Bloomberg.com • 7th December 2024

DOGE's Best Idea Yet Is Ending the Twice-a-Year Time Change

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two billionaires tasked by President-elect Donald Trump to find ways to make government more efficient, have hit upon one good idea: ending the obnoxious and inconvenient twice-a-year clock change between daylight saving time (in the summer) and so-called standard time (in the winter). “Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!’’ Musk declared on X in response to a poll from a user that found that 82% of the 38,000 respondents supported a...

Bloomberg.com • 6th December 2024

Marco Rubio May Be Trump’s Most Promising Cabinet Pick

Florida Senator Marco Rubio is perhaps President-elect Donald Trump’s least-controversial cabinet pick. Admittedly, that isn’t a high bar. Trump’s cabinet selections have mostly been unqualified, irresponsible or both. But if Rubio is confirmed as secretary of state, he could actually do some good — particularly for US relations with Latin America.As a three-term Republican senator and former presidential candidate who morphed from Reagan Republican to Trump acolyte, Rubio is viewed by many trad...

Bloomberg.com • 6th December 2024

Marco Rubio May Be Trump’s Most Promising Cabinet Pick

Marco Rubio is Trump's most promising Cabinet pick. If he can navigate a chaotic administration and its role on the global stage, he could be a source of generational change in the Americas.

Bloomberg.com • 22nd October 2024

This Is Why You Don’t Recognize Your State Government

The nation is going in two different directions. That’s because more states have fallen under one-party control — either Republican or Democrat — than at any time in modern US history. We examined a trove of legislative and electoral data and found that when one party secures control, representative democracy erodes, voters get ignored, and the gaps are wider under Republican control.

Bloomberg.com • 27th November 2024

Pam Bondi Has a Track Record of Putting Donors Above the Law

Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general and Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Justice, has what he likes in all his cabinet picks: a made-for-TV presence and a track record of fealty. And unlike Trump’s first pick — fellow Floridian flame-thrower Matt Gaetz — Bondi actually has some relevant experience. She was a prosecutor for 26 years, including eight years as state AG. Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general and Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Justice, h...

Bloomberg.com • 25th November 2024

The Looming GOP Divide Over School Vouchers

Republican donors extol school choice. But in many red counties, parents understand that their best bet is to keep funding flowing to public schools.

Bloomberg.com • 13th November 2024

Rick Scott’s Myriad Failures Make Him Unfit to Lead the Senate

Florida Senator Rick Scott has emerged as the MAGA favorite in the race to succeed Mitch McConnell as majority leader. But anyone who looks at Scott’s record will conclude that President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters ought to be wary. Scott could do more harm to the Trump agenda than even Susie Wiles could handle.

Bloomberg.com • 5th November 2024

Election Results Take Time. Be Patient.

Be patient as election results roll in Tuesday night. Ignore any premature claims of victory by candidates or media outlets. Whatever the count is by the early hours of Wednesday will probably not be the final one. The tally will change, and the counting will continue. And if the Electoral College numbers are close, the outcome of the presidential race might not be known for days.Trust me. I learned the importance of election night patience the hard way — along with most of America — during 36 d...

Bloomberg.com • 2nd November 2024

Don’t Let Trump Fool You. US Elections Are Fair and Secure.

Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2021 and told lawmakers that “as a Republican who believes in democracy, I dreamed of one day going to a nation that was trying to build a democracy and help them out. I never could have imagined that I would be doing that work here in the United States of America.”Gates testified during a congressional review of Republicans’ unfounded claims of 2020 election fraud in Arizona and underscored the...

Bloomberg.com • 14th October 2024

Why Trump Is Winning With Some Georgia Immigrants

One of every four residents of Gwinnett County, Georgia, was born outside the United States. That’s nearly double the national average, and those numbers keep growing in this metro Atlanta area, which is home to a richly diverse community of Latin, Asian and European immigrants.It’s also a community that can’t be pigeonholed when it comes to politics in this critical swing state. One of every four residents of Gwinnett County, Georgia, was born outside the United States. That’s nearly double th...

Bloomberg.com • 3rd October 2024

Don’t Let a Hurricane Take North Carolina’s Votes, Too

The North Carolina General Assembly spent the last four years passing laws that selectively suppress voter turnout. Encouraged by Donald Trump, who narrowly won the state in 2020, the Republican-controlled legislature imposed new photo ID requirements, shortened the time voters have to return mail-in ballots, weakened the authority of the state’s top elections official and added hurdles to voter registration.They needn’t have bothered. Hurricane Helene’s devastation in the western part of the st...

