The only truly individualistic health-care choice - where you receive care that is unpolluted by anyone else's funds - is to forgo insurance altogether, paying out-of-pocket for health services as you need them. Thomas Frank altogethercarechoice share on social
As you may recall, Truman was extremely unpopular when he finally left Washington in 1953, thanks largely to the Korean War. Today, however, he is thought to have been a solidly good president, a 'Near Great' even, in the terminology of those surveys of historians they do every now and then. Thomas Frank extremelyfinallygood share on social
When done right - or wrong, depending on how you look at it - deficits remove liberal options from the table. Suddenly there's no money for building bridges or inspecting meat. Not surprisingly, running up a deficit is a strategy favored by the wrecking crew for its liberal-killing properties. Thomas Frank bridgebuildcrow share on social
Journalism has a special, hallowed place for stories of its practitioners' persecution. Thomas Frank hallowjournalismpersecution Change image and share on social
Presidential legacies are valuable things, too valuable to be left up to historians. Thomas Frank historianleavelegacy Change image and share on social
For decades Republicans have made policy with a higher purpose in mind: to solidify the GOP base or to damage the institutions and movements aligned with the other side. Thomas Frank alignbasedamage Change image and share on social
American conservatism depends on its continued dominance and even for its very existence on people never making connections about the world, connections that until recent were treated as obvious or self-evident everywhere on the planet. Thomas Frank americanconnectionconservatism share on social
There are few things in politics more annoying than the Right's utter conviction that it owns the patent on the word 'freedom' that when its leaders stand up for the rights of banks to be unregulated or capital gains to be untaxed, that it is actually and obviously standing up for human liberty, the noblest cause of them all. Thomas Frank annoybankcapital share on social
In America, we no longer have an institutionalized, organized way of calling business to task - of taking them to account for what they've done - and this is especially true in the cultural realm. Thomas Frank accountamericabusiness Change image and share on social
Under the administration of George W. Bush, you will recall, federal spending grew pretty significantly. At the same time, the number of people directly employed by the federal government shrank. One of the factors that explained the difference was contracting. Thomas Frank administrationbushcontract share on social