The Week's Best Articles From the Washington Monthly
A campaign finance loophole for billionaires, a tariff scheme for cronies, a loss for Google, and much more from this week.
The Week's Best Articles From the Washington Monthly
The Next Frontier of Plutocracy: Politics Editor Bill Scher exposes the little-noticed FEC ruling that could make the 2026 midterms a playground for oligarchs.
The Abduction of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Is Not About Politics: Forget about the poll numbers regarding immigration, Scher argues. Democrats can focus on the economy and defend the Constitution at the same time.
Court Ruling Against Google Ad-Tech Monopoly Is a Victory for Journalism: Austin Ahlman of Open Markets Institute (OMI) explains why the decision against the $1.8 trillion behemoth is a major win for journalism, and how policymakers can build on the ruling.
What Liberals Can Learn From Ted Kennedy’s “Robert Bork’s America” Speech: Contributing writer David Masciotra looks back at senator Kennedy’s controversial floor statement in 1987 that helped sink Ronald Reagan’s nominee to the Supreme Court, and draws out some inspiration for Democrats responding to Trumpism.
Trump’s Huge Tariff Exemption Grift: Contributing editor Jonathan Alter on the President's intention to corrupt the opaque tariff exemption process run out of the Commerce Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative—a scheme that will make his “outrageous meme coin corruption look penny ante by comparison.”
Divided Democrats Should Unify Behind Trade Peace Over Trade War: Scher critiques the mixed messaging from Democrats following the president’s imposition of tariffs.
Elon Musk Wants to Privatize Amtrak, But the Real Problem Is Freight Monopolies: Arnav Rao, transportation policy analyst at OMI, explains why DOGE is on the wrong track on passenger rail.
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