those who can’t afford to pay, and federal work programs for the unemployed — paid for by much higher taxes on the rich."
Socialism will never work in a diverse heterogeneous society, such as the USA, because there are too many perspectives and cultural values to consider. For example, not all Americans agree that a 4 year college degree is necessary or that comprehensive healthcare is worth the cost. You could literally jail every millionaire in the world and society would still be full of pain, suffering, and unfairness.
Bret, Democratic ideas are "ruinously expensive" because we don't tax ourselves properly. Right now, the Big Money boys are calling the shots so sure, everything is "ruinously expensive"—to the point where we're spending a trillion bucks more than we have in the checking account every year.
Among other duties, governments are supposed to do what individuals can't do for themselves. If that be Socialism then, well, see you at the polling place.
518
@Bob Burns To properly tax the nation you have to tax Foundations where the uber wealthy (like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and George Soros, stash their cash. It would also make sense to have all non-profits pay taxes. There is no reason that a 501 C 3 or C4 corporation should avoid paying property taxes like their for-profit neighbors. That weakens the tax base further.
More important, however, is that everybody has to pay something. You cannot have half the population paying an aggregate of 2.7 % of the taxes.
And we know none of that will happen.
27
@Liberty hound
You said it.
I'd ad churches to the mix. Especially those mega operations and where the pastor wears three thousand dollar suits.
88
@Bob Burns - No because practically nobody realizes that thru the FED the federal government can create as much money as it needs out of thin air.
If you are worried about inflation think about this. Prices ARE proportional to the amount of money in the economy (times its velocity), but INVERSELY proportional to the dollar value of the stuff we can produce. So if the money is spent doing good things that facilitate production, it will produce enough stuff to soak up the money. Excessive inflation is caused by something that prevents us from producing stuff, like shortages.
And if the economy cannot produce enough stuff, then we can tax, The purpose of taxes is to control the amount of money in the private sector.
4
The Bezos discussion was too brief. How about what Bezos might find when he rolls over that log? My guess is that Pecker and AMI aren’t all that will crawl out. We might see a few bonkers billionaires too: Mercers, DeVos, Spencers, Adelsons, Uihleins, Kochs, Wilks, ... Could be some light will shine where none existed before?
11
Ya gotta ask yourself, "Self, why is the US so obsessed with the rich?" We are living in an eternal serial of "The Lives of the Rich and Famous." It's a dangled carrot that has made us the richest country in the world, but to what end? The biggest prisons? Military? McDonald's mansions? Money is our culture, our religion and our only dream. Our politicians, our celebrities and even our news anchors are mega-millionaires. Having enough money for healthy food, shelter and piano lessons for our kids is what we actually want, but like we were fooled in our history of royalty being ordained by God or the aristocracy being "our betters"--- we've been fooled again. And without the 99% chasing the dollar, the 1% can't be the 1%.
348
Wealth is the only valid scorecard in capitalism. All other measures are subjective and therefore worthless.
29
That statement alone is enough to declare capitalism morally and ethically unacceptable to a civilized society.
32
@Newell McCarty
Very well put.
19
Progressive taxes? Yes.
Punishing taxes? "Soak" the rich? No. That is vindictive.
Tax the middle class and get the very rich off the hook, which is today's condition? Even less. That is insane cruelty.
Can anybody just use some common sense? Capitalism does work. It requires guardrails to protect the weakest and open paths for those that come form families with lesser means. It requires guardrails to avoid polluting everything everywhere. Stop the childish comparisons with Denmark, France or Venezuela. Just be America. It was never perfect.
303
@Ard
Do the "guardrails" you speak of include the weakest being called upon to bail out the richest (read: Banks) when the richest crash the economy?
Do those guardrails also protect the Public when the investment and Insurance companies beg for bailouts when they take said bailout and use them to provide retirement parachutes for their upper executives?
Finally, do those guardrails take into accounts for the millions who had houses foreclosed on because the bundled mortgages that were sold were too toxic for Hedge-Fund Managers who then foreclose on the properties?
Those "Capitalism's required guardrails" while wonderful to dream of, time and time again the promise has been "Next time, we'll protect you" but next time never comes. Ms Warren's nomination as CPB chairwoman to protect the Public was prevented thanks to those gaming the Capitalist system. tRumps appointee Menuchin is nothing but a puppet for the 1%, undercutting the safety-net.
Common sense says if you kick the dog enough, the dog will develop an attitude of self preservation and strike out.
I'm guessing that's where we are, or will shortly be.
33
@Ard
Don't confuse economics with capitalism. Economics does work. Capitalism however is only one very specific application of economic theory. Namely: industry and profit controlled by private owners. The verdict is still very much out on whether pure capitalism actually "works." By most accounts the answer is still definitively no.
What does work about economics though is the idea about incentives. Ownership and profit are incentives. However, they are relatively naive when you consider the shape of human experience. I don't mean to be cliche but you can't take it with you. There do exist behavioral incentives that supersede anything involved with capitalism. I'll give you an example.
Consider a situation of accidental triage. There's an emergency where someone is going to die. How do we decide who lives or who dies? Turns out it depends. The genetic relationship is actually a fairly good predictor about who you might choose to save and who you might choose to die.
Said another way, you're more likely to save your own child than you would a cousin or even yourself. The human brain makes that decision. Capitalism is mute on the subject. Economics says even between strangers, you're more likely to save someone if you have to watch them die. Capitalism? Still silent.
Like I said, don't confuse economics with capitalism. Economics is observing behavior. Capitalism seeks to manipulate behavior in a certain way. There's a difference.
26
@peter You need to take into account the media which has convinced a good part of America to bark on command. They have peddled resentment and anger at systems which could actually make their audience's lives better by demonizing others as the real problem. Everything is possible if you control the message which the wealthy has done very well. Every time they kick the dog they point to the guy across the street and says "He did it." and every time they believe it.
8
Bret, higher taxes are not anticapitalist. They are pro-democracy. Capitalism without regulation and social return in the form of taxation is purely extractive and becomes a mechanism of oppression.
470
@ben220
I'd like to add to your reasonable comment that every human endeavor if it seeks fairness in any context must have an equal and opposing force. In the case of the instrument of capitalism, the corporation, the only real force capable of reasonable opposition and control is the government - unhappily, now almost completely controlled by corporate oligarchs
47
@ben220 which takes us full circle back to the 'no taxation without representation' grievance of pre-revolutionary days. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
13
Great points Ephraim. I can’t begrudge the wealthy their wealth (especially those that earned it). At the same time, for them to thrive, we need a citizenry that can actually afford their products.
Maybe Bezos is a good example. Find some way to tax the uber-wealthy and return it to the middle and lower classes in the form of tax cuts (which, in this scenario, they then spend on Amazon products). That’s a tough balancing act, but if it worked, most people (even the uber-wealthy) would or should be on board with it.
Maybe Bernie Sanders is right and income inequality is killing our democracy. It’s certainly something worth campaigning for, and something most Americans would notice when they go to vote.
24
I guess it’s best for the Times columnists to be out in the open about how they feel about the President, but you really can’t find someone to add balance? This is an echo chamber - it adds no value.
Was in Denmark in october. Not so bad. Christiana especially.
10
Mr. Bezos is a far greater threat to the privacy of us 'non-billionaires' than the National Inquirer. He will make even more fortunes with Amazon's facial recognition software Rekognition that, according to the ACLU, allows authorities to "build a system to automate the identification and tracking of anyone."
Rekognition will be sold to public and private cops around the world so they can spy on, and control people. It'll be really useful in identifying and arresting those people protesting the inequality and poverty caused by the growing power of oligarchs like Mr. Bezos.
5
Well said. Orwell nailed it with “1984”.
1
"... I can’t support the Democrats, either, as long as they’re repudiating their belief in traditional liberalism for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda. …"
Ruinously expensive:
The m/billionaire tax/treasury giveaway bill of December 2017.
Solution:
Repeal the bill.
Ruinously expensive:
Private healthcare insurance (17% of GDP).
Solution:
Universal single payer (10-12% in every EU country).
The 5% of GDP saved by going universal single payer can be used to fund:
Education.
Infrastructure.
Scientific research (especially a Manhattan-like project to develop green technology).
21
Whats wrong with Denmark? We should be so lucky....
21
That Hillary Clinton could proudly say "We are not Denmark" unfortunately says more about the lamentable state of US political thought among the Clintonites than it does about the state of neonatal health care or child care in the US, both of which can be put to shame by just about any country in the developed world.
Knee jerk snobbery about Nordic social democracy may have worked for Woodrow Wilson Democrats. They also believed in racism and suppression of free speech. Those days are hopefully past. if the price of fewer dead babies and better child care is higher taxes on the rich, so be it. Loving Wall Street is not a litmus test for Democrats.
6
I find it frustrating that the discussion of Ralph Northam’s offensive behavior was solely focused on whether he should be forced to resign for the racist photo on his yearbook page and if/when he can be redeemed. I’m tired of the discussion around racist acts (and #MeToo takedowns for that matter) revolving around what the perpetrator will lose and whether/how he or she can be redeemed, instead of on the effects of structural and individual acts of racism like this one on Americans of color. I cannot imagine what it must be like for black Americans to have to process these revelations with the media’s focus squarely on the accuser and his/her fate instead of on their pain and entirely warranted frustration.
6
Majorities agree - let’s be more like Denmark, less like the GOP.
21
Bret Stephens: "I would love to hear a Democrat say, as Hillary Clinton did, we are not Denmark!"
Um.... Hillary Clinton IS a Democrat, Stephens. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be more like Denmark or Norway or Finland, however.
11
Dear American Voter
Learn from New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland et al , all quite good systems, low corruption and intact rule of law. Forget socialism, it did not work and never will.
But greedy capitalism is even less human.
10
Good 'ol bret-10% right, 90% wrong.
