The Supreme Court's decision is a major blow to the unions that represent teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public employees throughout the United States.
But it also threatens the entire labor union movement. https://t.co/1jmH0cTbIx
— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 1, 2018
Month: July 2018
Only politics will matter for the Supreme Court nomination fight
This article makes excellent points:
“In all the pieces already written about the impending fight to confirm Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s as-yet unpicked successor on the Supreme Court, no one has so much as suggested that anything besides partisanship and ideology will matter. Credentials? Qualifications? Scandal? Racial, ethnic and gender diversity? All of these considerations, so prominent in judicial appointment debates for decades, are largely irrelevant. It’s pure politics now, and no one pretends otherwise.”
It has lots of history of nominations and notes: “After the Bush v. Gore decision that gave George W. Bush the presidency—a 5-4 decision that both kicked off our era of partisan polarization and underscored the partisanship at work in the Supreme Court—several observers said it was time to drop the pretense that politics wasn’t central to the confirmation process.”
Here are some of the votes before Bush v. Gore:
O’Connor was approved 99-0
Scalia was approved 98-0
Kennedy was approved 97-0
Ginsburg was approved 96-3
Breyer was approved 87-9
I doubt that any future nominee will get 60 votes and the voting will be primarily along party lines. McConnell really amped up partisanship by stealing a seat. There will never be a moderate pick again. Trump has no interest in uniting the country but picking a centrist justice would be a good start.
Since Republicans are picking extreme conservatives, I expect Democrats to pick extreme liberals when the get their chance. Down the road, all decisions will be strictly along party lines.
Trump administration report concludes tariffs will hurt the economy
The New York Times article states:”A White House economic analysis of President Trump’s trade agenda has concluded that Mr. Trump’s tariffs will hurt economic growth in the United States, according to several people familiar with the research.”
White House gender pay gap more than triples under Trump
Polls on Trump’s position on issues
This article goes through polls to see if the public (by party and total) agrees or disagrees with Trump’s position on issues.
What a more conservative Supreme Court would mean
This is a very thorough analysis
another take
“How the Concentration of Opportunity Elected Trump”
Trump won in the places that are losing jobs. Clinton won in the places that are gaining jobs.
from the study:
“Donald Trump dominated in Opportunity-Falling America. If the 2016 election were held only in the 2,109 counties that lost businesses, Trump would have won by 3.5 million votes, 53.0-47.0%, and by an Electoral College landslide of 343-195.
Hillary Clinton dominated in Opportunity-Rising America. If the race were held only in the 1,029 counties that gained businesses, Clinton would have won by a commanding 6.4 million votes, 54.6-45.4%, and by a solid Electoral College margin of 286-252.
This electoral opportunity gap appears to be new. “
Pruitt’s correspondence
Pruitt writes oil and gas executives
Lots of stuff from Eric Lipton of the New York Times
Trump administration wants to make it harder for people to qualify for asylum
Border agents won’t let asylum seekers reach a port of entry. Now, the Trump administration wants to prevent people who don’t come in through a port of entry for qualifying for asylum. Disgusting.
Bots are trying to get people to #WalkAway from the Democratic party
I wonder if Trump’s Russian friends are doing this.
update 7/10:
update 7/17
Sad! 