Elissa Slotkin on 'The Daily Show' plus her being the most 'establishment' Senator

I closed the body of Colbert, Meyers, Kosta, and Kimmel take closer looks at Mike Waltz being fired on Flashback Friday with a recycled program note.

I mentioned that "Slotkin has replaced Kyrsten Sinema as the most 'Establishment' Senator caucusing with Democrats. That deserves a post of its own" in Stewart, Meyers, Colbert, and Kimmel take closer looks at Trump's first 100 days for Wayback Wednesday. I might write that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Here's the clip that inspired me to write that, Sen. Elissa Slotkin - Alpha Energy, Tuning In & Responsible vs. Reckless Change | The Daily Show.

“We don’t have the right to tune out when previous generations fought and fought and fought.” Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, the youngest Democratic female serving in the U.S. Senate, joins Michael Kosta to share her perspective on the current state of national security and the Democratic agenda moving forward. The senator explains why voters are looking for Democrats with alpha energy (“You don’t have to be a male to [have] alpha energy,” she says), how President Trump’s tariff policy is “slow-rolling us into a recession,” responsible vs. reckless change, and the importance of tuning in during challenging times.

I think Senator Slotkin did well in one of the friendlier interviews I've seen on The Daily Show — fellow Michigander Jordan Klepper might have been as cordial, but Desi Lydic and especially Jon Stewart might have grilled her harder — but Kosta avoided asking about her suggesting that Democrats should avoid mentioning oligarchy, which got Bernie Sanders and AOC to tell her off. It also garnered a lot of hostile comments on the YouTube upload, only one of which I'll repeat, eyuin5716: "Slotkin needs to go home. I’m not interested in playing footsie with the modern day Kyrstin Sinema." EYuin, you have no idea, especially which Senator Sinema, the Democrat or the independent, you're comparing Slotkin to. If it's Sinema the Democrat, the better comparison in the current Senate would be John Fetterman, who Voteview describes as "the most conservative Democrat of the 119th Senate." He's moved up and to the right since 2024. If it's Sinema the independent, then you're on to something. Slotkin is not only the youngest female Democratic Senator, she's also the most "establishment" (conservative on Voteview's second dimension) Senator, Democrat, Republican, or independent. Look at the chart below.


This is nearly identical to her position on the second dimension when she was in the House, so her Senate voting record should come as no surprise.


It should also come as no surprise that Slotkin would come into conflict with AOC, who, along with the rest of "The Squad," are at the opposite extreme along the second dimension, making them the most anti-establishment members of the House. The establishment politician would support the current power structure, especially regarding national security and foreign policy, while the anti-establishment ones would oppose it. The current power structure would oppose mentioning oligarchy, while its opponents would make it a central issue.

I have two "for what it's worth" observations about this. First, at least between Slotkin and "The Squad," this is not a Left-Right (first dimension in Voteview) issue. Slotkin's ideological (first dimension) score both as a Senator and as a House member is -0.338, more conservative than 63% of Democrats in the 119th Senate and more conservative than 65% of Democrats in the 118th House. In contrast, AOC's ideological score is -0.319, more conservative than 66% of Democrats in the 119th House and 71% of Democrats in the 118th House. Yes, AOC is to the right of Slotkin, at least according to Voteview's algorithm. Surprise!

Second, this is a fight over tactics and tone, not goals. Slotkin, Sanders, and "The Squad" all oppose Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump and the threat to democracy and the rule of law he poses; they're just arguing over the most effective way to do so.

Stay tuned to see if I blog about Star Wars Day or the highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live. Maybe I can do both!

Silly and serious looks at night 3 of the DNC from Colbert and FiveThirtyEight

I'm done grading and I'm sort of ready to return to my usual topical entries. Without any further ado, here is DNC Night 3: Oprah & Stevie Bring The Star Power | Getting To Know Tim Walz | Pete Takes Down Vance from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Stephen Colbert goes LIVE following the star-packed third night of the Democratic National Convention where Pete Buttigieg lit into the GOP's vice presidential candidate, and speakers like Oprah Winfrey and Stevie Wonder hyped up the crowd prior to the night's main event, a rousing speech from vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.

My wife and I have been watching these monologues, but I've been too busy grading final exams while recovering from my health crisis last week to feel like putting together posts based on them. Now I finally have the time and energy to do so.

I have more of Colbert's take on the convention, but first the serious take from FiveThirtyEight, Democrats Pitch 'Freedom' On Night 3 Of The DNC | 538 Politics Podcast.

