Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

U.S. Attorneys for Southern District of New York Resign

This comes after Trump decides to have all charges dropped for NYC Mayor Eric Adams. The attorneys were threatened with being dismissed by the Deputy Attorney General. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered others to dismiss the NYC Mayor Adams indictment. He will not do the dirty work himself after named acting U.S. Attorney […]

Union-killing bill dies in New Hampshire

“Right-to-work” is one of those marketing euphemisms like “pro-life,” which is designed to disguise the actual agenda. In the case of “right-to-work,” the actual agenda is to kill unions and give workers the “right” to work for low wages under oppressive conditions. Much to my surprise, Republicans—who have long been in the vanguard of “right-to-work”—joined […]

January retail sales: once or so a year, it lays an egg. This was one time

 – by New Deal democrat It’s that time of month again for my favorite indicator for the consumption side of the economy: retail sales have been tracked for over 75 years. When they are lower YoY, that has historically been a good (not perfect) indicator that a recession is near. That’s because that same 75-year […]

Defeating the Iraqi Insurgency

and How USAID Helped Us Defeat the Iraqi Insurgency, The Bulwark Its projects reinforced our military efforts, and served American interests while saving and improving lives. The story . . . Many senior military officials are fans of the USAID like I am. Anyone who actually knows what that agency does, or who has seen […]

WWE to Run Dept of Education

“Education is meant to be the great equalizer for our children, not a great investment opportunity for the billionaires ransacking our federal government.” Getting rid of the Department of Education will take an act of Congress. Republicans are more than willing to approve all of Trump’s requests and nominations. This appointment is an interesting pick. […]

Trump takes NYC hostage

New York City has had a long history of problematic mayors, and the corrupt current mayor, Eric Adams, is honoring that tradition. Now, heaping corruption on corruption, the corrupt current President, Donald Trump, is trying to exploit the corrupt Justice Department to do a corrupt deal with Adams: “ . . . President Trump had […]

Jobless claims: more of “steady as she goes”

– by New Deal democrat Now that we are well past the Holidays, seasonality has settled down and so have the comparisons for jobless claims. Initial claims declined -7,000 to 213,000 last week, and the four-week average declined -1,000 to 216,000. With the usual one week delay, continued claims declined -36,000 to 1.850 million: On […]

Republicans* approve quack to direct HHS

“Kennedy, an “unfathomable” nominee in the eyes of public health experts, has questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, tied gay and transgender identities to chemical exposure, pushed to remove fluoride from drinking water, suggested COVID-19 was genetically engineered to target certain races, claimed Black people may have different immune systems and suggested anti-depressants are […]

Is there a self-enforcing budget deal with Trump?

Is there a self-enforcing budget deal with Trump? In yesterday’s column, Yglesias makes a critical observation:  “there is genuinely no point in negotiating a bipartisan appropriation bill if the president is going to ignore its terms. . . . the entire premise of a bipartisan spending deal is precisely that money will be spent on […]

Eliminating the Department of Education

Trump administration drafting executive order to initiate Department of Education’s elimination | CNN Politics The Trump administration has begun drafting an executive order that would kick off the process of eliminating the Department of Education, the latest move by President Donald Trump to swiftly carry out his campaign promises, two sources familiar with the plans told CNN. The […]