“You know you’re in a 2nd world situation when you have blackouts. CA has gone the way of IL and NY; 1 party states that are mis governed so badly they are losing population.” - @MattWelch (CA native) via @KennedyNation 👓
Replay @ 11pm EST
My latest op-ed in the Washington Examiner - Union members have a right to see how their money is spent https://washex.am/3ipoK2r @toddtalk @RedJahncke @CraigFishbein #IAFF
Gov. Cuomo plan would raise tax for wealthiest New Yorkers to 14.7%, highest combined rate in nation https://cnb.cx/3oVBMqW
Two NYT editors lost their jobs in the Summer because they published an op-ed by a US Senator advocating a measure roughly 50% of Americans supported: deploy troops to quell unrest.
Now, Washington, DC is fully militarized with troops and everyone seems perfectly happy about it. https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1351603270133952514
Media members who once denounced the deployment of military force to American streets as the rawest incarnation of violent fascism have now joined together to cheer the military occupation of Washington, DC
https://mtracey.medium.com/media-cheers-dc-under-military-occupation-79bad5f0b76
"New Yorkers haven’t seen a year-over-year spike in homicides anywhere near this large since the early 1970s." @Rafa_Mangual
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/opinion/politics/new-york-city-homicide.html via @nytopinion
.@maxeden99 discusses the partisan politics creeping into classrooms across the country. @prageru https://www.prageru.com/video/there-is-no-apolitical-classroom/
Bitcoin uses more electricity than Switzerland, Greece, Ireland, and Israel https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/07/08/bitcoin-devours-more-electricity-than-switzerland-infographic/
There is nothing righteous about the Noble Lie. No politician or public health expert should undersell the efficacy of the vaccine in order to extend lockdowns and other severe restrictions. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/18/briefing/donald-trump-pardon-phil-spector-coronavirus-deaths.html?referringSource=articleShare
After WWII, we ran balanced budgets for over a decade. Today we're set to borrow more than $10 trillion over a decade.
We'd need $20 trillion of deficit reduction, 6 percent annual growth, or 12 percent inflation to achieve WWII-like reductions in debt-to-GDP. https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1351515972960743428
Still getting anxious mail from people who worry about how America will pay down its debt. Folks, we don't have to pay it down. Here's what happened after WWII: 1/
We later learn that it was the Huntsman campaign, under Weaver's leadership, that orchestrated the political hit job against Mitch Daniels' wife. We were later assured by members of the Huntsman family that this was done entirely behind their backs and without their knowledge 6/x
Good writeup by Marc. There is a reason they don’t call it “Taxachusetts” anymore. MA learned its lesson; we must learn ours. https://yankeeinstitute.org/2021/01/19/massachusetts-study-dont-be-like-connecticut/
Pension issues that need to be addressed are:
✅Increasing employee contributions;
✅Creating a hybrid pension plan for new employees;
✅Suspending/minimizing COLA adjustments; and,
✅Raising vesting periods.
https://www.cbia.com/news/inside-the-capitol/state-pension-reform-workable-solution/
Israel serostudy: 98% have sterilizing immunity after second Pfizer shot; they cannot infect others.
COVID antibodies increase 6-20 times week after 2nd dose of Pfizer shot, study says
Data from 102 subjects shows 98% of them developed significant presence of antibodies; survey's editor says participants most likely won't spread the ...
www.ynetnews.com
What does the way you speak say about where in the U.S. you’re from? Revisit our quiz to see your personal American English dialect map.
How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk
What does the way you speak say about where you’re from? Answer all the questions below to see your personal dialect map.
nyti.ms
Everyone ripping Joe for making a beeline from the speakership to lobbying, but it’s actually an ethical upgrade from Joe being a paid government union employee while he was tasked with cutting the checks of the government unions as speaker. https://yankeeinstitute.org/feature/conflict-of-interest/
Following a well-trod path, former House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz is becoming a lobbyist, barred from lobbying his former colleagues for a year, but free to immediately seek business for his new employer, Gaffney Bennett & Associates.
http://ctmirror.org/2021/01/15/connecticuts-90m-lobbying-industry-has-a-new-player-former-speaker-joe-aresimowicz/
When did our political establishment become that guy at a house party smoking weed and preaching to you that money isn’t real?
The US Chamber of Commerce and Bernie Sanders are both praising a $1.9 trillion fiscal relief package, and I’m sure Jerome Powell would as well.
Israel’s vaccine formula
1. simple rules
2. fast distribution
3. vast vaccination endpoints (every clinic, every pharmacy, every existing testing center pop up...)
