Tag Archives: politics

Opinion piece by Commenter Dennis Drew. Unions and Labor have been Dennis’s bailiwick for as long as I have been with Angry Bear. A nice piece on labor, economics, politics, and power. ~~~~~~~~ Labor unions effectively couple employees directly to paying customers – bargaining for the maximum amount they see consumers are willing to part with.  In the same light, non-union businesses sell the labor component of their products at the cheapest...

Eight out of ten of our poorest states are former states of the Confederacy. Less than a handful of the original Confederate states have been able to begin to rise. The ‘again’ was always impossible. Because, in the antebellum South, one percent of the population had all the wealth; most whites were little, if any, better off than slaves. —, politically unstable, economy dependent on the export of one or two products such as agricultural products,...

Why the index of leading indicators failed: examining the once in a lifetime post-pandemic tailwind  – by New Deal democrat Carl Quintanilla observed the one year anniversary of the following two days ago: I’ve written previously about what confounded that forecast. But let me highlight those issues again. 1. A 40% drop in gas prices, and a generalized 10% drop in commodity prices can do wonders for both producers and consumers. Here’s...

The collapse of the existing home market continues in September  – by New Deal democrat September was yet another month in the ongoing collapse of existing home sales. To wit, sales declined another -8,000 on an annualized basis to 3.960 million. This is the lowest number since August 2010. And aside from that one singular month, it is the lowest since 1995! [Note that this is similar to the collapse in purchase mortgage applications, also at...

Obviously the only thing any reasonable person would do is point and laugh at the Republicans. I am not that reasonable person, so I will try to think of a solution. Obviously one very boring possibility is that the Republicans will finally get their act together and elect a speaker. This is the most likely outcome, but very far from optimal. The other possibility is that a speaker will be elected by a bipartisan majority like the majority...

I first became a history autodidact in my 20s, trying to understand the difference between my worldview and those of my parents and in-laws. >100 histories and biographies later, I have a great appreciation of just how awful the 20th century was. In my lifetime, I remember political assassinations, race riots, the Vietnam war, recessions, 9/11, the anthrax scare and the US invasion and military occupation of Iraq. Not to mention COVID-19, which is...

A Chance to Modernize Health Care behind Bars, Section 1115 Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Waivers | NEJM, Brendan Saloner, Ph.D. California and Washington are the first states to receive waivers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy. The policy generally prohibits Medicaid from paying for health care for people who are incarcerated. That being said, ~2 million Americans were...

It amazes me how far some people, errrrr politicians will extend themselves for opportunity, power, influence in Congress. Maybe I should not be calling them people? Maybe that is not amazing? Most of start off with their bad manners and aggressions, then do not have to live with and by their own decisions, and expect people to forgive and forget. They are definitely not like us. I wish the charade would end. Rep. Tom Cole Nominates Jim Jordan as...

Timeline of Harvard Backlash Over Student Israel-Hamas Statement, businessinsider.com UPenn Donor Revolt Over Israel-Hamas War Is Getting Worse, businessinsider.com Tags: 2023, colleges and universities

On this day, 18 October 2023, a group representing, at best, 10 percent of House Republicans, 5 percent of the total House, and 5 percent of the total populace came too close to getting Jim Jordan selected Speaker of the House. We came this close to a coup. Albeit partial, a coup. If they had been successful, as their first order of business, they would set about expunging Trump’s impeachments. ...