People, as we now know in detail, believe what they "see with their own eyes." They see that tomatoes are "up" and there is it, the whole economy. This phenomenon is even more true of the refusal to believe crime is down. Open a local newspaper, a Next Door feed, a Ring Feed--what you you see: Stories about crimes. Because that's what gets reported. Nothing about "Sally Mae walked peacefully home from the movies last night and no one accosted her." Or "Mr. Jones reported that no one had stolen his Amazon delivery from his porch yesterday." Much less "Ms Whoozit posted on Next door that not one of her friends or relatives has been murdered."
that's exactly right. they read virtually nothing. and, as I keep harping on (because it's true) public schools stopped taking their mandate to treat history (and related fields, all in the Humanities) as an important subject with important implications for how people are supposed to think about shit like who they vote for.
In Texas, Abbott can’t wait to totally destroy public education. Then people can resume the segregated schools that it has taken decades to make some headway in their desegregation. And, of course, the most evil of the trio, Patrick, can’t wait to make us all disciples of their evil.
Where we went, it was not immediately obvious. And I try to be a good, albeit not overly friendly neighbor. But, Lordy, the tea party first and then chump, made me feel like the lunatics had taken over the asylum. And lo, they did. And some like living in the lunatic-run asylum. Even previously sane family. Or, as it seemed, toxic christanity and previously hidden racism and misogyny just oozed out and people were proud and out of the evil closet, especially in Red Texas. My UU church is a sane bastion.
Harris needs to identify the gougers, and there are plenty of them. Our AG in MI is going after a gas station close to Detroit Metro Airport whose base gasoline sale price has been consistently $1.30 more per gallon than the average in this area. I honk the horn as I drive by it.
Harris needs to point to the "readjustments" in retail, mergers and the like, that are driving costs up (Kroger/Albertson's); and she can show that commercial space landlords are making up their losses from move-outs by raising the rents on retailers who have to pass it on to customers. There's an opportunity for educating consumers here.
Forgive me Tom for playing the devil’s advocate. 60% of Americans invest in the stock market. The other 40% have received no benefit from its rise. Their wages have not kept up with inflation. Housing, food, insurance, health care and child care costs have actually caused them great pain while we keep telling them the economy is great. It’s not great for them. The double whammy of rising house prices and higher interest have shattered their hopes for home ownership. Rising interest has perhaps cooled the economy, lowering inflation, but, it’s been on the backs of those who could least afford it. Until we stand firmly in this truth, we will not win the support of those who feel left behind. Just sayin.
Yes! And we've barely begun to recover from the damage done by Reaganomics, corporate tax breaks, the gutting of unions . . . But about that 60% figure -- do that many USians really *invest* in the stock market, or do they just have money in it, e.g., IRAs or 401Ks?
Don’t ignore the fact that too many buy way out of their ability to pay. A big problem in mid-oughts and the 08 housing crisis. Also many people gave zip sense re money management. Nobody seems scared of excessive debt.
Some evenings I trade in my usual optimism for despair over generalized stupidity. Facts matter. Good news matters. America, get a grip and do not embrace the Facist negative misogyny , racism, hate and violence. Just f***ing don’t.
No, sadly they don't. We have to work on eliminating the ability to exercise coercive power over women or anyone and, eventually, when the supposed perks that go with power are gone, the reasons for hate will go away too. I don't expect to see it, but will do what I can to bring it a bit closer while I'm here.
That pecking order seems to be ingrained. I found a guy for whom Cooperation was more important than competition and generosity was his middle name. He truly valued people but was not a fool or a snowflake. Just kind and helpful. World needs more like him.
The pecking order in our society has been around since hunter-gatherer days, very hard to change. You are fortunate, there aren't as many of those around as there need to be.
