Scott Boehmer

Category: Politics

  • WTF Just Happened Today

    WTF Just Happened Today is a newsletter from Matt Kiser that gives an overview of political news. It is sent out four times a week. Each one starts with “Today in one sentence”, which only works thanks to a generous application of semi-colons, and then gives more details on each bit of that overview. This structure is nice because you can read the quick summary and then jump to the details for any parts that catch your attention from it.

    You can read past newsletters and subscribe at whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com

  • Another ICE Story

    He had planned to return to Ireland in December, but was briefly unable to fly due to a health issue, his medical records show. He was only three days overdue to leave the US when an encounter with police landed him in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody.

    From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he’d get out.

    Sam Levin

    Irish tourist jailed by Ice for months after overstaying US visit by three days: ‘Nobody is safe’ (The Guardian)

  • The OBBB and North Carolina

    The OBBB contains provisions that will harm millions of North Carolinians and numerous sectors of our economy. While the effects of this bill were enough to lead Senator Tillis to flip (and now retire), every House Republican voted for this bill. Often, we view what goes on in Washington as detached from our lives here at home, but the effects of this bill will be felt at kitchen tables, in hospitals, and bank accounts all across the state. It’s on us to make sure that the lawmakers who voted for it, including every House Republican from North Carolina, feel what we feel, too.

    Miles Kirkpatrick

    One Big Beautiful Bill, One Big Blow to North Carolina (Carolina Forward)

  • Does Giving Money for Housing Work?

    Governments around the world have tried it: giving people cash to make housing more affordable. But does it actually work? We dive into one of the most misunderstood dynamics in housing economics — and reveal the single factor that determines whether cash assistance helps homebuyers… or just fuels even higher prices.

    Justine Underhill

    They Tried Giving People Money to Buy Homes – Here’s What Happened (Justine Underhill – YouTube)

  • JD Vance, Nationalism, and the GOP Megabill

    Part of the American creed is that we don’t care where anyone’s ancestors are buried. Vance’s debased version of patriotism says that we’re just a tribe like any other: insular, fearful and hateful, believing in nothing more morally ambitious. It’s small and ugly — and, dare I say, un-American.

    Paul Waldman

    The GOP megabill fulfills JD Vance’s incredibly depressing vision of patriotism (MSNBC)

  • Why They Hate Education

    In their quest to destroy democracy, Trump, Vance, and their cronies are intent on shutting the American mind.

    Robert Reich

    Why They Hate Education (Robert Reich)

  • The American System of Democracy Has Crashed

    As Donald Trump’s imperial presidency rolls forward across the wreckage of Congress on tank treads greased by the Supreme Court, there’s scant evidence of a legal movement for limited government or states’ rights. Trump is not the useful tool of an aggressive right-wing movement. Why look for complex explanations when there is a very simple one at hand? He is the king they serve enthusiastically, a leader whose lies and lawlessness they both enable and mirror.

    Elizabeth Lopatto & Sarah Jeong

    The American system of democracy has crashed (The Verge)

  • Happy Fourth! (2020)

    Back in 2020, I made these Independence Day messages featuring some of the LEGO minifigures that I’ve collected. I posted them on Facebook and Instagram, but those accounts have since been deleted so now they can live on here.

  • A Big, Bad, Very Ugly Bill

    The legislation is, first and foremost, a tax cut.

    …

    To pay for these tax cuts for rich people, the bill destabilizes the American medical system, guts anti-hunger programs, hikes utility costs, and makes education more expensive.

    Annie Lowrey

    A Big, Bad, Very Ugly Bill (The Atlantic)

  • How Monopolies Secretly Steal Your Freedom

    Are you really free if your groceries or medicine are so expensive that you can’t afford them? Or if your boss can change your work schedule on a whim or block you from getting a new job? Are you really free if you have to ration your medicines because they’re too expensive, or if they’re not available at all?

    Robert Reich

    How Monopolies Secretly Steal Your Freedom (ft. Lina Khan) (Robert Reich – YouTube)