Tag Archives: politics

Everyone already knows, Feinstein can retire or stay put. This is also one of our issues with government and the judiciary. The people in elected and appointed to positions make their decisions based upon what they want which leaves the constituency in a bad position. No matter how many good things done, they can all disappear over time. No, Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein Is Allowed to Resign, rsn.org, Jim Newell @ Slate The arguments...

Pretty good article on the environment and SCOTUS saying its ok to obliterate a wetland for a house. Except Alito suggests we should do more! Brett Kavanaugh: Supreme Court EPA Ruling Could Risk Water Quality, businessinsider, Kelsey Vlamis “the majority was ignoring precedent and jeopardizing water quality in the US.” Supreme Court ruling issued Thursday undercuts the EPA’s authority to regulate under the Clean Water Act. The Supreme Court...

Initial claims: revisions rear their ugly head again  – by New Deal democrat Revisions are a permanent hazard in reporting on economic data. That was very much in evidence in this week’s jobless claims report. Not only was last week’s number revised down by -17,000, but the initial report of 264,000 two weeks ago is now all the way down to 231,000! Big difference. Anyway, the current report indicates a weekly uptick of 4,000 to 229,000....

Financial markets in past fiscal crises; the “gold standard” of employment reports shows big deceleration in Q4 of last year – by New Deal democrat I have a post up at Seeking Alpha on how stocks, bonds, and consumers behaved during the 3 fiscal crises of the last decade. Hint: recessions are always disinflationary. Also of interest: the “gold standard” of employment data is the Quarterly County Employment and Wages report, which is not a...

Cost-Free Preventive Care Under the ACA Faces Legal Challenge, JAMA | JAMA Network, Gregory Curfman, MD; Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo. The same federal Jackass judge in Texas who struck down the entire ACA (2018) has risen again. In this particular instance, he is taking aim at a core protection of the ACA or Cost-free preventive care. These services range from cancer screening to pregnancy care and have benefited more than 150 million US residents of...

A story . . . Supplier working relationships were always tough in automotive. A lot of politicking going there, lunches, dinners, etc. Kind of difficult to walk a straight line with them and maintain an ethical standard. Yet, I did and was known for doing what I said I would do. I worked for several Tier 1 companies making components for Ford and Chrysler mostly and a bit for GM. There are no good guys here. Whatever they want, they get it....

Piercing the myth: How privatizers got their mitts on Medicare, The Stand, Kip Sullivan Insurance companies decried Medicare’s fee-for-service model. But then Congress let them replace it with something much worse. (May 4, 2023) — Congress enacted Medicare in 1965 as a fee-for-service system because the insurance industry did not want to insure the elderly and the poor. Today the insurance industry spends megabucks on advertising to lure...

What should President Biden do if Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling?  What should he say he will do, in advance, to avoid a catastrophe and gain leverage in negotiations?  The answer to these questions is far from clear. Krugman and Klein on unorthodox legal strategies Paul Krugman argues that the administration should do something – anything – to avoid a debt default.  He doesn’t care about the details – platinum coin, consul...

The so-called Gephardt Rule (in honor of Representative Dick Gephardt who introduced its first version) provided that when the House agrees to a budget resolution, the Clerk shall prepare a joint resolution suspending the debt limit for the fiscal year covered by the budget resolution. It was repealed at the beginning of the 107th Congress, which had a Republican majority.The Gephardt Rule reflects the language of the 14th Amendment and would obviate...

Labor has gained since the pandemic, but corporations have been sucking up the lion’s share of those gains . . .  – by New Deal democrat I neglected to add a link to my Weekly Indicators piece at Seeking Alpha on Saturday, so here it is. Also, I’ve been trying to understand why, with all of the long and short leading indicators lined up in almost classic formation, no recession has started yet. I discussed that in another piece at Seeking...