Politicians are neither gods nor saints. Because they aren’t gods, they often make bad policy decisions. Because they aren’t saints, they often try to evade responsibility for their failures, asserting either that they did as well as anyone could have…
Opinion | Democracy Is Weakening Right in Front of Us
A decade ago, the consensus was that the digital revolution would give effective voice to millions of previously unheard citizens. Now, in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, the consensus has shifted to anxiety that online behemoths like Twitter, Google,…
Opinion | Inflation Isn’t Lurking Around the Corner. This Isn’t the 1970s.
The fear of inflation has become a greater threat to the American economy than inflation itself. The Biden administration wants to spend $1.9 trillion to combat the coronavirus and its economic effects. Congress is grappling with the details, some of…
Opinion | The New Debt Prisons
While controversial calls to “defund the police” have grabbed headlines, we urgently need to examine how we fund the police today. The increasing use of excessive fees, fines, and surcharges to fund parts of our criminal justice system is creating…
Coca-Cola's European bottler sweetens $7.70 billion offer for Coca-Cola Amatil
FILE PHOTO: Bottles of Coca-Cola are pictured during a presentation in Paris, France, January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier(Reuters) – Coca-Cola Amatil said on Monday that Coca-Cola Co’s European bottler raised its takeover offer by around 6% to A$9.93 billion ($7.70…
Opinion | Covid Puts the Lie to Los Angeles Exceptionalism
LOS ANGELES — Late last March, after the appearance of the coronavirus prompted a first shutdown here, I put up a handmade lawn sign that read: “We Can Beat This!” The bold black lettering on a blue-wash background was a…
Opinion | Biden Is the Big Spender America Wants
The state of U.S. politics is horrifying. A sustained campaign of lies on right-wing media — echoed by nearly half of the Republican senators — has convinced almost two-thirds of Republicans that the presidential election was somehow stolen. These lies…
Opinion | What Do ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’ Mean to the G.O.P.?
It cannot be said often enough: The first rule of politics is survival. This is a sad but pervading truth. We like to think that politicians are driven above all else by a sense of public service, a fundamental belief…
Opinion | From the Archives: Climate Change and Free College for All
Listen and subscribe to “The Argument” from your mobile device: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | RadioPublic | Stitcher | RSS Feed This week we return to two of our favorite debates from “Arguments” past. First, a debate…
Opinion | Would the Founders Convict Trump and Bar Him From Office?
If the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 were sitting today as jurors in the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, one thing seems certain based on the historical record. Acting with vigor and dispatch, they…