Why isn’t Moody’s downgrading the US credit rating front page news? Reminder: if we cut all discretionary federal spending, the US would still run a deficit of $200B. There’s no way out of this hole that doesn’t involve entitlement reforms and raising taxes ratings.moodys.com/ratings-news...

LISTEN: @dansally.bsky.social and I unpack how Brian Kemp’s decision not to run for Senate reflects how the GOP’s biggest opponent in 2026 might not be the Democrats, but a primary system that seems to favor an increasingly extreme breed of Republican.

What if the new pope is Biden?

Anyone interested in turning Congress into a governing body again should check this out: independentnationalcoalition.com/home I had a conversation with the org's founder, Austen Campbell (links in reply), but here's the gist:

Democrats have long feared a left-wing candidate would scare away moderate voters. Is this fear misguided? @thatshawng.bsky.social and I discuss. Links below and details in thread for your reading types.... Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/4jfOkFP Spotify: bit.ly/42CFLxB YouTube: bit.ly/4jIH458

The events of this week have solidified my belief that the best way to find out how much people hate you is to launch yourself into space.

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party seems more eager to primary their more center-left leadership, which could result in an even further ideological distance between the MAGA-dominated GOP. www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Trump's tariff policy is universally regarded as bad economically, but it may not be as terrible politically among the voters that matter to him. @thatshawng.bsky.social of Independent Voter News & I discussed this (links in reply) but here's the gist if you'd prefer it in 300 characters 🧵

For those worried about the future of American Democracy, Ted Cruz's recent break with the Trump administration over tariffs shows how presidential ambition and political competition can help safeguard democratic institutions. 🧵 www.politico.com/news/2025/04...

Since Trump’s arrival, the Democratic brand has mostly been about defending political norms—betting voters would see Trump as too extreme. That strategy has now lost twice. Some in the party are starting to question it. www.politico.com/news/magazin...

In the 1990's Bill Clinton co-opted the GOP's small government strategy. Is there evidence Democrats could benefit from the same approach now? @thatshawng.bsky.social at IVN and I discussed this in our most recent conversation. Links in reply...

A n number of people who build the atom bomb held ideologies viewed as treasonous at the time & some fled religious persecution to get here. America's edge has always been its ability to attract foreign brainpower & the current ideological purity tests being imposed on academia works against that.

The press would better serve the public if they focused less on the horse race between the 2 major parties and more on the fact a growing number of voters don't like either horse. Case in point - this headline: bit.ly/3DTaBd8 I double clicked on the survey, and here's what I found.. (1/5)

I’m wondering this too

Fusion Voting, a system that allows a candidate to be nominated by multiple parties, was banned in most states in the early 1900s after major parties feared it would undermine their power by helping smaller parties gain influence. One prominent Republican wants it back.

Journalists should be careful not to label what's going on as a "global trade war". The 1930s saw a global trade war, where all nations engaged in protectionism to prop up domestic industry. Currently, the US is the sole combatant, with everyone else trading as normal with each other.

AK's open nonpartisan primary system means their GOP senator doesn't have to worry about being ousted by more extreme members of her own party when she speaks out against the Trump administration's apparent warming to Russia at the expense of our allies.

Before Zelenskyy signs any deal that gives the US a role in reconstructing Ukraine, he should look at what Trump did to Atlantic City. That zinger out of the way, beyond Trump's open derision of Zelenskyy, there are reasons Ukraine should be suspicious of any US-brokered deal.

The flurry of executive orders in Trump's first 3 weeks have many concerned about executive overreach. In my latest conversation with @thatshawng.bsky.social of IVN (link in thread), we explore how this might be less about an overly muscular executive & more about a weak Congress.

This might be naive, but would the Democrats be better off launching counter-proposals to address kitchen table issues than protesting Trump's executive overreach? The 1st draws a clear contrast, showing which party is addressing voters' concerns. The 2nd is a debate over Constitutional Law.

👀

That didn’t take very long. thehill.com/business/513...

In 1943, the US government used Donald Duck to convince Americans to pay their income tax. In the 1970s, the GOP used Santa Claus to convince them not to. I shall explain the history and how electoral incentives set the stage for America's fiscal dilemma in this thread...