11
With each passing day, I find myself skipping Washington political news and turning to the daily crossword. I just shake my head and can’t believe politicians, journalists and so many of the public like to wallow in the cesspools of Washington’s political gutters.
1
There's an old line about Washington DC and every state capitol: "the biggest crime in this town is what's legal."
Does anybody think that a public airing of Trump's taxes would not generate a firestorm of rage from us "little people," even if they are all legal? And who wants to bet they are?
Remember Leona Helmsley: "only little people pay taxes." crank up the way-back machine a little harder and remember that it was then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani who indicted the Helmsleys for tax fraud,and extortion!
Leona was sentenced to 16 years, but only served 19 months, due a successful appeal by ... Alan Dershowitz.
One thing's for sure true; little people don't get Alan Dershowitz.
Letetia James is after the Trumps, and I don't see how she can fail -- she already has slam-dunk New York State tax fraud and money-laundering felony charges against "individual 1" from Cohen's conviction.
New York State has an "Enterprise Corruption" statue that approximately parallels RICO. The Organized Crime Control Act of 1986 is commonly called "Baby RICO."
OCCA is rarely used; its predicates are hard to meet. But the Trump family business and associates (including Cohen and Weisselburg) look like sitting ducks if another two felonies can be found.
7
Ross, please cut the sanctimonious, “I’m attached to no party.” Choosing to call yourself an Independent with Trump in the White House only means that you refuse to stand up against his hateful, harmful rhetoric. Make a choice.
11
*Bret (This is what happens when you read three articles at the same time.)
Wow! What an easy way to make a living!
2
Nuts, you two state the obvious. The Bezos takeway is that he got snookered by his own text messages and images. I find this successful caper : hilarious !
i don't read in this dialogue any awareness or acknowledgement of the profound disillusionment
experienced by African-Americans in reaction to the
blackface incident. a discussion of whiteness might have been
very constructive starting with the question: why are white
people no matter where they live in the USA so preoccupied
with blackface?
1
Why is the truth such a big secret. The myth of "we can't pay for universal healthcare" is a meaningless statement because The US government already spends more on healthcare than any other industrialized country due to the inefficiencies created by running parallel systems. Some form of Medicare for all would be cheaper than what we currently pay. Let the rich and middle class have their private insurance for things not covered like RMT and for extras like private rooms and name brand drugs.
Congressional committees should be investigating health care expenditures, the value to cost of free state college tuition, the upside of building a renewable energy economy, the need to invest in research that helps farm communities and travel industry to improve their emissions without sacrificing their livelihoods and overall figuring out how to move optimistically forward towards the future. Instead, the Congress has to investigate all things Trump who is such a waste of time.
The cynicism of the Republican leadership who manipulate their voters to believe that Democrats want to destroy personal freedom in the United States is amoral to the point of evil. Being brainwashed is losing your freedom.
10
What has been disheartening for me about the rise of AOC and the other progressives is that they (and the media) seem to think that because the public is fed up with Trump and his crony-capitalism that we want some kind of ultra-liberal left socialist agenda. Um no, actually not. Yes, a lot of us would like Medicare for All or something like it (so long as it is paid for with taxes and not merely borrowed from China to pay for), but not a lot of us are on board with minimum basic income and eliminating cows and whatever other lefty cause celebre they're into next. This new progressive agenda is pretty much what we used to consider the paranoid fantasies that Fox News wanted us to believe about Democrats - but now it is reality. If you all keep pushing this stuff a lot of centrists might decide that the Orange Devil they know is better than the Blue on they don't.
1
I am sure this is tacky and shows my low-brow imagination, but the arrow on the packages from amazon has always been, well...
Okay. Never mind.
6
Bret calls healthcare for everyone and free college tuition a "anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda". No country with free education and free healthcare was every ruined by it.
3
Anybody know whether Mr Letterman's threatener was convicted of or pled guilty to a crime or offense in the extortion area?
Trump's "strategy" is less groundhog day than gambler's ruin - keep doubling the size of your bet, you eventually win big. The trouble is of course that you usually go broke first. And, Trump is playing with our 'money'.
5
It has come to this, that we are dependant on our billionaires, to stand up to bullying. The laws of the land are insufficient.
2
I've just returned from a month in Australia, where my NoRth American accent gave me away. Once I admitted that I was not Canadian, but a citizen of the United States, pretty much every Australian I met asked 'How could you elect Trump?'
I must admit that I got technical, starting off with the fact that Hillary got 3 million more votes than Donald, seguing into the bizarre role oof the Electoral College, and finishing with a brief explanation of the power of individual states in our republic. I couldn't bring myself to start by confessing the misogyny, racism, and gullibility of a huge swath of my fellow citizens.
But there's no getting around that Trump is an embarrassment to our country, both here and overseas.
11
Bret...Oh, but we do have Trump's tax returns. The 2015 return for "The Donald J. Trump Foundation" was filed November 15, 2016. Do a Google search, or get it directly from the IRS. The IRS explains on their website how to get a tax return of a non-profit foundation. These are required to be made public on request, and the Washington post has published it online. It is a great lesson on Money Laundering 101. Schedule of Contributors contains $566,370 from The Trump Corporation and $150,000 from the UK Office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Contributions from Donald's foundation include $10,000 to Project Veritas, $50,000 to American Conservative Union Foundation, $5,000 to Media Research Center and $5,000 to The American Spectator Foundation. Paybacks for favorable news coverage?
5
From that tie on Bezos, I guess we are supposed to think that it's wide, too.
1
I keep wondering why Bret Stephens ever left the Wall Street Journal, a more appropriate venue for his relentless diatribes about the unassailable virtues of unfettered capitalism.
7
Excuse me – please! – Will someone please tell the entire human race that medical students are among the most immature people on the face of the earth? Why do people keep saying “but he was in medical school“? Being in medical school guarantees absolutely nothing except being able to memorize a lot of stuff. Trust me, I’ve been there! People who have gone directly from college to medical school have done almost nothing else in their lives, have very little real life experience, and can be almost unbelievably immature. Why is it that everyone seems to assume the opposite?
4
In the past fifteen years I have lived or traveled in...
India
China
Vietnam
Japan
The Netherlands
Belgium
Germany
South Korea
Singapore
Malaysia
The United States's infrastructure is worse than half of the above-named countries. Cities -- and some country-side areas, too -- in Europe, Japan, and China have better airports and significantly better public transportation (trains that run on their own rights-of-way).
The US is so far behind the rest of the industrial "west" including Japan; stepping off the plane at a US entry port gives a shock that says, "We sure ain't number one!"
9
May I suggest that the authors listen to a recent Podcast of “Backstory”? The podcast covers American history in an expert but entertaining fashion and this recent episode covers the origins of blackface in minstrelry going forward into Reconstruction and beyond, into the 20th century. Without knowing this background it is hard to make sense of why those who do blackface often have no understanding of what it is actually all about.
2
As a liberal old white Democrat I'm amazed this morning that I'm in agreement with Bret regarding Gov. Northam.
I keep thinking about how Dems too often trip and fall while trying to leap onto the pious bandwagon.
2
Nothing wrong with Denmark, or Norway or Sweden for that matter. Folks there live much better lives than we do.
2
Actually, Denmark sounds pretty good. It's unclear what we're getting for our cowboy capitalism, besides corruption in Washington, an ever-shrinking middle class and consumer-unfriendly monopolies. Meanwhile, our wonderful capitalists are busy digging up the national parks looking for oil, gas and uranium. And, in case Bret hasn't noticed, what's "ruinously expensive" is our dysfunctional, racket-infested healthcare system. It bears repeating: There is no one else in the developed world clamoring for a healthcare system like we have here. Enough said.
9
Brett is an extremely articulate conservative; a very conservative mind you. He does give himself away when he uses exaggerated adjectives (e.g. "ruinously expensive") to describe a set of priorities which are simply different that his priorities. This leads one to question, exactly what part of Trumpism does he not like, compared to the general ideology of the GOP? The cruelty, which throws millions off of medicaid?. Maybe it is the attacks on Medicare and Social Security? Or, could it be the support for lowering taxes for billionaires while adding $1.5 trillion to our dept? Maybe it is the odiousness of the ACA, which allows working class Americans to access healthcare and assure that those of us with preexisting conditions are allowed to keep our insurance.
Exactly what is "ruinous" Mr. Stephens about the Democrats agenda, when compared to the standard ideological actions of the GOP?
11
This is easy.
Just tax everyone at the same rate for all types of income, with no exceptions for the type of income, and give everyone the same deductions, with no exceptions.
Problem solved.
4
The biggest difference between Denmark and the southern US (remember the south gets up to 40% of its yearly operating budget from blue states so the south is just as Socialist as Denmark) is the percentage of educated people living their.
Denmark teems with educated folks...the southern US not so much.
It is why the koch-owned gop fights against education reforms.
The kochs know that educated folks are hard to trick.
29
Bret: "I do think people will ultimately judge Congress by whether it’s working for them and not on political score-settling."
If only. Congress has an approval rating of less than 15% but a re-election percentage of over 90%. We voters aren't doing a good job of judging, meaning actually holding accountable, Congress.
The new House has made some rules changes to make it easier for bi-partisan legislation and amendments to get the floor. But it the leadership still has the tools to block almost anything it doesn't really want. Both houses of Congress need serious reforms, and leaders who embrace them. I'm looking at you, King McConnell.
10
Mr. Stephens wrote, "I would love to hear a Democrat say, as Hillary Clinton did, we are not Denmark! "
I would love to hear a Democrat say, we are not Denmark, but give me a little time and we'll get there!
re: "...that ruinously expensive policy agenda."
I'm an expat American who has been living in British Columbia, Canada for the last 14 years. I pay a $75/month premium for the 'socialized medicine' here with its equally good outcomes and customer satisfaction scores. I spent 31 days in hospital last month and my total out-of-pocket costs were zero. It's against the law to charge for co-pays or deductibles, except for pharmaceuticals which cost 1/3 less to begin with.
