Yesterday the United Auto Workers ratified their new contracts with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. The new contracts include wage increases of at least 25% over the next 4.5 years, cost of living increases, union coverage for electric battery plants, and the reopening of a closed plant. “These were just extraordinary wins, especially for those of us who’ve been studying strikes for decades,” Washington University labor expert Jake Rosenfeld told Jeanne Whalen of the
Excellent results from Team Biden! How wonderful is old fashioned, boring governance; and, how refreshing, too! I no longer awaken with a sense of dread about the danger and lunacy of the previous administration ... if it can even be referred to as one.
This is the REAL REASON Americans should vote for Joe Biden again. He is working his butt off to undo the damage the last 40 years have had on the middle class. If we aren’t feeling the results yet, we will. The pessimistic attitude is not only spurred on by Fox News, it’s baked into our everyday conversation. It’s like we aren’t allowed to admit we are well off financially.
I think it was somewhere in a Letter this week. I don’t know if Heather did it intentionally, but there were the two basic views in politics juxtaposed. The question is, is a political philosophy, down to its deepest core, about the protection of people, or the protection of property? That’s what you should ask yourself when you go out to vote…
Well protection of property has it's place, but obviously people should be the priority. The devil in the details is how property is distributed. In the feudal system, the lords owned most of the worthwhile land and the serf were permitted to farm it, for a cut. US slavery was an even more pernicious yet similar deal with the "master" living like a king on other's labor. Ideally we enjoy the fruits of our labor free of parasites, but predatory souls object. I apologize on not recalling the details but I real some state legislature outlawed municipal Internet service, arguing, at least in part, that it robbed private vendors of a profit; yet what Constitutional principle dictates that any profit need be taken? I'm not anti-profit and I'm not anti-public-service; the right tool for the right job; but I'm keen on fair trade, and think government of the people, by the people, for the people is free to provide whatever service the people deem appropriate, with the bounds of the Constitution and human decency.
The MA town next door to us has municipal electricity, cable TV and broadband. Ironically, this is the place where the American Revolution was launched. "Shot heard 'round the world". But 16 states actually prohibit this. They have chosen the oligarchs over the people. Riches for the rich over providing the basics of modern life for everyone. One of our fellow substackers is now on a board in his town trying to establish such a service for his community.
I live in one of those states, North Carolina. The bill was passed after the Legislature flipped in the red wave of 2010. This would be great messaging tool for any Democrat to use… the GOP is the real party of big gubmit overreach…... Or, who’s really for a free market and competition?, etc.
Once again, corporate lobbyists get what they want…. The people? Not so much.
Years ago I lived in a rural area and a couple of people with super-powerful car stereo parked along the road with the car doors open, and where blasting for all it was worth, for an hour or so until my neighbor and I walked over and politely asked them to turn it down. They got angry and told us "It's a free country". That seems to me the attitude I get form MAGAs today. Freedom means they can do what they like, including impacting you with impunity; but that exactly, on a larger scale, what tyranny is. "Free market" as "Free market fundamentalists" speak of it is free to monopolize, and that's anything but free. Reportedly Alan Greenspan thought that financial fraud should not be illegal. Caveat emptor.
I contrast, I regard freedom as a state of a society as robust freedom to "pursue happiness" within the bounds of certain responsibilities to others. No rape or theft for example. Freedom is freedom from certain impingements as well as freedom to follow socially responsible impulses. Should the law respond to homophobia by outlawing homosexuality? Who gets harmed? Is it OK to dump poison on your own property that infiltrates the environment and perhaps makes it hazardous for generations to come? Who is responsible to whom?
I was taught in Elementary school Civics that our system regulates prices though open competition, and that seems to work where competition is strong. But what happens when competition is reduced or even deliberately suppressed? That's what monopolies do; that's feudalism, that's the "company store", that's oil cartels, that's mega-coporations controlling far too much of the market, that's communism; too much power in too few hands; and concentrated power tends to corrupt.
The whole idea of our democracy is to spread power and opportunity widely, and to resist it's capture by the few.
My electrical utility is publicly owned. They buy power from other sources but handle it from there, and they feel like they are on the side of the consumer. They are smart too, and in this heavily treed area, subject to falling into power lines, they trim and cut problem trees in he right of way that are likely to cause problems. When trees do cause outages, which some do each winter, they are pretty prompt about restoring power. They are markedly cheaper as well than a neighboring region with profit-making utility. Whats not to like? Some cities I know of, Seattle and San Francisco have their own hydro generators. When hydro first came to this area many decades ago, oligarchs and payed-off politicians tried to kill it.
There was a bank run by one of the Western states that was sound in the "Great Recession". Just now I've tried searching for it, but get buried with junk; someone will remember. The avaricious spread the big lie that anything run by "the people" is a mess, and the media have gone along with it. For a while a local TV station regularly ran a series called "It's your money" always about governmental errors, or even thing that were only construed as errors, but never about successes, and we all like to complain. I worked for small business and a multinational corporation and saw plenty of errors and waste, but little of that makes the news.
We are being had. I am very pro-private enterprise, but they should live by our rules, not vice versa.
When they Privatize everything, I prefer to calling it "Piratizing" everything since the trend seems to be to allow protection of those who concentrate income producing equity in an ever smaller portion of the population, effectively closing out so much more of the minority shareholders' and public's opportunities such as utility Blue Chip sector fund . I believe Alan Greenspan at one time thought about 15% of utilities should be privately owned to stimulate improvements, but no more than that (around the time of the ENRON fiasco).
I'm not well versed in the arguments put forth by Henry George for the "Citizens" Dividend" and a single land tax. His thoughts seem to have influenced later economists like Joseph Stiglitz and Milton Friedman. I am much more of a Stiglitz fan originally for the simple reason he was one of the students at Amherst College present for JFK's "Last Speech," delivered on Oct 26, 1963, one of many students for whom the speech was a life changing moment.
To me it was a promotion of people acting as honest agents of their consciences in establishing the best balance in public service, personal, and mutual improvement that allowed all to live well and prosper.
The film was most moving to me since I lived near there and probably saw some of the students around town before seeing how the speech affected them. The transcript may not reveal the true effectiveness of the speech, but still shines brightly in my eyes.
“Piratizing”! Thank you. Having advocated for the draft (it puts rich and poor together to learn from each other), I also think nutrition for the troops was better when they peeled their own potatoes and scrambled their own eggs--in short, cared for themselves as no corporations would. Thinking forward from there to the Blackwater “massacre” in Iraq and the power of Blackwater (whatever it calls itself now) power, “piratization” goes into the dictionary. (Don’t forget the side result of Erik Prince: Betsy DeVos, his sister as Secretary of Education, eager to destroy public schools.)
Yes, excellent word, because piratizing is exactly what it is. In Multnomah County (Portland and some surrounding cities), they went with a private ambulance service who can't get to emergencies on time among other things. Now the county next door (Washington) has gone with the same company which claims that they can't cover Multnomah. Salem also has a private company, but I don't know how they do. We live in Marion County served by a publicly funded fire district and it took three tries to get a budget passed that provided 24/7 service and this district covers a large rural area as well. Salem just bought some new equipment to deal with chemical spills...lots of tanker cars going through Salem for example, but even someone who should know better complained.
“Piratizing”! Perfect word! I live in the Austin, TX area (moved from San Diego, CA). It seems every new highway or stretch of highway built, requires a toll. Yes, there are surface streets along the toll roads, but they are laden with streetlights. So everyday that I go out, I have to pay roughly $2-5 in toll fees, on top of what I already pay in transportation taxes. The sad part, I don’t hear people complaining.
Friedman was an educated pirate so far as I'm aware. I think part of wisdom is seeing things as part of a whole, a whole whole, which is not Friedman. It seems to me that he encouraged business to become more sociopathic; and of course the sociopaths loved it!
I think private enterprise is a legitimate and beneficial social activity and I also think it has its limits, just as I believe that there are services best not provided by the public sector. But I think public and private sector can complement each other, and that "we the people" ground rules apply to both. There are societal fictions that are too vital and sometimes too dangerous to separate from public oversight and control. Basic health care, secure communications, law enforcement, prisons, military. Look at the story of Wagner or excesses of Blackwater. There is room at the edges for legitimate and workable difference of opinion about what is best run publicly and what not, but I favor a public sector at least as robust as pre-Reagan, even if adjustments are made for our evolving circumstances. A lot of privatization seems to benefit politicians short-term interest and fob the bill to all that follow.
JL Graham, you write: “protection of property has its place, but obviously people should be the priority. “. It made me stop and ponder. That does seem to be the tension between our two basic US Philosophies - “Property Rights pre-eminent” or “We the People”. Yet a thought came to me that both hold inherent flaws, such as “Property-Rights” supporters have enslaved actual people, and women’s reproductive capabilities. “We the People” have created an ethos of Human-concerns above all else. And the Earth cannot sustain that. Both suffer pitfalls of entitlement-thinking. You and I commented to each other about this term “entitlement” last week and I cannot get it out of my head, because I notice it infused in almost everything. It keeps us from having really hard conversations about how to live in a democratic-governed system, and still make it actually work in light of “Strongman” urges, god-defining narcissism, and status-gaming lifestyles. The system needs enlightenment. It needs deep, humble, creative thinking, but the appetite for that when the Big Boys want their profits guaranteed, seems currently impossible.
Yes. The dichotomy leaves out all of the other factors, such as the fact that human beings are part of a larger ecosystem, that includes all other living things that have to be considered as well, if our species is to survive.
Yes, J. Nol. Being close to Thanksgiving Day, when in grade school I learned about the Pilgrims, it makes me reflect. The Pilgrims were in a land of abundance, and only saw fit to hold dominion over it and everyone living there. This American Land “worked” for ages, sustainably, in health, and beauty, before we arrived. Dismissing those lessons was/is folly.
Starter homes in the 60’s vs mansions today. The upswing says a lot. A family could survive in decent comfort -just one breadwinner. Corporate greed is well known. Other countries have fast rail, free medical, far more healthy populace, and more capita per sq.mile..the number of billionaires 50+ years ago 9? here vs now 600+?( mentioned this week on Substack) is pointedly the same stark truth. Sorry I can’t recall the exact figures , but POINT MADE well.
To make the second point -again - Biden is covering the ground well, shoring up practices, problems, and luv de piracy word too (thanks) ...the Mr. Epitome of GREED upon us since 2016 marks this ERA like none other. Happened before and the countries succumbed already would shout 🗣️BE ADVISED even louder ..than those now leading the charge. I’m so grateful for y’all 🫶
Some are more well off than others and the 26 billionaires who have as much wealth as half of humanity are better off than many, but the UAW contract and a number of other indicators indicate some new eddies in decades long "Hoover-Up Economics" flow that are reversing the trends of "from the many to the few". And that real news.
It took 40 years of permission by the American people, who were constantly distracted by “crime rates” and “the drug wars” to notice the real theives. It will take more than 4 years to repair that damage. The real message must be about a continued way of life that best suits all Americans that combines opportunity and fairness.
Japan has been smart about learning from other societies. One sees preserved historical treasures and traditions all over Japan, along with the newest of the new. I think the US got a big boost from the combined skills of, dare I say it, immigrants. Japan is a much more uniform population, but they have their antennae out. I dare say, we could learn a thing or two from other nations (and history) about what is likely to work, and what is likely to fail.
In the pandemic, we had the information and all else we needed to save many thousands of people, and we divided on how to use it; thus many needlessly died. We are entering an even more massive hazard zone on climate. Nature makes the rules in the end, and is indifferent to what we do with them, or how they alter our fate.
Well said and thank you for the observation about Japan. France, with years of practice, does well too. Organized at the local level so that large demonstrations are unlikely to overturn anything (again). Our “exceptionalism” is truly laughable. Hoping we can retain our idealism and get over it.
And don't trust proven, substantial liars. Reward those who tell the truth, especially when the truth is hazardous to tell, such as in the case of Alexander Vindman.
Yup! The “real thieves” stealing our rights to our own personal healthcare and life and to be free of fear of being gunned down in our schools, while grocery shopping, in our bowling alley or night club, in our own home by damaged and enraged partners.
I suggest that people read the decision by the Eastern Oregon judge that the gun measure passed by voters is unconstitutional vis a vis the Oregon Constitution. Some really crazy statements and not allowing the people who are most affected by gun violence to testify. A couple weeks ago, the Oregunians (this is what they call themselves) living about three houses down across the street got off a couple gunshots accompanied by yelling. I couldn't sleep after that because I had no idea if it would continue. At this point, I think I am hoping that they shoot each other while inside and not outside.
Many are still focused on crime rates, etc. which tells me that they know nothing about crime historically. Salem just put out a map about gun violence and gee, it is highest in the poorest parts of the city. The voters tried to do something about gun violence, but see my post above what an Eastern Oregon judge did to that. We do have a problem with measure 110 which decriminalized certain hard drugs and now we have people openly using drugs on the street. That measure will be overhauled and it should be because people didn't get much help as promised, but they do drugs all over the place.
We are doing just fine with our 3.75% mortgage. But new home buyers are facing 8%. And so they are simply priced out. In my opinion the Biden administration, led by Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary (yes yell at Jerome Powell to start cutting already!), needs to start addressing this problem. Biden needs some very positive economic movement to have a chance in 2024.
As my father in law likes to remind me, the chairman of the Fed serves at the pleasure of the President. Perhaps Biden needs to get a clue in this area.
Everyone needs affordable and safe housing, but that doesn’t always mean being a homeowner. Our first home mortgage, many years ago, had an interest rate of 12 or 13%. Eight percent doesn’t look bad compared to now.
It isn’t interest rates that is the culprit, it is low paying jobs and people working two or three to make ends meet.
Exactly! When my spouse and I built our home in the mid 80's, our construction loan was at least 12% and when we flipped it to a mortgage it went to 13%. OTOH, savings accounts were earning 11% at that time.
Of course, the major costs of having a house built is the materials and the contractor's labor costs. We built our house ourselves with the help of my father-in-law and some nephews and cousins who were in the trade, and we were very lucky to have been able to do that. That blessing was offered thanks to the loan management department of our local bank, who allowed us to build without a general contractor to supervise. We probably paid a bit more in interest than by going to a national chain, but having that local bank behind us was worth it. We have also felt fortunate in that our local bank has continued to be healthy enough not to have had to sell their mortgages to a third party to administer.
Thankfully, yes. Because they were generous about their requirements when we built the house, we have banked with this Savings and Loan institution for over 40 years. I think it is probably pretty hard to find a small town bank that has remained as strong as the one we have here in western Maine.
I was a proud, single,twenty something homeowner in the 80’s. As I recall my interest rate was 12.5%.
In Florida ,homeowners insurance rates have increased over 100%! In the past three years.Our GOP dominated legislature has failed to adequately address the issue as the culture wars dominate. Our governor boasts about all the people moving to the sunshine state, although hundreds of thousands are also leaving.
The reason for the increase in insurance costs is building in the giant flood plain that is Florida.