In this late-night installment of the 538 Politics podcast, the crew reacts to the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

This isn't nearly as funny, but the podcast's emphasis on joy as the theme of the convention at least got close.

Follow over the jump for two more videos from The Late Show about the DNC.

Emmy-nominated 'Desi Lydic Foxsplains Accusations that Republicans are "Weird"' plus the short form Emmy nominees

My footnote to The Daily Show examines 'Harris Hunts for a VP' and the Veepstakes from left to center telegraphed my intentions for today's post.

The Daily Show uploaded the latest episode of the Emmy-nominated Desi Lydic Foxsplains this morning. I might just embed that in tomorrow's entry, then examine all the short form nominees at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Stay tuned for that, too.

Without any further ado, I'm sharing Emmy nominee Desi Lydic Foxsplains Accusations that Republicans are "Weird" | The Daily Show.

Democrats have taken time away from building a socialist abortion laser to call Republicans weird, so Desi Lydic foxsplains who the real weirdos are.

Lydic's satire shows that calling Republicans weird is working. They can't even formulate a good accusation of projection, just "I know you are but what am I?" That was a lot funnier when Pee Wee Herman said it.

At her new home of Mother Jones, Kate Abu gives explains Why the “weird” attack is working.

In this week’s video for Mother Jones, Kat Abughazaleh@katmabu breaks down the Democrats' latest attack line: calling out Republicans as "weird." The recent embrace of the word “weird” started with potential VP candidate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who used it on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to describe JD Vance, President Trump, and the out-of-touch policies of MAGA types: “These guys are just weird!"

It's getting under the skin of Trump and his allies. While they argue this insult is on par with Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables,” let’s be real: This isn’t about name-calling for its own sake. Who in their right mind wants to eliminate the Department of Education or inspect kids before they play sports? That's just weird. Defunding libraries and banning no-fault divorce? Also weird. "Constantly talking about genitals, having an opinion about skull size, and burning books in the 21st century?" Kat says. "All of that is indisputably weird."

Ultimately, "weird" is about framing the debate in a way that cuts through the noise and speaks directly to what most people already feel: That Trump's agenda for the Republican party and the country is all a bit… weird.

Kat Abu isn't alone in explaining why weird is sticking. Here is AOC responding to Vivek Ramaswamy whining about being called weird.

Being obsessed with repressing women is goofy.

Trying to watch what LGBTQ+ people do all the time is abnormal.

Punishing people who don’t have biological offspring is creepy.

It’s an incel platform, dude.
It’s SUPER weird.
And people need to know. https://t.co/vgDeM9e7pU

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 29, 2024

I put my own two cents in.

Vivek just told us we hit the target. He shouldn't encourage us like this.

— Crazy Eddie's Motie News (@pinkusensei) July 29, 2024

Keep working that eye.

Follow over the jump for the short form nominees at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Jordan Klepper on the NRA Convention, Clarence Thomas, and AOC

It's Tuesday, so it's time for some late-night comedy. I'm leading off today with Jordan Klepper Recaps The NRA Convention & Clarence Thomas's Corruption Scandal | The Daily Show.

Jordan Klepper takes the guest host seat to talk about the NRA Convention craziness, including Kristi Noem's 2-year-old granddaughter toting a gun, and Clarence Thomas's corrupt dealings with billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow.

Klepper opened with Justice Thomas's unreported vacations paid for by Harlan Crow, but guns and violence will be a recurring theme throughout this post, as all three videos examine the topic, including the next one I'm embedding, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & Klepper on Trump, Clarence Thomas & Ending Violence | The Daily Show.

Jordan Klepper and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez meet at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx to discuss a program that addresses violence as a public health issue, as well as her take on Clarence Thomas accepting luxury gifts, the attack on abortion rights, and Donald Trump's indictment.

I enjoyed this interview of AOC. People who think she has no substance haven't listened to her. Instead, they're engaging with the imaginary woman in their heads, much like Clint Eastwood yelling at an empty chair was engaging with an imaginary Obama.  As for her introducing articles of impeachment against Thomas, I wish her luck. She'll need it.

Should he be impeached, convicted, and removed? It doesn't matter, because the Republican House majority will never vote to impeach Thomas. We'll have to wait until 2025 for a Democratic majority. Even then, I doubt the Senate would convict, even if the Democrats retain their majority. We'll just have to outlast him. Sigh.

That doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. I just don't think it will succeed.

Klepper previewed and promoted his guest hosting stint on "The Daily Show" on MSNBC with Jen Psaki interviewing him in Jordan Klepper on going inside the MAGA movement.

Jordan Klepper, a contributor for 'The Daily Show', joins Jen Psaki to discuss his time at gun conventions and what he's learned from his conversations with MAGA supporters.

Good insights, especially about not being able to change people's minds about who they are. As the saying goes, you can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

I'm finishing by saying that Klepper is doing great so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week, especially his interview of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Go, Big Gretch!

Colbert, Meyers, and AOC comment on Trump's arraignment

Today is First Contact Day, but I'm not in a Star Trek mood. I have real current events on my mind, not fictional futuristic ones. Maybe later. Instead, I'm returning to Trump's indictment and arraignment for more comedy, beginning with Stephen Colbert commenting on the proceedings in “Donald J. T**** Is Under Arrest” | Weak MAGA Turnout in NYC | MTG: “Jesus Was Arrested”.

The former president drew a puny crowd of supporters outside his arraignment in New York City, while his friend Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sought to compare him to other historical figures who have been arrested.

I like "Bail to the Chief" better than "Jail to the Chief." The former was a certainty. The latter is a distant possibility. As I wrote last Friday, "I expect he'll be sentenced to house arrest in Trump Tower with the Secret Service as his guards, at least for this set of crimes. He might get a more severe punishment if he's indicted and convicted for crimes in Georgia and Washington, D.C." That assumes a jury convicts TFG, which is not guaranteed. Ideally, our criminal justice system should acquit all innocent people. The price for that is that some guilty people go free. In practice, it seems to work the other way. It tries to convict all the guilty people and takes some innocent people along with it. Even then, it fails, as some guilty people still go free. Sigh.

Seth Meyers concentrated more on yesterday's key event in Trump Arrested, Arraigned on 34 Felony Charges in Manhattan Criminal Court: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Trump's arrest and appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court as he is arraigned on a total of 34 felony charges.

I found it easier to watch Seth making jokes about the news than watching the news itself, especially the live feed at LaGuardia Airport waiting for The Former Guy's plane to land. I watched another video instead. It also helped that this closer look was shorter than usual, so it went fast.

Seth's show continued with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Talks Trump's Arraignment and GOP Defending Him.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shares her thoughts on Trump's indictment and arraignment, calls out the lack of a formal due process that applies to everyone and discusses members of Congress interfering in investigations.

Speaking of legal ideals, equal justice under the law is another and yesterday's proceedings showed some effort at making it real.

I'll have more on this story later. Stay tuned.

Leslie Stahl interviews Nancy Pelosi on '60 Minutes' after the siege of the Capitol

It's time for a serious look at Wednesday's attempted self-coup followed by calls for Trump to resign or be removed with Nancy Pelosi: The 2021 60 Minutes interview.

Days after her own office was ransacked by Trump supporters, the speaker of the House talks to Lesley Stahl about what she experienced that day and more.

Wow, Speaker Pelosi, tell us how you really feel! Seriously, I agree with her, both about the nature of Donald Trump and the coup attempt and the people executing it. Seeing the damage and video clips and hearing the sounds makes the event even more frightening and real.

This interview would probably have trended on Twitter no matter what, but the search term ended up being Leslie Stahl not Nancy Pelosi because of Stahl's questions about pandemic relief and the age of the Democratic House leadership. Both of them annoyed Pelosi's supporters on Twitter and made them focus on Stahl. I agree with the first being an unfair question. As I wrote in Vox explains why it is difficult to collect unemployment benefits in Florida, "Never mind that HEROES Act has been sitting on Mitch McConnell's desk for months, but he refuses to put it up for a vote." McConnell obstructed the legislation, not Pelosi. As for the second, it doesn't look good, but I think AOC and others just need to be patient; I expect Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Jim Clyburn will all retire by the end of this decade and it will be a younger generation's turn to lead the Democratic Party in Congress.

Follow over the jump for the "Overtime" clips "60 Minutes" uploaded to its YouTube channel.

'One Child Nation,' 'American Factory,' 'The Kingmaker,' and 'Knock Down The House' lead Best Polical Documentary nominees at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards

I told my readers to "stay tuned" at the end of For World Freedom Day, Vox and DW News look back at the fall of the Berlin Wall as "I plan on following up on my promise to cover this year's edition of the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards that I made in 'I Am Not Your Negro' wins Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards."  Here are the nominations for films about politics and government, beginning with relevant excerpts from the press release from the Critics' Choice Association.

