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markpaul.bsky.social
Mark Paul
@markpaul.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.4K following 650 posts
Mark Paul is the co-author, with Joe Mathews, of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It. He was formerly deputy treasurer of the state of California and deputy editorial page editor and columnist at the Sacramento Bee.
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markpaul.bsky.social
Reading this reminds me of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. Whatever happened to that dude?
September 28, 2025 at 9:51 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
An excerpt from Richard Hofstadter's Reflections on Violence in America. As wise today as in was in 1970. thebaffler.com/ancestors/re...
September 10, 2025 at 9:00 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
“the recognition that moral virtue and a steadfast faith in God are necessary preconditions of freedom” was so important to the founders of our nation that the words “virtue” & “faith” do not appear in the Declaration of Independence or Constitution. Nor does Christianity. But “liberty” & “law” do.
September 7, 2025 at 5:58 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
In the real world, investment has declined under Trump.
September 2, 2025 at 12:31 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
… and the third largest, the Vietnam Moratorium (October 1969), with 15 stories spread over 5 pages.
June 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Here's how the Times covered the largest, the first Earth Day (April 1970), with 7 stories spread over 3 pages…3/4
June 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
… and the third largest, the Vietnam Moratorium (October 1969), with 15 stories spread over 5 pages.
June 16, 2025 at 12:20 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
Here's how the Times covered the largest, the first Earth Day (April 1970), with 7 stories spread over 3 pages…3/4
June 16, 2025 at 12:20 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
In 1854, more than 1000 US troops were needed to take Anthony Burns back to slavery. Many in the resisting Boston crowd would soon reconvene in nearby Worcester to give their resistance to federal evil an electoral political form. They called it—don't laugh—the Republican Party.
June 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Musk hearkens back to the nativist American Party of the 1850s, called the Know Nothings. Oops. Their platform: "Americans must rule America; and to this end native-born citizens should be selected for all State, Federal and municipal offices of government employment, in preference to all others."
June 6, 2025 at 11:55 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
The uncle I never knew, Staff Sgt. Glenn Erwin Mace, Jr., KIA, 1/28/1945, while fighting to protect democracy & defeat fascism.

What would he think of those who today pretend to honor his valor & sacrifice while supporting leaders intent on destroying the values he defended?
Portrait of the uncle I never knew, Staff Sgt. Glenn Erwin Mace, Jr., KIA, 1/28/1945, while fighting to protect democracy & defeat fascism. What would he think of those who today pretend to honor his valor & sacrifice while supporting leaders intent on destroying the values he defended?
May 26, 2025 at 3:04 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Demented wannabe dictator lives in a world of his own.
Bureau of Labor graph showing price of eggs has risen by 25 percent since Trump took office.
April 22, 2025 at 10:52 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Easter blossoms in the yard.
April 20, 2025 at 11:11 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
No childhood family picture is complete without matching hats.
Two preschool boys in matching red caps playing in red wagon.
March 30, 2025 at 11:06 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Americans are behind in their car payments at the highest rate in decades but, sure, raise car prices by thousands of dollars. Might that mean walking to work and less to spend on food, housing, and health care. Sure. But he "couldn't care less."
March 30, 2025 at 12:35 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
In the year I bought my first home, at the age of 36, the median age of homebuyers was 34. Last year the median age of homebuyers was 56.
March 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
American patriots know what to do with a king.
White House tweet with a fake magazine cover portraying Trump wearing a crown and a Trump statement saying, "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!" -President Donald J. Trump Historic print of American Patriots tearing down the statue of King George III in 1776.
February 19, 2025 at 10:11 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
American exceptionalism.
Chart of life expectancy at birth, in years, 1980-2022, of advanced nations. In 1980, the US was one year behind average of comparable nations. In 2022, it was six years behind.
February 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Ending vehicle production? It's going to be a busy weekend at the auto dealers.
2 hours ago lan Austen Reporting from Windsor, Ontario Linda Hasenfratz, the executive chairwoman of the Canadian auto parts maker Linamar, said that the 25 percent tariffs President Trump intends to impose tomorrow on exports from Canada and Mexico could shut down North American auto production within a week. "Nobody can absorb this kind of cost, not the automakers, not the suppliers, not consumers," Hasenfratz, whose Canada-based company has plants in all three countries, said in a statement to The New York Times. "Demand will collapse, and vehicle production will grind to a halt, putting millions of workers out of work, the vast majority of which are in the U.S."
February 1, 2025 at 12:37 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
A new day in DC: Affirmative action for ignoramuses .