My homeowner insurance in Colorado has also gone up dramatically this year, because here you never replace a roof bc it’s old. You replace it every 5 years from hail damage. Even though I don’t have a roof (berm houses have dirt) I pay for your roof. And perhaps for the floodplain houses in Florida.
Yes, move to Florida and go underwater. As climate change proceeds home insurance, if people can get it at all, will only go up. In Oregon, an agency produced a map where there is more fire danger. A great hue and cry went up, partly because insurance rates would go up, and so the map didn't go into effect. But the same people will want state help to fight fires and when their houses go up in flames. And their insurance may go up anyway. Will they do anything to mitigate climate change...no, they will fight it tooth and nail. Then we have our very own wing nut R representing the 2nd district (eastern and southern Oregon). The stakeholders in the area including tribal members, had worked out a plan for addressing the environment in Owyhee Canyon that worked for everyone, but did Cliff Benz support it....nope.
It’s the unchecked greed of corporations and their robber baron executives that is ultimately problematic, mixed with many people not knowing how to manage their money and living beyond their means.
Christine this is true. I have a colleague that put an offer in on a house 5 or 6 years ago at an interest rate of just over 4%. The owners decided to pull it off the market for "family dispute " reasons. My friend continued to rent her flat with no rate increases, safe neighborhood and wonderful owners.
She noticed the same house she looked at previously went back on the market. She called about it. There was a price bump, likely due to a new roof and furnace replacement . Certainly within reason. However, the interest rates killed the deal for her. It simply isn't always worth it to buy a house in these high interest times.
Matt, like Christine and TL below, our first mortgage was about 13%. We refinanced when it dropped to 9% and then again when it dropped lower still. I do not want to be a person who when talking about mortgages basically sounds like the old "I walked to school 5 miles uphill both ways in a blizzard"--I don't want my kids to pay that rate either. However, personally I think that the bigger issue is the PRICE of houses. I heard a radio clip in the last few days that the average home price in the US was just under about $400K. Of course, location location location, but if corporations are able to swoop in and snap up all the houses and convert them to rental, this is a big problem.
The issues of home ownership are multiple, today, opposed to when I bought my house with a 12% interest loan. Back then, houses were cheap, insurance was a nuisance bill, but still an industry that came through when a disaster hit, and taxes were an annoyance...but affordable. Today, insurance finds a thousand ways to deny legitimate claims, taxes make homeownership unaffordable, and you have to be an avid DIYer to stay on top of repairs.
My sister is the association president of her 20 unit condo. They are on a flood plane, if they were 1" higher they would not be so. In at least forty years, it has not flooded but it is in a "100 year" area. In the last decade, their flood insurance rose from about $3000/yr to $20,000/yr. Nearly everyone in the condo are seniors and this has hurt them. She's tried everything possible to lower this or get them off the map, even hiring an engineer to resurvey it. He told her the only was off was to jack up the two buildings, which of course they can't do.
To put this in perspective, at our rate of 3.75%, the 30 year mortgage on a home loan of $400,000 (not including home owners insurance and property taxes) is $1849 per month. At 8% this rises to $2917 per month! That is a ton of money going down the drain. But you are right, 13% is $4378 which is much worse.
Yes, I was only born in 1974 so of course I have never experienced those rates. My parents got their mortgage in the 60s which I think was about 6%. But also, interest used to be tax deductable, so maybe that effective rate was more like 4.5%. I think interest rates in the 4-5% rates long term would be a good balance between affordability and preventing the growth of housing bubbles like we are seeing now.
The problem with an 8% interest rate long term is that no one with an existing home dares to sell because getting a new mortgage is so much more expensive. And so there is a housing shortage along with prices not being affordable even if homes were available. And then of course a housing shortage also causes pressure on rents.
Retire Dejoy and Jerome Powell. Amazing how well the economy has performed with the boat anchor of high interest. At the same time some of the largest and most profitable corporations are squeezing employees and customers in a race to satisfy investors.
I bought my first home in the 80’s, on a land contract at 10%, because bank loans were way too expensive. The problem isn’t interest rates per se, is it?
"Biden needs some very positive economic movement to have a chance in 2024." The only chance I see is people getting un-hypnotized by the maga cult. In today's (11/22) NY Times, Bret Stephens writes of Israel and Hamas, but he has an important message for the U.S.: "no country can be expected to sign its own death warrant by indulging those who, if given the chance, would annihilate it."
Simon Rosenburg from Hopium Chrinicles has the stats. The difference between what people feel personally in their own situation versus how they perceive the country's situation is a vast chasm of deliberate misinformation. Read his daily letter from Nov 21, 2023 below.
The unemployment rate has been hovering at post-WWII peacetime lows for the last 18 months, and we’ve had the highest number of job openings per unemployed persons in history; the uninsured rate is lower than its ever been; the Dow is more than 17 times higher today than it was in January, 1989; GDP growth has been averaging 3% over the past 3 years, a very strong clip; median wealth grew by 37% from 2020 to 2022; wages have been rising at very elevated levels as has new business formations; inflation was zero last month and the price of many items are lower than they were a year ago: our recovery from COVID has been better than any other advanced nation; median income in the US is among the highest in the world, and the gap between what workers make here and what they make in other advanced nations has grown in recent decades; in just the past few weeks, for the first time in history, 9 of the 10 most valuable companies in the world are American; this year America’s economy is likely to grow faster than China’s for the first time in decades.
Violent crime here in the US is about half of what it was three decades ago. While crime did tick up a bit during COVID, most measures have started coming back down, and with the exception of mass shootings (a big exception) America is far safer today than it’s been in many decades. The crime rate of immigrants and undocumented immigrants is far lower than the rate for those born here in the US.
President Biden has made the largest set of investments in renewable energy in American history, and the energy transition so necessary for our planet’s survival has accelerated dramatically in recent years. America is producing more of its own oil than any time in history, and is exporting more liquefied natural gas than ever before. The historic investments we’ve made in our infrastructure will drive our economy and employment for decades, while modernizing our electricity grid and making it easier for all Americans to get around.
Around the world, life expectancy has exploded, extreme poverty has plummeted and more people have been living under a democracy than any time in human history. While there have been regional wars, there has not been a global war with mass causalities like WWI or WWII in 80 years. There has literally never been a better time to be alive and seek your dreams around the world than in the last few decades in all of human history.
America is not without problems. Life expectancy here in the US is not high enough - too many people are dying here too soon. There are too many mass shootings. Health care is too expensive here. Teen depression and the harms of social media are a serious problem. Inflation has been too high (but lower here than other G7 nations and coming down) and interest rates are also too high. And then there are all the problems MAGA has brought - stripping of fundamental rights common throughout the modern world, the threat to democracy, the rise of right wing militias, oligarchical economic policies, appeasement of hostile foreign powers working to undermine America….
But it’s my view that any fact-based sober analysis of America’s standing in the world, and our progress here at home, would suggest that we are doing really well, that things are better here. We are not diminished, or failing behind, but rather we are adapting to the big challenges of our time successfully. Others who look at the data agree. The Economist magazine recently featured a cover story called, Riding High - The Lessons from America’s Astonishing Economic Record. Noted commentator Fareed Zakaria did a remarkable CNN piece on America’s economic and geopolitical strength that you can find below - please watch.
“Well, Simon, that may all be true, but Americans don’t feel it, do they?” First, here at Hopium, I strive very hard to focus on what is true, what are objective facts, and keep these separate from feelings and understandings. It is critical in this poisoned information environment we find ourselves in that we fight hard to hold on to the idea that there are objective facts in the world, that there are things that are just true. That America is stronger and better today in my mind is one of things that is just true regardless of what people understand or believe at this moment.
Second, what if people actually do understand that things are pretty good here in America, but we just aren’t asking the questions properly? I’ve written about this idea before, that like the struggle with horse race polling to capture the current political moment, it’s very possible that the simplistic questions that are most often asked about the economy are not accurately capturing people’s sense of how things are going in their lives.
I am going to be spending much more time exploring this idea in the coming months but let’s consider three sets of data now:
First, the US government actually tracks a variety of well-being measures. In 2022, 95.9% of American adults in their survey said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. 95.9%. In other studies this report sites, asked in different ways, the data comes in the 70s. So broad life satisfaction asked in a variety of ways.
Second, the Conference Board does an annual survey of job satisfaction. In 2022 it was the highest the survey ever recorded:
Third, here’s some data I pulled from a recent Economist/YouGov weekly tracking poll of registered voters:
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way things are going in your life today? Satisfied 64%, Dissatisfied 35%
How happy would you say you are with your current job? Great deal/somewhat 80%, A little/not at all 19%.
Do you consider yourself paid fairly or underpaid in your job? Paid fairly 56%, Underpaid 38%.
Do you think your family income will increase or decrease in 2024? Increase 45%, stay the same 41%, decrease 15%.
Taken together this data suggests that Americans are largely happy with their lives, work and incomes; do not think things are going to get worse next year; and are not broadly unhappy with the way things are. In this data you cannot find the kind of broad dissatisfaction in America that one hears described in current political commentary.
To me that people are not actually broadly unhappy or discontented helps explain the election results of the past few years, which have been good ones for incumbents in both parties, and surprisingly good ones for the party in power, the Democratic Party. Governors are remarkably popular right now, and other than Joe Manchin, no incumbent Democratic Senator trails in polling. Democrats in the House also have meaningful approval and favorability advantages over House Republicans right now, which again points to a lack of a backlash against the party in power, the Democrats (think we all know why the public is down on Congressional Republicans).
But look at what happens in this same Economist/YouGov poll when you ask questions about the American economy more broadly:
Do you think the economy is shrinking or growing? Growing 22%, staying the same 25%, shrinking 37%. Reality - The economy has grown at 3% on average under Biden, the highest for any President since Clinton. It grew 4.9% last quarter, one of the best growth rates in the last several decades.
Are the number of jobs in the United States…. Increasing 42%, staying the same 36%, decreasing 22%. Reality - Under Biden 14m new jobs have been created, and we’ve had the fastest job growth rate of any President since WWII.
How would you describe the current state of the American economy? Excellent/good 30%, fair/poor 64%. Reality - Strongest recovery in G7, fastest job growth perhaps ever, very strong GDP growth, inflation is way down, wage growth is very strong, deficit is way down from Trump…..
So only 22% know the economy is growing, 58% don’t know jobs are increasing, and 64% think the economy is fair/poor despite all these other measures of life, job and income satisfaction. Truly, what is going on here? This data suggests something tragic - that the American people have no idea what is happening in the country they live in; or put another way, what they do know is wrong, deeply wrong.
That people think things are bad when by many measures they aren’t helps explain Biden’s low approval right now. But it also speaks to something far more significant - the American people are being denied the opportunity to feel good about the country they live in, the progress we’ve made, the goodness and greatness of the American project. And when people believe a country is failing, they become open to more radical options - like MAGA, or Trump. It’s why I often talk about how one of our main goals here at Hopium is to give our fellow citizens permission to love their country again.
“This is the REAL REASON Americans should vote for Joe Biden again. He is working his butt off to undo the damage the last 40 years have had on the middle class.”
Yes indeed - and this is what each of us needs to talk about to friends & family to help those who don’t follow the details of truly governing clearly see what Biden (and Dems) are doing to make the lives of everyday Americans better.
It’s hard, continuous work spread across so many industrial & governmental platforms.
Let’s do this - Biden has our back, we need to have his back!
I am, honestly, quite happy that you (and hopefully everyone) is free of a "sense of dread". I would think that is fairly paralyzing. Maybe a "sense of outrage" is more empowering?
Here is something to read that will bring about your action and sense of empowerment.
Prominent Republican lawyers are on the front page of NY Times today offering a call to action for all legal minds to avoid pending despotism of a King. Something John Adams worked tirelessly to overthrow legally and militarily.
I am more into 4,8 & 12 year plans continuing nto the Future. I have another opportunity to answer questions from my Granddaughters tomorrow when the extended family gathers.
Hi Mike, that article was uplifting so thanks. But these folks are not the Lincoln Project which was formed by ex-Republican operatives when tfg ran the first time (and whose ads in particular are very well done) but by conservative lawyers trying to point the profession away from aiding and abetting criminals like tfg.
Long overdue. Thanks for the link. It is a bit comforting. Perhaps the nation is actually waking up to the Federalist threat? But before we get too complacent, we should read this about Leonard Leo - the Hitler of the Federalist Society:
It’s just that Biden’s work isn’t held up to Trump’s in contrast. Biden has worked for the working class; Trump worked for the oligarchs. Biden passed a massive infrastructure bill; Trump did not. Biden was part of the Obama administration and helped pass the ACA; Trump claimed he would “repeal and replace Obamacare” and failed to do either. Trump bullied NATO partners to organize without the help of the US; Biden reinforced our relationship with our European partners, as well as our Asian-Pacific partners with coalitions that strengthen the bargaining power of smaller countries with our clout. Through Trump’s reckless spending cuts to balance all the tax giveaways he offered to the rich, the Infectious Disease team stationed in Wuhan China was scrapped three months before the nexus of COVID 19. Biden coordinated and executed one of the largest US vaccination initiatives since the polio vaccine, bringing back a stronger, more sustainable economy to the USA and North America as a whole.
Unfortunately, no one is shouting this from the rooftops to help undo the entrenched propaganda that Biden is doing nothing, or worse, jeopardizing the country.
It’s too expensive to fight mainstream media who refuse to change. It’s collectively owned by billionaires who own the corporations that are making more billions for them. They also control the courts and most of the government through their Lobbyists, Special Interest Groups, PAC’s, SuperPACs, and direct & indirect donations, gifts & perks to courts & members of government to help smooth their path towards owning all people and property. It’s a wonder President Biden & Administration have accomplished so much with these mountainous obstacles in their way.
There are way more GOP donors than Democrat donors. It's important to note that Peter Thiel and others have stated they are opting out of political donations.
Warren B. and Bill G. are huge philanthropists as you know, buy choose not to back politicians with their $$$$$s. Too bad Citizens United was decided the way it was.
The ones who opt out are supporting the arses, hope they know that. The scales tell the tale. Thank you for list. I have my own list for the amount I will take from savings for political purposes. Much less than previously. Yes, Citizens United was a body blow to democracy. The list doesn’t just lean Repub, it is hip deep in their bull schitt
Except that when politics are boring--or at least predictable--Democrats seemingly fall asleep at the wheel. Apparently we need a Constitutional crisis or two to keep us engaged in the nuts and bolts process of democracy.
I think it's exhausting for most Americans who work hard everyday and see their children facing a worse outcome for all their efforts! This trickle down economy has shown who profits the most from its inception, the wealthy! The wide gap between the rich and poor is growing. I am so glad that Biden actually addressed that. The Right wing has effectively restructured our country's economy to keep the poorest poor, and the middle class slightly better off than the poorest! They've had 4 decades to accomplish this! It's time for our country to get the information on why we are struggling. It's certainly not because we are not working harder! DjT is right about one thing, 'The System is Rigged!' ! But, it's rigged to favor the wealthiest Americans, like him.
