zeke5123a
10hr ago
The economy is as the 4chan guys say fake and gay. The Fed chairmen is openly saying the job numbers are overstated. There is a historically unprecedented massive difference between the establishment and the household survey. If you believe the household survey there has been basically no job growth overall AND an actual job loss for non immigrants. The establishment survey owes almost 60% of job growth to the birth/death calculation which is a big fudge factor. For that reason you have people like the chief economist at Bloomberg suggesting the household survey is more reliable.
Similarly you have fudge factors in inflation that can bring it way down. Summers showed using historic cpi calculation inflation was about 2x the historic rate. And inflation is still high compared to the 2010s and this is off an elevated base).
Finally, a lot of the soft data (eg manufacturing, service data) has been ugly or turning ugly suggesting a slow down in GDP. This despite the fact the government is borrowing a trillion dollars every hundred days so GDP growth (which counts government spending) should be stabilized. The problem with that is the government is probably crowding out beneficial private spending.
The stock market looks good but that’s basically been (when adjusted for inflation) higher P/E ratios and growth at the very top (AI tech boom — if there is no is there the market will tank). Like most things, when you look under the surface the market doesn’t actually look great.
When you add all of this up it doesn’t paint a rosy picture. Under Biden, household net worth on real terms hasn’t budged and that’s using official data. It has almost certainly gotten worse.
zeke5123a
10hr ago
The other poster also picked a random time during Trump’s presidency where the stock market was low.
zeke5123a
11hr ago
Yes if you pick a time when the market crashed due to covid it is up a lot. If you pick from when Joe Biden took over (2021) and adjust for inflation…not that much. Net worth is up for families less than 1%.
zeke5123a
11hr ago
I would add beyond inflation even the Fed chairmen is now suggesting the job numbers are “overstated”
zeke5123a
11hr ago
But is Australia better? To my eyes, it is more authoritarian. Sometimes enshrining the blob has the effect that change is quite difficult.
zeke5123a
11hr ago
I wonder if restricting the franchise is the core right wing belief that is outside the Overton window? I say this as someone who would heavily reduce the franchise.
zeke5123a
1d ago
Yes. Punitive damages are designed to discourage bad behavior. But we also have caps on punitive damages because it is protection against people who aren’t well liked. Do we think Sandman would’ve gotten a billion dollars from numerous news companies that in unison seemed to slander him?
zeke5123a
1d ago
Does he? Ive heard him apologize for example on Joe Rogan. What also is wrong with Jones’ business model. It is part entertainment part conspiracy theorist. Both of those things are legal. He even sometimes is right!
Who is he slandering that has power over him?
zeke5123a
1d ago
No but we also can’t prove it was done as a result of Jones’ followers. Causation is really hard (people hear a lot of stuff and do random things all of the time).
zeke5123a
1d ago
I don’t know (which is one reason I’m skeptical of IIED torts) but it isn’t a billion dollars.
zeke5123a
1d ago
I don’t think the Sandy Hook parents (or at least some of them) are private—when you speak out nationally you become a public figure.
I do agree there is always a line between opinion and fact statements. For example, if we substitute “threat to democracy” with say “insurrectionist” you’ve gotten closer to statement of fact (Maddow could still argue that what a insurrectionist is is an opinion which is what his area of law is difficult).
And yes, I agree that wrongful death is not as compensatory as living victims. But a billion dollars? Come on. That’s lunacy.
zeke5123a
1d ago
What’s the standard here? If people tried to break into his home whilst burning historic churches next to where he then lived would that count?
zeke5123a
1d ago
Sure. I’m saying the compensatory damages are actually punitive damages in disguise because of course they are.
zeke5123a
1d ago
Well I think there is more than that. For example we know Hunter made payments on behalf of Joe. We know Jim transferred money to Joe (allegedly as a loan repayment). We have testimony from people that Joe was involved. We have emails and texts from the participants saying Joe was involved. We have evidence that money was directed to many Biden clan members despite them not being involved in the shady business dealings (many grandparents want to send money to their kids). There is a lot more smoke here compared to Gini Thomas.
zeke5123a
1d ago
Maybe things like calling him a threat to democracy or a Russian plant etc etc. not that dissimilar to what Jones did to be honest.
Law is supposed to have procedures that protect the defendant as much as it provides vindication to the plaintiff. For example, there is a limitation on unreasonable fines. This seems like a paradigmatic unreasonable fine.
zeke5123a
1d ago
The republican talking point isn’t that Hunter and Jim are sleazy. The argument is that Joe was clearly involved. Now you might not believe it, but there is an obvious potential direct connection with Joe and there is documentary evidence supporting that connection. Smoking gun? Doesn’t seem. Enough to get to say more likely than not? Sure.
zeke5123a
1d ago
There is no world where there was almost a billion dollars in actual damages.
Why isn’t this an eighth amendment violation?
zeke5123a
1d ago
And if someone assassinates Trump, can Trump Jr bankrupt Maddow?
It is a very slippery slope to apply an “egging on” standard.
zeke5123a
4d ago
Ehh the best way is high five figure speaking fees. Do twenty speaking engagements a year. Do that for 15 years. Couple that with underpriced investments and you are pretty rich.
zeke5123a
5d ago
I think the complaint is that left and right just don’t mean anything. Instead, I generally see them as boo lights.
zeke5123a
6d ago
Agreed. The value is factual based on how much is left to pay and life expectancy. I’m not making a claim on how much the asset was worth but that likely there was some value.
Which well isn’t really all that great for 3.5 years! It isn’t terrible but not great either.
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