Breaking Fake News Update (v20)

Fake News Broke on September 19, 2025!

It seems we're going to be in for a continuing bumpy ride with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting in the coming weeks or months. Well, truth be told, it's already a bumpy ride there, as the FOTUS told us the numbers we'd received this week were bad and he fired a BLS official, or the fault of the Federal Reserve, and that we have to wait a year for the good numbers. And now, we have new concerns that have led to today's fake news update.

Since the shocking murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk - just the latest episode of political violence in the US - there's been a concerted effort on the part of the FOTUS and his administration (JD Vance, Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi, and others), Republican elected officials, talking heads (including Miller's wife), and just regular Joes to root out so-called 'haters' of Kirk and 'celebrators' of his murder, and get them fired for comments they made primarily, but not exclusively, on their personal social media pages. 

Between the folks doing the doxxing and those getting doxxed, there's lots of lost productivity, fewer people in the workforce, and a potential for the unemployment rate to increase.

Educators, reporters, editors, analysts, moms and dads, government employees, employees of private companies, comedians, medical professionals - pretty much across the board, folks are being doxxed and blasted for ALLEGEDLY making negative comments. Some clearly did, according to reports. But others? Not so much. People are being investigated, disciplined, or fired simply for quoting Charlie Kirk's own words. A favorite? His comment about some gun deaths being OK to protect the Second Amendment.

And it goes further than that - tourists may be refused entry to the US; a Congressman has suggested anyone who speaks ill of Kirk's death be banned from all social media platforms, and that media companies can be shut down if they don't comply. 

It's out of control, folks, it truly is. Again, there's no question some people have reacted with joy at Kirk's death, as is their right. Many others, though, have merely expressed an opinion that's not to the liking of the powers-that-be. I have no idea when this will stop; it likely won't until everyone in the universe who is not celebrating the life of Charlie Kirk or mourning his death in a manner deemed appropriate by folks who haven't issued any guidelines on what exactly we're allowed to think or say about this issue.  

Honestly? it's a #goodthingimretiredtheycantgetmefired

Who knows how many will lose their jobs, and who knows what kind of celebration will be hosted at the White House when the scope of this effort is realized? I suspect we won't know that until next year, when the "good numbers" are issued.

In the meantime, when fake news breaks, we'll have it here. 

TGIF 3/25/22

After last week's all good news TGIF, we're back to the regular format, where both good and bad week stories are included. Let's dive in with a good week mention, to get us off on the right foot. 

Some great unemployment news came out Thursday, giving the Biden team a bit of a good week. It's possible you missed it; good news doesn't garner wall-to-wall coverage in the press like bad news does

Here's the scoop, from the White House:

This morning, we received news that the number of Americans on unemployment insurance fell to its lowest level since 1970 and the number of Americans filing new claims fell to its lowest one-week level since 1969. 

Now, it wasn't just the White House talking about the great numbers. Reuters concurred. 

The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a 52-1/2-year low last week, while unemployment rolls continued to shrink, pointing to rapidly diminishing labor market slack that will keep boosting wage inflation.

Piggybacking on that good news, I'll give a shoutout to businesses that are paying higher wages to get and keep good employees. I'm especially proud of them for not waiting for the government to order them to do that.

Hearings were held this week on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. As with other recent SCOTUS hearings, we saw a teeny bit of time spent on learning about the nominee, and an overwhelming amount of time spent on career advancement, harassment, and showing off by Judiciary Committee members. Here are some noteworthy takeaways from the hearings, both good and bad.

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) had a good week, for calling out the bad behavior of his  colleagues - and not just the ones making fools of themselves in these hearings. While explaining why he doesn't want cameras in SCOTUS proceedings, he offered this bit of wisdom, with which I can't argue. 

I think we should recognize the jack-assery we often see around here is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities.

On the very bad week side of the ledger, there's Sen. Ted Cruz (R- Cancun). I've made no secret about my dislike of him over the years, and nothing he said this week changed my opinion of him.

Of all the folks on the Judiciary Committee, he was the most hypocritical, especially on the issue of critical race theory. Here's what he thinks about that, and about Judge Jackson being on the board of the school that he says

aggressively teaches critical race theory, and that is an extreme and divisive theory that pits children against other children, divides us based on race, and teaches a false and revisionist history of our nation.

The problem? He sends his daughters to a school that espouses a similar philosophy. For example, statements by school leaders after the murder of George Floyd said the school

must be antiracist and eliminate racism of any type - including institutional racism - within our school, community, and beyond.

And, from the school's website, we learn that "cultural proficiency, diversity, global awareness and inclusivity" will be incorporated "into all facets of the curriculum." One can't help thinking Cruz has never looked at his daughters' homework. Unless  he only gives a hoot about this stuff when the cameras aren't on.

