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Eric Levitz

Features Writer, Intelligencer
@EricLevitz

Eric Levitz is a features writer for Intelligencer. He covers politics and economics.

  1. vision 2020
    Note to Biden Backers: A Senescent Gaffe Machine Might Not Be the Safest BetIf Democrats just want someone who can beat Trump, they have safer options than an Iraq War supporter who seems to be losing a step.
  2. white supremacy
    White Nationalist Terrorism Is a Problem. Trump Is a Bigger One.Donald Trump has done more damage to our democracy with his bully pulpit than a psychopathic racist ever could with an AK-47.
  3. vision 2020
    Polls: Warren Won the Debates (But Debates Don’t Matter Much)The first post-debate polls find that Elizabeth Warren’s performance won Democrats’ hearts — but Joe Biden is still winning their votes.
  4. vision 2020
    Democrats Made Big Gains With ‘Anti-Immigration’ Voters in 2018: StudyA new analysis of the midterm electorate sheds light on what happened last fall – and what to expect in 2020.
  5. mass shootings
    In Trump’s Hands, the Second Amendment Is a Threat to Our Civil LibertiesWhen the government is unwilling to significantly restrict access to firearms, it responds to gun violence by curtailing more basic freedoms.
  6. andrew yang
    What Andrew Yang Gets Wrong (and Right) About RobotsAutomation isn’t going to take all our jobs. But it could make them less time-consuming, if we let it.
  7. democratic debates
    Here’s Who Won (and Lost) the Second Democratic Debate, Night TwoThe 10 candidates’ performances, ranked, from best to worst.
  8. equifax
    Equifax Hurt Too Many Consumers to Pay Each $125 As PromisedThe firm that negligently exposed your data can’t afford to pay what it promised. So please take some definitely trustworthy free services instead.
  9. democratic debates
    Here’s Who Won (and Lost) the Second Democratic Debate, Night OneThe 10 candidates’ performances, ranked, from best to worst.
  10. family separation
    The Trump Administration Hasn’t Stopped Separating Migrant FamiliesThe U.S. has taken 911 child migrants from their parents or guardians since last June. Officials insist they are protecting the minors from abuse.
  11. vision 2020
    Kamala Harris’s New ‘Medicare for All’ Plan Makes (Political) SenseThe senator has found a middle ground on health care that puts political expediency above substantive coherence.
  12. the economy
    The Trump Tax Cuts Worked (As a Scam)New GDP data confirms the tax cuts did not stimulate investment as promised. But Trump has successfully masked that failure with deficit spending.
  13. mueller time
    The 5 Biggest Lies Republicans Told at Mueller’s HearingThe Republican counternarrative to Mueller’s damning findings about Trump rests on five false premises.
  14. nationalism
    National Conservatives Want Cultural Dominance Not ‘Social Cohesion’The right can foster “national solidarity” or impose its social values on an increasingly diverse and secular country, but it can’t do both.
  15. free speech
    GOP: Ilhan Omar Is Un-American Because She Supports the First AmendmentOmar’s so-called “BDS resolution” merely affirms Americans’ constitutional right to participate in boycotts.
  16. house democrats
    Moderate Democrats Say AOC Is Distracting From Their Nonexistent MessageInstead of complaining that “the squad” is a distraction, moderates should spotlight all the unpopular policies that Trump doesn’t want to defend.
  17. vision 2020
    Kamala Harris’s Medicare for All Plan Makes No SenseThe senator says she will move virtually all health spending onto the government’s rolls, while cutting taxes on the middle class.
  18. intelligencer chats
    When You’ve Lost Tom Friedman, Have You Lost America?Intelligencer staffers discuss whether Democrats are moving too far to the left on immigration.
  19. polls
    Polls: Voters Are Cool With Trump’s Deportation Raids, But Not His Racist TweetsNew survey data suggests overt racism is a loser for the president, but rounding up and deporting thousands of immigrants might not be.
  20. satire
    Contrary to Claims, X-Ray Reveals Trump Has Very Racist Right TibiaThe president claimed that he did not “have a racist bone” in his body. But leaked medical records suggest otherwise.
  21. conservatism
    Trump’s Racist Tweets Expose the True Color of Conservative NationalismTrump and his intellectual allies keep equating opposition to white supremacy with hatred for America.
  22. joe biden
    Is Biden’s Health-Care Plan Actually That Moderate?Intelligencer staffers chat about the practical and political wisdom of the former VP’s vision for building on Obamacare.
  23. trump tweets
    How Trump’s Racism Divides DemocratsTrump’s white-nationalist rhetoric unites his opposition. But his white-nationalist policies divide Pelosi’s caucus.
  24. the republican party
    Why the GOP Might Learn to Love Putting Price Controls on DrugsConservatives’ traditional defense of America’s high drug prices is completely at odds with Trump’s “America first” ideology.
  25. vision 2020
    Elizabeth Warren Unveils a Sane, Humane Immigration PlanIt has a roughly zero-percent chance of getting through our nation’s paranoid, cruel Congress any time soon.
