In 2000, there was the tech bubble that burst. Which cost the economy something along the lines of $6 trillion and led to a recession. In 2007, there was the housing bubble that burst. Which robbed the economy of something along the lines of $6 trillion and led to the Great Recession. Why the difference? According to the new book, House of Debt, the difference is that wealth inequality is a far greater problem than income inequality. After the tech bubble, which affected mostly rich people, spending actually grew. After the housing bubble, which mostly affected the 80 percent, spending plummeted. Via fivethirtyeight.
Get ready for the House Republican show trial on Benghazi. You’ll learn a lot by watching. But as Eugene Robinson notes, what you won’t learn is any more about Benghazi than we already know. Via the Washington Post.
Red states are killing their citizens by continuing to oppose Obamacare. The rate of uninsured admissions in hospitals keeps climbing in non-Medicaid expansion states. The rate is falling dramatically in expansion states. The Washington Post: “The Hospital Corporation of America has facilities in 20 states and is reporting a major gap in Medicaid and uninsured admissions. In the four states it operates where Medicaid expanded under the Affordable Care Act, the company saw 22.3 percent growth in Medicaid admissions compared to a 1.3 percent decline in Medicaid admissions in non-expansion states. The company also had a 29 percent decline in uninsured admissions in the expansion states, while non-expansion states experienced 5.9 percent growth in uninsured admissions.”
Do recent court rulings and failed Big Government investigations into voter impersonation fraud finally spell the end to the Republican neo-Jim Crow election-law drive. Brad Friedman at Salon.
Vox does the math on driving stoned vs. driving drunk. For college students, it’s five to one. The theory: Driving stoned just doesn’t seem so bad.
The unbearable whiteness of the liberal media, where diversity is just something to talk about. Via the American Prospect.
It’s not just Tom Tancredo who thinks about impeaching Barack Obama. The Federalist Society is thinking right along with him. Via the New Yorker.
Glenn Greenwald has written a book on the Snowden leaks and you get exactly what you expect: More info on more NSA spying. Via the New York Times.
