The Angry Bear

A counter argument by Robert Reich about Pres. Joe Bidens 2021 CHIPS Act. Why Did the US give away $52bn to corporations like Intel? by Robert Reich The Guardian Congress will soon put final touches on the Chips Act, which will provide more than $52bn to companies that design and make semiconductor chips. The subsidy is demanded by the biggest chipmakers as a condition for making more chips in America. It’s pure extortion. The...

More on Pharmacy Benefit Managers and their influence on costs In case you forgot who the PBMs are? The FTC said in its interim report, the “increasing vertical integration and concentration enables the six largest PBMs to manage nearly 95 percent of all prescriptions filled in the United States.” Those six are Caremark Rx, LLC; Express Scripts, Inc.; OptumRx, Inc.; Humana Pharmacy Solutions, Inc.; Prime Therapeutics LLC; and MedImpact...

Not sure if he started to cry while the trump supporters were taking him to task. Must be the heat was to great and he was not armed. “Kyle Rittenhouse” reverses course on not endorsing Trump after online pile-on The Guardian Man who killed activists in 2020 questioned Trump’s gun rights bona fides before backing down in face of hate tweets. Acquitted killer Kyle Rittenhouse announced he would not be supporting Donald Trump’s attempt to...

by Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research I’m really wondering after the network ran the second piece in three days blaming a weak economy for the fact that restaurants can’t sustain their inflated pandemic profit margins. The basic story here is that many restaurant chains took advantage of the supply chain crisis to increase their profit margins. To be clear, this means that they raised their prices by more than their costs....

This piece is a review on what is happening in increasing manufacturing capacity for computer, electronic, and electrical manufacturing. Where I am, there is increasing builds of facilities for each of those products. That being around the Phoenix area. One facility they have been working on for two years now and it appears to be near the end. Much of this is automated and probably much Labor. Semiconductor is basically growing wafer, populated the...

It figures. Just about the time they accept me in for full benefits due to my being at Camp Lejeune, the VA is starting to rund short on cash to pay for the Pact Act. What is said further down in this report, medical care is running short on funds too. That shortage is ~$9 billion. I know the one facility where I might go is short of doctors to handle spinal damage. Still waiting for the commercial healthcare to get back to me. They know I am out...

I don’t get this. If a family plans early enough, why can’t they get three in a row? If the seat is available, book the child. Seats do not differentiate between small bottoms and large bottoms. The seat is occupied and paid for at a normal fare. Perhaps, I am missing something here, so fill me in on the issue. This is not a have to, it is a common sense solution. Tempest in a teapot. Proposal on family seating comes as officials have raised...

July jobs report: Establishment survey weak (but still positive), Household survey (even more) recessionary  – by New Deal democrat In the past few months, my focus has been on whether jobs gains are most consistent with a “soft landing,” i.e., no further deterioration, or whether deceleration is ongoing. In the last several months I have also pointed out that the Household Survey is probably understating growth because of its large undercount...

While I do check in from time to time at 538, it turns out that Truth Social share prices are a useful metric for Trump’s popularity, at least where it matters:“The value of Trump’s stake in the corporate owner of Truth Social has dropped by $900 million since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White House on July 21. Trump Media & Technology Group’s share price has tumbled by about 23% since then, including another sharp drop...

I am a veteran and like other veterans we try to use the VA. Recently I have been conversing (emails) with Steve Early and explaining to him I was finally taken in by the VA. And why? I spent over 2+ years of time at Camp Lejeune while going back and forth to Cuba for 4.5 months each time. So, I qualify under the recent Pact Act. I and others were showering in tainted water and drinking it. I have a blood disorder in which my platelets disappear and...