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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day

@neveltenjohn.bsky.social
151 followers 128 following 1.8K posts

Center-right, former lifelong Republican, NeverTrump, policy and stat geek with too much education and too much experience.

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Reposted by Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day
Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
"A revitalized American liberalism could incorporate Zelensky’s inspirational courage, Magyar’s organizing ability, Carney’s calm competence, and Pope Leo’s moral grounding. Is it too much to hope we could combine some of these elements in one political movement?" www.thebulwark.com/p/winning-mi...
thebulwark.com
Winning the Midterms Is Not Enough
One wave election won’t defeat Trumpism.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Today I celebrate Columbus Day—it never much about Columbus himself, but about BOTH the spirit of discovery and honoring immigrants. The "honoring immigrants" part is the historical reason Columbus Day is not celebrated in Southern states—the KKK objected.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Today I celebrate Columbus Day—it never much about Columbus himself, but about BOTH the spirit of discovery and honoring immigrants. The "honoring immigrants" part is the historical reason Columbus Day is not celebrated in Southern states—the KKK objected.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Book recommendation: "Powerless" by Harry Turtledove Inspired by Václav Havel's essay "The Power of the Powerless", it is an alternate history following a Los Angeles grocer labeled a dissident in the West Coast People's Democratic Republic. Very powerful and one of Turtledove's best.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We must “recognize the evil that is being carried out in our name and fight it…We must recognize that in abandoning the words of Deuteronomy and the Statue of Liberty, we are losing our soul as a nation.” — Cardinal Robert McElroy, archbishop of Washington open.substack.com/pub/lettersf...
open.substack.com
On Pope Leo’s World Day of Migrants, Cardinal McElroy Indicts Trump’s War on Immigrants
Preaching on the Good Samaritan for World Day of Migrants, Washington’s archbishop named Minneapolis, a five-year-old used as bait, and a nation that “passed on by.” He told Catholics to fight every d...
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This would significantly reduce my quality of life. I am a 69yo who refuses ALL the optional parts of Meducare because the coverage is inferior to my private insurance. JUST RESTORE OBAMACARE. Bring back the mandate and subsidies, but don't degrade healthcare for millions
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 19/09/2026
This miracle is the fruit of generations of enormous and bipartisan investments of public research support for our universities. Future versions of this miracle are what we are currently losing, due to the US Administration’s decision to shatter the public’s partnership with our universities. 
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Mark Carney made a very Reaganesque speech—exactly something Reagan might had said if he were more of an intellectual. I mean no slight against either Reagan or Carney: Carney is expressing a basic truth that Reagan or Jefferson would agree with.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The "Che D Vance" meme is spreading. May it join "MAGA Maoism" as a reminder there NOTHING either conservative or freemarket about MAGA.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
😃 Making the rounds on the other site (where association with Marxist murderers is more unambiguously a negative): "Che D Vance"
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I'm pleased to be joining Tim, JVL, Sam, et al in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday evening Sep. 25, for a live show. Proceeds will go support the Haitian community of nearby Springfield. Come to Dayton! Stand up for those being cruelly persecuted! Abolish ICE! www.thebulwark.com/events?event...
thebulwark.com
Events - The Bulwark
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I supported Conor Lamb against Fetterman in the Democratic Primary. All the "normie" Democrats did. Fetterman was the candidate of "Our Revolution" and the DSA types.
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Isaiah Bishop @isaiahbishop.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I think a lot of people have this idea that allies are just a geopolitics thing, and to some degree they are. But theyre also shared norms that you can punish others for breaking. Trump getting rid of these taboos is a little scary. If US recovers, why not just do it again? threaten whoever?
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Sorry, you are not making your case. A LOT of medical indication otherwise BC/BS would not cover it either. Many people on Medicare are unaware how much they are denied because their docs know not to even try. Forcing all Americans onto Medicare would reduce quality of care for tens of millions.
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National Foundation for American Policy @nfapresearch.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Trump is making history: The only president in U.S. history to oversee a decline in the civilian labor force before Donald Trump is Abraham Lincoln, and that was due to the Civil War. It means less economic growth and higher debt. wapo.st/3SL42AD
wapo.st
Opinion | Trump is set to mark a dangerous first for the labor force
A drop in the number of workers in the economy is uncharted territory.
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A 76-year-old green card holder with stage 4 cancer was arrested at his citizenship application interview and has been held by ICE for two months. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Loreto Javar, a green card holder who’s lived in the United States for over three decades and is being treated for Stage 4 prostate cancer, has been held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma for more than two months. 