4. transparency
“It is a sprint, not a marathon.” https://twitter.com/eladgil/status/1349802287355490304
Why Has Israel Succeeded At COVID Vaccination?
What Can the USA Learn?
http://blog.eladgil.com/2021/01/israel-has-pulled-ahead-of-much-in.html
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rblxRf4UZ4zHN6Uemya0qTOOSCnA17oMeysq0YJ_gfM/edit?usp=sharing
Connecticut, Northeast Continue to Lose Residents to Warmer, More Tax-Friendly States | CT News Junkie https://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/20210114_connecticut_northeast_continue_to_lose_residents_to_warmer_more/#.YAB5ummMhkc.twitter #ctnewsjunkie
Best CBB game of the year, with transfer-heavy #TexasTech cementing a 10-point second half comeback with a McClung jumper against #4 #Texas. Big12 is right there with the Big10, head and shoulders above the next best conference in the nation.
JUST IN: J&J’s one-dose Covid vaccine is safe and appears to generate a promising immune response in both young and elderly volunteers, according to early trial data. @megtirrell has the details. http://cnb.cx/2XF9vsS
Oof. Bad development for @UConnMBB. Hope Bouknight gets well soon and the Huskies can make a March run!
UConn men’s star James Bouknight out ‘an indefinite period’ after elbow surgery
UConn star James Bouknight is out indefinitely after surgery to repair his injured left elbow.
www.courant.com
.@CTDems’ regulatory policies have lead to sky-high health insurance costs. What’s their solution? To implement a new tax on existing health plans. 🤔
Democrats eye tax on insurers to fund broader health reform package
Lawmakers want to revive a tax on carriers to support additional subsidies on the exchange, expansion of Medicaid.
ctmirror.org
#Michigan basketball absolutely LIGHTING UP (54-26 w/ 15 mins left) one of the best teams in the nation, #Wisconsin. Time for people to finally start talking about Juwan & Co. Returned four very good starters and have arguably the second-best freshman in the country at Center.
CBO was epically wrong about the ACA. They could not even sign the revenue effect of the tax on employers. Static revenue is zero while the rest of the Federal taxes lost revenue due to the behavioral change.
BTW, this election marks the first time *since 1896* that either party lost the presidency, Senate & House only 4 years after winning the presidency for a first term, Senate & House.
Nat’l GOP leadership failed our party epically. It starts at the very top. Rs should be furious.
Shooting victims in NYC 2002 - 2020. Raw number of people shot (blue line) and also percent change from previous year (red or green bars).
𝟳𝟯% of Trump voters consider themselves “Republican-first” voters, compared to 𝟮𝟳% who are “Trump-first" voters.
Surprisingly, 𝟳𝟯% of Trump voters say they never followed him on Twitter. (Only about 20% of U.S. adults have a Twitter account.)
"The FDA needs to stop playing games and authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. It’s safe, cheap ($2-$3 a dose), and is the easiest vaccine to distribute. It does not require freezing and is already approved and being administered in the UK."
Approve the AstraZeneca Vaccine Now! - Marginal REVOLUTION
Here’s Marty Makary, M.D., a professor of surgery and health policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Finally, the FDA needs t...
marginalrevolution.com
They did it:
Israel has now prevented the majority of all possible future Covid fatalities.
70% of the elderly in Israel are now vaccinated.
Just wonderful, a model for other nations.
35% of Republicans and 45% of Democrats would be very unhappy if their child married someone from the opposing party. https://j.mp/35K2B98
New @Mark_J_Perry analysis of United Van Lines data shows (again) Americans moving from high-cost/tax/regulation states to ones w/ the opposite trends https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/united-van-lines-top-10-inbound-vs-top-10-outbound-us-states-in-2020-how-do-they-compare-on-a-variety-of-measures/
"There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law."
Abraham Lincoln -- January 27, 1838, Lyceum Address
People abhor chaos & have viewed the GOP as a source of stability for 160 years, in contrast to the liberalism, bordering radicalism, of Democrats. If voters now view the GOP as the source of “craziness,” we are basically asking to be a minority party.
Trump’s Exit | City Journal
Encouraging a mob to target his own allies and disrupt the rule of law, the president has ended his tenure disgracefully—and emboldened the Left.
www.city-journal.org
Great idea! Of course it’s DOA | “The legislation is almost dead on arrival” https://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/20210108_lawmaker_calls_for_term_limits_on_behalf_of_constituents/?fbclid=IwAR2083Hy5N1Gse9qJOLvOVRJWS12jrb_Nv9vHEEh0SGbk7gGEIEvzrDoLso
Smart move by Biden Admin to go against Saint Fauci on this:
“According to the Annals of Internal Medicine...by reducing the amount of the vaccine doses withheld to 10% for the first three weeks...the US could avoid up to 29% more cases over eight weeks...”
