January 2019 - Robert Kuttner

Fox Con Job

Remember Foxconn? Then-governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin lured the Chinese company to create “up to” 13,000 jobs in his state, with subsidies paid by Wisconsin taxpayers that could total as high as $3 billion. Foxconn was going to build a $10 billion factory complex to produce liquid crystal displays and other tech equipment that it now makes in Asia. As the Prospect reported in an investigative piece last September, the taxpayer cost per new employee was estimated at $230,000, [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-30T23:39:37-04:00January 30th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

We Need Howard Schultz to Run for President Like Starbucks Needs Cockroaches

It was inevitable that some socially liberal, economically center-right billionaire would run for president. So Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, has nominated himself. This is sheer poison. His story, that voters are hungering for a moderate who can solve problems, is malarkey. Here’s what Schultz told The New York Times: "We have a broken political system with both parties basically in business to preserve their own ideology without a recognition and responsibility to represent the interests of the [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-28T15:19:07-04:00January 28th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Why Trump Blinked First

As I’ve been observing, his Republican Senate support was steadily crumbling. LaGuardia shutting down was the last straw, and more government employees were starting to refuse to work. You can imagine Trump’s fantasies about firing them all and finding temps to work as air traffic controllers (oops), but when Mitch McConnell defects, then Trump knows the game is up. McConnell took the pressure from the Senate Republican caucus as long as he could—and then turned the pressure on Trump. [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-25T17:42:34-04:00January 25th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Wall Street Journal Follies

I could write an entire blog just on the intellectual dishonesty of The Wall Street Journal. Just when I think they can’t sink any lower, they top their old record. Over the weekend, their lead editorial was titled “Harvesting Democratic Votes.” The Journal is mightily aggrieved that California has actually made it easier for citizens to vote—things like same-day registration, automatic registration, expanded use of provisional ballots and mail-in ballots. The Journal is doubly offended that so many Californians [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-24T10:23:19-04:00January 24th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

A Break from Walls, Shutdowns, and Tweets

The poet Mary Oliver died at 83 yesterday. I hope you’ve encountered her work. She is the great poet of being human, a lyrical poet who managed to touch a large audience with her simplicity and eloquent insight about making meaning from everyday wonder. Here is part of one of her best, from her poem titled “When Death Comes.” When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-19T00:16:42-04:00January 19th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Seth Moulton, What Were You Thinking?

Like a fine wine, Nancy Pelosi just gets better with age. Disinviting Trump to give the State of the Union address in the people’s House, of which she is now Speaker, is a stroke of genius. It must be driving Trump nuts, if that’s not redundant. Trump is simply not accustomed to strong women, much less strong women exercising power that he can’t control. How could any Democrat have thought it would be smart politics to topple Pelosi, other [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-16T17:06:48-04:00January 16th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

More Hedge Fund Predators Buying Up Newspapers

You may have missed it, but an outfit called Digital First Media (DFM) is trying to buy the Gannett newspaper chain. Last year, I wrote a lengthy investigative piece on how private equity and hedge fund companies like DFM are destroying what’s left of America’s metropolitan dailies. You can read about it here. The basic model is to borrow money, buy a shaky newspaper (or in this case a whole shaky chain), charge the debt to the target company’s [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-14T22:43:15-04:00January 14th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

How the Shutdown Ends

It will likely end one of two ways. An increasingly demented Trump could go ahead and declare a national emergency, order the military to build the wall—and his order will end up being quickly reviewed by the Supreme Court. It’s not quite a slam-dunk that the Court would approve it, because Chief Justice Roberts is showing signs of disgust with Trump’s extra-constitutional tendencies. To the extent that Trump listens to political advisers at all, he’s being told that this [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-10T16:06:19-04:00January 10th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Needed for the Democrats—a Process of Elimination

With more than two dozen Democrats likely to declare for president, how on earth do they stage debates? We all remember what happened with the Republicans in 2016. With an immense field, there was no discussion of issues; it quickly turned even more nasty and personal than usual, paving the way for the most negative and outrageous candidate to win the nomination. Uh-oh. With a field this large and more than 15 candidates onstage, anything could happen. Supposed charisma [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-01-08T12:20:45-04:00January 8th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Monthly Archives: January 2019