Kevin Drum 🕸

Via Atrios, I see that Donald Trump will be in Detroit tomorrow to talk to strik— Wait. I'm getting an update: Trump will be in a suburb speaking at Drake Enterprises. Which is not an auto plant. It's a truck parts supplier. A non-union one. And the event is being organized by the anti-union Right ...continue reading "Here’s what Donald Trump is doing in Detroit"

I'm confused: So which is it? I'm betting on #2.

The San Francisco Fed has updated its analysis of COVID-era savings based on more recent data, and it now concludes that the money saved from pandemic relief programs is pretty much gone: The SF Fed estimates that only $190 billion is left in excess savings—and the odds are good that even that is mostly in ...continue reading "San Francisco Fed says pandemic savings are all gone"

Here's the annual growth rate of the largest countries in the world: Of the top eight countries, all have per capita GDPs under $15,000 except for the US, which clocks in at $60,000. Who's your bet to lead this list 30 years from now?

The Supreme Court has told Alabama to sod off: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused Alabama’s request to reinstate a congressional map drawn by Republican lawmakers that had only one majority-Black district, paving the way for a new map to be put in place before the 2024 election. ....The court’s order gave no reasons, which ...continue reading "Supreme Court tells Alabama Republicans to stand down"

The Wall Street Journal reports that consumers are finally feeling the effects of high interest rates. They are buying fewer houses (true), fewer cars (not really true), and loading up their credit cards: “Consumers are carrying much higher balances than they were two years ago,” said Charlie Wise, head of global research and consulting at ...continue reading "Consumers are not loading up their credit cards"

We need new drugs to fight the surge of antibiotic-resistant bugs that have been making the rounds in recent years. And we have them! But there's a catch: Six startups have won Food and Drug Administration approval for new antibiotics since 2017. All have filed for bankruptcy, been acquired or are shutting down. The problem ...continue reading "Superbugs are gaining ground via economics, not evolution"

There are lots of people who think Donald Trump is a boor but plan to vote for him anyway. I'm not talking here about the dead-enders who worship Trump, but the center-right voters who really don't like him but will hold their noses and mark their ballot for him even so. Why? Because the alternative ...continue reading "It’s all about policy"

I drove up to Palomar Mountain yesterday to scout around for skygazing sites, and I was surprised to find out that Caltech's stewards of the 200-inch telescope had finally opened up the observatory to visitors again. So as long as I was there I popped in. I was unable to get a good picture of ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"

The Washington Post reports that Black churches in Florida are now teaching history themselves because they no longer trust schools to do it fairly. The Rev. Rhonda Thomas, leader of "Faith in Florida," explains: Thomas said she took particular issue with one of the provisions in last year’s legislation: That instruction should be tailored so ...continue reading "Florida kids are allowed to feel guilt over slavery"

Were you wondering what's on Donald Trump's mind these days? There you have it. If elected, Trump promises to try and destroy NBC News for treason. He won't do it, of course. He's mostly just throwing red meat to the base. Or maybe NBC has a big story coming out and Trump wants to get ...continue reading "Trump now wants to destroy NBC News"

I'm sure this New York Times headline is offered in good faith, but it's just wrong: This is your periodic reminder that it's Kevin McCarthy who has sown "mass dysfunction," not the small and powerless House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy can sideline them anytime he wants by following the Senate's lead and working on a bipartisan ...continue reading "“Mass dysfunction” in Congress is all due to Kevin McCarthy"

The Washington Post today highlights the jihad by conservatives to shut down any and all efforts to combat disinformation: The escalating campaign — led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other Republicans in Congress and state government — has cast a pall over programs that study not just political falsehoods but also the quality of ...continue reading "Republicans are determined to protect their web of lies"

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck: My multiple myeloma is still hanging around. It turns out I was right to be skeptical of the "no report means no M-protein" claim from my doctor yesterday. Today I suddenly received revised test results and this time they did include an M-protein report. It wasn't zero. It was 0.12. As ...continue reading "Health update — not so good this time"

This is completely nuts: Only 52% of Republicans think the COVID vaccine is safe. The conservative politicians and conservative media that created this situation should be utterly ashamed of themselves. And to what end? It isn't even a partisan issue. It's not as if Joe Biden would get a surge in the polls if Republicans ...continue reading "Half of all Republicans think COVID vaccine is unsafe"

I am once again confused: "Accuses"? Who else would attack Sevastopol? And why shouldn't they? Russia keeps raining missiles on Kyiv, after all. It only seems fair.

UPDATE: This turns out to be a lab screwup. Ignore it. Actual results here. Today brings some very good news indeed—I think: According to my latest lab tests, I no longer have any detectable level of M-protein. This is unexpected, since in June it seemed as if my CAR-T response had plateaued. But no. I'm ...continue reading "Fantastic Health Update"

The Border Patrol has finally deigned to release its August numbers, waiting until about 5 pm on a Friday to do it. I can only assume that's because the numbers, once again, were bad: Border encounters were up 27% to 233,000 in August. About 50,000 of these were legal asylum requests while the rest were ...continue reading "Southwest border encounters were up a lot in August"

Why has the number of people getting married collapsed over the past 60 or so years? Advice to conservatives who want to convince liberals to talk up marriage: The key persuasion (if you do actually want to persuade) strategy here is to clarify that you’re talking about hectoring *men* not women. — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) ...continue reading "Marriage has declined for exactly the reason you think"

Why is it that union organizing drives so often fail? Brutal opposition from management is one reason, but another is simply that a lot of workers don't feel they'd get any benefit from belonging to a union. That's wrong: These are the latest estimates from the BLS, and they show pretty clearly that in addition ...continue reading "Unions provide great job benefits"