Color me boring, if you like, but for me, Biden’s leadership is anything but boring. I consider it intoxicating, to at long last see an administration getting wins for the rule of law, the golden rule, and we the people! ❤️
Agreed … boring because there’s no orange faced bully embarrassing himself and us daily simply by being such a ‘stable genius’.
President Biden and team are skilled administrators and negotiators who know how to make policy work (more often than not) and chalk up accomplishments.
Why? Trump will be in jail, or at least debtors prison, or hiding in someone’s pool house in a country with no extradition treaty. Biden/Harris will have a second term to continue what they have started, repairing American infrastructure, individual liberty and our country’s role as a model for democracy around the world. Many of the collaborators and colluders in the attempt coup will also be held to account be law enforcement and/or voters. Religious and political extremism will become less fashionable. The time will come to focus on repairing our world’s ecosystems. It will be better.
Wish I could lose my sense of dread. Instead, my dread, anger, outrage, and fright grow daily. We are very far from being safe from the Hitler wannabe and his cult.
While it is good news the problem is an ever shrinking number of people who see it. When most people under 40 get their news from TikTok, X, FB and Instagram the job gets tougher for the Democrats too firmly entrenched in traditional MSM practices.
Also much much more needs to be done to show those in the younger demographics that the things they are currently experiencing, if not outright suffering from, will only be addressed by a complete Democratic majority in the executive and legislative branches. It's not easy addressing their overriding issues (student loans, high rents, less than adequate wages and sympathies for Palestinians) and depending on rosy economic numbers they might never see, is a recipe for considering alternative no matter how radical.
Desperate people vote in unexpected ways, just look at 2016 here and 2023 in Argentina. People vote and don't vote for many reasons, thinking they all think and vote like us here in this forum is dangerous when so much its at stake.
All of this is great news, particularly on the eve of Thanksgiving. Now our challenge is that we communicate all good news to those around us. The Thanksgiving gatherings about to occur might be an excellent place for us to practice and hone our skills at spreading good news.
The LA Times today has the other half of this argument - let other Rs do the talking about why NOT tffg. I like your good news idea better, Marc, but this cheat sheet might work on other deluded relatives:
Mike Pence, vice president: On Jan. 6, 2021, “President Trump also demanded I choose between him and our Constitution. … Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”
William Barr, second attorney general: “A very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s.” He “shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”
John F. Kelly, White House chief of staff, Homeland Security secretary and retired Marine general: “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ … A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. … God help us.”
James N. Mattis, first Defense secretary, retired Marine general: “The first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people. … Instead, he tries to divide us.” He would order the military to “violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens. ”
Mark Esper, second Defense secretary: “He’s unfit for office. … His actions are all about him and not about the country. And then, of course, I believe he has integrity and character issues as well.”
This is fantastic! Finally the MSM are getting on board. And I was really happy about Judge Luttig et al. forming a new organization to counter the Federalist Society.
This is all good, Alexandra, but I fear that the vast majority of the mind numbingly large number of Americans who voted for the then soon-to-be-Seditionist-Sociopath in 2020, IN SPITE of all the horrors he visited upon the fruited plain, couldn't care less about John Kelly's or Bob Barr's opinion. They want Trump uber alles, no matter what.
The only real question is will there be enough voters to turn out for Biden to counteract the Kool Aid drinkers.
Margaret Mead Quotes. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Daniel, it is good to remember that TFFG has NEVER won the popular vote, which unfortunately means that a few states will end up pivotal to the election because of the Electoral College. Hard to imagine him getting an increase in popular votes, especially with all his perpetual whining and spouting such word salad anti-democratic drivel. If he is the R candidate I would love to see some spectacularly ginormous losing numbers….humiliatingly low. However, sigh, we all know he would be spouting “stop the steal 2.0”….and in my dreams the country hollers back “Donnie, STOP the SQUEAL”. One can hope, yeah?
I would love to see those "ginormous losing numbers", Barbara. Of course you are right, about the Seditionist Sociopath being the "biggest loser" electorally. Unfortunately, our body politic is still afflicted by its toxic appendix, the Electoral College.
I am hoping along with you!
BTW, I'm hoping to soon get up towards the newest Cal Poly in our fine State, up in your neck of the woods in Humboldt.
Daniel, when I started school/employment at Humboldt in 1969 it was Humboldt State College, then Humboldt State Univ…now Cal Poly Humboldt. Locals who’ve lived through the iterations just call it “Humboldt”. Humboldt county is a great place to explore…small towns, bay, lagoons, rivers, forests & the sea—miles upon miles of seashore (watch your back for sneaker waves!). Basically Humboldt is as far north as you can get for college and still pay in-state fees & is one reason I chose it those many years ago…great memories of attending classes (10 yr no-degree program…lol…) and of working there on staff for 40 years!
Daniel, I just want to stick a reminder post-it note to you. Fake 45 caused over 1 million deaths because of his botched plan about Covid. That means most of those people will not be voting for him. They’re gone.
To be fair, a substantial COVID death toll was likely even if we had done everything right. But we Yanks outdid ourselves for a way oversized death toll compared to other nations. I have seen estimates that "only" several hundred thousand deaths have "GOP" fingerprints on them.
though it leaves many factors unaccounted for, just the difference in mortality rates between vaccinated counties and the unvaccinated ones leaves TFG’s fingerprints on thousands upon thousands of deaths. But MAGA seem to care less and seem quite happy to die for their gilded orange menace
I wonder if anyone else can make it to the end of this as I did with them yelling and talking over each other. ( confess, it was more like watching a train wreck.) I am absolutely baffled by any people of color supporting Trump, but if you watch this, you can see it isn't just Caucasians who are brainwashed.
I lasted to the end though it was HARD. However, I got an interesting piece of information from it, that being the amount of money given to HBC under Trump as compared to Biden. The host kept hammering the point that they have done tremendously better under Biden, but this guy just refused to listen.
D4N, I would love a printable side-by-side comparison list of accomplishments of TFFG’s admin & the Biden/Harris admin (the White House website has good info on this admin’s accomplishments, but alas is not in a printable format). Perhaps w/ sidebar notes showing who benefited from them (thinking tax cuts for the rich & corps, etc) & reference links. Heck, I’d carry a supply with me to pass out in hopes a few folks would actually read it & learn….as it is said “the more you know”….. Kinda Pollyanna-ish of me, but one can hope!
A link to a some suggestions from earlier in the week for approaching those family dinner table discussions with links to all of the White House responses to the Republican House appropriations bills.
As someone above suggested (and I emailed to the WH begging for them to forward to the Biden campaign) could you create a one page printable document that could be shared? (Or if this exists somewhere, please someone let us know!)
I had a conversation last week with my hairdresser who is conservative but dislikes "nasty" Trump only because of the way he name calls. She also said that Biden "has done nothing". I started rattling off many of them, all of which she hadn't heard of with the exception of the Infrastructure Act--and that she didn't know what it was doing!!
She is diabetic, so I did mention the Medicare cap on insulin price. (she isn't on insulin or Medicare, but that at least hit close to home.)
A table of his accomplishments would help us letter/postcard writers. Comparing his to Trump's record would help, too.
The supporters of TFG don’t care about facts. I think the real question is, Do you like living in a democracy? If so then Biden is the choice. Do you want to experience what living in a Facism country is like then vote TFG because he is telling us exactly what he will do. Democracy or Facism, that’s the bottom line question IMO.
All of these men want to have their cake and eat it too. They support the policies of the trump era. They are hoping to replace trump and put in someone more mainstream-likable to do the continued eroding of American Rights. They want the skunk out of the room-where-it-happens. It draws too much attention. All of these men had multiple - beyond multiple- chances to come clean about this demigod/golden calf. Yet they don’t do it. Pense, for example, could end this hullabaloo soooooooo quickly by simply telling the truth. All of them could. But not a single one will, in a court of law, reveal the whole truth. They are extending our national pain for their own gain.
Many people complain about the failures of MSN and the Biden administration to message properly and effectively. We can take it upon ourselves to do this in our own circles.
It’s also hard to message properly when their opponents are backed by billionaires who own the mainstream media that is helping stifle and counter their messaging. Don’t forget that most effective social media platforms are owned by billionaires who don’t want Biden to succeed. Lastly, it’s hard to motivate people to action who don’t know what is going on due to unintentional &/or willful ignorance, mis/disinformation, and who lack time because their employers help keep them too busy, too tired, and contribute towards making them feel powerless.
Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
Have been but standing up is about all I can do now. Thank you. So many warriors on HCR, TCinLA, Hubbel, Dan Rather, and Greg Olear. And many more that I can't afford.
And this is another great summation of Team Biden accomplishments:
William Weir posted on Quora:
"In only 2–1/2 years, Biden has already set a record for the most jobs ever created in a single presidential term. We have the lowest peacetime unemployment since before the Great Depression, and workforce participation is rising for the first time since Clinton was President. His Rescue Plan launched the fastest economic recovery in history, and the “Biden Boom” led to record consumer spending, record corporate profits, rising home values, record low childhood poverty, the best GDP growth in forty years, and a banner year for the Dow. Despite deliberate sabotage by his predecessor, he brought an end to America’s longest war with a near-record low number of American casualties. He has already cut the record deficit he inherited by half, making record cuts his first two years, and is on track to become only the second President to reduce the deficit every year of his administration. He passed a historic investment in our infrastructure that was budget neutral and that is projected to create as many as 19 million new jobs. Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year. He brought microchip manufacturing to the US, cut prescription drug prices for seniors, capped insulin prices, and signed a bill to protect our elections from future coup attempts. The biggest challenges in his Presidency so far have been global inflation exacerbated domestically in part by record economic growth on the heels of crippled supply lines due to his predecessor’s failure to address the pandemic and his ill-advised trade war. All of this occurred during the heavy drubbing by a Republican Party that actively tries to sabotage good government."
Thank you Alexandra. Both of the above summations will provide me with some useful information tomorrow around the Thanksgiving table. There is nothing like a few facts to back up the assertions of the progress that Biden has made in the past three years.
Thanks for the highlights of Biden's work. Please also refer to the White House website to add immigration actions to the list. (The link was way too long to post for some reason.)
Even hearing and knowing all that Biden has accomplished, too many truly don't care as long as their taxes are low, and will "Yes. But," themselves into a pretzel rather than vote D.
“Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year.”
Might I suggest cutting this line if there even a scintilla of a chance that a person under the age of thirty who is concerned about climate change will be a recipient of this.
Marc, that is a stellar idea! Most families are "mixed" and these discussions come up at Thanksgiving. I don't envy people with deluded relatives (my own family is solidly Democratic) but I would be grateful to anyone who is willing to use the table as a good news forum.
You make an excellent point Alexandra about "us(ing) the table as a good news forum."
It's unfortunate the MSM feeds us sensationalism to bring in the viewers and the ad $$$$s. I'm definitely guilty of bringing up something awful TFFG, SCOTUS or any of the MAGANAZIs has said or done instead of talking up the Biden administration's many accomplishments.
Alexandra, my family too…such a relief isn’t it? I read with dismay the disappointment and heartache of others’ experiences….seems like it would be a real appetite killer ‘round the dinner table!
Tim, it’s sad that a Liberian politician has to provide an example for the peaceful transfer of power to the US because a substantial number of US citizens believe the lies of the former president.
Zhao made $23 billion in helping to finance terrorists and he is slapped on the wrist for only $200 million? Just like Fake 45 not getting a complete gag order handed to him, these men get away with murder.
Biden and his staff are constantly working to improve our lives but there are those who refuse to recognize what’s being done. Today I was listening to Katy Tur on MSNBC and she threw in a statement that Biden’z ratings were at “an all-time low”. I could’ve strangled her! Truly, what do people want from Joe? MSM is plain ole lousy. They can see he is an active player in the Hamas-Israel negotiations, just signed a proclamation regarding Women’s Health, stood with workers who belong to UAW for fair wages and benefits, continues to pass energy-saving tasks, etc and etc. and etc. It ticks me off when you’ve got people leaning on the fence as to who to vote for. If you don’t want a democracy but autocracy, then Fake 45 is your guy. If you want to retain democracy, go with Joe. That’s what Cassidy Hutchinson said last night. She’s 26 years old and has more intelligence than any Magat we know of.
MSM ignores the accomplishments of the Biden Administration but then treats as news the fact that his poll numbers are low. And that’s MSNBC, the liberal media. The right wing MAGA media is 24/7 in trash Biden mode.
Since Watergate, it seems the MSM is in business of taking down politicians, to report bad political news only. Reporting good news won’t boost ad revenue or get you a Pulitzer Prize.
We're rewatching "The Handmaid's Tale." Pardon my French, but it's a misogynist's wet dream. It's EXACTLY the society MAGANAZIs want. No abortions, rape is legal and actually mandated. No trials to bog down the justice system. Forced religious practices and beliefs.
Just look at some of the laws being proposed in TX & FL. This will happen if TFFG is elected King of the US.
I believe maintaining equal protection and responsibility is essential to rule of law. There may be extenuating circumstances in some matters of law, but being rich and powerful should not be one of them. If anything it offers less excuse.
Marlene, a time or two I’ve looked up how to contact TV “news” programs, specifically MSNBC & sent them my request/opinion about this….not that it had any effect, but at least I told them I wasn’t buying their schtick on this subject.
One must wonder what the rich are plotting to thwart anymore long overdue financial progress for the people.
Imagine our clout if we set aside the propaganda-inflamed, manufactured divisions and voted in historic numbers for candidates who support basic human rights and needs. What a beautiful thing it would be.
If we want people to ‘vote in historic numbers,” we will have to set out a clear vision of what we believe democracy can and will be. We cannot rely on the worn platitudes of the Democratic party if we want to motivate the students and youth. We will need to create a Democracy 2.0 with fresh revolutionary ideas that will be compelling. Although compelling, we cannot rely on anti Trump tropes alone. We must present an exciting vision.
Worn platitudes? such as? the unfurling of the flags of democracy described in the first half of this Letter is as fresh and revolutionary as anything I've seen since the days of FDR, that is to say, my whole lifetime. There isn't a single anti-Trump trope in that news story.
Hey, Marc Nevas, can we shift the "we" to whom you refer here?
Can we shift it to our schools, asking educators to center things much more on humanities, so the "compelling" and "exciting" you envisage might tie to the human stories and individual characters in our humanities?
The billionaires, as part of their packaging of all life, their turning people into units -- monetizable units -- have killed humanities in schools, partly because the rich have no feeling for people (certainly no respect for people), more so because the replacement for humanities, all that machinery of standardized testing, better serves the billionaires' needs for categorizing, abstracting, dividing.
Heather Cox Richardson celebrates some good sets of human news today, just before Thanksgiving, but the billionaires aren't going to relent. And won't the "we" to whom you refer be stronger if our teachers turn more to the decency and energy in our arts?
I used to be a teacher in lower and middle schools. Our teachers today are overworked, underpaid, and under supported. In Florida in particular, they are getting the worst of it. I stand by my assertion that It is “we the people” that must stand unitedly to bring about positive change. The teachers can do their part, but we must all stand together and not look to others to do our work for us.