I'm not an economist, but it seems to me that inflation is a tax on the majority of Americans after a decade of easy money policies capped off by COVID stimulus. It also seems like a small group of folks with investable assets benefitted disproportionately from these policies (1/x)

Last week's "surprise" announcement from the OMB freezing federal funding was part of a longer battle the GOP has been waging to lower government debt by lowering spending. But, there's some evidence this could be offset by economic growth. (1/6)

Is it just me or is Trump playing some master black belt level game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon where the goal is to link every event to DEI? www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/wat...

Deep Seek shows us more about how difficult it will be to preserve IP in the coming years than anything else. My understanding is it’s built on the work of Open AI, so you need to add the price tag of Open AI’s models to the nominal cost of developing Deep Seek.

I’m only for this if “new media” includes Mr. Beast.

Trump has completed his first week in office and, with it, ended the 10-year horror of President McKinley's absence from the US map. But is this the mandate voters gave him in November? I discussed this w @thatshawng.bsky.social from Independent Voter News last week ~ link to convo in thread (1/8)

Those opposing Trump need only know one phrase: "What does that have to do with the price of eggs?" Voters pay closer attention to their wallets than any of the outrageous things Trump says and does. If you focus on the latter, you're missing an opportunity.

Some popular immigration reform measures aren't being talked about right now. Polling shows a vast majority of Americans support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants living in the US illegally and those brought here illegally as children (1/13)

Some longer thoughts on the recently failed ban of TikTok, the problems of growing collusion between a handful of tech CEOs and the US government, and how open source platforms like this one can fix it. Enjoy. middleweightpolitics.substack.com/p/be-happy-t...

The recent TikTok ban and Congress's pattern of pressuring tech platforms over content moderation is reminiscent of how the federal government once regulated radio - not to manage frequencies, but to control who could say what. (1/13)

And now it's back online. LOL. Way to blink first.

This is a repeat of an earlier post, but the TikTok ban is nothing more than a shakedown by the federal government. TikTok's data privacy issues could have been solved with data privacy legislation governing all tech platforms. The only constituency that disapproves of this is the tech lobby (cont)

Here's an idea: Instead of banning TikTok, Congress could pass that data privacy law everyone's been asking for. Just a thought. #tiktokban #DataPrivacy

"In 2024 fewer than 10% of US House races were competitive. In a vast majority of districts, one party or the other wins by landslides." From the US to the UK, winner-takes-all systems lead to wasted votes, polarisation and disillusionment. Fixing democracy starts with Proportional Representation.

Outgoing AZ Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I) gave her farewell address to the Senate yesterday (link below). Here's a question: She was censured by her party (then D) in 22 for voting to protect the filibuster. With Republicans in control of the chamber,, was she right or wrong? Why? bit.ly/4ajQdNT

In case you missed it, the biggest advocate for #ProportionalRepresentation at the national level, @fixourhouse.bsky.social is now on BlueSky, and they also have a Starter Park: bsky.app/starter-pack... (and I'm on it, w00t!)

One question I've been exploring is why populism has thrived on the right in the US while seeming to stall out on the left. I had a chat with a former Democratic activist anf Milwaukee County Supervisor on the subject, and came away with a few insights (1/8)

Two Democrats who won reelection in Trump-led districts have a few suggestions on how to make the House of Representatives more representative of the people they serve. Link to the full op-ed below, but here are the details (1/7) www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

For months now, I've been saying the best way to bring down grocery prices is to annex Greenland. I'm just glad to finally have some validation.

All this annexation talk is really doing a lot to tamp down on the Hitler comparisons, huh? thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned yesterday and mentioned his one regret: not changing the way Canada elects its leaders. He said he wished Canadians “could simply choose a second choice or a third choice on the same ballot" (1/7)

forever this

Courtroom artist in Rudy Giuliani's contempt hearing FTW.

Elon Musk recently entered Germany's upcoming snap elections by endorsing far-right party AfD. While his investment in US politics seems to have paid off, there's reason to believe he'll have less success in Germany. Here's the gist (1/8)