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E.J. Fagan

@ejfagan.com

3.8K followers 1.6K following 1.8K posts

Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Illinois Chicago. Author of The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics. Also, baseball.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · Nov 18

Hello new Bluesky followers!

I study U.S. politics and policymaking, focusing on the politicization of expertise and information processing.

I published a great book this summer. It's called The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics. Check it out!

The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development): Fagan, E.J.: 9780197759660: Amazon.com: Books

The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development) [Fagan, E.J.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Thinkers: The Rise of Partisan Think Tanks and the Polarization of American Politics (Studies in Postwar American Political Development)

www.amazon.com

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Michael Eisen @mbeisen.bsky.social · 1d

Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 8h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 11h

Right now, Southern states pay way less in taxes than they get in federal spending, because they are poor. Because they have a decent number of Southern reps, Democrats could never build a majority that opposes the imbalance.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 11h

Let’s turn Medicaid and SNAP into block grants using a formula based on population.

E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 11h

They won’t care, but eliminating Democratic seats from the South is going to make the politics of donor/taker states way worse for them.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 15h

white reactionaries disenfranchising black voters to secure political power? that’s a jim crow. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

The Supreme Court Case That Could Hand the House to Republicans

www.nytimes.com

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 12h

Pack the court

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John V. Kane @uptonorwell.bsky.social · 13h

🚨 I created a new guide on how to make nice dot charts. These can be really informative, yet remain weirdly underutilized. The examples are with @statacorp.bsky.social but the logic applies to all
software. Link in thread. 👇

Made it mostly for my students but hope you find it useful, too! 😁

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Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 19h

If Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act falls, Democrats might need to win the national popular vote by 5 to 6 points to take control of the House, via Nate Cohn
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 1d

Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense.

www.newsweek.com/jb-pritzker-...

JB Pritzker looking at prosecuting ICE agents in Chicago

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has suggested that state prosecutors might examine the conduct of ICE agents.

www.newsweek.com

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ℳatt @matttomic.bsky.social · 1d

Here's a recording of the pilot of C-GZPT, a Cirrus SR22, tracing the Jays logo over Nova Scotia

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 1d

The scale includes both parties.

E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 1d

They are in the Republican party network, but only care about a narrow range of issues (guns). The important distinction is between groups like them and groups that are generally ideological, like the Heritage Foundation. The broader issue agenda groups have a different function in the party.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 1d

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are using a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportation flights. The AP spoke to a number of people who said they were placed in the device after they had already been shackled.

ICE's use of full-body restraints during deportations raises concerns over inhumane treatment

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been using a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportations.

bit.ly

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Mattan S. Ben-Shachar @mattansb.msbstats.info · 3d

Here are some thoughts about higher education - specifically statistics & research methods - after grading some more papers written with "assistance" from LLMs.

🧵

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William Bendix @williambendix.bsky.social · 2d

"Roughly half of geostationary satellite signals, many carrying sensitive consumer, corporate, and government communications, have been left entirely vulnerable to eavesdropping."
www.wired.com/story/satell...

Satellites Are Leaking the World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data

With just $800 in basic equipment, researchers found a stunning variety of data—including thousands of T-Mobile users’ calls and texts and even US military communications—sent by satellites unencrypte...

www.wired.com

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Sacha Altay @sachaltay.bsky.social · 2d

Super cool data on what people saw on their phone during the 2024 US elections:

"On an average day, the median individual saw the terms ‘Donald Trump’, ‘Joe Biden’, and ‘Kamala Harris’ on their phone for only 3 seconds."

www.guyaridor.net/files/digita...

www.guyaridor.net

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 2d

Why is former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb speaking out so forcefully against his former boss now?

@timmiller.bsky.social talked to him about it on the latest Bulwark Podcast

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 2d

They’ve been weirdly good on free press issues. Went after Brendan Carr too.

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 3d

Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 2d

The entire incident is infuriating and terrifying. She’s a Latina woman who was working a service job. On her way home late at night, with her headphones in, she was detained for an hour by masked federal agents who wouldn’t give her their names.

Maria Greeley, 44, had just finished working a double shift at the Beach Bar on Ohio Street
earlier this month when she said she was surrounded by three federal agents who grabbed her, forced her hands behind her back and zip tied her.
Headphones in, Greeley had been focused on getting home to her two dogs for a walk.
Instead, she said she was detained by masked agents who did not answer when she asked for names. They questioned her for an hour, she said.

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 2d

This could almost exactly happen to my wife. Fuck you a million times Brett Kavanaugh.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d

"During the encounter, Greeley said they told her she 'doesn’t look like' a Greeley."

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Chicago Tribune: Greeley, who was born at Illinois Masonic hospital and is adopted, carries a copy of her passport just in case she runs into federal agents.

“I am Latina and I am a service worker,” Greeley said. “I fit the description of what they’re looking for now.”

During the encounter, Greeley said they told her she “doesn’t look like” a Greeley.

“They said this isn’t real, they kept telling me I’m lying, I’m a liar,” Greeley recalled. “I told them to look in the rest of my wallet, I have my credit cards, my insurance.”

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slangsonsports.bsky.social @slangsonsports.bsky.social · 2d

404 ft is 2nd-longest projected distance on a batted ball resulting in a double play under Statcast, reg+post

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E.J. Fagan @ejfagan.com · 2d

My unhinged literary opinion: we don't do poetry anymore because recorded music is the same but better.