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

Water Usage Efficiency in Factory Farming and Housing

I am in Arizona these days and watching the state and local area scramble to get developments approved before the Federal Agency in charge of the Colorado River water decides who gets what. I suspect if you have an approved Build, a state will be allowed to build it. The Feds have applied the new […]

Looking at the Trump 2017 Tax Breaks and Extension of them

Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made significant changes to the federal tax code. The major changes were the lowering corporate and individual income tax rates, increasing the standard deduction, reforming child tax benefits, and reforming the corporate international tax system. In an effort to mask its true cost and fit it within cost […]

Bringing Railroads Under Public Ownership

UE or the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America union’s role in railroading is the transportation of train crews. It has a membership of approximately 2,000. Its Executive Board recently issued a statement concerning costs and the plight of labor. And the issues? Pricing issues within the transportation of goods across the US. […]

Senators, Opioids, and EpiPens

Many things can be accomplished when you have a majority in Congress, Well. almost. For Democrats, Sinema is still growing up and trying to decide what she wants to be. Being a Democrat is boring. Sitting with Repubs is more exciting as Dems notice.  There is no excitement in going along with the crowd. Gotta […]

Credit conditions in Q4 were recessionary

Credit conditions in Q4 were recessionary – by New Deal democrat While we are still in our lull concerning monthly data, on Monday there was a significant update of one long leading indicator that is only reported Quarterly: the Senior Loan Officer Survey. This survey has an excellent history of over 30 years telling us […]

Democrats, let’s turn the debt ceiling standoff into a referendum on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid

President Biden has so far insisted he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling.  This makes sense on one level.  The Republicans are threatening to blow up the economy to get the Democrats to agree to – and share the blame for – unpopular budget cuts.  It is easy to see why Democrats want to […]

Interesting(?) Stuff from My In-Box, January 31, 2023

Mixed Bag Today. Police Actions are making the news. Not just on the street. Major story is police beating a man to death. It was very discouraging to read this. Cop City being built and one protestor dead. Oklahoma prison murdering imprisoned prisoners. Talked with a Police Captain the other day. He was insisting he […]

Gun Violence vs Democracy

California Ranked #1 for Gun Safety, Death Rate 37% Lower than National Average In 2021, California was ranked as the #1 state for population and gun safety by Giffords Law Center, and the state saw a 37% lower gun death rate than the national average. According to the CDC, California’s gun death rate was the 44th lowest […]