Helaine Olen
@helaineolen.bsky.social
A woman with many opinions, all my own. American Economic Liberties Project/contributing columnist MSNBC. Previously: WaPo, Slate. LA/NYC.
Reposted by Helaine Olen
This is the funniest piece imaginable in the dull world of the otherwise sickly sycophantic tech review.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
November 23, 2025 at 1:59 AM
This is the funniest piece imaginable in the dull world of the otherwise sickly sycophantic tech review.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
For real. Read it, even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about printers.
My latest: How Multilevel Marketing Explains Trump's Corruption. A Q&A with @bridgetgillard.bsky.social abt her book Little Bosses Everywhere. We talk abt how MLMs take advantage of U.S. tropes abt success & failure & their ties to right-wing politics.
economicpopulist.substack.com/p/how-multil...
economicpopulist.substack.com/p/how-multil...
How Multilevel Marketing Explains Trump’s Corruption
Q&A with Bridget Read, author of Little Bosses Everywhere.
economicpopulist.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
My latest: How Multilevel Marketing Explains Trump's Corruption. A Q&A with @bridgetgillard.bsky.social abt her book Little Bosses Everywhere. We talk abt how MLMs take advantage of U.S. tropes abt success & failure & their ties to right-wing politics.
economicpopulist.substack.com/p/how-multil...
economicpopulist.substack.com/p/how-multil...
Reposted by Helaine Olen
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
Reposted by Helaine Olen
The factional grifters will hate this, but the Mamdani-Spanberger-Sherrill axis actually suggests the outlines of a broad, emerging Dem coalition organized around both anti-Trump *and* affordability politics, not a party bitterly divided against itself.
These big wins will embolden Dems to take on Trump's lawbreaking and show there's a price for GOP enabling of him. Folks hate to hear this, but normal patterns are asserting themselves: Liberalism isn't dead, Rs are likely to lose in 2026, and Trump is really unpopular, not a magical exception.
November 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The factional grifters will hate this, but the Mamdani-Spanberger-Sherrill axis actually suggests the outlines of a broad, emerging Dem coalition organized around both anti-Trump *and* affordability politics, not a party bitterly divided against itself.
So now that we all know Trump and his agenda are insanely unpopular, who in the Republican Party or the business world is suddenly going to grow a spine and stand up to him?
November 5, 2025 at 2:20 AM
So now that we all know Trump and his agenda are insanely unpopular, who in the Republican Party or the business world is suddenly going to grow a spine and stand up to him?
Trump is like some demented, self-made version of Hawthorne's Rappaccini’s Daughter. He poisons everyone he touches.
November 5, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Trump is like some demented, self-made version of Hawthorne's Rappaccini’s Daughter. He poisons everyone he touches.
I know everyone is getting a good laugh out of this -- I am too! -- but people in random states showing up at the polls to vote in other city & state elections is exactly what you should expect to happen when the local press is decimated and all politics is national.
November 4, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I know everyone is getting a good laugh out of this -- I am too! -- but people in random states showing up at the polls to vote in other city & state elections is exactly what you should expect to happen when the local press is decimated and all politics is national.
That $1 million Intuit, er, donated to Trump's inaugural committee is going to cost Americans billions of dollars in tax prep fees.
👀 Scoop: IRS Direct File, the free government-backed program that let you file your taxes for free, is dead.
IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained.
IRS Direct File: 2023-2025.
(Story from when the pilot launched.)
IRS wrote to state tax agencies saying it would not be operational this coming tax season, per records I've obtained.
IRS Direct File: 2023-2025.
(Story from when the pilot launched.)
IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax-prep giants
The tax agency has quietly built its own prototype system for filing tax returns digitally and free of charge, according to current and former officials.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 4, 2025 at 10:37 PM
That $1 million Intuit, er, donated to Trump's inaugural committee is going to cost Americans billions of dollars in tax prep fees.
Reposted by Helaine Olen
🚨 EXPLOSIVE NEW investigation: We uncovered previously undisclosed details about an 18-month money laundering investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that took place alongside the 2007 sex crimes probe, according to emails obtained from Epstein's personal Yahoo account
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Jeffrey Epstein Went to War Over Money Laundering Probe in 2007 Sex Case
Federal prosecutors opened a financial-crimes investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in 2007 amid their larger sex-trafficking probe. The financier and his legal team waged a war against them, his emails ...
www.bloomberg.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:34 PM
🚨 EXPLOSIVE NEW investigation: We uncovered previously undisclosed details about an 18-month money laundering investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that took place alongside the 2007 sex crimes probe, according to emails obtained from Epstein's personal Yahoo account
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Reposted by Helaine Olen
ICYMI: Despite Trump's claims that the economy is doing well and that there's "No Inflation," Americans aren't falling for it.
"Americans are not fooled by Trump’s reality-show version of the economy," @helaineolen.bsky.social writes in @msnbc.com
.
"Americans are not fooled by Trump’s reality-show version of the economy," @helaineolen.bsky.social writes in @msnbc.com
.
October 30, 2025 at 6:35 PM
ICYMI: Despite Trump's claims that the economy is doing well and that there's "No Inflation," Americans aren't falling for it.
"Americans are not fooled by Trump’s reality-show version of the economy," @helaineolen.bsky.social writes in @msnbc.com
.
"Americans are not fooled by Trump’s reality-show version of the economy," @helaineolen.bsky.social writes in @msnbc.com
.