The Biggest Little Farm leads this year with seven nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, John Chester for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.

While this is not explicitly a movie about politics and government, it is one that I have a professional interest in.  Unlike "The End of Suburbia," which I've already replaced with "Treasures of the Earth: Power," and "An Inconvenient Truth," which I've already decided to replace with "Chasing Coral" when it comes out on DVD, "Food, Inc." is still holding up well despite being a decade old.  That written, it, too, will become obsolete one day, so I plan on watching "The Biggest Little Farm" as a possible replacement.  Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Now for the movies that really are about politics and government.

Recognized with six nominations each are Apollo 11 and They Shall Not Grow Old.

The nominations for Apollo 11 are Best Documentary Feature, Todd Douglas Miller for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Science/Nature Documentary,

The nominations for They Shall Not Grow Old are Best Documentary Feature, Peter Jackson for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Archival Documentary, and Most Innovative Documentary.

While the Critics' Choice Association did not consider either "Apollo 11" or "They Shall Not Grow Old" as political documentaries, both are about functions of government, space exploration and the military.  In addition, they are competing directly against each other in five categories, making it a match-up between the third highest grossing political documentary of 2018 and the highest grossing documentary of 2019 (so far).  Of course, I'm rooting for "Apollo 11," especially in the Best Science/Nature Documentary category, although I think it faces stiff competition, especially from "The Biggest Little Farm."  I'm hoping both "Apollo 11" and "The Biggest Little Farm" earn Oscar nominations.  "They Shall Not Grow Old" is not eligible, as it missed the filing deadline for last year's awards and is a 2018 film.

Now for the films the Critics' Choice Association actually considered political.

One Child Nation received five nominations including Best Documentary Feature, Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Narration, and Best Political Documentary.

Since I've written about China's now-abandoned One Child Policy, which I revisted for World Population Day, I'm very interested in this documentary.  So are my students, at least one of whom has reported on it for extra credit.  Based on the number of nominations, it's the nominal favorite for Best Political Documentary, although it faces strong competition from "American Factory," which the next passage lists.

Recognized with four nominations each are The Cave, Honeyland, American Factory, Aquarela, and Sea of Shadows.

The nominations for The Cave are Best Documentary Feature, Feras Fayyad for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Score. In addition, the film received an honor for Dr. Amani Ballor for Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary.

The nominations for Honeyland are Best Documentary, Best Cinematography, Best First Documentary Feature, and Best Science/Nature Documentary. In addition, the film received an honor for Hatidze Muratova for Most Compelling Living Subject of a Documentary.

The nominations for American Factory are Best Documentary Feature, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert for Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Political Documentary.

The nominations for Aquarela are Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Science/Nature Documentary, and Most Innovative Documentary.

The nominations for Sea of Shadows are Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Score, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.

Wikipedia describes "American Factory."

"American Factory...is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, about Chinese company Fuyao’s factory in Moraine, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, that occupies Moraine Assembly, a shuttered General Motors plant.
...
David Edelstein of New York Magazine wrote: "It’s a great, expansive, deeply humanist work, angry but empathetic to its core. It gestures toward the end of the working world we know – and to the rise of the machines." Eric Kohn at IndieWire wrote that it's "A fascinating tragicomedy about the incompatibility of American and Chinese industries."

So it's not just a film about China, but about how the U.S.-China relationship plays out for the American worker.  The CoDominion strikes again!

Now for the all the nominees for Best Political Documentary, followed by the rest of their nominations and my opinion of their chances.

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

American Factory (Netflix)

The Edge of Democracy (Netflix)

Hail Satan? (Magnolia)

The Kingmaker (Showtime)

Knock Down the House (Netflix)

One Child Nation (Amazon Studios)

Since I've already written about American Factory and One Child Nation, which I think are the favorites, I'll move on to the rest of the nominees.  The two that have the most nominations after the two leaders are also the two others with nominations for Best Documentary Feature, "The Kingmaker" about Imelda Marcos and "Knock Down the House" about AOC and three other women running for Congress in 2018.  Both have already earned honors for Most Compelling Living Subjects of a Documentary, Madame Marcos for "The Kingmaker" and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush, and Paula Jean Swearengin for "Knock Down The House."  In addition to their nominations for Best Political Documentary both have nominations for Best Documentary Feature, while "The Kingmaker" earned a nomination for Best Biographical Documentary.