A 76-year-old retired hotel worker who lives in Fife with his wife and daughter, Javar was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials June 23 during an interview for his U.S. citizenship application in Tukwila. He was receiving ongoing cancer treatment when he was taken into ICE custody, his family said, and has missed several medical appointments since his arrest.
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Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I hope it’s clear to everyone who cares about the survival of our democracy that we need massive turnout and landslide margins to counteract the lies and cries of fraud that are coming after the midterm vote.
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National Foundation for American Policy @nfapresearch.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
In its rule, DHS omits describing H-1B data showing a 91% drop in new H-1B filings at consulates (and company declines) after the $100K fee in Sept. 2025. The data undermine DHS's claim a $103,265 tax won’t affect company filings. @mclem.org @douglasrivlin.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...
forbes.com
DHS Omits Describing H-1B Data Undermining Premise Of Immigration Rule
DHS omitted describing data in its immigration rule that showed filings for new H-1B petitions plunged after a $100,000 fee was introduced.
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Mark Regets @markregets.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Through multiple new rules on student visas, on OPT internships, and on work visas, the entire pipeline of high-skilled migration to America is being squeezed. DHS Omits Describing H-1B Data Undermining Premise Of Immigration Rule share.google/Pa8j5s7ysoTz...
share.google
DHS Omits Describing H-1B Data Undermining Premise Of Immigration Rule
DHS omitted describing data in its immigration rule that showed filings for new H-1B petitions plunged after a $100,000 fee was introduced.
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Mark Regets @markregets.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We never should have started reporting imports and exports in the same trade report. As made-up economic indicators go, even the old "misery index" (unemployment rate + CPI) is more meaningful than subtracting imports from exports.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Reminder: Dolly Parton helped fund the Moderna vaccine for COVID.
nytimes.com
Dolly Parton, who helped fund the Moderna vaccine, gets a ‘dose of her own medicine.’ (Published 2021)
The country music star broke into song before she was inoculated, and urged her fans to “get out there and get your shot.”
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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
In his speech yesterday, Canada PM Mark Carney seemed to try to explain to the President what a “trade deficit” is. You’re not just giving another country 100s of millions of dollars… You’re buying things from them! That you want!
Another prominent justification for U.S. tariffs has been their claim that, since the United States runs a trade deficit with Canada, we were "ripping them off"
But the United States' narrow merchandise trade deficit only exists because the U.S. buys so much of its energy from us.
Canada fuels American growth: supplying 99% of their natural gas imports, 85% of electricity imports, and 60% of crude oil imports. I don't think they want us to stop sending it.
And the comprehensive U.S.-Canada trade balance, which includes the many services - from finance to entertainment - that we buy from the U.S. shows a persistent American trade surplus.
Most fundamentally, trade is about building mutual strength - creating a relationship that benefits both countries.
For example, Canada is the largest customer for U.S. cars - in fact, we buy more American-built cars than the United Kingdom, Japan, and China combined.
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Lisa Mikolajczyk 🇺🇸🇺🇦✡️ @lisamikolajczyk.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Seeing this a lot on Twitter.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
washingtonpost.com
ICE begins deporting Haitians who lost TPS back to homeland
Community leaders said Thursday’s removal flight was one of the largest they had seen and included people who were detained in recent weeks.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I have criticized the NYT (including this specific reporter) for over-hyping DSA gains. Here (gift article) is her article on some of the many moderate successes. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/20/u...
nytimes.com
In a Big Year for Progressives, Here’s Why These Moderates Won Their Primaries (Gift Article)
At times this year, the Democratic Party’s centrist wing has felt under siege from the left. But it has won several tough primaries recently.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
NY Times gift article. Some of my friends on the left are still baffled by why so many NeverTrumpers think Trump is a socialist. Here perhaps is why some think of JD Vance as a communist. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/20/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | JD Vance Thinks You Are Not Christian Enough (Gift Article)
According to the vice president, we are wasting our freedom.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 18/08/2026
Is the DSA a Trojan donkey?
lnk.thebulwark.com
Is the DSA a Republican Psy-Op?
If I told you the DSA was secretly run by Roger Stone to hurt Democrats it would make more sense than . . . this.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
🙃 My son called me into his room in a panic because a video game had a character give him a clue in a note written in cursive. Very clear cursive, but he had no idea on to read it.
