Category Archives: Politics

Taking a Break from Politics: How to Drive in the Left Lane

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The good people at VOX have done America another service by explaining why it’s a bad idea to drive slowly in the left lane and make faster driver go around you (which I’m going to quote in full because of the importance of the topic):

You can basically split highway drivers into two groups: those who get really upset about people driving in the left lane, and those who do it all the time and have no idea what the problem is.

Every state has some kind of law restricting the use of the left lane on multi-lane roads and highways. That doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to use the left lane at all — it just means you should generally use it only to pass cars in the right lane.

Why is that the case? Even if you’re driving fast, there’s almost always someone going faster than you. So if you get back over to the right immediately after passing, that car will be able to pass you, which lets everybody to get to their destination more quickly. Otherwise, traffic builds up, raising safety risks.

The autobahn is a living testament to what our road could look like if everyone followed this rule. The German highway system boasts lower accident and fatality rates even though it has higher (and sometimes nonexistent) speed limits. It isn’t just a matter of courtesy to the people driving behind you — it’s a real question of safety.

I’ll add that it’s also a real question of reducing other drivers’ blood pressure and incidents of road rage. This isn’t to defend drivers who go way too fast or who weave in and out of traffic in order to pick up a few seconds here and there. But getting out of the left lane when you’re holding up traffic is a rule of the road we should all obey.

Plus, unless you’re extraordinarily oblivious to the world around you, following this rule will make your highway driving much more pleasurable. If you don’t believe me, here’s testimony from a real-life person (I can vouch for her trustworthiness):

This “don’t go in the far left lane unless your passing” thing has changed. My. Life.

On my morning commute, I’d usually drive in the far left lane. I’d be going pretty fast but there’d always be someone going faster, so they’d zip around me like is shown in the video.

So I started driving in the second to left lane and only getting in the left lane to pass slow people ahead of me.

What a difference! I feel like I’m better inhabiting the flow of traffic… like I’m one with the road or something.

In conclusion, here’s the brief, excellent and entertaining VOX video that’s totally changing people’s lives all across America:

But seriously, shouldn’t the Democratic platform have included a plank on how to drive in the left lane? Hillary would have picked up tons of votes from the professional truck drivers of America, as well as other concerned citizens. I’ve searched through the document (55 pages!) and there’s not one mention of traffic safety or being kind to other drivers!!!

Obama Reminds Us This Isn’t a Reality Show

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President Obama spoke at a Clinton campaign rally in Philadelphia on Sept. 13. Anyone who might stay home in November or vote for someone else should watch the video. Actually, anyone who enjoys a great speech by a perceptive, honorable man should watch it.

Here he speaks about Clinton and our democracy, starting at 33:45 in the video:

“And, yes, she’s got her share of critics. And she’s been caricatured by the right and sometimes by the left. And she’s been accused of everything you can imagine, and has been subjected to more scrutiny and what I believe is more unfair criticism than anybody out here. And she doesn’t complain about it. And you know what, that’s what happens when you’re under the microscope for 40 years. But what sets Hillary apart is that through it all, she just keeps on going, and she doesn’t stop caring, and she doesn’t stop trying, and she never stops fighting for us — even if we haven’t always appreciated it.”

“And look, I understand we’re a young country, we are a restless country. We always like the new, shiny thing. I benefited from that when I was a candidate. And we take for granted sometimes what is steady and true. And Hillary Clinton is steady, and she is true. And the young people who are here, who — all you’ve been seeing is just the nonsense that’s been on TV. You maybe don’t remember all the work that she has had to do, and all the things she has had to overcome, and all the good that has happened because of her efforts.”

“But you need to remember. You need to understand this. If you’re serious about our democracy, then you’ve got to be with her. She’s in the arena, and you can’t leave her in there by herself. You’ve got to get in there with her. You can’t stay home because, you know, she’s been around for a long time. Well, you know what, this is not reality TV. Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

The full video:

Our Next President Demonstrates Again Why She Should Be Our Next President

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She spoke about recent events and took questions from reporters this morning:

By the way, her airplane is white and blue, not whatever color that is.