Is it "anticapitalist" to recognize that Americans spend twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other developed country, but don't get anything better with our quasi-free market system despite leaving tens of millions uninsured?
62
It seems all the chatter about the personal issues of politicians is a waste of time and energy. Why not focus on solutions to build our Nation and its people, solve homeless problems, gaining an edge with better education, etc. I agree with soe of the comments that our military spending is not of value as much as spending for our society to improve - a top tier society will win any war, besides the US has enough military power right now to out do anyone who challenges it. We need not wast money while people starve or die of health conditions. DJM
5
If the government shuts down again AND there is no shouting, that's a very bad sign. Trump really likes to stick it in one's face and goes to the border, where it is ostensibly safe (I lived there 3 years and would walk w/the guys across the border to bars and barbershops)to make his case, again, about the necessity for a wall. No such moves to protect all from illness causing a family to lose all assets, actions toward a more equal AND sound economic plan (death tax, income tax adjustments away from the cut for the top 1%), repair to an aging infrastructure, and guarantees for a sound education policy that has served this country so well. We're dragged into this ridiculous game about the wall which represents all the ridiculous actions by the present GOP and the president. College education can't be free here as in Europe/Denmark, etc. They separate those who are strong students from others who do not wish to continue their education into fields requiring more education. We allow our institutions of higher ed to major in business, kinesiology, public relations, esoteric fields in English or history and others that need not be government funded. But healthcare should be a right. Reward diplomats who arrive at peaceful solutions build by strong alliances rather than build more weapons of mass destruction. Yup, I'm a dreamy Democrat who wishes for another world than one w/the GOP and Trump in it.
6
Economist James Heckman has shown that investing carefully in the early life of children has a 13% return. Who wouldn't invest in something with a 13% rate of return??
Social programs effectively targeting the developmental wellbeing of small children (like The Nurse Family Partnership) more than pay for themselves-- they EARN money.
So many things that impact life long health either happen (or do not happen) in babyhood/toddlerhood. Trauma in early life leads to mental and physical ill health; whereas safety, emotional self regulation and attachment lead to good health. Making sure babies get a good start means fewer diabetics, less obesity, less addiction, less mental illness.
How we treat small children matters to a lifetime of functionality or costliness over a lifetime.
19
@Megan Because people don't care about "children." They care about their children. Big difference.
2
I would love to hear what people were saying about "socialism" when FDR proposed Social Security in the 1930s -- and I'd love to hear those people admit how wrong they were. And the same thing when LBJ proposed Medicare in the 1960s. The cries of "socialism" surely rang out across the land. Now . . . silence.
Does any responsible politician honestly think those programs aren't helping people every day today? Many of the people who argued against these "socialist" ideas would probably admit that these programs work, and that life in the United States is better because we enacted them.
So let's ignore the cries of "socialism" once again and enact programs that help people. Healthcare programs, environmental programs, infrastructure programs. The opponents will eventually come around -- or they'll die and their "anti-socialist" thinking will die with them!
17
@WestHartfordguy -- there's a depression-era joke I learned from my grandfather that goes like this:
A poor street urchin is selling newspapers at the train station were rich Connecticut bankers go. Every day one of them walks up, hands the boy a dollar (when papers were a nickel or less), skims the first page, and gives the boy the paper.
He's incredibly reluctant to risk offending his meal ticket, but finally he gets up the courage to ask
Boy: "Sir, what are you looking for?"
Banker: "The obituaries."
Boy: "But sir, they aren't on the first page, they are usually on page 23."
Banker: "The one I'm looking for will be!"
That's what the rich capitalists thought of FDR, and they haven't really changed their minds since.
16
"as long as they’re repudiating their belief in traditional liberalism for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda"
A conservative, once again, bending the Democratic plans as 'anticapitalist' to suit his rigid ideology. This is not true. Unfettered capitalism clearly does not benefit all of us. And the Nordic countries are 'Democratic Socialist'. The govt does what it only can do best, healthcare, education, etc. Capitalism thrives in these countries who encourage entrepreneurship.
Survey after survey give those countries high marks for citizen happiness. The US in the grip of a GOP coup leaves many of us in the gutter.
21
I for one, don’t care if Dems don’t accomplish anything as long as the investigations continue. It won’t hurt the Party, they were sent to Washington precisely for this purpose - to stop this madness.
26
This is the answer to the assertion in today's Douthat's column that passionate, polarized debate reflects deep issues and there is no middle ground. True conversation works. Not every time. Not perfectly. But people who talk civilly to each other about what's important to them can--and do with surprising frequency--find a way to live together in peace and harmony without demonizing each other. They learn that you don't have to win every time, and that compromise is better than losing all the time.
19
The reason I love these conversations is that they reinforce my belief that decent, intelligent, informed human beings can have divergent beliefs and yet have respectful conversations without fear of occasionally agreeing, particularly on the big stuff, like ethics and humanism.
There was a time when that was possible even within the context of governance, which led to and I hate to bring this up, but what the heck, compromise, beginning with the creation of our now dented, democratic system.
17
But, Brett, we want to be more like Denmark!
We want hassle-free health care, child support, livable wages, a month or more vacation every year, free university education, livable unemployment compensation and old-age pensions, a well-maintained infrastructure, and free, competitive enterprise unbounded by Big Business/Wall Street cronyism and monopolistic practices.
And, we 'd be willing to forego ten trillion-dollar carrier-centered naval task forces, and half-billion-dollar-a-pop fighter aircraft. We'd even be willing to tax big inheritances, raise the tax rate on the ultra-rich, operate our vehicles with ethanol-free fuel, and coerce Big Business to pay the same tax rate as small businesses.
1158
Your laundry list of benefits is appropriate for the rarified levels of the C-suite but are way out of line for auto mechanics, repair techs, retail and warehouse jobs, among others. None of those jobs require an Ivy degree much less a high school diploma. As such, they haven’t earned gold plated enticements. What’s the point of achievement if everyone gets paid vacations, health insurance and can go to college. I say that as someone who has none of those things because I haven’t earned them.
2
Because these benefits to you benefit the greater society in keeping you physically, mentally and emotionally healthy. These benefits I would argue are the basic human rights of any citizen of a first world country like our own that can and should provide these offerings - and we can afford it without expanding spending. You deserve it. Sad to see that you don’t seem to think so.
134
@From Where I Sit
You don’t have paid vacations, health insurance, or the ability or right to go to college, because you “haven’t earned them”?
You need to get another job. And I say that as the owner of a successful business with a number of well-paid employees with good benefits.
114
Come on Bret! What is so wrong with Denmark?...you know, the country with the world's happiest people. Ideologues here just dismiss the Scandinavian countries as "socialist" without any discussion whatsoever about how those countries blend capitalism with socialism. They also ignore that the US already has some features of socialism, such as social security and Medicare. That's fine if we want to rule out more socialism-type programs, but let's at least be honest with our analysis and consider the best parts of how other countries manage their economies. On another point, you mention Dems idea to tax the rich. What has gotten forgotten is that the Repubs just gave the rich a big tax cut, bragged about by Trump to his buddies at Mar a Lago. Let's not forget.
39
I truly wish Mr. Stephens would not call the Democratic agenda "anti-capitalist", and imply that Denmark is anti-capitalist. I wish he would acknowledge that any economic system must first and foremost seek to improve the welfare of citizens, and that capitalism has to be regulated by democracy to rein in the worst excesses.
The US should wish to be Denmark right now. Capitalism thrives there (and in most of Europe), and so does Democracy. I lived in Europe for a long time, and it's really not hard to see. Excellent education, health care, and infrastructure, yes, but also competitive, innovative companies, and an ability to take action as a society on threats such as global climate change.
The US experiment with untethered capitalism and uncontrolled influence of money, by contrast, has led to a society where the well-being, security, and opportunity of a large part of the population has stagnated or declined while corporations and their owners have hugely benefited. As a result, the extremely wealthy have been able to re-write the rules to their own advantage.
This has to stop, and the people have begun to see it, finally.
I wish Bret Stephens would acknowledge the problem and give us his solutions. "Trickle down" didn't work, and it's time for pundits like Mr. Stephens to address this.
1202
@Incontinental
I wonder if Bret Stephens ever has lived in Denmark or any other of the European 'socialist' countries. A natural development in uncontrolled capitalism is that it will result in a split in society. Anyone can see that happening in the US, the rich getting richer, the poor staying poor or even getting poorer. That is logical because once you are rich you can invest and due to the disappearance of trade-unions, labour is getting hardly anything from economic growth, most gains are going into investors. In Europe even conservative parties do realize this and considerable progressive taxes, that are partly used to re-distribute income, are normal. The analysis why unabridged capitalism is creating a class of poor, I know, is old as Marx. But how to deal with it need not to be Marxism. And Denmark and other European countries are showing this. You may call it socialist (although formal socialist parties are near extinct) but I would label it as humanistic capitalism. Bret if you come to Europe you may stay at my place and wonder why in a town like Amsterdam there are no buildings in bad condition, no potholes anywhere, no beggars and I will be happy to explain why what you see is not obtained by suppressing the freedom of the individual. We are not forced by the government to ride bikes ;-) and we are happy to pay taxes knowing that never ever we have to be afraid of not getting health care.
358
@Incontinental
Bravo! Democratic Socialism works!
81
@Incontinental Nothing much has ever trickled down from trickle down economics. For the top .05% it is more a case of "Trick them down" economics while they enjoy a state of immense wealth and power. Time for a change and countries like the Netherlands are a good example of a more enlightened democratic society. Thank you for your comment.
98
As for me, I will pay a ton of attention to the political dialogue until the 2020 Presidential election, but I recognize that what is most important is what is going to happen in America's schools.
If we can help millions of first graders become happy, and studious second graders, help low income students find a way to go to college and gain a career, America will be fine.
