Closure averted by Democrats as more of them vote in favor of the CR than Republicans. Next drama, what happens to McCarthy? He may need more Democratic votes to survive, more than a little irony.
Apparently, Mr. Trump over the weekend of September 23rd and 24th, went on a series of social media rants in which he accused a variety of people of treason, harshly criticized the media, and generally tore up the internet. He then went to North Carolina for a rally but did not attend the next Republican debate. He was also ordered, in one of the less famous cases, by a Judge to refrain from comments about witnesses and evidence, so it will be interesting to see how the Federal Judge handling his documents case decides the request by Mr. Smith for a similar gag order.
There has been interesting polling reported which reflects that Americans’ views on climate change appears to be shifting due to the recent vast experience of Americans with climate catastrophes, including fire, drought, hurricanes, rising sea levels, drenching rains which have caused all kinds of issues throughout the country, and of course extreme heat. The numbers are significant – 74% of respondents indicated that they have been impacted by extremely hot weather, and the general numbers changed from 54% in April to about 65% of respondents indicating that climate change had had a material impact on them during their lifetime. These are significant indicators of a change in how the public views climate change, but whether this translates to how the public votes, we’ll have to wait and see. Republicans are generally opposed to the idea of climate change and think no action needs to be taken. If, however, these views on climate change impact the voting public when combined with how the public feels about the abortion issue could spell real danger for Republicans except those in deeply red states.
The Wall Street Journal recently had an article that provided an in-depth analysis of the 4-day workweek which, surprisingly enough, they were neutral on. They pointed out that those businesses that desired to convert to the 4-day workweek found it to be a complex process to implement, even if both the employer and the employee were desirous of accomplishing it. The utilization of a 4-day workweek ultimately comes down to squeezing 40 hours of work into 32 hours which creates, obviously, substantially more stress for everyone involved, including the customers of the business. It is interesting to me that there is very little discussion about how customer’s expectations will be managed. The most memorable quote in the article is “working less takes a lot of work”. This concept is gaining traction from lawmakers in California, Massachusetts and other states (none of which have been enacted into law) pushing businesses to adopt a 4-day schedule. The outcome, according to those organizations that have at least dipped a toe in is that they have a happier, healthier staff with less turnover, and a wave of interest from job applicants. One of the big issues to deal with, of course, is meetings, which need to be cut in order to make time for work. Many businesses have also opted to offer flexible shifts from 3-5 days. Turnover fell to 4% in some businesses that have experimented with this idea. Clearly, it won’t work for every business, but it is certainly worth a looksee.
Durable goods orders were up 2/10’s of 1%, after declining in the previous month. This reflects that businesses are ordering equipment, airplanes and other large items which require the expenditure of considerable sums, thus, benefiting both the manufacturer and the economy, in general. This is good news and likely confusing for the Fed.
Listening to discussions by experts concerning the UAW strike has disclosed some interesting statistics. The most shocking to me was that 80% of vehicle sales are trucks, with only 20% being cars. I have to say that when I look around it doesn’t appear to be correct as there are a lot of SUVs, so I am questioning that statistic. Secondarily, the employment levels in the automotive industry have dropped to about 25% of what they were 40 and 50 years ago, which is also something of a surprise given production levels and when we look to the future of electric cars that likely will accelerate the trend.
I was listening to a news report and the UAW member who is interviewed indicated that he felt that the rich, which included the senior executives at the big three auto makers, were trying to destroy the middle class. There is only one issue that I have with that thought. If the middle class were destroyed, who would buy the products produced by major Corporations? If your memory of history, particularly in the automotive business, is still intact, then you will know that Henry Ford paid wages that were higher than most other employers at the times, with a big part of that reasoning being to ensure that his employees could buy his products. I think that logic still applies.
It was reported that claims for unemployment insurance dipped slightly in the last reporting period. Again, another bit of confusion for the Fed.
Canada shall have national elections no later than October 25th, 2025. More on that later.
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.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.