Page 27 - Eric Levitz News Today

The recent report that U.S. birthrates fell to a record low in 2020 was expected but still grim. On Twitter the news was greeted, characteristically, by conservative laments and liberal comments implying that it’s mostly conservatism’s fault — because American capitalism allegedly makes parenthood unaffordable, work-life balance impossible and atomization inevitable. This is a specific version of a long-standing argument about the tensions between traditionalism and capitalism, w...

With its razor-thin margins in Congress and an aging caucus, why isn’t the party acting with more urgency to protect voting rights from Republican assault?

America needs tax dollars spent on actual infrastructure — roads, bridges, rail lines and, yes, on pipelines and refineries.

Ross Douthat: Is capitalism killing conservatism? The right doesn’t know what it is conserving anymore. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) This Sept. 8, 2020 file photo shows The Charging Bull statue in New Yorks financial district. By Ross Douthat | The New York Times   | May 10, 2021, 3:31 p.m. The report Wednesday that U.S. birthrates fell to a record low in 2020 was expected but still grim. On Twitter the news was greeted, characteristically, by conservative laments and liberal comments imp...

The report Wednesday that US birthrates fell to a record low in 2020 was expected but still grim. On Twitter the news was greeted, characteristically, by

Credit...Carlos Javier Ortiz/Redux Opinion Columnist The report on Wednesday that U.S. birthrates fell to a record low in 2020 was expected but still grim. On Twitter the news was greeted, characteristically, by conservative laments and liberal comments implying that it’s mostly conservatism’s fault — because American capitalism allegedly makes parenthood unaffordable, work-life balance impossible and atomization inevitable. This is a specific version of a longstanding argument about the ...

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here. This entry was posted in Links on About Lambert Strether Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neithe...

By Lambert Strether of Corrente. I thought the $2,000 check controversy could be allowed to recede into the disconsolate mists of time, as just one more Democrat betrayal, until I heard on The West Wing Thing that Snopes, “the internet’s definitive fact-checking resource,” had rated this claim: In late December 2020 and early January 2021, President-elect Joe Biden and Georgia U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock misled the public with claims that winning both Georgia rac...

This has been one of the most quietly consequential weeks in recent American politics. The COVID-19 relief law that was just enacted is one of the most important pieces of legislation of our lifetimes. As Eric Levitz writes in New York magazine, the poorest fifth of households will see their income rise by 20%; a family of four with one working and one unemployed parent will receive $12,460 in benefits. Child poverty will be cut in half. The law stretches far beyond COVID-19 relief. There’...

The role of government is being redefined. There is now an assumption that government should step in to reduce economic insecurity and inequality.