I am naturally a socialist, and recognize that either we are a family, where all belong and matter and most importantly, are owners of the power and property of the land, or we are a top-down 1% corporation, and if that is true, I fear for us all, our land, our air, and our Constitution.
Let the free public education, which is the greatest invention of the human race, do its magic. Liberalism is failing, it has been poisoned by income inequality.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
494
@Hugh Massengill
I think it is Libertarianism that is failing, not liberalism.
60
@Julie Carter I agree. Libertarianism is just selfishiness by another name (you do the work; I'll reap the benefits) so it is destined to fail. Just as my vaccinating my kids so someone else's unvaccinated kids stay safe, but without the thought and hassle I have put into protecting my kids, is failing.
24
@Hugh Massengill It’s not Liberalism that’s failing, it’s unchecked Capitalism that is doing us in as a nation. Anyone can see that there can’t be huge gulfs between the haves and the have nots with creating great dissatisfaction. But yes, education WILL do its magic.
34
Can't speak for Denmark but as an American resident of France, I have to say that the comfort of knowing that any illness, surgery, medicine, bump or boo-boo I may have is fully covered is like a warm blanket I wrap myself up in - every time I happily pay my whopper of a (local) tax bill.
36
Conservatives continuously rant about the Democratic agenda being "ruinously expensive" but I've never heard one of them talk about how "ruinously expensive" our military budget happens to be, or how "ruinously expensive" all the Republican engineered wars have been over the past 20 years. Here's a simple solution to the cost problem for the democratic policy agenda: 1) raise taxes on the rich, 2) increase the inheritance tax, 3) CHOP the military budget by 50%. DONE.
901
@Blinky McGee
Like your ideas. Here are some others for consideration.
1. Chop defense budget immediately 10% without cutting any services or personnel. Have them find where the waste is and get rid of it instead of just throwing money around.
2. No wars, raids, invasions, unless the rich agree to a tax increase to pay for it. Just defense. We seem to be protecting their gated communities and extravagant way of life so let them pay.
65
@Blinky McGee
But it's not done. We won't have Medicare for all without middle class tax increases, and probably a value added tax; no country does. The "Green New Deal" is so pie-in-the-sky that it's hard to even imagine what all of the costs would add up to. Republicans are going to put a price tag on everything mentioned by AOC and claim that to put the Democrat's plans into practice, middle class tax rates will have to rise to 50-55%. And it will be hard to say no, given the poorly defined laundry list of Utopian dreams that is the Green New Deal and most of the candidates' spending plans.
As for the military, the American security guarantee produced the 75 most peaceful and prosperous years in history, with no major wars. Before embarking on "You're all on your own, world", let's think carefully about what sort of a world that policy would return us to. Cutting the military 50% would be Trumpian in its short-sightedness.
6
@Tom When you have Medicare for all, your taxes will go up by 10% and your salaries will go up by 18% because your employer will no longer be paying for your healthcare. These are average figures, different people will see different results but this will capture the overall effect.
Looks like a good deal to me.
72
Great conversation, as usual; and I find myself in agreement with both, as usual.
3
I always used to wonder what Europeans were thinking in the runup to WWI. Now I think I know. We have reached the point in our society where one super-rich media mogul attacking another super-rich media mogul (or their super-rich friends) is supposed to be received as gripping and highly important news by the common people. Today, we look back and wonder how the crowned heads of Europe were ever taken seriously by rational adults. But they were. Mature observers were greatly concerned with the affairs of the Crown Prince and his cousins, and public intellectuals were in-the-know and deeply interested in who thought what about what was said about the canapés at the Archduke's Christmas party. And you wonder, how all these rational adults could not have seen what was coming for their world. I wonder no more.
10
Question @BretStephensNYT - Why is the idea of free college for those who can't afford it and the idea of the availability of health care for everyone thought of as too expensive but our nation going into debt by the trillions being fine as the very wealthiest people and corporations get tax breaks? How about no more trickle down and instead we spread the wealth like fertilizer and watch our society grow?
1357
@Skukie
Not to mention the trillions that feed into the MIC.
Growing up in MD in the 60s and 70s U of MD in College Park had free tuition for in state students.
Practically anything is possible if you want it enough.
149
@wc
Agreed.
Just to clarify - MIC is short for Military Industrial Complex. I had never seen that term abbreviated and it took me a few minutes to figure this out.
56
@mc
MIC = military industrial complex
18
We aren't Denmark, but we want to be. Citizens United and Nixon's "Southern Strategy", in combination with voter suppression and gerrymandering, are keeping us more like a banana republic. Denmark has social mobility, happier citizens, and is close to being carbon neutral. Only tyrants and oil oligarchs could ridicule that!
37
@dave Denmark is a small country with a homogeneous population. We probably have several times as many people who would live like Danes but at least as many who would consider that the worst thing. Minnesota is probably the closest you can get to Denmark in this country.
Nowhere is perfect, but there is plenty the US of A could learn from Denmark. Respectfully, as a society you tend to see the world (to the extent you do actually look beyond your borders) through the prisms of Manifest Destiny and American Exceptionalism, which kind of distort things just a teensy bit......
10
I don't think people are racist unless they dislike, or are prejudiced against a race. If people do things that are offensive without meaning to offend, that's ignorance, not racism.
8
Not once in my life have I considered creating nude selfies. I'm not a prude by any means. I think a lot of Americans, what with cell phone cameras, social media etc, have gone completely nuts.
9
Trump may endure, but he never forgets. Right now he is tossing and turning, yearning to be spurning. Vassals stand by with his tweeter on a purple cushion ever at the ready.
3
The Denver teacher's strike is big, this richest guy on earth, upset about privacy concerns while he makes technology to expose everything on everybody, I guess is news.
4
I would not be too hard on the writers about choosing the topics they did - every day is a head-spinning mess of multiple disasters. I enjoy these conversations and, today, I am grateful and amused that Gail’s comment about a “package” from Amazon was there but not allowed to dominate the proceedings. I’ll leave the salacious stuff to the New York Post...they have already won a Pulitzer for their headline.
4
As expected, the two swan Gossip Columnists, mention nothing of the environment being treated as a cesspool by Trump and his appointees.
2
Bret, have you ever been to Denmark? Or any other major European nation that offers universal health care, affordable educational, environmental protections (particularly green-energy programs to combat climate change), spend money on infrastructure (think high-speed bullet trains all across Europe), etc., etc.?
Bret, your problem, if I may be so bold as to point this out, is that you’re so focused on low taxes and laissez-faire capitalism that you can’t see the forest for the trees. For someone who prides himself in being well-versed and an able communicator, it’s unfortunate that your analytical skills and penmanship are no match for your ideology.
I’ll never forget—or forgive—your comment some time back, “If it were up to me, I’d double defense spending.” You read that right, people—DOUBLE it. How we’d pay for that is anybody’s guess. Mine is that we’d double the number of infants living in poverty and whack another 50 million people off of health care entirely. How’s that for a good start, Bret?
26
All this media gossip about Bezos is turning our media into another National Inquirer, and we surely don’t need that! Where will we get our facts about climate change, the EPA, the infrastructure, etc., etc.?
Also, Virginia politics is Virginia ‘s problem, not the national media ‘s and certainly not the fact-free tweeters and bloggers. How anyone can suggest that Northam should step down without first demanding that the Trump-McConnell twins do so is mind-boggling. You want proof of racism? Just look at the skin color of the congressional Republicans and Trump ‘s court appointments. With all the Catholics now on the Supreme Court, is anyone worried that policy will now be dictated from Rome?
What’s Trump ‘s plan for the infrastructure? Build a Wall?? What’s his plan for healthcare? Climate change? Social Security? Nuclear proliferation? Foreign policy? Education?
Our country is leaderless. What are we going to do about it?
20
@ASW Dear Sir or madam, you seem to think that other readers can't multitask.
We can hold these ideas in our heads at the same time.
Don't be a scold. We care about all those things too. And read about them every day. People do need to laugh though.
1
@ASW -- the people love a dissolute leader as long as he does not use them too cruelly or send them to war, and has a modicum of magnanimity.
Charles II was beloved by the common folk of England, they were tired of the religious and foreign wars, Puritanism had come to bloody exhaustion.
Charles had no legitimate children by his wife Catharine of Braganza; the crown passed to his brother. But he left 12 acknowledged illegitimate ones. On his deathbed Charles asked his brother, James, to look after his mistresses: "be well to Portsmouth, and let not poor Nelly starve".
Trump's such a sorry little no-class meanie.
1
The problem with behavior like black faces, whether it is intended to do harm or not, is that it is incredibly insensitive. Such behavior shows a person’s lack of understanding for the history of persecution of minorities. Last week, a student in my daughter’s college internet group posted a swastika. We’re Jewish. He may not have meant harm, but his action was incredibly insensitive and showed a complete ignorance of the history of the Shoah. That type of insensitivity worries me, because I think it means we’re going to continue persecuting minorities.
7
“...we’re going to be reminded of this one every time we see a package from Amazon.”
And the next “package” we are going to see from Amazon is evidentially going to be Bezos’...
1
When is Bret Stephens going to realize that the only way to stop the GOP pillage and plunder of this country is to take a side and vote for the Democratic candidate-no matter whom he or she may be? His hand wringing anti-Trumpisms are annoying. Perhaps there will be a time when it’s safe for our nation to vote Republican, but this is certainly not the time.
9
Mr. Stephens ruined a sweet piece with his last worrisome fear: - that Progressivism will destroy every wonder that Team Hillary Clinton brought upon us - hasn't he learned anything from 2016? That disdain for the forward-thinking policies that DO appeal to our potentially massive bloc of young voters is exactly what gave us the Trump for whom he and the redoubtable Ms. Collins share our disdain.
1
Wasn't Trump elected as "the better of two bad alternatives" by the Electoral College? How's that working out?
