Couldn’t Help But Notice (050207)
I blame Bush:
Personal income increased $79.9 billion, or 0.7 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $65.5 billion, or 0.7 percent, in March, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $24.4 billion, or 0.3 percent. In February, personal income increased $74.9 billion, or 0.7 percent, DPI increased $62.3 billion, or 0.6 percent, and PCE increased $69.2 billion, or 0.7 percent based on revised estimates.
Uncompounded, personal income and disposable income in the five months from November 2006 to March 2007 went up 3.3% and 3.0%, respectively, beating the daylights out of inflation during that same period.
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From the Economic “Ouch” Department — In an article about the business environment in Indiana and it growing high-tech sector, one entrepreneur had this to say:
“I do business in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, and of those three states, Indiana is by far the easiest to do business in,” she said. “The taxes are lower, there aren’t as many taxes, and there’s not as much administrative work.”
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One of these days, judges are going to get serious about sanctioning lawyers, legal groups, and in this case, the government, for bringing already-settled matters up again for judicial review. The EEOC’s decision to go after the Salvation Army over the same issue yet again seems to virtually cry out for judicial discipline:
Jim Boulet, executive director of English First, is appalled by the recent decision of the Boston Office of the EEOC to file suit against the Salvation Army for firing two employees who refused to learn English. The Christian social service organization had given the two women one year to get proficient in the language and to speak only English in the workplace.
….. a federal judge in Boston upheld the Salvation Army’s English policy in a similar case in 2003. The organization “was sued for this very same policy — in the very same courtroom — and won,” he notes; and yet, “the EEOC, with your tax money and mine, is making the Salvation Army defend again its policy of trying to encourage people to seize the opportunity that America has to offer by learning English.
Of course, the idea is to wear down the opponent. EEOC has virtually unlimited taxpayer funds. The Salvation Army is forced to divert administrative time, effort, and expense from its charitable efforts to defend itself. It’s not a fair fight, and I suspect that most others would fold — which is why judges have to step in with sanctions when suits in already-settled matters like these are brought before them.
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Hugo Chavez has upped the ante:
President Hugo Chavez’s government took over Venezuela’s last remaining privately run oil fields Tuesday, intensifying a decisive struggle with Big Oil over one of the world’s most lucrative deposits.
….. The stakes are high for both sides.
If he (Chavez) can persuade the foreign companies to stay, Venezuela will be on track to develop the planet’s largest known oil deposit and possibly surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the most reserves. But if he scares them away, the Orinoco River region could end up starved of the investment and know-how needed to transform the Orinoco’s tar-lake crude into marketable crude oil.
While Chavez says state firms from China, India and elsewhere can step in, industry experts doubt they are qualified.
I can think of worse strategies than calling Hugo’s bluff.
Tom;
In reference to “From the Economic “Ouch†Department:â€
Some one needs to tell this to “Boy” Husted (R-Kettering) and the ORP. Ohio’s strategy since Taft has been to keep taxes high and give earmarks to the universities and private industry, if for some golden happenstance, they will be able to magically fix Ohio’s lagging economy. The latest budget the General Assembly gleefully put together in this BS spirit of “non-partisanship†was nothing more than sticking their heads up their asses and hoping the citizenry doesn’t notice nothing was actually done to save the State. This budget is the proverbial “tealeaves.â€
Comment by Brian — May 2, 2007 @ 9:42 am
#1, agree. The GOP and ORP will never accomplish anything by being Dem-Lite. People forget that Voinovich came into power in 1990 because he was seen as a legit conservative — and at the time, he almost was.
Comment by TBlumer — May 2, 2007 @ 9:51 am
[...] In our enlightened, post-modern era, we’ve moved waaaay beyond something as quaint as objective truth. Truth is now pretty much whatever you want to believe. If you want to believe that the economy is horrible, despite continued, sustained growth, (what are we up to, now, ten quarters of it?) low unemployment numbers and expanding manufacturing, why that’s fine. If you don’t like thinking that Harry Reid’s land deals deserve looking at, why…they don’t! Move along, creatures, move along. [...]
Pingback by The Anchoress » Broder, Eric Hoffer, inauthenticity and other thoughts — May 2, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
[...] Bush Administration Action More proof (through BizzyBlog) that the one thing that any administration should do is fire every single person they can as soon as possible. Why in the world is the Bush administration (through the EEOC) suing the Salvation Army over the same issue that had been decided in 2003? One of these days, judges are going to get serious about sanctioning lawyers, legal groups, and in this case, the government, for bringing already-settled matters up again for judicial review. The EEOC’s decision to go after the Salvation over the same issue yet again seems to virtually cry out for judicial discipline: Jim Boulet, executive director of English First, is appalled by the recent decision of the Boston Office of the EEOC to file suit against the Salvation Army for firing two employees who refused to learn English. The Christian social service organization had given the two women one year to get proficient in the language and to speak only English in the workplace. [...]
Pingback by Bush Administration Action « Colorado Right — May 4, 2007 @ 12:48 pm