a Better Bubbleโ„ข

Kevin Drum ๐Ÿ•ธ

Texas Senate voting now on Ken Paxton impeachment

1 year 9 months ago
Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, is almost comically corrupt. He's so corrupt that even though the legislature is controlled by his fellow Republicans, he's being impeached. The Texas Senate is voting on impeachment as I type this, and so far Paxton has survived on eight out of 16 counts. Only a couple of Republicans ...continue reading "Texas Senate voting now on Ken Paxton impeachment"
Kevin Drum

Can Joe Biden really do anything about the auto strike?

1 year 9 months ago
The UAW—my former union!—isn't happy with Joe "Mr. Union" Biden: Shawn Fain, the head of the United Auto Workers, has privately expressed his frustration with Joe Biden, wanting the president and other Democratic lawmakers to come out more aggressively in support of his union, which launched a strike Friday against the so-called Big Three automakers. ...continue reading "Can Joe Biden really do anything about the auto strike?"
Kevin Drum

Were collapsing earnings responsible for the breakup of the Black family?

1 year 9 months ago
Nick Kristof wrote yesterday about the huge rise in single-parent households over the past 60 years, especially among Black families. This has been a subject of public discussion ever since the famous Moynihan Report was issued in 1965, which detailed the "pathology" of Black family life in the wake of hundreds of years of brutal ...continue reading "Were collapsing earnings responsible for the breakup of the Black family?"
Kevin Drum

Average earnings today are about the same as just before the pandemic

1 year 9 months ago
The redoubtable Wall Street Journal opinion page says that Bidenomics is a crock. The Census Bureau just released its estimate of annual income for 2022, and after adjusting for inflation it's fallen from the previous year: The Census Exposes Bidenomics Its annual report shows how inflation has gutted real household incomes. ....Middle-class Americans who think ...continue reading "Average earnings today are about the same as just before the pandemic"
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

1 year 9 months ago
This is the Los Angeles skyline at dusk seen from Angeles Crest Highway. About a third of the way from the right-hand border you can see downtown with Catalina Island behind it.
Kevin Drum

Democrats have gotten a lot more liberal recently

1 year 9 months ago
While I was puttering around in the GSS data for my previous post, I happened to take a look at self-reported political ideology. In particular, I looked at how many Republicans described themselves as conservative and how many Democrats described themselves as liberal. Here it is: Republicans have been growing steadily more conservative for 50 ...continue reading "Democrats have gotten a lot more liberal recently"
Kevin Drum

Raw data: Young adult arenโ€™t especially unhappy these days

1 year 9 months ago
According to the General Social Survey, here's the trend in people reporting that they aren't very happy: I struggle to reconcile this with reports that young people are depressed, stressed out, and generally kind of miserable. From 1970 through 2018, there was very little change in young adults reporting that they aren't happy. It bounces ...continue reading "Raw data: Young adult aren’t especially unhappy these days"
Kevin Drum

Quote of the day: The speaker strikes back

1 year 9 months ago
From Kevin McCarthy at a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus, daring hard-right loonies to oust him: You guys think I’m scared of a motion to vacate. Go f---ing ahead and do it. I’m not scared. You tell 'em, Kevin.
Kevin Drum

Lunchtime Photo

1 year 9 months ago
This is our nation's Capitol, where every day our elected representatives undertake their solemn duty to advance the public weal. It brings a flutter to your heart, doesn't it? At the time I was there, the Capitol building was covered in scaffolding. This angle, along with the intervening flora, is a clever way of taking ...continue reading "Lunchtime Photo"
Kevin Drum

Earnings decline in August

1 year 9 months ago
Adjusted for inflation, hourly earnings declined at an annual rate of 5.3% in August. However, the average number of hours worked rose, so weekly earnings were down only 1.2%. Weekly earnings are now 0.3% above their pre-pandemic level. For blue-collar workers, hourly earnings were down 4.9% and weekly earnings were down 1.5%.
Kevin Drum