While short-term investors the world over are dreading today, and praying it won't be like the day before, we're really not all that concerned about the massive drop in stock markets around the world that happened 24 hours ago.
For one thing, it's Friday.
For another, the jobs report is in - and it's better than most expected, though it's still not great.
Lastly, some of the most intelligent people we know on these affairs, - like Dr. Paul Krugman - really aren't apoplectic about the economics, while others like Nate Silver and Ezra Klein aren't that concerned about the politics. Yes, they're concerned - but they're not saying we need to stop the world and have a meltdown. In fact, they're saying just the opposite.
It's August, after all. It's time to look forward to the County and State Fair seasons around the country, time to get ready for kids and teachers to go back to school.
And time for members of high school and college marching bands to begin the grueling annual exercise known as band camp.
For those of you who trained for athletic events like football, baseball, or track and field in the blistering sun of summer, we know you empathize with those "band geeks" going through two-a-days on their own practice gridiron. Holding perfect posture, while dancing across a field and playing an instrument, and getting everything perfect is difficult enough.
Add in heat indexes of over 100ºF and those young men and women carrying tubas, drums, and giant saxophones don't seem to be such creampuffs after all. At least football pads don't tend to focus the energy of the sun like a laser beam on your skin. The same thing can't be said of shiny silver and gold instruments that literally and figuratively burn the hands and bodies of those who struggle to make them work in such grueling conditions.
It may sound to some as though being in a marching band is nothing but pain, sweat, and sacrifice, as difficult in its own way as any sport ever was. There is certainly some truth to that.
Just like being part of a football, baseball, or softball team that trains together in extreme conditions, going through an experience like a band camp is a bonding experience that teaches individuals about more than just music or choreography.
It teaches individuals how to be part of something greater than themselves, a group that can accomplish big things, things that no individual can hope to achieve alone.
Hmmmmm...
Maybe we should strap tubas and drums to all 435 members of Congress, and force them to go learn a marching routine on the National Mall. In the deep summer heat.
Of course, they'd need someone to lead the band, a task we're fairly sure President Obama would have little trouble handling. He's still young - only fifty - and seems to have plenty of energy to lead a motley crew like that.
Let's just hope that when Congress gets back from their five-week vacation, they can all learn to play the same tune - or at least, to stop purposely running into each other.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Heads In The Sand
In case you missed the change of the calendar, with all the recent hoopla over the debt bill, it's August - the month traditionally known for ugly heat, a Congress in recess, and over the last few years, constituents who have been driven into a frenzy by outside groups, primarily from the right.
While there doesn't appear to be an issue just waiting in the wings for the right wing lobbying groups to gin up anger during the next five weeks, we wouldn't be surprised if they attempt to find one. After all, as more than one Republican leader has made plain, their goal is to sink the President. A decreasing unemployment rate wouldn't help their primary goal one bit.
We're not saying the politicians in DC, especially those on the right, are attempting to tank our economy, or shoot American business in the foot, as some on the political left are saying. It's obvious to us, however, that far too many House and Senate members alike have their heads in the sand when it comes to the desperate need to help generate jobs in America.
The private firm ADP released its July 2011 jobs survey today, saying U.S. companies added 114,000 jobs last month. While their numbers are often more optimistic than the official statistics, the key to understanding that number is that it mirrors what other economic figures are also showing - that there is a another slowdown in hiring happening right now.
Part of that falloff can be credited to the same issue we've been warning about since late last year: the stimulus money is gone, and now government agencies at all levels are having to cut jobs - again - as their budgets continue to be slashed. For example, the Army, already looking to cut 27,000 soldiers from their ranks, is trying to cut another 8000 civilian jobs in the next fifteen months.
Consulting firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas confirmed that over 66,000 more Americans found themselves out of work last month, and thousands of those lost jobs came from the public sector - also known as the government sector, the place where the bloviators on the right say "government can't create any jobs."
If government can't create any jobs, how can it lose over 66,000 jobs? We're sure the individual Americans who lost their civilian jobs in July doing things like serving our military would tend to disagree with those same purveyors of hot air.
So far this year, since the new 112th Congress came in, we've seen the Democrats try to focus on jobs - and be distracted by fake crises like the debt ceiling. We've seen the President try to focus on jobs - and be distracted by fake crises, like whether he had a valid birth certificate. The President is leading the way again, telling Congress to get back to DC to put over 70,000 construction workers back to work on FAA construction projects. Obama is even planning on a bus trip through the Heartland later this month to try to talk with Americans about their ideas for generating jobs.
