Loose Tabs [Draft File]

This is a safe space for collecting items that may eventually go into a Loose Tabs post.

This is an occasional collection of newsworthy links and comments, much less systematic than what I attempted in my late Speaking of Which posts. The new name comes from my extensive use of browser tabs. When I get around to cleaning up, I often find tabs opened to old articles I might want to comment on and/or refer back to. So these posts are mostly housecleaning, but may also serve as a very limited but persistent record of what 20+ years ago I started calling "the end of the American empire" and nowadays feels more like "the end of civilization." I collect these bits in a draft file, and flush them out when periodically. My previous one appeared ? days ago, on June 26.

Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill": I cribbed this from a meme explaining "what's in Republicans' 'Big, Beautiful Bill'?" Reading columns left-to-right, top-down within:

  • More than $3.5T added to the national debt
  • Cuts to fod support for veterans
  • $148B in lost wages and benefits for construction workers
  • Billionaires get massive tax breaks
  • Hundreds of thousands clean energy jobs lost
  • 16 million kids lose free school meals
  • Higher premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses, even if not on Medicaid
  • Cuts tax credits for buying electric vehicles
  • Increases in gas prices
  • 16 million Americans lose health care
  • Nationwide increases in energy bills
  • The largest cut to Medicaid in history
  • $186B in cuts to SNAP food assistance
  • New student loan borrowers pay more
  • Billions for surveillance & deportation
  • Largest transfer of $$ from the poor to the rich in history

John Ganz [06-05] The Last True Fascist: "Michael Ledeen and the 'left-hand path' to American Fascism."

Timothy Noah [06-19] How the Billionaires Took Over: "Yes, Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. But the far bigger menace is the monstrous growth in wealth concentration over five decades that made a Trump presidency possible--and maybe inevitable. Here's how we let it happen."

Anatol Lieven [06-20] The 17 Ukraine war peace terms the US must put before NATO: "Threats must be imposed if either side or both reject these demands. The time is now." I've followed Lieven closely from well before Putin's military invasion of Ukraine, and I've found him to be a generally reliable guide, but I'm scratching my head a bit here. Certainly, if they all agreed to these 17 terms, far be it from me to object. But about half of them seem to add unnecessary complications just to check off superfluous talking points. For instance, "7. Ukraine introduces guarantees for Russian linguistic and cultural rights into the constitution. Russia does the same for Ukrainians in Russia." Why should either nation have its sovereignty so restrained? The first part was part of the Minsk Accords, and turned out to be a major sticking point for Ukrainian voters. Besides, the ceasefire line effectively removes most Russian-speakers from Ukraine. And how many Ukrainians are still living in Russian-occupied territory? The arms/NATO provisions also strike me as added complexity, especially on issues that should be addressed later. In the long run, I'm in favor of disbanding NATO, but that needs to be a separate, broader negotation with Russia, not something that is partly tucked into ending the war in Ukraine. I could expand on this, but not here, yet.

Samuel Moyn [06-25] Why America Got a Warfare Staet, Not a Welfare State: "How FDR invented national security, and why Democrats need to move on from it." A review of Andrew Preston: Total Defense: The New Deal and the Invention of National Security.

Elie Honig [06-27] The Supreme Court Just Gave the President More Power.

Obituaries:

  • John Fordham [07-27] Louis Moholo-Moholo obituary: "Jazz drummer with the Blue Notes who brought enthralling new sounds from South Africa to the wider world int he 1960s."

Mid-Year Music Lists: I usually collect these under Music Week, but it's probably easier here.

Current count: #^c