Blog - Robert Kuttner

Truth Time for Trump’s Turtle

Senate Majority Mitch McConnell has been the most loyal of the Trump loyalists. But in his home state of Kentucky, where he is up for re-election in 2020, McConnell is running behind in the polls. About 33 percent of Kentucky voters approve of the job McConnell is doing, while some 56 percent disapprove. Lately, McConnell has had trouble holding his Senate troops. Twelve Republicans defected on the resolution to overturn Trump’s emergency wall declaration, while six voted with Democrats [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-18T19:17:22-04:00March 18th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Trump’s Very, Extremely, Seriously Bad Week

This was the week that Trump’s Senate supporters began deserting him big time, on the Wall (12 Republican Senate defections), on support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen (7 defections) and most ominously, on Special Counsel Mueller’s report, which both parties want made public. This is how it works. Support is solid, until it starts to crumble, and then it can crumble fast. Nancy Pelosi would be wise not to throw more cold water on impeachment. Let the facts [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-15T23:22:23-04:00March 15th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

This Just In: Rich People Game College Admissions for Their Kids (Stop the Presses!)

So 50 very wealthy people did everything from pay test takers to bribe coaches to fake athletic records to get their kids into college. Are we shocked—shocked? Anyone who has been paying attention knows that this scandal is just a grotesque extreme of business as usual. Rich kids get to attend better high schools, get all kinds of test prep help, have helicopter parents who edit college essays, are able to cut in line because their parents can pay [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-14T00:09:24-04:00March 14th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Wanted: A Few Great Young Journalists

Since 1997, the Prospect has sponsored what’s been called “the best starter job in journalism.” It’s called The American Prospect Writing Fellows program—and we have two openings for the fall. Fellows get to spend two years with the magazine, work closely with our editors, and publish a wide range of articles, from print feature pieces to web commentaries. Most of our fellows are straight out of college. A few have a little more experience. As a matter of principle, we [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-08T19:50:58-04:00March 8th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Can This Party Be Saved?

Okay, Dems: In one ring of the circus we have a major internal war over anti-Semitism. Absolute defenders of Israel-right-or-wrong will have to get used to the fact that there are legitimate criticisms to be made. And at the same time, critics of Israel need to take more care to avoid triggering stereotypes. Is that logical? Yes. Is it easy? No. And AIPAC should please get down off its high horse and stop pretending that it doesn’t play into [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-06T21:48:28-04:00March 6th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

In Praise of Thinking Too Big

The censorious centrists have been berating progressives for thinking too big. Medicare for All is impractical. Taxing the rich seems too socialistic. A drastically higher minimum wage might cost some jobs. Free higher education could help some affluent kids. A Green New Deal is over the top. Basically, an ideological preference is masquerading as tactical advice. Most of these centrist souls, by coincidence, don’t support Medicare for All, or other expansive public programs. But are they wrong on the [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-05T15:47:00-04:00March 5th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|1 Comment

Republicans Disgrace Themselves, Yet Again

You do have to wonder what it would take for Republican members of Congress to break with Trump. Republicans were clearly exasperated by Trump’s wall obsession, which cost them dearly politically. They were not prepared to appropriate more money for the wall, either during the two years when they controlled both houses of Congress, or in the context of his brinkmanship over the government shutdown. But when it came to supporting a resolution to disallow his bogus declaration of [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-03-01T00:18:48-04:00March 1st, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

In Case You Missed It: Rep. Adam Schiff Channels Pastor Niemöller

In the middle of a Washington Post opinion piece the other day, Rep. Schiff, who heads the House Intelligence Committee, wrote this: To my Republican colleagues: When the president attacked the independence of the Justice Department by intervening in a case in which he is implicated, you did not speak out. When he attacked the press as the enemy of the people, you again were silent. When he targeted the judiciary, labeling judges and decisions he didn’t like as [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-02-25T19:01:23-04:00February 25th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

About that North Carolina Do-Over Election

As you have probably read or heard by now, the ballot fraud in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District was so brazen and so toxic that even the Republicans on the state election commission felt compelled to order a new election. Think about this for a moment. For years, Republicans have been justifying voter suppression measures on the bogus premise that ballot fraud was rampant among Democrats. A presidential commission on the subject, headed by former Kansas Secretary of State [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-02-22T15:06:30-04:00February 22nd, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

Back to the Progressive Future

Elizabeth Warren keeps getting whacked by the right for proposing big, bold public programs. The latest is universal, high-quality child care. But take a close look, and you’ll see that Warren’s program is actually a bit more modest than the proposed Mondale-Brademas Comprehensive Child Development Act of 1971. That act was passed by both houses, overwhelmingly in the Senate, and was ultimately vetoed by President Nixon. In the proposed 1971 act, subsidy and certification of a range of local [...]

By Robert Kuttner|2019-02-20T19:56:19-04:00February 20th, 2019|Kuttner on TAP|0 Comments

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