Dylan Matthews
is a senior correspondent and head writer for Vox's Future Perfect section and has worked at Vox since 2014. He is particularly interested in global health and pandemic prevention, anti-poverty efforts, economic policy and theory, and conflicts about the right way to do philanthropy.
1. What the GOP does now
Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) (L) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) emerge from the White House to speak to the media on November 16, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Roger Wollenberg/Getty Images)
Republicans will officially control Congress as of January 3, so House Speaker John Boehner and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out their plan in an op-ed.
The first issue mentioned is approving the Keystone XL pipeline, which could be more important now that oil prices are falling and shipping oil from Canada by rail is getting less cost-effective.
The second one mentioned, the Hire More Heroes Act, would let employers not count veterans who get VA care as employees for the purposes of the Obamacare requirement that employers in businesses with 50+ people provide health insurance; the bill passed the House nearly unanimously and has a lot of Democratic support.
The third is a proposal to change the Obamacare employer mandate's 30-hour a week threshold for "full time" employment to 40 hours a week, such that the mandate no longer applies to workers working 30-39 hours.
Another top priority is repealing the medical device tax, a small part of Obamacare's funding; the medical device industry has waged a heated campaign against the tax since Obamacare's passage.
Republicans' victory could make it easier to pass fast-track trade authority, letting Obama negotiate the big Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal more easily; however, car companies oppose the move, and some observers fear it can't break a Democratic filibuster.
Oh yeah, Democratic filibusters — assuming the filibuster survives, those will be a thing, and Ramesh Ponnuru argues they mean Obama won't have to veto much.
There's a lot of potential for cooperation to backfire: it could help Bashar Assad (who is a key Iranian ally), and it could solidify Iranian influence in the Iraqi government.
Kody Partridge (R) and her partner Lauri Wood (L) celebrate after an act of the Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage in Utah on October 6, 2014. (George Frey/Getty Images)
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld bans on same-sex marriage in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
Previously, the Court had tried to sidestep the issue, which meant that pro-marriage equality rulings in the Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits were allowed to stand.
If the Court legalizes same-sex marriage, the majority will almost certainly include Anthony Kennedy, whose legacy rests on three major gay rights decisions, where he authored the court's opinion.
"Until somebody develops a new, less racist way of comparing the value of two numbers, people are going to define the winner of a group as the candidate with more votes."
"Here’s the problem with this kind of civic engagement: Spending public money is a serious business, and serious business can often be incredibly boring."
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