Jamie Riley

3 days ago | contrarian.substack.com | Jamie Riley

By Hannah Katch and Jared BernsteinBecause so many Americans depend on publicly provided health care, the Trump administration and Republican budget writers have had trouble getting the votes they need to dramatically slash Medicaid funding as an offset for their high-end tax cuts. In an attempt to hit their numbers, they’re now doubling down on a Medicaid work requirement. But no one should be fooled.

3 weeks ago | contrarian.substack.com | Jamie Riley

Tariffs on, tariffs off, tariffs on hold. Day to day, the status of the Trump regime’s tariffs changes. That’s not good for global imports, not good for American consumers, and not good for business planning. In Fredericksburg, Virginia, pottery store owner Scarlett Pons has resigned herself to a substantial loss of business due to the Trump tariffs. “Pons was keeping track of the tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration on goods from China—until they went past 30% earlier this month.

1 month ago | contrarian.substack.com | Jamie Riley

“I was born during the war and grew up in a time of rationing. We didn't have anything. It's influenced the way I look at the world.” - Vivienne WestwoodA client at my hotel mailed me a copy of her self-published book of wartime recipes collected by her grandmother and her grandmother’s friends. Originally jotted down by hand in a notebook, the recipes covered a period from 1920 through 1950, just out of one world war and through another.

1 month ago | contrarian.substack.com | Jamie Riley

Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist whose cartoons have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post and elsewhere. Find him on Substack at nickanderson.substack.com.

2 months ago | contrarian.substack.com | Nat Kendall-Taylor |Jamie Riley

By Nat Kendall-TaylorRiding in with promises of turning the tables on those in government, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) operatives have projected an underdog image as they chaotically fire hundreds of thousands of public servants and end programs that feed the poorest people on Earth. As they have done all of this, they’ve ousted the watchdogs who could stop them. They justify their actions by claiming they are taking on corruption in service of working people.