There's the green sky of a threatening storm outside my office window, accompanied by an ominous wind, and, because my neighborhood has the infrastructure of an abandoned ant colony (thanks, Mitch Daniels!), my electricity is already starting to flicker.
So I may disappear here for awhile. Again.
Stormy Weather
Can't Vs. Won't
Paul Krugman's has written an excellent column that cuts through all the bullshit and speaks plainly to the reality that jobs creation isn't a matter of "can't," but a matter of "won't."
The truth is that creating jobs in a depressed economy is something government could and should be doing. Yes, there are huge political obstacles to action — notably, the fact that the House is controlled by a party that benefits from the economy's weakness. But political gridlock should not be conflated with economic reality.Meanwhile, the disproportionately devastating effects of that problem on Black USians in particular is highlighted in a piece in the Chicago Sun-Times on "The disappearing black middle class."
Our failure to create jobs is a choice, not a necessity — a choice rationalized by an ever-shifting set of excuses.
...The economy isn't fixing itself. Nor are there real obstacles to government action: both the bond vigilantes and structural unemployment exist only in the imaginations of pundits. And if stimulus seems to have failed, it's because it was never actually tried.
Listening to what supposedly serious people say about the economy, you'd think the problem was "no, we can't." But the reality is "no, we won't." And every pundit who reinforces that destructive passivity is part of the problem.
In 2004, the median net worth of white households was $134,280, compared with $13,450 for black households, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by the Economic Policy Institute. By 2009, the median net worth for white households had fallen 24 percent to $97,860; the median net worth for black households had fallen 83 percent to $2,170, according to the institute.Unemployment and foreclosure numbers show just as stark a disparity.
[Algernon Austin, director of the Economic Policy Institute's Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy] described the wealth gap this way: "In 2009, for every dollar of wealth the average white household had, black households only had two cents."
The reality of "won't" is that economically and institutionally disenfranchised populations are further marginalized. Maya Wiley, director of the Center for Social Inclusion, says that, although "we're not done writing history," it will nonetheless "say the black middle class was decimated" over the past few years, reversing the economic gains hard-won over decades of civil rights activism.
This is why I'm an economy voter: Social justice is inextricably tied to the economy, for better and for worse, for will and for won't.
Open Thread
Hosted by spats.
This week's open threads have been hosted by Benjamin H. Grumbles' shopping list.
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
The Pentagon Has Suspended DADT
In wake of the court ruling ordering the immediate suspension of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the Pentagon is complying: "The Pentagon has ordered a halt to all separations of gay troops under 'don't ask, don't tell' and will begin accepting applications from prospective recruits who identify themselves as homosexual."
Meanwhile, defense officials will continue to prepare for the law's formal repeal, which Congress approved in December. The law will be formally repealed 60 days after the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs "certify" that it will not adversely impact military readiness.Quite obviously, it would be better if the entire military had been through sensitivity training before the repeal. Sixty days should be more than enough time for that to happen.
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he expected certification to occur in late July or early August.
It remains unclear whether the Pentagon will seek to appeal Wednesday's court ruling, which would have to go to the Supreme Court, Pentagon spokesman Marine Col. David Lapan said Friday.
Troops are currently undergoing training programs to clarify the law and ensure a smooth transition to its repeal. Most of that training is expected to be completed by this summer, yet there is no requirement that 100 percent of the force must be trained prior to repeal, Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said.
You Know...
...I find it interesting, ahem, in light of the latest round of "feminism schmeminism" currently (re-)exposing the ugly misogyny endemic to the atheist community, that a new atheist movie, being billed by its maker as "Hollywood's first offering to feature an openly atheist hero in a story about religious conflict," centers around two men—one atheist, one religious—who have slept with the same woman.
It's a story of religion, love and revenge that pits a conservative Christian husband against an atheist who has seduced the religious man's Christian wife.Of course it is.
Film Corner!
Behold, the trailer for the upcoming Sarah Palin documentary, The Undefeated. Which is, no doy, the perfect title for a movie about a person who ran for national office and lost.
Video Description: Sarah Palin is a DAUGHTER. Videotape of a child that, sure, could be Sarah Palin serves as evidence of this fact.