In fairness, I must give the Rs on the committee a wee dollop of credit; it seems the idea of boycotting the vote to move Judge Jackson's nomination out of committee is DOA. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said

There's not going to be any boycott. There's zero, not one iota (of a chance) that we would boycott.

Other senators, including the despicable Lindsey Graham (R-Shriekerville) said he didn't think that was the right way to handle it. John Cornyn (R-TX) said they should

show up and try our best to be on our best behavior and treat the nominee respectfully. (Emphasis added)

Good luck with that, if what they showed this week is any indication. 

Speaking of being on best behavior, Judge Jackson was remarkable. Her grace, tolerance, and patience were on display throughout the hearings. There was a moment, though, when she took a very long pause before answering one of Sen. Cruz's questions. Elie Mystal of The Nation explained what that pause meant; in part, she said

It’s the calculation when black people try to decide: “Am I gonna risk it all for this?” 

Jackson took a moment to decide if it was worth it to throw everything away—her chance, her good name, maybe even her whole career—just to tell Ted Cruz, a man she’s known for over 25 years, what she really thought of him. 

She decided against it, of course.

And in that moment, she proved herself better than Cruz, Graham, Cornyn, Hawley, and all the rest of them. 

I'll close with one more reference to Cruz; as I said, he had a very bad week. USA Today columnist Rex Huppke addressed the same question as Elie Mystal - did Jackson think babies are racist? Here's his take.

Some viewers wondered why a man who looks like he rubbed honey on his face then rolled on the floor of a barbershop would pose such a question. In fact, the collective eye roll was so intense the Earth briefly tilted off its axis.

But I stood and cheered the bold senator from Texas/Cancun. He was speaking truth to power and addressing an issue few Americans have ever been willing to face: Babies are incredibly racist. 

We know this, he opines, because babies "are silent on the issue." 

If babies aren’t racist, and if a clearly intelligent and serious U.S. senator is out there floating a possible epidemic of infant racism, don’t you think babies themselves would stand up, immediately fall down, and then assure everyone they don’t have a racist bone in their soft and pliable bodies?

Of course, they would. 

TGIF, everyone. 

Sunday School 8/9/20: Extra Credit

Yesterday, in Sunday School, we heard from three of the key negotiators who were unable or unwilling to come up with another COVID-19 stimulus plan: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Senate Minority Leader.

Also wandering around the lecture hall? Peter Navarro and Larry Kudlow, two cheerleaders for the Trump team. I refuse to cover Navarro anymore, and am on the kusp of kicking Kudlow to the kurb, but I bit the bullet one more time on him. But first, the Senate's #2 Dem, Dick Durbin, talked with Chuck Todd on MTP. Let's listen in.

Todd asked if there's any potential progress, including the possibility that the White House would "move to the middle" on anything. Durbin said that the Dems have already done that, coming down from $3.4T requested in the HEROES Act to around $2T now, so the Rs should do the same and come up to $2T from their original $1T. 

The legality of the president's executive orders, Durbin said, is a "moral dilemma."

We want unemployed people to receive benefits. We never wanted them cut off at all. So, I'm not going to suggest that we run out to court at this point... There'll be some challenges. This country club fix suggested by the president is going to be a cut in the unemployment benefits for 30 million Americans. It's either going to be cut from 600 to 400 or from 600 to zero, where it is right now, if the president's executive orders don't stand. You know, the bottom line is this: These people are not lazy people. We have five unemployed Americans for every available job.

And he said "this urban legend, which I say is an urban lie, about people sitting at home bingeing on Netflix and eating chocolate-covered cherries," simply is not happening He's talked with these folks, who he described as "desperate to get back to work." He noted that 70% of folks who have gone back to work have done so with wages less than unemployment was paying.

So, this notion that they're lazy and if they tried a little harder, they'd find jobs just doesn't work.

Durbin also pointed out that there are "20 Republican senators" who won't go for even a penny at this point, and that he sees a leadership gap there.

And we have Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, who is not even attending negotiating sessions. He's stayed out. His chair is empty. Same thing with Kevin McCarthy, the House Republicans’ (leader).

Durbin argued that actually "doing something directly about the coronavirus" is more important than unemployment. 

...this notion that you're going to have the same instant results of testing that (the president) does with his White House visitors or Major League Baseball does overnight, that isn't the real world out here. The people are waiting in line for testing, and they're waiting for results from 5-12 days, which makes them almost pointless. That is a priority for us. Testing to deal with coronavirus is key to opening the economy and opening our schools.

That's the part that seems to be missing from what's being delivered, or considered: people want a way to safely return to work, to get kids back in school, to shop, to dine out - in effect, to really reopen the country.

Sunday School 8/9/20

Can I tell you, my head hurts?

