As we head into the final stretch of the election season, the presidential debates and accompanying horserace are the focus of the upcoming two weeks. They will prove interesting, as they always do for political junkies, but they are unlikely to significantly change at this point. They may, however, change the races further down the ballot, possibly in strange and unpredictable ways. It’s worth some time getting to know what to look for ahead of time.
Home » Politics (Page 59)
Category Archives: Politics
It’s about improving people’s lives. Miss ya, Paul!
The Big Fight
The conventions are over and the election is less than two months away. That can only mean one thing – voters in Florida and Ohio would be better off not watching any teevee. Who is likely to win? The race is shaping up to be Obama’s to lose, although it’s unclear how the US House or other key races will come out.
It’s time to make a few predictions as to how it will go – and what we should be watching for. That way you can make fun of me later. Here are what I consider to be the key points. Ready?
Surviving, Thriving, Realizing
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
Anyone who has been close to the edge knows what “survival mode” is like. Small flashes of adrenaline propel you from one day to the next. Each fitful dawn is a mix of dread and possibility, all of them taken one at a time. Next week? Worry about it when it comes. Next month? Forever away.
Many people find themselves in “survival mode” through this Depression, especially those without either work or unemployment bennies. For them it is a slowly unfolding tragedy, but in great numbers they become a society, a culture, and an economy that is unable to function. That’s because a free market only reaches equilibrium in the long run, actually running on small differences in the short term. But in the very longest term the magic of market forces become something else altogether.
Everything has its own time. When we start to understand that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” it helps to appreciate the short, long, and very long term that are all whipping us through each day and all of our days.
Tale of Two Reports
It was the best of reports, it was the worst of reports. The story of jobs in the USofA continues to wind down like a Dickens novel, crammed of details and well defined moments lush with feeling and energy but lacking a strong, driving plot. We know when it ends, of course – somewhere many pages from now in the election in November. Exactly how it goes down is entirely another question.
But for August we have two job reports. The ADP report showed a private employment gain of 200k, a wonderfully robust gain that suggests a strong economy is really turning the corner. The official household survey from the Department of Labor came in with an incredibly weak 96k jobs gained, a number that is not really treading water. Why the discrepancy? What is the real state of jobs? How will this play in the election?
Keep reading. This novel is far from done.
Labor Day – Holding On
This Labor Day is more important than most. It signals the start of the endgame of the election, the time when everything starts to count even more because everyone is paying attention. And this year, what people are paying attention to more than anything is labor itself – the state of jobs.
Barataria has dealt with the job market many times over the summer. While there is a net gain in jobs over the Obama administration the growth in jobs barely absorbs the young people entering the workforce. It’s not exactly the material for a strong re-election. But that’s not all there is to the jobs picture.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 