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

YoY jobless claims still rangebound, but continuing claims at 3.5 year high

– by New Deal democrat Let’s take our weekly look at jobless claims. Particularly since it is one of two “quick and dirty” elements that will indicate whether the “recession watch” I inaugurated yesterday will need to be upgraded to a “warning.” Initial claims rose 8,000 last week to 247,000, while the four week moving average […]

“Large Upward Redistribution of Income”

“For the very rich who will see enormous tax cuts from this bill, it all might end up being a good deal,” wrote Josh Bivens of the Economic Policy Institute. “For everybody else, it will not.” Economist Details How GOP Medicaid Cuts Would Be Disastrous for Everyone—Except the Super-Rich Common Dreams and Jake Johnson The […]

A Political Third Rail

Musk has lost his shine with Trump so he has been sidelined. Instead, Musk has become critical of Trump and what he is doing. In this case Musk is calling Trump’s latest “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. […]

The awkward truth

If we just don’t see it, it didn’t happen, amirite? “Trump administration officials delayed and redacted a government forecast because it predicts an increase in the nation’s trade deficit in farm goods later this year, according to two people familiar with the matter. “The numbers run counter to President Donald Trump’s messaging that his economic […]

Whataboutism and the fake ‘fair and balanced’

Sure, Trump and Musk are endangering America by their cuts to the Department of National Security, the FBI and the CIA. Sure, those cuts make it easier for the next 9/11 attack. But whatabout back when the Democrats held the WH and Congress and had the clairvoyance to foresee all this and didn’t pass any […]

Trump vs Musk cage match?

Josh Marshall won’t come out and say it, but I will. Musk’s attack on Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is political kayfabe. Josh points out that they could each draw blood but haven’t. “Both of these guys have very big weapons each can use against the other. Musk can invest money against the GOP budget bill […]

Student Loans: Republicans Back Plan to Give Some Borrowers Extra Money

Start to cancel some of the loans instead. Student loan debt is now the second-highest consumer debt category after mortgages. Student loan debt in the United States totals $1.777 trillion; annual growth resumed in 2024 following a year-over-year (YoY) decline in 2023. Additional Information Federal Student Loan Portfolio | Federal Student Aid Table of Contents Student Loan Debt […]

Setting up an American Reichstag fire

The Department of Homeland Security was created in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, ostensibly to consolidate and coordinate anti-terrorist activities previously housed in several different federal agencies. We can debate whether DHS has been an unalloyed good, but it at least paid lip service to the notion that the federal government has an […]

RFK Jr says no need for COVID vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women

There was a lot going on with Covid last week. I had intended to write about NB.1.8.1, the new “variant under monitoring” by the WHO (World Health Organization), which has already become dominant in China, and the new US vaccine policy, but i just didn’t have time.   r.j. sigmund RFK Jr says no COVID vaccines […]

DOGE accounting

There’s no evidence that DOGE has saved any money so far: “Picking apart the “estimated savings” of $175 billion on the DOGE website, Tolan told me that less than half that figure is backed up with even the most basic documentation. That means it’s possible only even to start investigating about $32 billion of savings […]