It’s the Stupid Economy

From David Horsey in The Seatle Times last week:

Yeah, maybe it’s the economy, stupid, but sometimes stupidity trumps any good economic news.

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45 thoughts on “It’s the Stupid Economy”

  1. Horsey’s op ed that accompanied his ‘toon

    ‘It’s the economy, stupid,’ only gets a candidate so far | The Seattle Times

    Back in 1992, Bill Clinton’s campaign guru, James Carville, enunciated a precept that he insisted should guide a savvy presidential campaign: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
    Few have argued against Carville’s assertion in the years since. A strong economy does often help an incumbent running for reelection and a bad economy often boosts a challenger. But it is not as simple as Carville implied. For voters, “the economy” is a term that may mean something very different from the macro data that leads astute economists to declare an economy good or bad.
    By measures such as job growth, stock prices and comparisons with other national economies, the current state of the U.S. economy is robust. If this is the result of Bidenomics, then President Joe Biden should be coasting easily to reelection, according to the Carville rule. That he is not suggests that plenty of people — maybe most — do not assess the economy through broad statistical measures.
    For them, it is a matter of personal circumstances. Can I afford to buy a house? Can I put my kid through college? Am I forced to keep my creaky old car another year because the purchase price of a newer automobile is out of reach? Do I feel sticker shock at my favorite restaurant or at the grocery store checkout?
    Beyond very individual concerns, perception of the economy is also greatly affected by political polarization. Even if Biden were overseeing the most vibrant economy in American history, hardcore fans of former President Donald Trump would never acknowledge it. They would remember Trump’s four years in the White House as a golden age when money was falling from the sky.
    Yeah, maybe it’s the economy, stupid, but sometimes stupidity trumps any good economic news.

  2. as to the puppy love issue:

    Hillary Clinton’s 2021 Post About Dogs Comes Back To Haunt Kristi Noem (msn.com

    Hillary Clinton’s old post warning about politicians and dogs resurfaced and went viral on X (formerly Twitter) at the weekend after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) recalled killing her pet pup.
    “Don’t vote for anyone you wouldn’t trust with your dog,” former Secretary Of State Clinton wrote in February 2021.

    [the article continues with examples from twiXters like @isiahmartin’s “She really was right about everything.” and @harrisonlansing’s “This certainly aged well.”]

    but who knows, maybe noem’s trying to sway swing vote cat lovers

  3. So someone is surprised that a 14 months old puppy is “untrainable”?   
    . 

    By the way:
    PLEASE DONT SHOOT MY DOG
    Great book by Jackie Cooper.

  4. Looks like Dumbass has a dilemma. There’s Noem with her puppy murder baggage and there’s Kari, with her loser baggage. 

    Trump has now all but ruled out Lake as a vice-presidential pick, remarking to multiple advisers that he would not choose her as vice president because she lost the 2022 gubernatorial race in Arizona, which he believed was winnable. “She didn’t win,” he told one political ally over dinner at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year.

    Lack of insight aside…he forgets that he said Arizona was stolen – same thing he said about his own election. 

  6. Does Mr Pumpkinhead McDumbass think that maybe he should rule himself out because he DIDNT WIN?    lolol

  7. pogo, could be other reasons he struck them from the list:  can’t trust noem wouldn’t turn the gun on him (being he’s just as or more anti-social and untrainable as puppy) and kari is (and looks camera-wise) better than he is at coming up with outrageous media-bites.  

  8. RVAT’s latest

    Republican Voters Against Trump is elevating the voices of former Trump supporters who won’t be voting for him this November.

  9. If your puppy has to face a firing squad then YOU’RE the sick puppy.  And bragging about it on twitter?     That’s just too stupid for words.   Go back to your farm you clod.

    I wonder if she used it for target practice like the Navy does with old ships.

    Nothing exemplifies the Republican Party more than puppy shooting.

  10. Such a weird economy. People say their personal finances are getting better but think the economy sucks. I don’t know how Biden can wrestle this. It’s dangerous to boast, but a downer to embrace pessimism. Somehow he’s got to get it across that his path is working well enough that it’s worth keeping — that at least he cares about you, and Donald Trump only cares about helping himself and his rich friends.

  11. From the CNN 5 things email I get daily:

    Presidential race
     
    Former President Donald Trump continues to hold an advantage over President Joe Biden as their campaigns — and Trump’s criminal trial — move forward, according to a new CNN poll. Trump’s support in the poll among registered voters holds steady at 49% compared to Biden at 43%. The poll, which was conducted among 1,200 random adults, also revealed most respondents felt Trump’s term as president was a success, while a broad majority says Biden’s has so far been a failure. In an effort to reach potential voters, Biden poked fun at his own age Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner and took jabs at his predecessor. Biden last week also offered his most robust commitment to the general election debates, saying in an interview that he would be “happy to” debate Trump.

    It’s a lengthy article and the poll results are lengthier yet. Looking at the results over time there is certainly cause for concern.

  12. Craig – It’s greedflation/shrinkflation at the grocery store, and rent hikes/inability to buy a home.   Folks are making a bit more money, but it’s not going as far.  

