Explain It to Me

Sarah, Ezra, and Matt talk about what’s really wrong with American infrastructure, the massacre in Parkland, FL, and new research on legislators’ irrational decision-making.

Whitepaper! Bias in Perceptions of Public Opinion Among American Political Elites by David E. Broockman, Christopher Skovron

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Matt, Dara, and Andrew Prokop talk about the Senate's failed immigration push, and they parse through the many-layered Rob Porter scandal.

DACA/Immigration ReferencesThe 8 Republican senators who voted for the bipartisan compromiseMoran, Thune, and Portman’s new DACA proposal statementTara Golshan’s piece about Grassley’s Secure and Succeed Act

Rob Porter ReferencesThe ever-shifting White House story on Rob PorterThe Rob Porter scandal, explainedJane Coaston’s piece: The White House had to protect Rob Porter to save Donald Trump

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Matt, Ezra, Sarah, and Dylan Matthews try to explain Trump’s budget and Disability Insurance. For today's white paper: Move over Swedish administrative data, it’s Denmark’s turn.

Trump’s budget references:Dylan's explainer on Trump's proposed budgetAirports Council International report on the ownership of European airportsCongressional Research Service report on airport privatizationMatt’s explainer on Trump’s infrastructure planDisability Insurance references:Dylan's defense of SSDITerrance McCoy’s pieces on SSDI for The Washington Post: 597 days. And still waiting & After the check is gonePlanet Money / This American Life report on SSDI A Fiscal Crisis UnfoldingStephen Goss’ perspective on SSDI: The Financing Challenges Facing the Social Security Disability Insurance Program Recessions only modestly increase actual awards of disability insuranceExpiring unemployment benefits don’t lead to an increase in disability applicationsWhat it’s like to apply for disability insuranceDemographics explain most of the rise in disability incidence, and it’s not in fiscal troubleDisability insurance explains at most 0.1 percentage points of the decline in male workGender pay gap references:Today’s white paper: Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from DenmarkClaudia Goldin studyMarianne Bertrand studySarah’s illustrated version of the Claudia Goldin study

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Matt, Dara, and Tara Golshan, all weary from lack of sleep, try to make sense of the few hours on Thursday night/Friday morning when the government was shut down.

Referenced Works

Republicans laughing in Tara's face about addressing immigration: Immigration anxiety got Trump elected. Congress isn’t touching it.

Further Reading

House Democrats’ confusing, high-risk DACA government shutdown gamble, explained

Congress just funded CHIP for a full decade

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Matt, Ezra, and Sarah talk about the Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan announcement about their joint healthcare venture, as well as the recent volatility in the stock market.

White paper: From the Bargaining Table to the Ballot Box: Political Effects of Right to Work Laws

Referenced Works:

Ben Thompson's Stratechery piece: Amazon Health

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Dara, Matt, and Zack Beauchamp talk about the policy failures that created the gang haunting Donald Trump's dreams.

Referenced Works

Are there more than 2,000 MS-13 gang members in Virginia’s wealthy Fairfax County?

The Teens Trapped Between a Gang and the Law

The 'one percent' statistic Dara mentioned: Why Trump is Wrong to Blame Migration for MS13 Expansion, Violence

Further Reading

3 winners and 2 losers from Donald Trump’s first State of the Union

Gangs in Central America

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Sarah, Ezra, and Matt parse through Trump's State of the Union address and the response delivered by Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

Referenced Works:

Matt's piece on the State of the Union: Donald Trump has no solutions for America’s big problems

German Lopez's piece that Ezra mentioned: Trump’s pathetic response to the opioid epidemic

The Health Care Cost Institute report Sarah referenced: 2016 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report

Further Reading:

Dylan Scott's piece on the address: State of the Union: Trump’s abandoned promise to bring down drug prices

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A DACA ransom note from the White House prompts Matt, Dara and Jane Coaston to muse on whose nation this is, anyway.

Referenced Works

The American Conservative piece Jane referenced: Of Sh*tholes And Second Thoughts

Elizabeth Bruenig's op ed for The Washington Post: The antisocial politics of Trump

The Passing of a Great Race

Nations and Nationalism

Imagined Communities

Profile of Stephen Miller in high school: How a liberal Santa Monica high school produced a top Trump advisor and speechwriter

Further Reading

Explainer on the White House immigration framework: The immigration deal Trump’s White House is floating, explained

Dara on framework pitting current immigrants against future immigrants: The White House is trying to force Democrats to choose between current immigrants and future ones

Jane’s piece on white genocide: The scary ideology behind Trump’s immigration instincts

Economic consensus on immigration: There's no evidence that immigrants hurt any American workers

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Dara, Sarah, and Ezra dig into the details of the new shutdown deal — and what it means for the future of shutdown politics.

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A few hours before a looming shutdown, DC is a very postmodern place.

Referenced works:

Dara on the DACA situation

Dylan Matthew on past shutdowns

Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard

On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences by Julian Zelizer

How the National Parks Became the Biggest Battleground in the Shutdown from The Atlantic, by Garance Franke-Ruta

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