What’s the Matter with Kansas? It’s an Economic Shit Show, That’s What

September 25, 2015 Goldy

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Economics, Kansas, Minimum Wage, Sam Brownback, taxes, unemployment

By now, most of you are probably familiar with the budgetary disaster that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s massive tax cuts have created in the Sunflower State: Double-digit percent annual budget deficits as far as the eye can see. Brownback’s pitch was familiar—cut taxes deep enough and the resulting economic boom would more than replace the hit to state coffers. But it didn’t work. Because it never works. Dr. Laffer’s Patented Low-Tax Elixir is pure economic snake oil. Still, Brownback and his supporters have continued to argue, give his plan time to work and the lower corporate and personal income tax rates would surely draw businesses and jobs to the state. Well, now we know that’s not happening either : Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax-cut plan to spur job growth in Kansas has become a full-time disaster. On Friday, the state announced it had lost 3,000 total jobs in August. That’s on top of the 5,100 jobs lost in July. Here’s even more dire news: The Sunflower State in the past 12 months gained a total of a puny 1,000 new jobs. That’s the fourth worst record in the entire United States, at .1 percent employment growth for the entire last year. In terms of job gains/losses over the past 12 months, only West Virginia, North Dakota, and Alaska have performed worse—all states whose core fossil fuel extraction industries have been hard hit by the collapse in energy prices. Meanwhile, neighboring Missouri has added a robust 30,800 jobs over the past 12 months, despite its higher tax rates. And in case you’re wondering, Washington added 92,200 jobs from August 2014 through August 2015, including 12,100 jobs in food services and drinking places, despite our highest in the nation minimum wage! Hmm. If Brownback wants to grow jobs, maybe he should consider raising the minimum wage rather than cutting taxes? I’m just sayin’.

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Daily Clips: September 25th, 2015

September 25, 2015 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

John Boehner will resign from office in October: I have a lot of conflicting emotions about this news. On the one hand, I’m (super) excited that this dud-of-a-leader has decided to hang up his boots, but on the other hand, I feel like I owe my progressivism largely to John Boehner. In the infancy of my political conscience, I would watch Keith Olbermann’s show where Boehner was regularly one of the host’s “Worst People In The World.” His obstinate conservatism helped shape my contempt for the modern GOP. Fiscal cliffs, farm bills, Obamacare, Department of Homeland Security, and now the latest government shutdown – these are Boehner’s great accomplishments. I understand that he was caught “betwixt and between” the establishment and the Tea Party, as Chris Cilliza put it. But that doesn’t excuse him for his partisan leadership. Moreover, it doesn’t excuse him from showing no backbone to the American people. He was a coward who let a bunch of racists, misogynists, and homophobes control him. As Boehner walks away from this esteemed position, he should know that he has handicapped this nation instead of moving it forward. He will go down as one of the worst Speakers of the House in US history. How many wars is the US really righting? Our nation loves war – there’s no doubt about that. But we probably don’t know the full extent of our military aggression, particularly our special forces who are staged all across the world. Here, The Nation has a neat article on our special-ops and the breadth of their engagement in the wider world. Huckabee: ‘What kind of Christian’ is Obama? Hear that dog whistle, Tea Party? Jeb Bush: The Pope shouldn’t discuss climate change because ‘he’s not a scientist': By this logic, Jeb! shouldn’t talk about Planned Parenthood because he’s not a woman. If only… EPA says to take tougher stance on auto emissions tests: According to Reuters, US environmental regulators said the will be “stepping up emissions testing activities in response to Volkswagen’s alleged violations of pollution laws.” About time.

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Marco Rubio Tries to Lecture the Pope on Economics, and He’s Wrong on Every Count

September 24, 2015 Paul Constant

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2016, Economics

Times are tough for Catholic Republican politicians, especially this week. They have to somehow justify their own political and religious views in response to Pope Francis, who clearly disagrees with them on many of their most closely held beliefs. What do you do when your spiritual leader speaks openly and passionately against unfettered capitalism and laws that promote poverty? Here’s Marco Rubio, trying to justify why the Pope thinks he’s wrong on a host of issues: Here’s Rubio’s explanation, via ThinkProgress : “On moral issues, [Pope Francis] speaks with incredible authority,” Rubio said. “He’s done so consistently on the value of life, on the sanctity of life, on the importance of marriage and on the family. [But] On economic issues, the pope is a person…We have the same goal — providing more prosperity and upward mobility, I just honestly believe free enterprise is a better way of doing it.” And on the environment: Rubio also said he “understands” Pope Francis’ call to fight climate change and be “stewards of the Earth,” but doesn’t believe in “big government mandates” to solve the problem of climate change. In fact, as Rubio often does , he argued that policies to fight climate change would actually harm the poor by killing jobs — something that is widely disputed, as the renewable energy sector is currently creating thousands of jobs . So in short, Rubio thinks Pope Francis is doing God’s work when Pope Francis’s agenda aligns with his own agenda. but when Pope Francis disagrees with Rubio, he’s just “a person.” One could argue that this means Rubio thinks he’s better-aligned with God than the Pope, but let’s not get too far down the rabbit-hole of Rubio’s self-regard. That road gets really ugly really quickly. Instead, let’s look at one point that Rubio makes in that first passage, because it’s an important one. Rubio has nothing
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Skunkworks Stinker of the Day: the American People

