Author: Michael Baranowski

Ted Cruz wants people to believe that he has no choice but to sign up for Obamacare. But in reality, as this article details, he could forego an Obamacare exchange if he were willing to pay for the privilege. While Cruz may hate Obamacare, he loves money even more, apparently. (ThinkProgress, 03/25/2015)

In an article guaranteed – and probably designed – to rile up its subscriber base, The New Yorker looks at how Ted Cruz is like Barack Obama, how a Cruz nomination could further transform the GOP, and how – just maybe – he could win. (Though their reasoning – in a general election, anything can happen – isn’t exactly impressive.)  (The New Yorker, 3/24/2015)

You won’t find any mention of the cost in this New York Times article. The Pentagon frowns on discussing costs, and most of the mainstream media seems all too happy to go along. If you dig a little, you can get at least a rough estimate.

According to the Congressional Research Service, it costs roughly $3.9 million per troop per year in Afghanistan. Meaning that keeping 9,800 troops there for another year should run about $38 billion (and change). Now, I’m certainly not a highly trained journalist like the people working at the New York Times, but that seems like a pretty important fact.

In announcing his candidacy at Liberty University, Cruz said, “imagine abolishing the IRS” – and its not the first time he’s called for eliminating the agency. While Ted Cruz is chock full of bad ideas, this might have emerged as the very worst of them (Washington Post)

Iran’s usually vocal clerics and military commanders are heeding the call of the country’s supreme leader, who has largely supported the negotiations. (New York Times)

Trump on Cruz: “You’re supposed to be born in this country”  (Salon.com)

Here’s where Michael and Jay plan on posting various things throughout the week, many of which they probably won’t be able to fit in to the weekly podcast.