Matthew Yglesias

Tim Fernholtz, a new American Prospect writing fellow, is becoming must-reading. Here he is with a good question about McCain's "listen to the Generals"-centric policy agenda: But it raises this important question: If John McCain knows nothing about the economy and most domestic issues but wants to be elected based on his foreign policy, which is apparently 'do whatever David Petraeus says,' why not have McCain do a surprise endorsement of Petraeus and drop out?… More »

I'd really been hoping that the Bush administration could find some way to use their lame duck status to make it easier to expose workers to toxins, so imagine my delight when it turned out they were actually "moving with unusual speed" (which turns out to mean breaking the law) to do so. Heck of a job. More »

WNBA strikes a blow for equality with professional women's basketball's first-ever bench-clearing brawl. More »

Citizens for Global Solutions is a great organization committed to a liberal internationalist approach to the world (the UN, multilateral nuclear disarmament, foreign aid, that kind of thing) and they put questionnaires out to congressional candidates and have posted the answers they got. Some of these candidates impress more than others, but of course the people you really need to worry about are the ones who don't bother to respond. More »

Max Boot tries to rationalize staying in Iraqi no matter what Iraq's government says. First: This is part of a pattern for Maliki, who, though he won office and has stayed alive (literally and politically) with American support, has hardly been an unwavering friend of the United States -- at least in public. Although he was an opponent of the Saddam Hussein regime, he was not a proponent of the U.S.-led invasion. Some might see in this Maliki as something of… More »

To repeat something mentioned below, John McCain told Katie Couric that the surge caused the Anbar Awakening: Colonel McFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history. And yet here's an article McFarland co-wrote which makes it clear that not only did the events he was involved with predate the surge,… More »

Ryan Avent says Google's still not evil as they add pedestrian-specific routing to Google Maps. I've never found it all that difficult to make the necessary adjustments just from looking at the map, but every little bit helps. More »

Dana Goldstein draws out attention to this somewhat absurd Ed in '08 ad warning that unless we heed their message of reform, Finland will bury us: Among other things, as Dana says, this kid down at the yacht club is probably going to do fine: "the American children most in need of school reform aren't white kids standing on docks (like the boy in this commercial), but rather the rural and inner-city children whose schools have the fewest resources and who tend… More »

Here's John McCain talking to Katie Couric and explaining -- but with his facts all wrong -- why the Anbar Awakening counts as a consequence of the surge: Colonel McFarland was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history. Thanks to General Petraeus, our leadership, and the sacrifice of brave young Americans. I… More »

To reiterate something I said yesterday, the idea that road spending is entirely paid for by the gasoline tax is simply mistaken. Public sector budgets are complicated things, especially in situations like America's road network where a large variety of agencies are involved, so sometimes different studies get different results but under no circumstances is it the case that the gas tax covers everything. Here, via Aaron Naparstek is a study from UC Davis'… More »

After a couple of days worth of chaotic retreat, the right wing seems to have settled on a fallback position, namely that it's only possible to now contemplate withdrawing from Iraq because things have gotten so much better and all improvements in conditions -- including things that happened before the surge began -- are due to the surge. Thus, despite Obama apparently having shown good judgment on the question of invading Iraq and seeming to have the best policy… More »

New ad from Health Care for America Now: Feisty rhetoric aside, the policy point here is that health insurance companies are a weird beast relative to our social aspiration to provide everyone with adequate health care. Sometimes you might want something widely provided with a government guarantee, but still want to keep private firms in business making the product. Every child needs a desk in school, but the government doesn't need to build the desks. We want… More »

Well, girls, if you're out there following the American presidential campaign you'll be glad to know that The Washington Post is around to tell you that the perfect wife is always deferential, does everything she can to support her husband's career, and beyond that doesn't bore him with a lot of talking about stuff. Kay Steiger's not seeing it: But a presidential candidate’s spouse that’s shy and uncomfortable speaking in public, might more often be viewed… More »

Stunning stuff as National Review's Peter Robinson asks John Cogan a question: Q: The chart shows the increase in spending in dollar terms. Haven't you been able to find a chart that shows the increase in spending as a proportion of GDP?A: No, I haven't—not in the time I've had available for Googling this weekend, which, since I've been scrambling to get the family ready to go back East for a couple of weeks (we're off at 4.30 this very morning) amounted to a… More »

Good piece by Matt Duss. I especially like the last bit: Perhaps most importantly, no real consensus yet exists among Iraqis as to what the new Iraq will be. Consensus does exist, however, around the belief that no genuine, sustainable Iraqi unity can develop while the Iraqi government continues to be underwritten by a foreign military presence. Recognising the latter consensus is essential for enabling Iraqis to arrive at the former. This is important. To say… More »

Jason Zengerle gets even-handed: There's no denying that liberals who once derided Maliki as a Bush administration stooge are now touting him as the authentic and sovereign voice of the Iraqi people; but conservatives are doing their own flip-flop as well. I think that's wrong in a whole bunch of ways. For one thing, it's not some kind of crazy inconsistency to deride someone as a stooge while he's being a stooge, and then to stop deriding him when he stops being… More »

Mike Allen and Jim Van deHei finally take note of McCain's frequent gaffes. Interestingly, they view his proclivity for misstatements primarily through the lens of age -- perhaps McCain's getting old and losing his grip. To me, though, if take a broader look I think it's just a campaign that's not doing a good job of briefing people. We've seen Carly Fiorina not realize McCain disagrees with her about whether insurance companies should cover birth control, and… More »

Via Tapped, a report on private jets from the Institute for Policy Studies: As Americans prepare to pay extra for checked bags, wait in long lines, and endure increasingly crowded commercial flights, super-wealthy private jet owners are enjoying tax breaks and luxury at the public’s expense. “High Flyers: How Private Jet Travel Is Straining the System, Warming the Planet, and Costing You Money,” a report from the Institute for Policy Studies and Essential… More »

Dan Balz reviews Obama's trip to Iraq: "But the curious turn of events made for an unexpected opening act for the Democrat's week-long tour of seven countries, demonstrating anew the combination of agility and good fortune that has marked his campaign." There's no denying that good fortune played a role here, but one does need to consider the possibility that Obama got "lucky" here because he and his team, unlike John McCain and his team, aren't driven by hubris… More »

I think the "news analysis" features in the newspapers are a little bit per se absurd (it's not an opinion! we swear! it's analysis!) but Richard Oppel and Jeff Zeleny on Obama's trip and the events in Iraq seems about spot-on to me. Still, I'm not sure even Oppel & Zeleny quite grasp the scope of McCain's debacle here. He'd spent, several weeks with the main theme of his campaign being, quite literally, to criticize Barack Obama for not having been physically… More »