Matt Klein

Opinion | First thing we do, let’s fire all the statisticians The Trump administration’s strategy in dealing with tough numbers: Don’t count them.

There’s more than one way to cook the books. You can doctor or delete data after it’s been collected. Alternatively, ensure the numbers are never collected in the first place.
Lately, the Trump administration has been into leaning into that second scheme, by purging and defunding statistics agencies

1. Trump's tax cuts overwhelmingly help the rich
2. His spending cuts are targeted at the poor
3. Tariffs cost the poor a larger share of their income

Roll these three regressive policies together and you get the largest redistribution from poor to rich in American history.

The anti-Robin Hood.

this is just like the parable of the scorpion and the scorpion

Why don’t they take pride in the accomplishments of these heroes? I mean, I know why, but still.

pulling a critique of the bell curve from a university library but not the bell curve is as concise a way i can think of to describe the goal of the speech discourse in the past 15 years

Opinion | How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?

This is well-stated. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/o...

Trump DOJ: Providing Basic Sewer Services to Black People Is Actually “Illegal DEI” The Trump administration has nixed a 2023 settlement that was building modern sanitation infrastructure in Lowndes County, a predominantly Black county in Alabama.

there's a county in Alabama where Black people are literally getting sick because the government doesn't provide a working sewer system, and Trump's Justice Department is trying to keep it that way

apparently Black people with indoor plumbing is "illegal DEI"

ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

🧵 THREAD: A federal whistleblower just dropped one of the most disturbing cybersecurity disclosures I’ve ever read.

He's saying DOGE came in, data went out, and Russians started attempting logins with new valid DOGE passwords

Media's coverage wasn't detailed enough so I dug into his testimony:

Huge crowd in NYC for #HandsOff

Thinking about this quote, from JPMorgan's Michael Cembalist, today:
www.jpmorgan.com/insights/out...

Every month a different group of experts gets to experience presidential insanity.
In February, it was experts on government employment. In March, national security. In April, economists.
Immigration law experts, of course, get to experience it every month of the year.

Senator Cory Booker concludes his record-breaking Senate Floor speech after 25 hours

Massive applause for Booker

It’s book release month!! I’m so excited. Get your copy here: wwnorton.com/books/978132...

We support the right of people to advance their interests in courts of law when they have been wronged. We reject the notion that the U.S. government can punish lawyers and law firms who represent certain clients or punish judges who rule certain ways. We cannot accept government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice in this manner. We reject efforts to undermine the courts and the profession. We will not stay silent in the face of efforts to remake the legal profession into something that rewards those who agree with the government and punishes those who do not. Words and actions matter. And the intimidating words and actions we have heard and seen must end. They are designed to cow our country’s judges, our country’s courts and our legal profession. There are clear choices facing our profession. We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers in private practice from Main Street to Wall Street, as well as those in corporations and who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation.

More than 50 bar organizations stand together with the American Bar Association to defend the rule of law and reject efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession. Read the full statement: www.americanbar.org/news/abanews...

When civil society institutions — big law firms, Ivy League institutions — cave to Trump rather than fight what appear to be illegal demands, do they expect him to be satisfied and stop? Do they believe others should step in and fight where they have not?

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/o...

Universal Pre-K Access and Parental Earnings

Putting kids in a free pre-K program "raises parents’ average earnings by $5,461 per year, or 21.7 percent, during the one- or two-year period when the child is of pre-kindergarten age. ... Parents’ earnings remain higher for at least the next six years."

Incredible levels of grift and corruption happening right in front of us

Supporters Praise Trump For Upholding Traditional American Value Of Supporting Murderous Dictators For Political Gain

Supporters Praise Trump For Upholding Traditional American Value Of Supporting Murderous Dictators For Political Gain

map showing distribution of nonprofit grant loss across the US

"In every state, every congressional district, and more than 95 percent of counties in the United States, public charities receive government grants. Without these grants, most nonprofits would be unable to cover their expenses."
Should not be a partisan issue.
www.urban.org/research/pub...

He nails it.

Just look at these paragraphs from the AP story.

Hegseth called Brown unqualified solely because he's Black. Then they fired him... and replaced him with a white guy so indisputably unqualified that he requires a Presidential waiver.

This is what "merit" means to them.

apnews.com/article/trum...

Arne Duncan and John King: Musk and Trump Are at War With Public Education (Opinion) Two former ed. secretaries explain what’s at stake in dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.

“Instead of figuring out how to improve reading or math literacy, increase school safety, or make college more affordable, people … are trying to tear down the system responsible for supporting education opportunity in our local communities.” From @arneduncan.bsky.social & @johnbkingjr.bsky.social

If you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general.

If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.

Trump declared himself above the law today. Literally announced it. Pinned it to his feed for emphasis. The White House reposted it. All to underscore it’s not some passing thought, which would be bad enough.

It’s not the top story on any news site that I can find.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Opinion | Ro Khanna: The Alternative to Trump Cannot Be a Defense of Institutions as They Are Democrats have a future. Here it is.

A positive vision for change is needed - appreciate this message: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/o...

US cyber agency puts election security staffers who worked with the states on leave Staffers at the nation’s cybersecurity agency whose job is to ensure the security of U.S. elections have been placed on administrative leave, jeopardizing critical support provided to state and local ...

Staffers at the nation’s cybersecurity agency whose job is to ensure the security of U.S. elections have been placed on administrative leave, jeopardizing critical support provided to state and local election offices across the country.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/wir...

This. Share this.

Opinion | Don’t Believe Him Look closely at the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s second term and you’ll see something very different than what he wants you to see.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...