🌞Well That Was Fun – October 07 2020

The Lead: Trump Kills The Stimulus

credit: wsj

President Trump says he is ending talks on a new stimulus package due to an inability to reach an agreement with Democrats. His solution is to wait until after he is re-elected and sign an Executive Order and fix everything.

Except this doesn’t make much sense.

It looks increasingly like he will have a Democratic Senate and House, which means he won’t be able to pass such legislation without Democratic consent. If he can save the economy after the election with an executive sweep, shouldn’t he do so right now? Hanging an executive fix over our heads feels like a bribe.

Quick Civics Lesson

President’s don’t have the power to issue checks by executive action. Congress holds the power of the purse. You can blame the founding fathers for that.

A few days ago…

When the President was in the hospital just a few long days ago, he Tweeted that he wanted lawmakers to come to a deal because it was essential for our economy. Shouldn’t he understand the impact of Covid now that he HAS IT and yet another member of his administration, Stephen Miller, just announced he’s got it too?

Where is this all coming from!? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had still been trying to reach a deal that would provide funding for schools, testing, vaccines, the unemployed. Now, none of that will get funded as the President asks his lawmakers to instead work on confirming his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

The Market

The stock market did not like this twitchy move and plummeted within minutes of the President’s Tweets. All this chaos and he has still not come to the West Wing since his diagnosis, but he says he will soon and that he will attend his scheduled debate with Vice President Joe Biden next week.

The Veeps Turn

credit: Reuters

Tonight is the first and only Vice Presidential debate between incumbent Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Senator Kamala Harris.

VP debates are not always the most exciting events, but this one is high-stakes after President Trump’s discombobulating performance in last week’s presidential debates. Viewers will also likely tune in to see how they deal with the pandemic protocol. Will the Pence team wear masks? Will it be weird that they have plexiglass between them now? Can they use it to pantomime their most fun talking points? Please?

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Turns Out Racism Isn’t Good For Business

credit: Giphy

Racism is bad business, as well as bad human behavior. A study from Citigroup estimates that racist practices have cost the economy $16 trillion.

That means that we as a nation could be that much wealthier if we gave equal opportunities to Black workers, did not deny Black people mortgages and bank loans, and did not funnel employable Black men into prisons at such a high rate.

In addition to being $16 trillion wealthier, the country could otherwise be on a path to gain $5 trillion in GDP over the next 5 years.

This is just one study, but it does seem to prove the old adage that a rising tide floats all boats.

News By The Numbers

credit: ocearch

3,541 pounds. That is the weight of Nukumi, a Great White Shark that was caught, tagged, and thrown back into the Northern Atlantic Ocean off of Nova Scotia. Remind me not to swim there!

292 days. That is how long NASA astronaut Christina Koch has been living and working in the space station, which means that she now holds the record for the longest time in space than any other woman.

1 in 4. That is how many women are considering leaving or scaling back their careers due to the pandemic, which some see as a major setback for gender diversity in the workplace.

20 billion. That is how many doses of the Covid vaccine the air cargo industry is preparing to deliver once the vaccine is ready. A spokesman for the industry trade group says that they are not even close to being ready to do that.

Tech: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

credit: neofeed.com

Big tech companies are too consolidated and stamp out competition unfairly, according to a report by the House Antitrust Subcommittee. This was the result of a 16-month inquiry.

Of course, all of the big tech companies pushed back. Facebook says it is unwilling to consider breaking off WhatsApp and Instagram even though it is still facing an antitrust investigation. Google says the report is outdated and inaccurate even though it also is facing an antitrust investigation. Apple also said that they “vehemently disagree” with the report findings.

The report accuses US antitrust agencies of allowing this power concentration and suggests ways to correct it, including breaking up some of these companies and putting new antitrust laws in place. The committee that produced this report is Democrat-led. Republicans support the findings but not the legislation.

Fat Bear Week Has a Winner

credit: morning invest

Voting has ended for Fat Bear Week, and the winner is the portly bear number 747.

The competition started last week and pitted 12 bears against each other in a bracket-style competition with website visitors choosing the chubbiest bear online each day. Some of them can get up to 1,000 pounds before they head into winter hibernation.

Park rangers said that 747 was fat enough to start his hibernation in July, but he just kept ongoing. Those of us in lockdown can relate.

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