Initial jobless claims for the week ending on Feb. 20 dropped dramatically to a seasonally adjusted 730,000, one of the lowest readings since the pandemic began and well below expectations. Dow Jones economists expected 845,000 new claims, similar to the 841,000 seen the previous week. The figure remains higher than the highest pre-pandemic record for weekly claims. ADVERTISEMENT An additional 451,402 people signed up for an emergency unemployment program, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, bringing the total number of claims to near 1.2 million. That program, along with a weekly $300 benefit increase and a program to extend benefits, is set to expire on March 14 if Congress does not act. That could end benefits for more than 11 million people and reduce benefits for as many as 8 million others. Democrats are promising to extend all of the programs before the deadline as part of President Biden Joe Biden Biden 'disappointed' in Senate parliamentarian ruling but 'respects' decision Taylor Swift celebrates House passage of Equality Act Donald Trump Jr. calls Bruce Springsteen's dropped charges 'liberal privilege' MORE 's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, expected to advance in the House on Friday. While the numbers saw a sharp decline, federal watchdogs have warned that claims data is extremely vulnerable to being distorted by processing errors. That raises questions about the true size of last week's decline, especially as treacherous winter weather disrupted much of the U.S. "Seasonal related distortions caused a larger than expected decline in first time jobless claims to 730K. Policymakers should take the decline in claims with a grain of salt, which is more than was available for the roads in Texas which froze over during that week," tweeted Joseph Brusuelas , chief economist at audit and tax firm RSM. Ohio's jobless claims have also been driven higher by scammers, according to state officials , artificially ...
Detroit power outage
Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse ‘Biggest Hypocrite in Politics’ on Dark Money
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has served as one of the most vocal Democrat critics of “dark money’s” influence in politics, but the Rhode Island Democrat appears to be a significant beneficiary of dark money. Whitehouse has frequently criticized the alleged nefarious effects of dark money on politics, particularly as it relates to conservative and Republican dark money. Dark Money refers to political spending in which the source of the money is not disclosed. Political groups typically use dark money through political action groups such as 501(c)(4)s, and the federal government does not require those groups to disclose their donors. “Opaque” nonprofits and shell companies may also give unlimited donations to super PACs. The transparency organization OpenSecrets noted that while the Federal Election Commission (FEC) usually requires super PACs to disclose their donors, “some of these groups are effectively dark money outlets when the bulk of their funding cannot be traced back to the original donor.” Whitehouse most recently criticized conservative groups, allegedly funded by dark money, for launching attacking ads against President Joe Biden’s nominees. Whitehouse asked rhetorically, “Dark money groups running ads complaining about dark money. Hilarious. What are the chances they will support S.1 and DISCLOSE Act to get rid of dark money? Nil.” Dark money groups running ads complaining about dark money. Hilarious. What are the chances they will support S.1 and DISCLOSE Act to get rid of dark money? Nil. https://t.co/F3f7Izx8JJ — Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) February 18, 2021 Whitehouse also told former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in January 2020 how then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) kept the Senate Republican Conference in line using dark money: Whitehouse also attacked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in November 2019, claiming that the organization was using its dark money to attack efforts to combat alleged ...
Anti-Trump Professor: ‘Dying’ GOP ‘Replicating’ Soviet Communist Party
The Atlantic published an op-ed on Thursday comparing the GOP to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of the late 1970s, claiming that Republicans — like the last Soviet-era holdouts in the Kremlin — are “growing more aggressive and paranoid” as the “dying” Republican Party is described as “more of a danger to the United States than to the world.” The essay , penned by Harvard professor and prominent anti-Trump voice Tom Nichols, is titled, “The Republican Party Is Now in Its End Stages” and begins by claiming that the GOP “has become, in form if not in content, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union of the late 1970s.” Clarifying his intent, Nichols writes that “the Republicans have entered their own kind of end-stage Bolshevism, as members of a party that is now exhausted by its failures, cynical about its own ideology, authoritarian by reflex, controlled as a personality cult by a failing old man, and looking for new adventures to rejuvenate its fortunes.” After describing the Soviet Union’s Communist Party as “a vehicle for a cabal of elites, with a cult of personality at its center” whose members could be denounced or fired if they “questioned anything, or expressed any sign of unorthodoxy,” Nichols writes “This should all sound familiar.” Nichols goes on to accuse the GOP of hypocrisy and idolization. “The Republican Party has, for years, ignored the ideas and principles it once espoused, to the point where the 2020 GOP convention simply dispensed with the fiction of a platform and instead declared the party to be whatever Comrade—excuse me, President—Donald Trump said it was,” he writes. “Like Brezhnev, Trump has grown in status to become a heroic figure among his supporters.” "Like Brezhnev, Trump has grown in status to become a heroic figure among his supporters. If the GOP could create the rank of 'Marshal of the American Republic' and strike a medal for a 'Hero of American Culture,' Trump would have them both by ...