Sarah Palin is a WIFE. Pictures or it didn't happen! Oh, here are pictures of her kissing Todd. All right then.
Sarah Palin is a MOTHER. Sure, yep, pictures of Palin surrounded by children, who ALLEGEDLY came out of her vagina, but Andrew Sullivan has his doubts. Because he's gross.
Sarah Palin is a WARRIOR. Because, as some lady who is unidentified in the trailer helpfully explains, "like a marine, she runs toward the danger." Okay, player.
There is a montage of stuff about how she stood up to oil executives in Alaska, where there was a shitload of energy-related corruption. Based on everything I've read about it, this part of Palin's career was actually marked by some rather savvy and effective politicking on behalf of Alaskans, but, of course, it was never advertised on the national scene because Republicans consider standing up to corporations a liability. Whoooooooops your party is garbage!
Have you heard Sarah Palin is courageous? Well, she is. Here are some people to tell you.
Also, she's an outsider. And the liberal media stinks. Flags. Blah blah. The Republican Establishment is the devil or whatever. Okay, but she just ran on the party's ticket last election, thus suggesting a pretty significant, if fleeting, role in that establishment...? NEVER MIND THAT! She was gonna change it from the inside, I'm sure.
Hey, look. Andrew Breitbart. Yuck.
Money flushing down toilet. Money on fire. That's maybe not the imagery with which you want to leave people whom you are imploring to open their wallets and pay to see this film. Just sayin'.
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by BACON!
Recommended Reading:
Emptywheel: Obama's Plan to Address 9.2% Unemployment: Send More Jobs Overseas
Jane: Democrats' Groovy New Plan to Cut Social Security: Don't Call It "Cuts"
eeshap: [TW for sexual violence] Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Who's Really Being Set-up Here
Latoya: [TW for domestic violence] Broadening Our Understanding of Domestic Violence
Mannion: That's Your Liberal Media!
Andrew: Michele Bachmann Signs Anti-Gay Pledge That Claims Homosexuality Is a Choice (The pledge also claims that black children were better off during slavery.)
C: Allies Can Get on My Last Good Nerve
Kevin: [video with description only] Lost Car, Lost Job, and a Weekend in Jail. Thanks, Chase!
Leave your links in comments...
Number of the Day
$7.38 trillion: The amount of wealth that's been lost by US homeowners from the bursting of housing bubble.
[T]he middle class has been ruined: Its wealth has been decimated, its income isn't even keeping pace with inflation, and its faith in the American economy has been shattered. Once, the middle class grew richer each year, grew more comfortable, enjoyed a higher living standard. It was real progress in material terms.From an excellent, if upsetting, article by Rex Nutting, "How the Bubble Destroyed the Middle Class." I highly recommend reading the entire thing.
But that progress has been halted and even reversed. In some respects, the middle class has made no progress in a generation, or two.
This isn't just a sad story about a few losers. The prosperity of the middle class has been the chief engine of growth in the economy for a century or more. But now our mass market is no longer growing. How could it? The middle class doesn't have any money.
There are a hundred different ways of looking at the economy, and a million different statistics. But if you wanted to focus on just one number that explains why the economy can't really recover, this is the one: $7.38 trillion.
That's the amount of wealth that's been lost from the bursting of housing bubble, according to the Federal Reserve's comprehensive Flow of Funds report. It's how much homeowners lost when housing prices plunged 30% nationwide. The loss for these homeowners was much greater than 30%, however, because they were heavily leveraged.
Leverage is an amazing thing: When prices go up, the borrower gets all the gains. And when prices go down, the borrower takes all the losses. Some families lost everything when the bubble collapsed, others lost very little. But, on average, American homeowners lost 55% of the wealth in their home.
Most middle-class families didn't have much wealth to begin with — about $100,000. For the 22 million families right in the middle of the income distribution (those making between $39,000 and $62,000 before taxes), about 90% of their assets was in the house. Now half of their wealth is gone and it will never come back as long as they live.
[H/T to Iain.]
Bacon Is Freedom
Libertarians love bacon. (Remember this?)
I'm not sure why, but maybe because bacon is not really good for you. They like stuff that's not really good for anyone, right? Hey, don't get me wrong. I like bacon, too. But I'm not going to eat a pound of it just to prove some ridiculous point about how free I am.
Which is exactly the type of thing that happens at PorcFest (short for Porcupine Freedom Festival), a gathering of like-minded individuals who don't think the government should do anything. Like inspecting meat.
In this Utopian dream of free-markets, a person can sell someone uninspected bacon, fried up by the pound, and if it turns out the meat is a little wonky, the community will "regulate him."
"If he poisons me, I won't buy his food. And he'll be done."
Which I guess, is all well and good. You know, if you don't mind taking a risk being poisoned by your breakfast meats. Though, in the real world, if someone like J.R. Simplot poisons someone, even a thousand someones, no amount of community outcry is really going to affect them.
Which is, of course, why we need regulation, why we need the goverment (yes, I am assuming here, for the sake of argument, that they would and could actually regulate, inspect, enforce; I understand the realties) to inspect meat, to enforce environmetal standards, protect its citizens from the free-market that places profit above safety.
But in the world of the Libertarian, it's up to everyone to protect themselves. And maybe that works in a secluded campground where a couple hundred people swap silver for bacon one weekend a year, but in the real world, the place I live, not so much.
Open Thread: Obama Statement on Jobs Report
Quote of the Day
This morning's release of the June 2011 Employment Situation report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a labor market in retreat. Virtually every single measure was devastatingly weak: only 18,000 payroll jobs were added, average hours declined, nominal wages fell, unemployment was up in almost all age groups, more than 250,000 workers dropped out of the labor force altogether, and the public sector continued to bleed jobs. Furthermore, a downward revision to last month's data means that this is the second month in a row with job growth at 25,000 or less. This is a remarkable, across-the-board backslide. The President and Congressional leaders need to stop talking about deficit reduction and start talking about job creation.—EPI Economist Heidi Shierholz. Emphasis mine.
More Evidence That YOU Don't Understand 12 Dimensional Chess
"Job Growth Falters Badly, Clouding Hope for Recovery," says the New York Times. "Economic outlook worsens as U.S. adds only 18,000 jobs in June," says the Washington Post. "June jobs report: Hiring slows, unemployment rises," says CNN. "U.S. jobs barely rise, unemployment up to 9.2%," says Reuters in the Chicago Tribune. "Dismal jobs report shows unemployment rising to 9.2%," says the LA Times. "U.S. Payrolls Rise 18,000; Jobless Rate Climbs to 9.2%," says Bloomberg. "Jobs Picture Gets Even Worse as Rate Swells to 9.2%," says CNBC. "June Jobs Report: Unemployment Rate Up to 9.2 Percent With Only 18,000 Added Jobs," says ABC.
"HOLY SHIT UNEMPLOYMENT IS SO HIGH AND THE ECONOMY IS SO BAD AND I AM SO SCARED FOR OUR COUNTRY," says everyone I know including millionaires who are eminently willing to pay more taxes because they are not garbage monsters.
Well, settle down, everyone! "Top Obama adviser says unemployment won't be key in 2012." Now don't you feel stupid?
President Obama's senior political adviser David Plouffe said Wednesday that people won't vote in 2012 based on the unemployment rate.Now, if you're a big stupid-head who doesn't understand politics, like me, you're probably thinking, "Okay, player." But that's because you're a big stupid-head who doesn't understand politics. Let David Plouffe explain to you how you are going to be voting and why:
"The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers," Plouffe said, according to Bloomberg. "People won't vote based on the unemployment rate, they're going to vote based on: 'How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?'"And I guess through some magical combination of fairy dust and unicorn farts, people's personal situations will somehow stop being materially related to the GDP and unemployment rates and jobs numbers, and they'll start viewing tax cuts for millionaires and corporations as decisions for them and their families. Sure.
The remarks will likely irritate Democrats who think Obama and his political team have taken their eye off jobs.Ya think? Possibly also people who were under the mistaken impression that Obama and his political team were capable of competent politics.