1
The people of Virginia, through their elected representatives, have a difficult choice to make between a reformed racist and an alleged rapist. And, Bret Stephens made a very powerful case in his recent column to stick with the reformed racist – but Governor Northam keeps tripping over his own words.
Meanwhile Lt. Governor Fairfax appears to be playing the long game as Governor-in-waiting. I am loath to say that he might have been hounded out of office by the #MeToo movement had it not been for his race. The state attorney general, Mark Herring, might have been an easy choice to replace Northam had he not been so hypocritical when the blackface controversy first broke.
And so, it increasingly looks like Northam will survive and ride this one out… unless more indiscretions surface, in which case, all bets are off.
3
There are 235 Dems, many of them newbies who don't seem to know what they are doing yet. Every one of them is going to want attention. This is a terrible problem for the House leadership, because as the columnists point out, we really need a disciplined approach to take down Trump and the Republicans. We don't need reps grandstanding every other day, catnip to the 24/7 press and Republican attack squads.
Please, Dem reps, exercise some self-control!! It's not all about you. This is serious!
6
Since the United States of America is coming apart at the seams, this would be a good time re-imagine our future.
I hereby propose renaming ourselves The Republic of Denmark.
1
@Duane McPherson,
Not before we cut out the southern tumor that has been hobbling us since Reconstruction.
America cannot survive when half of it hates America.
1
Please replace “southern tumor”with “American tumor.”
I am disappointed that Collins and Stephens lead with the Bezos story. The honorable course of action would be have been to ignore it altogether except possibly for the nice question of whether a legal settlement can amount to blackmail.
Even if Bezos was monumentally stupid, that doesn't justify yet another invasion of his privacy. Or is concept of privacy hopelessly passé?
Quite literally the Times has sunk to the level of the National Enquirer in its prurient gloating and smart-alecky remarks.
1
@Ian Maitland So you read the Enquirer?
1
@k2isnothome
Good try!
Actually I used to see it on news stands and I know it by reputation.
Do you recommend it?
I can’t believe Gail left the phrase “package from Amazon sitting on the table.
1
Another witty & entertaining episode of The Conversation. You've got to admit that behind every great pairing with a conservative, there's a Gail Collins.
And really, can't Jeff Bezos afford a retro Polaroid & use expedited snail mail in this high romance? Once again, WC Fields is proven right- a rich man is just a poor man with money.
1
It always amuses me to hear Bret talk about the “ruinously expensive policy agenda the Democrats put forward.” Funding education would be more ruinous than tax cuts for the rich? And shouldn’t the environmental/energy policy of the Republican Party take top prize for “ruinous?” Affordable health care is more ruinous than climate change? Raising the minimum wage? Ruinous! Ending slavery? Ruinous!
To understand conservatives, understand whose money and power it is they are trying to conserve. Everything else is about keeping the masses from coming after them with torches and pitchforks.
16
@Peter
Rule 1. It's always about the money.
Rule 2. If you're confused about how something came to be, see Rule 1.
7
@Peter: In 1975, I paid $300-350.00/semester at a state university, about $1,000.00 in today's dollars. It wasn't "free", but it didn't put me deeply in debt, and I don't recall it being "ruinously expensive" to the nation or to the state of Texas. Then came the "Cut taxes!" dogma.
I also recall conservatives claiming that every rise in the minimum wage since it was $1.75/hour would destroy the economy. Hasn't happened yet. Single-payer health care hasn't been "ruinously expensive" for the many nations that have it, and there would be riots in the streets if any of their governments tried to replace it with a system like ours.
I should give some credit to conservatives like Mr. Stephens for never letting the failure of their dogma affect their thinking.
6
The one good thing about the Trump presidency is that it’s reminded the Democratic Party that it’s still possible to act boldly one issues. You just have to be smart about it and have *clear messaging*. Trump isn’t smart and his messaging is a mess. Aside from “Build Wall”, “Pocahontas” and “Be Best” everything else he says has profound hints of Sundowning Syndrome (and I’m not being glib...seriously we are going to find out eventually that Trump has some form of dementia).
The Democratic Party needs to focus, focus, focus on messaging about big ticket items while the country is angry and not settle for some sort of Clinton 2.0. These new people in Congress need to stay focused on the big issues and not get caught in the myriad rhetorical booby traps (looking at you, Rep. Omar).
7
@Dudesworth
Very much agree. Focus on a sensible, moral, pragmatic platform of ideas and basic principles. Discuss aspirational good ideas and embrace the best along while building public consensus.
Do not fall on your sword over anything other than basic principles.
Lacking a majority of the American people, new ideas will fail. All the gnashing of teeth and wailing will come to nothing without a majority of the voting population on board.
2
hi guys. interesting discussion, but do we have to see that Fisher Investment guy's picture so many times. am i the only one, or is anybody else sick to death of his face?
@craig
Ha! I wondered why he's listening to stuff on his iPhone, and not the ocean!
Bret, why are you so happy that Hillary Clinton said 'we are not Denmark'?
What do you have against Denmark? I
s it the microscopic murder rate?
The near absence of violence?
The extremely low rates of crime?
Or is it just the health, wealth and overall happiness of the country?
Dan Kravitz
22
I can't imagine my husband's Medical School yearbook staff allowing a picture of black face or KKK costumes? Let's put the blame where it really belongs.
Also, can anyone imagine that Northam never saw his yearbook page after graduation? The first thing that we all did when yearbooks were published was to page through the Senior Class section!
5
Seems yearbooks are the downfall of man... and calendars...hmmm.
It’s really amusing that it turns out she shared the texts with friends. Bezos looks like a fool.
3
@Jackson
What's the source for that revelation?
Everything I've read points to her brother have gotten access to her cell phone without her knowledge.
5
As long as Bezo and Northam’s personal issues become ours, as the media tries, we forget about moral stuff.....whatever that is in the world of Donald Trump at the helm. It’s been lost like so much else.
Oh, how I long for Barack Obama’s leadership.
10
A breath of fresh air before the storm, in reading a civil discourse between two journalists, who are neither geese nor ducklings, covered in oil following their tarnished and weathered gander.
Bezos is quite capable of holding his own, and an attempt at pecking and savaging him is all to the naught. If anything, it is a reminder to the peons among us not to send loving tokens over the web.
A favorite comment is the fuss over an 'old grainy' blackface photo in Virginia, and blessings should be counted when perhaps the above might look clearer in glaring sunlight for those of us, with no shades or shame.
A rabbit here sent photos of Pig Paradise to France on the advent of The Chinese New Year, only to receive a note of appreciation, and a query as to a resemblance to Wilbur? But no, dear friend, it is to wish you a rich piggy bank and happiness.
Bret Stephens appears to find it more challenging to take up the cause on occasion for the underdog; Gail Collins is not one to turn peacock. and preen her feathers.
Keep conversing, 'Punch and Judy'; no clocking on your crowns, and do not look for the reasons for the political crippling of our Nation, but for the Solutions.
Mr. Otter, a trumpist, is always to be found lingering at the doughnut section, and I am about to spring a cronut on him.
The Democrats to cease with their shilly-shalling and get their act together, before green lettuce is wilted and fit for swine. This not the Titanic but AMERICA. Hold strong.
1
Let's see.
Washington Post correspondent Jamal Khashoggi murdered and dismembered by the Saudi government, admitted to after a laughably weak cover up? Check.
AMI National Enquirer enjoined from any legal breaches over three years after AMI admitted to paying $150,000 to Karen McDougal to silence her during the Trump presidential campaign? Check.
Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post earning Trump's enmity for publishing real news? Check.
AMI publishing in March 2018 a slick, ad-free magazine praising crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (with 5 photos of Trump inside) AND AMI insists they had no outside help for it. Check.
I'm sorry, but I just don't see how the Saudis, with Trump assistance and encouragement, didn't go after Bezos as a favor to Trump, full stop. It was clumsy, and transparently illegal on every turn, a hallmark of both MBS and Trump's style of management.
At a minimum, AMI goes down. Full stop.
MBS goes down with the SA economy. Full stop.
Trump goes down with his family and friends, including jail time for all?
Let's see.
14
The Republican Party has become the party of name calling and schoolyard taunts. "Socialist" is just the latest epithet.
If every time the school yard bully taunts people start whining and begin a long, reasoned explanation, you've already lost. It is time to just ignore the name calling and move on to substance. Reasoned rebuttals of stupid insults just steal all attention from the issues.
"...and besides the pig likes it."
13
Bill Murray improved each time he started over in Groundhog Day. No sign that Trump can learn. For Trump, it’s just doing the same thing over and hoping it turns out differently.
13
@John Brews
The definition of insanity.
3
Let's talk about "ruinously expensive" Bret.
In our household we just did the taxes and our effective tax rate is well over 40%. And we're paying $1500 a month for health insurance that covers basically nothing until we have met $13,000 out of pocket.
I think a good number of Americans already have plenty of experience with "ruinously expensive" thank you very much. If the billionaires now taxed at 12 percent, or 6 percent, or zero percent, could share some of this experience, that would not trouble us at all.
145
@Tom
Close yhe loopholes that are effectively hidden from most of us and we would be on the road to a greater degree of fairness.
Ending deductions for SALT is mot fair. It hurts middle class people. The wealthy have great tax accountants that know their way around the loopholes so they pay as little as possible.
Who pays the rest? Us.
22
@Tom
Sir, you are spot on. It's MADDENING that so many people refuse to acknowledge this truth. I am very well paid and gladly pay my taxes, but hugely resent the rich who don't. (Sidebar: I also fume at my healthcare costs, given the rate at which I am taxed. A smarter system would use the latter for the former instead of wasting it on gifts for the wealthy.) All I - and I think many Americans - want is for the rich to pay their fare share, just as the rest of us do.
9
Though Canadian, not Danish, all I can do is shake my head at Brett's jubilation in longing for a Democrat to reassure the American public that the U.S. is not Denmark.