Speaking of schools, if you want to be inspired,Civic Influencers are truly “turbocharging” young voters !💙
“ Civic Influencers is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit that empowers young people to make their voices heard—and their votes count. We operate hyper-locally in targeted districts and states to support a year-round civic movement that amplifies the power of Gen Z voters, especially those at community colleges, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), as well as trade, technical, and vocational schools.”
Thanks,Barbara. I attended a Zoom meeting last week featuring Maxim Thorne/Civic Influencers and it was so uplifting. We often don’t give these young voters enough credit !
Schools are a long-range important piece, but won't impact the upcoming election much if at all. We're already in a fierce fire-fight, and we need ammunition NOW! Isn't that the whole purpose behind the grass-roots movement we are a part of?
The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were both revolutionary documents in their time. We can certainly do as well, or even better in our time.
I keep talking about how MAGA Mike wants to ban contraceptives. I know of young people who abhor abortion but rely on contraceptives to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. This is not just a female issue as the young men would be financially on the hook for about two decades.
You need to hit home with issues that will directly impact people. Medicare and SS are big for the seniors, but it seems that the young people I know find those too far in the future and doubt that SS will be there for them.
There's the trick Michael; gaining back the numbers with a sane, fact based, achievable agenda looking forward - attractive enough for dems and independents, then hopefully some r's.
It's good to know that some conservatives are reclaiming their values by pushing back against the extremist Federalist Society. I don't necessarily agree with them on many issues, but that they call for a return to using and protecting the Constitution is a big positive. Hopefully they can provide an off ramp for those conservatives who prefer a modicum of sanity in government.
"there have been “very few complaints” about the extra costs for bags." And if you believe that! Seriously how can anyone say that? Americans hate junk fees with the white hot passion of a thousand suns.
Who are we supposed to complain to? Here’s an idea. Force the airlines to fund an independent toll-free number for complaints, and watch them roll in. If they had their way, each call would cost at least $5, to start with...
In 1983, my fiancé at the time (now my wife) and I went to NYC to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a 5 day trip. We took 4 suitcases and a carry on each. No fees of course, for baggage. What a hassle dealing with all of that baggage.
When we got home, we vowed to never check bags again. I've broken that vow a couple of times with golf clubs, but never with clothes or shoes.
"Hate" may be too strong a word - Americans dislike junk fees with the intensity of 10,000 supernovae all burning in a space no larger than an average human pineal gland. :)
That quote in today’s letter seriously angered me. I used to have frequent flyer miles on at least three major airlines. Then their added fees and our age and health changed all that. American was the last to go with intentionally less leg room and baggage fees and then extra fee for aisle seat. For past eight to ten years we only fly Southwest. Getting my husband who requires wheel chair accommodations from airport entry to plane, Southwest gives us priority boarding, assists with putting carryons in overhead, allows two free pieces of luggage each (if needed.) We would not have been able to witness grandchildren’s graduations, weddings, and getting to see new great-grandchildren without all of that. Everyone I know has complained loudly about the airline junk fees, except the ones with unlimited funds.
Unless and until "We, the people" get Citizen's United overturned, corporate America and their ilk will rule our country. Thankfully, the UAW is strong enough to obtain concessions but we must keep focused on the outrageous profits of corporations who do not share their wealth. The only "Trickle Down" economics they realize is when a knife is held to their throats. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And...the greed for wealth knows absolutely no bounds.
Well said. The multi-billionaires have basically turned the right wing into private assets. There are essentially only two fundamental strategies that can reclaim our nation for the majority of its citizen/stakeholders:
1. Work to insure massive voter turnouts in 2024, especially in large swing states.
2. Weaponize a targeted boycott aimed at the financial interests of the oligarchs. That's all they care about.
It’s not just CU. Let’s set our sights on the holy grail; ending forever the twin concepts of corporate personhood and money as speech. Contact your congressional representative and request their cosponsorship of HJR-54.
Thank you Heather. I recently wrote about the gap between improving economic fundamentals and how the economy is being felt by many Americans.
It is clear to me that you can either aspire toward a meaningful democracy, or you can craft tax and economic policies that yield an extreme concentration of wealth, but not both. The American fork in the road was the Reagan administration, and Reagan intentionally placed America on the wrong path.
True. This is especially tragic in the rural southeast of our nation, where most towns had some type of manufacturing going on up until the 1980s. These small and medium sized shops have been mostly priced out of existence by globalization, tax policy changes, and the lack of any 'trickle' in trickle-down economics.
And the Democrats bent over to help him do it, from the get go.
When Ronnie sent over his trickle down tax cut bill to the House early on, instead of laughing in his face at the reduction in top marginal rates by over 50%, and trying to hammer out a more sane reduction via negotiation, and possessing and supermajority, caved and gave Reagan the keys to the budget kingdom.
After Ronnie won, most of the Dems were cowards, thinking if they forcefully stood up to his popular persona, it would bite them in the butt in the next election cycle.
Liberty and Bell should be renamed Mitch and Elaine, and move to Kentucky, where they could become grift ambassadors for the state where they have millions while all the other turkeys are slaughtered.....
Thank you Dr. Richardson for giving us this great information. Excellent news from UAW. I hope we will soon return to the regulated capitalism that worked so well until those supply side economists stepped in and destroyed the "American Dream" Under supply and demand all enjoyed a piece of the pie, and that pie only grew larger. Yes, the managers and executive got a larger slice but it wasn't half the pie, more like a little less than a quarter. Educated people figured that was fair. Adam Smith has once again proven correct, some Homo sapiens are greedier than others and need regulations to control that greed. The poor got a slice so thin during the past 40 years with 'trickle down' it's a wonder they survived at all.
I have come around to agreeing with the basic income concept that supplies sufficient income to cover nutrition, housing, food, education, entertainment and occupation for all able bodied adults, with higher incomes for the essential services, a strong, educated (though not necessarily college) middle class, and a reasonably (as opposed to obscene) wealthy class.
The high cost of food is part of the problem for poor, lower middle class and most of the elderly. It actually costs me more to feed myself and my two cats today, than it did to feed myself, 2 daughters, cats, dogs, goats, poultry rabbits and horses, in the 1970's and 80's as a percentage of my income. That's just wrong.
We need a code of ethics, preferably written by the electorate, rather than the elected, for all elected and appointed officers in every branch of government and at all levels of government. We elected these people or agreed to their appointed offices to govern us, write laws, regulations, and rules that we should all live by. We did not elect or agree to appoint so they could enrich themselves at our expense and to our detriment. We take seriously that oath of office they swear, even if they do not.
Off Topic: The Colorado Supreme Court has accepted review of the CO Trial Court's finding that TFG is a an Insurreçtionist for purposes of Amendment 14, Section 3's bar fron the Presidential 2024 ballot.
Early in my life Franklin Roosevelt played an extraordinary personal role in the surge, in the 1930s, of unionization in America. This was highlighted by the, at times, bloody unionization of the auto industry, with Ford employing vicious strike breakers in a futile effort to block this union surge.
Private sector unionization hit a peak in the 1950s/1960s and has subsequently plunged.
The recent auto industry union contracts, with President Biden the first American president ever to stand in a union picket line, are a catalyst in an essential upswing in private sector unionization.
I applaud President Biden for his modern-day repeat of FDR’s remarkable presidential support of unionization.
"President Biden has launched a campaign to push back on corporate profiteering, including cracking down on the practice of so-called junk fees—unexpected hidden costs for air travel, car rentals, credit cards, cable television, ticket sales, and so on. (The airline industry collected more than $6.7 billion last year in baggage fees, for example.)
But Tony Romm of the Washington Post explained on Sunday that corporate lobbyists are warring with the Biden administration to stop the crackdown."
It would seem that the real contest in 2024 will be whether Americans are governed by elected representatives or by corporate lobbyists and PACs whose sources are dark money interfering in our elections and our democracy.
To buy the American government requires both aggressive buyers and willing sellers. It is crucial to hold our elected and our own parties accountable for avoiding securing power by selling out the citizens. Prosecution is the only serious remedy for the serious affliction that is corruption.
There is a clear source for the current political burn out. A major battle against democracy was won by the right when the activist conservative majority of the Supreme Court STEPPED BEYOND the initial argument in Citizens United and overturned precedent. Their chain of logic, in the opinion penned by Anthony Kennedy, was that the Constitution protects freedom of SPEECH, not speakers, that the Constitution cannot suppress speech based on the identity of speakers, therefore it cannot suppress the speech of any association of speakers, so that corporations of any kind, including nonprofits like PACs are entitled to speech, and that in the "marketplace of ideas" it costs money to express speech, so there can be no limits on the money used to express speech because that in itself would be suppressing speech.
The majority also spoke about how the interjection of vast sums of money into the "marketplace of ideas" would NOT introduce corruption.
If Clarence Thomas had his way in his concurring opinion, all donors to associations of speakers should be able to remain anonymous.
Justice John Stevens wrote the 90 page dissent joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg and Sotomayor. It's going to be my reading for the week. Justice Stevens was adamant that the majority was legislating from the bench.
This is the seminal issue that has created the current crisis in our country. It takes on a whole new flavor with the news about Thomas' and Alito's hobnobbing with their conservative billionaire friends.
Georgia, first thanks for being such a ferret-it-out researcher—I very much appreciate your comments! Second, the link you post shows an “error, page not found”….thought you’d like a head’s up about that.
A second great American experiment, the rendering of bribery as legal, thus claiming to support a democracy while cementing oligarchy into power, seems unique among nations.
Good to hear that the UAW deal will help not only themselves but will help non union workers as well. I'm so glad the Biden Admin continues to work through the noise of right wing extremist. That's all they do is make noise for sound bites !
Bill, I’ve seen firsthand the actual “trickle across” effects of union workers in chemical plants/refineries here in the Houston area. First the union workers strike for, and get, better wages. Then the nonunion plants give their equivalent workers the same wage/benefits increases to dissuade them from becoming unionized. Lastly, the salaried workers get increases to keep up with the hourly wages. Unions benefitted them all.
Yes Mary. The same for RNs in hospital staff positions here in Northern California The California Nurses Association (part of Nation Nurses United) broke off from the management-dominated American Nurses Association in the 1990s to concentrate on elevating the pay and working conditions of bedside RNs and protecting patients from greedy corporate healthcare companies. It was messy, but so effective. (I am now rertired, but in my career I have been on strike through the exhausting negotiations of 3 contracts.) Now, hospitals in our state need to offer competitive wages (won by the CNA RNs through collective action and bargaining) in order to keep staff. Unfortuately, hospital admins are now employing "travel RNs" more extensively to try to combat the effects of CNA collective actions. So, the struggle continues...
You would think so, wouldn't you? However, hospital corporations play the long game. With travelers, there is no cost for benefits, retirement, etc. Also, the more travelers there are, the more difficult it is for the RN unions to organize staff. It serves their bottom line in the long run. During one strike action 15 years ago,, my $utter affiliated hospital paid scab RNs $1000.00 per shift, housed them at the Westin Hotel at no cost, and had free food for them on their shift and at the hotel, paid their travel expenses as well. They ended up settling for our original demands after 18 months and a total of 5 strikes (one to three day strikes, but we were always locked out fo a total of 5 days.) It was a very costly decision not to negotiate fairly with us, and they learned from it. Now, that hospital is staffed by an inordinate amount of travelers, making it very hard to organize. The corporate hospitals regard this as a cost of doing business, making it difficult for the unions to organize. The latest rounds of labor actions have mostly avoided strikes, although it still takes months upon months to settle a contract.
Excellent results from Team Biden! How wonderful is old fashioned, boring governance; and, how refreshing, too! I no longer awaken with a sense of dread about the danger and lunacy of the previous administration ... if it can even be referred to as one.
This is the REAL REASON Americans should vote for Joe Biden again. He is working his butt off to undo the damage the last 40 years have had on the middle class. If we aren’t feeling the results yet, we will. The pessimistic attitude is not only spurred on by Fox News, it’s baked into our everyday conversation. It’s like we aren’t allowed to admit we are well off financially.
I think it was somewhere in a Letter this week. I don’t know if Heather did it intentionally, but there were the two basic views in politics juxtaposed. The question is, is a political philosophy, down to its deepest core, about the protection of people, or the protection of property? That’s what you should ask yourself when you go out to vote…
Well protection of property has it's place, but obviously people should be the priority. The devil in the details is how property is distributed. In the feudal system, the lords owned most of the worthwhile land and the serf were permitted to farm it, for a cut. US slavery was an even more pernicious yet similar deal with the "master" living like a king on other's labor. Ideally we enjoy the fruits of our labor free of parasites, but predatory souls object. I apologize on not recalling the details but I real some state legislature outlawed municipal Internet service, arguing, at least in part, that it robbed private vendors of a profit; yet what Constitutional principle dictates that any profit need be taken? I'm not anti-profit and I'm not anti-public-service; the right tool for the right job; but I'm keen on fair trade, and think government of the people, by the people, for the people is free to provide whatever service the people deem appropriate, with the bounds of the Constitution and human decency.
The MA town next door to us has municipal electricity, cable TV and broadband. Ironically, this is the place where the American Revolution was launched. "Shot heard 'round the world". But 16 states actually prohibit this. They have chosen the oligarchs over the people. Riches for the rich over providing the basics of modern life for everyone. One of our fellow substackers is now on a board in his town trying to establish such a service for his community.
https://www.penfist.ink/p/update-from-pen
https://broadbandnow.com/report/municipal-broadband-roadblocks
I live in one of those states, North Carolina. The bill was passed after the Legislature flipped in the red wave of 2010. This would be great messaging tool for any Democrat to use… the GOP is the real party of big gubmit overreach…... Or, who’s really for a free market and competition?, etc.
Once again, corporate lobbyists get what they want…. The people? Not so much.
https://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/in-north-carolina-reversal-on-municipal-broadband.html
Years ago I lived in a rural area and a couple of people with super-powerful car stereo parked along the road with the car doors open, and where blasting for all it was worth, for an hour or so until my neighbor and I walked over and politely asked them to turn it down. They got angry and told us "It's a free country". That seems to me the attitude I get form MAGAs today. Freedom means they can do what they like, including impacting you with impunity; but that exactly, on a larger scale, what tyranny is. "Free market" as "Free market fundamentalists" speak of it is free to monopolize, and that's anything but free. Reportedly Alan Greenspan thought that financial fraud should not be illegal. Caveat emptor.
I contrast, I regard freedom as a state of a society as robust freedom to "pursue happiness" within the bounds of certain responsibilities to others. No rape or theft for example. Freedom is freedom from certain impingements as well as freedom to follow socially responsible impulses. Should the law respond to homophobia by outlawing homosexuality? Who gets harmed? Is it OK to dump poison on your own property that infiltrates the environment and perhaps makes it hazardous for generations to come? Who is responsible to whom?
I was taught in Elementary school Civics that our system regulates prices though open competition, and that seems to work where competition is strong. But what happens when competition is reduced or even deliberately suppressed? That's what monopolies do; that's feudalism, that's the "company store", that's oil cartels, that's mega-coporations controlling far too much of the market, that's communism; too much power in too few hands; and concentrated power tends to corrupt.