Reposted by Helaine Olen
My latest for MSNBC: "Republicans are making the same mistake as Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency: trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is. It didn’t work for Democrats, and it won’t work for Republicans and Trump." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
As inflation rises, Trump is making the same mistake that sank Biden
Republicans are trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is.
www.msnbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
My latest for MSNBC: "Republicans are making the same mistake as Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency: trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is. It didn’t work for Democrats, and it won’t work for Republicans and Trump." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
My latest for MSNBC: "Republicans are making the same mistake as Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency: trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is. It didn’t work for Democrats, and it won’t work for Republicans and Trump." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
As inflation rises, Trump is making the same mistake that sank Biden
Republicans are trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is.
www.msnbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
My latest for MSNBC: "Republicans are making the same mistake as Democrats during Joe Biden’s presidency: trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is. It didn’t work for Democrats, and it won’t work for Republicans and Trump." www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
Reposted by Helaine Olen
OPINION by @helaineolen.bsky.social:
“The former reality TV star cannot, in fact, bear very much reality.”
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
“The former reality TV star cannot, in fact, bear very much reality.”
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
As inflation rises, Trump is making the same mistake that sunk Biden
Republicans are trying to convince voters that the economy is better than it is.
www.msnbc.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:04 PM
OPINION by @helaineolen.bsky.social:
“The former reality TV star cannot, in fact, bear very much reality.”
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
“The former reality TV star cannot, in fact, bear very much reality.”
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
This piece is utterly horrifying -- how California and Los Angeles's utterly inept and uncaring government does nothing to put a stop to a three-mile strip of underage street prostitution, dubbed the "Kiddie Stroll" by local cops. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/m...
Can Anyone Rescue the Trafficked Girls of L.A.’s Figueroa Street?
www.nytimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:03 AM
This piece is utterly horrifying -- how California and Los Angeles's utterly inept and uncaring government does nothing to put a stop to a three-mile strip of underage street prostitution, dubbed the "Kiddie Stroll" by local cops. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/m...
Reposted by Helaine Olen
Here's a neat trick they teach in authoritarianism school: If you purge the people who measure the effects of your policies (BLS, MMWR), you can just claim everything's great, and nobody can prove how much damage you're doing.
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
October 11, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Here's a neat trick they teach in authoritarianism school: If you purge the people who measure the effects of your policies (BLS, MMWR), you can just claim everything's great, and nobody can prove how much damage you're doing.
Reposted by Helaine Olen
JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...
Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule
He wants to supercharge searing civil tensions to get low-information voters to embrace their inner authoritarian. Exactly two Democrats appear to fully grasp this.
newrepublic.com
October 8, 2025 at 11:41 AM
JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...
Reposted by Helaine Olen
In the next issue of Rolling Stone magazine, @swin24.bsky.social and I go deep on Trump’s war on speech, the left, and any and all dissent.
Read it here and come follow our work at @zeteo.com, where we work now! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Read it here and come follow our work at @zeteo.com, where we work now! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
'They Need to Suffer': Inside Trump's War on Dissent
Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and the rest of the administration are waging a furious crackdown on dissent following Charlie Kirk's assassination.
www.rollingstone.com
October 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
In the next issue of Rolling Stone magazine, @swin24.bsky.social and I go deep on Trump’s war on speech, the left, and any and all dissent.
Read it here and come follow our work at @zeteo.com, where we work now! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Read it here and come follow our work at @zeteo.com, where we work now! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Helaine Olen
Trump calls for Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker to be imprisoned
October 8, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Trump calls for Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker to be imprisoned
Reposted by Helaine Olen
Harmeet Dhillon (DOJ) publicly targeted this judge on Twitter a couple weeks ago.
SOUTH CAROLINA… “Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started. Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony...” www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
October 5, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Harmeet Dhillon (DOJ) publicly targeted this judge on Twitter a couple weeks ago.
I didn’t know Kaleb Horton, but I loved his writing. Life can be so sad and unfair. www.vox.com/the-highligh...
The ballad of the Chowchilla bus kidnapping
In 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children and their driver disappeared from a small California town. Forty-five years later, we revisit the story.
www.vox.com
September 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I didn’t know Kaleb Horton, but I loved his writing. Life can be so sad and unfair. www.vox.com/the-highligh...
Good morning— or good afternoon— from Athens.
September 26, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Good morning— or good afternoon— from Athens.
Reposted by Helaine Olen
I'm glad Ezra Klein wrote this, and he's totally right on the path forward. Because of his positioning as an establishment-friendly centrist liberal, maybe Dem leaders will listen, which would be great.
September 7, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I'm glad Ezra Klein wrote this, and he's totally right on the path forward. Because of his positioning as an establishment-friendly centrist liberal, maybe Dem leaders will listen, which would be great.
Blue states should start indicting Pulte's relatives where they have jurisdiction. It's the only way to stop Trump's deliberate weaponization of the legal system.
Exclusive: Bill Pulte accused Fed Governor Lisa Cook of fraud. His relatives filed housing claims similar to hers - www.reuters.com/world/us/bil...
Exclusive: Bill Pulte accused Fed Governor Lisa Cook of fraud. His relatives filed housing claims similar to hers
Close relatives of the federal official who has accused a Federal Reserve governor of improperly claiming primary residence on two properties have declared the same status on two homes in two different states, public records show.
www.reuters.com
September 5, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Blue states should start indicting Pulte's relatives where they have jurisdiction. It's the only way to stop Trump's deliberate weaponization of the legal system.
Renewed respect for Eric Adams.
adams called cuomo "a snake and a liar" lmao
September 5, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Renewed respect for Eric Adams.
Shout out to all those people — mostly on the other site— who assured me that Trump would leave the Fed alone even as he destroyed the CFPB.
BREAKING: Donald Trump says Fed Governor Lisa Cook will be removed from her position effective immediately bloom.bg/4paKK3l
📷: Al Drago/Bloomberg
📷: Al Drago/Bloomberg
August 26, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Shout out to all those people — mostly on the other site— who assured me that Trump would leave the Fed alone even as he destroyed the CFPB.