USCE 2023: Please let them shove a camera up your butt

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE 2023: Please let them shove a camera up your butt

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Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Silly Burrito posted:

You just reminded me to go check the new I bonds interest rates, and they�re at 4.3 for bonds issued between May-October. I�m guessing they�re not reaching anywhere near as high as they have been for the last couple of years.

Nope, that brief period where you could get a 9.6% guaranteed return from the federal government is over. That is "good" because it means inflation is down, but it is also a little sad that such a crazy return that was 100% guaranteed is no more.

# ? May 3, 2023 19:53

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# ? May 25, 2024 22:18

plogo: Jan 20, 2009

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

The Fed raised interest rates again today. However, they raised it by a smaller amount than previously (0.25%).

The fed has been hiking 0.25% per meeting for the past few meetings. The last 50 bps hike was in December i think.

# ? May 3, 2023 19:55

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

plogo posted:

The fed has been hiking 0.25% per meeting for the past few meetings. The last 50 bps hike was in December i think.

Edit: Yeah, I forgot that the February meeting also raised it by only .25%

# ? May 3, 2023 19:57

Name Change: Oct 9, 2005

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

It's a market that is:

- Pro-worker wages and employment , but also record-settingly pro-corporate profits.
- Inflationary and far stickier than anyone predicted, but slowing down.
- One of the best labor markets for low-skilled and low-income workers in the last 30 years, but also one of the worst times in recent history for that group to try and buy a home or car.
- Pro-savings accounts and CDs for the first time in decades, but anti-stock market and equities.

There's also been aggressively rising interest rates for over a year and GDP is still growing.

It's a weird mix of contradictions right now.

This speaks to there being a speculative bubble somewhere

# ? May 3, 2023 19:58

Mellow Seas: Oct 9, 2012; Can't post for 10 years!

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

It's a market that is:

- Pro-worker wages and employment , but also record-settingly pro-corporate profits.
- Inflationary and far stickier than anyone predicted, but slowing down.

I think the rate hike today was bullshit. Bullet point one can pretty much be read as �everything about the economy is improved,� with the trade off being what currently looks like 4-5% inflation. That is about where it was when people were so happy with the economy that the incumbent president won 49 states. And if inflation expectations didn�t become �baked in� and cause accelerating inflation when the rate was 8%, by what mechanism exactly would that happen at 5%?

It�s a little hard to say at this point whether the obsession with 2% is just because �that�s what the book says it should be� or if there is a consensus among the finance crowd that the current level of inflation is advantageous to workers. Because they are pretty clearly trying to gently caress us over.

I think part of what happened is that there is a certain group of powerful economists who are absolutely obsessed with inflation and always have been (think Larry Summers.) When the supply shock hit at the same time as inflationary fiscal policy they figured they had finally been vindicated. But the economy remaining hot while inflation drifts downward shows that they have probably been as full of poo poo as they were when they said Obama�s stimulus would cause huge inflation.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:06

plogo: Jan 20, 2009

Mellow Seas posted:

I think part of what happened is that there is a certain group of powerful economists who are absolutely obsessed with inflation and always have been (think Larry Summers.) When the supply shock hit at the same time as inflationary fiscal policy they figured they had finally been vindicated. But the economy remaining hot while inflation drifts downward shows that they have probably been as full of poo poo as they were when they said Obama�s stimulus would cause huge inflation.

Yeah, for majority of monetary/macroeconomists/central bankers in prominent positions the 70s inflation and then volker shock to kill inflation is one of the pivotal moments of central banking history and volker is a great hero. Here's a recent article describing powell's relationship to volker https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonath...sh=c97e9284e14f for example.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:14

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Name Change posted:

This speaks to there being a speculative bubble somewhere

Mellow Seas posted:

I think the rate hike today was bullshit. Bullet point one can pretty much be read as �everything about the economy is improved,� with the trade off being what currently looks like 4-5% inflation. That is about where it was when people were so happy with the economy that the incumbent president won 49 states. And if inflation expectations didn�t become �baked in� and cause accelerating inflation when the rate was 8%, by what mechanism exactly would that happen at 5%?

It�s a little hard to say at this point whether the obsession with 2% is just because �that�s what the book says it should be� or if there is a consensus among the finance crowd that the current level of inflation is advantageous to workers. Because they are pretty clearly trying to gently caress us over.