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Biden will release all available vaccine doses in break from Trump administration policy of holding back stock for second dose -CNN https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/politics/biden-vaccine-strategy/index.html
Email from Twitter spokesperson: "This Tweet is not in violation of our policies." Cc: @jbarro
I actually totally buy that Gonzaga has a 20% chance at winning it all but Baylor should be considered right there with them—not around 10%. The two are head-and-shoulders above the rest rn.
Hello, Spokane... 😳
26% of the handle to win the CBB title is on Gonzaga @DKSportsbook
https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaab/public-betting?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=TAN
Everything will go back to normal, everyone—just check out Northwestern basketball tonight
Good reporting by the great @acsifferlin on why CT is doing better than most states on vaccine distribution. https://coronavirus.medium.com/why-connecticut-is-winning-in-the-vaccination-rollout-a50dc12e5fa6
Given all the ink that's been spilled over the supposed role of policy vis-a-vis covid-19 (much of it misplaced IMO), I'm surprised this hasn't been given more attention.
A mob overtaking Capitol Police to disturb the constitutional proceedings of a democratically-elected Congress is about the least conservative and least American thing imaginable. Shameful.
"If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a death spiral," McConnell says. "We'd never see our country accept an election again."
The media is about to pivot from "denying the results of an election is treason" to "Stacey Abrams is a hero" so fast that they will break the sound barrier.
Why Stacey Abrams still won’t concede
Stacey Abrams lost her 2018 bid for Georgia governor against Brian Kemp. Despite acknowledging Kemp as the legal victor, Abrams has refused to officia...
www.yahoo.com
This is remarkable
A woman who married a 93 year old civil war veteran when she was 17 in 1936 died last month
She was the last documented civil war widow
She was 101 years old when she passed https://twitter.com/SUVCW/status/1345872620198223872
The last documented widow of a Civil War #veteran has passed. 🙏🏽🇺🇸🇺🇸 #SUVCW #CivilWarHistory #USArmy #militaryhistory #usmilitary #missouri #missourihistory
Compare the places with the highest move in rates (overwhelmingly Republican states) with the places with the highest move out rates (exclusively Democrat controlled). Is there a general pattern here?
h/t @michael_hendrix
This is why we don’t like the Eagles. https://twitter.com/saquon/status/1345944997435207680
Can someone make it make sense to me what’s going on....?
We've heard lots of anecdotal evidence of people moving to CT during the pandemic, but @unitedvanlines says at the end of 2020 it was another year of outmigration for the state #ctbiz #ctnews
Moving company study says Connecticut remained a top state people left in 2020
Connecticut remained a top state where people moved from in 2020, according to an annual study by a national moving company, in contrast to other indi...
www.courant.com
In the past decade, Hartford got a state-financed busway from New Britain, a new train line from New Haven to Springfield, and a new nearby hospital together costing taxpayers nearly $2B to build + $200M/yr. On top, it has a mill rate over 50. No more money. No more excuses.
What the Hartford needs is a major investment into it’s infrastructure. This is something that has been hamstrung since the Eisenhower Administration. Hartford is blocked from its beautiful river by I-91 and the North End of the city is isolated by I-84.
Generations ago, Hartford was one of the richest cities in the US. Today, after continuous rule by @CTDems, it’s bankrupt, dangerous, and impoverished. @bobforgovernor is right: CT must learn from that failure, not double down on it.
Opinion | What Isn‘t the Matter With Hartford?
Once famous as the insurance capital of the world, Connecticut‘s capital city is falling apart.
www.wsj.com
Where is @AlibabaGroup founder @JackMa?
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma suspected missing
The high-profile businessman hasn’t been seen for more than two months.
yhoo.it
This is what capitalism does to poverty. https://twitter.com/zapatistarising/status/1344278119524356096
What’s happening on the floor now? @chiproytx objected to seating Congressmen in the states where election fraud is alleged. Those congressmen alleging election fraud in their own states will now presumably vote to validate their own elections in those same states. Interesting.
Here's a doozie: it looks like Biden won all but 3 of CT's state Senate districts (33/36) – Clinton won 25.
Biden even managed close wins in retiring GOP Leader Len Fasano's SD-34 and in uncontested SD-21, home of Republican Leader-elect Kevin Kelly. #ctpol
Bridgeport nears 2006 homicide record with latest slaying
Bridgeport nears 2006 homicide record with latest slaying
Bridgeport hits 24 homicides after a Sunday afternoon slaying.
www.ctpost.com
It's a statue of the slave rising after he is freed from the chains of slavery by Lincoln. The original was fully paid for by emancipated slaves.