Seriously, watching these classroom sessions today was painful, for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are not the best interviews on the planet. But I did it, I did, and I'm going to share just a little bit from each of them.

First up? Pelosi and Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union. First off, Pelosi said she agrees with Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) who apparently suggested that the president's executive orders, announced from his golf course in New Jersey, are "constitutional slop" - but even though her "constitutional advisors tell (her) they're absurdly unconstitutional," she's more interested in addressing the needs of the American people than in suing over the EOs. And she's hopeful they can resume negotiations.

And that's why we said we will come down a trillion, not that we cut out any of our priorities, but we shorten the length of time in which they would be in effect. And next year, we can extend them again... But we will come down a trillion, you go up a trillion, we will find our common ground here. Let's go to the table.

Bash wondered why Pelosi and the rest of them weren't working all weekend, but Pelosi said the offer is on the table to come back when the other guys want to put up some more money. And specifically on the $600 extra unemployment, Pelosi agreed that she didn't want to back off the $600, but that wasn't the reason for the stalemate.

We're at a stalemate because the Republicans have, from the start, never understood the gravity of the situation that we are in. They have called it a hoax. They have called it -- their -- delay, denial, extortion of this pandemic. And we cannot open our economy or open until -- our schools safely unless we address the pandemic. So, the basic thing is, they have ignored that. The problem has grown. And it has become an enormous economic problem.

Moving on to Mnuchin and Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. Mnuchin said that the president's first choice was that a deal be negotiated with the Dems but when that didn't happen, Mnuchin and Mark Meadows told Trump he had to move forward with executive action so that he could "help American workers and American people."

As to any additional negotiations, Mnuchin said he told both the Speaker and Minority Leader that "any time they have a new proposal" he's willing to listen.

But let me just say, you're right, we agreed with the Democrats. We both want to send more checks to the American workers. We want to send more PPP to those hardest hit businesses. We've said, let's pass legislation on the things that we agree on and knock these off one at a time. And they've refused to do that until they get their trillion dollars for the states.

And, he said, he "spoke to many governors" recently and that

We offered more money for the states. They still have 150 billion from last time. Most of them haven't even used half the money. The governors are saying, we need more money for education. We need help. And the president said, we'll give it to you, but not a trillion dollars.

On the payroll tax cut and Trump saying he'd like to cut the payroll tax if he's re-elected, which led the Dems to say he's going to cut Social Security and Medicare, since that's what the payroll tax funds.  Mnuchin says that's not the case.

There would be an automatic contribution from the general fund to those trust funds. The president, in no way, wants to harm those trust funds. So they'd be reimbursed just as they've always been in the past when we've done these types of things... And you just have a transfer from the general fund. 

And he reiterated that the Dems want to "bail out some states that were poorly managed" with their giant aid to state and local governments. But, he said,

We can deal with in January, if there's ongoing issues, we can pass more legislation. This will be the fifth bill. We don't have to get everything done at once. What we should do is get things done for the American public now, come back for another bill afterwards.

Confident, isn't he?

Finally, Schumer and George Stephanopoulos on This Week. Schumer said the Executive Orders "described in one word, could be paltry; in three words, unworkable, weak, and far too narrow." Using the unemployment benefit EO as an example, he said

...this is an unworkable plan. Most states will take months to implement it, because it's brand-new. It's sort of put together with spit and paste... And, to boot, it depletes the hurricane trust fund to defer this money -- to pay for this money, at a time when we're at the height of hurricane season. So, it makes no sense.

He was equally fond of the payroll tax deferral, it seems. He said that some companies will continue withholding the money because "they don't want their employees to be stuck with a huge bill in December." So - no money pumped into the economy, and he also said that money won't be put into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, so you better watch out if Trump is re-elected.

Finally, on election interference and new warnings from the Intelligence Community (China's rooting for Biden, Russia's rooting for Trump, and Iran is "also looking for opportunities), Schumer focused on Russia.

...  it is absolutely true that Russia is trying to interfere from public information and public statements. And we are trying, we Democrats are trying to stop it in the defense bill. We want to put tough sanctions on Russia, both before they do something and even more so, Chris Van Hollen, has a bill, bipartisan, I believe this with Marco Rubio to stop it. Trump is resisting. Why does Donald Trump not want to stop Russia from interfering in this election? You have to ask that question. It’s the wellspring of our democracy.

He said he believes that the information should be declassified and shared with the American public, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has suggested.  And, before the interview ended, he tossed this out to us, the American people.

And they should know one other thing, that these hearings that Johnson and Graham are doing are -- some of it is now, now it’s public, is based on false Russian intelligence about Joe Biden. In other words, false Russian reports about Joe Biden. They should be ashamed of themselves for what they’re doing, letting the Russians manipulate them and us, the American people, or tried to manipulate us.