How true, I found out when he died how respected he was by people I never heard of. My MAGAt nephew called him “solid” and went on about what a fine man he was. He is missed in so many ways. BTW, some women like to peck too, just not many get the chance that Ginni has…
So, now Jerome Powell is "cautiously optimistic" Why?????? Oh, I get it, President Biden did not give Powell's wealthy compatriots a big tax cut - now that would fill ol' Jerome's heart with optimism - Jerome Powell HAS TO GO in 2025. Thank Tom, I love the rest of the post.
Ya know, there are people I scroll by, and people I read. I may not always agree with you, but I almost always read your comments. And I absofuckinglutly agree with you. I laughed at some of my grandfather’s proclamations of a cabal running the world’s $$$ in the 70’s, but there is actually a non hidden group, of which JD is an appendage, wishing for a “new world order”. Jerome Powell is old guard. And while I was fully behind Biden, I have more of a “ride or die” mentality with Harris in the race. It exceeds my “riding with Biden” enthusiasm. Thank you.
But, but, but. . .prices have not come down in most things. We have proved to the big corporations that we will pay the high prices. So they claim their products are so popular that they are entitled to keep the prices high, even though their costs of production have fallen.
The Biden administration’s policies may have created lots of jobs, and average wages are up, the economy keeps growing. Big deal. So what! Prices are still higher than people think they should be.
Trump knows what to do about it. His planned 10% tariffs on everything imported won’t really make everything cost more, contrary to those 65 “economists”. China will pay, Trump says, and we must believe he knows best because he played a successful businessman on TV. And his uncle was really smart. And his father made a lot of money. Smarts in the family!
People, as we now know in detail, believe what they "see with their own eyes." They see that tomatoes are "up" and there is it, the whole economy. This phenomenon is even more true of the refusal to believe crime is down. Open a local newspaper, a Next Door feed, a Ring Feed--what you you see: Stories about crimes. Because that's what gets reported. Nothing about "Sally Mae walked peacefully home from the movies last night and no one accosted her." Or "Mr. Jones reported that no one had stolen his Amazon delivery from his porch yesterday." Much less "Ms Whoozit posted on Next door that not one of her friends or relatives has been murdered."
that's exactly right. they read virtually nothing. and, as I keep harping on (because it's true) public schools stopped taking their mandate to treat history (and related fields, all in the Humanities) as an important subject with important implications for how people are supposed to think about shit like who they vote for.
In Texas, Abbott can’t wait to totally destroy public education. Then people can resume the segregated schools that it has taken decades to make some headway in their desegregation. And, of course, the most evil of the trio, Patrick, can’t wait to make us all disciples of their evil.
You are too fabulously correct. (Also your sense of humor is extremely fun to read.)
The local and national good-news is too often lost in the dust of negative headliners.
thanks 😉
It’s the sandstorm of dust bunnies that the MAGAts keep hearing on Fox and passing on on FB and X. Next Door is just as bad…
Next Door, where you find out you've been living among lunatics.
Where we went, it was not immediately obvious. And I try to be a good, albeit not overly friendly neighbor. But, Lordy, the tea party first and then chump, made me feel like the lunatics had taken over the asylum. And lo, they did. And some like living in the lunatic-run asylum. Even previously sane family. Or, as it seemed, toxic christanity and previously hidden racism and misogyny just oozed out and people were proud and out of the evil closet, especially in Red Texas. My UU church is a sane bastion.
Harris needs to identify the gougers, and there are plenty of them. Our AG in MI is going after a gas station close to Detroit Metro Airport whose base gasoline sale price has been consistently $1.30 more per gallon than the average in this area. I honk the horn as I drive by it.
Harris needs to point to the "readjustments" in retail, mergers and the like, that are driving costs up (Kroger/Albertson's); and she can show that commercial space landlords are making up their losses from move-outs by raising the rents on retailers who have to pass it on to customers. There's an opportunity for educating consumers here.
