Update 592 — Inflation as a Cost of WarAnd an Economic Stress Test for the West Record job growth, rising wages, and massive GDP gains notwithstanding, yesterday’s inflation news distracts from the macroeconomic picture. The 7.9 percent CPI jump bears on all Americans directly. Many sense that the war Putin started in Ukraine and the consequent energy …
Update 591 — Jobs Boom Resounding?Sound Muffled by Drumbeat of Inflation Last week’s BLS jobs report was unprecedented — in a welcome way — showing a gain of 678,000 jobs in February alone and a staggering 7.4 million created since President Biden took office. With the Omicron variant finally fading fast across the nation, this job expansion …
Update 581 — The Fight to Vote, 2022:Whither the Defense of Democracy? The one-year anniversary party for the Biden presidency was crashed by last night’s Senate showdown, ending in failed attempts to pass voting rights legislation and to reform the Senate filibuster rule. Indeed, that failure, said to be impossible, dooms more than just the Freedom to Vote: …
Update 580 — Enough Sinema Verite:Rays of Hope in the Economic Picture Senators Manchin and Sinema doubled down yesterday on their opposition to Senate filibuster reform and in essence, the critical voting rights package adopted by the House yesterday, which needs a reform of the Senate filibuster rule’s 60-vote threshold to pass. You might be …
Update 576 — Restoration and Reform:Battles Ahead for American Democracy President Biden’s Summit for Democracy last week was a cause for introspection: is the United States perfecting, protecting, or peeling back democratic rights? Republican-controlled states, particularly swing states like Georgia and Arizona, continue to adopt laws suppressing the vote. Congress has yet to pass federal voting legislation. …
Update 572 — December’s Disposition:What Will Get Done, What Might Wait? The dread month of December is now upon us. Congress faces a fuller slate of priorities prior to adjournment than the usual madcap year-end. But delay invites difficulty. Now Congress is poised to dispose of three critical policy issues bearing on the economy and, therefore, next …
Update 567 — These Two Shall Pass: Virginia’s Message for the Midterms Democrats in Congress and nationally, pausing a moment to reflect on electoral setbacks in Virginia and elsewhere on Tuesday, might consider whether the cause was the failure to pass BBB or even BIF. We can speculate about what impact passage of these bills …
Update 561 — Shutdown Narrowly Averted;Negotiations on BIF and BBB Intensify Yesterday, Congress managed to avoid a government shutdown by passing a stopgap continuing resolution to keep the federal government open through December 3. Speaker Pelosi also put off a vote last night on BIF, the bipartisan $1.2 infrastructure bill, when the needed 218 votes could not …
Update 555 — Reforming Money in Politics:Compromise’s Promise on Campaign Finance Word is just in, Democratic Senators have agreed to a new compromise political reform bill — the “Manchin compromise” — that is expected to be introduced as the Senate returns. Many years of work on the political reform bill of a generation are coming to legislative fruition. Senate …
The 2020 census data released last week depicts a paradox. The country grew by only 7.4 percent in the past decade, slower than any decade except the 1930s. Just seven House seats will shift states, far below average. But the U.S. population continues to diversify — more people, and from more backgrounds, are living in …