    They are blaming Biden, but not the high CEO pay and stock buybacks to enrich shareholders.   Their 401(k) accounts may be looking better, but the money is inaccessible, and as many know it can be greatly diminished if the stock market hiccups.  Blame the financial engineers who run companies.

    Billionaire, Mark Cuban, made a big deal about paying his taxes, and it was a lot of money, but how many tax breaks did he get?  Musk and Bezos don’t seem to fork over anything according to memes and here say.  

    They would be bigger humans if they did pay taxes, didn’t try to hoard wealth, and funded programs that would elevate everyone instead of the occasional rocket. 
     

  13. Say out loud three times:
     
    Trump-pal paid playboy poser for a pack of Trump peccadillos.  Pecker passed on payment pre-empting public pronouncement of putative potus’ passionate, possibly perverse performance with pro porno player.

     
    from a pal who got it from a friend in Fla.

     

  14. I don’t believe it’s the economy, per se, but the propaganda spewing from the right wing about the economy. It’s poisoning the well. 

  16. Younger voters seem more concerned with the atrocities in Gaza than with their own, reproductive freedom.   That’s concerning, as far as voter turnout goes.  I can see a lot of them sitting on their hands because they are so disillusioned with the world. 

    They aren’t thinking that Netanyahu wants tRUMPsky, as does Poo-tin. That needs to be included in the messaging from Dems.  
    Actually, Team Biden/Harris needs a media manager who can make it clear what’s on the line. It’s fine to have a snarky social media person, since that’s what you get folks pay attention to, but they also need something like, well Bill Clinton’s  “A Town Called Hope.”  Less  homespun, of course, but really shining a positive light on what the future can be for everyone when Biden is given a second term.  Forward thinking, while not forgetting seniors. (Let surrogates point out the horrors of Project 2025, that way there’s a carrot and a stick, but the stick is not directly tied to the Biden campaign.) 

    A positive, inclusive message about a second term from Biden will be a wonderful contrast to tRUMPsky’s dystopian agenda.

  17. Actually, the LP or someone should do an ad:  Why does Benjamin Netanyahu want another tRUMPsky presidency?  
    Get off of the narrative of Joe being responsible for what’s happening in Gaza.  

    This is on Bibi and yes, all hostages need to be released, there needs to be a ceasefire, there needs to be a two state solution, but Hamas can not be sitting at the border of a Palestinian state as their army (which they’ve said they want).  

    Actually, maybe if aliens from another galaxy invaded, maybe that would pull us all together. 

    Hi crackers! Good to see you.

  22. State law addresses livestock not playful puppies

    if it was “untrainable” it wasn’t a working dog

    party of lying puppy killers

  23. In April 2024, The Guardianreported on content from Noem’s second autobiographyNo Going Back, scheduled to be published in May 2024, in which Noem discussed personally using a gun to kill a dog and a goat that her family owned on the same day.[261][262]When Noem brought Cricket, a femalewirehaired pointer dogaround fourteen months old, to huntpheasants, Cricket went “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds”, with anelectronic collarfailing to rein in the dog.[261][263]Post-hunt, Cricket escaped Noem’s vehicle, killed several of another family’s chickens in “pure joy”, and “whipped around to bite” Noem, leading Noem to conclude that she “hated that dog”, that Cricket was “dangerous” to humans and “less than worthless” for “a hunting dog”, thus deciding to kill Cricket.[261][264]After Noem shot the dog, Noem decided to kill a male goat that was “disgusting, musky, rancid”, “nasty and mean”, who “loved to chase” Noem’s children and knock them down.[261][265]Noem responded toThe Guardian’s report by saying that “tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down three horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”[261][266]The story led to bipartisan criticism of Noem, including doubts on her suitability to be Donald Trump’svice presidential pick.[267][268]

    lol she went on a murder spree and killed a bird dog that went after birds

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristi_Noem

  24. Noem decided to kill a male goat that was “disgusting, musky, rancid”, “nasty and mean”

    lol she just described 80% of the republican party

  25. i’ll translate and let y’all have your forum back for the day:
     
    she wanted to kill something, found an easy target, enjoyed the killing, so went and killed something else.

    the goal of her day she mentions was to go and kill (pheasants)
     
    Great job, South Dakota 🙄
     
    ✌️

  26. She’s still blaming the murder victim.

     
    She’s right about one item: Americans are looking for leaders who are authentic. Plumpty is the polar opposite of authentic and his cult followers are not in that category by default. 

  27. (Don’t believe i’da told that one, Guvner)

    🎵
    I shot the pup-eee
    But I swear it was in self defense
    🎵

  29. a male goat that was “disgusting, musky, rancid”, “nasty and mean”

    sound familiar?  maybe a lot like another old goat who’s on trial right now stinking up a courtroom.

    yep, donald, you better not pick this one as your back-up next-in-line. don’t think she’d stand there for very long  

  30. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kristi-noem-shoots-puppy-she-hated-book-1235011230/

    “I hated that dog,” Noem recalls, calling Cricket, “less than worthless as a hunting dog”…but did OK hunting chickens.  This is on her lack of being a responsible person.  A puppy won’t train itself. 

