Let's not be like Kansas: Jordan Weissmann looks at President Trump’s proposed tax plan and sees many similarities with the disastrous tax cuts pushed through by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback that have left the state “mired in a perpetual budget crisis” since 2012.

Or North Carolina: Mark Joseph Stern views the recent works of the North Carolina legislature’s veto-proof Republican majorities with trepidation. If Republicans in the House and Senate could get it together, stop infighting, and win just a few more seats, Stern warns, we’d be seeing policies like these enacted at the national level.

Thankfully: Trump could have done a lot of things in the first 100 days of his administration if he had made any kind of canny move to ally with Democrats, Jim Newell writes. Happily, he’s a terrible negotiator, and he’s wasted a lot of momentum.

Behind the shakeup: Isaac Chotiner interviews James Andrew Miller, chronicler of all things ESPN, about the recent layoffs at the network.

For (sad) fun: David Byrne’s sweet tribute to Jonathan Demme.

Time to rewatch Stop Making Sense,

Rebecca