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

Tea Party Seizes House Financial Reins: and so Reigns

Quick take on how things are shaking out in House Leadership including Committees: Paul Ryan: from Budget to Ways and Means Tom Price: to Budget Jeb Hensarling: to Financial Services Hal Rogers: maintains House Appropriations Let’s just say that none of those guys seems like champions of the New Deal or likely members of any […]

Republicans say they killed the bill that would lower interest on existing student loans because it does nothing to cure cancer … er, it does nothing to lower college costs and therefore reduce borrowing. Or cure cancer.

Republicans said the bill wouldn’t have done anything to lower education costs or reduce borrowing, and they accused Democrats of playing politics by highlighting an issue that was bound to fail. — Senate Republicans block student loan bill, Erica Werner, Associated Press, today The bill, written and sponsored by Elizabeth Warren, would allowed borrowers, including those […]

The Short Version–Piketty

June’s issue of Atlantic Monthly brings to the reader a series of graphs as presented by Derek Thompson’s “How the Rich Shall Inherit the Earth”. The article gives a pictorial representation of what has taken place since the eighties in skewing income to a small, very small group of individuals numbering < than a hundred […]

How Heat Flows and Why It Matters

Via Azimuth comes a very detailed and sourced post on basic physics of  climate change.  Well worth the time to view or review, especially before commenting. by Jan Galkowski 1. How Heat Flows and Why It Matters Is there something missing in the recent climate temperature record? Heat is most often experienced as energy density, […]

Social Security: 2 Programs, 3 Projections, 3 Actuarial Periods

(Update: the numbers in the above Table represent the present payroll gap. That is an immediate increase in FICA equalling any negative number would fund its respective program over that given period under that set of assumptions). (Update 2…a quirk in the comment section preventing viewing the chart on landing page is fixed…Dan) The standard […]

Prisoner Exchange vs Negotiating with Terrorists

Predictably some elements of the Obama Opposition (because that is really the best description of them at this point) are up in arms at the exchange of Sgt. Bergdahl for Gitmo Detainees on the grounds that “We don’t negotiate with terrorists”. Well you know who DOES negotiate DIRECTLY with groups that actively commit periodic violent […]

Michigan Republican Senate Candidate Terri Lynn Land Declares Federal “War Generals” Incompetent. The Targeted Enemy Being Michigan.

[Michigan Republican Senate candidate Terri Lynn] Land, a Byron Center Republican, had defended presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s anti-bailout position two years ago and noted that GM had become known as “Government Motors.” She declined to revisit the topic Wednesday during a brief exchange with reporters, which she cut short following the forum. “I’ve always supported […]