Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Jordan Weissmann Profile picture
Jordan Weissmann
@JHWeissmann
A liberal Jew from New York. Staff writer and editor at The Argument. Send pitches to jordan@theargumentmag.com. Got news tips? Signal: jhw.54
4 subscribers
Jul 30 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I think one reason some tech people are unwilling to grapple with DOGE’s failure is that it would require acknowledging that their entire belief system about government — and in some ways broader worldview — was wrong. It turned out that you couldn’t ‘fix’ government by sending some good engineers to look under the hood. Our spending isn’t driven by ‘waste’ and fraud that you can detect with better tools. Insofar as it’s there, like in Medicare Advantage, it’s because Congress doesn’t want to touch it…
Jul 11 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Zohran doesn’t go into a lot of detail here but the idea that the criminal justice system broadly shouldn’t be involved in domestic violence cases is insane. It’s not always an effective solution, but sometimes it’s the only solution. A lot of domestic violence calls are for small disputes where cops are then required to make an arrest nobody really wants and charges aren’t pressed.

But…
May 14 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
A DOGE employee arrived at the VA and realized that, actually, the government more or less works fine. Image There's another part where the guy says he "took Elon at his word" that this whole effort has been about government efficiency, rather than kneecapping agencies. I do wonder how many other volunteers see things that way.
fastcompany.com/91330297/doge-…Image
Mar 12 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
DOGE is considering no longer allowing senior citizens to file Social Security claims over the phone, and instead requiring them to do it online or in person at a field office, according to WaPo.

This is the kind of thing that seems designed to absolutely maximize political pain for zero to no policy gain.Image Link washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/…
Feb 2 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
So, for those who would like a short primer, here is why the idea that the U.S. trade deficit "subsidizes" the rest of the world is just very, very, wrong. First, here's the short version economists often lead with:

If you go to Chipotle to get lunch, you don't say "I'm subsidizing Chipotle." You're buying a meal from them, saving yourself the need to do it at home. They make it faster and better than you would, too. Which lets you focus on other, more useful things, like work or spending time with your kids.
Jan 10 • 29 tweets • 9 min read
Joe Biden is handing off 2.7% inflation and 4.1% unemployment to Trump, with a working age employment rate exactly where it was at the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, his economic stewardship will be remembered as a complete failure by much of the country. The road to this point was obviously rocky. And there are weak points in the economy. (7% mortgage rates are not great and the cost of borrowing is going to slow major energy investments). But...man.
Nov 4, 2024 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I don't care what your politics are. This is riveting. Here, Azealia argues that Democrats are not allowing in undocumented immigrants in order to have them vote, but rather so that we can offer them amnesty, then send them to fight an inevitable war with Russia and China. Image
Oct 30, 2024 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Core inflation fell to 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the Fed’s preferred measure.

GDP grew at a 2.8% rate.

Unemployment is at 4.1%.

Took a while to get there, but it looks like we’ve achieved a low-inflation, full employment economy. A lot has obviously been written about how Trump’s tariff and immigration plans could derail that.

Another, related problem is that it’s just very hard to improve on it. There’s lots of room for deterioration, not much room to amp numbers up.

Now…
Jul 15, 2024 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Between Trump's proposal to end taxes on tips and Biden's idea to cap rents, this election is becoming a showdown over who can come up with the populist policy proposal economists will hate most. So, an update now that we know more:

Biden's move is looking pretty modest. It's a two-year move that would strip accelerated depreciation tax breaks from large landlords if they raise rents by 5% or more. Not exactly national rent control. That said...

whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
Apr 12, 2024 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The thing about this talking point is that I know everybody in the White House, including the comms shop, is smart enough to understand how disingenuous it is. PPP was designed as a "loan" for administrative reasons. In reality, it was meant to act as a grant with strings attached.

If Republicans were attacking something like public service loan forgiveness, then the comparison would make more sense.
Jan 18, 2024 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
People on the left are rolling their eyes at this, but Bernie's own campaign clearly understood that its online surrogates like David and Bri were a problem.

Personally, I realized that one day after getting into a Twitter fight with Bri. A couple hours later... Image ...I got a friendly, unprompted email from Bernie's actual press operation offering to talk with me about the issue we'd been going at it over, which led to a nice off the record chat w/ a staffer.

I later found out that they were doing those sorts of cleanup jobs regularly...
Dec 18, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
A large portion of the left appears to be devoted to scoring flimsy rhetorical points about the expiration of pandemic aid programs at the risk of re-electing Donald Trump. I understand that the long game here is to try and convince Democratic presidents that if they don't satisfy progressive demands, a portion of their base will stay home. But the lesson Democrats seem to be taking is that the left will just never give you credit for anything.
Oct 22, 2023 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
What’s even the argument that Biden ‘lied’ about student loans at this point? He did it, went to the Supreme Court, and lost. Is the complaint that he didn’t lose with enough feeling? This idea is going to live on forever among a certain segment of Twitter but it’s obvious at this point that the HEA argument would fail just as badly with this court.