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New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for September 11 – 15 2023

NewDealdemocrat | September 17, 2023 2:15 pm

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Weekly Indicators for September 11 – 15 at Seeking Alpha

– by New Deal democrat

My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha.

The only significant change in any metric is that manufacturing, as measured by the average of the new orders sub-indexes of the regional Feds’ monthly reports is on the very cusp of improving from negative to neutral, due to a big improvement in the New York region.

That improvement probably reflects the continued benefit of the big decline in commodity prices from mid-2022 until a couple of months ago. But the latest PPI, as well as the action in commodity indexes, suggests that has likely ended.

As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the virtual moment as to the economy, and reward me a little bit for my efforts.

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for September 4 – 8 2023, Angry Bear, New Deal democrat

3 Comments

Fred C. Dobbs says:

September 18, 2023 at 5:29 pm

Plan to Avoid a Shutdown Hits Stiff GOP Opposition

NY Times – Sep 28

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bid to gain the upper hand in a battle over federal spending hit stiff opposition from within his own ranks on Monday, leaving him with dwindling options and little time to find his way out of a spending impasse that could lead to a government shutdown in less than two weeks.

Roughly a dozen Republicans made it clear that they were staunchly opposed to the proposal unveiled on Sunday, which combines a stopgap spending measure with steep funding cuts and new border controls, indicating they could not be induced to change their votes through leadership pressure. The measure had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, but Mr. McCarthy, who has made it clear he is desperate to avoid a politically damaging shutdown, has promoted it as a way to pressure the other chamber to come his way on spending.

Yet the internal resistance made it clear he is well short of the votes to pass it. …
Fred C. Dobbs says:

September 19, 2023 at 6:38 pm

Right-Wing House Republicans Derail Pentagon GOP Bill, Rebuking McCarthy

NY Times – Sep 19

The floor defeat underscored the GOP resistance Speaker Kevin McCarthy was facing as he struggled to round up votes to avoid a government shutdown.

Deep Republican divisions erupted onto the House floor on Tuesday as a handful of far-right conservatives blocked a Pentagon spending bill from coming up for debate, dealing an embarrassing setback to Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he struggled to round up votes to prevent a government shutdown in less than two weeks.

In a development rarely seen in the House, five Republicans broke with their own party and refused to allow the usually broadly bipartisan military funding measure to be considered, registering their objections to Mr. McCarthy’s strategy in an escalating fight over federal spending. It left the chamber paralyzed for the moment, with little time before a Sept. 30 deadline to avert a government closure.

The stunning development sent Mr. McCarthy and his lieutenants scrambling for a way forward both on their yearlong spending bills and a temporary funding bill that had already run into a buzz saw of opposition from the far right as the speaker faced fresh threats of an ouster from detractors in his own party. Even if it could make it through the House, the temporary spending measure stood little chance in the Democratic-led Senate, where its combination of deep spending cuts and stringent border policies were seen as nonstarters.

But the House’s inability to move on a stopgap plan further delayed any negotiations on Capitol Hill toward a bipartisan spending compromise. With none of the 12 annual spending bills passed, such a temporary bill will be needed to keep the government funded after next Friday. …
- Fred C. Dobbs says:
  
  September 19, 2023 at 6:43 pm
  
  … Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, one of the five Republicans who voted against the rule, said he was opposing all G.O.P. spending initiatives until he received a commitment from Mr. McCarthy that the House would return federal spending to prepandemic levels without any budgetary gimmicks. …
  
  The other four … were Representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Ken Buck of Colorado and Matt Rosendale of Montana. All have said that the Republican leaders are not serious enough about bringing federal spending under control. …
  
  Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, said the outcome showed that his party should begin to consider working with Democrats to find a solution to the spending impasse given the looming Sept. 30 deadline and deep resistance from the right. He called the holdouts the “dysfunction caucus.” …