Consider yourself warned.

Stay safe - continue following the rules - and look for some extra credit tomorrow, if you can take it.

See you around the virtual campus. 

Sunday School Extra Credit 7/26/20

Our Sunday School post was devoted to the president's 4th Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows. 

Today, we'll hear from a couple of the president's other men: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow, and from Texas Senator Ted Cruz. 

Mnuchin is first, speaking with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

On the Republicans taking so long to get a new stimulus plan put together, the Dems having passed one in May, and the Rs missing their own deadlines to announce a bill, potentially causing harm to millions of Americans:

We want to move forward quickly. The bill will be introduced Monday and we're prepared to act quickly. This is all about kids and jobs. This is our focus and we want to make sure something gets passed quickly so that we deal with the unemployment and all the other issues -- Paycheck Protection Plan, tax credits to rehire people and money for schools.

On whether there's really a plan to be announced on Monday:

...we do have an entire plan, it's a trillion dollars. And let me just remind everybody that of the $3 trillion we've already passed, we have about a trillion to a trillion and a half still left to put into the economy. So these are very, very large amount of money, working with Congress to support this. And what Mark Meadows was saying is that within the trillion-dollar package, there are certain things that have time frames that are bigger priority, so we could look at doing an entire deal, we could also look at doing parts... we can move very quickly with the Democrats on these issues. We've moved quickly before and I see no reason why we can't move quickly again. And if there are issues that take longer, we'll -- we'll deal with those as well.

 On how much of a reduction there'll be to the expired $600/week unemployment bump:

...as it relates to unemployment insurance, we knew there was going to be large unemployment. We had a technical issue with the states and how they were going to be able to do this. So, we picked a number that on the average looked OK, but what we've seen is now that we want to have the technical correction -- and we want to have something which pays people about 70 percent wage replacement, which I think is a very fair level. So it's not a fixed number, it's something that pays you a percentage of your wages that are lost.

On even Republicans, including Sens. Grassley, Thune and Cornyn, being against the payroll tax cut the president wanted:

There are other Republicans that supported it, and let me just say -- again, we know we need bipartisan support. We have tax credits that we put in here to incentivize people to get back to work and small businesses to hire people. We have the direct payments. And as you know, the direct payments are much quicker way of effectively giving everybody a tax cut and it's much quicker than the payroll tax cut. 

On having the extra unemployment be roughly 70% of salary, or around $200 on average, and whether that will cost jobs, especially if there's significant GDP contraction in Q2, as expected:

And I think as we've said, we expect the third quarter, the consensus is 17 percent GDP, so we do think you're going to see a very big rebound. I might just also comment on June retail sales. We're 1 percent higher than June of last year. So all that money we pumped into the economy, it worked. People went out and spent. And on -- as it relates to the unemployment insurance, again, I think workers and Americans understand the concept that you shouldn't be paid more to stay home than to work. That the fair thing is to replace wages and it just wouldn't be fair to use taxpayer dollars to pay more people to sit home than they would get working and get a job.

Optimism abounds with Mnuchin, and even more so with Kudlow, the happy puppy of the administration. He talked with Jake Tapper for CNN's State of the Union. 

On Census Bureau data showing that employment is down:

Most people look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics that print out the weekly claims and the monthly jobs numbers. All right, that's what -- I haven't seen those Census numbers. And I don't know that I would put a lot of stock in it, but whatever. The fact remains, as I was saying before, in some places, job increase -- job declines or job increases have been affected. I don't deny it. But it's being made up by people calling back employees, so that, actually, the joblessness rate is going to fall. I'm not going to suggest -- I don't know the July number. We will all learn it in about a week or so. But I do think the odds favor a big increase in job creation and a big reduction in unemployment. I just want to make the point, though, all these other signals, Jake, most economists, Wall Street, elsewhere, are suggesting we are in a self-sustaining recovery. Now, you can argue about the speed of it. I get that. And you can -- and I don't deny that some of these hot spot states are going to moderate that recovery. But, on the whole, the picture is very positive. And I still think the V-shaped recovery is in place. And I still think, Jake, there is going to be 20 percent growth rate in the third and fourth quarters.

On the proposed reduction in the unemployment bump:

It won't stop the assistance. It's going to -- it's going to cap the assistance at a level that is consistent with people going back to work. That's what we have said from day one. First of all, state unemployment benefits stay in place. Second of all, we will try to cap the benefits at about 70 percent of wages. You know, a University of Chicago study showed virtually 70 percent, 68 percent of people actually have higher benefits than wages. We have had a flood of inquiries and phone calls and complaints that small stores and businesses, restaurants can't hire people back. They went too far. Maybe last March, it was necessary for that. But, really, the consequences of people not returning to work -- Secretary Mnuchin said it right. We want to pay folks to go back to work. And, incidentally, we are going to have, on top of the cap of wages, 70 percent, which is quite generous by any standard, on top of that, we will have a reemployment bonus and a retention tax credit bonus for going back to work. So, that's going to more than offset any of this. I mean, the trick here is going back to work. We don't want people out.