Forgive me Tom for playing the devil’s advocate. 60% of Americans invest in the stock market. The other 40% have received no benefit from its rise. Their wages have not kept up with inflation. Housing, food, insurance, health care and child care costs have actually caused them great pain while we keep telling them the economy is great. It’s not great for them. The double whammy of rising house prices and higher interest have shattered their hopes for home ownership. Rising interest has perhaps cooled the economy, lowering inflation, but, it’s been on the backs of those who could least afford it. Until we stand firmly in this truth, we will not win the support of those who feel left behind. Just sayin.
Yes! And we've barely begun to recover from the damage done by Reaganomics, corporate tax breaks, the gutting of unions . . . But about that 60% figure -- do that many USians really *invest* in the stock market, or do they just have money in it, e.g., IRAs or 401Ks?
I have CD’s that have big penalties. Takes care to not mess that up.
Yes that 60% includes IRAs and 401Ks. They’re investments too.
Don’t ignore the fact that too many buy way out of their ability to pay. A big problem in mid-oughts and the 08 housing crisis. Also many people gave zip sense re money management. Nobody seems scared of excessive debt.
I’m going to echo Michael and say it is both what they see at the cash register and where they source their information.
That, and it doesn’t fit the narrative…
Some evenings I trade in my usual optimism for despair over generalized stupidity. Facts matter. Good news matters. America, get a grip and do not embrace the Facist negative misogyny , racism, hate and violence. Just f***ing don’t.
Maintain the optimism and rely on Darwin to deal with the stupidity. Eventually these people will forget how to reproduce, or why.
But they can still hate and have power over women. I doubt that many ever forget how to do that
No, sadly they don't. We have to work on eliminating the ability to exercise coercive power over women or anyone and, eventually, when the supposed perks that go with power are gone, the reasons for hate will go away too. I don't expect to see it, but will do what I can to bring it a bit closer while I'm here.
That pecking order seems to be ingrained. I found a guy for whom Cooperation was more important than competition and generosity was his middle name. He truly valued people but was not a fool or a snowflake. Just kind and helpful. World needs more like him.
The pecking order in our society has been around since hunter-gatherer days, very hard to change. You are fortunate, there aren't as many of those around as there need to be.
How true, I found out when he died how respected he was by people I never heard of. My MAGAt nephew called him “solid” and went on about what a fine man he was. He is missed in so many ways. BTW, some women like to peck too, just not many get the chance that Ginni has…
That's a very funny comment. Thanks! Happy Friday.
So, now Jerome Powell is "cautiously optimistic" Why?????? Oh, I get it, President Biden did not give Powell's wealthy compatriots a big tax cut - now that would fill ol' Jerome's heart with optimism - Jerome Powell HAS TO GO in 2025. Thank Tom, I love the rest of the post.
Ya know, there are people I scroll by, and people I read. I may not always agree with you, but I almost always read your comments. And I absofuckinglutly agree with you. I laughed at some of my grandfather’s proclamations of a cabal running the world’s $$$ in the 70’s, but there is actually a non hidden group, of which JD is an appendage, wishing for a “new world order”. Jerome Powell is old guard. And while I was fully behind Biden, I have more of a “ride or die” mentality with Harris in the race. It exceeds my “riding with Biden” enthusiasm. Thank you.
But, but, but. . .prices have not come down in most things. We have proved to the big corporations that we will pay the high prices. So they claim their products are so popular that they are entitled to keep the prices high, even though their costs of production have fallen.
The Biden administration’s policies may have created lots of jobs, and average wages are up, the economy keeps growing. Big deal. So what! Prices are still higher than people think they should be.
Trump knows what to do about it. His planned 10% tariffs on everything imported won’t really make everything cost more, contrary to those 65 “economists”. China will pay, Trump says, and we must believe he knows best because he played a successful businessman on TV. And his uncle was really smart. And his father made a lot of money. Smarts in the family!
Don’t forget, “he took a bullet for democracy”.
Or maybe only shrapnel, but that doesn’t have the same heroic vibe. So. . .
He gots a splinter in his ear. Oowee.
🤭😉
Are you serious or facetious?
Thanks, Joe!
Kamala, please take note. (I’m sure you will!)
Because they watch Fux Noise.