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Third Way @thirdway.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
1️⃣ Democratic primary voters are mainstream—only 6% are socialists 2️⃣ Voters want an authentic, effective fighter 3️⃣ Electability trumps ideology 4️⃣ Getting 60% of moderates will win a general election We cannot get fooled again: www.thirdway.org/memo/2028ers...
thirdway.org
2028ers: Don’t Get Fooled Again
In this memo, we explain why we know Democratic voters want their nominee to be in the Democratic mainstream. Indeed, the path to the nomination and the White House begins with understanding five elec...
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
An extremely long and scary (but thoughtful) discussion of modern fascism.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I oppose the SAVE Act, and I like Mark Warner, but Americans will not understand how HORRIBLE this bill is if Democrats just talk about the ID requirement (something that does not sound too horrible). It would create new FEDERAL oversight of all stages of elections! THAT is what CAN NOT be allowed
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
With my sehr schlecht Deutsch it took me a minute to realize that was today's solar eclipse as seen from the Space Station—very cool!
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I know most voters don't pay close attention, but I have to believe that deflating the "socialist are taking over the Democrats" hype is useful for Democrats in every purple, maroon, and violet district.
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POTUS @sentientpotato.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Y U P Way happier than when I was in academia. And this one might be counterintuitive, but I'd say better work/life balance too
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Alaskan primaries are not just OPEN to all voters, but to all candidates. It is a NONPARTISAN PRIMARY, that advances 4 candidates to the general election. Voters then have a manageable list for RCV. This is how a moderate Democrat like Peltola was able to win statewide in a very red state.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
We have always given prosecutors leeway to be adversarial. Probably too much leeway, as the goal was always justice and not counts of people jailed. BUT THERE HAS TO BE A LINE and corrupt prosecutions in the name of führerprinzip (or unitary executive theory) crosses it.
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Mark Regets @markregets.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
US job creation is being severely constrained by shrinking labor supply. Some say that is good, as businesses will recruit and train marginal workers BUT without job creation and econonic growth, marginal workers just find it HARDER to find opportunities.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I think M4A is a very BAD policy for many reasons, but even if were good, it is about as politically viable as a Constitutional Amendment to eliminate the Senate. In an America where 160 million LIKE their private insurance, only something like a revived Obamacare is viable.
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Simon Lester @simonlester.com · 07/08/2026
I would like to see some Democratic politicians criticize this and talk about how they are going to unwind it.
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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"Better policy can mitigate the real problems surrounding America’s data center buildout—no bans or dire economic consequences needed." [@scottlincicome.bsky.social]
cato.org
Data Centers Are Not the Problem. Bad Policy Is.
And policy can be reformed.
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Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto @cortezmasto.senate.gov · 27/07/2026
Today, I introduced the Fairness for Immigrant Families Act to finally address key issues in our broken immigration system that keep families in the shadows for decades.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"Election officials and lawyers noted how surreal it is, even after a decade of Trumpism, to treat the nation’s duly elected president as the primary threat to the freedom and fairness of American elections." Yes. Always keep this front and center.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 06/08/2026
Headline from....the Daily Mail.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"Establishment" and "centrist" ARE being used as slurs to mean "anyone in the way of our revolution". They are frequently used against people FAR away from the meanings of the words. Too often the press has been complicit in the misuse.
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 05/08/2026
A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
To reaffirm my principles: While I am now more pessimistic about Dems winning back the Senate, it is important it happen to limit MAGA damage to America. So if I were in Michigan, I would reluctantly vote for AES. Since I am not, I am sending an extra minor contribution to Mary Peltola in Alaska.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 03/08/2026
NEW from @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social: "We conducted three focus groups—one each in April, June, and July—with Michiganders who had voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 and planned to vote in the Democratic primary for the Senate race." lnk.thebulwark.com/45BmYEP?utm_...
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Michigan's Democratic Attorney General, Dana Nessel, said that she will not attend the Michigan Democratic Convention because she would not feel safe. Republicans who defy Trump often fear for their personal safety. The far left is doing the same to Dems. The hatemongering is destroying America.
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𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @sundaedivine.lol · 29/07/2026
Today is another one of those uncomfortable times where I find myself looking wistfully back at the Bush Administration.
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Pseudonym of a boring policy wonk by day @neveltenjohn.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
We are doing something terrible to 1.3 million people while damaging America's economy, and DHS presents this with snarky dark humor: "Your Free Trial of America has Ended"
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