September 24, 2015 Goldy

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immigration, Scott Walker, Stinker of the Day

Anything to keep out the white walkers, I guess : 41 percent of Americans say that if a wall is built along the Mexican border, one should also be erected on the Canadian one. And yes, the same percentage favors a wall erected along the nation’s southern border. Oy. I mean, oy. As a Washingtonian, it makes me want to build a wall on our state’s southern border.

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Daily Clips: September 24th, 2015

September 24, 2015 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Noam Chomsky: The GOP is a radical insurgency; it’s not a political party: In a recent interview, Chomsky identifies how the modern Republican Party have well and truly left the confines of political reality. Here is his most provocative, but compelling description of this phenomena: It is important to bear in mind that the Republicans have long abandoned the pretense of functioning as a normal parliamentary party… Since Ronald Reagan, the leadership has plunged so far into the pockets of the very rich and the corporate sector that they can attract votes only by mobilizing sectors of the population that have not previously been an organized political force, among them extremist evangelical Christians, now probably the majority of Republican voters; remnants of the former slave-holding States; nativists who are terrified that “they” are taking our white Christian Anglo-Saxon country away from us; and others who turn the Republican primaries into spectacles remote from the mainstream of modern society—though not the mainstream of the most powerful country in world history. Pope Francis’ full address to Congress: I don’t want to get caught up in the hysteria of Pope Francis’ visit, but his speech to Congress this morning is certainly worth a listen (or a read). He hits on major themes which America struggles with today: income inequality, hatred towards the “other”, and a basic failure to follow Christ’s Golden Rule. The best part about the address may be watching John Boehner’s face. Pope Francis and the economic order: While George Will freaks out about the Pope criticizing capitalism and warns that “Americans cannot simultaneously honor him and celebrate their nation’s premises,” the rest of us know that the Pope actually speaks the truth when it comes to economics (and isn’t against our “nation’s premises”). As Harold Meyerson writes, In place of our current system, Francis has recommended giving workers more power — in particular, promoting worker-owned and -run cooperatives. Speaking to delegates from Italian cooperatives, he extolled “an
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AEI Economist Mark Perry Proves Low Minimum Wage Kills Jobs!

September 24, 2015 Goldy

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$15, AEI, Economics, Invictus, Mark Perry, Minimum Wage, Seattle

Normally I wouldn’t take a random snapshot of an unrevised, overly-broad, and notoriously noisy data set as conclusive evidence of anything, but the American Enterprise Institute’s Mark J. Perry does have a PhD in Economics, so I’ll just have to presume that he knows what he’s doing and follow his lead. Perry helpfully offers the chart above that shows food service jobs in Washington state outside the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) increasing by 5,600 since January 2015 while food service jobs within the MSA have fallen by 100. What happened in January to make that a meaningful starting point? Hell if I know. But I’m confident a PhD in Economics wouldn’t disingenuously cherrypick a date range and data set just to make a partisan point, so I’ve no choice but to place my faith in Professor Perry’s scholarly judgment. So what does this say about the impact of Seattle’s $15 minimum wage ordinance, which took an initial step to $11 an hour in April? Professor Perry doesn’t explicitly say, but I think the implications of his research are crystal clear: Seattle’s higher minimum wage is depressing food service employment in the lower-wage areas surrounding the city. To understand Professor Perry’s startling conclusion, you have to understand the data set with which he is working. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA covers all of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, an area with a total population 3.61 million—more than half of the state’s estimated 7.06 million inhabitants. The city of Seattle proper however, with a population of 668K, only accounts for 18.5 percent of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue MSA. Clearly, Professor Perry must understand that an MSA more than five times the size of the city proper can’t tell us much on its own about the employment effects of the minimum wage within Seattle—I mean, he has a PhD in Economics, for chrissakes. So given the
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Daily Clips: September 23rd, 2015

September 23, 2015 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

PolitiFact checks this Hillary statement: And she’s not lying! PolitiFact noted, “The numbers back up Clinton’s claim since World War II: Of the 49 quarters in recession since 1947, eight occurred under Democrats, while 41 occurred under Republicans.” Nearly a 1/3 of Iowa GOP wants to criminalize Islam: Of course they do. With such a high percentage of the GOP base hating all things Islam, one can see why Donald Trump and Ben Carson have started to bring anti-Muslim rhetoric into the GOP nomination. The Public Policy Polling report had this great analysis to add: [Donald Trump is] probably not hurting himself too much with his negativity toward Muslims either – only 49% of Republicans think the religion of Islam should even be legal in the United States with 30% saying it shouldn’t be and 21% not sure. Among Trump voters there is almost even division with 38% thinking Islam should be allowed and 36% that it should not. Hillary Clinton comes out against the Keystone pipeline: Finally, Clinton has staked out a position on the deeply controversial (and partisan) issue. She’s come out with the right decision as well. “On Tuesday, she ended the game of chicken, offering a terse answer : ‘I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.'” Short, but sweet.

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Jeb Bush: “We should not have a multicultural society” in America

September 22, 2015 Paul Constant

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2016, Race

American Bridge 21st Century just released video of Jeb Bush at a campaign event in Cedar Falls Iowa. In the video, Bush says that “we should not have a multicultural society” in America. He argues that the United States is not just a place, but is rather “a set of values that people share” that “defines our national identity…not race, not ethnicity, not where you come from.” Because people continue to embrace their cultural heritage, Bush argues, “the assimilation process has been retarded.” In case you thought Bush was misstating his own position, he concludes, “we’re creeping towards multiculturalism, and that’s the wrong approach.” This is kind of a weird tack for Bush to make, considering the fact that back in February he was promoting the “fact that I’m bilingual, bicultural.” So does Bush still think biculturalism is something to praise, but multiculturalism is not? If so, when does “multicultural” begin? Is it three cultures? Triculturalism is just too far? Or is quadculturalism where he draws the line? It’s frustrating in 2015 to hear a presidential candidate decry multiculturalism as something that tears society apart. In fact, multiculturalism is how we as a society come together to solve problems better than anyone else. As Nick Hanauer and Zach Silk wrote on this blog last week , “diversity does not hinder growth—it supercharges it. That has always been America’s competitive advantage: we have the most diverse workforce in the world, and for all our problems, we do a better job of integrating diversity than anyone else.” The homogeneous culture that Bush is arguing for (this month) is a dumber, less vibrant culture. If immigrants were to heed Bush and Bobby Jindal’s calls to assimilate, they would lose part of their unique experiences, and the culture would be poorer for it. Look: would you rather live in a city with a thriving restaurant scene
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Daily Clips: September 22nd, 2015

September 22, 2015 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Jeb! hates net neutrality: Today, Jeb! unveiled policy proposals which would call for rolling back many of Obama’s actions, including net neutrality. The Hill reports, “Bush’s proposal laments the rules for subjecting Internet service providers — such as Verizon, AT&T or Comcast — to “antiquated ‘common carrier’ regulations.” There Jeb! goes again, siding with the little guy… Senator Warren standing up for women’s reproductive choices: Why isn’t she running again? Government shutdown looking more and more likely: Lawmakers (from both sides) are using the budget process to push forward their own individual agendas and predictably, that isn’t good for the nation. Washington Post gathered the opinions of congressional budget experts to hear what they had to say about the chances of a government shutdown. The results were not good. Here is an excerpt from an expert (try saying that ten times) who believes there is a 75 percent chance of a shutdown: To recap, we have the Planned Parenthood debate, the Export-Import Bank, debates over ending automatic budget cuts and the Iran nuclear deal all threatening to play a part in at least a temporary government shutdown. Oh yeah, and Congress still has to okay a fund by Oct. 29 to help pay for highways and bridges (known as the Highway Trust Fund). SCOTT WALKER IS OUT-OF-HERE! To celebrate Governor Walker’s exit from the GOP primary, here are 7 gaffes that helped doom his candidacy. One down, 15 to go.

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Skunkworks Stinker of the Day: Forbes’ Tim Worstall

September 21, 2015 Goldy

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$15, Forbes, Minimum Wage, Stinker of the Day, Worstall

The only way Forbes blogger Tim Worstall seems to know how to win an argument is to argue with himself : [T]he basic argument of a minimum wage, any level of minimum wage, is that there’s some moral right to a certain income from providing one’s labour. Except, that’s not the basic argument in favor of a minimum wage—at least, not the argument that has been winning the minimum wage debate in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and throughout the nation. No, our basic argument is that raising the minimum wage is good for the economy: that it increases consumer demand, increases worker productivity, and increases economic growth. Sure, minimum wage workers may be making a moral argument in demanding a living wage—as they should—but Worstall and his free market cohort are sticking their heads in the sand if they believe that it’s the moral argument that’s been winning the day. There’s always been a moral argument to make in support of a living wage. What’s new is the powerful middle-out economic argument that comes from a more modern understanding of how a capitalist economy really works. As for Worstall’s professed concern for working people, absolutely, he has my support for exempting the employee share of FICA on the first $15,000 or so of income—as long as their Social Security account gets credited for the exempt amount, and the revenue is replaced from somewhere else (say, by lifting the income cap). But this proposed reform and the minimum wage have nothing to do with each other.

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