Every party in a political year claims to be the one that will boost employment.

The adjacent graph shows unemployment rates for the USA by year for 1901-2021. Blue indicates Democratic (D) rule and red indicates Republican (R). Darker colors show years in which a ruling party experienced rising unemployment.

Unemployment declined in 76 of 121 years, 43 times under Democrats and 33 times under Republicans.

Under Democrats unemployment declined 43 times and rose 13 times. Under Republicans it rose 32 of 65 times.

Thus rising unemployment in any year was over twice as likely under Republican administrations (32:13), and Democratic eras experienced employment gains three times as often as losses (43:13 vs 33:32).

Unemployment fell in 43 years of (D) administrations compared to 33 years of (R) administrations, a difference of 30%.

In sum, claims that Republican policies are conducive to lower unemployment are not supported by these 121 years of data.

All employment analysis should consider ratios, not workforce size. The number of employed persons tends to grow by the addition of new workers through population growth and immigration regardless of government policy. In addition, it is likely that non-political factors influenced employment at least as much as government decisions.

The Tr*mp Campaign has neither confirmed nor denied that the following is an accurate transcription of a recent strategy session with advisors.

Advisor: After these few weeks of Harris as the new nominee of the Democrat Party, some polls say she's ahead nationally. (Republicans always omit the adjectival ending of Democratic, which makes the authors feel this is authentic.)

Tr*mp: We could say she's a woman.

Advisor: Actually, that's fairly self-evident, and her pitch so far is oriented toward really delivering on family-oriented service economic policy.

Tr*mp: We could say she's Black.

Advisor: Actually, she is half Black, via Jamaica, and half Indian.

Tr*mp: We could say she's not Black enough.

Advisor: Actually she seems to respect both her parents' ancestry and culture.

Tr*mp: We could say she flip-flops on her race.

Advisor: Actually, sir (Tr*mp loves it when they call him "sir"), her Indian mother brought her up in a mostly Black city in part so that she would be OK with that background.

Tr*mp: We could say she's confused about race.

Advisor: Actually, sir, the polls say that younger generations care much less about old racial stereotypes and don't think it matters as long as they're being told the truth.

Tr*mp: We could say she's black.

Advisor: Well...

Tr*mp: Let's move on: I'm having trouble choosing a humiliating nickname. How does "Colored Kamala" strike you?

Advisor: The Base will love it, sir. Screw the election; say what you feel!

Tr*mp: Did you notice how many people were at the rally? I loved it when Hannibal Lecter led the torch parade. The torches gave off a lot of light. Many people are saying the border is scary. I had an uncle who was a famous scientist; he could explain why the light shines. Did you catch the rack on that receptionist?

Former losing presidential candidate Donald Trump has continued to double down on his promises to deport millions of immigrants and to separate families at the border.

Keep this handy; you'll need it before November 5.

If necessary, click image to enlarge for printing or sharing. Click again to maximize.

In 1773 the Tea Tax was easily recognized as a trick to force colonists to buy the product of a single company whose inferior goods were overpriced. This led to rebellion and set off the 200 year decline of the British Empire, which was then at its peak.

Now, if you liked George III, you'll love Donald XLVII, whose tariff plan could have the same effect.

Consider this...

The adjacent "Fat Elvis" meme has been making the rounds. This version appeared recently on Farcebook.

Luckily, he's so vain that there are probably a million pictures of him, affording future meme-makers with a photo editor an infinite set of possibilities.

(Which leads me to the prospect of a debate moderator asking the "very large brain" to define an infinite set. But I digress...)

Challenged by recent publication of advertisements for unlreased films, the RNC today reiterated that rumors of a campaign of padding D. J. Tr*mp's résumé lack any semblance of truth.

"Every aspect of the candidate's professional career is well known to the public, so no exaggeration is necessary. It's not like we just make stuff up." spokesmodel Kellyanne Apologista said.

IMDB said it had no record of the films identified by the campaign.

Source

The distant shrieking about forgiveness of US government student loans is coming mostly from the moneyed class that managed the windfall surrounding the actual loans. In essence, banks and other financial institutions had an opportunity to take on the role of administrator for the government, which the "big-gub'mint" haters in Congress demanded for two reasons: (1) it required no or few new government employees, and (2) it created an income opportunity for their donors, some of which redounded no doubt to campaign contributions.

The principal of most of the loans that have been eligible for forgiveness (do your own research on the ratios) have already been paid back, in effect leaving only accrued interest to be paid. So the whining is mostly about loss of unearned income. So sad.

Speaking from personal experience of long ago and far away, an NDSL student loan of about $6,000 (about $51,000 today) supplemented my savings and enabled me to go to grad school, after which my annual income nearly doubled. I then paid higher taxes at a higher rate on the higher amount for 30 years totalling much more than the amount of the loan. The nation earned a substantial return on investment, and I got a jump-start, and I believe a more interesting life.

The importance of the near-global immunity decision is not whether it impacts the re-election of the Fifth Avenue Fratboy.

Our recent former President has a well established pattern of impelling others to do his bidding (read "dirty work") to keep his own hands clean. He makes no notes, sends no email and, recently at least, has apparently learned not to record conversations.

