Saturday, December 09, 2023
Friday, December 08, 2023
The U.S. Economy Is Actually Doing Well (For The Rich)
The chart above ireflects the results of the newest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between December 2nd and 5th of a nationwide sample of 1,500 adults, with a 3.1 point margin of error.
It shows the same thing that almost all other polls show -- that most Americans think the U.S. economy is bad and getting worse. It seems strange considering that unemployment is low, GDP is above 5%, inflation is down significantly, the stock market is up, and sales are up for most businesses. In other words, all the indicators economists use to determine a healthy economy are good.
Is the public wrong? Well, Yes and No. The economy is booming, and rich people are doing better than ever before. But too many people are not sharing in the economy's increasing productivity (wealth). That's because while the economy is good, it is not fair.
In the three decades after World War II, the economy was also doing well -- and so were most Americans. The rising productivity was shred among the working class, the middle class, and the wealthy.
That could have continued, but when the Republicans came to power about 1980, they changed the economic rules of the country -- tilting the economic playing field to benefit the rich. They claimed that their economic policies that favored the rich would benefit everyone, because the money given to the rich would trickle down to everyone else in the society.
That did not happen. Instead of sharing the increase in productivity, the rich just hoarded it. They fattened their own bank accounts to the detriment of 90% of Americans. Profits for corporations and incomes for the rich have skyrocketed up, while wages for workers have barely risen (and in too many cases have been eaten up by the rising inflation).
This leaves many people feeling the economy is not working for them, and they are right. They feel the economy is doing poorly -- not understanding that the GOP policies are just allowing the rich to hog most of the country's increasing wealth.
What do voters do when they feel the economy is bad? They vote out the party in the White House. Sadly, that would only make things worse for those feeling left out. Putting A Republican (especially Trump) back in the White House would not help the poor, the working class, or the middle class. It would only benefit the rich as the GOP would continue to pursue their "trickle-down" policy.
The economic unfairness is now greater than in the Gilded Age, and is growing more unfair each year. We don't need a new party in the White House. We need fairer economic policies -- policies supported by Democrats (but currently blocked by Republicans).
If Republicans are voted out of power, the economic policy can be changed -- to once again benefit everyone. Economic fairness worked in the post-war period, and if would work again. A truly healthy economy puts money in everyone's pocket -- not just the pockets of a few billionaires!
About 220,000 Workers Filed For Unemployment Last Week
The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment report on Thursday. It showed that about 220,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on December 2nd. Here is the official Labor Department statement:
In the week ending December 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 220,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 218,000 to 219,000. The 4-week moving average was 220,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 220,000 to 220,250.
The Integrity Death Cycle Of The Republican Party
Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina announced Tuesday that he won’t be seeking reelection.
McHenry steered the House as acting speaker during the chaos following Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.
McHenry helped negotiate this year’s debt limit deal. He’s also one of the House’s most prominent policy wonks.
Retirements across both parties are already outpacing those of the past three election cycles.
The retirements are unlikely to alter the balance of political power in the House or Senate, since most come from “safe” districts that will almost certainly elect someone else from the same party.
But the retirements may alter the balance of integrity, making the Republican Party even less principled than it is now.
Some pending Republican retirees, like McHenry, are institutionalists who care more about policy than ideology. They respect the Constitution and want Congress to run well. A few actively opposed Trump.
McHenry was one of the handful of House Republicans who voted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in 2020.
Another House Republican who announced he won’t seek reelection is Colorado Representative Ken Buck.
Buck has denounced his party’s election denialism and the refusal of many Republican lawmakers to condemn the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. “We lost our way,” Buck told The New York Times. “We have an identity crisis in the Republican Party. If we can’t address the election denier issue and we continue down that path, we won’t have credibility with the American people that we are going to solve problems.”
Several other Republican institutionalists exited before the 2022 midterms. Former Republican Representative Anthony Gonzalez, who was one of only 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of Trump’s second impeachment, left because of threatsreceived by him and his family.
Former Republican congressman Peter Meijer, another of the 10, also exited before the 2022 midterms. He stated that the day after the vote, he purchased body armor and made changes to his daily schedule due to threats against his life.
Meijer also noted that his colleagues who voted not to certify the 2020 election “knew in their heart of hearts that they should’ve voted to certify, but some had legitimate concerns about the safety of their families. They felt that that vote would put their families in danger.”
In the Senate, Utah’s Mitt Romney, a Republican institutionalist, will not be seeking reelection.
The degeneration of the GOP has occurred over many years. I witnessed the first major purge of so-called moderate Republicans in 1994, when Newt Gingrich took over the House. The Senate still contained a few moderate Republicans: I worked with Senators Mark Hatfield, Arlen Specter, John Chafee, Jim Jeffords, William Cohen, and Susan Collins on several pieces of legislation. I found them all to be thoughtful and reasonable.
But moderate Republicans are gone from Congress. Soon, any Republican lawmaker still possessing some integrity will also be gone.
The Republican Party is in an integrity death cycle. As the GOP is taken over by Trump’s enablers and sycophants, the few remaining principled Republican lawmakers want out. As they depart, the Trump rot spreads.
Republican lawmakers who remain are the most self-aggrandizing and least principled. Which in turn causes the GOP to degenerate further.
Tragically and frighteningly, this means that if Trump regains the presidency, Republican lawmakers in Congress and the states will be even readier to do his bidding.
Thursday, December 07, 2023
Poll Shows Trump Continues To Gain Primary Support
The chart above is from the Monmouth University Poll -- done between November 30th and December 4th of a nationwide sample of 540 registered Republican voters, with a 5.4 point margin of error.
The Wealth Gap In The United States
From the Pew Research Center.
Pew Research Center’s analysis in this report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020, 2021 and 2022 Surveys of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). These are the three latest years in which SIPP was conducted. It is a nationally representative survey that focuses on the income of U.S. households and their participation in government programs. SIPP is a longitudinal survey that interviews participants multiple times over a four-year period.
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