The chaos in the Capital with Mr. McCarthy loosing 14 votes, then being elected as speaker was an embarrassing way for the Republicans to start, and as the Wall Street Journal pointed out it will not give confidence even to their most avid supporters that Republicans can govern. In contrast, although the Democrats had a lot of boisterous voices on the left, it did not impede the selection of Speaker Pelosi on one ballot, and although it took approximately a year to coalesce, they did so and passed some significant legislation. This is true whether you agree or disagree with the content of that legislation. The adoption of House Rules is likely to be as messy as The Speaker’s election.
Canada, like the US, has decided to put in restrictions on Chinese travelers due to the continuing Covid outbreak and the lack of information which the Chinese are willing to share. There have been some leaks out of China by physicians and others indicating that there are serious problems in Chinese hospitals with the number of cases that appear to be exploding in China.
Unemployment applications fell to the lowest level in 3 months to 204,000 on December 31, 2022. Simultaneously it was reported that 235,000 jobs were added, and job openings slipped slightly to 10.46 in December. The FED predicted higher unemployment to a rate of 4.6% by the end of 23. The tech sector is seeing layoffs, nonetheless the job market remains strong. Does the FED keep pushing rates, I think they’ll push till the end of the first quarter of 2023. Long term mortgage rates hit 6.48%. The FED’s last hike brought its rate to 4.25-4.5%. Treasury yield remains inverted.
Car sales fell 8% in 2022 with the cause identified as supply chain issues. Interestingly, that caused prices to rise during the height of COVID but now sales are slowing. Consumers have less cash available and spending on a big purchase like a car is impacted by inflation-necessities come first.
Kevin McCarthy to have achieved a appears hollow victory as he will be held hostage by the same 20 members on all major legislation making it hard to reach a compromises with the Senate. Pushing Mr. McCarthy around is much different then the Senate and the President, he caved on almost everything while the Senate and President will want to truly negotiate. This was a pathetic demonstration at every level and fully supported by our own vacuous representative.
The US is reopening its Consular offices in Cuba. This is a very interesting break though.
Some recent studies indicate that the human stride is a very complex mechanical operation. One of the things that has been noted, is that humans, in the process of walking, have two bounces in their step, and humans compared to other animals walk “strangely”. It appears that the evolutionary basis for this motion is one that helps to decrease the strain on the ankle and the knee, and thus, allows us to walk upright as opposed to the way most other mammals walk. They also noted that we walk heal to toe, whereas most other animals walk on the balls of their feet, or at least the front of the foot. Your heal strikes first, then you roll onto your toes for take-off and your leg goes into forward swing with your planted leg bouncing twice before swinging into the next step. Interesting to know, not sure how much benefit it will make during my next walk or exercise.
Scientists have also been studying the DNA -300 ancient genomes- of Scandinavian populations and have determined that for a period of about 1000 years there was significant movement from central Europe and western Europe into Scandinavia, as well as the reverse. This is reflected in the DNA of the current Scandinavian populations. I would also note that many people in England, Scotland and Ireland share DNA from the Viking invasions and settlements. One of the most noteworthy settlements was around Dublin which existed for hundreds of years and was a major center of Scandinavia activity, primarily Danes. It intrigues me how this information is discerned by scientists, and the conclusions that they reach. It also shows how much more complex our evolution was than we may have originally thought.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
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