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

Bidding a Farewell to Sixty Minutes Freedom of the Press

Just a “wow” moment. CBS News caves to Trump’s demands to remove a discovery segment involving people who were deported to El Salvador prison. This comes after legal input from attorneys. Basically, the government just censured public news about what it is doing. Robert Reich: Farewell to “60 Minutes” ~~~~~~~ The nation is caving . […]

Two important employment indicators from November: one says continued expansion, the second recession

  – by New Deal democrat This is going to be a sparse week for data, with the exception of tomorrow’s long-delayed Q3 GDP report, and jobless claims on Wednesday. Sadly, so much of the data is still missing or stale that the best source for up-to-date information is in the regional Fed reports, most […]

Why vote?

Ever since I started voting, I’ve voted in either red states or blue states. I’ve never missed an election. But why bother voting, since I’m outnumbered? Well, for one thing, millions of people have fought and died for the right to vote. I honor their memory by exercising my franchise. Beyond that sentimental reason, though, […]

What Can Democrats Do Now?

What Can Democrats Do Now? J.P. McJefferson Thoughts Democrats need to move on and move on fast. What really scares me is whether Democrats, Independents, and any others who care about democracy can, over the next couple of years, preserve the concept of “Free & Fair Elections,” and pack the 2026 campaigns with credible, charismatic […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for December 15-19, 2025

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. Update: All of the trends that we have been seeing for the past several months appear to be becoming more entrenched. That includes the re-normalization of the yield curve on the positive side, and weak withholding tax payments and transportation metrics on […]

The “gold standard” QCEW through Q2 suggests little if any employment growth this year

– by New Deal democrat The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) is “the gold standard of US employment measures. It is an actual census of 95%+ of all employers, who must report new employees for purposes like unemployment and disability benefits. Because of this, it is used for the final revisions, a/k/a benchmarks, for monthly […]

ACA Deductibles 2014 -2026

Deductibles in 2026 were planned proved there was ACA healthcare in 2026. It appears; Republicans are disenfranchising millions of citizens as they eliminate the subsidies. Such will make healthcare too expensive for millions of citizens. The deductibles below were pretty expensive. Deductibles in ACA Marketplace Plans, 2014-2026, KFF These chart collections provide key data about […]