348 Comments

After reading LFAA for about a year and not-quite-half, I have really learned a lot. Even more, I've realized how much I never really learned, from school history/economics classes to extra scholastic study. I feel like there is a part of me trying to cram information into my decreasingly neuroplastic mind, while it stands there in disbelief looking at where our nation has arrived today.

To have a politician stand there and say "Yay, inflation!! That will help us defeat the nasty Democratic Party" ( a paraphrase, to be sure, but one oft repeated) AND to take credit for a popular plan that they personally voted against is horrifying. To watch what used to be journalism morph into whatever the hell it has become today is also horrifying.

It is overwhelmingly important that we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and end the actions of the Republiscum party that is doing its dastardly best to insure that we are guaranteed minority autocratic rule and demolishing our democracy.

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Thank you Heather.

Regardless of any good figures that are being reported, they will be countered as ammunition for the GOP to be thrown back as red meat to the cult. The GOP is no longer a Party, but a cult.

As I waited to have a COVID-19 test done yesterday morning, I listened to a trumper dispel any good that Biden has done with a learned diatribe of lies. Completely unsubstantiated bullshit.

When I had had enough of his crap, I said "wait a minute, you look familiar. Did I see you in the video of the January 6th Insurrection when you broke inside the Capitol and peed on the wall?". The waiting area erupted with

" You filthy bastard". " How dare you do that to our Capitol". "You should be arrested" and so on.

Did I see him in a video, no. I've never seen him before in my life. It did however, show how quickly you can shut up and turn the tables on a crazy trumper. He may think twice about being the crazy oracle when you have a captive audience.

Not unexpected, but I see the GOP members who didn't vote for but will take all of the credit for the Infrastructure Bill are surfacing.

Keep in mind, these are the same people who continue to stomp down any discussion of Voter Rights.

Be safe. Be well.

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For those whose religious leaders clearly politically interfere (like telling you who to vote for), I learned that they can lose their tax-except status if reported. Someone on Twitter reported hers to the IRS.

“ I was a church goer for 37 years & never heard a preacher be partisan until 2000. My pastor told the congregation if we voted for Gore we were voting for the devil. I got up & left the sermon. I turned him into the IRS the next day. He ended up losing the church.”

Helpful info in comments:

“Any time there is a violation of 501c3, a witness should file a complaint using Form 13909 IRS. Just Google form 13909 IRS.”

“Filing a Complaint:

Members of the public may send information that raises questions about an exempt organization's compliance with the Internal Revenue Code by submitting Form 13909, Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form.

Email to: eoclass@irs.gov

IRS complaint process:

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/irs-complaint-process-tax-exempt-organizations

Johnson Amendment details FYI:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/charities-churches-and-politics

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I am interested in why we look at the Federal Government so much as the cause/solution of/for inflation?

Are not prices set by corporations? Did we not grant corporations a giant tax cut (35% to 21%) a mere three years ago or so? Prices are not set by the Fed.

Let me get this straight because I am a bit confused.

1) We give American corporations a giant tax cut from 35%to 21% in 2017.

2) Then, a pandemic hits in 2020 and corporations give us price increases back as a big thank you for our support of them.

How is the Fed to blame for inflation? Yes, I know they threw some money out there, but, the Fed did not raise a single prices. Corporations did that.

Corporations could simply recognize that America did them a favor (giant tax cuts) and hold the line on price increases during a pandemic. Correct?

Seems to me that corporations are not very patriotic.

Perhaps I should phone Fox News and point out that CORPORATIONS increase prices.

Not Joe Biden.

Not the Fed.

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For sure Republicans will bang the drum on inflation, supply chain, and any other non-issue to divert attention from what is most important to them, and should be to us; undermining fair and honest elections through legislation at the state level. If Republicans can create a way to legally fix elections, everything else; inflation, infrastructure, supply chain, and so on, will be more or less irrelevant.Those responsible for the Jan. 6th Insurrection will never be called to account and might even be back in the White House in 2025.

Federal protection of universal voting rights, with serious enforcement teeth, is essential.

Dump the filibuster!

Get it done!

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Republicans: repudiate Democrats for being fiscally reckless while taking credit for their hard work on behalf of Americans. Sounds like the kind of hypocrisy I expect from the party of nonsense and denial of reality.

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Between June and September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics underestimated job growth by 626,000 jobs. The pandemic meant that businesses were slow to fill out paperwork, and this, in turn, meant numbers were underreported.

Informed of this news, President Biden asked, "Can I have my numbers back I lost during those months for poor employment?"

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Unfortunately, the tragic irony, in declaring that "Business as Usual" is coming back - is we are not going to address the real issues - impending collapse and current overshoot. It is the wickedest of wicked problems, none wickeder. No government will address this, as the reaction from the population to any constraints, will be overwhelming. Think the Yellow Jacket issue in France (and that was a pretty minor imposition). This possibility scares governments shitless. Which is why we are not going to get any progress in real climate action. In WWW2 - America (and UK and Germany and probably other nations) declared rationing - there was much grumbling, but "we had to fight the Huns and the Japs, there was a war on" (Read Alistair Cooke's accounts). But, as Pogo says - "we have met the enemy, and he is us" - kinda knocks the wind out of the sails. I try to be optimistic, but it's hard. Please everybody watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lPMPINPcrdk&t=959s. Michael Dowd Overshoot in a Nutshell. "Humankind cannot bear very much reality". TS Eliot.

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Once again have voted lock step vote against a bill and then, in their home district, claim credit for whatever largesse from this new legislation is coming into their district. Wouldn’t you think that the media would highlight such hypocrisy? How about a staccato Democratic message: BENEFITS PROVIDED TO YOUR DISTRICT THAT YOUR REPUBLICAN REPRESENTATIVE/SENATOR VOTED AGAINST.