And, a random string of what else will be in the Republican package:

Don't forget, in the package, we're talking about a $1,200 assistance check. I just want to add, Jake, I just want to add -- we were talking about employment benefits and so forth. Don't forget, there's a $1,200 check coming. That is going to be part of the new package. I would have preferred a payroll tax cut, on top of that check. But, be that as it may, politically, it doesn't work. But the check is there. The reemployment bonus is there. The retention bonus is there. There will be breaks for small tax credits for small businesses and restaurants. That's all going to be there.

And finally, Senator Cruz, talking stimulus with Margaret Brennan on CBS' Face the Nation.

 
On whether he is on board with the new Republican stimulus bill: 

I am not. We have right now two simultaneous national crises. We have a global pandemic. It is serious. It has taken the lives of over six hundred thousand people. We need to do significantly more to fight the disease. At the same time, we have an absolute economic catastrophe. We have over forty-four million Americans have lost their job, and we have got to get America back to work... (Speaker Pelosi's) objectives are shoveling cash at the problem and shutting America down. And, in particular, you look at the three-trillion-dollar bill she is trying to push. It's just shoveling money to her friends and not actually solving the problem. Our objective should be Americans want to get back to work. They want to be able to provide for their family.

On whether he is willing to consider a lower bump in unemployment insurance:

I- look, I- what we ought to focus on, instead of just shoveling trillions out the door, we ought to be passing a recovery bill. Now, what's a recovery bill? A recovery bill would be lifting the taxes and the regulations that are hammering small businesses so that people can go back to work. A recovery bill-would suspend the payroll tax, which would give a- a- a pay raise to everyone in America who is working. That actually gets people back to work. But what- I am on board with restarting the economy. What- what Democrats want to do- we're a hundred days out from the presidential election. The only objective Democrats have is to defeat Donald Trump, and they've cynically decided the best way to defeat Donald Trump is shut down every business in America, shut down every school in America. You know Nancy Pelosi talks about working men and women. What she's proposing is keeping working men and women from working. And, you know, ironically, what she does have in her bill? She has a big tax cut for millionaires and billionaires in blue states.

Sadly, Brennan didn't have time to probe that last part.  

So, there you have it -- three more Republicans painting us a nice picture of what's to come, in the next stimulus as well as in the jobs number and overall economic growth. Let's hope all of that adds up to a nice stimulus in your Extra Credit points, right? And, do you agree with the rosy picture, or no?

Drop a comment, let me know what you think.

Stay safe.  See you around the virtual campus. 

TGIF 7/24/20

A bunch of random stuff to mull over as the 'work week', however that's defined for you, comes to a close.

The NFL Team Formerly Known as the Washington Redskins will be known, this year anyway, as the Washington Football Team.

Why, you ask? Well, there apparently are some trademark and licensing stuff, plus logos and stuff, plus who knows, maybe generating more interest waiting for the new name to be revealed?

And, speaking of waiting, in case you can't, here's a bone you can gnaw on, if you like, that suggests the new name has been chosen, and perhaps why there might be some legal stuff to deal with.

Let's see, what else do we have?

• Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.

• Regular math, not Andrew Yang MATH: did you know that the average maximum weekly unemployment benefit for the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico is less than $500? Or that only nine states pay extra unemployment for someone who has dependents?  Or that only thirteen states pay at least a "living wage" ($600/week, the equivalent of $15/hour for 4o hours) in unemployment (with or without dependents) Or that Kentucky's maximum is higher than New York's? The figures don't include the extra (and effectively expired) COVID-19 pandemic benefit of $600 per week. 

• You can get an MBA for only $12.99 through the Find Something New initiative co-chaired by Ivanka Trump as part of her workforce portfolio.

• The entire assembled teams of the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals took a knee before the National Anthem last night - and the world didn't stop spinning, except for lots of people on social media. And, staying with baseball for one more item, the Toronto Blue Jays will play most of their home games in Buffalo, where they have a Triple-A affiliate. The reason? Concerns about the coronavirus, of course, which prevented them from being able to travel to and from their home stadium. (Not for nothing, there's a ban on travel across the US/Canada border which is preventing people from working, being present for the birth of their children and so on).

• The president may or may not have asked his Ambassador to the UK to ask the Brits to see about holding a British Open at Trump's Turnberry course in Scotland. Both Trump and the ambassador say it didn't happen. Golf Magazine justifies the ask by saying that according to their rankings, Turnberry is #17 on their Top 100 Courses in the World list. If that's true, they can do it when Trump's out of office.