The vast majority of Health and Human Services' $1.6 trillion budget goes toward running Medicare and Medicaid. The two government programs are responsible for covering health care for more than 100 million Americans. Over two days of confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. displayed a surprising lack of knowledge about those programs. Grilled by senators, he was unable to come up with basic facts about Medicare's structure and incorrectly described how Medicaid works a number of times. On Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee, Mr. Kennedy first seemed to overlook the private plans that now comprise half of Medicare, the federal insurance program for older and disabled Americans. Later, he acknowledged that he was enrolled in one of those private plans, known as Medicare Advantage, and said he thought "more people would rather be on Medicare Advantage because it offers very good services." Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, pressed Mr. Kennedy on the basics of Medicare on Wednesday during his testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. With questions styled like a pop quiz, she asked him to define the different components of Medicare and what they cover. Mr. Kennedy stumbled through his answers. He described Medicare Part A as having to do "mainly for primary care or physicians" when in fact it covers hospital visits for older people as well as some nursing hospice care. He described Medicare Part C as "a program where it's the full menu of all the services." He did not identify it as Medicare Advantage, under which private insurers administer plans for those 65 and older. Mr. Kennedy repeatedly got his facts about Medicaid wrong, saying more than once that it was "fully paid for by the federal government." In fact, Medicaid, which provides health insurance coverage to nearly 80 million low-income Americans, is financed through a combination of state and federal funds. On Thursday,
January 30, 2025 at 10:56 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Paul Krugman underlines why newspaper opinion pages have lost most of their value to readers.
Krugman writes, "Maybe there was a time when readers would sit still for sober, dull opinion pieces — history's most boring headline, "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative," was the title of a Times op-ed — because they were seen as representing the views of The Establishment. And I have the feeling that Times management still thinks it's living in that world. But in today's wide-open information (and misinformation) environment, boring writing just vanishes without a trace. On a somewhat different issue, it became clear to me that the management I was dealing with didn't understand the difference between having an opinion and having an informed, factually sourced opinion. When the newsletter was canceled, I tried to point out that I was almost the only regular opinion writer doing policy. Their response was to point to other writers who often expressed views about policy, economic and otherwise. I tried in vain to explain that there's a difference between having opinions about economics and knowing how to read C.B.O. analyses and recent research papers. It all fell on deaf ears."
January 29, 2025 at 12:31 AM
markpaul.bsky.social
My aunt’s service put down the memory hole by draft dodger.
“Another video about civilian women pilots trained by the U.S. military during World War Two, known as "Women Air Force Service Pilots," or WASPs, was also pulled, the official said.” www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Portrait of Martha Mace, WWII pilot, in her flying gear.
January 26, 2025 at 9:25 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology

Richard Bone When I first came to Spoon River I did not know whether what they told me Was true or false. They would bring me the epitaph And stand around the shop while I worked And say "He was so kind," "He was so wonderful," "She was the sweetest woman," "He was a consistent Christian.” And I chiseled for them whatever they wished, All in ignorance of the truth. But later, as I lived among the people here, I knew how near to the life Were the epitaphs that were ordered for them as they died. But still I chiseled whatever they paid me to chisel And made myself party to the false chronicles Of the stones, Even as the historian does who writes Without knowing the truth, Or because he is influenced to hide it.
January 19, 2025 at 9:38 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
We have met the enemy and he is us. https://heatmap.news/climate/los-angeles-fires-zone-zero?utm_campaign=heatmap_daily_free&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=342526631&utm_content=342526631&utm_source=hs_email
Text clip reading, “Several people I interviewed for this story asked if I had seen a documentary about the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California called Bring Your Own Brigade. The film captures a series of city council meetings in 2019, when officials were considering updating local building standards. They weigh a number of ideas that would reduce the risk of embers collecting on top of, inside, or next to homes, including eliminating gutters and requiring roof overhangs and a five-foot setback for any combustible material. At the time, the Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in state history, killing 85 people, displacing more than 50,000, and destroying more than 18,000 structures. But during a public hearing, community members lashed out at the potential cost, warned that new standards would prevent displaced residents from moving back, and decried the aesthetic implications. "Paradise is an individualistic town," one person says. "That's part of the charm and the quirkiness. We don't need consistency and uniformity."
January 14, 2025 at 11:24 PM
markpaul.bsky.social
Useful conditions: No rebuilding of un-fireproof single-family houses on land burned by wildfire in last 100 yrs; no subsidy of insurance in those areas; single-family zoning in areas getting aid; waiver of CEQA approvals for multi-family housing.
Post reading, “BREAKING: Speaker Mike Johnson announces that he supports placing conditions on wildfire aid to California.”
January 13, 2025 at 11:17 PM