The whole idea of our democracy is to spread power and opportunity widely, and to resist it's capture by the few.
Exactly.
Dislike.
My electrical utility is publicly owned. They buy power from other sources but handle it from there, and they feel like they are on the side of the consumer. They are smart too, and in this heavily treed area, subject to falling into power lines, they trim and cut problem trees in he right of way that are likely to cause problems. When trees do cause outages, which some do each winter, they are pretty prompt about restoring power. They are markedly cheaper as well than a neighboring region with profit-making utility. Whats not to like? Some cities I know of, Seattle and San Francisco have their own hydro generators. When hydro first came to this area many decades ago, oligarchs and payed-off politicians tried to kill it.
There was a bank run by one of the Western states that was sound in the "Great Recession". Just now I've tried searching for it, but get buried with junk; someone will remember. The avaricious spread the big lie that anything run by "the people" is a mess, and the media have gone along with it. For a while a local TV station regularly ran a series called "It's your money" always about governmental errors, or even thing that were only construed as errors, but never about successes, and we all like to complain. I worked for small business and a multinational corporation and saw plenty of errors and waste, but little of that makes the news.
We are being had. I am very pro-private enterprise, but they should live by our rules, not vice versa.
Exactly.
When they Privatize everything, I prefer to calling it "Piratizing" everything since the trend seems to be to allow protection of those who concentrate income producing equity in an ever smaller portion of the population, effectively closing out so much more of the minority shareholders' and public's opportunities such as utility Blue Chip sector fund . I believe Alan Greenspan at one time thought about 15% of utilities should be privately owned to stimulate improvements, but no more than that (around the time of the ENRON fiasco).
See https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/archive/2-26-01tax3.htm
I'm not well versed in the arguments put forth by Henry George for the "Citizens" Dividend" and a single land tax. His thoughts seem to have influenced later economists like Joseph Stiglitz and Milton Friedman. I am much more of a Stiglitz fan originally for the simple reason he was one of the students at Amherst College present for JFK's "Last Speech," delivered on Oct 26, 1963, one of many students for whom the speech was a life changing moment.
To me it was a promotion of people acting as honest agents of their consciences in establishing the best balance in public service, personal, and mutual improvement that allowed all to live well and prosper.
The film was most moving to me since I lived near there and probably saw some of the students around town before seeing how the speech affected them. The transcript may not reveal the true effectiveness of the speech, but still shines brightly in my eyes.
See https://www.arts.gov/about/kennedy-transcript
“Piratizing”! Thank you. Having advocated for the draft (it puts rich and poor together to learn from each other), I also think nutrition for the troops was better when they peeled their own potatoes and scrambled their own eggs--in short, cared for themselves as no corporations would. Thinking forward from there to the Blackwater “massacre” in Iraq and the power of Blackwater (whatever it calls itself now) power, “piratization” goes into the dictionary. (Don’t forget the side result of Erik Prince: Betsy DeVos, his sister as Secretary of Education, eager to destroy public schools.)
Yes, excellent word, because piratizing is exactly what it is. In Multnomah County (Portland and some surrounding cities), they went with a private ambulance service who can't get to emergencies on time among other things. Now the county next door (Washington) has gone with the same company which claims that they can't cover Multnomah. Salem also has a private company, but I don't know how they do. We live in Marion County served by a publicly funded fire district and it took three tries to get a budget passed that provided 24/7 service and this district covers a large rural area as well. Salem just bought some new equipment to deal with chemical spills...lots of tanker cars going through Salem for example, but even someone who should know better complained.
“Piratizing”! Perfect word! I live in the Austin, TX area (moved from San Diego, CA). It seems every new highway or stretch of highway built, requires a toll. Yes, there are surface streets along the toll roads, but they are laden with streetlights. So everyday that I go out, I have to pay roughly $2-5 in toll fees, on top of what I already pay in transportation taxes. The sad part, I don’t hear people complaining.
Friedman was an educated pirate so far as I'm aware. I think part of wisdom is seeing things as part of a whole, a whole whole, which is not Friedman. It seems to me that he encouraged business to become more sociopathic; and of course the sociopaths loved it!
I think private enterprise is a legitimate and beneficial social activity and I also think it has its limits, just as I believe that there are services best not provided by the public sector. But I think public and private sector can complement each other, and that "we the people" ground rules apply to both. There are societal fictions that are too vital and sometimes too dangerous to separate from public oversight and control. Basic health care, secure communications, law enforcement, prisons, military. Look at the story of Wagner or excesses of Blackwater. There is room at the edges for legitimate and workable difference of opinion about what is best run publicly and what not, but I favor a public sector at least as robust as pre-Reagan, even if adjustments are made for our evolving circumstances. A lot of privatization seems to benefit politicians short-term interest and fob the bill to all that follow.
JL Graham, you write: “protection of property has its place, but obviously people should be the priority. “. It made me stop and ponder. That does seem to be the tension between our two basic US Philosophies - “Property Rights pre-eminent” or “We the People”. Yet a thought came to me that both hold inherent flaws, such as “Property-Rights” supporters have enslaved actual people, and women’s reproductive capabilities. “We the People” have created an ethos of Human-concerns above all else. And the Earth cannot sustain that. Both suffer pitfalls of entitlement-thinking. You and I commented to each other about this term “entitlement” last week and I cannot get it out of my head, because I notice it infused in almost everything. It keeps us from having really hard conversations about how to live in a democratic-governed system, and still make it actually work in light of “Strongman” urges, god-defining narcissism, and status-gaming lifestyles. The system needs enlightenment. It needs deep, humble, creative thinking, but the appetite for that when the Big Boys want their profits guaranteed, seems currently impossible.
Yes. The dichotomy leaves out all of the other factors, such as the fact that human beings are part of a larger ecosystem, that includes all other living things that have to be considered as well, if our species is to survive.
Yes, J. Nol. Being close to Thanksgiving Day, when in grade school I learned about the Pilgrims, it makes me reflect. The Pilgrims were in a land of abundance, and only saw fit to hold dominion over it and everyone living there. This American Land “worked” for ages, sustainably, in health, and beauty, before we arrived. Dismissing those lessons was/is folly.
Starter homes in the 60’s vs mansions today. The upswing says a lot. A family could survive in decent comfort -just one breadwinner. Corporate greed is well known. Other countries have fast rail, free medical, far more healthy populace, and more capita per sq.mile..the number of billionaires 50+ years ago 9? here vs now 600+?( mentioned this week on Substack) is pointedly the same stark truth. Sorry I can’t recall the exact figures , but POINT MADE well.
To make the second point -again - Biden is covering the ground well, shoring up practices, problems, and luv de piracy word too (thanks) ...the Mr. Epitome of GREED upon us since 2016 marks this ERA like none other. Happened before and the countries succumbed already would shout 🗣️BE ADVISED even louder ..than those now leading the charge. I’m so grateful for y’all 🫶
Stay the course . Please continue all you can.
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Some are more well off than others and the 26 billionaires who have as much wealth as half of humanity are better off than many, but the UAW contract and a number of other indicators indicate some new eddies in decades long "Hoover-Up Economics" flow that are reversing the trends of "from the many to the few". And that real news.
It took 40 years of permission by the American people, who were constantly distracted by “crime rates” and “the drug wars” to notice the real theives. It will take more than 4 years to repair that damage. The real message must be about a continued way of life that best suits all Americans that combines opportunity and fairness.
Maybe we can find social democracy like Europe and get over exceptionalism as we shed the Heritage Foundation and Trump.
Japan has been smart about learning from other societies. One sees preserved historical treasures and traditions all over Japan, along with the newest of the new. I think the US got a big boost from the combined skills of, dare I say it, immigrants. Japan is a much more uniform population, but they have their antennae out. I dare say, we could learn a thing or two from other nations (and history) about what is likely to work, and what is likely to fail.
In the pandemic, we had the information and all else we needed to save many thousands of people, and we divided on how to use it; thus many needlessly died. We are entering an even more massive hazard zone on climate. Nature makes the rules in the end, and is indifferent to what we do with them, or how they alter our fate.
Well said and thank you for the observation about Japan. France, with years of practice, does well too. Organized at the local level so that large demonstrations are unlikely to overturn anything (again). Our “exceptionalism” is truly laughable. Hoping we can retain our idealism and get over it.
Additionally the real message might be: let’s NOT put the thieves back in power!! 😊
And don't trust proven, substantial liars. Reward those who tell the truth, especially when the truth is hazardous to tell, such as in the case of Alexander Vindman.
And abortion and guns
Yup! The “real thieves” stealing our rights to our own personal healthcare and life and to be free of fear of being gunned down in our schools, while grocery shopping, in our bowling alley or night club, in our own home by damaged and enraged partners.
I suggest that people read the decision by the Eastern Oregon judge that the gun measure passed by voters is unconstitutional vis a vis the Oregon Constitution. Some really crazy statements and not allowing the people who are most affected by gun violence to testify. A couple weeks ago, the Oregunians (this is what they call themselves) living about three houses down across the street got off a couple gunshots accompanied by yelling. I couldn't sleep after that because I had no idea if it would continue. At this point, I think I am hoping that they shoot each other while inside and not outside.
The urge to dominate or treat others as prey.
Many are still focused on crime rates, etc. which tells me that they know nothing about crime historically. Salem just put out a map about gun violence and gee, it is highest in the poorest parts of the city. The voters tried to do something about gun violence, but see my post above what an Eastern Oregon judge did to that. We do have a problem with measure 110 which decriminalized certain hard drugs and now we have people openly using drugs on the street. That measure will be overhauled and it should be because people didn't get much help as promised, but they do drugs all over the place.
We are doing just fine with our 3.75% mortgage. But new home buyers are facing 8%. And so they are simply priced out. In my opinion the Biden administration, led by Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary (yes yell at Jerome Powell to start cutting already!), needs to start addressing this problem. Biden needs some very positive economic movement to have a chance in 2024.
As my father in law likes to remind me, the chairman of the Fed serves at the pleasure of the President. Perhaps Biden needs to get a clue in this area.
Everyone needs affordable and safe housing, but that doesn’t always mean being a homeowner. Our first home mortgage, many years ago, had an interest rate of 12 or 13%. Eight percent doesn’t look bad compared to now.
It isn’t interest rates that is the culprit, it is low paying jobs and people working two or three to make ends meet.
Exactly! When my spouse and I built our home in the mid 80's, our construction loan was at least 12% and when we flipped it to a mortgage it went to 13%. OTOH, savings accounts were earning 11% at that time.
Of course, the major costs of having a house built is the materials and the contractor's labor costs. We built our house ourselves with the help of my father-in-law and some nephews and cousins who were in the trade, and we were very lucky to have been able to do that. That blessing was offered thanks to the loan management department of our local bank, who allowed us to build without a general contractor to supervise. We probably paid a bit more in interest than by going to a national chain, but having that local bank behind us was worth it. We have also felt fortunate in that our local bank has continued to be healthy enough not to have had to sell their mortgages to a third party to administer.
Sounds like George Bailey's "old Building and Loan"--
Thankfully, yes. Because they were generous about their requirements when we built the house, we have banked with this Savings and Loan institution for over 40 years. I think it is probably pretty hard to find a small town bank that has remained as strong as the one we have here in western Maine.
I was a proud, single,twenty something homeowner in the 80’s. As I recall my interest rate was 12.5%.
In Florida ,homeowners insurance rates have increased over 100%! In the past three years.Our GOP dominated legislature has failed to adequately address the issue as the culture wars dominate. Our governor boasts about all the people moving to the sunshine state, although hundreds of thousands are also leaving.
The reason for the increase in insurance costs is building in the giant flood plain that is Florida.
My homeowner insurance in Colorado has also gone up dramatically this year, because here you never replace a roof bc it’s old. You replace it every 5 years from hail damage. Even though I don’t have a roof (berm houses have dirt) I pay for your roof. And perhaps for the floodplain houses in Florida.
Climate change is real.
So true, Jen. Although according to DeSantsi we are “politicizing” the weather…sigh.
🌎
Yes, move to Florida and go underwater. As climate change proceeds home insurance, if people can get it at all, will only go up. In Oregon, an agency produced a map where there is more fire danger. A great hue and cry went up, partly because insurance rates would go up, and so the map didn't go into effect. But the same people will want state help to fight fires and when their houses go up in flames. And their insurance may go up anyway. Will they do anything to mitigate climate change...no, they will fight it tooth and nail. Then we have our very own wing nut R representing the 2nd district (eastern and southern Oregon). The stakeholders in the area including tribal members, had worked out a plan for addressing the environment in Owyhee Canyon that worked for everyone, but did Cliff Benz support it....nope.
It’s the unchecked greed of corporations and their robber baron executives that is ultimately problematic, mixed with many people not knowing how to manage their money and living beyond their means.
and the billionaires and foreigners buying up properties here in the US driving up housing costs and property taxes which is draining my savings.
Christine this is true. I have a colleague that put an offer in on a house 5 or 6 years ago at an interest rate of just over 4%. The owners decided to pull it off the market for "family dispute " reasons. My friend continued to rent her flat with no rate increases, safe neighborhood and wonderful owners.
She noticed the same house she looked at previously went back on the market. She called about it. There was a price bump, likely due to a new roof and furnace replacement . Certainly within reason. However, the interest rates killed the deal for her. It simply isn't always worth it to buy a house in these high interest times.
Matt, like Christine and TL below, our first mortgage was about 13%. We refinanced when it dropped to 9% and then again when it dropped lower still. I do not want to be a person who when talking about mortgages basically sounds like the old "I walked to school 5 miles uphill both ways in a blizzard"--I don't want my kids to pay that rate either. However, personally I think that the bigger issue is the PRICE of houses. I heard a radio clip in the last few days that the average home price in the US was just under about $400K. Of course, location location location, but if corporations are able to swoop in and snap up all the houses and convert them to rental, this is a big problem.
I don't think businesses should be allowed to buy houses that are meant to be homes. Let them stick to office buildings or apartment buildings.
The issues of home ownership are multiple, today, opposed to when I bought my house with a 12% interest loan. Back then, houses were cheap, insurance was a nuisance bill, but still an industry that came through when a disaster hit, and taxes were an annoyance...but affordable. Today, insurance finds a thousand ways to deny legitimate claims, taxes make homeownership unaffordable, and you have to be an avid DIYer to stay on top of repairs.
My sister is the association president of her 20 unit condo. They are on a flood plane, if they were 1" higher they would not be so. In at least forty years, it has not flooded but it is in a "100 year" area. In the last decade, their flood insurance rose from about $3000/yr to $20,000/yr. Nearly everyone in the condo are seniors and this has hurt them. She's tried everything possible to lower this or get them off the map, even hiring an engineer to resurvey it. He told her the only was off was to jack up the two buildings, which of course they can't do.
And that is the problem with home ownership.... especially with the extreme weather events.☹️
To put this in perspective, at our rate of 3.75%, the 30 year mortgage on a home loan of $400,000 (not including home owners insurance and property taxes) is $1849 per month. At 8% this rises to $2917 per month! That is a ton of money going down the drain. But you are right, 13% is $4378 which is much worse.