• The FDIC has relaxed regulations related to banks hiring people with minor criminal records, "expanding the pool of potential candidates and leveling the playing field for aspiring bank workers." Going forward, folks with offenses like small dollar theft (less than a grand) or possession of fake identification, can be hired without a waiver; around 100 or so waivers were requested annually.

And, I'll leave you with the funniest thing I saw all week. 

TGIF, everyone.

TGIF 5/8/20

Another Friday, already? Let's dive in and see what was going on this week.

Right off the bat, we now know that coronavirus has entered the White House, with both a presidential valet and the vice president's press secretary having tested positive. I understand now that the valets will be wearing masks, which makes sense, at least according to the CDC experts. Better late than never, I guess.  Pence's aide, Katie Miller, happens to be married to Trump's immigration policy guru, Stephen Miller. She's being quarantined for 14 days, not sure about him.

The president went to a mask company in Arizona this week, where he wore glasses but not a mask. But that's OK, I guess, because as the song says, Live and Let Die. Also while he was in Arizona, the president did an interview with ABC's David Muir which was, well, Trumpian to the extreme. I'll have more on that tomorrow.

Attorney General Snitty Snitty Bill Barr tried (and failed, it would seem) to convince the Administration to drop their assault on the Affordable Care Act, and he tried (and succeeded) in getting the DOJ to drop the charges against Michael Flynn, who cooperated with the Mueller Investigation. On the former, Barr's concern seems to be kicking tens of millions of people off their insurance, or appearing to, during an election year - which would not be an actual crime, only a political crime. On the latter, Barr said that "people sometimes plead guilty to things that turn out not to be crimes."  As with the Roger Stone case, the line prosecutor on the Flynn case withdrew. Seems things continue to be not so warm and fuzzy at DOJ...

Unemployment numbers for April came out today, and they were not good. I had heard estimates of between 16-17%  but  the unemployment rate came in at 14.7%. All of the job gains over the past 11 years have been wiped out. The 10.3% increase was the largest "over the month" increase in the metric's history.

For a somewhat unusual reason, Andrew Yang is in the news again this week. Last week, Yang sued the NYS Board of Elections for cancelling this year's presidential primary, as there are no candidates still officially in the running other than Joe Biden. And just the other day, a federal judge ordered NY to hold the primary after all. While some saw it as a victory for delegates who still have a chance to impact the party's platform at the convention, others don't feel the same. Ben Adler, writing in City and State New York, disagrees.  Adler said "this is just more proof - as if any were needed after Trump - that "outsider" candidates who run to promote their personal brand or idiosyncratic ideas usually leave politics worse for their involvement." Ouch.

And finally, Joe Biden. Evidence appears to be mounting against him vis a vis Tara Reade. On the heels of a recording alleged to be her mother calling in to the Larry King Show that came to light last month, we now have documents from her divorce, filed in 1996, in which her ex-husband references Reade saying she was sexually harassed while working for Biden's office.

I don't know how anyone looks at this, with a believing or disbelieving eye, and doesn't think it seriously hurts the Biden campaign.

TGIF, everyone.

Sunday School 6/23/19

Yep, I'm going there: one of my least favorite talking heads, and my least favorite squawk box: Chuck Todd and president Trump on Meet the Press. The interview was taped Friday morning and aired today.

Here are some highlights.

They talked about Trump's decision not to go ahead with an attack on Iran, it being a disproportionate response to kill 150 or so Iranians in retaliation for the shooting down of an unmanned drone. Trump indicated that he has 'ready-made plans', and said

Oh, I have so many targets, you wouldn't believe. We have targets all over.

Todd asked if Trump thought the Iranians were trying to provoke him into a military response.

No, their economy is shattered. Shattered. Their inflation is through the room. They've never had, the highest in the world right now. Worse than any place. They're not living well. 

On the border, Todd wondered if Trump was frustrated because his border numbers were worse than Obama's.

 No, because the people are coming up because our economy is so good. They're pouring up because the economy is so good. Obama had a lousy economy. It was a dead economy.

Huh.  All this time, I thought it was rapists and murderers and drug dealers and sex traffickers who were coming here, not people looking to take part if our awesome economy.  I seem to have been misled by someone, someone in the White House, I believe it was...

On Obama's jobs record and Trump's jobs record (hint: Obama's is better), here's Trump's explanation.

That's because he started of with a, with such a bad base. I mean, he hit - but Chuck, you have to understand, nobody was working. The whole place was a disaster. And I don't - I'd never take that away. But it's very easy because when that turned around they pumped a tremendous amount of money into the economy. He also had a Federal Reserve person who kept the interest rates low. I don't. I don't have that privilege.

