menu_open Columnists
Michael Mechanic

Michael Mechanic

Mother Jones

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Republicans Aim to Extend a $684 Billion Tax Break That Benefits Many of Them

Republicans Aim to Extend a $684 Billion Tax Break That Benefits Many of Them

In December, Mother Jones published a roundup of seven things Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency could target if Elon Musk...

yesterday 100

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

House Republicans Aim to Gut Spending and Cut Taxes (Mainly for the Rich) by $4.5 Trillion

House Republicans Aim to Gut Spending and Cut Taxes (Mainly for the Rich) by $4.5 Trillion

The budget resolution released Wednesday by the House Republican caucus contains no concrete details, but it codifies a GOP strategy that should...

13.02.2025 20

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

A Federal Judge Just Gave the Trump Administration a Sound Spanking

A Federal Judge Just Gave the Trump Administration a Sound Spanking

Last week, after the Office of Management and Budget released a memo ordering a vague “temporary pause” on grant and loan spending by federal...

04.02.2025 10

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Trump’s Tariffs: Another Disaster for the Families Who’ve Lost Everything

Trump’s Tariffs: Another Disaster for the Families Who’ve Lost Everything

President Donald Trump says he’ll impose punitive tariffs on America’s allies and rivals this weekend—25 percent on imported goods from Canada...

01.02.2025 30

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Nailing Trump for Taking Illegal Foreign Cash Shouldn’t Be This Difficult

The Founding Fathers, having recently helped throw off the yoke of British colonial rule, were understandably concerned about foreign governments...

24.01.2025 8

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Trump Is Perfectly Poised to Cash in on His Presidency, Constitution Be Damned

Congress put rules in place ages ago to ensure that federal appointees and employees (including judges) don’t use their jobs to enrich themselves....

24.01.2025 9

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

New Hampshire’s Governor Thinks Elon Musk Is Too Rich for Conflicts of Interest

Musk isn't helping Trump out of the goodness of his own heart. Brandon Bell/Pool/AP A news clip making the rounds Sunday morning had CNN’s Dana...

30.12.2024 10

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

America’s Health Insurance Crisis in Six Charts

Mother Jones illustration; Unsplash About a month ago, the Commonwealth Fund published the results of its biannual survey on the state of health...

20.12.2024 20

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

“I Can’t Afford My Oxygen”: The Human Toll of For-Profit Insurance

Mother Jones illustration; Getty Amid the frenzied coverage of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson‘s assassination and the public’s troubling...

16.12.2024 70

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Here’s Trillions in Federal Waste the DOGE Bros Could Actually Target

Mother Jones illustration; Grzegorz Wajda / SOPA Images/Sipa USA/AP, Alex Brandon/AP As you may know, our felonious president-elect put mega-...

10.12.2024 6

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Linda McMahon, Secretary of Plunder

Linda McMahon, former administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/ZUMA Educators are flipping out...

22.11.2024 30

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Trump’s Choice of Fracking CEO Chris Wright as Energy Secretary Heralds a Swamp Revival

Trump shakes hands with Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm at the Shale Insight Conference in Pittsburgh, October 23, 2019. Evan Vucci/AP...

18.11.2024 60

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Why Did Trump Really Win? It’s Simple, Actually.

Mother Jones illustration; Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty In the coming days, you will hear every imaginable take on why Americans voted...

07.11.2024 4

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Questionable Signature Matching Could Disqualify Thousands of Nevada Voters

Election workers in Nevada's Washoe County in 2022 Mother Jones illustration; Ty O'Neil/SOPA Images/Zuma Nevada’s secretary of state, the New York...

06.11.2024 4

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Elon Musk Made More Money Yesterday Than He Gave Away in an Entire Year

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Elon Musk, far and away the richest man on the planet, is pouring tens of millions of dollars into efforts to get Donald...

26.10.2024 3

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

What Happens to Absentee Ballots if You Die Before Election Day?

Carolyn Kaster/AP Jimmy Carter turned 100 on October 1, making him the oldest former president. According to his family, Carter, also a former...

16.10.2024 3

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

What if Jimmy Carter Casts a Vote for Harris, but Dies Before Election Day?

Jimmy Carter, then 99, at the funeral for his wife, Rosalynn, on Nov. 29, 2023. Alex Brandon/Pool/Getty Jimmy Carter turned 100 on October 1,...

16.10.2024 2

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Trump’s Reverse Robin Hood Tax Cuts of 2017

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on December 22, 2017, displaying his signature on the Republican tax overhaul package. Mother Jones...

16.10.2024 3

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

This Little-Noticed Project 2025 Provision Could Supercharge Wealth Inequality

Mother Jones illustration; Getty Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for a second Donald Trump presidency—you know, that document he...

19.09.2024 3

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Worried About Kamala Harris’ Plan to Tax Unrealized Capital Gains? Don’t Bother.

Mother Jones illustration; Getty Do you have $100 million? I don’t. Heck, I don’t even have $50 million! Which is why I’m not worried about the...

13.09.2024 30

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Michelle Obama: Yes, We Have Affirmative Action for the Wealthy

Michelle Obama at the DNC on Tuesday. Nate Gowdy It’s fair to say that Michelle Obama stole the show at the Democratic Convention on Tuesday....

22.08.2024 20

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Let’s Run JD Vance’s Child-Voting “Experiment” and See What Happens

Mother Jones illustration; Emily Elconin/Getty; Getty(3) Mormons would probably be psyched. The Republican Party less so. I’m talking about what...

15.08.2024 10

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

22 Questions Reporters Should Have Asked at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Press Conference

Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago press conference, August. 8, 2024. Alex Brandon/AP Have you seen any of those clips from Donald Trump’s rambling...

12.08.2024 10

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

JD Vance Called Democrats a “Childless Cabal,” but We Did the Math

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty The internet has been burning up this past week with the many, many faux pas—faux paws?—of Donald Trump’s...

01.08.2024 3

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Donald Trump Ridicules Kamala Harris’ Chuckle, Maybe Because He Almost Never Laughs

Erin Schaff/The New York Times/AP; Anthony Behar/Sipa/AP “You can tell a lot by a laugh,” Donald Trump told supporters the other day, reviving a...

24.07.2024 20

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic

Megadonors Are Showering Donald Trump & Co With Cash

Mother Jones; Andrew Rice/Unsplash; Getty Campaign finance disclosures are made public too ridiculously slowly to be of much use for real-time...

18.07.2024 10

Mother Jones

Michael Mechanic