Ha!
Yes, I was only born in 1974 so of course I have never experienced those rates. My parents got their mortgage in the 60s which I think was about 6%. But also, interest used to be tax deductable, so maybe that effective rate was more like 4.5%. I think interest rates in the 4-5% rates long term would be a good balance between affordability and preventing the growth of housing bubbles like we are seeing now.
The problem with an 8% interest rate long term is that no one with an existing home dares to sell because getting a new mortgage is so much more expensive. And so there is a housing shortage along with prices not being affordable even if homes were available. And then of course a housing shortage also causes pressure on rents.
Retire Dejoy and Jerome Powell. Amazing how well the economy has performed with the boat anchor of high interest. At the same time some of the largest and most profitable corporations are squeezing employees and customers in a race to satisfy investors.
I bought my first home in the 80’s, on a land contract at 10%, because bank loans were way too expensive. The problem isn’t interest rates per se, is it?
"Biden needs some very positive economic movement to have a chance in 2024." The only chance I see is people getting un-hypnotized by the maga cult. In today's (11/22) NY Times, Bret Stephens writes of Israel and Hamas, but he has an important message for the U.S.: "no country can be expected to sign its own death warrant by indulging those who, if given the chance, would annihilate it."
Simon Rosenburg from Hopium Chrinicles has the stats. The difference between what people feel personally in their own situation versus how they perceive the country's situation is a vast chasm of deliberate misinformation. Read his daily letter from Nov 21, 2023 below.
The unemployment rate has been hovering at post-WWII peacetime lows for the last 18 months, and we’ve had the highest number of job openings per unemployed persons in history; the uninsured rate is lower than its ever been; the Dow is more than 17 times higher today than it was in January, 1989; GDP growth has been averaging 3% over the past 3 years, a very strong clip; median wealth grew by 37% from 2020 to 2022; wages have been rising at very elevated levels as has new business formations; inflation was zero last month and the price of many items are lower than they were a year ago: our recovery from COVID has been better than any other advanced nation; median income in the US is among the highest in the world, and the gap between what workers make here and what they make in other advanced nations has grown in recent decades; in just the past few weeks, for the first time in history, 9 of the 10 most valuable companies in the world are American; this year America’s economy is likely to grow faster than China’s for the first time in decades.
Violent crime here in the US is about half of what it was three decades ago. While crime did tick up a bit during COVID, most measures have started coming back down, and with the exception of mass shootings (a big exception) America is far safer today than it’s been in many decades. The crime rate of immigrants and undocumented immigrants is far lower than the rate for those born here in the US.
President Biden has made the largest set of investments in renewable energy in American history, and the energy transition so necessary for our planet’s survival has accelerated dramatically in recent years. America is producing more of its own oil than any time in history, and is exporting more liquefied natural gas than ever before. The historic investments we’ve made in our infrastructure will drive our economy and employment for decades, while modernizing our electricity grid and making it easier for all Americans to get around.
Around the world, life expectancy has exploded, extreme poverty has plummeted and more people have been living under a democracy than any time in human history. While there have been regional wars, there has not been a global war with mass causalities like WWI or WWII in 80 years. There has literally never been a better time to be alive and seek your dreams around the world than in the last few decades in all of human history.
America is not without problems. Life expectancy here in the US is not high enough - too many people are dying here too soon. There are too many mass shootings. Health care is too expensive here. Teen depression and the harms of social media are a serious problem. Inflation has been too high (but lower here than other G7 nations and coming down) and interest rates are also too high. And then there are all the problems MAGA has brought - stripping of fundamental rights common throughout the modern world, the threat to democracy, the rise of right wing militias, oligarchical economic policies, appeasement of hostile foreign powers working to undermine America….
But it’s my view that any fact-based sober analysis of America’s standing in the world, and our progress here at home, would suggest that we are doing really well, that things are better here. We are not diminished, or failing behind, but rather we are adapting to the big challenges of our time successfully. Others who look at the data agree. The Economist magazine recently featured a cover story called, Riding High - The Lessons from America’s Astonishing Economic Record. Noted commentator Fareed Zakaria did a remarkable CNN piece on America’s economic and geopolitical strength that you can find below - please watch.
“Well, Simon, that may all be true, but Americans don’t feel it, do they?” First, here at Hopium, I strive very hard to focus on what is true, what are objective facts, and keep these separate from feelings and understandings. It is critical in this poisoned information environment we find ourselves in that we fight hard to hold on to the idea that there are objective facts in the world, that there are things that are just true. That America is stronger and better today in my mind is one of things that is just true regardless of what people understand or believe at this moment.
Second, what if people actually do understand that things are pretty good here in America, but we just aren’t asking the questions properly? I’ve written about this idea before, that like the struggle with horse race polling to capture the current political moment, it’s very possible that the simplistic questions that are most often asked about the economy are not accurately capturing people’s sense of how things are going in their lives.
I am going to be spending much more time exploring this idea in the coming months but let’s consider three sets of data now:
First, the US government actually tracks a variety of well-being measures. In 2022, 95.9% of American adults in their survey said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. 95.9%. In other studies this report sites, asked in different ways, the data comes in the 70s. So broad life satisfaction asked in a variety of ways.
Second, the Conference Board does an annual survey of job satisfaction. In 2022 it was the highest the survey ever recorded:
Third, here’s some data I pulled from a recent Economist/YouGov weekly tracking poll of registered voters:
Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way things are going in your life today? Satisfied 64%, Dissatisfied 35%
How happy would you say you are with your current job? Great deal/somewhat 80%, A little/not at all 19%.
Do you consider yourself paid fairly or underpaid in your job? Paid fairly 56%, Underpaid 38%.
Do you think your family income will increase or decrease in 2024? Increase 45%, stay the same 41%, decrease 15%.
Taken together this data suggests that Americans are largely happy with their lives, work and incomes; do not think things are going to get worse next year; and are not broadly unhappy with the way things are. In this data you cannot find the kind of broad dissatisfaction in America that one hears described in current political commentary.
To me that people are not actually broadly unhappy or discontented helps explain the election results of the past few years, which have been good ones for incumbents in both parties, and surprisingly good ones for the party in power, the Democratic Party. Governors are remarkably popular right now, and other than Joe Manchin, no incumbent Democratic Senator trails in polling. Democrats in the House also have meaningful approval and favorability advantages over House Republicans right now, which again points to a lack of a backlash against the party in power, the Democrats (think we all know why the public is down on Congressional Republicans).
But look at what happens in this same Economist/YouGov poll when you ask questions about the American economy more broadly:
Do you think the economy is shrinking or growing? Growing 22%, staying the same 25%, shrinking 37%. Reality - The economy has grown at 3% on average under Biden, the highest for any President since Clinton. It grew 4.9% last quarter, one of the best growth rates in the last several decades.
Are the number of jobs in the United States…. Increasing 42%, staying the same 36%, decreasing 22%. Reality - Under Biden 14m new jobs have been created, and we’ve had the fastest job growth rate of any President since WWII.
How would you describe the current state of the American economy? Excellent/good 30%, fair/poor 64%. Reality - Strongest recovery in G7, fastest job growth perhaps ever, very strong GDP growth, inflation is way down, wage growth is very strong, deficit is way down from Trump…..
So only 22% know the economy is growing, 58% don’t know jobs are increasing, and 64% think the economy is fair/poor despite all these other measures of life, job and income satisfaction. Truly, what is going on here? This data suggests something tragic - that the American people have no idea what is happening in the country they live in; or put another way, what they do know is wrong, deeply wrong.
That people think things are bad when by many measures they aren’t helps explain Biden’s low approval right now. But it also speaks to something far more significant - the American people are being denied the opportunity to feel good about the country they live in, the progress we’ve made, the goodness and greatness of the American project. And when people believe a country is failing, they become open to more radical options - like MAGA, or Trump. It’s why I often talk about how one of our main goals here at Hopium is to give our fellow citizens permission to love their country again.
“This is the REAL REASON Americans should vote for Joe Biden again. He is working his butt off to undo the damage the last 40 years have had on the middle class.”
Yes indeed - and this is what each of us needs to talk about to friends & family to help those who don’t follow the details of truly governing clearly see what Biden (and Dems) are doing to make the lives of everyday Americans better.
It’s hard, continuous work spread across so many industrial & governmental platforms.
Let’s do this - Biden has our back, we need to have his back!
Zella,
I am, honestly, quite happy that you (and hopefully everyone) is free of a "sense of dread". I would think that is fairly paralyzing. Maybe a "sense of outrage" is more empowering?
Here is something to read that will bring about your action and sense of empowerment.
Prominent Republican lawyers are on the front page of NY Times today offering a call to action for all legal minds to avoid pending despotism of a King. Something John Adams worked tirelessly to overthrow legally and militarily.
Gift link
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/opinion/trump-lawyers-constitution-democracy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.AU0.5L05.ZJ1sXFwEULN0&smid=url-share
Outrage is way more effective than dread.
I am more into 4,8 & 12 year plans continuing nto the Future. I have another opportunity to answer questions from my Granddaughters tomorrow when the extended family gathers.
Good for you, mine are getting to the age where they think they know all the answers
My Oldest 13 & Waking Up & making her own Decisions
Hi Mike, that article was uplifting so thanks. But these folks are not the Lincoln Project which was formed by ex-Republican operatives when tfg ran the first time (and whose ads in particular are very well done) but by conservative lawyers trying to point the profession away from aiding and abetting criminals like tfg.
MLMinET, now corrected and thank you again.
MLMinET,
My bad. Some of the founders of the Lincoln Project are named and I, mistakenly,made a false leap. I will correct. My apology.
Long overdue. Thanks for the link. It is a bit comforting. Perhaps the nation is actually waking up to the Federalist threat? But before we get too complacent, we should read this about Leonard Leo - the Hitler of the Federalist Society:
https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority
Leonard Leo has been on my radar for some time now! Rachel Maddow made me wake up to his profound evils.
Gosh, that's depressing.
It’s just that Biden’s work isn’t held up to Trump’s in contrast. Biden has worked for the working class; Trump worked for the oligarchs. Biden passed a massive infrastructure bill; Trump did not. Biden was part of the Obama administration and helped pass the ACA; Trump claimed he would “repeal and replace Obamacare” and failed to do either. Trump bullied NATO partners to organize without the help of the US; Biden reinforced our relationship with our European partners, as well as our Asian-Pacific partners with coalitions that strengthen the bargaining power of smaller countries with our clout. Through Trump’s reckless spending cuts to balance all the tax giveaways he offered to the rich, the Infectious Disease team stationed in Wuhan China was scrapped three months before the nexus of COVID 19. Biden coordinated and executed one of the largest US vaccination initiatives since the polio vaccine, bringing back a stronger, more sustainable economy to the USA and North America as a whole.
Why isn’t anybody talking about this?
Hello, Mike S … indeed outrage is empowering!
I look forward to reading that article, as a subscriber to the NY Times. Thank you.
☮️
Thank you Mike.
Thank you, Mike.
Unfortunately, no one is shouting this from the rooftops to help undo the entrenched propaganda that Biden is doing nothing, or worse, jeopardizing the country.
It’s too expensive to fight mainstream media who refuse to change. It’s collectively owned by billionaires who own the corporations that are making more billions for them. They also control the courts and most of the government through their Lobbyists, Special Interest Groups, PAC’s, SuperPACs, and direct & indirect donations, gifts & perks to courts & members of government to help smooth their path towards owning all people and property. It’s a wonder President Biden & Administration have accomplished so much with these mountainous obstacles in their way.
There are billionaires who are not leeches, where are they?
Here is a list, actually a few lists, of 2022 political donors.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/top-election-donors-2022/
There are way more GOP donors than Democrat donors. It's important to note that Peter Thiel and others have stated they are opting out of political donations.
Warren B. and Bill G. are huge philanthropists as you know, buy choose not to back politicians with their $$$$$s. Too bad Citizens United was decided the way it was.
The ones who opt out are supporting the arses, hope they know that. The scales tell the tale. Thank you for list. I have my own list for the amount I will take from savings for political purposes. Much less than previously. Yes, Citizens United was a body blow to democracy. The list doesn’t just lean Repub, it is hip deep in their bull schitt
Probably off playing billionaire games and pretending not to be leeches.
Self-delusion to the max. Guess that’s a perk that money brings
Yay from me, too, Zella. Let boring be the new normal!
Except that when politics are boring--or at least predictable--Democrats seemingly fall asleep at the wheel. Apparently we need a Constitutional crisis or two to keep us engaged in the nuts and bolts process of democracy.
Agree, T L, that crisis keeps us engaged. I'm just advocating that boring should be something we all should be engaged in keeping.
I'll agree 1000% with that sentiment!!!
I think it's exhausting for most Americans who work hard everyday and see their children facing a worse outcome for all their efforts! This trickle down economy has shown who profits the most from its inception, the wealthy! The wide gap between the rich and poor is growing. I am so glad that Biden actually addressed that. The Right wing has effectively restructured our country's economy to keep the poorest poor, and the middle class slightly better off than the poorest! They've had 4 decades to accomplish this! It's time for our country to get the information on why we are struggling. It's certainly not because we are not working harder! DjT is right about one thing, 'The System is Rigged!' ! But, it's rigged to favor the wealthiest Americans, like him.
I so miss boring, or at least I would love a break from chaos.
Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed (discreetly, of course) for a debilitating stroke to hit the Yam.
Admitting that I am with you. He’ll be well taken care of and would no longer be a threat. The change in the atmosphere would be breathtaking.
My fingers are about numb.
Color me boring, if you like, but for me, Biden’s leadership is anything but boring. I consider it intoxicating, to at long last see an administration getting wins for the rule of law, the golden rule, and we the people! ❤️
Agreed … boring because there’s no orange faced bully embarrassing himself and us daily simply by being such a ‘stable genius’.
President Biden and team are skilled administrators and negotiators who know how to make policy work (more often than not) and chalk up accomplishments.
I have a bit of anticipatory dread about the possible next administration though... 🙁
Why? Trump will be in jail, or at least debtors prison, or hiding in someone’s pool house in a country with no extradition treaty. Biden/Harris will have a second term to continue what they have started, repairing American infrastructure, individual liberty and our country’s role as a model for democracy around the world. Many of the collaborators and colluders in the attempt coup will also be held to account be law enforcement and/or voters. Religious and political extremism will become less fashionable. The time will come to focus on repairing our world’s ecosystems. It will be better.
Wish I could lose my sense of dread. Instead, my dread, anger, outrage, and fright grow daily. We are very far from being safe from the Hitler wannabe and his cult.
Err ahh... by "the previous administration" (surely an oxymoron), you are referring to the Moron & Grifter Alliance (MAGA). SIN d cate. Septic tank!
Exactly. Isn't the part of the reason we voted for Biden is he knew how to govern without make a spectacle of himself.
