Michael Meeropol
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The day I recorded this commentary, the print edition of the New York Times published an OP ED by Michelle Cottle entitled “Inside the MAGAverse on the Eve of Trump’s Trial” (April 17, 2024: A20). In it, Ms Cottle captured the self-satisfaction of the cult-members she interviewed at a Trump rally Saturday, April 12 in rural Pennsylvania.
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I was moved to tears watching a discussion on television about the six immigrant workers who lost their lives filling potholes on the Key Bridge in Baltimore when that giant container ship lost power and knocked the bridge down. I thought of the loss of crucial bread-winning family members. I was impressed that all of these men were immigrants specifically from Central America and Mexico. I was impressed that they were deep in the fabric of American society many having been here for 18 yeas or more, yet, at the same time, they were regularly sending money back to “the old country,” just as countless European immigrants did in the 19th century.
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Have you seen advertisements on TV celebrating American technology and then warning ominously that “some in Washington” want to stifle our technological progress? I have seen many --- they usually feature small business owners praising American technology and warning about bad plans floating around Washington.
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This week I have so many things I want to talk about ---- immigration, the war in Gaza, the Presidential election, the Supreme Court’s decision to delay Trump’s Washington, DC trial ---- but I am going to restrict myself to talking about the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that fertilized eggs in In Vitro Fertilization clinics are BABIES.
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Readers who are knowledgeable about Sherlock Holmes stories know that in one of them, an important clue is that a dog didn’t bark. Well, we in the economics profession have experienced our own “non-barking dog” --- the recession of 2023. It appears that many economists wrongly predicted a recession in 2023 and that fact was duly noted in the media when we ended the year with not merely a positive growth rate (3.1%) but a surge in job creation over the last few months that beat all expectations.
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My last commentary was about the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit from last spring. In that lawsuit, nine New Yorkers heard testimony from Ms. Carroll – after which she was subjected to a strong cross-examination by Trump’s lawyers. Though Trump chose not to testify in person, he had sat for a deposition some of which was played for the jurors. After listening to Ms. Carroll, including the cross-examination, and to Trump, that jury found that Ms. Carroll was telling the truth and that Trump was lying.
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How many listeners have heard of the writer E. Jean Carroll? If you were watching the news during the days immediately after the IOWA caucuses, you would have learned that Donald Trump was once again in a courtroom being sued for damages because he had defamed Ms. Carroll.
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On January 1, 22 states and 38 cities and counties raised their minimum wage.
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I assume most listeners have heard of Kate Cox, the Texas woman who is carrying a child with a rare immune-compromised birth defect.
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The reason Speaker Johnson wants to cut IRS funding is because he wants to make it easier for billionaires to cheat the rest of us out of taxes that are in the law.