Ted Cruz: Fortune 500, Wall Street ‘Overwhelmingly Favor’ Joe Biden, Democrats
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday slammed Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) attack on “dark money,” noting that Fortune 500 companies and Wall Street “overwhelmingly favor” Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden. Whitehouse attacked dark money’s alleged influence in American politics and elections. The Rhode Island Democrat spent his 30 minutes allotted for questioning Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s qualifications for the Supreme Court by attacking conservative institutions such as the Federalist Society. During his time, he failed to ask Barrett one question. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) just “questioned” Judge Amy Coney Barrett for approximately 30 minutes. ACB word count in the exchange: 0 — Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 13, 2020 Cruz noted that most super PAC spending during the 2016 presidential election benefitted Democrats over Republicans. He explained: Our Democratic colleagues when they address the issue of free speech, of so-called ‘dark money,’ and campaign finance contributions, are often deeply, deeply hypocritical. And, they don’t address the actual facts that exist. Here are some facts, of the top 20 organizations spending money for political speech in the year 2016, 14 of them gave virtually of their money to Democrats. And another three split their money evenly, so only three of the top 20 gave money to Republicans, what did that mean in practice? That meant that the top 20 super PACs donors contributed $422 million to Democrats and $189 million to Republicans. “Those who give those impassioned speeches against dark money don’t mention that their side is funded by dark money with a massive differential,” Cruz added. Breitbart News’ John Binder reported in September that “all the big banks” on Wall Street have backed Biden over Trump during the 2020 presidential election. CNN wrote : The securities and investment industry donated just $10.5 million to Trump’s presidential campaign and outside groups aligned with it, ...
Sheldon Whitehouse Presents ‘Dark Money’ Conspiracy Theory, Asks Amy Coney Barrett Zero Questions
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) used his entire time on the second day of the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday to present a “dark money” conspiracy theory. He asked Judge Barrett no actual questions. Using a series of posters, a magic marker, a highlighter, and an indeterminate number of Post-it notes, Whitehouse sketched a complicated theory — called “The Scheme” — in which he claimed that “dark money” groups influenced the selection of judges. Sheldon Whiteshouse (Screenshot / C-SPAN) Whitehouse brought in various different groups and individuals, including Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, and Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network, which advocates for constitutional conservatives on the bench. Though Whitehouse suggested that he needed to explain his theory to establish a “predicate” for asking Judge Barrett questions, he never asked her any questions. Whitehouse also railed against the Federalist Society in U.S. House testimony last month. The irony is that Whitehouse — and the left in general — have a “dark money” problem. As the Wall Street Journal noted : [O]n Tuesday Mr. Whitehouse refused to abide by the normal practice for congressional witnesses of answering questions. Mr. Whitehouse knew that, if he answered questions, he was under legal obligation to tell the truth. House Republicans might have asked him about the dark-money outfit Arabella Advisors. This for-profit entity oversees nonprofits including the Sixteen Thirty Fund and the New Venture Fund, which together reported nearly a billion dollars in revenue in 2017 and 2018. Arabella affiliate Demand Justice ran a smear campaign against Brett Kavanaugh and is now calling for Democrats to pack the Supreme Court. Demand Justice bills itself as a “project” of the Sixteen Thirty Fund and the New Venture Fund, and in public disclosures it lists the same office address as the two nonprofits. ...
