An increasing share of adults under 50 say they're unlikely to have kids -- and the major reason is, well, they just don't want them, according to a report from Pew Research Center out Thursday morning. read more
After nearly two months of postponement, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are still on board the ISS. But NASA and Boeing say they still plan to return the two aboard Starliner. read more
JD Vance is the first non-incumbent vice presidential nominee to have a net-negative favorable rating after a convention since 1980, according to poll numbers. read more
Although US coal consumption has fallen dramatically since 2005, the country still consumes millions of tons a year, and exports tons more -- much of it transported by train. Now, new research shows that these trains can affect the health of people living near where they pass. read more
Comments Donald Trump's running mate JD Vance made in 2021 questioning Vice President Kamala Harris' leadership because she did not have biological children have resurfaced ... read more
Trump campaign won't commit to debates with Harris yet
thehill.com
... The Trump campaign said Thursday it would not agree to a general election debate with Vice President Harris "until Democrats formally decide on their nominee" after Harris said she was ready to debate the former president.
"Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee," Trump communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Cheung claimed there "is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party ... that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone better,'" citing former President Obama's lack of endorsement to date, though Obama is expected to back Harris publicly soon.
"Therefore, it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds," Cheung said. ...
@#25 ... Republicans made this bed, they get to sleep in it. ...
Well, yeah.
American Voters Concerned About Age of Presidential Candidates (February 2024)
www.voanews.com
... Early primary results indicate that the 2024 U.S. presidential election will be a rematch of the 2020 contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, with voters choosing between someone who would be the country's oldest president (Biden) or its second-oldest president (Trump).
Many voters are unhappy with the choice. An ABC News/Ipsos poll earlier this month found 59% of Americans think both presumptive nominees are too old to serve another term. ...
OK, so the Democrats seem to have dealt with that issue of voters regarding the age of the candidate.
Republicans, what have ye?
@#9 ... so it's not like some kind of emergency ...
I agree.
But that's not the issue here.
Boeing's apparent "profit over safety" is the issue that concerns me.
As I have said in a prior comment...
I agree with Sen Hawley on this issue. Profits over safety...
You're the Problem': Hawley Bashes Boeing CEO for Prioritizing Profit over Safety, Transparency, and Quality
www.hawley.senate.gov
... Today in a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) questioned Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Boeing's safety failures and his lack of accountability as CEO.
"I think the truth is Mr. Calhoun, you're not focused on safety, you're not focused on quality, you're not focused on transparency [ ... ] I think actually you're focused on what you were hired to do which is that you're cutting corners. You are eliminating safety procedures. You are sticking it to your employees. You are cutting back jobs because you're trying to squeeze every piece of profit you can out of this company," said Senator Hawley.
Senator Hawley pressed Mr. Calhoun on his salary of nearly $33 million while the company under his leadership has persistent quality and safety issues.
He continued, "For the American people, they're in danger. For your workers, they're in peril. For your whistleblowers, they literally fear for their lives, but you're getting compensated like never before."
... The US economy continues to show signs of resilient growth while inflation pressures subside ...
Yup.
US economic growth increased last quarter to a healthy 2.8% annual rate
apnews.com
... The nation's economy accelerated last quarter at a strong 2.8% annual pace, with consumers and businesses helping drive growth despite the pressure of continually high interest rates.
Thursday's report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product -- the economy's total output of goods and services -- picked up in the April-June quarter after growing at a 1.4% pace in the January-March period. Economists had expected a weaker 1.9% annual pace of growth. ...
@#14 ... Just like he is clueless that consumers, not the originating country pay for tariffs ...
Who Really Pays the Tariffs? U.S. Firms and Consumers, Through Higher Prices (2021)
taxfoundation.org
... When the Trump administration imposed tariffs on various imports in 2018, the stated purpose was to boost U.S. industries and punish foreign exporters. But rather than hurting foreign exporters, the economic evidence shows it is American firms and consumers hardest hit by the Trump tariffs.[emphasis mine]
The tariffs resulted in higher prices for a wide variety of goods that U.S. consumers and businesses purchase. The Biden administration has continued and even increased many of the Trump tariffs"drawing some attention as inflation rises. And while tariffs do raise prices for American consumers, their impact on economy-wide inflation is relatively small.
When the U.S. imposes tariffs on imports, U.S. businesses directly pay import taxes to the U.S. government on their purchases from abroad.
The economic burden of the tariffs, however, could fall on others besides the U.S. business directly paying the tax, including foreign businesses selling goods to U.S. businesses (if foreigners lower their prices to absorb some of the tariffs), or U.S. consumers ultimately purchasing the goods (if U.S. businesses raise their prices to pass on the tariffs).
Historically, economists have generally found that foreign firms have absorbed some of the burden of tariffs by lowering their prices, meaning domestic firms and consumers haven't borne the entirety of higher tariffs in the past.
In contrast to past studies, however, new studies have found the Trump-Biden tariffs have been passed almost entirely through to U.S. firms or final consumers. ...
@#2
Yeah.
Back when the launch was announced, I commented something about who would want to get on a Boeing space vehicle, given what I saw as an apparent "profit over quality" issue that Boeing seemed to have been going through.
Boeing CEO admits company has retaliated against whistleblowers during Senate hearing: I know it happens' (June 2024)
www.independent.co.uk
Long been the case' that we're stretched too thin, Secret Service says
www.govexec.com