WonkPM: Your afternoon update from Wonkblog for August 29, 2013

Catch up on Wonkblog's latest posts. A supplement to your Wonkbook subscription.

View on the Web. Thursday, August 29, 2013 WonkPM is your afternoon update of the latest posts on Wonkblog. WonkPM is a supplement to your morning Wonkbook newsletter. If you'd like to opt-out from receiving WonkPM, please click here. New Zealand just abolished software patents. Here's why we should, too. The IRS and Medicare will now recognize same-sex marriages. All of them. According to a big new announcement from the IRS and the Treasury Department, if you’re a legally married gay couple, the federal government will recognize your marriage — even if you live in a state where your marriage isn’t legal. The … Continue reading → America's secret intelligence budget, in 11 charts Barton Gellman, the crazy good investigative reporter who broke the NSA story for us a few months back, has a major scoop with Greg Miller and researcher Julie Tate breaking down the Black Budget, a $52.6 billion portion of the federal … Continue reading → Justice Dept. won't stop states from legalizing pot. Here's what that means. The Justice Department will not challenge Washington and Colorado’s new laws that legalize marijuana use among adults. Huffington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly and Ryan Grim report: A Justice Department official said that (Attorney General Eric) Holder told the governors in … Continue reading → The famous "47 percent" are now down to 43 percent Remember that moment in the 2012 campaign when Mitt Romney was caught on tape lamenting the fact that “Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax”? Sure you do. Well, it turns out that stat needs updating. The Tax Policy … Continue reading → This could be the worst college football dance ever Native Oregonian Jim Tankersley flags us to “the chainsaw,” the hip new dance move sweeping through Oregon State University! Or, um, something like that. “The NCAA should sanction Oregon State for creating this,” Stephen Douglas at the Big Lead writes. … Continue reading → Syria: The very, very basics Wednesday’s news conference by Secretary of State John Kerry was, as colleague Max Fisher said, basically an announcement that we’re going to war with Syria. It would be the fourth Muslim country we’ve attacked since 9/11 (seventh if you include … Continue reading → What's the future of drug policy? An interview with America's 'Drug Czar' Gil Kerlikowske is director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (in more common parlance, America's "Drug Czar.") He was recently nominated to be commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. So this is an especially good moment … Continue reading → How Obama demobilized the antiwar movement As the Obama administration considers military action in Syria, Rosie Gray wonders why the antiwar movement has been strangely muted: ”Though some groups have organized online petitions and some real-life protests,” she reports, “the antiwar crowd that was on fire before the … Continue reading → Obamacare's cost-control programs may be contagious Accountable care organizations (ACOs) may actually be the unicorns we've been waiting for, spreading their cost-saving magic throughout the health system. An early cost-sharing program in Massachusetts designed to cut costs for private Blue Cross Blue Shield patients also lowered costs … Continue reading → Follow Ezra Klein:     You are receiving WonkPM as a supplement to your morning Wonkbook newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive WonkPM, or would like to unsubscribe from Wonkbook entirely, click here. ©2013 The Washington Post 1150 15th St NW Washington, DC 20071 Help & Contact Info Privacy Policy

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