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.
I loved Bonnie Tyler, I loved her deeply and unironically, and I am sure her memory will be a forever over the top at high volume blessing.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 4w agoBREAKING: Bonnie Tyler, who topped the charts with epic "Total Eclipse of the Heart," has died at 75.
Democrats need to reject the fantastical theory of working class voters that led them to Graham Platner. This bloc won’t be wooed by cosplay and pandering.
Graham Platner and the Working-Class Fetish
This critical voter bloc won’t be wooed by cosplay and pandering.
washingtonmonthly.com
"Private equity has started to move in very aggressively into the veterinarian space. What often happens is everyone from the customers to the employees gets the short end of the stick." ICYMI: @helaineolen.bsky.social dives into the private equity takeover of pet clinics on @pbsnews.org 👇
I have been very skeptical of the notion that Republican members of Congress would buck the GOP donor class on unions. But it’s gotten very hard to deny. There are now about 20 pro-labor votes in the House Republican caucus. Few of these members supported labor rights before. My latest.
How to Get a Labor Rights Bill Through a GOP House
How scared are the Republicans of the lower chamber? They’re starting to support unions.
newrepublic.com
“don’t believe Republicans’ gaslighting that it will be necessary to cut Social Security benefits. All that is necessary to preserve Social Security is political will to raise taxes on the wealthy and a sensible immigration policy.” @pkrugman.bsky.social
Social Security is Facing a Political Crisis
America can afford to keep paying full benefits. But will we?
open.substack.com
Trump's corruption is not mere theft. It is the tip of the spear in a kind of subtle regime change, an intentional effort to transform the operating logic of the US federal government www.vox.com/politics/489...
There’s more to Trump’s corruption than stealing money
It’s transforming the US government at a cellular level.
vox.com
From airline tickets to rent to groceries, corporations are using algorithms, surveillance, and hidden pricing systems to squeeze consumers harder than ever before. My new book Gouged investigates how the idea of a “fair price” disappeared—and who profits from it. Pre-order: bit.ly/GougedPRH
I don't know that this is specifically the GC perspective, but I'd note a few things here. One is that this whole travesty underscores just how anti-republican and anti-constitutional is SCOTUS's current extreme unitary executive theory.
Trump doesn't “think about Americans’ financial situation," but he sure thinks about the finances of his friends and allies. Remember this the next time you fill up your gas tank, or someone tells you we really can't afford Social Security.
Chris Hayes@chrislhayes.bsky.social · 3mo agoThey're stealing billions of your money to pay off violent right-wing psychos while doing everything in their power to spike gas up to $5 a gallon, make groceries into a luxury and hand the country over to the oligarchs who want to permanently replace you.
Seems truly bizarre that this event will go on if this was indeed an active shooter. Like real Masque of the Red Death shit.
If this was, in fact, an active shooter situation, treating it like a minor inconvenience so you can go back to your fancy dinner is the most end-stage American capitalism display I could possibly imagine
Yonette Joseph@sugarcane99.bsky.social · 3mo agoCNN: The WHCD’s program will resume “shortly”
Great piece by my friend @helaineolen.bsky.social on why more people in CA are going to Mexico for vet care. Why we let private equity buy everything only to drain our bank accounts is beyond me. Truly rapacious and inhumane in every way. nymag.com/intelligence...
The Dog Owners Taking Their Injured Corgis and Doodles to Tijuana
Mexico is to pet MRIs what Turkey has become for hair transplants.
nymag.com
Pro tip for those who need to hear it: if you are in such financial pain that you need to wash and reuse tin foil, doing so is not going to do much to help you get out of financial trouble.
Karen K. Ho@karenho.bsky.social · 4mo agoIt is worth noting that advice like this overly focuses on individual effort compared to systemic changes and government policies like equal pay, higher minimum wages, affordable housing, union benefits, as well as funding for childcare, public education, and public transportation.
My latest: The Rise of Pet Medical Tourism. Southern Californians, increasingly fed up with the high cost of veterinary care in the US, are flocking to Mexico for everything from canine dentistry care to feline cancer treatments.
New York Magazine@nymag.com · 4mo agoVeterinary prices in the U.S. are up more than 60 percent since 2014. The upshot is that just as Americans are crossing borders and flying to other countries seeking cheaper dental and medical care for themselves, they are now doing the same for their pets.
My latest: The Rise of Pet Medical Tourism. Southern Californians, increasingly fed up with the high cost of veterinary care in the US, are flocking to Mexico for everything from canine dentistry care to feline cancer treatments.
