Second, Fortune tells us consumers are still spending (which is why we have a healthy, growing economy) despite inflation (which is caused by Putin's war, and the recovery from COVID).
The larger context that both stories miss is that BOTH:
fear of recession
AND
fear of inflation
... are way overblown. They're being stoked by media, desperate to create a crisis for President Biden, even where there isn't one, and where he's showing amazing competence.
3/5
May had almost 400,000 new jobs--higher than most economists were predicting--with unemployment at only 3.6%. Recovery from the pandemic recession is stunning rapid (which is the major cause of inflation).
We want steady job growth of 300K - 400K / month. The media is perplexed at its inability to scare companies into not hiring, or consumers into not spending.
As we move heavy into campaign season, the "I won't vote for the lesser of two evils!" crowd again does their schtick, so remember the contrast of the Trump Reich against what came both before and after.
1/4
The schtick is designed to make you sit out the election, for the purpose of ensuring we're saddled with the =greater= of evils.
But really, can Barack Obama or Joe Biden be called "evils" when compared to Trump? Seriously?
2/4
Since purity and perfection don't exist, every decision, in every field, at every moment of every life is =always= a choice between "the lesser of evils"--if one insists on ignoring the preponderance of good.
3/4
After the primaries, we'll be heading into serious election season. I want to remind everyone, despite the language pundidiots use, there is no such thing as "momentum." It's a term they've invented to help depict the series of polls leading up to an election as a horserace.
1/
"Momentum" is an idea from physics. If something it moving it takes effort to stop it from moving. That's not how politics works. If opinion polls are shifting, it takes continued effort to make them =keep= shifting.
That's the opposite of momentum.
2/
A poll--ANY poll--is a snapshot of opinion at a specific point in time. At a different point, the numbers will be different, for a great variety of reasons. If there is an apparent "trend", it's because particular ad campaigns and other factors are being effective.
3/
First, Republican candidates are traditionally very well-founded. It makes sense for Democrats to accept campaign money from anyone who'll give it.
Second, any money a "Republican" donor gives to a Democrat is money they didn't give to a Republican, and that's a Good Thing.
2/8
Third, assume "Republican" donors give money to politicians who'll support their interests. The only reason to give money to Dems is if they think Republicans aren't going to be in charge. If they thought Republicans would run the Senate in 2024, they wouldn't fund Dems.
3/8
I decided this year to take a series of panoramas of the sunrise from the same spot, one a month, to show how the position of the sunrise changes against the horizon. I've now got the first six in the series. This one was taken Dec 17, 2021. Note the position of the sun.
This second panorama was taken on Jan 20, 2022. The point of the sunrise has scaled the peak to the left of the sun's position on the first picture. I'm facing roughly east, so north is to my left. The point of sunrise will move northward throughout this series.
The third panorama was taken on Feb 19, 2022. The point of sunrise is already more than halfway up the next slope to the north. It moved farther from January to February, than it did from December to January. The days are getting longer more quickly now.
Articles like this miss the point. Yes, Republicans lie. They gaslight. They're hypocrites. Fascists can't be honest about the authoritarianism they push. Pointing out their dishonesty doesn't sway anyone, because their supporters love them for that. They think it's clever.
Yes, Alito's pretense that he's overturning Roe to give the power to decide about abortion's legality "back" to "the people" is a clear lie, because he is shredding voting rights in such obvious ways that he clearly doesn't give a damn about the opinions of "the people".
2/6
But that's not the point. The point is, fascists make up any damn shit that suits their purpose, and their reasons never matter. They want you to argue over their "reasons" and point out their "hypocrisy," because they don't care about that. It's distraction and deflection.
3/6