Aside from the fact that many of us admire and respect countries like Denmark and Finland, where so much is right (though not perfect by any means), I can't help but think that Danish politicians would get a LOT of mileage and glory from stating, "We are not the United States!"
Indeed, Trump's supporters fail to recognize that America's image and values have plummeted so far and so rapidly that global citizens wonder in disbelief why anyone would want to emulate a model tbat creates so much divisiveness and disparity though it got away with selling the gospel of freedom and prosperity for a long time before the illusion was revealed.
87
@Canuck Lit Lover "get a LOT of mileage and glory from stating, "We are not the United States!" " I remember seeing placards in pro NHS demonstrations in the UK saying "No US style health care".
14
As a liberal, but an older one who experienced the 1980s firsthand, I appreciate the reasonably nuanced approach here to the Northam situation. In 1983, Dan Akroyd dressed in blackface to play an African exchange student in the film, Trading Places. He and Eddy Murphy, also playing an African exchange student in an iconic scene from that film, were very funny together, or at least most people thought so at the time. (Most people also thought that Eddy Murphy was very funny in whiteface in the 1988 film, Coming to America.) The sort of humor just described may no longer be acceptable, but those who indignantly ask how anyone could possibly have worn blackface in the 1980s may want to take a closer look at the popular culture of that decade. The real reason that the Northam photo crossed the line, even under the rules that applied thirty-five years ago (and as the authors of this piece appear to have agreed), is not the wearing of blackface per se; it is the wearing of blackface standing next to a man in a white sheet and pointy hat. That is racist any way you slice it, and would or at least should have been considered just as offensive in the 1980s as it would be considered today. Northam apparently understands this, or else he would not be so intent on denying that he is one of the fellows in the photo.
20
Wearing blackface always crosses the line for black people. My dismay about your comment is that too many people agree with it. When you’re a black person in this country and unfortunately in many other countries, your body is an argument. It’s a heavy burden.
I just want everyone to understand the incredibly dehumanizing, degrading, insulting, hurtful and harmful effects we suffer when once again, we are disregarded and humiliated by seeing people wearing blackface. The deeply ingrained feelings white people have about black people are once again, on full display this week. Hiding behind remarks about “insignificance”, “insensitivity” and “ignorance.” Lame excuses in a world where with minimal effort it’s easy to find clear explanations on the origins and uses of blackface. If you don’t know it’s because you don’t want to know.
I’m not advocating prosecution for anyone in 2019 who’s ever worn blackface. But I want and deserve acknowledgement, apology, and understanding. From politicians, celebrities...anyone involved with the promulgation of blackface.
Bret, you refused to support Hillary Clinton, who is a moderate centrist. Instead you let Donald Trump win. Please don't pretend that you might, sort of, support the Democrat in 2020 if he or she is a moderate centrist.
75
@Ladyrantsalot
Socialism becomes fashionable when the excesses of capitalism drive people to it. Free education, Medicare for all - is the direct response to predatory practices in the student loan, health and drug industry that the public is rebelling against. Mr. Stephens and the 1% rejected the flawed HRC and the third way and put their trust in Citizens United, think tanks and the markets to figure it out. They still refuse to see the bigger picture and have no clever FDR to bail them out this time. Without major reforms its onward to the guillotine.
5
Bret, Denmark outranks the U.S. in almost every health, happiness, housing, sanitation, and in fact every quality of life issue. Studies of advancement opportunity, elementary and post-secondary education, post-natal care, working conditions, vacations, environmental concerns, women's health, sex education, birth control availability, faith in government, and crime statistics rank Denmark above the U.S. - that is, in, you know, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
WHO, UNESCO, etc. might be required reading for journalists and Presidents with "Executive Time" to spare.
114
@drbobsolomon
While I truly admire the Scandinavian countries (my grandparents came from Sweden) and would not mind paying taxes to have the security of better services for all, there is one thing we forget when talking about Denmark et al is that they are homogeneous countries with one culture. My grandparents lived in a town outside Boston that was mostly made up of Italian and Irish immigrants. They had to learn to get along and blend different cultures. There once was an idea of American being a melting pot, but we are not melting together so much anymore. And try getting the South to vote for anything that would appeal to the North.
PS Why do people when they get their hands on a 'smart' phone become so stupid, even the richest guy in the world. And how banal his words and photos.
1
Believe me Bret, I'm not worried that a lot of the rabbit holes the investigators go down will turn up empty; so far, it seems that the more tunnels that are investigated, the more they lead to other tunnels.
I am confident that this will not lead to a Gertrude Stein scenario. There does appear to be a lot of there there.
39
I find it interesting that Democrats like Bezos and Northam actions are soft-pedaled in the age of Trump. Of course, if they were Republicans both would be condemned by the press perhaps with the exception of the Washington Post. Incredibly, Bezos is being lauded for what he has done and Northam is being slowly forgiven. It looks like favoritism. Even moderation, at times, can be prejudicial.
4
It has been said that Northam has already kept some of his important campaign promises, including the expansion of Medicaid. Should not a person’s entire record be considered? I thought, at the time, that Al Franken should have hung tough.
326
@Miriam, Al Franken's resignation was the biggest tactical and strategic mistake the Democrats could have made. Tactically, they set a bar so close to zero tolerance that almost any Democrat who poses a threat to Republican power can be exposed by opposition research and removed. Strategically, they silenced one of the most effective voices for common sense, just as he was hitting his stride and finding the right balance between political responsibility and satire.
One day, the Democrats may expel the next Franklin Roosevelt over the equivalent of taking a plastic butter knife to second grade to spread jelly. What we're seeing now is just the warmup act.
42
@Miriam Agreed! Democrats zero-tolerance policy for misdeeds committed 30+ years ago leaves no room to allow for growth as human beings and is causing us to lose some good people. God help us if we all had our pasts examined by a microscope! I believe we should search each case for signs of continued racism, or, as with Northam, indications from his record that he has supported civil rights, Medicaid, etc. People change. And hopefully, they grow and learn from mistakes.
10
"We are not Denmark!"
Indeed, if America had the child mortality rate of Denmark, about 7500 US children out of the 3.8 million born each year would not die before reaching the age of 5. For some, an acceptable fatality in the name of an idealised version of freedom it seems...
70
"...for the sake of an anticapitalist, ruinously expensive policy agenda."
Why not? We already have socialism for the wealthy in the form of tax breaks, tax havens and loopholes by the kilo. ––This while the free market is killing those who are paid wages instead of stock options.
How about socialism for all instead of for the few?
133
In the 1960s I attended a military school. We had an English Teacher someone from an earlier era nicknamed 'Peckerneck' and it stuck, and an administrator / religion teacher/football coach who got the name 'Creeping Jesus'. We also had a Latin teacher, a large ,mumbling structure with a head like Caesar and a profile that resembled Alfred Hitchcock. His name was 'Boogie'.
2
Trump will maximize the drama around the proposed wall and immigration legislation that the House and hopefully the Senate will approve and put on his desk. He will be the center of attention and he will decide what to do based on generating screen time. Given that Hannity and others are already criticizing the deal, I expect a showy, prime time veto followed by unilateral executive mandate. Great distraction from Mueller’s and Congress’ investigations. Looking also for some foreign policy glitz as well as N Korea meeting coming fast. Executive time means me-time, when POTUS can conceive of ways to increase his ratings and win that Emmy.
12
Hey, Bret, a lot of us would love to be like Denmark. Or any other civilized country that offers a real and generous safety net and levels the playing field every generation by taxing estates worth a lot less than $11,000,000.
165
Bret, May I suggest you spend some time in Denmark? Try the Zleep Hotel near Kalundborg with its neighboring Naes Restaurant, a farm to table treat, and head just a little down the road through quaint villages to the local winery which has some prize winners. Check out their health care system or visit a retirement home where elderly people are not neglected. Drive on their excellent highway systems or use their rapid transit. I do miss the wonderful ferries that one used to take to Sweden or the Jylland peninsula before the bridges were build. And enjoy the quiet windmills that provide so much of the countries electricity. It is very interesting to participate in the hunting dog trials in the beet and corn fields surrounding those windmills and to see how many birds thrive in the heavy brush beneath them. Observe the very successful business climate with businesses like Lego and Novo Nordisk which manage to thrive while paying decent wages. Did you know the number one rated restaurant in the whole world is in Copenhagen? After you check it all out, then tell me you are glad we are not Denmark. I envy my dear Danish friends and hope to someday be able to live there myself. Not an easy language to learn, but then almost everyone there speaks English.
216
I love these exchanges and I think they would fall flat and look silly if done "live" via television or even podcast. Sometimes old-fashioned, low-tech "print" can indeed do things the others cannot.
18
Its not hard to understand the dilemna faced by Collins and Stephens, what to talk about when a tabloid President creates so many opportunities.
Many agree that the 2016 election was the most issue-free in our history, partly because public attention was diverted into media coverage of hateful tribal chanting, bizarre tweets and other cyberflak, much of it coming from Russian intelligence.
As a result, Americans as a whole are poorly informed about the real issues we will face in the future. Here are some suggestions:
Climate Change
Environmental Degradation
Wealth Inequality
Education Inequality
Global Economic Competition
Federal Debt
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security
Defense & HLS Spending
Tech Privacy Invasion
We should be thinking the world we are passing on to future generations. Instead I am afraid the Me Generation of Boomers is living up to our poor reputation.
I know these sound like really dry topics but Collins and Stephens can make them inreseting, if anyone can.
30
Trump's challenge isn't whatever Congress decides about border security -- including the Wall. He's already redefined "wall" to include a fence (which is not a wall unless it's "solid"). His challenge is from hard-right literalists who insist that a wall is a wall is a wall -- and nothing else. But our president has answered the call -- and won't block the next congressional compromise. Now he's saying that he will "finish" the wall (hey, it's already mostly done -- in his dreamworld). Doesn't matter what Congress says. He's running the show, and he'll build whatever he wants.