I think part of what happened is that there are a certain group of powerful economists who are absolutely obsessed with inflation and always have been (think Larry Summers.) When the supply shock hit at the same time as inflationary fiscal policy they figured they had finally been vindicated. But the economy remaining hot while inflation drifts downward shows that they were probably as full of poo poo as they were when they said Obama�s stimulus would cause huge inflation.

These two posts are sort of related, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there is a speculative bubble or that "everything about the economy improved."

There are cross-affecting factors that hit people differently. Overall, incomes and corporate profits are higher on average. But, people and businesses don't exist as an average.

If you were a mid-sized financial or tech company, then your profits are likely not way up. Non-corporate business profits are also fluctuating. Corporate income and employment makes up most of the economy, but there are still large chunks made up by small businesses that may not have had record profits.

If you had a relatively fixed housing cost (either through a mortgage or less than ~7% increase in rent), then you are likely doing much better now. But, if you were on the other end and experienced rapidly rising housing costs, then you may have "real wage" gains where your wage increases outpaced inflation overall, but the costs of your housing may have significantly outpaced your wage gains and overall inflation.

Which kind of fits in to the whole "very uneven" thing where some aspects of the economy are much better than expected, but others are much worse at the same time. And those factors were usually linked, but they aren't right now. Some people have careers/finances that are much more exposed to the bad areas than the average person.

I agree with your last paragraph about the obsession with inflation some economists have. They have been predicting it since the dotcom crash and finally had it come to fruition after 23 years of predicting it and now are trying to explain how they were actually always right.

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 20:16 on May 3, 2023

# ? May 3, 2023 20:14

Mooseontheloose: May 13, 2003

Mellow Seas posted:

I think part of what happened is that there is a certain group of powerful economists who are absolutely obsessed with inflation and always have been (think Larry Summers.) When the supply shock hit at the same time as inflationary fiscal policy they figured they had finally been vindicated. But the economy remaining hot while inflation drifts downward shows that they have probably been as full of poo poo as they were when they said Obama�s stimulus would cause huge inflation.

I think the other way of looking at this as the Fed as an institution and the trauma it has taken on in the past. Not many if any people alive from the Great Depression era but the stagflation generation of the 70s are still around and still worry that's in the background. They'd rather cut it off at the past that let that happen again. Now the flip side as people who lived through the great recession is that we were in the lowest inflationary period in the United States in a lifetime, so a little inflation isn't a bad thing.

plogo posted:

Yeah, for majority of monetary/macroeconomists/central bankers in prominent positions the 70s inflation and then volker shock to kill inflation is one of the pivotal moments of central banking history and volker is a great hero. Here's a recent article describing powell's relationship to volker https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonath...sh=c97e9284e14f for example.

Or this. drat you for being more eloquent.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:19

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Mooseontheloose posted:

I think the other way of looking at this as the Fed as an institution and the trauma it has taken on in the past. Not many if any people alive from the Great Depression era but the stagflation generation of the 70s are still around and still worry that's in the background. They'd rather cut it off at the past that let that happen again. Now the flip side as people who lived through the great recession is that we were in the lowest inflationary period in the United States in a lifetime, so a little inflation isn't a bad thing.

Or this. drat you for being more eloquent.

I think this is a real factor, but you don't even need to look that far back.

The Fed kept rates at effectively negative for several years and waited a year to raise them because they thought the inflation was going to be transitory. They got savaged by the same inflation hawks (who have historically been wrong, but their prediction that this time it would stick happened to be correct) for waiting so long and have been trying to lean towards being more aggressive with rate hikes now as a response to that criticism.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:23

Mizaq: Sep 12, 2001; Monkey Magic; Toilet Rascal

Remember that millions will face massive medical premiums starting six to twelve months from now as they get kicked out of Covid-era Medicaid. That�s spending money gone and it�s gonna get hard to make ends meet, especially for those that were only making enough to get by because of being on Medicaid. I wonder if perhaps housing rents were able to go up in part because of medical savings people were experiencing.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:27

Byzantine: Sep 1, 2007

What if we didn't kick people out of medicaid and even expanded it to cover everybody?

# ? May 3, 2023 20:32

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Most goons are too young to remember George Schultz's glory days but those of us ancient enough to have listened to the Iran-Contra hearings will never forget the earth-shaking disclosure that Schultz had a tiger tattooed on his rear end in honor of his alma mater.

Anyway, there's a new bio of him by Philip Taubman, and the Guardian review has some good bits about it:

quote:

�Excessive loyalty�: how Republican giant George Shultz fell for Nixon, Reagan � and Elizabeth Holmes

Shultz, who studied at Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became dean of the University of Chicago, was Nixon�s labour secretary and led an effort to desegregate southern schools systems. He was the first director of the Office of Management and Budget before becoming treasury secretary.

He resisted many of Nixon�s requests to use the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate his �enemies� but did give in to the demand to pursue Lawrence O�Brien, a top Democrat. The Watergate scandal engulfed the White House but Shultz did not resign until May 1974, three months before Nixon himself.

Speaking at a Stanford University office in Washington, Taubman, 74, says: �I pressed him on this involvement in the Larry O�Brien investigation. I said, �I don�t understand how you allowed that to happen and why you didn�t resign at that point.�

�His basic defence was he understood Nixon was involved in misconduct and he thought that had he resigned and Nixon had put someone else in the treasury secretary�s job, there would have been less of an obstacle for Nixon to use the IRS in punitive ways. It was a kind of self-congratulatory explanation. He clearly should have resigned before he did.�

Reagan brought Shultz into his cabinet in 1982. Shultz hoped to ease cold war tensions but met with opposition from anti-Soviet ideologues.

Taubman, who spent a decade writing the book, with exclusive access to papers including a secret diary maintained by an executive assistant, explains: �It was incredibly brutal. It was probably, if not the most ferocious infighting of any postwar American presidency, certainly one of the top two. He just ran into a buzzsaw.

***

Shultz took a position at Stanford but there was a sour postscript to his career. In his 90s, he threw his weight behind Holmes and her company, Theranos, which promised to revolutionise blood testing. He helped form a board, raised money and encouraged his grandson, Tyler Shultz, to work at the company.

When Tyler took concerns about Holmes to the media, she set her lawyers on him and put him under surveillance. Shultz refused to cut ties with Holmes, causing a deep rift in the family. In 2018, Holmes was indicted on charges involving defrauding investors and deceiving patients and doctors. Last year, she was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.

Taubman says: �I think, frankly, he fell in love with Elizabeth Holmes. It was not a physical relationship but I believe he was infatuated with her and she understood that and played on it in a calculating way.

�She got him to do all kinds of things to help her put together her board of directors: Henry Kissinger, Bill Perry, all kinds of senior national security officials, none of whom knew the first thing about biomedical issues. Then he played a major role in selling her to the media, and suddenly she�s on the cover of Fortune and Forbes. She�s the darling of Silicon Valley.

�I learned � that he wanted to talk to her every day on the telephone and she would show up at his parties. He invited her to the family Christmas dinners. It was a shocking situation, especially in retrospect.�

Taubman confronted Shultz. �He continued to defend her to my amazement and, frankly, my disappointment. I came at him pretty hard and he would not let go. He wouldn�t disown her. By this point, it was clear what was going on at Theranos. This was the ultimate expression of excessive loyalty.�

Shultz�s family is still bitter.

�Tyler continues to be hurt by his grandfather�s conduct. Puzzled by it. He attributed it in his own podcast to either colossal misjudgment or, �My grandfather was in love with her or he had a huge financial benefit invested in her.� All of which was true.

�It turns out she gave George Shultz a lot of Theranos stock and, at its peak valuation, that was worth $50m, so there may have been a financial motive too. At the sentencing, George�s son Alex [Tyler�s father] testified and talked about how she had desecrated � which is a wonderful word, a very apt word � the Shultz family.�

Taubman reflects: �As I was working on the biography in those last years, when I would talk to people about Shultz, there were no longer questions like, �Tell me about his service as secretary of state, tell me what he did to end the cold war.� It was all, �What�s he doing with Elizabeth Holmes?� It stunted his last decade.

That one wasn't on my bingo card.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:34

Jaxyon: Mar 7, 2016; I’m just saying I would like to see a man beat a woman in a cage. Just to be sure.

Byzantine posted:

What if we didn't kick people out of medicaid and even expanded it to cover everybody?

Sounds like communism

# ? May 3, 2023 20:35

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Willa Rogers posted:

Most goons are too young to remember George Schultz's glory days but those of us ancient enough to have listened to the Iran-Contra hearings will never forget the earth-shaking disclosure that Schultz had a tiger tattooed on his rear end in honor of his alma mater.

Anyway, there's a new bio of him by Philip Taubman, and the Guardian review has some good bits about it:

That one wasn't on my bingo card.

Secret Empire was a great read and this sounds pretty interesting, so I will probably check to see if this is on audible. Thanks for the recommendation.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:38

koolkal: Oct 21, 2008; this thread maybe doesnt have room for 2 green xbox one avs

Willa Rogers posted:

Most goons are too young to remember George Schultz's glory days but those of us ancient enough to have listened to the Iran-Contra hearings will never forget the earth-shaking disclosure that Schultz had a tiger tattooed on his rear end in honor of his alma mater.

Anyway, there's a new bio of him by Philip Taubman, and the Guardian review has some good bits about it:

That one wasn't on my bingo card.

I imagine most people nowadays that do know of him know him as Jack McCoy's character

# ? May 3, 2023 20:40

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Byzantine posted:

What if we didn't kick people out of medicaid and even expanded it to cover everybody?

None of the people are technically being kicked off by a change in eligibility, but the states are getting control back and allowed to require new paperwork and reverification of income.

The assumption is that many states are going to do what they did before and make it a pain in the rear end to re-register and some people won't bother or will have higher incomes than they did in 2020.

You need to fully federalize Medicaid to actually fix that permanently. The split control and responsibility was one of the compromises LBJ made to get it passed.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:41

Rigel: Nov 11, 2016

haveblue posted:

You could always... not be into crypto. Then everyone wins including you

"Don't do that" is a mental command I wish I possessed. Unfortunately, the nature of most of my work right now is "ok, tell me what the gently caress you did last year... really? Wow, (to myself: that was really loving dumb) ok well here's the tax consequences of that dumbass decision you made last year, etc"

At least most dumbass decisions are easy to figure out, but crypto is a bit of a headache right now.

# ? May 3, 2023 20:49

Gyges: Aug 4, 2004; NOW NO ONE
RECOGNIZE HULK

Byzantine posted:

What if we didn't kick people out of medicaid and even expanded it to cover everybody?

Counterproposal, kick everyone off Medicaid and then expand Medicare to cover everybody.

Sadly, nobody is ever going to stand up for Medicaid, which is for the poors, but there is hope for Medicare, which is for grandma.

# ? May 3, 2023 21:02

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

The United Autoworkers Union is witholding their endorsement of Biden's re-election campaign due to concerns over the newly released aggressive fuel economy standards that would effectively ban about 2/3 of existing car models with internal combustion engines by 2032 will hurt the auto industry.

https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1653806755237748737

quote:

The United Auto Workers, a politically potent labor union, is planning to withhold its endorsement of President Biden in the early stages of the 2024 race, according to an internal memo from its president to members on Tuesday.

The memo, written by Shawn Fain, the Detroit-based union�s president, said the leadership of the United Auto Workers had traveled to Washington last week to meet with Biden administration officials and had expressed �our concerns with the electric vehicle transition� that the president has pursued.

The memo underscores how some of Mr. Biden�s boldest moves to fight climate change, which animate his liberal base, could at the same time weaken his political support among another crucial constituency. The U.A.W. has shrunk in size in recent decades, but it still counts about 400,000 active members, with a robust presence in Michigan, a critical battleground state for Democrats.

In April, the Biden administration proposed the nation�s most ambitious climate regulations yet, which would ensure that two-thirds of new passenger cars are all-electric by 2032 � up from just 5.8 percent today. The rules, if enacted, could sharply lower planet-warming pollution from vehicle tailpipes, the nation�s largest source of greenhouse emissions. But they come with costs for autoworkers, because it takes fewer than half the laborers to assemble an all-electric vehicle as it does to build a gasoline-powered car.

In the memo, Mr. Fain provided �talking points� for members about why the union was not immediately lining up behind Mr. Biden, writing that if companies received federal subsidies, then workers �must be compensated with top wages and benefits.�

�The EV transition is at serious risk of becoming a race to the bottom,� the memo reads, referring to electric vehicles. �We want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments.�

Mr. Fain won the U.A.W. presidency as an insurgent candidate this year, toppling the incumbent, Ray Curry. Mr. Fain promised a more confrontational path ahead of contract talks. In the memo, he notes that 150,000 autoworkers are fighting for a new contract with the so-called Big Three auto companies in September, writing, �We�ll stand with whoever stands with our members in that fight.�

Labor support is a key part of Mr. Biden�s political coalition and his portrayal of himself as a fighter for the middle class.

Within hours of Mr. Biden�s formal entry into the 2024 race, a number of top labor unions backed Mr. Biden, including the Amalgamated Transit Union, the Service Employees International Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

�Several national unions were quick to endorse,� Mr. Fain wrote in his memo. �The United Auto Workers is not yet making an endorsement.�

Mr. Biden�s campaign trumpeted his support from other labor unions in a news release. Notably, Mr. Biden�s first public appearance after announcing his re-election campaign last week was addressing a labor conference in the nation�s capital.

�I�ve said many times: Wall Street didn�t build America,� he told the cheering union crowd last week. �The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class!�

The United Auto Workers, which has historically endorsed Democrats and supported Mr. Biden in 2020, makes clear in the memo that it has no intent of backing the Republican front-runner, former President Donald J. Trump. Withholding a formal endorsement for now instead appears to be a bid for leverage or concessions from the administration.

�Another Donald Trump presidency would be a disaster,� reads Mr. Fain�s memo, which was first reported by The Detroit News. �But our members need to see an alternative that delivers real results. We need to get our members organized behind a pro-worker, pro-climate, and pro-democracy political program that can deliver for the working class.�

Mr. Biden has sought to accelerate the transition to all-electric vehicles as a centerpiece of his effort to tackle climate change. A 2021 report by the International Energy Agency found that nations would have to stop sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035 to avert the deadliest effects of a warming planet.

To help reach that goal, Mr. Biden has pushed a fleet of policies designed to promote electric vehicles.

The Biden administration�s proposed climate regulations announced in April are designed to add legal teeth to consumer incentives, compelling automakers to manufacture and sell more electric vehicles. The Environmental Protection Agency rules, however, are not yet final: They are open for public comment, and could still be weakened or otherwise changed before being completed next year.

As the Biden administration prepared to unveil the new clean car rules last month, officials planned for Michael S. Regan, the head of the E.P.A., to announce the policies in Detroit, surrounded by American-made all-electric vehicles.

But as auto executives and the United Auto Workers learned the details of the proposed regulations, some grew uneasy about publicly supporting it, according to two people familiar with their thinking. No one from the United Auto Workers attended the unveiling, according to the organization�s spokesman, although representatives from Ford, General Motors and Mercedes-Benz were there.

And the setting was moved from Detroit to the E.P.A. headquarters in Washington.

# ? May 3, 2023 21:04

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Gyges posted:

Counterproposal, kick everyone off Medicaid and then expand Medicare to cover everybody.

Sadly, nobody is ever going to stand up for Medicaid, which is for the poors, but there is hope for Medicare, which is for grandma.

Medicaid is much broader coverage. There are a lot of things Medicaid covers that Medicare doesn't.

# ? May 3, 2023 21:10

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Medicaid actually gets overwhelming support from voters, even among Republicans. I remember posting polling results that had more Republicans calling it an insurance program vs. those calling it a welfare program.

Medicare has been slowly & bipartisanly eroded over the last several decades, and especially warped by incentivizing recipients into "Medicare" "Advantage" plans, which are neither Medicare nor an advantage over Medicare, while Medicaid has been farmed out to private insurers who are paid flat rates (as they are for MA plans).

It isn't voters who are resistant to Medicare or Medicaid; it's the politicians of both parties who are beholden to the private insurance industry.

Obama's focus-tested promise that the ACA was "the first step to single-payer" has been turned on its head: Medicare & Medicaid are becoming more like the ACA's private insurance & the feds are subsidizing them so that their losses are socialized while their profits are privatized.

# ? May 3, 2023 21:13

Willa Rogers: Mar 11, 2005

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Medicaid is much broader coverage. There are a lot of things Medicaid covers that Medicare doesn't.

otoh, traditional Medicare allows you to see any provider who accepts Medicare assignment (about 98 percent of them) while Medicaid (and Medicare Advantage) now buckets you into a private narrow network.

# ? May 3, 2023 21:14

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

To me, the Fed is ignoring the fact that they don't have control over the parts of the global economy anymore that are causing these inflationary issues. Those at this point seem to be things like the global supply chain mess, Covid, the Ukrainian War, and housing/apartment prices. If anything they are going to make things worse regarding new home construction by raising rates. When I hear about the biggest issues with people in the US's financial issues, in general the biggest problem is that it's not affordable for most people to pay the rent or mortgage prices that are being demanded. I do think there is some slowdown in the rising rent rates in some areas, but it's going to take awhile and there's no guarantee that they go back to being affordable again.

# ? May 3, 2023 21:56

Zamujasa: Oct 27, 2010; Bread Liar

Mizaq posted:

I wonder if perhaps housing rents were able to go up in part because of medical savings people were experiencing.

my unfounded guess is that rents went up because people wanted more money and, what are you gonna do, go homeless?

most people would likely cut their spending everywhere else to make rent first.

what I'd like to see wrt housing prices is how much of the housing supply was bought up by and currently owned by corporations and banks, and vacancy rates.

# ? May 3, 2023 22:48

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

Zamujasa posted:

my unfounded guess is that rents went up because people wanted more money and, what are you gonna do, go homeless?

That pressure is always there, though, but its usually countered by the pressure of "poo poo I need to fill this room with a decent tenant and the decent tenants have cheaper options elsewhere, I gotta keep the prices low enough to get them to stay here or they'll rent somewhere else or just get a mortgage and buy a place".

Unfortunately, tightly coupled in with the housing market changes, that second concern is no longer much of a concern.

# ? May 3, 2023 23:00

Wayne Knight: May 11, 2006

GlyphGryph posted:

That pressure is always there, though, but its usually countered by the pressure of "poo poo I need to fill this room with a decent tenant and the decent tenants have cheaper options elsewhere, I gotta keep the prices low enough to get them to stay here or they'll rent somewhere else or just get a mortgage and buy a place".

Unfortunately, tightly coupled in with the housing market changes, that second concern is no longer much of a concern.

And all commercially owned rentals setting prices via algorithms is essentially price fixing. Everything that's available raised the prices, because if they hadn't they wouldn't still be available.

# ? May 3, 2023 23:19

BiggerBoat: Sep 26, 2007; Don't you tell me my business again.

I don't see how this is even remotely legal. It's the practical definition of insider trading and I think a politician could make some inroads campaigning against it

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/02/poli...rst%20Republic.

Democratic congresswoman sold First Republic stock and bought JPMorgan just before bank sale, financial disclosures show

quote:

Members of Congress are facing renewed scrutiny after a new disclosure report filed by Florida Democrat Lois Frankel revealed that she dumped First Republic Bank stock prior to its collapse and purchased JPMorgan stock before JPMorgan purchased First Republic.

According to a financial disclosure report filed on April 28, Frankel sold between $1,001 and $15,000 in First Republic stock on March 16 and then bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in JPMorgan stock on March 22.

Frankel told CNN that her �account is managed independently by a money manager who buys and sells stocks at his discretion.� Congresswoman Frankel is not facing any investigations.

The Daily Caller was first to report the news.

The 2012 STOCK Act made it illegal for members of Congress to knowingly trade, buy or sell stocks based on material information obtained in their official capacity as a member of Congress. The law also requires members of Congress file timely financial reports disclosing their trades.

Compliance with the law has been sporadic given the lack of enforcement mechanisms. In one prominent instance, former Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler was the subject of an investigation after she sold millions of dollars in stock before the market collapsed in Spring 2020.

# ? May 4, 2023 00:23

Main Paineframe: Oct 27, 2010

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

The United Autoworkers Union is witholding their endorsement of Biden's re-election campaign due to concerns over the newly released aggressive fuel economy standards that would effectively ban about 2/3 of existing car models with internal combustion engines by 2032 will hurt the auto industry.

https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1653806755237748737

This is quite an annoying article, because the NYT says they've seen a list of reasons the UAW leadership sent out, but apparently doesn't feel like describing why the union is doing this, allowing the narrative to fall into vague and unspecified "concerns" about EVs.

CNBC's article is far better about providing the workers' position and perspective:

quote:

DETROIT – Leaders of the United Auto Workers are withholding a reelection endorsement for President Joe Biden until the union's concerns about the auto industry's transition to all-electric vehicles are addressed, according to a Tuesday letter sent by UAW President Shawn Fain to union staff.

Fain, who was elected union president in March, said the UAW wants a "just transition" for workers. He argues that is currently not the case as automakers invest billions of dollars, with the support of taxpayer money, to move from traditional vehicles to EVs.

