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

“Fixing” Social Security

If nothing is done, the Social Security Trust Fund will be depleted by ca. 2035 and projected retirement benefits will drop by ca. 20%. What are the alternatives? The favorite alternative on the right is to increase the normal retirement age to 70. “Increase the normal retirement age (NRA) 3 months per year for those […]

Tyler Cowen’s no good, very bad post on Affordable Care Act Subsidies

We are in the middle of a government shutdown, and one point of contention between Democrats and Republicans is the extension of “enhanced” premium subsidies for policies purchased on the exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Yesterday Tyler Cowen put up a blog post titled “The unraveling of Obamacare?”.  I haven’t followed […]

Auto and truck purchases give conflicting signals on expansion vs. recession

 – by New Deal democrat The typical post-jobs report lull in the data is amplified this month (of course) by the fact that there was no jobs report this month! If there is a tiny silver lining beginning to appear, it is that the Administration is making noises about reinstating the health care subsidies that has […]

Political Commentary with a fringe of Economics

As a commentary goes, I consider this one to be a good one.It is on target with what we are facing today. Whisky Pete’s Triumph Of The Swill, Bad Crow Review As fascist productions go, the Whisky Pete and Trump show fell well short of the standards established by Albert Speer and Leni Riefenstahl. An auditorium full of stony-faced […]

“late-night raid on Chicago apartment building”

More violence involved with raids on apartment building than on the streets of a city. This is occurring in what is called targeting gang members. What I am reading it is becoming more of a sweep of children and women. Small families who have come to the United States, have lived here for a while […]

Invoking the Insurrection Act?

Trump’s Plan” by Robert Reich To invoke the Insurrection Act The direction we’re going is either martial law or civil war. AB: Maybe there is another Gen. Mark Milley who will say “no” to Trump. Or maybe Milley will speak up again? Americans from so-called “red” states, with the backing of their Republican governors and […]

Why do Republicans hate women?

“Twenty-five years ago, the FDA made a decision that changed the course of reproductive health in America. By approving mifepristone (Mifeprex) for medication abortion, the agency gave people access to one of the safest, most effective, and most studied medications in modern medicine. “Since then, more than 7.5 million Americans have relied on it to […]

Car-Free Zurich?

Like many other places I have been in Europe? The cities of Switzerland also have excellent public transport. This might work there and be a model of other cities which have similar ways to get around without cars. “Initiative launched” A broad civil society committee has submitted 4,500 signatures in favor of the traffic reform […]

Estimated Initial and Continuing Claims Last Week Continued in the Neutral Range

I can not drop the f-bomb here as it would not be looked at kindly by most. It is no surprise to me, New Deal democrat doing additional work to present on his site and at Angry Bear. We are and I am very fortunate to have New Deal democrat presenting his data at Angy […]

Conspiracy Theories on What Motivated a Shooting

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar giving us his take on the most recent violence the United States has experienced. By the way, I lived in Michigan. I did not see what is being said. If anything, the state was controlled by automotive, One squeak of relocation is bound to whip people into obedience. The other thing to keep […]