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David Dayen Profile picture
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26 May, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I don't know how @schwarz got through a piece about the AP being forever right-wing without discussing how they committed espionage to get Rutherford B. Hayes elected president. It's such a crazy story I put it in my book Monopolized.
theintercept.com/2021/05/25/emi…
The Western branch chief of the AP in 1876, a guy named William Henry Smith, was friends with Hayes. He just gave him a bunch of free press, inserted into wire reports nationwide. Hayes won the GOP nomination on this basis.
Hayes lost the general election popular vote to Sam Tilden but three states were under contention. I'll let the book take it from there.
That's right, we have the Hayessociated Press to thank for the Washington Post, which began its life as a 19th century version of an internet troll.
Better history @schwarz!

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More from @ddayen

David Dayen Profile picture
27 May
Here's my #longread feature for our latest issue: Have you wondered why Congressional hearings are, I don't know, bad? I dove into the history of oversight, the forces hobbling it today, and how to make it great again.
prospect.org/politics/inves…
A combination of understaffing, stretched responsibilities, lack of coordination, & pervasive inattention to the importance of oversight has crippled a core legislative function. And few members have a coherent philosophy about the purpose of oversight.
prospect.org/politics/inves…
Prospect founder @rkuttnerwrites was the chief investigator of the Senate Banking Committee in the 1970s. His hearings led to the Community Reinvestment Act & the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Here's Bob picketing the NRA after the MLK/RFK assassinations. prospect.org/politics/inves… Image
Read 7 tweets
David Dayen Profile picture
30 Mar
I appreciate this, but the "public defenders" announced as judicial nominees today were:
-Kentaji Jackson Brown, district court judge getting a new position
-Deborah Boardman, magistrate judge getting a new position
-Margaret Strickland, partner in a NM law firm
There's also Rupa Ranga Puttagunta, an administrative judge with the DC rental housing commission.
In general it's good, but it's also people already on a judge track becoming other judges, sprinkled among BigLaw types. I think the shift can be overstated.
There's a WilmerHale expat, a Riker Danzig expat (in white collar criminal defense), a Zuckerman Spaeder expat (in white collar criminal defense), a bunch of federal prosecutors. This isn't that big a sea change.
Read 4 tweets
David Dayen Profile picture
29 Mar
Up at @TheProspect: besides cancellation there are many simple steps that would help millions of student debtors. But Biden's Education Department hasn't moved on it and is even still enforcing Betsy DeVos directives against borrowers. Advocates are upset.
prospect.org/education/educ…
ED could:
-approve loan forgiveness applications for more victims of for-profit fraud
-settle lawsuits on borrower relief
-expand closed school discharges
-fix PSLF & IDR
-stop blocking AGs & CFPB from data on student loan servicers
prospect.org/education/educ…
As I was writing this piece, ED announced it would give people "totally and permanently disabled," who are entitled to full student loan discharges, some assistance. Advocates say even this doesn't go as far as it should. prospect.org/education/educ…
Read 4 tweets
David Dayen Profile picture
27 Mar
Here's @oliverdarcy of @CNN calling @theprospect "misinfo" after not responding to any of our questions for a week, and misstating the nature of our report.
Also he botched my quote! I said 100%. Let's break this down...
Starts with "a progressive website": check. Obviously anything partisan is untruthful.
We've been around 32 years FWIW.
Next, notice the jump. Starts by saying our story suggested that "CNN aired a 'staged' migrant crossing," and then says "Obviously, CNN did not stage the crossing."
Nobody said they staged it themselves, just that they got duped. Something @CNN never answered. All assertions.
Read 10 tweets
David Dayen Profile picture
25 Mar
Great lineup at @TheProspect today.
How did this historic shift of focus to inequality, full employment and labor economics happen? Part of the answer is the economics department at the University of California, Berkeley. @HaroldMeyerson has this great profile, from our next issue:
prospect.org/economy/berkel…
"Over the past two decades, Berkeley’s economics department and associated institutes have been at the forefront of two critical changes in the practice of economics: a heightened emphasis on empirical research, and an increasing focus on inequality." prospect.org/economy/berkel…
Read 7 tweets
David Dayen Profile picture
23 Mar
It's water day at @TheProspect!
First, @gurleygg looks at water privatization in Chester, PA, as a city with troubled finances is goaded into selling off its public assets to for-profit interests.
prospect.org/environment/cl…
The PA legislature recently allowed municipalities in distress to sell assets like water systems at market value rather than depreciated value, a powerful spur for communities like Chester. But what will happen to rates, quality, and maintenance?
prospect.org/environment/cl…
We also have a success story: a new book about an unlikely victory in El Salavador by grassroots activists over mining interests that threatened the country's water supply. The book is The Water Defenders, it's out today, and Sasha Chavkin has a review:
prospect.org/culture/books/…
Read 4 tweets

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