Tag Archives: politics

Both of these articles by Mark Stern are good reads. He gets the point across without using the typical legalese in explaining his stance. It is interesting, how Judge Reeves places the responsibility right back in SCOTUS and Thomas’s lap. In other words, they have to decide how to work through the history quagmire created by Thomas. The court is not deciding based upon Constitutional interpretation which the Nineth Amendment covers. The court is...

Medicare is almost $200 billion in gross drug spend: Who gets the blame? — 46brooklyn Research This is a complex issue as there are many moving parts to drug pricing and their costs. Perplexing in describing the drug spend issues would seem appropriate. I am not even sure if this long post will adequately define the issue of how drug prices are set. However, here is another article which I believe may break this down even more so. Later on...

How can that be? Something the Biden administration did made access to Medicare easier by providing quicker access to Medicare. The Medicare improvements incorporate no delay in coverage, better access (SEPS), and eliminates late enrollment penalties for Part B under certain conditions. According to CNN news and other news outlets, Biden has taken credit for things he did not do. Rather than mistakes made in announcing economic improvements,...

Courtesy of EMicheal in comments. Kind of the point, I have been making for a while now. Labor wages are not the big driver of inflation. Corporations are increasing non-cost related prices and blaming it on inflation. But it’s not because of inflation. It is a cause of inflation. The public newscasters are selling their wares, ignorance, or lies on TV or the internet. It is a deliberate miscasting of the economic issues. Prices are rising not...

October jobs report: late cycle deceleration and deterioration  – by New Deal democrat With the sharp increases in interest rates, and the complete stalling of real consumer spending measured YoY, since early this year I have expected employment to follow suit, decelerating over time to a stall. And the three month average in employment gains since February decelerated from over 500,000 to 372,000 through September. Because jobless claims,...

Are You Sure About that? Not sure why a man with an orange face and orangish thin hair holds such sway over so many people. He has done so little for the people who follow him. They believe his every word. In Arizona, the poll watchers are out at each of the polling boxes. Not sure what they are going to see as each person deposits the enveloped ballots. My wife and I took ours to the Post Office. Armed and masked men taking pictures of people...

The Fed appears determined to cause a Volcker-like recession  – by New Deal democrat Yesterday the Fed raised rates another 0.75%. In the past 8 months, the Fed has raised rates a total of 3.75%. This is one of the steepest increases in interest rates ever, only exceeded by the pace of the two 1970s oil shocks (1974 and 1979) and Volcker’s inflation jihad of 1981, as shown in the below graph of the YoY% change in the Fed funds rate. Note...

“Major student-loan company (MOHELA) just undermined the GOP-led lawsuit halting Biden’s debt cancellation,” (msn.com), Ayelet Sheffey. Oct 12, 2022, Biden’s Student-Debt Relief Goes to Court Today. Here’s the GOP Argument, (businessinsider.com), Ayelet Sheffey. Republicans representing Arkansas, South Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri all said the states could suffer revenue loss from student-loan forgiveness, even as Biden’s...

 Jobless claims: steady as she goes by New Deal democrat [ Special programming note: yesterday’s Fed action, and more important the statements made afterward, merit special attention. I will put up a special post on that later today.] Initial jobless claims remained at their recent low level, down -1,000 from one week ago to 217,000. The 4 week average declined -500 to 218,750. Continuing claims, which lag slightly, rose 47,500 to a 7 month...

Joe Ciricione joined Briahna Joy Gray on her podcast to discuss the war in Ukraine and the Congressional Progressive Caucus letter calling for negotiations between the United States and Russia.  The podcast is subscribers only, but a clip and follow up talk by BJG are available on line.  BJG is a talented debater, but her arguments against support for Ukraine are an absurd, moralistic mess.  My rough transcript from the clip above: There are...