Philipp Meyer’s debut novel American Rust has a picture of an oxidized railroad spike on its cover. It was a metaphor for one thing that became a metaphor for another last summer when Mr. Meyer’s former agent, Esther Newberg, sent him an actual railroad spike in the mail. Just a few weeks ago, his second Read More

Congressman Anthony Weiner was on Hardball yesterday, arguing with Jack Kingston, the presumptive Republican chairman of the Appropriations Committee, about the Bush tax cuts.

House Democrats are expected to bring a bill today that would extend the tax breaks for people who make less than $250,000–without having brokered a deal for what to do about Read More