[Mick1]

https://x.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1867368092902601195 Someone needs to investigate the BLS during the Biden administration. I’m pretty sure something fishy was going on.

First, economists are almost always off, by at least a little. Too much information, too much movement, too much that is unseen and the economy behaves oddly.

Second, the BLS estimates with its seasonal adjustments are generally off as well. It’s important to remember that these are still really just estimates. Their monthly estimate is composed of two surveys: one of households, and the other of businesses. They survey more than 100k businesses, non profits and govt. agencies, but there are 629,000 individual worksites, hence…they’re not perfect.

That’s why you get headlines like:

The US economy added 353,000 jobs in January, starting off 2024 with a bang | CNN Business

Third, COVID and 2021 really screwed with traditional prognostications, and led to wildly overstated job growth in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The quarterly census fo Employment and Wages is frequently off and these are also just estimates but that estimate at least depends on payroll tax counts, so it is more accurate than the other estimates.

Remember the 818,000 jobs miscount in August? Even that is an estimate, and will not be finalized until next month. In short, the BLS model overstated new business formation and understated deaths. So it wasn’t 160 million people that had jobs, it was 159.2 million.

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[Mick1]

Bill Maher’s take. Pretty good:

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[Mick1]

At least the Progressives are calling out Biden on this, noting he’s represented the interests of billionaires for half-a-century:

Progressives are frustrated by Biden’s final-days warning of billionaire influence

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[Mick1]

And now, ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has been criminally indicted.

Report: Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao criminally indicted | Watch

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[Mick1]

The sad part is listening to Biden wheeze about the threatening tech oligarchy. He sure didn’t mind it when it got him elected in 2020, didn’t he? Biden delivers farewell address, warns of ‘oligarchy’ taking shape in America | AP News

WHen Biden visited Northern California, he went to Los Gatos and Atherton. Doubt he was visiting McDonald’s employees.

To be more specific, these billionaires have all donated to Biden or Democratic Super Pacs in the past. Needless to say, it is not a comprehensive list:

1. Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.
2. Tom Steyer, VC and former presidential candidate, brought in $4 mms. for Biden.
3. Michael Bloomberg, former presidential candidate
4. Howard Schultz (Starbucks CEO)
5. Michael Moritz, VC, donated $7.8 million to pro-Biden, anti-Trump causes.
6. George Soros
7. John Bryan Morgan (Morgan & Morgan, plaintiffs law firm. He’s the one you saw saying “Kamala Harris is done.”)
8. Kevin Scott, MicroSoft CTO. His wife and Jill Biden are thisclose.
9. Steve Westly
10. George Marcus (Marcus & Millichap)
11. Penny Pritzker (Hyatt Hotels)
12. Hamilton James (Blackstone)
13. Kevin Systrom (Instagram founder)
14. Stephen Mandel (Hedge fund)
15. John Doerr (VC)
16. Neil Bluhm (Chicago real estate)
17. Dustin Moskovitz (Facebook co-founder)
18. Herb Chambers, Car Dealerships
19. Ernest & JOanne Garcia (used cars)
20. David Hall, automotive technology
21. Laurence Tisch, Insurance/NFL
22. Len & Emily Blavatnik (Music, Chemicals)
23. Gordon & Ann Getty (Getty Oil)
24. George Kaiser/wife Myra Block (Oil & Gas, Banking)
25. Lukas Walton (Walmart)
26. Gary & Laura Lauder (Estee Lauder)
27. Joe Carole Lauder/Ronald Lauder (ibid)
28. Ralph Lauren
29. Timothy & Mary Boyle (Columbia Sportswear)
30. Fishers (Gap)
31. Vivian Wang/Roger Wang/Retail
32. Sidney & Caroline Kimmel (Retail)
33. Eric Zingerhofer (Estee Lauder)
34. MIchael Rubin (online retail)
35. Mimi Haas (Levi’s)
36. Yvon & Malinda Chouinard (Patagonia)
37. Judith Glickman Lauder (Estee Lauder)
38. Jeannie Nordstrom (Nordstrom dept)
39. Joan Alfond/Bill Alfond (shoes)
40. Chris & Crystal Sacca (VCs)
41. JB & MK Pritzker (Hotels)
42. Nicholas & Susan Pritzker (ibid)
43. John Pritzker (ibid)
44. Jennifer Pritzker (ibid)
45. Margot & Thomas Pritzker
46. Penny Pritzker (ibid)
47. Dan & Karen Pritzker (ibid)
48. Jim & Marilyn Simons (hedge funds)
49. Henry Laufer (hedge funds)
50. Bruce Karsh (private equity)
51. Stephen Mandel (hedge funds)
52. Sami & Hala Mnaymneh (private equity)
53. John & Mindy Gray (investors)
54. Eli Broad (homebuilder)
55. Bill Conway (private equity)
56. Mike Bingle (private equity)
57. Thomas Hagen (private equity)
58. David Shaw (hedge funds)
59. Leon Black/Deb Black (private equity)
60. Jim & Penny Coulter (private equity)
61. Howard & Nancy Marks (private equity)
62. Daniel & Jane Och (hedge funds)
63. Hamilton James (investments)
64. Antony Ressler (Finance )
65. David Bonderman (private equity
66. James Dinan (Hedge funds)
67. Judy/Jamie Dimon (JP Morgan Chase)
68. Sam Bankman Fried (Cryptocurrency)
69. Chris Larsen (cryptocurrency)
70. Paul Tudor Jones (hedge funds…also an SCU Bronco)
71. Marc Lasry
72. Pablo Legorreta
73. Ron Perelman
74. Seth & Beth Klarman
75. Dirk & Nathasha Ziff
76. Daniel & Brianne Ziff
77. David Golub/Lisa Piazza
78. Christopher McKown
79. Robert Ziff/Michelle Locher
80. David Siegel
81. Tony Tamer
82. Felix Baker
83. Joseph Edelman
84. Jose Feliciano & Kwanza Jones
85. George & Linnea Roberts
86. Karen Finerman/Lawrence Golub
87. Thomas Lee
88. Greg Mondre
89. Fayez/Susan Sarofim
90. Ruth Gottesman/David Gottesman
91. Danielle & Michelle Lubetzky
92. Daniel Abraham (slim fast)
93. STewart & Lynda Resnick
94. Andrew/Penny Cherng (Panda Express)
95. Pamela/Duke Reyes (beer)
96. C. Dean Metropolous
97. Tilman & Paige Fertitta (Houston Rockets)
98. Gwendolyn Meyer (Cargill)
99. Lauren & Andrew Santo DOmingo (beer)

