Ben Ross
benrosstransit.bsky.social
Ben Ross
@benrosstransit.bsky.social
Transit advocate. Social Democrat. Author of Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism.
But equating Zionism to Kahanism is false & unfair too.
Whether "holding Jewish nationalism to a standard no other nationalism is held to" is anti-semitism, or constitutes a different variety of discrimination, seems like a secondary question to me.
November 11, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Got to pass the Senate version of the CR and the 3 appropriations bills. So has to call the House into session.
November 11, 2025 at 12:53 AM
I'm seeing more vitriol here from people angry about the cave directed at senators who didn't cave than at senators who caved.
You don't incentivize loyalty by punishing the loyal & disloyal alike.
November 10, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Nimbyism, left right & center, is an interest, but not (primarily) a material interest. The goal is not to use space, but to prevent its use. What Veblen called conspicuous waste or conspicuous consumption. Big house OK, but only 1 family. No vegetable garden on front lawn. Dog good, chicken banned.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 PM
The common element is that the politics are essentially performative. The aim is to enhance your status within your subculture. In one case by preserving the physical and socioeconomic character of the neighborhood. In the other by pinning blame for all that's bad on the villain in current fashion.
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I doubt pro-Palestine activists (the non-Arab ones) are unaware that pro-Israel voters care intensely. I think it's that they are offended by the existence of pro-Israel leftists who challenge their feeling of self-satisfaction. Much like how left yimbys offend nimbys much more than developers do.
November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
And then the Dems would have been better positioned to blame Republicans for healthcare costs. And the elimination of the filibuster, necessary if we are ever to restore our democracy after 2028 and unlikely to get unanimity in the Democratic senate caucus, would have been accomplished.
November 10, 2025 at 3:06 PM
What does that mean "he's responsible for his caucus"? He's not a dictator. You're letting the actual yes voters off the hook.
November 10, 2025 at 1:30 AM
He's voting no.
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
It's not the leadership. It's these. Attacking the leadership rather than the actual squishes tells Dem senators that you're getting attacked no matter what you do, so you might as well cave. bsky.app/profile/admi...
Call them:

Jeanne Shaheen (202) 224-2841
Gary Peters (202) 224-6221
Jon Ossoff 202-224-3521
Mark Kelly (202) 224-2235
Peter Welch 202-224-4242
Tammy Baldwin (202) 224-5653
Elissa Slotkin 202-224-4822
John Fetterman (202) 224-4254
Catherine Cortez Masto (202) 224-3542
Angus King (202) 224-5344
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 AM
That was the House.
November 9, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Forcing him to do what? It's his job to keep the caucus together, which in this case requires the squishes to back down. For him to attack them publicly would be to give up on convincing them not to go for this deal.
November 9, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Blame the perpetrators, not Chuck. He's not a dictator over the caucus. Here are the names: bsky.app/profile/josh...
2/ The Senators who want to vote yes on basically any terms appear to be shaheen, Hassan, king and Fetterman. Slightly less clear but I think pushing that way are Peters and Durbin. You’ll note that four of these six are retiring. Others who seem on the fence include the two sens from Georgia and …
November 9, 2025 at 11:07 PM
It's totally destructive to blame Schumer when he's not the one doing it. Here are the names to push: bsky.app/profile/josh...
2/ The Senators who want to vote yes on basically any terms appear to be shaheen, Hassan, king and Fetterman. Slightly less clear but I think pushing that way are Peters and Durbin. You’ll note that four of these six are retiring. Others who seem on the fence include the two sens from Georgia and …
November 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
How do you know that? I am reading that Senate leadership will mostly vote no. Why are so many people on here directing their fury at Schumer rather than the actual squishes?
November 9, 2025 at 10:07 PM
It's the senators in the surrender caucus that need to be attacked. Leaders aren't dictators.
November 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Masks at pulmonologist, yes. At podiatrist, no.
November 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Money spent on involuntary travel necessary to earn income is work expense, not income. Hard to measure what's involuntary, so not reported that way.
One who has a short walk to work clearly is better off than one in same house who is paid more but spends the difference + on a long drive to work.
November 9, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The definition of "ethnostate," as far as I can tell, is a combination of features, each shared by numerous nation-states, carefully engineered to include only one particular nation-state.
Like what you see in job openings, zoning ordinances, RFPs etc.
November 9, 2025 at 3:48 PM