When I hear prominent conservative media commentators and brainy columnists call America-haters bent on destroying our noble Constitutional Republic “progressives” I feel the top of my head may fly up and stick on the ceiling. They should know better. The sickening behavior of these tyrannical anarchists are the very opposite of progressive which Webster defines as “continuous improvement; the development of an individual or group in a direction considered more beneficial than and superior to the previous level.” There’s nothing beneficial for us as citizens or our nation about lawlessness, destruction of private property by black-masked Antifa terrorists, attacks on the First and Second Amendments, cancelling the voices of those who disagree with WOKE dogma, and shrill Maxine Waters-esque calls for personal attacks. Yet as long as we let them get away with calling themselves progressives, they can claim moral and intellectual superiority over the rest of us.
When it comes to the great American work ethic, our country is hurtling down the wrong path. The Biden administration is putting America into an increasingly dangerous situation by creating a permanent class of people who simply don t want to work, preferring instead to sit at home and collect government checks.
Economic support following the COVID-19 pandemic has morphed into a monster. The unfettered flow of cash into the pockets of Americans courtesy of our government is blowing up the deficit and creating a generation of slackers who prefer to sit home and watch reality TV instead of rejoining the real world where people work to make a living.
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Source: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Inflation is soaring in the United States and at a higher rate than analysts predicted. In April 2021, the consumer price index saw a 4.3 percent jump, the fastest increase since 2008. Inflation accelerated at its fastest pace in more than 12 years for April as the U.S. economic recovery kicked into gear and energy prices jumped higher, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. The Consumer Price Index, which measures a basket of goods as well as energy and housing costs, rose 4.2% from a year ago, compared to the Dow Jones estimate for a 3.6% increase. The monthly gain was 0.8%, against the expected 0.2%, CNBC reports. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI increased 3% from the same period in 2020 and 0.9% on a monthly basis. The respective estimates were 2.3% and 0.3%.
At the same time, businesses of all sizes continue to be crushed by COVID-related restrictions, especially in blue states. In February, nearly one-quarter of U.S. small and medium-sized businesses were closed up from 14 percent in October. The worst may be yet to come: 13 percent of small business owners millions of employers are prepared to close their doors if economic conditions do not improve later this year.
Then there’s unemployment. Based on the U6 unemployment rate, which accounts for workers who have quit looking for a job and part-time employees looking for full-time work, joblessness is well above 10 percent of the labor market. Last year, over 8 million American families experienced job loss, and millions more remain impacted.
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A coda to yesterday s post about the recent
Associated Press story contrasting the divergent pandemic mitigation efforts of California and Florida, which took starkly different policy paths on restrictions, then ended up in nearly the exact same place on COVID and distinctly different places on the economy and other key measures. Despite almost identical health outcomes, per the AP, California has destroyed far more jobs and businesses, with unemployment jumping sharply, and in-person classroom instruction is among the worst in the nation. Florida has been far more open, has held down economic suffering, and is near the front of the class on open schools. In my tweet on the issue, I asked the question, where would you rather live? It seems as though Florida Democrats who are eager to defeat Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022 are struggling with the realization that his much-maligned decisions, demonized endlessly in the media, might have been.right: