Be nice to the waiter

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos discusses signs that after almost nine years of steady economic growth a recession is on the horizon. Those signs suggest a recession might begin just before the 2020 election (meaning there wouldn’t be enough time to influence the election). And the nasty guy has a few ways to goose the numbers until after election day. Those predictions on timing aren’t very interesting. This is:

And when [the election is] all over, it’s entirely possible that we could slide into recession with absolutely no slack in the system. With the Fed rate already at zero. With Trump already having chopped corporate tax rates to an unsustainable degree. With the Republicans already burying the Treasury in record debt. With trade relations in tatters and the biggest buyer of U.S. treasuries alienated.

Translation: we could slide into recession with a federal government with no tools to pull us out. A government not having those tools is very intentional. And the people who will feel the pain are not the ones at the top.



A quote from presidential candidate Cory Booker, which I agree with:

Someone who's nice to you but not nice to the waiter is not a nice person.

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate describes Elizabeth Warren (a candidate I like more and more) who had been a teacher:

Warren is an extraordinary educator. We misread her as a detached wonk when she's actually a brilliant translator of complex ideas. Watching her on the stump, you come to realize that it's not so much the fact that she knows a lot of technical and complicated things that truly excites her fans, it's that she can explain them to you.

David Eisenberg is a doctor at the last abortion clinic in Missouri, one that was threatened with closure at the end of last month. He now has to deal with new provisions in the state law the severely restricts abortions. One of them is carrying out pelvic exams, which are not medically necessary and are invasive. He said:

What I realized was I effectively have become an instrument of state abuse of power.

Governor Jay Inslee, also a candidate for president, has been campaigning on climate changes. He has been pushing the Democratic National Committee to have one of their debates focus on climate change. The DNC said no. Sarak Kendzior of Missouri tweeted a response.

No major issue is unconnected to the climate crisis. Climate change impacts the economy, immigration, infrastructure, health care, etc. You also cannot separate the climate crisis from the rise of autocracy. The DNC should be ashamed of itself for denying a debate on this topic.

The public is owed a climate change debate. You DNC chickens***s who think it's "divisive" have no idea what real problems are. In my state farmers lost all their crops and families lost homes. They want answers, resources, plans. The pain is not partisan and you can't ignore it.