 

I got tired of writing them all down. 168 billionaires in all supported Biden and the Democratic party in 2021. And NOW Biden is issuing an “oligarchy” warning? You must be joking.

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[Mick1]

I don’t believe our immigration system is broken, only the enforcement of immigration law. I also don’t buy the argument we don’t want immigrants. We want and need immigrants that are here legally and contribute rather than consume resources. We are tired of stories about illegals housed in $350/night hotels, the take over of school gymnasiums, special public school classes… the list goes on. Oh well, it won’t be long before we will start seeing stories about families being deported. If they are here illegally, I will applaud each one.

Completely and totally agree, and in fact, I would be fine if they doubled the H1-B visa limit (currently 65,000 annually) and H1B advanced degree exception (currently 20,000) annually. That’s been the cap since 2004. It was 195k for the three  years prior to that, and 115k for the three years prior to that. Before that, it was 65k total. I’d be fine with that. I’m not fine with the 2mm+ who present a danger and the many multiple millions who are here and don’t deserve to be.

H1B Visa Cap Numbers Used Vs. Unused History: 1992 – 2024 – RedBus2US

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[Mick1]

BTW, the large home rental companies think American houses are dramatically overvalued. In part, I’m guessing, because they help keep homes off the market.

Wall Street Thinks U.S. Homes Are Overpriced – WSJ

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[Mick1]

BTW, and just to be clear, Donald Trump as President never deported more than 350,000 aliens in a single year.

Some immigrants are already leaving the US in ‘self-deportations’ as Trump’s threats loom | AP News

Favorite quote from this article: ” it was a rude awakening to realize that you and your family are not welcome.” Really? And what country on this planet desires immigrants, destablizing the current population?  There is not a single country that wants additional population. Such arrogance.

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[Mick1]

The sad part is listening to Biden wheeze about the threatening tech oligarchy. He sure didn’t mind it when it got him elected in 2020, didn’t he?

Biden delivers farewell address, warns of ‘oligarchy’ taking shape in America | AP News

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[Mick1]

LAFD only sent five trucks to Pacific Palisades in the crucial early part of the fire while leaving 35 trucks and 1,000 firefighters sidelined.

LAFD bosses sent just 5 fire engines to Palisades Fire — while holding back 1,000 firefighters and 35 trucks in critical first hours

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[Mick1]

Freddy Escobar, an LAFD Union president warned the city about staffing shortfalls, stating that the LAFD’s short staffing was “dire” and told LA City Officials that “someone will die” because of it. He referred to it as a woefully understaffed fire department.

Tearful LA fire union prez warned of dangerous fire department understaffing last year: ‘Someone will die’

LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley stated that the fire department’s staff levels were half the size that it should be based on standards laid out by the National Fire Protection Association. This is according to CNN.

If memory serves, the LAFD has the same number of firefighters today as they did in the 1960s.

25 people dead so far. $250 billion to $275 billion in damages per Accuweather. 420,000 people without power. 88,000 ordered to evacuate. 17,000 acres in Pacific Palisades…larger than island of Manhattan…has gone up in smoke. Goldman Sachs estimates that the fires will reduce jobs by between 15,000 and 25,000 and will depress job creation in surrounding counties. Tourism will shrink. Long term health effects will suffer. Rents will go up immediately in a place that is already prohibitively expensive in which to live.

Insurance companies cancelled many insurance policies. Many of them have $3 million caps on building. Regardless, they’ll pay out as little as they can.

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[Mick1]

The COVID posters uniformly supported idiotic policies that would have long-term negative effects, not the least of which would be deleterious effects on the development of children who were out of school for one or two years (depending on the jurisdiction). The economic effects were broadly devastating. I pointed out that over half of San Francisco restaurants closed down during the pandemic…another poster jeered…I provided evidence based on business licenses and publicly available information. Never heard from him after that.

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[Mick1]

So what if they resign? The voters who put them in office to start with are still voting. There is no promise their replacements will be better, and every indication that they will be worse.

Excellent point.

Two of the Lefty Squad members were voted out this past election cycle, Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO). Both were anti-Israel, the AIPAC were heavily targeted by them, and they were replaced by George Latimer and Wesley Bell, both pro-Israel. Still Left, still Progressive.

Democrats start new year with intraparty fight on their hands

Former chair of the House Progressive Caucus, Pramila Jayapal seeks to join the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She’s anti-Israel.

Top progressive Jayapal to join House Foreign Affairs Committee

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[Mick1]

Ouch. I remember Mt. St. Helens.

Supposedly, Axial Seamount, 210 miles off the coast of Oregon is ready to erupt in 2025. It’s the most carefully measured undersea volcano in the world, last erupting in 2015. Apparently all the conditions are there again. It won’t/shouldn’t affect human life, but doesn’t look pretty.

Scientists Warn of an Undersea Volcano Eruption Near Oregon Coast in 2025

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[Mick1]

He could if he was RFK Jr…

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[Author]

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