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San Jose is now experiencing 96% of the visits to the city’s urban core that occurred in 2019, the final full year before the COVID shutdown. That’s the third highest level of activity in the 66 downtown districts in North America, trailing only the 103% for Las Vegas and 97% in El Paso (study by University of Toronto, used mobile phone activity as the measuring stick). Office workers are at about 40%.
News is not so good in other California cities. San Francisco is only at 67% of its pre-coronavirus visits, and Oakland is at 74% of their pre-COVID visits.
Hope emerges that downtown San Jose economic rebound is underway
And here’s the link to the study’s graphic:
https://downtownrecovery.com/charts/rankings
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I don’t understand the strategy of the House Republicans. Are they trying to stop the government through lack of funding by refusing to allow a House Speaker to be elected?
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Biden approval rating now down to 37%. Would lose to Bad Orange Man by 4% says recent CNBC survey:
Biden would lose in matchup vs. Trump, according to CNBC survey
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Good news. Celebrity chef, er, I mean economist Paul Krugman says that inflation is over…if you just eliminate, you know…most of the things that most people buy, like food, energy, housing and used cars.
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Kissinger says it was a mistake for Germany to allow as many foreigners into their country as they have…and that it encourages Hamas.
Henry Kissinger on Hamas attacks fallout: Germany let in too many foreigners – POLITICO
Just FWLIW, the United States has 5x the number of foreign-born population as does Germany.
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A friend of mine owns four Burger King franchises. He doesn’t discuss money, but he told me that between the commodity inflation of the last few years coupled with the rise in labor costs, his expenses rose 4x faster than he was able to increase revenue.
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And now it’s affecting Oakland, as a lovely pub which was open even during COVID is forced to close because of spiraling crime.
Irish pub forced to shutter as California crime wave scares patrons away
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I disagree. Several polls have him siphoning off swing Democrats that voted for Trump. Also independents turned off by Trump’s personality. I see him more as a Ross Perot type.
I agree that he would be a Ross Perot type, in that he’s a maverick anti-politician. I also agree that Kennedy has publicly stated he’ll siphon off more votes from Trump than Biden. Their poll indicated as such, though the Ipsos/Reuters poll indicated the opposite.
But RFK is (was) a Democrat. Doesn’t that indicate the opposite, that he will siphon off votes from Biden? Judging by the degree of anger I’ve seen from his fellow Democrats, they certainly don’t feel that he will attract Republican votes.
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Illegal border crossings are at an all-time high. Curious to see how Biden will deal with them. Multiple Dem state governors including JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York are begging for help and a cessation of immigrants.
Here’s the opinion of the author:
Immigration policy is vexing and complicated, requiring the balancing of compassion, humaneness and the enforcement of U.S. laws. At a time of declining birthrates and an aging population, the United States needs immigrants to replenish the workforce. Yet the absence of secure borders amounts to national security vulnerabilities and raises questions about U.S. sovereignty. That is part of a big and ongoing debate. Politically, however, the issue of the day is record flows of illegal immigration.
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Last month, 50,000 refugees from Venezuela were turned away. 7 million Venezuelans have left the Socialist paradise that is Venezuela, more than have left war-torn Ukraine or war-torn Syria. More than 400,000 Venezuelans have crossed Panama’s Darien Gap on foot.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-venezuela-deportations-reduce-record-border-arrivals/
The irony is not lost on me that Socialist/Socialistic Progressives are protesting the fact that our capitalist country is turning Venezuelans back to their Socialist paradise.
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BTW, Democrats didn’t rescue McCarthy, because they have a long memory. McCarthy was a Trump supporter, he opposed the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 incident, and gave a huge cache of security footage to Tucker Carlson. The Dems believe that McCarthy essentially attempted to rehabilitate Trump more than anyone else. And that, they won’t forgive.
And maybe…they like to see self-inflicted chaos by the Republicans.
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And this just in…seven Starbucks locations (out of 59) in SF will close. Deterioration in quality of life, survey in which 97% of San Francisco’s restaurants have experienced graffiti or property crime in the last 30 days, SF’s office vacancy rate is 30%, population has shrunk by 40,000 residents, and Moody’s has lowered San Francisco’s credit rating outlook, given the city’s $780 million budget shortfall caused by declining tax revenues…that’s in the face of a $13.95 billion budget.
SF Budget allocation (per SF Chronicle) is as follows:
- Public works/transportation, $5.1 billion
- Community health, $3.0 billion
- Human welfare & neighborhood development, $2.8 billion
- Public protection, $1.9 billion
- General city responsibilities, $1.8 billion
- Admin & Finance, $1.4 billion
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The Social Security debacle is actually worse than I thought, for two reasons:
- Republicans, led by Senators Angus King and Bill Cassidy, want to raise the full retirement age from 67 to 70. This is in the face of Social Security going bankrupt in 2034.
House GOP Budget Framework Sets 70 as Full Social Security Claiming Age | ThinkAdvisor
2. At the same time, average American life expectancy is dropping. Average life expectancy for infants is now 76.1, the lowest since 1996. Another report says it’s actually 73.2 years. This thanks to COVID, chronic illness and drugs:
America’s epidemic of chronic illness is killing us too soon (msn.com)
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Gaetz finally got McCarthy ousted. And he denies it was because of a vendetta against McCarthy because McCarthy didn’t stop a House investigation into Gaetz:
McCarthy-aligned PACs spent millions supporting Republicans who turned against him. So much for party loyalty:
McCarthy-Aligned PACs Spent Millions Supporting Republicans Who Ousted Him | National Review
McCarthy won’t run again. The House Repubs are having a candidate meeting on Tuesday. Potential candidates include Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (the oldest looking 47 year old I’ve ever seen), Steve Scalise (LA), Jim Jordan (OH) who is a McCarthy Supporter.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/03/1203310040/mccarthy-gaetz-speaker-news
Incidentally, Patrick McHenry’s first move was to oust Nancy Pelosi from a hideaway office. Steny Hoyer had the same treatment:
Pelosi, Hoyer evicted from private Capitol offices by interim House speaker (nypost.com)
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Government needs are going to crowd out private financing needs. Leviathan must be fed.
Mortgage rates now near 8%
Mortgage rate heads toward 8% (cnbc.com)
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