"The federal government is pouring billions into the electric vehicle transition, with no strings attached and no commitment to workers," Fain said in the message obtained by CNBC. "The EV transition is at serious risk of becoming a race to the bottom. We want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments."

How to transition traditional auto workers into new jobs for EVs has been a major concern for the UAW for several years. A 2018 study by the union found mass adoption of EVs could cost the UAW 35,000 jobs. However, the union has more recently said that number could be lower.

The UAW has historically supported Democrats. However, former President Donald Trump was able to gain notable support from blue-collar auto workers during his presidential campaign.

In the Tuesday letter, Fain said "another Donald Trump presidency would be a disaster," citing the need for the union to "get our members organized behind a pro-worker, pro-climate, and pro-democracy political program that can deliver for the working class."

Biden's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Biden has been a vocal supporter of unions during his presidency, but automakers have increased investments in recent years in states with "right to work" laws.

Fain's letter, which was first reported by The Detroit News, comes nearly two weeks after he said the union would "back the candidates that support us" in 2024.

Such messaging is a far stronger political stance than the union, which previously endorsed Biden, has taken in recent years, when former leaders and company officials were under a federal corruption investigation.

Fain and other newly elected union leaders ran as reform candidates for the union who would be more vocal and aggressive for its members.

"Right now, we're focused on making sure the EV transition does right by our members, our families, and our communities," Fain wrote. "We'll be ready to talk politics once we secure a future for this industry and the workers who make it run."

In the letter, Fain singles out the Detroit automakers for recent announcements surrounding plant closures and idling related to EVs that turned workers' lives "upside down." Most notably, earlier this year, Stellantis idled a Jeep plant in Illinois, citing the need to cut costs to invest in EVs.

Fain also noted the pay rate at a recently opened Ultium Cells LLC battery plant near Lordstown, Ohio — a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution — compared with that of traditional automotive assembly plants.

Ultium has said hourly workers currently make between $16 and $22 an hour with full benefits, incentives and tuition assistance. That compares to traditional hourly UAW members that can make upward of $32 an hour at GM plants.

Joint venture battery facilities are viewed as crucial for the UAW to grow and add members, as automakers such as GM transition to EVs, which require less traditional labor and parts than cars with internal combustion engines.

"The situation at Lordstown, and the current state of the EV transition, is unacceptable," Fain said. "We expect action from the people in power to make it right. I want to make sure our staff are armed and ready with the same tone and message."

Note that the unions don't actually oppose EV manufacturing - they suspect that automakers will use EVs as an excuse to shed jobs, cut salaries, and move production to less-unionized states.

# ? May 4, 2023 00:25

Charlz Guybon: Nov 16, 2010

BonoMan posted:

Mississippi's last license plate had "In God We Trust" on it which I thought was obviously not ok.

Well they got sued in 2021 over it and the new license plate released today doesn't have it anymore. Small wins!

(I also like how the Mississippi AG's suggestion to combat it was to put a sticker over it if you didn't like it... something that was clearly against the law).

https://www.mississippifreepress.or...s%5C%27+Lawsuit

How can it be fine for money, but not license plates? Surely, the treasury has been sued over that before?

# ? May 4, 2023 00:36

Skex: Feb 22, 2012; The great thing about the thousands of slaughtered Palestinian children is that they can't pull away when you fondle them or sniff their hair.

That's a Biden success story.

FlamingLiberal posted:

To me, the Fed is ignoring the fact that they don't have control over the parts of the global economy anymore that are causing these inflationary issues. Those at this point seem to be things like the global supply chain mess, Covid, the Ukrainian War, and housing/apartment prices. If anything they are going to make things worse regarding new home construction by raising rates. When I hear about the biggest issues with people in the US's financial issues, in general the biggest problem is that it's not affordable for most people to pay the rent or mortgage prices that are being demanded. I do think there is some slowdown in the rising rent rates in some areas, but it's going to take awhile and there's no guarantee that they go back to being affordable again.

Honestly as annoying as it is from a short term political perspective as it's just going to undermine Biden's reelection, it's actually a good thing that they are raising rates.

The Fed has a very limited tool kit for addressing economic shocks. The biggest one being interest rates. We spent way too long at the 0 bound. This meant that the fed didn't have a way to juice the economy by lowering them.

By raising them now while the economy is booming it will reload that quiver for the next economic catastrophe the GOP drops on us.

