Monday, September 30, 2024
Democrats React To Adams Arrest In The Proper Way
The following is part of a posting by Steve Benen at MSNBC.com:
New York City Mayor Eric Adams surrendered to federal authoritiesone day after a 57-page federal indictment was unsealed, accusing the Democrat of bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. Adams has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to plead not guilty. . . .
As Adams’ Democratic support quickly evaporated, the public saw a case study in partisan asymmetry unfold in real time.
Indeed, no prominent voices in Democratic politics — except for Adams himself — responded to the New York City mayor’s indictment with conspiracy theories. They didn’t talk about “election interference.” Democrats didn’t say that federal prosecutors should be “defunded.” The party didn’t entertain the idea that evidence might’ve been “planted.”
No one in the party accused the Justice Department of having been “weaponized.” Democrats also didn’t issue weird fundraising letters or whine about George Soros.
Instead, Democrats responded to Adams’ indictment the way you'd expect members of a normal, mature, and responsible political party to respond: Many called for the mayor to resign, while others acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations.
In fact, in an odd twist, the Adams' indictment did generate weird conspiracy theories, just not from his own party.
Donald Trump, for example, argued — in public and in apparent seriousness — that federal prosecutors charged the mayor, not because of evidence of corruption, but because of Adams’ position on immigration policy. Some Fox News hosts and assorted far-right personalities — including conspiratorial billionaire Elon Musk — pushed a similar line. . . .
Putting aside the fact that there’s literally no evidence to substantiate such a weird idea, the principal problem with these bonkers assertions is that the indictment is now publicly available, and it’s filled with highly credible allegations of serious crimes. . . .
These details probably won’t matter to Trump and his allies, but they should matter to those who take reality seriously.
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Harris Maintains A Small Edge In This National Poll
The charts above reflect the results of the Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between September 21st and 24th of a nationwide sample of 1,424 registered voters, with a 3.1 point margin of error.
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Most Americans Want To Do Away With The Electoral College
The charts above are from the Gallup Poll -- done between September 3rd and 15th of a nationwide sample of 1,007 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
Trump's Economic Agenda Would Devastate The Economy
Amazingly, there are still people who think Donald Trump would best handle the economy. They are wrong! His economic agenda would be terrible for most people in this country.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich lists 5 reasons why Trump would be bad for the economy:
Earlier this week, Trump summarized his economic “plan.” Not surprisingly, it’s incoherent and filled with lies. I focus on five key parts of it.
#1: Trump’s crazy tariff plan
Trump seems genuinely confused about what tariffs are and who pays them.
TRUMP: We are taking in billions and billions of dollars in tariffs that China is paying for.
Nope. Tariffs are not paid by the other country. They’re paid by the American importer, with the cost typically passed onto American consumers, as even Fox Business pundits have to admit.
Targeted tariffs on specific products can give American-made goods an edge over imports, but there’s no strategy behind the tidal wave of tariffs Trump is proposing.
But Trump wants you to pay at least a 60 percent tax on everything imported from China and a 10 percent tax on everything imported from anywhere else. This would cost the average family an estimated $2,500 extra per year.
And this is a regressive tax, taking a higher percentage of the paychecks of the working class and the poor than out of the incomes of the wealthy.
#2: Trump’s plan for monopolies would create more of them
If you’ve watched our other videos, you know that corporate monopolies are among the biggest drivers of inflation. When there are fewer competitors, corporations can raise prices without worrying about losing customers to a cheaper competitor. Trump and the MAGA team want to make this worse.
Trump’s Project 2025 specifically seeks to fast-track airline mergers.
And as part of Trump’s efforts to solicit campaign donations from Big Oil executives, he’s suggested fast-tracking oil mergers. This would let them pump up your gas prices.
And speaking of gas prices, let’s talk about how …
#3: Trump would hike energy prices
Trump’s promising to kill the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy incentives and fuel efficiency standards. This means you’ll be spending more on fuel because your car will need more gas and your appliances will use more electricity.
#4: Trump would make your money worth less
The American economy is strong right now compared to those of other nations, so the American dollar is worth more vs. the euro, the yen, and other major currencies. At a moment when Americans are worried about how far their dollar goes, most people would call that a good thing.
But Trump and his economic advisers are reportedly so obsessed with trade deficitsthat they’re looking for ways to devalue the dollar.
This might help big corporations that export products, but it would also raise import prices and overheat a U.S. economy already running hot.
#5: Trump’s wild deportation plan would drive up costs still further
Trump would decimate the American workforce — and he’s bragging about it.
TRUMP: We’ll carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
Putting aside the horrific moral consequences, this would make the whole economy collapse.
There are more than a million undocumented laborers in construction, over a millionundocumented farm workers, and about a million undocumented food service workers. What do you think will happen to the price of food and housing if these workers are suddenly deported? Prices will explode.
By the way, these are not jobs that Americans born here in the United States are competing for, because most pay very little and many are dangerous.
In sum, Trump has no understanding of the economy.
He was terrible at business — which is why he’s driven so many businesses into the ground. (He’s even driven casinos into the ground. How do you lose money running a casino?)
Given another chance, he’ll drive the American economy into the ground, too.
Friday, September 27, 2024
Only 4% Of Voters Have A Positive View Of Project 2025
About 218,000 Workers Filed For Unemployment Last Week
In the week ending September 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 218,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 219,000 to 222,000. The 4-week moving average was 224,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 227,500 to 228,250.
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