New York Magazine@nymag.com · 4mo agoVeterinary prices in the U.S. are up more than 60 percent since 2014. The upshot is that just as Americans are crossing borders and flying to other countries seeking cheaper dental and medical care for themselves, they are now doing the same for their pets.
Ray Romano, Nicholas Braun, Jake Shane, and Jenny Slate all made their Broadway debuts in All Out: Comedy About Ambition
Photos: Ray Romano, Nicholas Braun, Jake Shane, and Jenny Slate Join ALL OUT
Last Night, Ray Romano, Nicholas Braun, Jake Shane, and Jenny Slate all made their Broadway debuts in All Out: Comedy About Ambition by Simon Rich at the Nederlander Theatre. See photos from curtain call.
broadwayworld.com
I’m confident that the solution to widespread distrust of mainstream journalism does not involve putting woo-ish health grifters and eugenicists on national television.
NEWS: The Social Security Administration has referred two DOGE employees for Hatch Act violations after discovering contacts with a political group seeking SSA data to overturn election results. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
Bizarre editorial choice by @nytimes.com to portray Trump's threats toward Europe as strong and fearsome rather than as a madman and unhinged tyrant spiraling out of control before our very eyes
My latest for @ms.now: What the Brooke Rollins $3 meal meme shows about Team Trump’s economic blindness. "Trump has assembled the wealthiest presidential cabinets ever ... (But)vast wealth can leave its possessors blind to the economic struggles of ordinary Americans. www.ms.now/opinion/broo...
Opinion | Brooke Rollins' $3 meal meme underscores Team Trump's economic blindness
Helaine Olen: When you are peddling budget-saving tips in lieu of real action, it’s best to offer suggestions people might actually want to try.
ms.now
Top of the World is forever one of my favorite songs. Love you forever, Karen Carpenter. #AT40
New polling as 2025 comes to a close shows Americans are dissatisfied with the way President Trump is handling the economy. Managing Editor of the American Economic Liberties Project @helaineolen.bsky.social discusses the sentiment around Trump’s economy. www.ms.now/weekends-wit...
The striking similarities between Trump and ‘get-rich-quick wealth gurus’
New polling as 2025 comes to a close shows Americans are dissatisfied with the way President Trump is handling the economy, despite Trump’s insistence the economy is getting better for everyone. Manag...
ms.now
My latest for MS NOW: Trump isn't built to care about your grocery bill. "Trump ... has never presented himself as someone who could empathize with the public’s economic fears, but as a performer of a particular sort: the self-help, get-rich-quick wealth guru." 1/2 www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
Opinion | Trump isn't built to care about your grocery prices
Helaine R. Olen: There's a reason Trump struggles to present himself as someone who cares about costs
ms.now
This reads like a classic case of elder financial abuse and someone should be looking into it. It seems highly unlikely Eleanor Holmes Norton has the capacity to loan her campaign money to pay the staff.
Alex Shultz@alexshultz.bsky.social · 8mo agoFor @nymag.com I reported on 88-year-old Eleanor Holmes Norton, who was recently a victim of credit card fraud. Among my findings: The Norton campaign listed a deceased person as campaign treasurer for 2.5 years Between '23-25, amid q's about her mental acuity, Norton loaned $110k to her campaign
For @nymag.com I reported on 88-year-old Eleanor Holmes Norton, who was recently a victim of credit card fraud. Among my findings: The Norton campaign listed a deceased person as campaign treasurer for 2.5 years Between '23-25, amid q's about her mental acuity, Norton loaned $110k to her campaign
The Crime That Exposed a Congresswoman’s Decline
Is Eleanor Holmes Norton, 88, still fit for office? Is she even in charge?
nymag.com
America must adopt a single-pricing system under which each provider charges all payers the same amount for the same service or product. This will sharply lower prices for private plans, which paid on average 2.5x more than Medicare and Medicaid. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/02/a...
For Democrats, a New Way to Make Health Care Affordable
A plan to cut employer health-care costs, boost workers’ pay, and give Democrats a winning affordability message.
washingtonmonthly.com
This is genuinely big news. Shldnt be but is. Republicans are challenging Trump now because he seems weak. No one wantst to back a weak horse. Trump looks like the weak horse.
Carl Quintanilla@carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 8mo ago> @andrewdesiderio.bsky.social
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.
Comfortably Numb@numb.comfortab.ly · 9mo agoMy 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...
How Multilevel Marketing Explains Trump’s Corruption
Q&A with Bridget Read, author of Little Bosses Everywhere.
economicpopulist.substack.com