Meanwhile, the current House of Representatives, led by Republican John Boehner, has only FIFTEEN pieces of legislation they've originated, passed through both houses of Congress, and had signed into law by the President. In comparison, the Democratic-led 111th Congress succeeded in passing 254 laws and eleven joint resolutions over two years, while the Democratic-led 110th had 308 laws, plus ten joint resolutions. Even the last GOP-led 109th Congress finished with 316 laws, and 16 joint resolutions.
For a man who said his Republican House was going to have a "laser-like like focus" on job creation when they swept into office almost a year ago, Speaker Boehner and his caucus should all be fired for gross negligence of the responsibilities of their own jobs.
Yes, we realize that would also add to the numbers of unemployed on the streets. Somehow, though, we think the country - and even Mr. Boehner - would do better without certain current members of the House of Representatives.
While there doesn't appear to be an issue just waiting in the wings for the right wing lobbying groups to gin up anger during the next five weeks, we wouldn't be surprised if they attempt to find one. After all, as more than one Republican leader has made plain, their goal is to sink the President. A decreasing unemployment rate wouldn't help their primary goal one bit.
We're not saying the politicians in DC, especially those on the right, are attempting to tank our economy, or shoot American business in the foot, as some on the political left are saying. It's obvious to us, however, that far too many House and Senate members alike have their heads in the sand when it comes to the desperate need to help generate jobs in America.
The private firm ADP released its July 2011 jobs survey today, saying U.S. companies added 114,000 jobs last month. While their numbers are often more optimistic than the official statistics, the key to understanding that number is that it mirrors what other economic figures are also showing - that there is a another slowdown in hiring happening right now.
Part of that falloff can be credited to the same issue we've been warning about since late last year: the stimulus money is gone, and now government agencies at all levels are having to cut jobs - again - as their budgets continue to be slashed. For example, the Army, already looking to cut 27,000 soldiers from their ranks, is trying to cut another 8000 civilian jobs in the next fifteen months.
Consulting firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas confirmed that over 66,000 more Americans found themselves out of work last month, and thousands of those lost jobs came from the public sector - also known as the government sector, the place where the bloviators on the right say "government can't create any jobs."
If government can't create any jobs, how can it lose over 66,000 jobs? We're sure the individual Americans who lost their civilian jobs in July doing things like serving our military would tend to disagree with those same purveyors of hot air.
So far this year, since the new 112th Congress came in, we've seen the Democrats try to focus on jobs - and be distracted by fake crises like the debt ceiling. We've seen the President try to focus on jobs - and be distracted by fake crises, like whether he had a valid birth certificate. The President is leading the way again, telling Congress to get back to DC to put over 70,000 construction workers back to work on FAA construction projects. Obama is even planning on a bus trip through the Heartland later this month to try to talk with Americans about their ideas for generating jobs.
Meanwhile, the current House of Representatives, led by Republican John Boehner, has only FIFTEEN pieces of legislation they've originated, passed through both houses of Congress, and had signed into law by the President. In comparison, the Democratic-led 111th Congress succeeded in passing 254 laws and eleven joint resolutions over two years, while the Democratic-led 110th had 308 laws, plus ten joint resolutions. Even the last GOP-led 109th Congress finished with 316 laws, and 16 joint resolutions.
For a man who said his Republican House was going to have a "laser-like like focus" on job creation when they swept into office almost a year ago, Speaker Boehner and his caucus should all be fired for gross negligence of the responsibilities of their own jobs.
Yes, we realize that would also add to the numbers of unemployed on the streets. Somehow, though, we think the country - and even Mr. Boehner - would do better without certain current members of the House of Representatives.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Counting The Costs
We're aware that you're tired of the debt ceiling talk - and frankly, after covering it extensively over the last six weeks, we are too. As we've often reminded you though, dear reader, anything worth doing is worth doing well. For us, that includes cleaning up a few questions and comments put forward by some of our readers.
One reader thought we should cut off the perks for our elected representatives and base their salaries and benefits on the economy, "so that when they screw up the economy for us, it will affect them in the same way." We wish that were true, but sadly, that would likely only cause more graft and favors to be sold on Capitol Hill, not less.
One reader asked one of our staff if we thought Tea Partiers are really terrorists. For that, we simply defer to our colleague at Slate, Dave Weigel, who said on Tuesday, "If you don't want your opponent to label you a hostage-taker, here's an idea: Don't take hostages."
The biggest question we've heard so far is: Who won?
