Job numbers for April looked good: There was a gain of 290,000 jobs in the month, up from a revised 230,000 jobs added in March. It was the largest number of jobs added to the labor force since March 2006. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 187,000 jobs. With upward revisions for both March and February, there … Read More
Wheeee!
That noise you heard between 2:30 and 2:45 pm EST was the Dow plunging almost 1,000 points in fifteen minutes. It came back quickly too, but it's still down about 500 for the day…. UPDATE: Oh, this is reassuring…. In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points before paring those losses in … Read More
Libertarian Ad Doesn’t Work
This ad is supposed to make you think that we're over-regulated as a society, but judging by the comments on YouTube, it actually makes you realize how important government regulation is and how much we take it for granted. All you need to do is change the tone of the background music, and the snarky nonsensical questions at the bottom, and this … Read More
Dig A Little Deeper, NYT
An article on the front page of today's New York Times contains quotes from various conservation groups indicating that perhaps the oil spill isn't as bad as people think it is. Example: Other experts said that while the potential for catastrophe remained, there were reasons to remain guardedly optimistic. “The sky is not falling,” said Quenton R. Dokken, a marine … Read More
Third Time A Charm? Don’t Bet On It
As I am writing this, the Senate is voting on financial reform legislation. This is the third time in three or four days that the Senate has held this vote, and each time, the Republicans have universally voted "no". Important to understand, however, is what the Senate is actually voting on. They are voting on merely whether to have a debate … Read More
Sh*tty Deal Or No Sh*tty Deal?
CSPAN's getting a little blue today: Language aside (and really, who gives a shit what language they use?), it's remarkable substantively. These Goldman Sachs guys are…. well…. shits. And apparently, they are getting their asses handed to them. John Cole blogs: I’m watching this on C-Span3 while I work, and this just does not feel like the normal dog and … Read More
Back To Business As Usual at Massey Mines
This is downright Dickensian. Or if that is too antiquated for you — it's downright Norma raeish. Charleston, W.Va. — Two weeks after the horrific explosion that killed 29 coal miners in southern West Virginia, it’s business as usual for the owner of the project. Massey Energy, the Virginia-based coal giant that runs the Upper Big Branch Mine, has denied … Read More
Americans Distrust Government
The Pew Research Center released a report yesterday showing that more Americans distrust their government now that at any point in the last half century. This is the lede chart: While this might reflect badly on Obama, and spell bad news for Democrats in the upcoming elections, I think this is more of a "dog bites man" story. Traditionally, mistrust in … Read More
Bachmann’s Latest Whopper
Last night on CNN: But today, the federal government literally owns banks, the largest insurance company in the United States. Words have meanings, and apparently Bachmann doesn't know the definitions of the word "own", "bank", or "insurance company" — it's hard to tell exactly which (perhaps all three!!) And she definitely doesn't know the meaning of the word "literally". The … Read More
Finally, Some Accountability Against Financial Firms
Breaking News: Washington, D.C., April 16, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was beginning to falter. The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed … Read More
Michelle Bachmann Just Making It Up
Apparently, the federal government now owns and controls 51% of the private economy. She said so this weekend: The funny part is that Chris Wallace of Fox News corrects Bachmann… but not to challenge the absurd 51% figure.
American Airlines Now Imposing Fees On Non-Passengers
If trends continue, this might be reality: FORT WORTH, TX—Cash-strapped American Airlines announced a new series of fees this week that will apply to all customers not currently flying, scheduled to fly, or even thinking about flying aboard the commercial carrier. The fees, the latest introduced by American Airlines in a continuing effort to combat its financial woes, will take … Read More
Idiotic Punditry Of The Day
Jonah Goldberg (of course): Personally, I have never understood liberalism's blind spot for liberty when it comes to taxation. A 24-hour waiting period before a teenager can have an abortion is an allegedly grotesque violation of individual freedom, but a federal government that takes vast amounts of your money — the means by which you exercise your every freedom — … Read More
Who Pays More To The United States In Taxes? You or ExxonMobile?
Answer: You. If you buy one gallon of gasoline — just one gallon — you pay 18.4 cents to the United States government in federal taxes. And that's more than ExxonMobile. In 2009, ExxonMobile, the world's second largest company, with a gross operating profit of nearly $53 billion, paid zero dollars to the United States government. Now, to be sure, ExxonMobile paid … Read More
Stupid Mass Emails
So, I received this: The Tax System – Explained With Beer Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all tencomes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: * The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. * The fifth would … Read More