Economy back, but keep spending. Plus: Big game show question. And, when will the fog finally lift?
By Gary Abernathy
Economy roars back, but let’s spend trillions anyway
In another indication of an economy roaring back to life all on its own, more than 900,000 jobs were added to the workforce in March.
The New York Times reports, “Employers added 916,000 jobs in March, up from 416,000 in February and the most since August, the Labor Department said Friday. The leisure and hospitality sector led the way, adding 280,000 jobs as Americans returned to restaurants and resorts in greater numbers. Construction firms added 110,000 jobs as the housing market stayed strong and activity resumed following winter storms in February. The unemployment rate fell to 6 percent, down from 6.2 percent in February.”
Why did Democrats in Congress just approve another nearly $2 trillion “recovery” bill, on top of $4 trillion spent earlier for “covid relief” when things are rebounding on their own? Why is the Biden administration pushing more trillions in spending? Because they can. Because the bill won’t come due until our grandchildren have to pay it, not us. (Unless you buy the nonsense that only “the rich” and “corporations” will pay for it.)
On top of that, there are growing calls to forgive student loan debt. Hey, we all know lots of people who would be thrilled to have their student loan debts canceled. While we’re at it, why not cancel all mortgage debt? Car loans? All credit card debt? Seriously. Why not? We can apparently afford anything, especially as we complete the transition into socialism, a system where personal debt is nonexistent because no one actually pays for anything -- because no one owns any personal property. It’s happening before our eyes at breakneck speed, with plenty of advocates cheering its emergence while we crush capitalism.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ story begs one big question
A story today on the homepage of USA Today caught my attention. It makes note of a recent telecast of “Wheel of Fortune,” the longtime game show hosted by Pat Sajak. The focus of the piece is that some viewers are calling for a rule change after a contestant lost because of a technicality.
The story reports, “The technicality occurred during Wednesday's episode, according to Entertainment Weekly and Yahoo. With only two missing letters on the board, the contestant, named David, took his shot at the puzzle, under the category Catch of the Day, by saying ‘sole, flounder, cod and catfish.’ Unfortunately, this wasn't technically correct, because the word ‘and’ wasn't on the board.”
This leads me to ask what I think is really the main question: Who cares?
Why is this a story in a major American newspaper? Entertainment Weekly, maybe. Yahoo? Possibly? But USA Today? Can’t fathom it, especially presented on the paper’s homepage. I read it because I think something on USA Today’s homepage – right under a story headlined “What should you do if you see police brutality? Film it” -- must be important, or so I typically think. Wrong. The trivialization of news continues, as evidenced in regular weekly stories about what happened on “Saturday Night Live.”
The fog hasn’t quite lifted yet
When can we treat people like adults and just let fans decide whether to go back to sporting events, concerts and other such events?
There was an interesting story in USA Today this week going team by team on how many fans can attend baseball games this year, at least for now. For example, the Atlanta Braves can allow 33 percent capacity. The Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians can go with 30 percent. The Texas Rangers can allow nearly 100 percent. It’s all about the arbitrary guidelines existing in each state, based on little science and lots of politics.
As with everything, Americans should be informed of what the science says, and then make their own decisions about risks. Someday, Americans will look back at this and wonder what fog they were living in to allow this to happen.
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