Updates and Notes

Just a quick one:

1. I was wrong; Greg Sargent and Stan Collender were correct. And, yes, I could not be happier about this, though I still expect that any real evidence of Moderate Republican Senators will show up about the same time as a flock of Ugly Chickens (link not guaranteed to work; reference discussed here).

2. Jared Bernstein, of whom I am occasionally brutally honest less than deferential, reveals a hithero unknown skill at comedy in this must-read post:
   

   Most coefficients in the table have the “wrong sign” or are insignificant, except the bold one, suggesting, counter to anti-union theory, states where union density grew most had the best employment growth.

3. Current Canadian and future BoE leader Mark Carney manages to present both of these as part of his latest Monetary Policy Report:
   • Caution about high debt levels has begun to restrain [Canadian] household spending.
   • The three main downside risks to inflation in Canada relate to [lists two]…and the possibility that growth in Canadian household spending could be weaker
4. And, with all due respects—and there are many—to Beverly’s multiple posts on President Obama’s “Seneca Falls, Selma, and Stonewall” speech, I’ll continue to disbelieve the Administration’s claims to believing in creating opportunities by its actions. As Dan Crawford noted here yesterday:
   

   Meanwhile, PBS reporter Martin Smith just reported that in response to his report, the Obama White House has decided to block access to Frontline reporters in their future reporting.

   That’s the Biden/Geithner/Summers Administration I’ve watched these past four years, and anyone believing it is dedicated to justice or creating opportunity is fooling themselves. (I would, of course, love to be wrong here, too. But it’s not the way to bet.) If that was “throwing down the gauntlet,” it’s now being used—as is all too usual—to slap the people who tell the truth, not those who break the law.