But wait -- didn't we pump trillions or scadzillions of dollars worth of tax cuts for corporations and wealthy people into the economy? And didn't that trickle down to the average Joe, just like they said it would?  Yeah, no.

Trump's biggest mistake, the one thing he'd like a do-over on, if he could have one?

I would say if I had one to do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General. That would be my one.  Yeah, that was my biggest mistake.

On family separation at the border, that was Obama's fault and Trump ended it. Or something. But it was Obama's fault. This part of the interview was mostly Todd telling Trump to "do something" over and over and over. Eventually. coming back to 2019 and his administration, it's still the Democrats' fault that children don't have toothbrushes.

On impeachment, it's a crap shoot.

I think I win the election easier. But, you know, I'm not sure that I like having it. Look, I did nothing wrong. I was spied on. What they did to me was illegal. It was illegal on the other side. I did nothing wrong. So impeachment's a very unfair thing because nothing that I did was wrong. And if you look at the Mueller report, there was no collusion. This was all about collusion. This was about conspiracy.Use the word collusion. Use the word conspiracy. 

I'll be honest with you, nobody even mentions Russia anymore since the Mueller report. They don't mention it, in all fairness. Nobody mentions Russia anymore. And it was about Russia. It was a hoax. 

On losing the popular vote in 2016,

Well, I think it was a -- I mean, I'll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast that I don't believe. I look at California... Take a look at Judicial Watch, take a look at their settlement where California admitted to a million votes. They admitted to a million votes.

Todd asked, "a million votes of what?"

Take a look at Judicial-- Judicial Watch made a settlement, there was much, there was much - there was much illegal voting. But let me tell you about the popular vote. Do you have a second?

Oh for Pete's sake, he is SUCH a liar!  The Judicial Watch settlement was about inactive voters being on the rolls, not about illegal votes. Similar settlements have been reached with Ohio (a red state) and Kentucky (another red state). Many states to not aggressively remove people from the rolls if they fail to vote. And even in the case of the California settlement, voters have two more federal elections in which to fail to vote before they'll be removed from the rolls. And nothing in the settlement suggests that any of the inactive voters, including the dead ones, actually voted. This, my friends, it a complete line of crap that Chuck Todd basically let him get away with.

Finally, on Saudi Arabia, Trump says in a nutshell their money's worth it. 

They buy a massive amount, $150B worth of military equipment that, by the way, we use. We use that military equipment. So Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of America product. That means something to me. It's a big producer of jobs.

On having the FBI investigate the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and involvement of the Crown Prince in that.

Well, I think it's  - I think it's been heavily investigated. By everybody. I mean, I've seen so many different reports... Here's where I am, are you ready? 

Iran's killed many, many people a day. Other countries in the Middle East, this is a hostile place. This is a vicious, hostile place. If you're going to look at Saudi Arabia, look at Iran, look at other countries, I won't mention names, and take a look at what's happening. And they you go outside of the Middle East and you take a look at what's happening with countries. Okay?

And I only say they spend $400 to $450B over a period of time - all money, all jobs, buying equipment... I'm not a fool that says "we don't want to do business with them" And by the way, if they don't do business with us, you know what they do? They'll do business with the Russians or with the Chinese. They will buy - we make the best equipment in the world, but they will buy great equipment from Russia and China. 

Chuck. Take their money. Take their money, Chuck. 

Take their money. And, don't forget, have them take our money too, since we're having them help build some of our more strategic weapons systems.

See you around campus.

OrangeVerse XIV: The Apprentice

The working vacation at Bedminster has been a goldmine for poetry lovers. Here's one exercise in free verse, on jobs and women and stuff. With Trump were Labor Secretary Rene Acosta, Secretary of (destroying) Education Betsy DeVos, and the First Daughter.  

This Stuff is Very Hard

Thank you...for joining us today.

And thank you 

all because we 

have been working

very hard on being sure that

Americans have the training

they need for

the jobs in the future.

Namedropping

I also want to thank Ivanka,

my daughter,

for her leadership

on workforce training

and her efforts.

You're working very

very hard

to create new economic opportunities

for women across America

and, actually

for women across the world.

You've been working with the 

Chancellor of Germany

on helping women all over the world.

Enormously Optimistic

In the past seven months

we've made enormous gains

in getting Americans

back to work.

The stock market is

at record highs

Unemployment is at a 16-year low

And manufacturers have never

expressed more optimism about the future.

The optimism

has been incredible.

Moving on Back

We have a lot of companies

moving back to our country.

You're probably seeing that.

Two major automobile companies

just announced they're moving back...

and they're going to build

major plants.

They're looking for the site.

They're putting it out

to seven or eight

different states

and they're going to be

very happy

building in the United States.

It's going

to work out

very well for them.

Who More Than Me?

