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

October industrial production: consistent with a very slow expansion

October industrial production: consistent with a very slow expansion  – by New Deal democrat I call industrial production the King of Coincident Indicators, because more often than any other metric it coincides with the peaks and troughs of economic activity as determined by the NBER, the official arbiter of recessions. Unlike retail sales, the news […]

Affordable Healthcare in Oregon? Maybe . . .

Oregon becomes the first state to make Affordable Healthcare a fundamental right. May 2021, the Oregon Legislature referred the proposed amendment to the voters. Known then as Senate Joint Resolution 12, it passed on a near-party-line vote. Democrats supported it. Republicans opposed it (what-a-surprise). Then-Democrat Betsy Johnson, who was running for governor as an unaffiliated candidate, […]

What News Was in My In-Box, Nov. 16, 2022

Each week, I go through the reads, I am getting in my In-Box. I would like to think there are some of these articles which might make for an interesting read to Angry Bear readers. They keep pestering me to subscribe. As it is now, many I skim. If it interests me I might take […]

Trump, the MAGA base, and election denialism

It has been widely noted that Trumpy Republicans have largely accepted vote tallies and conceded defeat.  There have been few strong claims of fraud or election theft by major candidates (the main exception so far appears to be Kari Lake), and no efforts that I am aware of to mobilize protests against the election results, […]

‘Kill them’: Threating 2022 Midterm Election workers

“‘Kill them’: Arizona election workers face midterm threats,” (msn.com), Linda So, Peter Eisler and Jason Szep Some more information on counting votes. Guess where? Election workers in Arizona’s fiercely contested county of Maricopa faced more than 100 violent threats and intimidating communications. This was occurring during the run-up to Tuesday’s midterm Election. Most of the […]

Trump, Musk, Putin, and the power of spite

Three different people, same crappy emotion? Trump has been an electoral liability for the Republican party for at least the last 3 elections, and possibly 4 (depending on what you think would have happened in 2016 without Trump).  So far, his power over MAGA voters and his spitefulness – his evident willingness to tear down […]

Post-Election Day Musings…The Sun Begins to Shine

I think I am sitting in the worst possible place one could be pre-election . . . Arizona. The potential insurrectionists were trying to take over the state. We prevailed only by a few votes. People I know are angry Democrats won. By all intents and purposes this is not over. We still need to […]