Here was the Frederick Douglas speech at the dedication in 1876: https://transcription.si.edu/project/12955 https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1343982274149285890
Statue of slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed in Boston https://trib.al/uGTbxxG
Padres are straight goin for it like it’s 1998.
Yu Darvish is officially a Padre.
America likely experienced the largest numerical AND percentage increases in murders this year since records began in 1960. Horrid.
The largest national % increase ever reported (data since 1960) was 12.7% in 1968 and the largest # increase was 1,938 in 1990. A 15% increase this year (and I think it'll be much larger) would mean 2,400 more murders & be the worst one year increase in murder ever recorded.
Final national murder update of 2020:
Murder up 36.7% in 57 agencies with data through at least September (though most have data through November). Murder up in 51 of 57, 37 of 58 agencies reporting murder up more than 30%.
Spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z9b5mIwztAwmEHJW7Q5DHMjS14-Rs7XIXOt33Al_rDw/edit#gid=1757262194
Don't borrow billions from China to send $4k checks to childless households with $150k incomes that haven't lost a dollar of wages during COVID only to raise taxes in the future & *destroy jobs for people who need them down the line*. Target the aid. There are no free lunches.
Note: @RepSchrader is correct. https://twitter.com/elwasson/status/1343667962662809604
I knew that locking everyone in their homes, shutting down small biz, & indiscriminately cutting people large gov’t checks borrowed from China & paid off w/ future middle-class tax increases is a left-wing policy fantasy, but I’m surprised many Rs are acquiescing.
Right, yes, it was the *pandemic* that caused crime to spike
(https://cdn.ymaws.com/counciloncj.org/resource/resmgr/covid_commission/Crime_in_US_Cities_-_October.pdf)
My daughter is in school in person full time. 5 days a week. She's so happy and thriving. https://twitter.com/ctcapitolreport/status/1343935010450132992
Epidemiologists See Little Evidence of Classroom Spread of COVID in Connecticut... http://bit.ly/2PMNv0
A Pay Hike for CT State Employees, A New Tax for Everyone Else
@ryanfazio
@EdDadakis
CT House GOP calls on Lamont to suspend the latest state employee pay raise as well as the newest new tax
The new year will bring another round of wage increases for state employees and a new payroll tax for everyone else, and House Republicans are calling...
www.the-red-line.com
OTD in 1973, Russian author @AI_Solzhenitsyn published "The Gulag Archipelago, a "brutal and uncompromising description of political repression and terror . . . of the Soviet police state from the time of the Bolshevik Revolution to 1956."
"The Gulag Archipelago" is published
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn‘s ”literary investigation” of the police-state system in the Soviet Union, The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956, ...
www.history.com
Blue Dog Democrat @RepSchrader comes out against the $2,000 checks bill. "People who are making six figure incomes and who have not been impact by Covid-19 do not need checks,"
Good article on cancer statistics, including a figure showing mortality rate improvements over the last 40+ years: https://ourworldindata.org/cancer #cancer #oncology #vanquishingcancer #health
.@MJGerson: In the scriptures, Jesus is given the name Emmanuel, which is Hebrew for “God with us.” He entered the bowels of human existence for the sake of every human soul. The implications are remarkable: There are no insignificant or pointless lives.
Opinion | The defiant hope of Christmas: God is with us
That means there are no insignificant or pointless lives.
www.washingtonpost.com
"The movement of these industries is toward three states that have one thing in common—no state income tax. And these are the only three states with no income tax in the southeastern quadrant of the US" https://www.econlib.org/connect-the-dots/
No one seems to be able to explain this...
✅ vs. No. 4 Michigan State
✅ at Indiana
✅ vs. No. 23 Ohio State
For the first time since 1967-68, @NUMensBball is 3-0 in B1G play.
Another HUGE @NUMensBball win.
👀👀👀 you next week, Top 25!
Another one.
#B1GCats | #PoundTheRock
🚨New working paper🚨 with Constantine Yannelis
We study “The Distributional Effects of Student Loan Forgiveness”. We find forgiveness to be a highly regressive policy. Full cancellation would distribute $192 bn to the top 20% of earners, and only $29 bn to the bottom 20%. 1/15
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men. Luke 2:11 #MerryChristmas
I just sent $30,000 to @stoolpresidente to help restaurants! Keep up the amazing Twitter Philanthropy, Dave! ❤️💵🇺🇸 https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1342236093119401986
You are prob right @pulte https://twitter.com/AustinDavis0696/status/1342235501286334465
When you can't just "trust the science" because the scientists keep lying to you and then saying, "oh, that was just a noble lie, sorry about that."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/24/health/herd-immunity-covid-coronavirus.html
Northwestern basketball 👀 sneaky! Another big win in the best conference in America!