That's why...

we began a historic initiative

to expand apprenticeships and

workforce training programs

in all industries. 

We're expanding

pathways to success.

So important.

And apprenticeships are one of the

many avenues that lead to the great jobs

completely debt free.

And who knows more about 

the work 'apprentice' 

than Donald Trump?

The Best Part of Waking Up

In fact, under the apprenticeship

you earn while you learn.

So important and so great.

And you love getting up

in the morning

and going to work

and a lot of great things

involved here.

Grab the Brass, er, Ring 

We're also here today

to discuss additional steps

we will be taking to

expand apprenticeship programs,

especially for women and minorities

in STEM fields where

women have been 

truly under-represented - really

I guess you could say

under-represented

for many, many decades.

 You Go, Girls!

Technology has become a part

of nearly every industry

from manufacturing

to retailing.

And we want

all of our citizens

every single citizen

including women and minorities

to have access to 

high paying tech jobs and

other STEM related jobs.

You Are Aware, Right?

American workers are the best

there is anywhere in the world

and we're finding work for them.

They built the

skyscrapers of our cities

the roads and bridges

across our land

and we'll be building plenty of

new roads and bridges

by the way - 

the technology that has

revolutionized the glob

and so much more,

as you're well aware.

 I Like it on Top...

Their skills, talent and grit

have always put America on top.

And we're going to 

remain on top

at a much higher level

than we are right now.

And speaking of now

it is our job

to make sure that

they have the training

immediately!

to lead us to the future.

And I Like it Down Low

We have

great, great hope

We have a

great, great future

in this country.

There's never been

more optimism.

And again, unemployment at

a 16-year low.

Any Questions?

So we're honored to have all of you.

Mr. Secretary, thank you

very much.

Betsy, thank you

very much.

We appreciate it.

And Ivanka,

congratulations on

working

so hard. 

We really do

appreciate it.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Haters and Kool-Aid Drinkers

As typically happens on the first Friday of the month, economists and reporters and politicians jump all over the job numbers. My politically oriented friends and I do the same, although our obvious lack of qualifications prevent us from doing much more than sharing what we see.

And speaking of sharing, a friend shared this graphic today; you'd be correct if you figured that he's a fan of Barack Obama, and that he believed this to be a positive statement. I mean, it's over 10 million jobs, it's over four and a half years of positive job growth, right? Some of his friends do not share the same ideology - not that there's anything wrong with that - and his post was immediately hit with negative comments about how the job numbers are a sham, the real numbers are much worse, and so on.

It was the exchanges on my friend's page that got me to today's post and the discussion about Haters and Kool-Aid drinkers. In today's discussion, the Kool-Aid drinker is obviously the Obama fan, and the Hater is obviously the anti- Obama guy.

Hater Dude decided to put up a couple of links in support of his comments, the gist of which is that the real unemployment figure is much higher, that there are lots of people who stopped looking or are under-employed, and so on. We hear this argument every month, but this time, courtesy of Hater Dude, I was able to get to the actual data about the mysterious U-6 unemployment rate, the one that the R's like much more than the official unemployment rate, which is the one that Dems like. What's the difference between the rates? According to the folks at Portal Seven, who know these things:

The U6 unemployment rate counts not only people without work seeking full-time employment (the more familiar U-3 rate) but also counts "marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons." Note that some of these part-time workers counted as employed by U-3 could be working as little as an hour a week. And the "marginally attached workers" include those who have gotten discouraged and stopped looking but still want to work. The age considered for this consideration is 16 years and over.

The nice people at Portal Seven were able to provide the real numbers for both rates; take a look at the comparison between the Democrat Unemployment Rate (DUR) and the Republican Unemployment Rate (RUR), using the numbers for September:

• DUR: 5.9%, down 4.1% from the Obama-high 10.0%.
• RUR: 11.8%, down 5.3%  from the Obama-high 17.1%

So: while the Haters point out that the RUR is high,they fail to mention that it's actually dropped by a greater percentage than the DUR has, comparing both to their highest points during the current administration. Doesn't that seem to indicate a more wide-spread improvement in the employment picture? 

Another poster on my friend's page pointed out that most of the jobs added were"low-end minimum wage service jobs" which is another common Hater refrain. Actually, the September report shows that over 171,000 of the 248,000 jobs added in September, if my math is right, have a pretty good wage -- over $20 per hour on average, more than double the minimum wage. 

I don't think there's enough Kool-Aid to make even the most steadfast Obama fan think everything's hunky dory, but there's clearly more behind the numbers that the Haters want to talk about. And while we may need more talk, to figure out how to continue building growth so that the DUR and the RUR continue to go down, we need action more than anything.  

Any takers? Anyone with a single concrete idea to make a difference that doesn't include hating or sugary beverages?