I'm glad to see my prediction for "Knock Down the House that "I'll see this movie nominated for a Best Political Documentary...at the 2018 Critics' Choice" came true.  While I don't think it will win, it's the one I'm rooting for.

As for the other nominees in this category, "The Edge of Democracy" also has two nominations, the other being for Best Narration.  Finally, "Hail Satan?" has only the one nomination in this category.  Congratulations to all the nominees and honorees in this category, even Madame Marcos.  Maybe you and Sarah Palin can compare notes on shoes.

That's it for the nominees for today's Sunday entertainment feature.  I plan on posting about the winners, which will be announced later today, either Saturday or Sunday, depending on whether I find anything useful to say about the winners of the People's Choice Awards.  In the meantime, stay tuned for this year's edition of a drum corps Veterans Day.

Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination are drifting to the left as they campaign

I noticed that Amy Klobuchar had moved left according to her first-dimension DW-Nominate score at Voteview since the end of May when I compared her to  Joe Sestak a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to see if that was true of the rest of the Senators and Representatives running for the Democratic nomination for President.  It turns out that nearly all the Senators have more liberal ideology scores at Voteview, but only one of the Representatives.  However, even if their DW-Nominate scores haven't changed, half of the Representatives running for President have become relatively more liberal compared to the rest of the chamber, as the caucus as a whole has moved closer to the center over the past month.

Follow over the jump for all the changes in the candidates' scores and or placements since I posted Democratic presidential candidates from left to center from Voteview on June 1st.  Just as a reminder, the more negative a member of Congress's score, the more liberal their voting record is.

Vox explains the Green New Deal plus building a sea wall on Staten Island to prepare for climate change

The last time I examined the Green New Deal, I shared Vox explaining how coverage of the Green New Deal informed people more about the politics of the idea than about its substance, something the video I embedded contributed to.  Today, Vox actually describes the substance of the proposal in The Green New Deal, explained.

What's actually in the Green New Deal?
...
The Green New Deal is an ambitious plan to fight the effects of climate change. It’s the only American plan that actually acknowledges the size of the impending crisis. And it contains some difficult truths that we might not want to hear.

Vox has more here.

When I first read about all of the social programs in the Green New Deal, I thought "that's nice and I'm in favor of them, but what do they have to do with fighting climate change?"  This video is the first time I've heard that they are there to mitigate all of the economic disruption that will happen in a rapid radical restructuring of the U.S. economy as a result of decarbonization while still maintaining as much of our First World way of life as possible.  Now I understand why the Green New Deal includes them, so I'm even more in favor of them.

If the U.S. doesn't decarbonize its economy and dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then we will have to prepare for the 400 ppm world we are creating, which will also be expensive.  Vox in partnership with one of its sister sites Curbed has a video about one of the projects for that future that is already being planned, New York is building a wall to hold back the ocean.

Climate change is leading to increasingly violent storms. Can seawalls hold back floods?
...
Staten Island recently received funding for a nearly 5-mile-long seawall to protect its coast. But the plan raises a lot of questions. We’re living in a dangerously dynamic world: Hurricanes are getting worse, wildfires are rampant in California, extreme heat is melting roads in India, and sea levels continue to rise. Will a wall really be enough to protect our coastal cities?

Alissa Walker from Curbed talked to us about how it’s too late to stop the changing climate, but not too late to change how we think about infrastructure.

In reality, we will have to do both, decarbonizing our economy and preparing for all the changes that will be coming because of all the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases humanity has already pumped into the atmosphere.  I hope we're up for the challenge.  We have to be.

'Knock Down the House' updates Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez/AOC for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Happy Throwback Thursday!  For today's retrospective, I'm updating and looking back at Anderson Cooper shows other politicians besides Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dance on The Rediculist.  I'll have the story of that entry over the jump.  First, I'm looking at a documentary featuring Ocasio-Cortez and three other women who ran for Congress last year, "Knock Down
the House."  Here is the official trailer from Netflix.

Follow the stories of four inspiring women who took on history in the 2018 midterm election. Knock Down The House, only on Netflix May 1.

It turns out that my old hometown paper, the Los Angeles Times, posted a review of the documentary by Kenneth Turan on YouTube.  Watch it.

"Knock Down the House" captures Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her campaign and historical election victory.

That's a glowing review.