There are a ton of different answers to that question, depending on how someone is trying to spin it - or what their perspective is. Short-term, long-term, left, right, or terrorist Tea Bagger, the list of winners and those claiming victory includes almost everyone.
Everyone except the continually shrinking middle and working classes. They lost - and that includes most of you, our readers.
Wall Street didn't find much to cheer about in the new law Tuesday, even though its passage staved off a fiscal catastrophe. The economic news at the end of last week was horrible, in large part because of state and local governments having to make draconian budget cuts over the last six months. With this deal, it looks like that will only get worse. Because local and state governments have been firing more local people (since they no longer have Federal stimulus dollars to cushion them), people are spending less. Even with lower gas prices in June, consumers kept their wallets in their pockets.
While two of the three major credit ratings agencies did NOT downgrade America's credit, they did put the country on a kind of fiscal probation, warning the kind of shenanigans caused by nearly a decade of immature budgetary irresponsibility, capped off by Tea Party antics, will not be tolerated again. In an unusual way, most Americans agree with the credit ratings agencies, that lawmakers have been acting like 'spoiled children', especially since the last election.
Meanwhile, what was missing from the new law was help for jobs and the unemployed - both things that would help the middle class.
What was also missing from this new law - at least in the short term - was higher taxes on the rich and the closure of tax loopholes for corporations. There is no need to argue either of these points. Tax rates are some of the lowest they've been in nearly sixty years, in large part thanks to the loopholes built in primarily for the rich. Further, corporations like G.E. and Amazon paid effective tax rates near zero last year. While those problems might be addressed by the Congressional Debt committee established by this new law, that won't help create more jobs in the short term for the people who need them now, not sometime down the road.
The fact is, there are a lot of things that could have and should have been done over the last eight to ten years on the subject of debt, and paying our debts - but none of them were done.
Now, the debt is due, and it must be paid - by ALL Americans, one way or another. While those who lost the most in this fight may be the middle class, we can tell you this much: there really weren't any winners in this war.
One reader thought we should cut off the perks for our elected representatives and base their salaries and benefits on the economy, "so that when they screw up the economy for us, it will affect them in the same way." We wish that were true, but sadly, that would likely only cause more graft and favors to be sold on Capitol Hill, not less.
One reader asked one of our staff if we thought Tea Partiers are really terrorists. For that, we simply defer to our colleague at Slate, Dave Weigel, who said on Tuesday, "If you don't want your opponent to label you a hostage-taker, here's an idea: Don't take hostages."
The biggest question we've heard so far is: Who won?
There are a ton of different answers to that question, depending on how someone is trying to spin it - or what their perspective is. Short-term, long-term, left, right, or terrorist Tea Bagger, the list of winners and those claiming victory includes almost everyone.
Everyone except the continually shrinking middle and working classes. They lost - and that includes most of you, our readers.
Wall Street didn't find much to cheer about in the new law Tuesday, even though its passage staved off a fiscal catastrophe. The economic news at the end of last week was horrible, in large part because of state and local governments having to make draconian budget cuts over the last six months. With this deal, it looks like that will only get worse. Because local and state governments have been firing more local people (since they no longer have Federal stimulus dollars to cushion them), people are spending less. Even with lower gas prices in June, consumers kept their wallets in their pockets.
While two of the three major credit ratings agencies did NOT downgrade America's credit, they did put the country on a kind of fiscal probation, warning the kind of shenanigans caused by nearly a decade of immature budgetary irresponsibility, capped off by Tea Party antics, will not be tolerated again. In an unusual way, most Americans agree with the credit ratings agencies, that lawmakers have been acting like 'spoiled children', especially since the last election.
Meanwhile, what was missing from the new law was help for jobs and the unemployed - both things that would help the middle class.
What was also missing from this new law - at least in the short term - was higher taxes on the rich and the closure of tax loopholes for corporations. There is no need to argue either of these points. Tax rates are some of the lowest they've been in nearly sixty years, in large part thanks to the loopholes built in primarily for the rich. Further, corporations like G.E. and Amazon paid effective tax rates near zero last year. While those problems might be addressed by the Congressional Debt committee established by this new law, that won't help create more jobs in the short term for the people who need them now, not sometime down the road.
The fact is, there are a lot of things that could have and should have been done over the last eight to ten years on the subject of debt, and paying our debts - but none of them were done.
Now, the debt is due, and it must be paid - by ALL Americans, one way or another. While those who lost the most in this fight may be the middle class, we can tell you this much: there really weren't any winners in this war.
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