Stuart Shapiro
stuartshapiroblou.bsky.social
Stuart Shapiro
@stuartshapiroblou.bsky.social

Dean of Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Obsessed with baseball, basketball, regulation, TV

Stuart S. Shapiro is a producer, writer, director, and Internet entrepreneur. Shapiro began his career as an independent film distributor in 1974 by starting International Harmony which distributed cult classics TunnelVision, Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, Bob Marley's Reggae Sunsplash, The Sex Pistols' DOA, and Tarzoon: Shame of the Jungle. .. more

Business 30%
Economics 28%

This is disproportionately a DC Circuit issue: "Combined, Judges Gregory G. Katsas, Neomi Rao, and Justin R. Walker voted 75 times in favor of the administration — slightly more than half of the pro-Trump votes from Mr. Trump’s appointees logged by the Times analysis — and only three times against."

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

I cannot imagine why the last year made preexisting problems with hiring and retention worse... Who could have predicted that exercising greater control over the federal workforce would harm government performance?

Not me.

www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/articl...
I'm not a doctor or a nurse. I have no medical expertise. Far be it from me to diagnose anyone. I don't know what's going on with Trump. But I do know something is going on with him. We all can see it. Where is the scrutiny over his cognitive health that legacy media had for Pres. Biden?
Matt Shaw really beginning to doubt his "Jews will not replace us" poster.
Common Sense, published 250 years ago today.

The challenge for all of those (us) who hate Vance is that if Trump does die he gets to run for the nomination as incumbent.

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

I can't describe how bad Minneapolis feels right now. My neighbors are pulling kids out of school. The public schools are offering remote learning until 2/12. We are having conversations in our alleys about how to protect ourselves. It feels like a military occupation with a blockade.
The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.
This story is full of gems. Read the whole thing. Here's just one:
The USDA just cut off ag aid to MN
They’re targeting and invading Minnesota. Cutting off all of our federal funding and flooding our state with federal agents with no purpose. They’re here to terrorize, cause chaos to justify their unlawful cruelty. Enough.
Federal immigration officers are pulling out of a Louisiana crackdown and heading to Minneapolis in an abrupt pivot from an operation that drew protests around New Orleans and aimed to make thousands of arrests, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

This is the opposite of what companies that actually have a legal department want to hear, because it means contracts can (and likely WILL) be voided in because they weren't authorized by the government of the country in question

*TRUMP: US OIL COMPANIES WILL DEAL WITH US DIRECTLY, NOT CARACAS

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Bloustein School alum Jeremy Zorek (PPP '25) was recently featured in the New York Times as part of a transit challenge to ride every system that still accepts the MetroCard before the iconic fare card fades into history. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/n...
A Farewell Ride With the MetroCard, on Every Transit Line That Uses It
www.nytimes.com
not even kidding, Vance should be excommunicated over this
NEW: The full DC Circuit lets stand a 2-1 decision allowing Trump's firing of Cathy Harris from the Merit Systems Protection Board.

They didn't even vote on whether to rehear the case en banc after two Trump appointees (Katsas/Walker) sided with Trump before SCOTUS even heard the FTC firing case.

These two things are related. As the clock ticks (toward November 2026) Miller, Vought, Rubio etc. realize they have to move faster to accomplish their policy goals before they get harder.

The problem is that the civil servants aren't making up numbers that the Administration likes.
I thought this was a good piece from Ryan. Democratic (lowercase “d”) electoral competition in America will require a democratic faction to win control of the Republican Party 

open.substack.com/pub/ryandeno...
The Future of Democracy Depends on the Republican Party
The Battle for a Liberal Society is Happening Within the Political Right
open.substack.com
Are George W., Obama, Clinton, and Biden out there saying anything about anything these days?? Their silence feels deafening

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

Next up in our "100 ideas" series — New by Russell Muirhead
@dartmouthartsci.bsky.social — "The End of Constitutional Government"

Part of @nyulaw.bsky.social Democracy Project's "100 Ideas in 100 Days"

Read the full piece here: democracyproject.org/posts/the-en...
The End of Constitutional Government
A broad range of views on democracy to help break the stalemate caused by partisan conflict.
democracyproject.org

11am presumably

I think "My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me." is more of a tell than people are realizing.
You couldn't really make this up.

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

You couldn't really make this up.
Many are arguing that they wouldn't be acting this way if they thought they were subject to free & fair elections.

Plausible. But another explanation is that they see the writing on the wall--generational backlash--and they're attempting increasingly desparate hail marys
He has…sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

17 GOP defectors broke with their party to protect health subsidies—a sharp rebuke to Speaker Mike Johnson.
House passes three-year ACA extension
17 GOP defectors broke with their party to protect health subsidies—a sharp rebuke to Speaker Mike Johnson.
www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

Reposted by Stuart Shapiro

🎄🏖️ Since the 1960s, discarded #Christmas trees have been integrated into the management and restoration of dunes along the #NJ #shore, going back to when Teamsters Union 153 donated time and equipment to haul 15,000 discarded trees to Long Island Beach, Sandy Hook, and Island #Beach:
Managing Coastal Erosion and Storm Damage: Discarded Christmas Trees Restore Dunes - New Jersey State Policy Lab
Major storms, such as Hurricane Sandy, which destroyed or damaged 346,000 structures across New Jersey in 2012, lead to significant economic losses and disruptions to the state’s tourism industry. San...
policylab.rutgers.edu
Researchers from CUPR and VTC updated New Jersey's Infrastructure Needs Assessment. The assessment examines long-term infrastructure needs across sectors like water, transportation, flood protection, and more, drawing on federal, state, and local data. bloustein.rutgers.edu/ejb-research...

I just don't understand how any sentence begins, "Trump is going to discover . . ." No, he isn't.