    “Noem dragged Cricket to a gravel pit, and shot her dead in front of a startled construction crew.”
     
    “The governor then decided that another one of her animals was deserving of summary execution — a mean old “disgusting, musky, rancid” goat who sometimes chased her children and messed up their clothes. Pretty normal behavior if you’ve ever been around a goat…”
     
    “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago…”

  32. Noem must be incompetent as a dog trainer – German wirehaired pointers are bred to be good hunter, and the characteristics of the breed are about opposite of what Noem describes.  
     
    Renee, now THAT’S a great meme.
     
    “… and they say it is a Capitol offense…”

  33. Doing the same thing over, expecting different results. Sarah Palin on the ticket backfired the first time. 

  34. That dog won’t hunt. 

    Gov. Noem heard all them New Yorkers talking about “Catch and kill” and well…….you know…….

    Meanwhile, Sarah Palin is seen snort-laughing into her beer.

  36. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/29/djt-trump-media-shares-soar-more-than-12percent-in-afternoon-trading.html

    “Since then, Trump Media shares have more than doubled in price, adding billions of dollars to both the company’s market capitalization and the ex-president’s stake.
    The gains occurred without significant news about the company’s bottom line improving.
    But Jay Ritter, a business professor at the University of Florida, said that the recent bump in Trump Media’s stock price might be the short-term result of recent statements and regulatory filings by the company targeting short sellers.
    “In the last week or so the company has informed its shareholders how to make it difficult to loan their shares to short sellers, and it is possible that the number of shares available to short has decreased, increasing the [cost] borrowing rate for short selling,” said Ritter, who is an expert on initial public offerings.
    Ritter also that “there might be some” short squeeze occurring, in which short sellers, who are betting that the share price will drop, are forced to repurchase Trump Media shares to replace the stock they borrowed to sell short. Such repurchases can drive the price of shares, which in turn increases pressure on short sellers to buy stock to cover their positions, which also leads to price bumps.”
     
    The whole thing seems suspicious and I hope someone is going up the corporate a-hole of DWAC and Trump Media with a microscope.

  37. Wrote Noem: “It was not a pleasant job. But it had to be done.”

    Dirty jobs and yes, someone has to do them, but you’re not going to get awards or accolades for it. Take your lumps, Lumpy.

  38. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/donald-trump-accepts-bill-barrs-endorsement-by-implying-hes-a-tub-of-lard

    Taking to Truth Social, Trump told his followers: “Wow! Former A.G. Bill Barr, who let a lot of great people down by not investigating Voter Fraud in our Country, has just Endorsed me for President despite the fact that I called him ‘Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy’ (New York Post!). Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word ‘Lethargic’ from my statement. Thank you Bill. MAGA2024!”
     
    Bill Barr deserved it for endorsing tRUMPsky.  He knew he was dealing with the devil.

  40. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/29/kristi-noem-misdemeanour-shooting-dog
     

    “Noem twice defended her account of killing Cricket and the goat, saying as she does in the book that such actions are sometimes necessary in farming, and show her willingness to do difficult things in life as well as in politics.”

    “But each defense added to her problems.
    In the first statement, Noem both referred to recently putting down three horses and advertised her book, promising “more real, honest and politically incorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping”. That drew accusations of insensitivity.”

    “In her second statement, Noem said she could “understand why some people are upset about a 20-year-old story of Cricket” but added: “The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down.”

    “Asked if SDCL 40-34-2 indicated that Noem might have committed a class two misdemeanor, Fury did not immediately comment.
    The South Dakota laws apparently applicable to the case of Noem and Cricket were passed before the dog’s death.”

    “Noem writes that she killed Cricket on her own property.”

    The Rolling Stone article review of her book said she did not kill Cricket on her own property, but took the dog to a gravel pit.  

    Still trying to figure out if the three horses she mentioned were unalived by her or someone else.

  41. Hi Jamie and everyone – Please put me down for “Just a Touch” in the Derby. I want to have a horse in this race!

  44. Sums it up pretty good.
     

    Colin Jost’s set this year does not belong in that pantheon. Without his Weekend Update partner Michael Che next to him, he came off muted, vanilla, less assured than usual. With long pauses between jokes, eyes darting side to side, he occasionally took a drink of water and at least once acknowledged the lack of laughter in the room. His jokes leaned on wordplay more than a specific or novel perspective. “Some incredible news organizations here,” began one of his pricklier jokes, finished by: “Also, some credible ones.”

     

    Jost’s strongest moment came at the end when he paid emotional tribute to his grandfather — a firefighter and Biden supporter who died recently — and then championed the virtues of decency. This earnest argument would have fit in a political convention or a civics class but was unusual to hear in this setting. Wholesome sincerity from a stand-up comic can be more chilling than any transgressive joke. But we live in scary times. Early on, Jost said he was honored to be here at what was likely to be, “judging by the swing state polls, the last White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/28/arts/television/colin-jost-white-house-correspondents-dinner.html

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