Political Economy category archive

Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog, where JMAshby points out:

It should be reiterated that President Bush kept the cost of the Iraq war off the books while he was in office, and when Republicans make the claim that President Obama dramatically increased the national debt upon taking office, the only reason they are able to make that claim is because the president decided we should begin taking responsibly for the cost of the war by adding it to routine budgets rather than paying for it with emergency authorization bills.

PoliticalProf has a theory.

Robyn Blumner remembers that the Davis-Bacon Act, which mandates that federal contractors pay the prevailing wage in their areas, was sponsored by a Republican Representative and Senator, then signed by a Republican president.

That was then.

Now fast forward to Mitt Romney on the campaign trail in Michigan last year when he promised that, if elected, he would “fight to repeal Davis-Bacon” starting on “Day One.”

That was one of Romney’s top priorities. Because in the United States, where wages have stagnated for more than 30 years, nothing is more important for the president than to try to erode worker pay even more. Take that, 47 percenters.

But Romney was not breaking new plutocratic ground, just toeing the party line. Today’s GOP believes its solemn duty is to mow down workers’ rights and wage protections. The onslaught is incredibly well organized, particularly at the state level where the well-manicured hand of the American Legislative Exchange Council is all over it.

The Republican Party, now more than ever the party of privilege.

Read the rest.

Via C&L.

A little better.

First-time jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 332,000 in the week ended March 9, the fewest since mid January, according to data today from the Labor Department in Washington. The median forecast of 49 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase to 350,000. The four-week average declined to a five- year low.

(snip)

Those people collecting emergency and extended payments increased by about 136,500 to 1.92 million in the week ended Feb. 23.

PoliticalProf explains:

• We want out teachers to be the best in the world, but we pay them so little that teaching as a profession can’t compete for talent with higher-paying jobs.
• We demand that our food supply be safe, but always buy the cheapest we can find.
• We want good roads and good schools … but don’t want to pay property or fuel taxes to support them.
• We want to buy our stuff on Amazon (which is largely exempt from sales taxes) while wondering why local businesses die and local governments (which depend on sales taxes) don’t seem able to get our streets cleaned in the snow.
• We insist that our universities ought to charge low tuition while refusing to pay taxes to support universities.

I could live with all of this (and much more) if we weren’t so damned hypocritical about it.

Read the rest.

It’s certainly working out nicely in Europe. Der Spiegel reports (emphasis added):

Two-thirds of national Red Cross societies within the European Union have begun distributing food aid, according to the head of the aid groups’ international organization — a sign that the economic crisis in Europe is having an alarming effect on poverty.

Yves Daccord, Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said on a visit to New Delhi on Monday that the scope of food distribution had not been at its current level since the end of World War II.

More at the link.

Synergy, explained by Robyn Blumner.

1) The economic struggles of average working people are not being addressed by the country’s political system.

2) Politicians have to spend an inordinate amount of time angling for campaign dollars, and when donors and lobbyists hand over big checks, big favors are expected in return.

3) These issues are related.

Wait till Republican sequestian dressage sweeps the nation. That’ll fix this.

First-time jobless claims unexpectedly fell by 7,000 to 340,000 in the week ended March 2, the lowest since the period ended Jan. 19, according to data today from the Labor Department in Washington. The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an increase to 355,000. The four-week average dropped to a five-year low.

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The less-volatile four-week moving average fell by 7,000 to 348,750, the lowest since March 8, 2008.

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose by 3,000 to 3.09 million in the week ended Feb. 23. The continuing claims figure doesn’t include Americans receiving extended unemployment benefits under federal programs.

Via Raw Story.

Via Kavips, who has commentary.

The myth is a cover for greed, folks, and one of the most successful bits of P. R. hype in recent political memory.

At New York Magazine, Kevin Roose explains the choreography in words of (almost) one syllable. A nugget:

I still don’t get it.

Okay, so let’s use a different example: Imagine you have two tickets to the next One Direction concert, and you’re negotiating with your BFF John over who gets to sit closer to the stage. In order to motivate each other to reach a deal, you say, “Okay, John, if we don’t figure this out, we’ll tear up both tickets and go see my uncle’s crappy grunge band play in his garage instead.” And now, it’s the day of the show, and you and John still haven’t reached an agreement, and now you’re headed to your uncle’s house while Harry Styles is doing a soundcheck. Your uncle’s crappy grunge concert is the sequester.

Read the story of Bob the Businessman.

One more time: Truman was right.

Via Raw Story.

States are caught up in their own addiction to dealing–dealing the cards, that is.

As the American Psychiatric Association’s manual, DSM-5, for the first time recognizes a non-substance-based addiction — gambling — states have become completely dependent on the money generated by gamblers. So much so, that when gambling revenues decline, states desperately seek out new ways to hook people.

New Jersey is such a state. As its gambling casino revenues falter — and new casinos fail — the state has (in the words of the New York Times) doubled down on its gambling concessions.

Much more at the link.

I’ve never been a fan of state lotteries and the like. They are essentially con games–conning taxpapers out of money without an honest tax increase. And, while casinos may look cool in a James Bond movie, a slots parlor is a damned depressing place.

States bet on gambling as a way to raise free money.

Now they are trapped in their own three card monte.