....and to all a good night 😈
#B1GCats | #PoundTheRock
Our model implies that 9th graders from the poorest neighborhoods lose 0.6 standard deviations in skills, which amounts to about half a point on the 4-point GPA scale.
Children from the richest neighborhoods experience no learning loss at all.
Lawmakers should consider policies that offer a more constructive way to improve policing while maintaining public safety. via @dkurtzz
How to Reform Policing While Keeping People Safe | City Journal
Lawmakers should consider more constructive policies to improve policing while maintaining public safety.
cityjourn.al
This is rich. The same day private sector employees in CT lose .5% of their pay to new payroll tax, State workers get a pay increase! #2021shouldbebetter #notfair #helpCTrecover
OP-ED | It’s Not Time For Another Tax | CT News Junkie https://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/20201223_op-ed_its_not_time_for_another_tax/#.X-NnWhd_ZLI.twitter .@PatrickSasser5 opines
CT, NJ, NH try to claw back income taxes being paid by former commuters—now working from home—to NY and MA
States Square Off Over Taxing Remote Workers‘ Income
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court could set a precedent on taxing employees working from home that endures past the Covid-19 pandemic.
www.wsj.com
Climate modeling shows regional gas tax would have no effect on climate change
Climate modeling shows regional gas tax would have no effect on climate change
The Transportation and Climate Initiative is pushing for a regional cap and trade system on gasoline distributors to fight climate change, invest in m...
rb.gy
Time for a new celebratory @andrewcuomo memoir!
“How To Tax Friends and Influence People To Move Away”
NY leads nation in population drop, could lose House seat https://trib.al/Q0UhpVz
A janitor making $4/hour walked into a Fortune 500 company boardroom. Shaking, he took a seat opposite the CEO.
"So I had an idea..." he nervously began.
Years later, that idea would become an iconic consumer brand and make him worth ~$20M.
Here's how that meeting went 🧶👇
A new regional gas tax, like tolls and the payroll tax, would be a major regressive burden on working families in Connecticut that will destroy jobs and increase cost of living. Don’t make things tougher when our state’s economy is hurting.
Connecticut Signs on to Pact to Lower Traffic Pollution, Some Fear It's a New Gas Tax
The governors of three New England states and the mayor of Washington, D.C., have signed a regional pact aimed at dramatically reducing transportation...
www.nbcconnecticut.com
This is a real concrete error arising from social justice ideology failing to see individuals rather than groups. In general I don't think the public health community's forays into politics and ethics have gone well during all this. https://www.slowboring.com/p/vaccinate-elderly
Looks like Deborah Birx pulled a Gavin Newsom, who pulled an Andrew Cuomo, who pulled a Nancy Pelosi, who pulled an Anthony Fauci, who pulled a Lori Lightfoot, who pulled a Bill DeBlasio...
?
Birx traveled over Thanksgiving weekend after warning Americans to
White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx traveled to her Delaware vacation home during the Thanksgiving weekend despite advising peop...
thehill.com
@wowpatricia I am not getting stoned with Amy Klobuchar.
Drug overdose deaths "reached a record high as the coronavirus pandemic held the [U.S.] in its grip last spring... For the 12 months ending in May, more than 81,000 people died from an overdose," the "highest number ever recorded during a 12-month period."
U.S. drug overdose deaths reach record highs
The number of U.S. drug overdose deaths reached a record high as the coronavirus pandemic held the country in its grip last spring, new government dat...
www.upi.com
WHAT an interception! One handed, saving the first half! 😼
The State Bond Commission Friday voted to borrow more than $2.77 million to replace a synthetic turf surface and other improvements in the town of Berlin — the home turf of retiring House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz
As House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz retires, State Bond Commission approves $2.77M for field improvements in Berlin, where he lives and coaches
The State Bond Commission Friday voted to borrow more than $2.77 million to replace a synthetic turf surface and other improvements in the town of Ber...
bit.ly
.@RonJohnsonWI is right. Congress should focus relief on laid off or furloughed workers & small biz forced to close due to COVID+response. Internalize external public health costs. This is not the place for demand-side stimulus or @HawleyMO & @BernieSanders’ ideological hang ups.
Because he’s concerned about the national debt...
Since when? GTFOH https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1339985803850764288
Hartford has the highest outmigration of any city in the country during COVID. NYC is 2nd. San Fran is 3rd. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-14/best-us-cities-to-move-to-during-covid-where-and-why-americans-are-relocating