I'm sure I'll see this movie nominated for a Best Political Documentary nominees at the 2018 Critics' Choice Documentary Award or two, likely an Emmy, and possibly even an Oscar.  Also, I'll try to remember to nominate it at Coffee Party Entertainment Awards later this summer for television shows or next year for movies.

Follow over the jump for the top post about Representative Ocasio-Cortez and how it became so popular.

Vox on coverage of the Green New Deal updates climate change for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

Happy Flashback Good Friday!  I finished yesterday's installment of Tales of the Retail Apocalypse by promising my readers that today's retrospective of the most read entries would "be about a perennial favorite topic of this blog, climate."  I'm not kidding about that last part; I have posted retrospectives featuring popular entries about climate and climate change every single year I have kept this blog.  I'm not surprised to continue the tradition.

This year, both of the most popular entries about climate change featured videos by Vox, so I am using the most recent video by Ezra Klein's online news organization about climate change to update the issue, Why you still don't understand the Green New Deal.

Political news coverage tends to focus on strategy over substance, and that’s making it less likely that the public will agree on big policy ideas when we need them the most.
...
The Green New Deal is an ambitious proposal that outlines how the U.S. might begin transitioning towards a green economy over the next ten years. It includes steps like upgrading our power grid and renovating our transportation infrastructure. But most people watching news coverage likely don’t know what’s in the Green New Deal. And that’s because political news coverage tends to focus on strategy over substance, fixating on a bill’s political ramifications rather than its ability to solve a problem. That approach to news coverage is known as “tactical framing,” and research shows it makes audiences at home more cynical and less informed about big policy debates. The result is a cycle of partisanship, where solutions to big problems like climate change are judged on their political popularity rather than their merit.

Because of the approach of the news media, my coverage of the Green New Deal suffers from an emphasis on the tactical framing at the expense of the substance of the idea as well.  That's something I will have to work on in future entries on the subject.

Follow over the jump for the most read entries about climate change during the blogging year that ended last month.

Vox explains tax reform for Tax Day plus taxes and economics for the eighth year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

"Happy" Tax Day!  Instead of writing about Tax Marches today, which I might do tomorrow, I am following up on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vox explain how tax brackets work with more videos from Vox about taxes.

I begin with The 70% top tax rate, explained with potatoes.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for a 70 percent top tax rate on the super rich.
...
While it might seem like a radical idea, it's actually based on an economic theory that tries to make everyone as well-off as possible.

How can we make all citizens as well-off as possible? That's the simple question behind something call "optimal tax theory." It starts from this idea that, to a rich person, one dollar is worth almost nothing. Take away the dollar and he'll be just as well off as he was before. But that dollar is worth a lot to poor people. So, if the government wants to optimize the well-being of its citizens, it should tax that money from the rich and give it to the poor. But at a certain point, we can't keep taxing the rich more. To find out why, watch this video.

That's a good explanation of why 70%.  Personally, I'd settle for 50% as the top tax rate.

Next, A better way to tax the rich.

American wealth inequality is staggering. A wealth tax, which would hone in on the money people actually have, rather than just the money we earn and spend, could be a solution.
...
An astounding amount of American wealth lies with very few ultrarich people. But it isn’t taxed by the federal government. That's because most of the taxes we pay only happen when money changes hands — when we earn it or spend it.

This is what a recent proposal from Senator Elizabeth Warren tries to fix. Her plan is to tax fortunes greater than $50 million at 2 percent each year, and wealth greater than $1 billion at 3 percent. When you add it all up, those tiny slivers of massive fortunes would raise enough revenue to pay for huge programs for everyone else.

My opinion of a wealth tax is that it is a good idea that might be unconstitutional.  This is why I voted against term limits in Michigan in 1992.  I thought it was a good idea at the time (I have since changed my mind) but the provision for U.S. Representatives and Senators was blatantly unconstitutional.  I wouldn't vote for a ballot measure that would cause the state to spend money in a losing effort to defend it, which is what ended up happening.  Therefore, I'm not supporting a wealth tax without a constitutional amendment.  Better to lower threshold for the estate tax to reduce intergenerational transfer of wealth and its subsequent concentration.

Finally, Why Republicans failed to fit taxes onto a postcard.

For years, Republicans have proposed making the tax code so simple that Americans could file their taxes on a single postcard.
...
So when they got the chance to reform taxes in 2017, they made sure to design and implement a postcard-sized tax return.

In reality, the postcard isn’t what they say it is. While it’s half the size of the old form, the new form is more condensed than simplified. Important deductions and tax credits, still exist, but they’ve been moved onto other forms. In order to file taxes with the new form, you could end up attaching six or more extra pieces of paper.

Republicans didn’t really simplify the tax code, but they still tried to simplify the tax return form.

Add that to the reasons I think the 2017 tax bill was a bad idea.

This entry is part of a series of retrospectives on the most read entries of the eighth year of this blog, so follow over the jump for the stories behind the page views of the two most read posts about taxes and the economy from last year.

Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert find Mike Lee's presentation against the Green New Deal funny for April Fools Day

I promised an April Fools Day entry and I have something appropriately silly, Senator Mike Lee's presentation making fun of the Green New Deal and the equally mocking reactions to it.

First, the Washington Post presented the highlights with very little comment in Velociraptors, giant seahorses and babies: GOP senator mocks Green New Deal.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) took an unconventional approach to blast the Democratic plan to tackle climate change on March 26.

It says something that the least stupid of the three pop-culture prop-comedy examples Lee used was the tauntaun from "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back."  One of them actually was used for warmth in the movie and, according to the canon version of the tauntaun entry on Wookieepedia, it is a lizard, although I prefer the legends version, which calls it a reptomammal.  And, no, none of this is an April Fools joke.

The last time something this silly in U.S. politics made the news, CNN's Anderson Cooper made fun of it on The Ridiculist.  Sure enough,  Cooper mocked Lee's use of props on the Senate floor, in which he mocked everything the Washington Post showed and more except the tauntaun.

CNN's Anderson Cooper's Ridiculist looks at Sen. Mike Lee's (R-UT) use of poster-board sized pictures to mock the Green New Deal, the proposed Democratic solution to climate change.

HAHAHAHA!  OAC's response is priceless!  Also, I'm with Cooper; I feel sorry for the young woman who was assisting Lee with the posters.  As for the Aquaman reference, he could at least have used something from the current movie instead of the Super Friends cartoon.

While Stephen Colbert barely showed the tauntaun, he made his own Star Wars reference in Colbert Gives Mike Lee The Mike Lee Treatment, calling him "the Jar-Jar Binks of the Senate."

Stephen gives Senator Mike Lee a taste of his own prop-comedy-based medicine.

If anything, AOC's comeback is even better the second time.  Her line needed a studio audience for full effect.

Colbert also pointed out some of the problems with Lee's solution, more children.  The other is that all environmental problems are reflections two factors, population and affluence, something I first pointed out in Lisa Hymas of Grist expounds on the A in I=P*A*T.

I teach my environmental science students the following equation to describe environmental impact: I=P*A*T, where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology. It's the A and inefficient T that is multiplying the impact of the effect of the relatively small P in the developed world, especially in North America.

Without more efficient technology, having more children, especially here in the U.S., is almost certainly guaranteed to make any environmental issue, including climate change, worse, not better.  Lee could not have picked a more counterproductive idea, unless it was intended to troll environmentalists, in which case it was very effective.  At this point, he could say "April Fools!"  Unfortunately, I know enough about the culture of Utah, which Lee represents, to know that he was probably serious.

NBC News shows how the Sunrise Movement put the Green New Deal on the map

Usually, I take a serious view of an issue followed by a silly one.  Not so with the Green New Deal, where I had the the comedians examine it first.  Today, it's time for a serious look at the idea using the NBC News minidocumentary, Inside The Sunrise Movement: How Climate Activists Put The Green New Deal On The Map.

The Green New Deal has seemingly come out of the blue to become a litmus test for 2020 presidential hopefuls. But it didn't happen by accident. Alongside multiple members of Congress—notably Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey—a group of young activists has pushed the plan into the headlines, working behind the scenes to reshape America's approach to the climate crisis.

I'm glad the young people are behind this.  They have the energy and idealism that the movement needs to succeed as well as the motivation to save their future.

I plan on following the Green New Deal and posting updates when they develop.  In the meantime, stay tuned for an entry about International Women's Day.

Bee, Noah, and Meyers examine the Green New Deal to deal with climate change, the real emergency

Two days ago I posted Noah and Meyers take closer looks at what Colbert calls 'the national emergency we didn't need'.  Today, I return to the comedy/late-night talk show host well to look at the latest version of an idea I examined only once, the Green New Deal, which Jill Stein proposed when she visited Detroit in 2016.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is advocating for the latest version and the reaction is about what one would expect, utter horror from the fossil fools.

Samantha Bee had first crack at the proposal and its reaction last week in Green New Deal | February 13, 2019 Act 1 | Full Frontal on TBS.

The Green New Deal has sparked a second red scare among the typically Christmas-loving Fox News crowd as they race to batten down their cows and protect their private jets.

As I mentioned in Colbert, Noah, Meyers, and Bee take on the State of the Union Address, Bee has probably the most distinctive sense of humor about issues; this time I can't attribute her originality to having more time.

Trevor Noah attacked the subject next in Conservatives Slam Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal | The Daily Show.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has released the ambitious Green New Deal to curb climate change, and Fox News obviously hates it.

Noah is the most skeptical of the three comics whose videos I'm embedding today.  He raises good questions about the practicality and cost of the proposals, then notes that the Republicans aren't raising them.  Instead, they're scare-mongering.  I'm not impressed.

Finally, Seth Meyers compared climate change to the national emergency to build the border wall, in last night's Closer Look, declaring The Real National Emergency Is Climate Change in .

Seth takes a closer look at President Trump and his allies freaking out about a Democratic plan to fight climate change.

I don't think all or even most of Ocasio-Cortez's goals are achievable in ten years, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be tried.  I think they should.

Also, I've seen all of this panic over an environmental goal before.  Many of the same people were freaking out over Agenda 21 six years ago, when I wrote "Agenda 21 is the new black helicopter" and Green is the New Red.  It's time to be a good environmentalist and recycle the manatee.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vox explain how tax brackets work

Thus far, Anderson Cooper shows other politicians besides Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dance on The Rediculist is the most read and commented on entry this month.  So when I saw Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Debunks Myths About A 70% Marginal Tax from 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' hot on the heels of a video from Vox on the same subject, I knew I had to write about it.  Here's the clip, which was uploaded to YouTube two days ago.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to debunk misleading representations of her proposed 70% marginal tax rate.

That was fun to watch in addition to being informative.  If Stephen and AOC didn't give enough details for my readers, How tax brackets actually work from Vox just might do the trick.

There is a common misunderstanding about how tax brackets work in the US, and it’s causing us to have uninformed debates about taxes.
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The TEx crew took a deep dive into Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal for a marginal tax rate of 70% for top earners in America. A lot of people are upset, and even more have no idea how it works.
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When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a 70 percent top income tax rate, many conservatives started saying Democrats wants to take away 70 percent of Americans’ hard-earned money. This is not only wrong, but it takes advantage of something Americans have long misunderstood: tax brackets. It’s time to fix that with a simple, paper-made video.

Here's to hoping my readers are smarter about tax brackets and less afraid of high marginal tax rates.  Besides, a 70% top marginal tax bracket was good enough for Dick Nixon, who was not only not a liberal, but an avowed anti-communist.


I'm sure I'll have more to write about Representative Ocasio-Cortez in the future.  In the meantime, stay tuned for an entry celebrating Irish Coffee Day and Coffee Party USA's birthday followed by a post or two I promised about the Oscar nominees.

Anderson Cooper shows other politicians besides Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dance on The Rediculist

For today's Sunday entertainment feature, I'm taking a brief look at the nontroversey over a video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing when she was in college.  As Reuters reported, the attempt to use it to shame her backfired.

An attempt to embarrass newly elected U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a nine-year-old video showing her dancing while in college backfired when it drew a wave of support for the liberal lawmaker on social media.
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Twitter comments broke along partisan lines, with opponents describing the dance video as showing immaturity while supporters saw it as cute.

The failed attempt maked The Rediculist on CNN last week as Anderson Cooper showed that Ocasio-Cortez wasn't the only politician known for dancing in Ocasio-Cortez gets praise from 'The Breakfast Club'.

After an old video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing surfaced, CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look back at other politicians who have busted a move on camera.

I'd rather watch Ocasio-Cortez dance than Rick Perry, that's for sure, although his inclusion demonstrates that young liberal women aren't the only politicians who can look silly while dancing.

Cooper wasn't the only one to have a good laugh at the incident.  Watch as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dances, People Lose Their Minds on MSNBC's "All In With Chris Hayes."

An old video of newly sworn-in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing as a college student emerged - but didn't quite land as the attack it was intended to be.

I'd also rather watch Ocasio-Cortez dance than Paul Ryan flex.

While the anonymous Twitter troll botched this attack, that won't stop people on the Right from continuing their efforts.  To that I say, better luck next time — or maybe not.  I'll rather watch them blow it as hilariously as they did this time.