Andrew Eilts

Iowa raised and DC living, policy nerd, pushing out mostly econ and intl policy. Ruthless defollower. Opinions and grammar mistakes are my own.

[Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 @PollTracker2024]

NYT: Beth, the Beloved Vacuum of a 92-Year-Old Iowa Senator, Has Died

Senator Chuck Grassley mourned his decades-long cleaning companion, writing on social media: “GOOD BYE BETH. U hv been a real workhorse.”

https://t.co/0srczBIDyn

[Noah Smith 🐇🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 @Noahpinion]

The United States of America has now lasted for a quarter of a millennium.

[Robert P. George @McCormickProf]

On this 250th anniversary of the Declaration, it's worth reflecting on what truly is exceptional about America. An angle into the question is to reflect on how immigrants become Americans. Here are my thoughts. (Teaser: It's all about gratitude.)
https://t.co/DIGj6j8tPT

[Sean T at RCP @SeanTrende]

The max payout for soc sec is $62k per year. For two income earners that’s $125k paid by the federal government annually. I have zero problem helping out the genuinely poor, but that is genuinely insane. Adding a 12.5% flat tax on income to perpetuate that system is crazier.

[Patrick Horan @Pat_Horan92]

It can't be stressed enough. The 1946 debt/GDP peak was due a literal world war against tyranny. The United States had a young workforce to sustain economic growth. Now, the US has an aging population & is wasting fiscal space on the already wealthy elderly.

[NASA Earth @NASAEarth]

New record🥇

The Artemis II astronauts are now farther from Earth than humans have ever been! At 1:57 p.m. EDT, they broke the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

Their journey around the far side of the Moon today will take them a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth.

[Andrew McCarthy @AJamesMcCarthy]

“We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

Godspeed, Artemis II.

[PoIiMath @politicalmath]

This is probably the biggest fiscal tragedy of the last 30 years. The Bush plan to save Social Security would mean that Gen X would currently be looking at a much more stable and wealthy retirement & the future of the program would not be so uncertain

Oh well

[Claire Lehmann @clairlemon]

I'm visiting America from Australia, and I have to say that you guys have a truly awesome country. Narratives of decline are off-the-mark. While there are faults, you guys are free & live on bountiful land. Those of us not born here are jealous. Be grateful for what you have!

[Andrew Eilts @andreweilts]

@InezFeltscher @JarrettStepman Congrats!!

[Gov. Kim Reynolds @IAGovernor]

Today, we honor the lives of 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, killed by Islamist terrorist group Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Our hearts and prayers are with Israel and the hostages still being held captive today. Iowa will continue to stand with Israel.🇺🇸🇮🇱

[Romina Boccia @RominaBoccia]

‘Over the past 15 years, the US economy has expanded by 76% to $25.5 trillion. During the same period, Germany’s economy grew by 19% to $4.1 trillion. In dollar terms, the US added the equivalent of nearly three Germanys to its economy over that period.’

https://t.co/yt2MgTuI9N

[Jessica Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 @JessicaBRiedl]

@asymmetricinfo The real deficit was $2.0 trillion if you adjust for an accounting glitch related to the cancelled student loan bailout.

That's 7.5% of GDP - the largest deficit ever outside war and recession. It should never happen in a growing economy.

[Andrew Eilts @andreweilts]

This is devastating. My one goal during Covid was to keep this place open. RIP to the best Thai food in town.

[PoPville @PoPville]

BKK Cookshop, Authentic Thai Street Food, Closing after 9 years at the end of March https://t.co/XJw9eCFst1

[Adam Rubenstein @RubensteinAdam]

I took notes.

https://t.co/zVLlVMxVQM

[Nat Friedman @natfriedman]

Ten months ago, we launched the Vesuvius Challenge to solve the ancient problem of the Herculaneum Papyri, a library of scrolls that were flash-fried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

Today we are overjoyed to announce that our crazy project has succeeded. After 2000 years, we can finally read the scrolls:
This image was produced by @Youssef_M_Nader, @LukeFarritor, and @JuliSchillij, who have now won the Vesuvius Challenge Grand Prize of $700,000. Congratulations!!

These fifteen columns come from the very end of the first scroll we have been able to read and contain new text from the ancient world that has never been seen before. The author – probably Epicurean philosopher Philodemus – writes here about music, food, and how to enjoy life's pleasures. In the closing section, he throws shade at unnamed ideological adversaries – perhaps the stoics? – who "have nothing to say about pleasure, either in general or in particular."

This year, the Vesuvius Challenge continues. The text that we revealed so far represents just 5% of one scroll.

In 2024, our goal is to from reading a few passages of text to entire scrolls, and we're announcing a new $100,000 grand prize for the first team that is able to read at least 90% of all four scrolls that we have scanned.

The scrolls stored in Naples that remain to be read represent more than 16 megabytes of ancient text. But the villa where the scrolls were found was only partially excavated, and scholars tell us that there may be thousands more scrolls underground. Our hope is that the success of the Vesuvius Challenge catalyzes the excavation of the villa, that the main library is discovered, and that whatever we find there rewrites history and inspires all of us.

It's been a great joy to work on this strange and amazing project. Thanks to Brent Seales for laying the foundation for this work over so many years, thanks to the friends and Twitter users whose donations powered our effort, and thanks to the many contestants whose contributions have made the Vesuvius Challenge successful!

Read more in our announcement: https://t.co/rUlrdGXBMs

[Omri Ceren @omriceren]

Actually, mixing British tea with salt water is an American custom as old as the Republic. Slightly older if we're being technical.

[Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger]

They’re all lined up: Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, etc. Cuba, Venezuela, Hamas, and on and on. They are aligned in Ukraine, the Middle East, and everywhere else. Americans and others may not like U.S. leadership in the world. But the alternative is worse, for one and all.

[Sonny Bunch @SonnyBunch]

This is a hard story to read but also an important story to read if you want to understand why there will be no ceasefire until Hamas is liquidated. Why there CAN be no ceasefire. No nation would allow this to happen to its people without punishment. https://t.co/VpbuTZLNTb