1
Northam’s has no political future- he may or may not resign but this is the end of his road - unless he goes back to being the republican he used to be. It also must be said. He is a good governor and has done a lot of good for the people of Virginia
As for Bezos, I am of the opinion that the whole Relationship was a setup from the very beginning. Quite a crazy conspiracy theory to hold but there are too many coincidences to believe that the person he fell for just happens to have a Trump supporting brother with ties to the national enquirer and access to her phone
She must have been on on it.
40
@Deirdre It is the only thing that makes sense.
6
Bret, the Democrats are not anti-capitalist. Another label for the programs they seek is "humanistic capitalism." No one is espousing to make the economic engine of the market obsolete. The surge in advocacy for government intervention is in the spirt of a mixed economy, which has been viciously attacked and ripped apart by the billionaires who run this country's political agenda. The gross inequality that exists in America is something that government has every right to to correct. It's about balance between the market and government control, and right now we're a pin ball machine on "tilt."
87
Just as important as context, is cavalier misappropriation of the word blackface to smuggle in to the conversation notions of racism. Blackface is caricature of a generic person of color, popularized in mistral acts, but obviously used elsewhere also. Caricature, overlapping in meaning with stereotyping, is what makes it racist. Using dark coloring (makeup, shoe polish or otherwise) to portray a specific person of color is not caricature, thus it is not stereotyping and hence it is not racist blackface. Nothing in this distinction speaks to whether it is good for a white person to use makeup to portray a person of color - it might be bad - but it is inaccurate and harmful to hijack the term blackface for the discussion.
11
AMI, the National Enquirer, made a deal with the court in the Southern District of New York to stay “clean” for three years in return for not being charged with the campaign financing violations involving Trump and the payoff of women who could embarrass him.In the shady world they live in it seemed like a good idea to try extort and threaten the richest man in the world.Bezos’ wealth is not the biggest issue-the fact that he owns the Washington Post is.It is an excellent paper who lost one of its reporters to a brutal murder by the Saudis.The Enquirer wants money from the Saudis to build their enterprise.There is a sleaze factor here, but there is also a very serious legal precedent on extortion.
146
I enjoyed this back-and-forth from two who observe from different philosophical perches. I would have liked to see them tie their criticism of TV news to both the 24/7 news "cycle" ~ it's not really a cycle; it's a supersaturation bath of unsubstantiated and/or blatantly biased sludge ~ to campaign finance and the Citizens United decision. How do we stuff those back into Pandora's box?
15
Exhausted by so-called conservatives against health care reform.
85% of all medical expenses occur in those over 65. Medicare and Medicaid already pay 50%, at minimum, of all medical costs in the US.
Publicly funded healthcare will not affect those that will always be able to pay up-front, only those that are dying needlessly.
More stupid lies from the republican media hegemony, even slipping between the pages of this paper, that I pay for, that should know better, or present better, the true state of the healthcare market in America.
And in the interest of fairness we have these two educated people playing footsy, one with ultimately divisive intent, while people are dying all over the country for idiotic, cheaply treated, or preventable ailments.
Good job everybody.
33
The Bezos story is titillating, like the Trump golden showers Kompromot in the Steele Dossier; but, the titillation just distracts from the serious nature of the accusations against him.
Did Trump use foreign governments and their intelligence and military against Americans, that is about as serious a charge as one could level against a sitting President. And, it appears that is what Bezos is asking; is our President a foreign agent.
78
What has me both excited and terrified is that this is the Democrats' defining moment. The Green New Deal needs to be the cornerstone of the party and this country for the next 100 years. Pelosi and the veterans & AOC and the freshmen need to come together quickly and sell this thing like they've never sold before. It's not hyperbole to say that the fate of everything rests in their hands – and it's keeping me up at night.
25
Apparently, Trump has found his way to save face. He is diverting funds.
As for the Green New Deal, I'm not convinced it will be political suicide. Hillary was pretty mainstream and people didn't vote for her because of lies. The question will come down to how much the faux news can dismantle the Dems and if the public believes it.
15
It’s interesting, the difference in Collins’ measured tone, and Stephens’ exagerrated “pain”, panic.
Over reasonable health care and tuition costs, and decent jobs?
43
Give liberalism a break---we have been locked up in a closet for almost two decades--while, our "conservative" counterparts have used voodoo economics to create a 21st century Gilded Age. So, finally, the public has realized that Reaganomics was voodoo all along and, now it is payback time. Now having said that---when the campaign get serious---each of these candidates want to be certain how far they allow the liberal door to swing open.
26
@Amanda Jones
As a moderate, independent voter, I would urge you to take Stephens' words to heart: "I fear the Democrats new progressivism will so turn off voters that they’ll re-elect Trump as the better of two bad alternatives." The response to stupid Trumpism should not be to up the stupid ante in the opposite direction. But talking to liberals about tax policy is about as productive a chore as talking to Trumpists about immigration.
Let's look closer at this "socialism" thing.
Bret says, "One thing that is becoming clear is the G.O.P. campaign theme for 2020. They are going to claim Democrats are the party of socialism..."
Bret is right, labeling Democrats "socialists" is already underway. But "socialist" as used in Republican aspersions is nothing more than twisted fear-mongering. So what is socialism?
Social Security is an example of Democratic socialism in practice. Workers' Compensation is Democratic socialism. Labor laws protecting workers are Democratic socialism. The ACA is Democratic socialism. Medicare is Democratic socialism. Oh, et tu Medicare? Say it isn't so.
How would Medicare for all become the Republicans' nefarious, evil, vile socialism when Medicare is and has been working great for Americans over age 65? Apparently, for Republicans, allowing Medicare to compete with private for-profit medical insurance is just unfair. That is, unfair to greedy CEO's who must charge more than Medicare so they can enjoy multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses. Unfair that Medicare would not deny coverage to those with preexisting conditions. Unfair that Medicare operates with a fraction of the overhead costs for private insurance.
If Medicare for all is dirty socialism, then Medicare for the elderly must end! We should not subject our vulnerable aging parents to dirty socialism! And we must end vile Social Security! End Workers' Compensation! Vote Republican for pure Atlas Shrugged capitalism.
92
@JABarry
And no more socialist police departments and fire departments. Privatize them all. Make every road a toll road. Public schools? Out. Get rid of them all because they are part of the slippery slope that will lead us to Communism!
12
@Julie Carter
And no more socialism for farmers. First big drought in any area of the country, farmers are out of business. That will allow speculators, probably corporate farmers, to swarm in and buy them up. Soon we will be owned, lock, stock and barrel, by the rich and corporations.
And no tariffs to protect aluminum and steel producers. Can’t compete, go out of business.
And the beat goes on.
12
Regarding blackface, don't forget the movie of Othello, where Laurence Olivier wore blackface. I think that doing it in the service of entertainment is okay. The Virginia governor isn't Olivier, and a Michael Jackson impersonation isn't Othello, but I think that the analogy holds.
12
Health care costs are concerning.
But what if we redefined the goal: promoting health.
But politics runs on fear and short term solutions and health requires sober reflection and long term policies.
But we could: institute nationwide programs to provide serious health education in junior high school: human anatomy and physiology, health management, exercise physiology, family economics, family planning and parenting: before the hormones take over. And we could pay attention to the mounting evidence that mental illness, addiction, and even criminal behavior reflect a person's early childhood. Imagine if we could prevent childhood neglect and abuse: imagine if every child born was wanted, adored, and carefully provided with the opportunity to develop language capacity and emotional stability.
Sounds like pie in the sky!! But NO! It wouldn't be that expensive or hard: A required junior high level course in human development, parental responsibility, family economics, etc is only a computer click away. And again NO! It would be relatively cheap to provide every person in America access to surgical sterilization if they wanted it. It would be relatively cheap to provide every woman in America access to birth control if she wanted it.
SAVE MONEY by preventing costly dysfunction and actually improve people's lives!! Savings on mental illness, addiction, and criminal justice would pay for a lot of health care.
8
What the story doesn't have, is any consideration of the shakedown of Donald Trump after he became the Republican nominee for president.
Gee, I wonder why the left leaning media glosses over that.
1
@Objectivist
Are you referring to the shake-down artist-in-chief? Will he get his wall or just pretend to?
4
@Objectivist
"Shakedown of Donald Trump?" Do you mean mention of his bankruptcies, conviction for the fraud of Trump University, failure to pay contractors, use of illegal labor right up to the present day, lies about how he built an empire with a tiny "million dollar " loan from his father, failure to repay bank loans, getting paid twice the value of properties by Russian oligarchs, for starters? And then there is the case of his father manipulating tax laws to give him and his siblings millions in real estate. Give me a break!
9
Hamlet apart, what's wrong with Denmark?
33
Great Column, Bret and Gail
The comment about outlawing emissions from cows. Is that a concern that all Republicans have on their agenda?
I thought I would never see the day that 'Cow Flatulence', has become a plank on the party platform.
This must be a result of Trump's use of executive time.
15
Excellent exchange, my fellow Americans. Bret, I think you make a good point, that whatever the Democrats actually stand for, the Republicans (may God rest their party's soul) will take that and spin it into a caricature. Here's where I come to the opposite conclusion as you do. What's the point in worrying about whether their policy platform will be misinterpreted as socialist, when the intention in 2020 is to cast them as the pro-pulling-out-live-babies party, as the pro-migrant-murdering-your-family party. The Republicans only win in a land of strawmen.
17
The Billionaire Man
Mucho kudos for Jeff, no blackmailer can
Run him to ground, mighty billionaire man;
“Billions for progress, not a dime of my loot
Will I dispense for showing my root
On media outlets to intimate friends
I’m ready to rock, too young for Depends;
I’ve gold, more than Midas; still got to express
My nethermost charms, still aim to impress
With tweets against tribute, not one sorry cent
Will I pay to conceal my stick peppermint;
I’m dropping my wife and half my resources -
Well worth the haircut, got no remorses
Worth more than the freedom to show off my pride
A braggart perhaps, but I’ve never lied.”