  26. satire
    To Win Red States, Dems Must Move Right – Then Left – Then ApologizeAmy McGrath took two different positions on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation in a single day. That’s the kind of spinelessness Kentucky voters crave.
  27. alexandria ocasio-cortez
    AOC Is Making Monetary Policy Cool (and Political) AgainOn Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez got Fed chair Jerome Powell to admit that the central bank has been far too complacent about unemployment.
  28. racism
    Tucker Carlson’s Latest Attack on Ilhan Omar Is a Pack of Racist LiesThe Fox News host is living proof that right-wing political correctness has become dangerous for this country.
  29. democracy
    America’s Political System Is Rigged Against Liberals (and Always Has Been)The left’s underrepresentation in U.S. politics isn’t new, and ending gerrymandering won’t fix it. But the liberalization of suburbia might.
  30. intelligencer chats
    Why Is Nancy Pelosi Going After AOC?Intelligencer staffers on the war of words between the House Speaker and Democrats on her left flank.
  31. minimum wage
    A $15 Minimum Wage Would Raise Pay for 27 Million, CBO EstimatesThe Congressional Budget Office also projected that the policy would cost the economy 1.3 million jobs, though that estimate is highly uncertain.
  32. vision 2020
    Tom Steyer Mulls Wasting Millions on Doomed 2020 BidThe liberal billionaire who plowed millions into a failed impeachment drive is considering an even more hopeless cause.
  33. federal reserve
    Trump’s Fed Nominee Pledges to Serve As a Partisan HackJudy Shelton used to be an inflation hawk. Now she says loose money is actually good, so long as the sitting president has cut taxes and regulations.
  34. vision 2020
    Trump’s Fundraising Windfall Should Make Democrats NervousTrump raised $350.7 million over the course of his entire 2016 campaign. He raised $105 million in the past three months alone.
  35. intelligencer chats
    Is Trump’s Fourth of July Spectacle Un-American?Intelligencer staffers discuss whether it’s more in line with American tradition than we might want to admit.
  36. 2020 census
    Trump Administration Drops Citizenship Question From 2020 CensusTrump’s plot to rig the 2020 Census was undone by his administration’s own incompetence.
  37. culture war
    Colin Kaepernick Just Showed How We Can End Corporate WelfareArizona’s GOP governor is canceling subsidies to Nike. Now, to eradicate corporate welfare, we just need every other corporation to get “woke.”
  38. vision 2020
    The Democrats Aren’t a Left-Wing Party — They Just Play One on TVProgressives call the shots on debate stages. But in Congress, moderates still have the wheel.
  39. vision 2020
    Here’s Who Won (and Lost) the Second Democratic Primary DebateThe ten candidates’ performances, ranked, from best to worst.
  40. gerrymandering
    Should Blue States Start Gerrymandering More Shamelessly?After the Supreme Court’s decision, blue states that pursue fair districting risk skewing federal representation even further in the GOP’s favor.
  41. vision 2020
    Here’s Who Won (and Lost) the First Democratic Primary DebateThe ten candidates’ performances, ranked, from best to worst.
  42. vision 2020
    The Tyranny of the Unwoke White Swing VoterThe fate of our republic lies with the 10 percent of white working-class voters who still haven’t decided which team they’re on.
  43. student debt
    Bernie’s Student Debt Plan Doesn’t Make Sense. Which Is Fine.Forgiving all student debt wouldn’t be a maximally progressive allocation of limited resources. But nothing Congress does ever is.
  44. democrats
    New York Just Proved That a Better Democratic Party Is PossibleDevelopers used to call the shots in Albany. This year, progressives did.
  45. the economy
    America’s Top Economists Needlessly Undermined Growth, Study ConfirmsA new analysis confirms that for years, central bankers and top economists underestimated America’s true unemployment rate.
  46. climate change
    Oregon Republicans Flee State to Block Action on Climate ChangeState police are on the hunt for missing GOP senators who fled Oregon Thursday to prevent Democrats from passing a cap-and-trade bill.
  47. vision 2020
    10 Takeaways From the Times’ Interview With 21 Democratic CandidatesBy posing the same 18 questions to 21 candidates, the Times revealed surprising intraparty divisions, and also that Seth Moulton has a large face.
  48. migrant crisis
    With Trump’s Migrant Camps, the History We Should Fear Repeating Is Our OwnAOC’s invocation of Nazi concentration camps was legitimate. But the most apt precedents for the crisis at our border were born in the USA.
  49. medicare for all
    Polls: Voters Want Medicare for All — But Don’t Know What It IsA majority of Americans think Medicare for All is a public option that would preserve private insurance, premiums, and deductibles. And they love it.
  50. inequality
    The Fed Just Released a Damning Indictment of CapitalismThe true “extremists” in American politics are those who insist that our economic system is working just fine.
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