# ? May 4, 2023 00:44

Tayter Swift: Nov 18, 2002; Pillbug

BiggerBoat posted:

I don't see how this is even remotely legal. It's the practical definition of insider trading and I think a politician could make some inroads campaigning against it

Democratic congresswoman sold First Republic stock and bought JPMorgan just before bank sale, financial disclosures show

I get the sentiment but I'm having trouble giving a poo poo about under $15k in stock. Maybe I should :/

# ? May 4, 2023 00:46

GlyphGryph: Jun 23, 2013; Down came the glitches and burned us in ditches and we slept after eating our dead.

Tayter Swift posted:

I get the sentiment but I'm having trouble giving a poo poo about under $15k in stock. Maybe I should :/

$15k adds up when its happening time and time again, with a whole bunch of people doing it, and this is just the one where its obvious enough to notice.

# ? May 4, 2023 00:49

James Garfield: May 5, 2012; Am I a manipulative abuser in real life, or do I just roleplay one on the Internet for fun? You decide!

Zamujasa posted:

my unfounded guess is that rents went up because people wanted more money and, what are you gonna do, go homeless?

most people would likely cut their spending everywhere else to make rent first.

what I'd like to see wrt housing prices is how much of the housing supply was bought up by and currently owned by corporations and banks, and vacancy rates.

The rental and homeowner vacancy rates are at or near historic lows, rents are going up because there isn't enough housing in places people want to live and landowners have been pretty successful at organizing against new construction.

# ? May 4, 2023 01:25

Queering Wheel: Jun 18, 2011

Florida keeps getting worse. Just openly going after all trans people, including adults.

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1653874194965467136?s=20

How long until more red states start passing identical bills?

# ? May 4, 2023 01:29

Kalli: Jun 2, 2001

Queering Wheel posted:

Florida keeps getting worse. Just openly going after all trans people, including adults.

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1653874194965467136?s=20

How long until more red states start passing identical bills?

Dont' worry, at the end of the day they're still all friends

https://twitter.com/SPTenantsU/status/1653503532341907467

# ? May 4, 2023 01:33

Wayne Knight: May 11, 2006

Queering Wheel posted:

Florida keeps getting worse. Just openly going after all trans people, including adults.

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1653874194965467136?s=20

How long until more red states start passing identical bills?

JFC don't read the comments. Twitter is a loving cesspit.

Kalli posted:

Dont' worry, at the end of the day they're still all friends

https://twitter.com/SPTenantsU/status/1653503532341907467

This is darkly funny.

# ? May 4, 2023 01:41

FlamingLiberal: Jan 18, 2009; Would you like to play a game?

I mean the FL Dems are like the Washington Generals in this state at this point

# ? May 4, 2023 01:44

Gyges: Aug 4, 2004; NOW NO ONE
RECOGNIZE HULK

Queering Wheel posted:

Florida keeps getting worse. Just openly going after all trans people, including adults.

https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn/status/1653874194965467136?s=20

How long until more red states start passing identical bills?

Yay, so how many people are going to straight up die by cop? Maybe we'll get a "good" story where one transphobe calls the cops on another transphobe for their criminal lack of specific femininity.

FlamingLiberal posted:

I mean the FL Dems are like the Washington Generals in this state at this point

No need to slander the Washington Generals.

Edit: Looks like Texas is trying to Texas again. Edit: Looks like I also need to look at the time stamp on tweets that pop up in my feed.

Gyges fucked around with this message at 02:41 on May 4, 2023

# ? May 4, 2023 01:59

Mizaq: Sep 12, 2001; Monkey Magic; Toilet Rascal

That twitter post about the Texas being Texas thing is from 2021.

# ? May 4, 2023 02:10

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# ? May 25, 2024 22:18

OddObserver: Apr 3, 2009

BiggerBoat posted:

I don't see how this is even remotely legal. It's the practical definition of insider trading and I think a politician could make some inroads campaigning against it

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/02/poli...rst%20Republic.

Democratic congresswoman sold First Republic stock and bought JPMorgan just before bank sale, financial disclosures show

"Just before sale" is dishonest. Bank sale happened like... yesterday or something, and it gives dates for stock transactions in March(!), also a few days after failure of SVB, when cryptobros where trying to engineer a run on the bank.

So yes, Congresspeople shouldn't trade stocks, but this is just a hitpiece.

# ? May 4, 2023 02:21

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > USCE 2023: Please let them shove a camera up your butt

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