7
How could Jeff Bezos not know that Michael Sanchez, the brother of Lauren Sanchez, is not allied with Roger Stone and Carter Page (and therefore with Trump)? I am still hoping against hope that Bezos has been trying to bring down AMI and the National Enquirer all along. Who cares about the "below the belt" photos, anyway? By now, the American public is numb to these high-profile celebrity extramarital affairs. It's obvious that the Bezos marriage was already on the rocks before all this happened. Maybe Jeff Bezos has been smarter than we are giving him credit for, and maybe this whole shameful episode will send a strong message to sleazeball rags like the Enquirer. Despite Bezos' flaws, I will give him thumbs up for that.
22
“If we’re going to start excommunicating people from public life for this, we’re going to destroy a lot of people who almost surely intended no harm.” Isn’t a way to justify improper behavior? I wonder what would happen if a public figure dresses up as an old Rabbi, big nose, long beard, etc., with all those typical stereotypes? I wonder what reaction would cause?
5
People send "sexts" or whatever, and other unintended folks see them. So what? Not a big deal in this modern age, not anymore, not for anyone under the age of 40 anyway. The blackmailing is the story here.
And "liberal" does not equal "anticapitalist". Not sure why the USA is probably the only place in the world where this is not abundantly obvious, and any move to actually make a livable and humane society for anyone but the wealthy is seen as wicked.
35
Oh, great. My wife has been reminding me for years that the Amazon symbol reminds me of a, um, of pride, and now the affiliation will never go away.
6
Trump wakes up every morning and thinks: "OK, what can I do today to keep people from thinking about the Mueller probe, my tax returns, the emoluments clause, corruption in my cabinet, the Khashoggi murder, and whatever Michael Cohen and Roger Stone might eventually have to say? Oh, I know. I'll go with a government shutdown, especially since it will cripple the IRS and the FBI."
It's a good bet Trump won't sign the border wall/security compromise and opt instead for another shutdown. But beware if he caves, because he'll have to pull another rabbit out of his...He bragged during the SOTU that we'd already be embroiled in a war with North Korea if he hadn't been elected. Get ready for this: "My fellow Americans, I did my best to forestall the inevitable, but now I find the only way I can provide you with true security is to declare war on North Korea. Bombing has already commenced."
20
"ruinously expensive" he says.
How much are we going to pay to relocate Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and New Orleans?
39
'AOC did mention eliminating “emissions from cows or air travel,” ... '
Shouldn't we also be worried about the incessant emissions from the prez? Isn't that also a source of suffocating pollution?
25
"Pecker politics definitely tops anything else we can possibly talk about."
Gail wins the one liner! I think it must be a boomer thing as that moniker has lost its luster--like most of us.
Cable news goes after anything that allows them to run the big hysterical "breaking news" headline in red, that can be as trivial as "Trump gives his rally" to the really provocative such as "Mueller filing reveals ........"
Committing suicide twice, or even thrice, might be possible for this administration and Trump who knows that his base lives in the moment.
Of course, he doesn't have Vlad and Assange and Stone there to help him redirect his narrative.
But I'm sure Mr. "Only I can fix it" will come up with something, even just in his mind, that he can resolve. Perhaps he can pull another fake wall ploy like the one he says is halfway built.
We really are in the territory of the Emperor Has No Clothes when he can get supporters to cheer for a mirage.
76
@ChristineMcM
HCA was a pretty smart guy.
Although I usually agree with the issues raised in Gail and Bret's chat, why they chose not to focus on the inhumane treatment of families seeking asylum in the USA is difficult to comprehend.
How would the average American react if they were suddenly separated from their children - with no hope of ever seeing them again? This is not an exaggeration - it's been often reported by all major news organizations - yet infants remain in custody as their moms and dads are deported.
Crimes against humanity could better define the Trump legacy and I'm confident that historians will get it right.
210
And the truly scaryconsequence of the overseers losing track of kids ('bodies') in the pens. We've all seen that movie.
27
"..a society that offers health care for everyone, free college tuition for those who can’t afford to pay, and federal work programs for the unemployed — paid for by much higher taxes on the rich." Amen.
329
@Judi Sounds great in theory, just need to know where the bar is for where rich starts and us regular folks begin. I don't trust the Democrats to let us know where that is.
1
What! No mention of tax returns? Just wait until the returns are processed this year, and next, and the public realizes just what the Trump Administration has done in their economic alterations. I hear that the mortgage limits alone have much of New Jersey apoplectic.
Looking forward to the next back and forth after April 15th.
147
@William Menke
And the mortgage limits are high, by my standards. I think many more are going to have a fit when they see what the $10,000 State and Local tax cap does to their budget.
4
"When you’ve got a politician who isn’t going to be able to run for re-election, you’ve got a politician spending a whole lot of time planning how to get the next job."
On the other hand, senators and representatives now spend over half their time soliciting bribes -- oops - I meant to type campaign contributions -- in order to keep the jobs they have.
With shorter term limits, we cold also reduce the bonding that leads to the glut of bribers -- I mean lobbyists -- that we have now.
159
@Andy Lyke
Or we could just pass a law abolishing lobbyists. I know, I know, an idea so practical it could never fly in Washington.
259
@Andy Lyke
Well, yeah, eliminate the money. They don't have time to do their jobs at all. Practically, it's pretty simple, keep the people who are good at their jobs and let them get better at it.
25
@Andy Lyke
Term limits empower the unelected technocrats and the lobbyists, who have no term limits.
And who do you think will run for election? The lobbyists. Elected office will become even more of a revolving door.
The best way to impose term limits is by voting the bums out and keeping the good ones.
31
I suspect the bulk of American voters want "jobs and jesus "or to put it in sociological terms are, economically liberal and socially conservative. The centre of American politics populated largely by democrats and few republicans offer neither at best or the opposite at worse. The far left of the democratic party gets endlessly baited on social issues that the bulk of American voters care little for, like the rights of transgenders to use particular toilets. The bulk of the republicans offer social conservatism in practice and economic liberalism in rhetoric (Thatcher smashed the non productive coal industry, Trump goes to his rallies in coal miners hats). However crass and venal the present administration may be, if you asked me where I would put my money, Trump all the way for 2020.
1
Remember that NC governor Pat McCrory was voted out due to his anti-trans HB2 "bathroom bill" he signed into law. People do care about trans lives. Democrats can be both economically and socially progressive at the same time.
18
@Oldie Indeed people, myself included, can and do care about trans lives. The point I was making was that a big chunk of the voting public is either opposed or indifferent to trans lives and the cruelty of the current administration and likely to want politicians to be squarely focused on the issues that affect them: poverty, opiate addiction, job quality and affordable health care
2
"Trump has continued to play games with the livelihoods of American workers for the sake of a bit of fencing that solves nothing except his own political problems."
The danger is that it can be seen the other way too.
The price of repeated shut downs might come to be seen as just not worth stopping that wall. Voters might decide, "Just give him his idiot wall. It isn't this important."
It is like the investigations. If overdone, it can backfire. There are few things in politics that are such sure winners that it can't be fouled up by the way it is done and done again.
17
@Mark Thomason
So the Texas landowners who would lose their river front property where they water their cattle or just enjoy the view since a wall can't be built down the middle of a river is just collateral damage? If migratory animals can't migrate, too bad? If the butterfly park is destroyed or inaccessible to the American public, just like the Big Bend National Park would become, so what?
And if Trump wins on something unreasonable, what will be next?
20
You may have uncovered the art of our DEAL-MAKER: his artful wrecking-ball whack-job strategy.
7
I agree that Bezos has handled the situation very well, but he wasn't drawing on a blank slate. I believe that he -- or someone on his crisis management team -- simply decided to take a page out of David Letterman's book.
Letterman found a blackmail note in his car one morning as he left for work. The writer threatened to reveal that the TV host was having an affair with a young female staffer. Letterman immediately contacted law enforcement and showed them the note. On that night's show, he talked at length about the incident. He admitted the affair, said that he had made a terrible mistake, and apologized to those whom he had hurt.
Blackmail threat eliminated. Tabloid scoop averted.
407
That Green New Deal needs to be explained very quickly --- what are real goals, and what are long-term ideas. Opponents are already attacking the cows and planes thing as Democratic agenda items for next year, and that story will spread quickly. Counter it with the facts, fast.
210
@Lobstershift
It doesn’t really matter how many facts the Dems put forward, the alt-right will scream lies to whip up the emotions of the Republican base and win primaries.
Best to ignore those throwing tantrums on the floor, and proceed to build out a Green New Deal set of policies with the majority of us now sitting at the table.
51
@Lobstershift
You might wish to check for a recent explanation of The Green New Deal (GND) authored by EarthTalk, a non profit Earth Action Network, taking the readers back to a a 2007 op-ed column by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times.
13
@Lobstershift Don't worry about that AOC's proposal to address climate change. It is the best proposal out there because nobody else has made a counter-proposal. Until there is a counter-proposal it is the only game in town.
Unless, of course, you prefer to do nothing and see what happens.
8
"In an age when it’s hard to ignore any big political scandal, we’re going to be reminded of this one every time we see a package from Amazon"
Given the nature of the story - that, my friends, is the quote to remember!
36
@Tony Dietrich Surely you jest. This is the quote:
Yes, Bezos has dealt with it brilliantly. It helps — how shall I put this delicately? — that his pride got the better of his embarrassment, and that there was nothing embarrassing about his pride.
13
@Tony Dietrich
Especially given the Amazon logo... just saying ;-)
5
@Resh
Yep, now we know what the smile is for. And why they are called fulfillment centers.
3