Bloomberg.com • 27th September 2024

Brian Kemp Has Failed Georgia Voters

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has the power to stop the partisan and likely illegal new rules created by three Donald Trump allies on the State Election Board. But instead of using his authority to halt an election-year meltdown that could turn November into a nightmare, Kemp has allowed the threat to fester for months.Georgia law allows the governor to remove from office anyone who violates the state’s constitution, something Georgia’s attorney general believes the board has done. The law require...

Bloomberg.com • 20th September 2024

Black Republican Who Called Himself a ‘Nazi’ Is Another MAGA Failure

Mark Robinson is the Republican nominee for North Carolina governor because the state’s Republicans haven’t learned the most obvious lessons. He won the nomination because Donald Trump endorsed him, and even though Robinson has turned out to be the toxic drag on the ticket that his primary opponents predicted, Republicans say they are sticking with him.CNN broke a story Thursday with yet another round of sordid details from the past of the misogynistic, porn-addicted lieutenant governor. Mark R...

Bloomberg.com • 19th September 2024

Republicans Don’t Trust Voters on Abortion

Over a decade ago, when political parties didn’t treat their rivals as mortal enemies, the Republican president of the Florida Senate, Jeff Atwater, would remind his colleagues: “Don’t fear the debate.” I remember them as simple words uttered as tensions mounted during particularly contentious partisan disagreements. But anyone with a reasonable understanding of American history recognized in his message the wisdom of the nation’s founders, who encountered acrimonious differences and frustrating...

Bloomberg.com • 12th September 2024

Lexington, Kentucky, Is Building Trust From the Ground Up

This column is a part of Republic of Distrust, a series about the loss of trust in American institutions and what can be done to restore it.If you want confirmation about the deep pessimism Americans harbor about our divisions, look no further than the Marist National Poll released in May. Almost half of the country says the United States is likely to erupt into a second civil war in their lifetime. This column is a part of Republic of Distrust, a series about the loss of trust in American inst...

Bloomberg.com • 21st August 2024

Trump’s Allies Are Creating More Election Chaos in Georgia

The Georgia Board of Elections — which is dominated by election deniers — approved a rule change Monday that will sow chaos into the state’s election process and guarantee that if the November vote is close, we may not know the results of the presidential race for weeks.They’re playing with fire. By tipping the scales in the swing state to benefit former President Donald Trump, Georgia officials risk creating an election crisis even more turbulent than what we witnessed four years ago. The Geor...

Bloomberg.com • 4th August 2024

Trump and Project 2025 Are Now Inseparable

Donald Trump created a monster, and it lives. We heard last week from Trump’s campaign that reports of Project 2025’s demise “would be greatly welcomed.” Campaign co-managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles offered that comment in a statement after news that the Heritage Foundation official leading the project was stepping down. Donald Trump created a monster, and it lives. We heard last week from Trump’s campaign that reports of Project 2025’s demise “would be greatly welcomed.” Campaign co-ma...

Bloomberg.com • 30th July 2024

Josh Shapiro Is a Seasoned Political Pro Who Should Be Harris’ VP

Conventional wisdom among political consultants says that a presidential candidate’s choice of a running mate has a marginal impact on the electoral map. But if Kamala Harris were to choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, she’d not only get a popular governor in a battleground state, but a polished political veteran with the policy chops to appeal to the narrow segment of voters who will likely decide this election. Of all the candidates on Harris’ short list— Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Tra...

Bloomberg.com • 29th July 2024

Kamala Harris Has Work to Do and More Women to Convince

In the 48 hours after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, she did something every working woman in America can relate to: She put her multi-tasking superpowers to work and got a big job done in little time. But Harris’ impressive launch will not be enough to bring to her side the suburban women who could swing this election. Most didn’t like either Donald Trump or Joe Biden and many were ready to stay home or go third-party. Harris...

Bloomberg.com • 21st July 2024

MAGA Loves Immigrants — as Long as They’re the ‘Good’ Kind

The most alarming theme that emanated from the Republican National Convention last week was the party’s desire to turn its back on immigrants. The rhetoric began on day one, at the Heritage Foundation’s “Policy Fest,” where the conservative think tank presented its view of the nation’s future.Its distorted view of reality was loaded with inflammatory language depicting anyone who crossed the southern border as rapists, purveyors of drugs or trafficking humans. Former President Donald Trump rever...