ArcaMax

The first chilly day of the year, I heard scary banging in the basement. It was the boiler.

I walked upstairs and woke my husband.

"Honey, there's banging in the basement," I said.

"You've got a guy," he responded, half-asleep.

My husband, you see, is a master plumber. When someone desperately needs a plumber or an electrician or another ...Read more

Donald Trump's tax and spending plans would add enormous amounts to the national debt, with some estimates as high as $15 trillion over a decade. But some of his tax cuts stand apart in threatening one of America's most revered programs, Social Security. They would essentially bankrupt it by 2031.

This is not some far-off worry. We're talking...Read more

With the election upon us, many voters are focused on Donald Trump's unravelling mental state and his radical plans to kill off the democracy. But there should be space to recall his scams victimizing ordinary people and his joy in pulling them off. That speaks to character.

Trump's latest fishy deal involves a crypto operation. But let's ...Read more

The tricks Donald Trump tried to play on the recent hurricane victims were beyond depraved. Here were people suffering major losses, their lives stopped in a hellscape of tattered roofs, ruined possessions and, in some cases, a pile of debris where their home once stood. And there was Trump making their lives more miserable as a tactic to fool...Read more

Elon Musk is a migrant.

There is a difference between a migrant and an immigrant. An immigrant is a person who moves to another country with the intention of living there permanently. The great majority of immigrants to America come for work or personal safety or affection for the way of life. Their goal is to assimilate.

A migrant is ...Read more

Florida was the future. The weather's balmy in winter, the beaches are divine and there's no personal income tax. All that and a lower cost of living had set off a sizeable migration of companies from New York, Chicago and California. Between 2021 and 2023, Florida was the fastest-growing state.

Now as a second monster hurricane in two weeks ...Read more

Donald Trump tried to kill Obamacare. If elected to a second term, he would try to kill it again.

No, the former president didn't save the Affordable Care Act as his running mate J.D. Vance said at the vice-presidential debate. That was a bald-faced lie.

Here's what happened: During the 2016 campaign Trump vowed to replace the popular health...Read more

He could summon all the oily debate tactics needed to evade questions and renovate lies. But one thing that J.D. Vance couldn't find in his toolbox was the courage to say something that is totally obvious: Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

Until that point in the vice presidential debate, Donald Trump's running mate had gussied up some of ...Read more

There were fewer arrests at the Southern border in July than in the last month of the Trump presidency. Shelters have seen a massive drop in migrants. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is having a hard time finding enough recent arrivals to fill buses headed north.

The reason for this development is President Joe Biden's new border policy, which ...Read more

Donald Trump's "drill, baby, drill" mantra portrays fossil fuels as the magic road to lower energy prices. He's exactly wrong. Solar, wind and other renewable sources are.

Renewables already provide electricity to consumers in Europe that's so cheap, it's at times free -- this according to The Wall Street Journal, a decidedly non-socialist ...Read more

Back in the days when I was a moderate Republican, I still found Liz Cheney too far right-leaning for my tastes. And that went for her dad, former Vice President Dick Cheney, as well.

Even today, I may not agree with her on this issue or that, but we're on the same page on the primal importance of preserving our democracy. And this year, the ...Read more

Donald Trump said he wants the government or insurers to pay for in vitro fertilization treatments. For those lacking coverage, the American taxpayer would presumably pick up the entire cost.

Then, just this week, House Republicans blocked a bill that would have guaranteed a basic right -- never mind who's paying -- to IVF treatments across ...Read more

One evening, just over a week ago, I was walking in Midtown Manhattan when dozens of police cars, sirens blasting, lights flashing, descended on the area. Cops cut off entire avenues to traffic. Soon a phalanx of police vehicles, followed by a column of identical black SUVs, whooshed past red lights.

They were taking former president Donald ...Read more

As we tuned into the big debate, the Trump camp was peddling the claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's dogs and cats. When the debate turned to the subject of immigration, Donald Trump jumped on that hallucination without prompt.

"In Springfield, they're eating the dogs!" he howled. "The people who came, ...Read more

Americans focused on inflation seem especially tuned into the price of gasoline. While inflation has been fading away, many prices remain higher than they were two years ago.

But not for gasoline. That's getting cheaper.

The average price at the pump is now about $3.26, which is down $1.73 from the high in June 2022. MAGA will note that it ...Read more

Presidential elections of yore were not like this one. Would the media kindly get that into their collective skull? Many journalists seem to think that the reluctance of Kamala Harris to sit down for searing in-depth interviews on "the issues" is a major issue.

The one she did with CNN rested on the old gotcha questions. Harris said that she'...Read more

Hawaii charges tourists a variety of taxes and fees. It may soon add a $25 climate tax visitors would pay when they check into a hotel or short-term rental. It's meant to address the environmental impact of mass tourism and help in the rebuilding of Lahaina, the Maui town devastated last year by wildfires. You see a lot of griping about the ...Read more

How is it possible that the Teamsters still haven't made an official presidential endorsement? Really, are they going to choose Donald Trump, who conned them into believing he'd help save their pensions? Or Kamala Harris, whose boss, Joe Biden, actually did -- and to the tune of $36 billion? Doesn't sound like a tough decision to me.

I used ...Read more

The Democratic National Convention has been a lively dance party featuring the usual lineup of partisan speakers. Barack Obama, as usual, charmed the crowd, mocking Donald Trump's obsession over crowd size with a subtle but unmistakable hand gesture.

One of the most moving speeches, however, was a quiet address by Stephanie Grisham. Trump's ...Read more

Joe Biden's decision to leave the Democratic National Convention right after opening night makes sense. Being president is a full-time job, and he has to get back to the office.

But the more sexy story is that Biden's decision to not stick around reflects bitterness over how party officials pressured him to withdraw from the race. That he ...Read more