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Build Back Better, improving the infrastructure and getting the economy stabilized are very important objectives. But, the 2022 Elections are now less than a year away and I grow more concerned daily that all those Repugnant Party controlled states have destroyed democracy and guaranteed that Repugnant legislators will be the only ones elected.

I really wish they would stop fighting over all these other issues until they have won the fight against all these New Jim Crow laws. Because all these economic wins can be undone if the Repugnant Party controls Congress in midterm and then take the White House in 2024.

To parafrase Mark 8:36 (which I have as much right to do as the pseudo-christians), “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole economy, and lose his right to Vote?”

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The problem is that the issue of inflation resonates with a large section of the public. We can all agree that fuel prices have virtually nothing to do with who is in the White House, but we all grumble when it now costs us an extra $20 or so to fill our gas tanks over what it costs a couple of years ago, and the guy in charge is the one who gets the blame (or the credit). I personally notice when it costs me an extra $50 or so at the supermarket to buy fewer things. These are all practical realities that affect governments.

All of that being said, I wish that the Democrats would focus their efforts on voting rights legislation because if they don't, 2022 (and 2024 and beyond) will be an absolute bloodbath on election night as the Republicans legislate/gerrymander the Democrats right out of existence in many states. And, to harp on a point I have made time and again, if you think that there won't be a federal "election/voter integrity" law as soon as the Republicans retake the House and Senate, you're delusional. Rest assured, Moscow Mitch wall have absolutely NO hesitation to kill Senators Manchin and Sinema's beloved filibuster in order to get it passed.

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Dear Heather,

What a clear and concise overview of the state of the economy! Thank you! But what I most enjoyed tonight was the fact that: "The popularity of the new law was evident today when Republicans began to tout its benefits for their districts, despite their votes against it." They are such a bunch of self-aggrandizing buffoons!

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I always enjoy your newsletter.

But regarding statistics, some of the numbers you quote are misleading.

Yes, official unemployment is historically low. But labor force participation, a more valid but less quoted statistic, is also very low. Many people are leaving the labor market, at least temporarily.

Also, retail sales growth, if you strip out inflation, is not quite so robust.

Regarding who is at fault for the clogged ports at Long Beach/Los Angeles, we have to put long-term blame on US manufacturers who shifted so much production to Asia. Why did they do that? Because we all buy goods that are cheaper rather than buying those made in the US.

Let's appreciate that the jobs produced by the Infrastructure Bill just signed by President Biden cannot be off-shored!

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I am concerned about the difference between perception and reality. From the headlines and the cable chatterboxes one could imagine that the country is drowning in inflation and critical supply shortages. Certainly there are some flash points, often triggered by the container supply snafu and shortage of truckers. Despite continued government payments, there still is a significant portion of Americans strapped to pay rent, food, etc. BUT consumer spending for October rose significantly. Adjusted increased employment figures are awesome, and unemployment figures are continuing to increase. I see an economic glass half full and rising rather than half empty.

As for Democratic haggling on the cost of President Biden’s Build Back Better bill, some Democrats remind me of the whirly bird that flew in ever diminishing circles until it flew up its own asshole. Initially the ‘moderate’ complaint was that $3.5 trillion was too much, even with considerable offset by new taxes on corporations and very wealthy Americans. As the figure was reduced to under $2 trillion, among others Manchin and especially Sinema bleated ‘no new taxes.’ With virtually no new taxes (the legally questionable ‘billionaire’s’ tax being an exception), now these whirly birds are complaining that new taxes are not offsetting the 10-year-cost of BBB. Then at the last minute a massive change in the Trump administration’s SALT tax (which limited federal deductions of state and real estate taxes to a maximum of $10,000) proposes to raise this limit to $80,000 annually.

The estimate 10-year cost of this unwarranted gift is $286 billion with over 75% going to the very, very wealthy. HUH? Just pass the damned thing and get on with shaping the Senate filibuster to facilitate passage of the John Lewis voting bill. [Steal turkey-chin McConnell’s play book, if you can figure out how to do this.]

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So now the thing the Dems need to do is call out every damn republican who voted against the infrastructure bill, every damn republican governor who whined and moaned against its passage and not let them derive any political capital from the bill as they tout its benefits for their states. But they won't.

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Trump could face three years in jail for Hatch Act violations, legal experts argue

Provision of Hatch Act makes it criminal for any person to force a federal employee to engage in political activity

Two legal experts argue that the Department of Justice has additional reasons to file charges against former President Donald Trump following the announcement by the Office Special Counsel that 13 senior administration officials violated the Hatch Act.

Writing in a column for Slate, Professor Claire Finkelstein of the University of Pennsylvania, and Professor Richard Painter of the University of Minnesota Law School, argue that the report by the OSC adds to the case for a criminal investigation.

Both professors filed a Hatch Act criminal complaint against Mr Trump with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Division in October 2020.

They wrote: “Although the president and vice president are immune to the ordinary Hatch Act prohibitions on use of public office for political purposes, there is a separate provision (18 USC § 610) under which it is a crime for any person to ‘intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce … any employee of the Federal Government … to engage in any political activity.’ Violations are punishable by up to three years in prison.”

The decision to investigate therefore lies with Attorney General Merrick Garland. They write: “The threshold legal determination Garland — or a special prosecutor appointed by Garland — must make is whether Trump coerced or ordered the political activity identified as Hatch Act violations by the OSC. If so, Trump could be liable to prosecution for political coercion under the aforementioned statute.”

More: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-jail-hatch-act-violations-b1958888.html

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