While it is good news the problem is an ever shrinking number of people who see it. When most people under 40 get their news from TikTok, X, FB and Instagram the job gets tougher for the Democrats too firmly entrenched in traditional MSM practices.
Also much much more needs to be done to show those in the younger demographics that the things they are currently experiencing, if not outright suffering from, will only be addressed by a complete Democratic majority in the executive and legislative branches. It's not easy addressing their overriding issues (student loans, high rents, less than adequate wages and sympathies for Palestinians) and depending on rosy economic numbers they might never see, is a recipe for considering alternative no matter how radical.
Desperate people vote in unexpected ways, just look at 2016 here and 2023 in Argentina. People vote and don't vote for many reasons, thinking they all think and vote like us here in this forum is dangerous when so much its at stake.
We all need to get out of our comfort zones.
All of this is great news, particularly on the eve of Thanksgiving. Now our challenge is that we communicate all good news to those around us. The Thanksgiving gatherings about to occur might be an excellent place for us to practice and hone our skills at spreading good news.
The LA Times today has the other half of this argument - let other Rs do the talking about why NOT tffg. I like your good news idea better, Marc, but this cheat sheet might work on other deluded relatives:
Mike Pence, vice president: On Jan. 6, 2021, “President Trump also demanded I choose between him and our Constitution. … Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”
William Barr, second attorney general: “A very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s.” He “shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”
John F. Kelly, White House chief of staff, Homeland Security secretary and retired Marine general: “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ … A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. … God help us.”
James N. Mattis, first Defense secretary, retired Marine general: “The first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people. … Instead, he tries to divide us.” He would order the military to “violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens. ”
Mark Esper, second Defense secretary: “He’s unfit for office. … His actions are all about him and not about the country. And then, of course, I believe he has integrity and character issues as well.”
More R quotes at https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-11-21/thanksgiving-donald-trump-anti-trump
This is fantastic! Finally the MSM are getting on board. And I was really happy about Judge Luttig et al. forming a new organization to counter the Federalist Society.
Yes, that’s something, isn’t it? The Federalist Society definitely needs a challenger!
This is all good, Alexandra, but I fear that the vast majority of the mind numbingly large number of Americans who voted for the then soon-to-be-Seditionist-Sociopath in 2020, IN SPITE of all the horrors he visited upon the fruited plain, couldn't care less about John Kelly's or Bob Barr's opinion. They want Trump uber alles, no matter what.
The only real question is will there be enough voters to turn out for Biden to counteract the Kool Aid drinkers.
Margaret Mead Quotes. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Very true, Marc, very true
Daniel, it is good to remember that TFFG has NEVER won the popular vote, which unfortunately means that a few states will end up pivotal to the election because of the Electoral College. Hard to imagine him getting an increase in popular votes, especially with all his perpetual whining and spouting such word salad anti-democratic drivel. If he is the R candidate I would love to see some spectacularly ginormous losing numbers….humiliatingly low. However, sigh, we all know he would be spouting “stop the steal 2.0”….and in my dreams the country hollers back “Donnie, STOP the SQUEAL”. One can hope, yeah?
I would love to see those "ginormous losing numbers", Barbara. Of course you are right, about the Seditionist Sociopath being the "biggest loser" electorally. Unfortunately, our body politic is still afflicted by its toxic appendix, the Electoral College.
I am hoping along with you!
BTW, I'm hoping to soon get up towards the newest Cal Poly in our fine State, up in your neck of the woods in Humboldt.
Daniel, when I started school/employment at Humboldt in 1969 it was Humboldt State College, then Humboldt State Univ…now Cal Poly Humboldt. Locals who’ve lived through the iterations just call it “Humboldt”. Humboldt county is a great place to explore…small towns, bay, lagoons, rivers, forests & the sea—miles upon miles of seashore (watch your back for sneaker waves!). Basically Humboldt is as far north as you can get for college and still pay in-state fees & is one reason I chose it those many years ago…great memories of attending classes (10 yr no-degree program…lol…) and of working there on staff for 40 years!
Daniel, I just want to stick a reminder post-it note to you. Fake 45 caused over 1 million deaths because of his botched plan about Covid. That means most of those people will not be voting for him. They’re gone.
To be fair, a substantial COVID death toll was likely even if we had done everything right. But we Yanks outdid ourselves for a way oversized death toll compared to other nations. I have seen estimates that "only" several hundred thousand deaths have "GOP" fingerprints on them.
That seems plenty to me
though it leaves many factors unaccounted for, just the difference in mortality rates between vaccinated counties and the unvaccinated ones leaves TFG’s fingerprints on thousands upon thousands of deaths. But MAGA seem to care less and seem quite happy to die for their gilded orange menace
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/03/03/the-changing-political-geography-of-covid-19-over-the-last-two-years/
Pretty difficult to actively track who might have lived if they had been vaccinated, worn a mask, or not gone to the malfeasant campaign rally.
Snooze and lose big time.
I agree! 👍
I wandered down the rabbit hole of YouTube yesterday and came across this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdHisbwFPQQ
I wonder if anyone else can make it to the end of this as I did with them yelling and talking over each other. ( confess, it was more like watching a train wreck.) I am absolutely baffled by any people of color supporting Trump, but if you watch this, you can see it isn't just Caucasians who are brainwashed.
I made it through about 5 minutes. As usual with Trump supporters there’s no there, there.
I lasted to the end though it was HARD. However, I got an interesting piece of information from it, that being the amount of money given to HBC under Trump as compared to Biden. The host kept hammering the point that they have done tremendously better under Biden, but this guy just refused to listen.
Gen. Milley's retirement speech was right on target.
More cheat sheets covering tffg's promises and deliveries, gop flops, etc. Well armed is necessary going forward.
There's just so many "GOP" crimes and cock-ups that you just lose track without a program.
D4N, I would love a printable side-by-side comparison list of accomplishments of TFFG’s admin & the Biden/Harris admin (the White House website has good info on this admin’s accomplishments, but alas is not in a printable format). Perhaps w/ sidebar notes showing who benefited from them (thinking tax cuts for the rich & corps, etc) & reference links. Heck, I’d carry a supply with me to pass out in hopes a few folks would actually read it & learn….as it is said “the more you know”….. Kinda Pollyanna-ish of me, but one can hope!
Barbara, THAT is a wonderful idea and I've thought the same! I think perhaps an email to the WH or Biden campaign would be a worthy effort for us all!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
A link to a some suggestions from earlier in the week for approaching those family dinner table discussions with links to all of the White House responses to the Republican House appropriations bills.
https://georgiafisanick.substack.com/p/turkey-table-talk
Georgia, excellent website and suggestions!
As someone above suggested (and I emailed to the WH begging for them to forward to the Biden campaign) could you create a one page printable document that could be shared? (Or if this exists somewhere, please someone let us know!)
I had a conversation last week with my hairdresser who is conservative but dislikes "nasty" Trump only because of the way he name calls. She also said that Biden "has done nothing". I started rattling off many of them, all of which she hadn't heard of with the exception of the Infrastructure Act--and that she didn't know what it was doing!!
She is diabetic, so I did mention the Medicare cap on insulin price. (she isn't on insulin or Medicare, but that at least hit close to home.)
A table of his accomplishments would help us letter/postcard writers. Comparing his to Trump's record would help, too.
Thank you!
Why so late, guys??
The supporters of TFG don’t care about facts. I think the real question is, Do you like living in a democracy? If so then Biden is the choice. Do you want to experience what living in a Facism country is like then vote TFG because he is telling us exactly what he will do. Democracy or Facism, that’s the bottom line question IMO.
Love this!
All of these men want to have their cake and eat it too. They support the policies of the trump era. They are hoping to replace trump and put in someone more mainstream-likable to do the continued eroding of American Rights. They want the skunk out of the room-where-it-happens. It draws too much attention. All of these men had multiple - beyond multiple- chances to come clean about this demigod/golden calf. Yet they don’t do it. Pense, for example, could end this hullabaloo soooooooo quickly by simply telling the truth. All of them could. But not a single one will, in a court of law, reveal the whole truth. They are extending our national pain for their own gain.
Many people complain about the failures of MSN and the Biden administration to message properly and effectively. We can take it upon ourselves to do this in our own circles.
It’s also hard to message properly when their opponents are backed by billionaires who own the mainstream media that is helping stifle and counter their messaging. Don’t forget that most effective social media platforms are owned by billionaires who don’t want Biden to succeed. Lastly, it’s hard to motivate people to action who don’t know what is going on due to unintentional &/or willful ignorance, mis/disinformation, and who lack time because their employers help keep them too busy, too tired, and contribute towards making them feel powerless.
Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
And many seem to tune themselves out. Ostriches when we need owls.
You just said what I’ve been muttering for years. Thanks!
Hard in a sea of red, but standing up instead of bowing down works too
You are a warrior, Jeri, and I so admire you!
Have been but standing up is about all I can do now. Thank you. So many warriors on HCR, TCinLA, Hubbel, Dan Rather, and Greg Olear. And many more that I can't afford.
I think it was last week that JD Hinckley posted this excellent bullet point list here in this forum:
What Biden’s done:
CREATING MORE JOBS
14 million jobs added
STRONGER ECONOMY
Strongest economic recovery in the G7 since the pandemic
U.S. MANUFACTURING
Bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S.
CANCELING STUDENT DEBT
Canceled $127 billion in student loan debt for nearly 3.6 million Americans
IMPROVING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE
Passed the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law
SUPPORTING VETERANS
PACT Act for veterans and their survivors
GUN SAFETY
Most significant gun safety law in decades
CLIMATE ACTION
Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which takes historic climate action
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Executive orders protecting reproductive rights
STRENGTHENED GLOBAL ALLIANCES
Strengthened U.S. alliances and partnerships around the world
LOWERING COSTS
Lowered prescription drug and health care costs
And this is another great summation of Team Biden accomplishments:
William Weir posted on Quora:
"In only 2–1/2 years, Biden has already set a record for the most jobs ever created in a single presidential term. We have the lowest peacetime unemployment since before the Great Depression, and workforce participation is rising for the first time since Clinton was President. His Rescue Plan launched the fastest economic recovery in history, and the “Biden Boom” led to record consumer spending, record corporate profits, rising home values, record low childhood poverty, the best GDP growth in forty years, and a banner year for the Dow. Despite deliberate sabotage by his predecessor, he brought an end to America’s longest war with a near-record low number of American casualties. He has already cut the record deficit he inherited by half, making record cuts his first two years, and is on track to become only the second President to reduce the deficit every year of his administration. He passed a historic investment in our infrastructure that was budget neutral and that is projected to create as many as 19 million new jobs. Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year. He brought microchip manufacturing to the US, cut prescription drug prices for seniors, capped insulin prices, and signed a bill to protect our elections from future coup attempts. The biggest challenges in his Presidency so far have been global inflation exacerbated domestically in part by record economic growth on the heels of crippled supply lines due to his predecessor’s failure to address the pandemic and his ill-advised trade war. All of this occurred during the heavy drubbing by a Republican Party that actively tries to sabotage good government."
Thanks Alexandra-
I just submitted this to Congressman Don Bacon suggesting he discuss it at his Thanksgiving dinner(s).
Hah! Good for you.
Thank you Alexandra. Both of the above summations will provide me with some useful information tomorrow around the Thanksgiving table. There is nothing like a few facts to back up the assertions of the progress that Biden has made in the past three years.
Thanks for the highlights of Biden's work. Please also refer to the White House website to add immigration actions to the list. (The link was way too long to post for some reason.)
Even hearing and knowing all that Biden has accomplished, too many truly don't care as long as their taxes are low, and will "Yes. But," themselves into a pretzel rather than vote D.
“Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year.”
Might I suggest cutting this line if there even a scintilla of a chance that a person under the age of thirty who is concerned about climate change will be a recipient of this.
Marc, that is a stellar idea! Most families are "mixed" and these discussions come up at Thanksgiving. I don't envy people with deluded relatives (my own family is solidly Democratic) but I would be grateful to anyone who is willing to use the table as a good news forum.
You make an excellent point Alexandra about "us(ing) the table as a good news forum."
It's unfortunate the MSM feeds us sensationalism to bring in the viewers and the ad $$$$s. I'm definitely guilty of bringing up something awful TFFG, SCOTUS or any of the MAGANAZIs has said or done instead of talking up the Biden administration's many accomplishments.
Thanks for making that point.
Alexandra, my family too…such a relief isn’t it? I read with dismay the disappointment and heartache of others’ experiences….seems like it would be a real appetite killer ‘round the dinner table!
An example from Africa, if it helps
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2023/11/an-exemplary-president.html
Tim, it’s sad that a Liberian politician has to provide an example for the peaceful transfer of power to the US because a substantial number of US citizens believe the lies of the former president.
Wonderful
Zhao made $23 billion in helping to finance terrorists and he is slapped on the wrist for only $200 million? Just like Fake 45 not getting a complete gag order handed to him, these men get away with murder.
Biden and his staff are constantly working to improve our lives but there are those who refuse to recognize what’s being done. Today I was listening to Katy Tur on MSNBC and she threw in a statement that Biden’z ratings were at “an all-time low”. I could’ve strangled her! Truly, what do people want from Joe? MSM is plain ole lousy. They can see he is an active player in the Hamas-Israel negotiations, just signed a proclamation regarding Women’s Health, stood with workers who belong to UAW for fair wages and benefits, continues to pass energy-saving tasks, etc and etc. and etc. It ticks me off when you’ve got people leaning on the fence as to who to vote for. If you don’t want a democracy but autocracy, then Fake 45 is your guy. If you want to retain democracy, go with Joe. That’s what Cassidy Hutchinson said last night. She’s 26 years old and has more intelligence than any Magat we know of.
MSM ignores the accomplishments of the Biden Administration but then treats as news the fact that his poll numbers are low. And that’s MSNBC, the liberal media. The right wing MAGA media is 24/7 in trash Biden mode.
Since Watergate, it seems the MSM is in business of taking down politicians, to report bad political news only. Reporting good news won’t boost ad revenue or get you a Pulitzer Prize.
That’s why I read HCR first every day.
Amen to that! The facts are important, not ratings!
I know. They just WILL NOT stop bringing up those stupid ratings. It’s infuriating. What do they get out of saying that over and over?
I think their producers egg them on. They oughta fight back and not say that crap.
We're rewatching "The Handmaid's Tale." Pardon my French, but it's a misogynist's wet dream. It's EXACTLY the society MAGANAZIs want. No abortions, rape is legal and actually mandated. No trials to bog down the justice system. Forced religious practices and beliefs.
Just look at some of the laws being proposed in TX & FL. This will happen if TFFG is elected King of the US.
Makes me just ill!
"these men get away with murder. "
I believe maintaining equal protection and responsibility is essential to rule of law. There may be extenuating circumstances in some matters of law, but being rich and powerful should not be one of them. If anything it offers less excuse.
Marlene, a time or two I’ve looked up how to contact TV “news” programs, specifically MSNBC & sent them my request/opinion about this….not that it had any effect, but at least I told them I wasn’t buying their schtick on this subject.
Well, Barbara, you tried and that’s the avenue we have to take. We cannot NOT let them know that we are agreeing with everything they say.
