Most people slept through it, but yes, the United States government shutdown for several hours last night. Yesterday, in something of a throwback, the two parties struck a deal and came out with a bi-partisan spending bill. Great news, right? But Republican and libertarian Rand Paul had to make a point: Republicans no longer care about deficit spending. Rand wanted … Read More
Trump Wants Stock Market To Take A Loyalty Pledge
What the… In the “old days,” when good news was reported, the Stock Market would go up. Today, when good news is reported, the Stock Market goes down. Big mistake, and we have so much good (great) news about the economy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2018 Actually, it is not a “mistake”; most economists agree that it … Read More
CFPB Is All But Committing Malpractice
Equifax (EFX.N) said in September that hackers stole personal data it had collected on some 143 million Americans. Richard Cordray, then the CFPB director, authorized an investigation that month, said former officials familiar with the probe. But Cordray resigned in November and was replaced by Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s budget chief, who was once quite vocal about eliminating the agency. … Read More
Volatile Dow
After plunging a few hundred points on Friday, the Dow dropped a record-breaking 1175 points yesterday. That the most points, but fortunately, the 4.6% drop was not the highest percentage-wise. All in all, 1 trillion dollars in net worth was lost. It probably was a correction, but it raised fresh anxieties among Americans who have seen their retirement savings and household … Read More
Speaking Of Sex Scandals…
While we wait for the doors to blow wide open on the Trump-Daniels sex scandal (IF they blow open, that is), let’s chew on this: Casino mogul and Republican National Committee (RNC) finance chair Steve Wynn is facing accusations of sexual misconduct, including that he forced a woman to have sex with him in 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Wynn, … Read More
The Horrible Tax Bill Is GOP Gift To Themselves [UPDATE: Senate Votes Yes]
Literally: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, inserted language into the final tax bill that would enrich three different constituencies: fossil fuel firms, Republicans’ major campaign donors and a handful of Cornyn’s GOP congressional colleagues including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and two other Texas lawmakers in the House. Cornyn originally added the language in an amendment to the Senate bill at the … Read More
Income Inequality
A graph and a big document:
Disney Buys Most Of Fox
Big entertainment news: The Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal valued at $52.4 billion to acquire much of the Hollywood holdings of 21st Century Fox, the global television and entertainment conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family. The deal occurs against a backdrop of swift changes to the industry’s finances and uncertainty about succession plans at both companies. The … Read More
Repeal Trump Tax Cuts
Chait: Probably nothing has done more to erode Trump’s public standing than the consistently plutocratic cast of his domestic policy. The tax cut is the second-most-unpopular major piece of legislation in recorded history, behind only Trump’s other major domestic initiative, the health-care-repeal bill: Democrats have nothing to fear from making repeal of the Trump tax cuts for the rich a defining … Read More
In Other News, Senate Passes Most Atrocious Tax Bill In US History
Breaking: Jeff Flake (R-Az) votes for terrible tax bill. It looks like the GOP has enough to pass. Just so we’re all clear, a bill no one’s seen, no one’s read, and no one’s scored, dramatically affecting the planet’s largest economy, is going to pass “the world’s most deliberative body” this afternoon. https://t.co/oS3U5BeGkn — Steve Benen (@stevebenen) December 1, 2017 … Read More
This Is Not Just A Bad Tax Bill; This Is A Bill That Will Make America Worse In Many Ways
NY Times: The tax plan has been marketed by President Trump and Republican leaders as a straightforward if enormous rebate for the masses, a $1.5 trillion package of cuts to spur hiring and economic growth. But as the bill has been rushed through Congress with scant debate, its far broader ramifications have come into focus, revealing a catchall legislative creation that could reshape major … Read More
Who Is In Charge Of The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau?
Richard Cordray. the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said that he would be leaving as head of the CFPB at the end of this month. Last Friday, November 24, he sent a letter to President Trump, declaring that he’s officially done leading the federal government’s controversial consumer watchdog agency once the clock strikes midnight. In a separate letter to … Read More
The Tax Bill Is An Attack On Higher Education
Trump is in hard core twitter world again, attacking the media for — well, not exactly sure. The news isn’t good for Trump with the net closing on the Mueller scandal. Trump is obviously concerned. But he did talk about the tax bill and how wonderful it supposedly is. I like how he calls the wealthy “job producers”, as if … Read More
The GOP Tax Plan Hits Middle Class
Having failed to repeal and replace Obamacare, almost everything is riding, politically speaking, on the new GOP tax bill. And it looks like a tough road to passage. A Washington Post poll provides a good starting point for measuring public opinion at the outset of the tax debate. Only one-third of Americans support the plan, against half opposing it. Sixty percent of the public … Read More
Trump Doesn’t Know How The National Debt Works
During his latest interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, President Trump went on a confused rant about the economy, at one point falsely suggesting that stock market gains are helping pay down the national debt. “I’m so proud of the $5.2 trillion dollars of increase in the stock market,” Trump said, referring to the bull market that began as the … Read More