The new SCOTUS position is part of the "unitary executive" theory (read "wet dream") of the far right. It holds that there is no daylight between an action of a President and an action of a subordinate doing that President's bidding. The result is that keeping his hands clean is no longer required.

Continues...

The USA has about 336,000,000 inhabitants (persons, residents...). The House of Representatives currently has 435 members from states and a few more from other territories; the Senate has 100 members, two for each state.

The smallest state by population is Wyoming with about 580,000 inhabitants, represented by 3 persons; the largest is California with about 39 million, represented by 55 persons. This means in effect that the voting power of one person in Wyoming 3/580K is equal to 55/38000K, or about 280 times as great. It's easy to make a case that this is disproportional, to say the least. There are some who say that people in Wyoming are inherently wiser than those who live elsewhere; all of the former live in Cody. ????

Continues...

Despite the best efforts of (R)ight wing conspiracy theorists and (R)evisionist self-described historians, it is clear that the United States and/or states and earlier colonies paid bounties for the killing of Indigenous people at various points in its history. This practice was part of broader campaigns of violence and displacement against Native American communities. Although the term genocide was not invented until after World War II, that earlier behavior would appear to look, walk and quack like a duck. There are many easily discovered examples.

This policy and others like it were part of a larger, tragic pattern of violence, displacement, and genocide against Native American populations throughout the history of the United States. The (R)ecent (R)evisionism is clearly intended to normalize such behavior in the current era. Any who deny this history should be ashamed of themselves and deemed unfit for public office.

Continues...

Washington DC Dec 20 — House Speaker Mike Johnson joined Senate leaders today to consider the fate of the recently delivered life-size bronze bust of Rudy Giuliani, recently delivered despite some embarrassment due to a Georgia court's order that he pay over $146 million to two women he defamed as part of former president Donald X. Trump's scheme to remain in power despite an overwhelming 2020 loss to Joe Biden. The group would neither confirm nor deny that they have been considering auctioning off the statue to help Giuliani pay that debt.

Critics have panned the artwork, despite its lifelike detail, which is based on Giuliani's well known Four Seasons Landscaping speech in which he asserted to assembled reporters and customers at a nearby pornography shop that the election was stolen. Even the famous hair-dye streak is faithfully immortalized.

Update: Typographic correction 15 Aug 2024.

(En español por abajo) — You can join Smoldering Stump Gazette's poll on how long after the horrifying prospect of a Tr*mp inauguration the first native-born American citizen who happens to look like someone from the Western Hemisphere, has a Spanish surname and can respond to simple questions in Spanish will be deported.

Participants are asked to contribute $1 and specify the date, hour and minute said deportation will occur. The person whose guess is closest to the minute but not earlier will win 90% of the funds collected. SSG will retain 10% for administration. In case of tie (same date, hour and minute), the prize will be equally divided.

More information is linked below.

Puedes participar en la encuesta de Smoldering Stump Gazette sobre cuánto tiempo después de la horrible perspectiva de una toma de posesión de Trump, será deportado el primer ciudadano estadounidense nativo que parezca alguien del hemisferio occidental, tenga apellido español y pueda responder a preguntas sencillas en español.

Se solicita a los participantes que contribuyan con $1 y especifiquen la fecha, la hora y el minuto en que se producirá la dicha deportación. La persona cuya suposición sea la más cercana al minuto pero no antes ganará el 90% de los fondos recaudados. SSG retendrá el 10% para la administración. En caso de empate (misma fecha, hora y minuto), el premio se dividirá en partes iguales.

Más información está en el siguiente enlace.

More • Más

12 August 2024 — Gerard Baker wrote in that bastion of fuzzy liberal thinking, the Wall Street Journal, last week that...

"We need to talk about Donald.

"We can complain all we like, as I have, that the coronation of Kamala Harris by deceitful Democrats and a complaisant media is depriving voters of any understanding of what they are being asked to vote for in November. But we can’t ignore the giant Republican problem either: None of us are in any doubt what we are being asked to vote for on the Republican ticket.

"I watched [his recent so-called press conference"] in its entirety and then, perhaps hoping that the written version (transcript) might yield hidden intelligence not evident to the ear, read the transcript of the press conference Donald Trump held at Mar-a-Lago last week. Houston, we have a problem.

"By my calculation, about one-third of Mr. Trump’s remarks fell into three categories: false, obtuse or lunatic."

WSJ article

It was reported today that the legislature has voted to increase the pitch of stairways in all new construction of state buildings from a ratio of 45º to 53º. This will be accomplished by increasing the height of the "riser" portion of all "stringer" elements in new staircases.

The purpose of the legislation will be to increase the proportion of floor space available for the overall purpose of the buildings by decreasing the share of each building's footprint used for stairways. A gain of approximately sixteen percent usable space is anticipated by consulting architects.

All 73 Republican legislators supported the bill, while none of the 28 Democrats approved.

Opponents of the legislation pointed out that children, elderly persons and women would find it more difficult to ascend the steeper stairs, but that argument was rejected by the legislators. Also opposed were a preponderance of physicians and surgeons in the only public polling preceding the vote.

Continues...