Ho hum, the Economic Policy Institute reminds us that trade deficits, not increases in productivity, are responsible for job losses in the American manufacturing sector. How do we know? Because productivity increased at about the same rate during Tha Bush Mobb era as they did during the Bush the Better/Clinton era, but manufacturing absolutely hemorrhaged jobs during Tha Bush Mobb's tenure -- which also saw a huge spike in trade deficits (though, to be fair, those deficits started to rise substantially in 1998). What does Our Glorious New Economy do more efficiently than the ones your parents worked in? Redistribute wealth upward to CEOs, and that's all.
Per CDC figures, America's uninsured rate has fallen below 10%, for the first time since the CDC started keeping these figures in 1972. You may recall that Gallup also found a drop in the uninsured from 18% in late 2013 to 11.4% this year. But (begin sarcasm) you know what we really need in this debate? More right-wing BS about the Affordable Care Act, since any opinion is exactly as good as any other and the "liberal" media must give more time to bad ones so they can avoid the appearance of "bias" (end sarcasm).
And on cue: new great Republican hope Carly Fiorina says ER visits are up "over 50 percent" since the ACA passed, and Factcheck.com can't find any documentation for that alleged statistic. I'd be skeptical off the bat, since more insured people should mean less having to go to the ER for the sniffles, and also, of course, since the Fiorina campaign hasn't produced evidence to back their candidate's claim. But then they probably think being asked to produce evidence for their arguments is sexist.
Good news, everyone: USA Discounters -- which not only marketed overly expensive appliances to our soldiers, which not only handed out spiral-of-debt loans to our soldiers, but sued them in a Virginia court, making them fly to Virginia from wherever they were serving to fight the suits -- seems to be going out of business. First came a name change (because what else do you do when your name is mud?), but then swiftly came everything-must-go -- very soon, if the "70-95% off" prices are any indication, though they'd also indicate there's not much left there to pick.
Finally, Kevin Wong says that the more space Snoopy got in Peanuts strips over the years, the worse the comic got. I'll certainly agree that Snoopy-centric strips feel like showstoppers -- when Snoopy took center stage, the other characters dispersed, and once a show's all show-stoppers, it ain't much of a show. I still liked Snoopy as a kid, but Linus was my One True Homey, then and now.
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