Hillary Isn’t Bill, Economically Speaking

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Even more than usual, coverage of this year’s election has been light on issues and heavy on nonsense. It would be great if there were more articles like this one by Mike Konczal for VOX: “The ‘New Liberal Economics’ Is the Key to Understanding Hillary Clinton’s Policies”.

He begins: 

The Great Recession and its aftermath shattered the policy consensus on economics. What would come next? It’s taken a while, but we’re witnessing the emergence of an important new vision.

He dubs this new vision the “new liberal economics” and says it’s based on these three principles:

— Inequality is not a regrettable but inevitable byproduct of an efficient economy, nor a temporary, self-correcting trend. It’s driven by policy choices, and new choices can make a difference.

— The economy will not simply bounce back from any weaknesses, as was assumed under Alan Greenspan’s Great Moderation. Rather, there are deep structural problems that include a global savings glut and unwillingness by US companies to make investments.

— “Nudging” the private market is not always the best way to deliver core goods and economic security. Deploying government services directly can be more effective.

After discussing these three principles in detail, Konczal argues that Hillary Clinton has formulated an “agenda in light of the Great Recession and the policy revolution [that] energetically incorporates these ideas”. He specifically mentions her proposals to:

  • Regulate financial activities “more broadly”;
  • Increase taxes on top earners;
  • Strengthen antitrust enforcement;
  • Put limits on drug prices;
  • Appoint members of the Federal Reserve board who will treat full employment as one of its primary goals;
  • Reduce corporate America’s fixation on quarterly earnings instead of long-term investment;
  • Initiate a long-needed $275 billion infrastructure plan;
  • Expand Social Security for poorer retires while resisting any cuts to the program;
  • Make all public colleges free for most American families;
  • Add a Medicare-like public option to the health care exchanges;
  • Support paid family and medical leave for all new parents.

Clinton’s many proposals remind me of the book her husband and Al Gore published back in 1992. It was called Putting People First and covered in detail many of the policies Clinton and Gore pursued in office. That was an exciting time to be a Democrat, because we finally had a Democratic President after 12 years of Reagan and the first Bush. We also had a Democratic Congress that worked with the new administration, an important benefit Clinton and Kaine probably won’t have.

But it’s still exciting to think about what a Clinton/Kaine administration might accomplish. Hillary Clinton is a very bright person who understands that America is different than it was in 1992. There’s more inequality, too many people in jail and welfare reform needs reforming. That’s why her agenda is more progressive than her husband’s was. The Republicans will resist, but President Hillary Clinton will do whatever she can to bring us and drag them into the 21st century.

The Clinton campaign’s many, many Issues pages begin here.

Paul Krugman Is Very Often So Damn Sensible

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Okay, this isn’t specifically about Hillary Clinton’s goodness, but sometimes Paul Krugman says something so important, everybody in America ought to hear him speak.

His new blog post is in the context of Trump’s neo-birther performance yesterday, described so well in the brilliant words of journalist Greg Sargent:

Donald Trump once again urinates on the cable [networks], and once again they hold out cups to catch the precious fluids.

Prof. Krugman:

But the print media appear to have finally found their voice (which may shape cable coverage over time). The Times and the AP, in particular, have put out hard-hitting stories that present the essence in the lede, not in paragraph 25.

What’s so good about these stories? The fact that they are simple straightforward reporting.

First, confronted with obvious lies, they don’t pretend that the candidate said something less blatant, or … views differ on shape of planet — they simply say that what Trump said is untrue, and that his repetition of these falsehoods makes it clear that he was deliberately lying.

Second, the stories for today’s paper are notable for the absence of what I call second-order political reporting: they’re about what Trump said and did, not speculations about how it will play with voters.

Doing these things doesn’t sound very hard — but we’ve seen very little of this kind of thing until now.

Please read the whole thing here. It’s a blog entry, so it’s short (and very sweet).