2:00PM Water Cooler 12/5/2024 | naked capitalism

Democrats en déshabillé

“Jeffries stays out of the way as Dems mutiny against senior panel leaders” [Politico]. The deck: “Democrats are increasingly anxious about the incoming Trump administration and are no longer bowing to seniority rules to pick their committee leaders.” About time. More: “Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, 76, announced this week that he would step down from the top Democratic spot on the Natural Resources Committee. Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, 77, dropped his bid to continue leading Democrats on Judiciary in the face of a tough challenge from 61-year-old Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland. And Rep. David Scott of Georgia, 79, is facing multiple challenges for the top Democratic spot on the Agriculture Committee. It’s akin to a mutiny, especially given Democrats’ typical deference to seniority in who leads panels. But party lawmakers are increasingly anxious about the incoming Trump administration and full GOP control of Congress. Many feel it’s crucial to have leaders who are proven fighters and can effectively push back on Republican priorities like harsh limits on legal immigration. It echoes the argument many used when they called on President Joe Biden to step off the ticket over the summer. At the center of it all is Jeffries, the minority leader, and his leadership team, who also skipped the seniority line in many ways when they rose to the top ranks two years ago. They have publicly stayed out of it, loath to stand in the way of lawmakers who, like them, chafed at the party’s strict adherence to seniority.” And: “”The caucus will guide these kinds of discussions,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the No. 3 House Democrat. “We’re confident that at this time it’s going to take a Democratic Caucus that’s firing on all cylinders to push back against extremism and to make sure we can carry forward the bipartisan principles that we’ve talked about.’” • Ick. Mush.

“Scoop: Pelosi backing “some” House Dem committee ousters” [Axios]. • Maybe, for example–

“Scoop: AOC expected to run for top Oversight Committee role” [Axios]. “Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday she is ‘interested’ in the role and has had ‘a lot of outreach from colleagues’ about a run. She told reporters on Wednesday morning that she has ‘spoken with many members of our caucus, including several members of leadership’ about the race. Ocasio-Cortez also laid out her vision for the panel, saying she wants to use it as a ‘communicative platform for public education’ and a vehicle for ‘real legislative work and investigatory work.’” • And speaking of AOC:

With Governor Delgado having finally enacted the special master’s court-ordered redrawn map, we can now map the 2028 Presidential election by New York’s new districts

Districts eliminated:
NY-10 (Hoylman)
NY-14 (Ocasio-Cortez)
NY-22 (Tenney)

Last week[2] CDC (until next week):

Variants [3] CDC November 23

Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC November 23

Hospitalization

★ New York[5] New York State, data December 4:

National [6] CDC November 28:

Positivity

National[7] Walgreens December 2:

Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic November 23:

Travelers Data

Positivity[9] CDC November 11:
Variants[10] CDC November 4:

Deaths

Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC November 2:

Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC November 2:

LEGEND

1) ★ for charts new today; all others are not updated.

2) For a full-size/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open image in new tab.”

NOTES

[1] (CDC) Good news!

[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.

[3] (CDC Variants) KP.* still popular. XEC has entered the chat. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.

[4] (ED) Down.

[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Leveled out.

[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Actually improved; it’s now one of the few charts to show the entire course of the pandemic to the present day.

[7] (Walgreens) Down.

[8] (Cleveland) Down.

[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.

[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.

[11] Deaths low, positivity down.

[12] Deaths low, ED down.

Stats Watch

Employment Situation: “United States Initial Jobless Claims” [Trading Economics]. “US initial jobless claims rose to 224,000 for the week ending November 30, from 213,000 in the previous week, above market expectations of 215,000 and marking the highest reading in six weeks. Despite this rise, the results still support the view that the US labor market remains at historically strong levels despite the aggressive tightening cycle by the Federal Reserve in the last quarters, adding leeway for the central bank to slow the pace of monetary loosening should inflation remain stubbornly high.”

Employment Situation: “United States Challenger Job Cuts” [Trading Economics]. “US employers announced 57,727 job cuts in November 2024, slightly higher than 55,597 in October and 45,510 a year earlier. The Automotive sector announced the most job cuts (11,506, the highest monthly total since April).”

* * *

Manufacturing: “Boeing Plea Deal Over Fatal 737 Max Crashes Rejected by Judge” [Bloomberg]. “Boeing Co.’s plea deal with US prosecutors over two 737 Max jet crashes was rejected by a federal judge, who said plans for choosing an independent monitor minimized the court’s role and required the parties to consider the race of the person appointed. US District Judge Reed O’Connor on Thursday sided with family members of people killed during the crashes, who urged him to reject the agreement on the grounds that it failed to adequately hold Boeing accountable for the 346 fatalities.” • Oopsie.

Manufacturing: “Boeing Defense Fighter Jet Unit Head Retires Amid Leadership Shake-Up” [Simple Flying]. “The head of Boeing Defense’s fighter jet division will step down after two years in the role. Steve Nordlund will be replaced by Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager of Mobility, Surveillance & Bombers, amid a challenging time for the company…. [Boeing Defense Systems] continues to lose money, posting losses of $2.3 billion in the third quarter. Much of this was due to fixed-cost contracts, including the KC-46A Tanker and T-7 Red Hawk programs.” • I bet there aren’t a whole lot of companies that lose money on defense work.

Manufacturing: “Boeing Isn’t the Only Plane Maker With Problems. Airbus Just Laid Off 2,000 Workers” [Barron’s]. “Wednesday, Airbus announced it was laying off 2,043 workers in its Defense and Space business. The layoffs amount to about 5% of that business and should be completed by mid-2026. The reductions ‘aim to reduce the company’s fixed cost base, with almost all of the positions affected being so-called overhead positions,’ said Airbus in an emailed statement.” And: “Profits in Airbus’ defense segment have struggled, too, and the company is expected to post a loss for the unit in 2024. Operating profit margins in 2023 came in at 2%, down from 6% in 2020. Airbus’ defense sales in 2024 should amount to about $13 billion; Boeing’s defense business will approach $25 billion. What hasn’t been a problem for either company is commercial aerospace demand. Both companies have backlogs that stretch out years. Building the planes has been tougher.”

The Bezzle:

NEW: Amazon charges 48,000 DC residents in Wards 7 & 8 for full Prime membership while excluding them from Prime delivery benefits.

Amazon failed to inform customers they were excluded.

The gun:

There’s been a bunch of misinformation about today’s murder of United Healthcare’s CEO. I’m going to debunk some of the firearms nonsense that’s been stated.

Myth 1: The pistol was a Welrod / B&T Station 6!

* * *

Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From AM:

AM writes: “The last of the fall colors in Roger Williams Park, near the tennis courts. Hope we get some rain soon!!”

* * *

Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert’s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. If you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:

Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:

If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!

This entry was posted in Water Cooler on December 5, 2024 by Lambert Strether.

About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered.

To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

Post navigation

← Murder and Social Murder: The Case of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson