Posts by Nick Cassella

Daily Clips: August 19th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 19th, 2016

Obamacare hits a bump: Krugman looks at the ACA since it took full effect in January of 2014. Private insurance companies, he notes, “are now finding themselves losing money, because previously uninsured Americans who are signing up turn out to have been sicker and more in need of costly care than we realized.” That intuitively makes sense. And as a result, some insurers have hiked premiums and some (like Aetna) are pulling out of the ACA. That is a problem. Especially because private insurers don’t want the government to offer a public option. Krugman asks, “But if these insurers aren’t actually interested in providing insurance, why not let the government step in?” A good question, Paul. Donald Trump is the least of the GOP’s problems:  I don’t agree with all of the author’s premises, but this point in particular I found to be compelling: Trump is desperately trying to fashion a new reactionary politics out of the bits and pieces that are now left to it: a white nationalism that draws its animating energies from its hostility to a black president, immigration, and Islam. But the evidence is increasingly clear that that kind of politics simply does not possess enough appeal to propel him or any other similar candidate to the White House. Why women are no longer catching up to men on pay:  It turns out that “wage gains have gone disproportionately to people working longer hours” and the people working longer hours are primarily men.  Tweet of the day: NEW: @realDonaldTrump 's first general election ad. Hits Clinton on "rigged system," touts Trump on immigration –> pic.twitter.com/oJrKgQIH8o — Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) August 19, 2016  

Daily Clips: August 18th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 18th, 2016

Aetna threatened to quit Obamacare…even though their market cap has tripled since 2012:  Have they no shame? The Breitbart alt-right has taken over the GOP:   Trump lives in a Breitbart fantasy world, and he’s now invited Bannon to personally decorate that world for him. The GOP establishment, too weak and cowardly to oust Trump earlier, risks displacing the true, constitutional conservatives for whom the party has been a natural political home, and now it looks prepared to ride the Trump train, next to alt-righters, all the way into the electoral ravine. The Class of 2016’s labor market:  Here are some of the key findings from EPI’s report: “Members of the Class of 2016 currently have better job prospects than the classes of 2009–2015.” “For young college graduates, the unemployment rate is currently 5.6 percent (compared with 5.5 percent in 2007), and the underemployment rate is 12.6 percent (compared with 9.6 percent in 2007).” “Young male college graduates earned 8.1 percent more in 2016 than in 2000, while young female college graduates earned 6.8 percent less than in 2000.” Tweet of the day: DC cab driver Foday Conteh, 63, on why he backs Trump. Came to U.S. from Sierra Leone in '82. pic.twitter.com/HsV8IyItW2 — Robert Costa (@costareports) August 18, 2016

Daily Clips: August 17th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 17th, 2016

Crazy story of the day:  A drunken racist brutally murders a Lebanese man. And America hardly blinks. Breitbart chief now the head of Trump’s campaign I-1491 (Extreme Risk Protection Orders) has over 60% support: The WA ballot initiative is looking in very good shape as we approach Labor Day. 3rd Elway poll of week on #waelex initiatives. Support over 50% for gun-related measure, min wage & consumer fraud pic.twitter.com/cJf5g8QutU — Natalie Brand (@NatalieBrandK5) August 17, 2016 Secure scheduling gets strong support in Seattle: Workers from REI and Starbucks spoke “passionately on behalf of a “secure scheduling” proposal last night – a good sign for the proposed law which intends to protect Seattle workers “from erratic schedules.” How America grew…unequal:  Two new books look at American inequality and argue that “the engine of economic growth was not investment by the few, but consumption by the many.”

Daily Clips: August 16th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 16th, 2016

“News is a misleading way to understand the world”: So says Steven Pinker in a recent interview with Vox, which more or less paraphrases his sensational book, The Better Angels of Our Nature. In it, Pinker argues that never before has human violence been less prevalent in our society. Ryan seeks to restore GOP’s elite-focused agenda:  The speaker’s populist messaging can’t hide the true reality of his extractive, trickle-down policies. Trump may cost the GOP a generation of voters:  Oh, boo hoo. Should we be concerned about the fall in money velocity? Tweet of the day: More on GOP's possible future TX problem- Clinton leads Trump 60-35 w/ voters under 45. Massive generational divide: https://t.co/ysbEG9TISf — PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) August 16, 2016

Daily Clips: August 15th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 15th, 2016

Krugman on the economy: The NYT  economist sends a warning shot out to “growth-focused centrists”, arguing “when centrists urge us to look away from questions of distribution and fairness and focus on growth instead, all too often they’re basically running away from the real issues that divide us politically.” Clinton increases staff in Georgia:  Fun trivia—Bill Clinton was the last Democratic candidate to carry the state in 1992. Economic anxiety did not lead to Trump:   But when Trump voters say they’re upset about needing to press one for English, mad that Black Lives Matter protesters are slandering police officers, and worried that Muslim and/or Mexican immigrants are going to murder their children, it’s perverse to interpret them as secretly hankering for a refundable child care tax credit. Gays against guns: Organizers of the collective, which has more than 300 members in New York and chapters in nine other cities across the country, said they were prepared to break the law and get arrested in their fight against gun manufacturers, their shareholders, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its corporate backers. Tweet of the day: Glorious news for the WA Democrats. Bill Bryant seems to be running a completely inept campaign, devoid of any political courage. Republican Bill Bryant admits he solicited Trump Super PAC founder for money and support #waelex https://t.co/MHvvTnkmfS — WA Democrats (@washdems) August 9, 2016  

Daily Clips: August 12th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 12th, 2016

Three major indexes end at records for first time since 1999:  And yet the economy isn’t even in full gear. That suggests that either the stock market is inflated or that the markets still have room to grow. I’m thinking the former. HRC is looking good in polls:  There is almost no doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton wins the presidency this November. A recent Vox article makes this case: In all 16 of the most recent elections, the popular vote winner was the candidate who was ahead around this point in the campaign season. Austerity has dragged down the US economy:  Not excessive regulations or tax increases, you say?! The DEA is dead wrong on marijuana: It’s 2016 and it’s embarrassing that heroin and marijuana are still in the same category. Actually, it’s even worse than an embarrassment, it’s pure evil. They know marijuana has at least some medical benefit, yet they still give the middle finger to science. TWEET OF THE DAY: Out of all the industries which need investment, are police up there? Trump wants to give trillions in tax breaks to people like himself. Instead, let’s invest in our veterans, kids, schools and police. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 11, 2016

Daily Clips: August 11th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 11th, 2016

DEA keep marijuana in same category as heroin Clinton’s agenda probably will founder in Congress, like Obama:   I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. The US recovery finally pays off for workers:  Sensationalist headline, but the analysis provided by Bloomberg View is compelling. Hillary Clinton to deliver economic rebuttal to Donald Trump:  I’m expecting a lot of “inclusionary” messaging with talk of “good paying jobs”. Nothing revolutionary, but probably a nice response to Trump’s trickle-down nonsense. TWEET OF THE DAY: In places like France & Britain, the minimum wage is equivalent to about 50% of the median wage. In the US? 37%. pic.twitter.com/FQUULdjiTv — The Fairness Project (@ProjectFairness) August 11, 2016

Daily Clips: August 10th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 10th, 2016

NICK HANAUER TALKS ECONOMICS WITH THE YOUNG TURKS:  THOMAS FRIEDMAN DOESN’T MINCE WORDS:  This is a really forceful column — a white-knuckled repudiation of Trump. It doesn’t stay away from low-blows (Friedman says Trump’s children should be “ashamed”). The whole piece is passionate and beautifully written, but the concluding paragraph really shines: People are playing with fire here, and there is no bigger flamethrower than Donald Trump. Forget politics; he is a disgusting human being. His children should be ashamed of him. I only pray that he is not simply defeated, but that he loses all 50 states so that the message goes out across the land — unambiguously, loud and clear: The likes of you should never come this way again. WHY IS HILLARY CLINTON SEEKING KISSINGER’S ENDORSEMENT? The upside of this move is extremely limited. Why cozy up to a sinister war criminal? You can’t talk about how dangerous Donald Trump is to democratic norms and then seek the endorsement of Henry Kissinger. At least, not without looking two-faced. To be clear, Obama recently awarded Kissinger earlier this year, so Clinton is not alone in her admiration of the man. TIM KAINE LOOKING LIKE A BOSS: Kaine doing retail at an Austin taqueria gets pulled aside by a Latino man who wanted to talk Trump, in Spanish pic.twitter.com/EolmF3gcMy — Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) August 10, 2016 GOP BEEFS UP STAFF TO WOO AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS: Yeah, that’ll do it.

Daily Clips: August 9th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 9th, 2016

NYT EDITORIAL BOARD LAUGHS OFF TRUMP’S ECONOMIC PLAN: In a speech billed as a blueprint for stimulating growth and creating jobs, Mr. Trump offered a grab bag of ideas that borrow from discredited supply-side economics , the fossil fuel industry’s wish list and “America First” isolationism. He also criticized Hillary Clinton and President Obama for what he called their “job-killing, tax-raising, poverty-inducing” agenda. It was vintage Trump, full of promises of greatness and victories backed by fantastical proposals. MAINE GOP SENATOR SAYS NO TO TRUMP: Susan Collins will not be voting for Donald Trump this November. She joins the likes of Ben Sasse and Lindsey Graham. Collins points out that the “Khan incident” was when she couldn’t stay silent any longer. Which kind of seems odd to me. Was she ok with the ban on Muslims? Or the wall? I’m spitballin’ here. IS CLINTON A “PRUDENT HAWK”?  Basically this article goes, “Yeah, she has loved interventionism, but now that she’s president she’ll focus on domestic policies. Just look at six of her seven “biggest accomplishments” on her website – they’re all based on domestic issues!” Color me skeptical. TRUMP’S SHOTGUN MARRIAGE OF POPULISM AND SUPPLY-SIDE

Daily Clips: August 8th, 2016

Daily Clips: August 8th, 2016

LOW-SKILL WORKERS COULD BE A GREAT RESOURCE FOR THE USA:   Since there won’t be much growth in the share of workers with BAs or higher, these improvements will instead come in the form of greater hiring and productivity for workers who have a high-school degree or less. These workers will not only be more likely to find jobs, but they’ll also be working longer hours than they are now, likely in service professions. Here is another reason why it is so important that we ensure the economic security of workers in the service industries. Nick Hanauer and David Rolf’s Shared Security piece  offers a blueprint of creating a benefit system that is “fully prorated, portable, and universal.” WILL CLINTON HELP DOWN BALLOT DEMOCRATS? It appears likely, although most “wave” elections tend to come in non-presidential years. The main exceptions were in 1964 (Goldwater) and 1980 (Carter). I’ll be extremely surprised if the Democrats retake the House. For now, Democrats should aim to 1) recapture state legislatures and 2) ensure we take back the Senate. Mitch McConnell doesn’t deserve his current job. YOUNG ADULTS PREFER GUN RESPONSIBILITY KANSAS REPUBLICANS REJECT GOV. SAM BROWNBACK’S CONSERVATIVES IN PRIMARY:  Sorry, trickle-downers. TWEET OF THE DAY: The economic plan Trump has now scrubbed from his website would've caused a “lengthy recession,” 3.5 million jobs lost, 7% unemployment rate — igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) August 8, 2016