One must wonder what the rich are plotting to thwart anymore long overdue financial progress for the people.
Imagine our clout if we set aside the propaganda-inflamed, manufactured divisions and voted in historic numbers for candidates who support basic human rights and needs. What a beautiful thing it would be.
If we want people to ‘vote in historic numbers,” we will have to set out a clear vision of what we believe democracy can and will be. We cannot rely on the worn platitudes of the Democratic party if we want to motivate the students and youth. We will need to create a Democracy 2.0 with fresh revolutionary ideas that will be compelling. Although compelling, we cannot rely on anti Trump tropes alone. We must present an exciting vision.
Worn platitudes? such as? the unfurling of the flags of democracy described in the first half of this Letter is as fresh and revolutionary as anything I've seen since the days of FDR, that is to say, my whole lifetime. There isn't a single anti-Trump trope in that news story.
Hey, Marc Nevas, can we shift the "we" to whom you refer here?
Can we shift it to our schools, asking educators to center things much more on humanities, so the "compelling" and "exciting" you envisage might tie to the human stories and individual characters in our humanities?
The billionaires, as part of their packaging of all life, their turning people into units -- monetizable units -- have killed humanities in schools, partly because the rich have no feeling for people (certainly no respect for people), more so because the replacement for humanities, all that machinery of standardized testing, better serves the billionaires' needs for categorizing, abstracting, dividing.
Heather Cox Richardson celebrates some good sets of human news today, just before Thanksgiving, but the billionaires aren't going to relent. And won't the "we" to whom you refer be stronger if our teachers turn more to the decency and energy in our arts?
I used to be a teacher in lower and middle schools. Our teachers today are overworked, underpaid, and under supported. In Florida in particular, they are getting the worst of it. I stand by my assertion that It is “we the people” that must stand unitedly to bring about positive change. The teachers can do their part, but we must all stand together and not look to others to do our work for us.
Speaking of schools, if you want to be inspired,Civic Influencers are truly “turbocharging” young voters !💙
“ Civic Influencers is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit that empowers young people to make their voices heard—and their votes count. We operate hyper-locally in targeted districts and states to support a year-round civic movement that amplifies the power of Gen Z voters, especially those at community colleges, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), as well as trade, technical, and vocational schools.”
https://civicinfluencers.org/
Thanks for the link Kathy, I’ve added their site to my iPad & signed on for their newsletter. Will pass this info along.
Thanks,Barbara. I attended a Zoom meeting last week featuring Maxim Thorne/Civic Influencers and it was so uplifting. We often don’t give these young voters enough credit !
Schools are a long-range important piece, but won't impact the upcoming election much if at all. We're already in a fierce fire-fight, and we need ammunition NOW! Isn't that the whole purpose behind the grass-roots movement we are a part of?
Marc, as a fellow Floridian, I like the way you think !
rrvolutionary ideas scare people. That's just too risky. The clear truth, spelled out in an understandable way is better
The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were both revolutionary documents in their time. We can certainly do as well, or even better in our time.
Absolutely right!
I keep talking about how MAGA Mike wants to ban contraceptives. I know of young people who abhor abortion but rely on contraceptives to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. This is not just a female issue as the young men would be financially on the hook for about two decades.
You need to hit home with issues that will directly impact people. Medicare and SS are big for the seniors, but it seems that the young people I know find those too far in the future and doubt that SS will be there for them.
There's the trick Michael; gaining back the numbers with a sane, fact based, achievable agenda looking forward - attractive enough for dems and independents, then hopefully some r's.
It's good to know that some conservatives are reclaiming their values by pushing back against the extremist Federalist Society. I don't necessarily agree with them on many issues, but that they call for a return to using and protecting the Constitution is a big positive. Hopefully they can provide an off ramp for those conservatives who prefer a modicum of sanity in government.
"there have been “very few complaints” about the extra costs for bags." And if you believe that! Seriously how can anyone say that? Americans hate junk fees with the white hot passion of a thousand suns.
Who are we supposed to complain to? Here’s an idea. Force the airlines to fund an independent toll-free number for complaints, and watch them roll in. If they had their way, each call would cost at least $5, to start with...
Only if you want to speak with an agent.
Unhinged ranting to a recording will be at no charge.
In 1983, my fiancé at the time (now my wife) and I went to NYC to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was a 5 day trip. We took 4 suitcases and a carry on each. No fees of course, for baggage. What a hassle dealing with all of that baggage.
When we got home, we vowed to never check bags again. I've broken that vow a couple of times with golf clubs, but never with clothes or shoes.
I'm reminded of the great George Carlin routine where he talks about "stuff." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
At about 2:30 he talks about traveling and "stuff".
I take one bag every time and I always check it. I hate lugging luggage through the airport.
"Hate" may be too strong a word - Americans dislike junk fees with the intensity of 10,000 supernovae all burning in a space no larger than an average human pineal gland. :)
That quote in today’s letter seriously angered me. I used to have frequent flyer miles on at least three major airlines. Then their added fees and our age and health changed all that. American was the last to go with intentionally less leg room and baggage fees and then extra fee for aisle seat. For past eight to ten years we only fly Southwest. Getting my husband who requires wheel chair accommodations from airport entry to plane, Southwest gives us priority boarding, assists with putting carryons in overhead, allows two free pieces of luggage each (if needed.) We would not have been able to witness grandchildren’s graduations, weddings, and getting to see new great-grandchildren without all of that. Everyone I know has complained loudly about the airline junk fees, except the ones with unlimited funds.
Unless and until "We, the people" get Citizen's United overturned, corporate America and their ilk will rule our country. Thankfully, the UAW is strong enough to obtain concessions but we must keep focused on the outrageous profits of corporations who do not share their wealth. The only "Trickle Down" economics they realize is when a knife is held to their throats. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And...the greed for wealth knows absolutely no bounds.
Well said. The multi-billionaires have basically turned the right wing into private assets. There are essentially only two fundamental strategies that can reclaim our nation for the majority of its citizen/stakeholders:
1. Work to insure massive voter turnouts in 2024, especially in large swing states.
2. Weaponize a targeted boycott aimed at the financial interests of the oligarchs. That's all they care about.
It’s not just CU. Let’s set our sights on the holy grail; ending forever the twin concepts of corporate personhood and money as speech. Contact your congressional representative and request their cosponsorship of HJR-54.
MoveToAmend.org
And after Zhao does 18 months at a country club prison, he’s free with more than $22.8 billion? Crime does pay.
“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” ― Warren Buffett
...What's the effect of the average Joe *or Jane, 'knowing' that's the truth ?
Tell it Warren, you and Bloomberg get together
Thank you Heather. I recently wrote about the gap between improving economic fundamentals and how the economy is being felt by many Americans.
It is clear to me that you can either aspire toward a meaningful democracy, or you can craft tax and economic policies that yield an extreme concentration of wealth, but not both. The American fork in the road was the Reagan administration, and Reagan intentionally placed America on the wrong path.
He sure did.
Or as St. Ronnie of Eureka would say, "Well George, there you go again!"
True. This is especially tragic in the rural southeast of our nation, where most towns had some type of manufacturing going on up until the 1980s. These small and medium sized shops have been mostly priced out of existence by globalization, tax policy changes, and the lack of any 'trickle' in trickle-down economics.
And the Democrats bent over to help him do it, from the get go.
When Ronnie sent over his trickle down tax cut bill to the House early on, instead of laughing in his face at the reduction in top marginal rates by over 50%, and trying to hammer out a more sane reduction via negotiation, and possessing and supermajority, caved and gave Reagan the keys to the budget kingdom.
After Ronnie won, most of the Dems were cowards, thinking if they forcefully stood up to his popular persona, it would bite them in the butt in the next election cycle.
Liberty and Bell should be renamed Mitch and Elaine, and move to Kentucky, where they could become grift ambassadors for the state where they have millions while all the other turkeys are slaughtered.....
Well put, and so true
Lol John ...
Thank you Dr. Richardson for giving us this great information. Excellent news from UAW. I hope we will soon return to the regulated capitalism that worked so well until those supply side economists stepped in and destroyed the "American Dream" Under supply and demand all enjoyed a piece of the pie, and that pie only grew larger. Yes, the managers and executive got a larger slice but it wasn't half the pie, more like a little less than a quarter. Educated people figured that was fair. Adam Smith has once again proven correct, some Homo sapiens are greedier than others and need regulations to control that greed. The poor got a slice so thin during the past 40 years with 'trickle down' it's a wonder they survived at all.
I have come around to agreeing with the basic income concept that supplies sufficient income to cover nutrition, housing, food, education, entertainment and occupation for all able bodied adults, with higher incomes for the essential services, a strong, educated (though not necessarily college) middle class, and a reasonably (as opposed to obscene) wealthy class.
The high cost of food is part of the problem for poor, lower middle class and most of the elderly. It actually costs me more to feed myself and my two cats today, than it did to feed myself, 2 daughters, cats, dogs, goats, poultry rabbits and horses, in the 1970's and 80's as a percentage of my income. That's just wrong.
We need a code of ethics, preferably written by the electorate, rather than the elected, for all elected and appointed officers in every branch of government and at all levels of government. We elected these people or agreed to their appointed offices to govern us, write laws, regulations, and rules that we should all live by. We did not elect or agree to appoint so they could enrich themselves at our expense and to our detriment. We take seriously that oath of office they swear, even if they do not.
Off Topic: The Colorado Supreme Court has accepted review of the CO Trial Court's finding that TFG is a an Insurreçtionist for purposes of Amendment 14, Section 3's bar fron the Presidential 2024 ballot.
All I want for Christmas is YES!
Early in my life Franklin Roosevelt played an extraordinary personal role in the surge, in the 1930s, of unionization in America. This was highlighted by the, at times, bloody unionization of the auto industry, with Ford employing vicious strike breakers in a futile effort to block this union surge.
Private sector unionization hit a peak in the 1950s/1960s and has subsequently plunged.
The recent auto industry union contracts, with President Biden the first American president ever to stand in a union picket line, are a catalyst in an essential upswing in private sector unionization.
I applaud President Biden for his modern-day repeat of FDR’s remarkable presidential support of unionization.
"President Biden has launched a campaign to push back on corporate profiteering, including cracking down on the practice of so-called junk fees—unexpected hidden costs for air travel, car rentals, credit cards, cable television, ticket sales, and so on. (The airline industry collected more than $6.7 billion last year in baggage fees, for example.)
But Tony Romm of the Washington Post explained on Sunday that corporate lobbyists are warring with the Biden administration to stop the crackdown."
It would seem that the real contest in 2024 will be whether Americans are governed by elected representatives or by corporate lobbyists and PACs whose sources are dark money interfering in our elections and our democracy.
To buy the American government requires both aggressive buyers and willing sellers. It is crucial to hold our elected and our own parties accountable for avoiding securing power by selling out the citizens. Prosecution is the only serious remedy for the serious affliction that is corruption.
There is a clear source for the current political burn out. A major battle against democracy was won by the right when the activist conservative majority of the Supreme Court STEPPED BEYOND the initial argument in Citizens United and overturned precedent. Their chain of logic, in the opinion penned by Anthony Kennedy, was that the Constitution protects freedom of SPEECH, not speakers, that the Constitution cannot suppress speech based on the identity of speakers, therefore it cannot suppress the speech of any association of speakers, so that corporations of any kind, including nonprofits like PACs are entitled to speech, and that in the "marketplace of ideas" it costs money to express speech, so there can be no limits on the money used to express speech because that in itself would be suppressing speech.
The majority also spoke about how the interjection of vast sums of money into the "marketplace of ideas" would NOT introduce corruption.
If Clarence Thomas had his way in his concurring opinion, all donors to associations of speakers should be able to remain anonymous.
Justice John Stevens wrote the 90 page dissent joined by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg and Sotomayor. It's going to be my reading for the week. Justice Stevens was adamant that the majority was legislating from the bench.
This is the seminal issue that has created the current crisis in our country. It takes on a whole new flavor with the news about Thomas' and Alito's hobnobbing with their conservative billionaire friends.
fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/cit…
Georgia, first thanks for being such a ferret-it-out researcher—I very much appreciate your comments! Second, the link you post shows an “error, page not found”….thought you’d like a head’s up about that.
A second great American experiment, the rendering of bribery as legal, thus claiming to support a democracy while cementing oligarchy into power, seems unique among nations.
I think the link you sought to give us will open at https://www.fec.gov/resources/legal-resources/litigation/cu_sc08_opinion.pdf and the dissenting opinion begins on page 88 of that PDF.
https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/citizens-united-v-fec/
is the summary. Thanks for the catch folks!!! Much appreciated.
Thanks for taking the lead! Also much appreciated.
It wasn't an Ancient Chinese Curse, but "May you live in "*interesting* times" is still a curse. It's our lot to survive thee times and prevail.
Good to hear that the UAW deal will help not only themselves but will help non union workers as well. I'm so glad the Biden Admin continues to work through the noise of right wing extremist. That's all they do is make noise for sound bites !
Bill, I’ve seen firsthand the actual “trickle across” effects of union workers in chemical plants/refineries here in the Houston area. First the union workers strike for, and get, better wages. Then the nonunion plants give their equivalent workers the same wage/benefits increases to dissuade them from becoming unionized. Lastly, the salaried workers get increases to keep up with the hourly wages. Unions benefitted them all.
In teaching in public schools also.
Yes Mary. The same for RNs in hospital staff positions here in Northern California The California Nurses Association (part of Nation Nurses United) broke off from the management-dominated American Nurses Association in the 1990s to concentrate on elevating the pay and working conditions of bedside RNs and protecting patients from greedy corporate healthcare companies. It was messy, but so effective. (I am now rertired, but in my career I have been on strike through the exhausting negotiations of 3 contracts.) Now, hospitals in our state need to offer competitive wages (won by the CNA RNs through collective action and bargaining) in order to keep staff. Unfortuately, hospital admins are now employing "travel RNs" more extensively to try to combat the effects of CNA collective actions. So, the struggle continues...
Sharon, knowing how much the “travel RN’s” cost per hour (more than 150% of staff RN’s), it’s hard to believe that the hospitals can do this for long.
You would think so, wouldn't you? However, hospital corporations play the long game. With travelers, there is no cost for benefits, retirement, etc. Also, the more travelers there are, the more difficult it is for the RN unions to organize staff. It serves their bottom line in the long run. During one strike action 15 years ago,, my $utter affiliated hospital paid scab RNs $1000.00 per shift, housed them at the Westin Hotel at no cost, and had free food for them on their shift and at the hotel, paid their travel expenses as well. They ended up settling for our original demands after 18 months and a total of 5 strikes (one to three day strikes, but we were always locked out fo a total of 5 days.) It was a very costly decision not to negotiate fairly with us, and they learned from it. Now, that hospital is staffed by an inordinate amount of travelers, making it very hard to organize. The corporate hospitals regard this as a cost of doing business, making it difficult for the unions to organize. The latest rounds of labor actions have mostly avoided strikes, although it still takes months upon months to settle a contract.