– by New Deal democrat The Bonddad Blog New Deal democrat has been on top of the discussions of shelter and/or gasoline prices in February and also in January. He has been on top of these discussions which appear to be making the news moreso in April than earlier in the year. I have linked to the February commentary and there you can find an earlier commentary link. Enjoy the detail of NDd’s. ~~~~~~~~ The one advantage of not reporting...
Read More »Open Thread, April 12 2024 Inflation Increases – Look to Gasoline and Shelter
Consumer Price Index – March 2024 (bls.gov) “The BLS index for shelter rose in March, as did the index for gasoline. Combined, these two indexescontributed over half of the monthly increase in the index for all items. The energy index rose 1.1percent over the month. The food index rose 0.1 percent in March. The food at home index wasunchanged, while the food away from home index rose 0.3 percent over the month. Good reads on the March BLS...
Read More »March CPI: Should We Be Worried?
by Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research The inflation hawks took March’s CPI as cause for celebration, inflation may not be dead yet. There is no doubt that it was a disappointing report for those hoping we could put the pandemic inflation behind us. However, there still is not much basis for thinking the Fed needs to get out the nukes and start shooting big-time. The key point to remember is this inflation continues to be...
Read More »TSMC to begin Pilot Production Operations by mid-April 2024
More semiconductor news. Leading off, TSMC plant delays in Arizona are disappearing. In spite of earlier delays, the Arizona TSMC plant is now expected to be operational by end of 2024. Pilot Production to prove the manufacturing process will start mid-April 2024. Three months earlier, TSMC announced further delays at its $40 billion Arizona fab. TSMC has now said the plant is expected to be operating at full capacity by the end of 2024. What...
Read More »Building and Expanding semiconductor facilities
Biden is at it again. This time with Intel in AZ. With all the issues with passing a budget since earlier last year, I wonder how Biden and the Dems got this out of Congress. Must be some pretty good pork involved with these programs to get approvals. Companies are kicking in $240 billion in investments to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States since the President took office. Good move by Dems in a swing state. If you...
Read More »2024 Life and Death Game Theory Interlude: Voting is An Affirmative Action
If You Choose Not to Decide, You May be an American Restating the premise of my earlier post: Voting is an affirmative action. The more difficult voting is, the more turnout will be reduced. A voter in Oregon needs only to fill out and mail a ballot at any point over a period of time before an election. By contrast, some states allow voting only during certain hours on Election Day. Others may add a set of proscribed days and times before then,...
Read More »Speaking of a Civil War, Arizona Politicians touched the 3rd Rail
Arizona is a state which does not stand on its own for protecting the rights of its citizens. In this case, we speak of a woman’s right to determine what is right for her individual self and body. The Supreme Court revived a near-total abortion ban with its support of a 160-year-old law. The law provides no exceptions for rape or incest. And, in its 4-2 opinion, the conservative majority wrote: “Physicians are now on notice that all...
Read More »The right-wing scammers who paved the way for Trump
by Zach Beauchamp Vox via RSN.Org. As presented by Dale Coberly . . . A conversation between Vox’s Zach Beauchamp and Joe Conason a veteran New York journalist. The topic? Trump’s grifting. A new book shows how conservative grift started long before branded bibles and $400 sneakers. During his time atop the Republican Party, Trump’s lifetime habits of fraud and grifting have fused seamlessly with conservative politics. In 2024 alone,...
Read More »2024 Election Life and Death Game Theory: Post- Conventions
This is the easiest one. No possibility of changes. It’s Biden/Harris v. Trump/Sycophant. For Biden, the alternative is clear: the race would be between Kamala Harris and DJT.
Read More »Other Taxes on the Rich for Social Security? The Wrong Approach
I touched on a commentary at another site where the commentary was about healthcare. The sites author was advocating for the increase of the Social Security cap only on high income earners. There is a ground swell for taxing the rich more, which is acceptable to most. When we look at this closely, there is an argument for some of this to occur. The level or percentage of total income exposed to Social Security taxes has decreased for the higher in...
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