June 28, 2018

Poll: Trump approval rating ticks up to 47 percent

Source: The Hill

President Trump's approval rating has reached an all-time high of 47 percent in the new Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill, a two-point hike from last month.

Trump's approval rating was lifted in part by a 10-point climb among Hispanic voters. His approval rating rose by 6 points among Republicans and by 4 points among Democrats compared to last month's poll.

Trump's approval rating fell by 4 points among independents, and 53 percent of those polled hold an unfavorable view of him.

The rising numbers appear to reflect the strong economy and the president's summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Read more: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142096742#post6

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It sure helps to have billions in RW propaganda through Sinclair Broadcasting and Fox News to celebrate a North Korean nuke deal that isn't and a rising economy that is actually falling. At times, it just gets exhausting dealing with the gas lighting that is going on through Fox, Sinclair, Limbaugh, Alex Jones, etc. This does not even address the corporate media that happily gives Trump 24/7 news coverage.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/27/politics/pompeo-north-korea-threat/index.html

Pompeo: North Korea remains a nuclear threat

Washington (CNN)Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told US lawmakers on Wednesday that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, but defended President Donald Trump for tweeting earlier this month, "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."

"I'm confident what (Trump) intended there was, 'we did reduce the threat,'" Pompeo told a Senate panel. "I don't think there's any doubt about that."

"We took the tension level down," he added.

Pompeo also confirmed North Korea has yet to return the remains of any of the fallen US service members who died in the country during the Korean War, despite the President saying last week that transfers were under way.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/for-the-biggest-group-of-american-workers-wages-arent-just-flat-theyre-falling/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7d3130e6caf0

For the biggest group of American workers, wages aren’t just flat. They’re falling.

The average hourly wage paid to a key group of American workers has fallen from last year when accounting for inflation, as an economy that appears strong by several measures continues to fail to create bigger paychecks, the federal government said Tuesday.

For workers in “production and nonsupervisory” positions, the value of the average paycheck has declined in the past year. For those workers, average “real wages” — a measure of pay that takes inflation into account — fell from $22.62 in May 2017 to $22.59 in May 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

This pool of workers includes those in manufacturing and construction jobs, as well as all “nonsupervisory” workers in service industries such health care or fast food. The group accounts for about four-fifths of the privately employed workers in America, according to BLS.

Without adjusting for inflation, these “nonsupervisory” workers saw their average hourly earnings jump 2.8 percent from last year. But that was not enough to keep pace with the 2.9 percent increase in inflation, which economists attributed to rising gas prices.

June 27, 2018

June 30th - Families Belong Together March - Nationwide Protest and Day of Action

March. Vote. Resist.

https://www.familiesbelongtogether.org/

June 23, 2018

NY Mag - Most Americans' Wages Have Actually Declined Over the Past Year

Can you have a great economy when workers' real wages are not merely stagnant, but somehow are falling even though unemployment is allegedly low. Put another way, if you have low unemployment, this should cause wages to rise, since it is should be difficult to hire. Perhaps Trump's unemployment numbers are as accurate as his estimates of crowd size or Puerto Rican hurricane deaths?

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/06/most-americans-wages-have-declined-over-the-past-year.html

On the other hand, Americans are deeply indebted, many are stuck with part-time jobs, and wage gains have been so disappointing, their weakness has challenged fundamental premises of mainstream economics: Simply put, you aren’t supposed to be able to pay workers this little when the unemployment rate is this low.

And on Tuesday, the big picture on Americans’ paychecks grew even darker: In May, U.S. inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in more than six years — and wiped out what little wage growth the typical American worker had seen over the past 12 months in the process.

The consumer price index was 2.8 percent higher this past pay May than it was the same month one year ago; that increase leaves real average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory workers (a.k.a. the vast majority of workers) 0.1 percent lower than they were 12 months ago.

Notably, while wage growth was infamously tepid during the Obama years, the low-inflation environment of 2015 and 2016 did allow ordinary workers to secure real raises. Part of the uptick in inflation this year is a product of rising oil prices, a phenomenon over which the American president has little control. But some of it is likely attributable to the deficit expansion that Trump used to finance his regressive tax cuts. (To the extent that is the case, ordinary workers are effectively paying for the price for the Koch brothers’ big payday).

June 23, 2018

WaPo - For the biggest group of American workers, wages aren't just flat. They're falling.

For all the Fox News happy talk about the Trump economy, the ugly truth is that just as real wages started to go back up under President Obama, they have not only stagnated, but for some groups, real wages have gone down under Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/15/for-the-biggest-group-of-american-workers-wages-arent-just-flat-theyre-falling/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7d3130e6caf0

The average hourly wage paid to a key group of American workers has fallen from last year when accounting for inflation, as an economy that appears strong by several measures continues to fail to create bigger paychecks, the federal government said Tuesday.

For workers in “production and nonsupervisory” positions, the value of the average paycheck has declined in the past year. For those workers, average “real wages” — a measure of pay that takes inflation into account — fell from $22.62 in May 2017 to $22.59 in May 2018, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.

This pool of workers includes those in manufacturing and construction jobs, as well as all “nonsupervisory” workers in service industries such health care or fast food. The group accounts for about four-fifths of the privately employed workers in America, according to BLS.

Without adjusting for inflation, these “nonsupervisory” workers saw their average hourly earnings jump 2.8 percent from last year. But that was not enough to keep pace with the 2.9 percent increase in inflation, which economists attributed to rising gas prices.

June 20, 2018

Lincoln's 1860 quote summarizes Trump's position:

You know how Trump blames Democrats the way Southerners blamed people who voted for Lincoln for their decision to secede:

A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, 'Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!'"

Lincoln 1860

June 3, 2018

Don't Be Fooled: How to Spot a Russian Bot on Social Media

Interesting and timely article as we head into the 2018 elections. Ever notice how threads that attack Democrats virtually get pinned to the top of social media with numerous kicks and one line posts expressing agreement with headings like:

The thread itself would also have a crazy amount of recs in a very short period of time. Well, perhaps those anti-Dem social media posts, with hundreds of one line kicks and numerous records is not by being promoted by real Democrats.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/spot-russian-bot-social-media/

How sure are you that the person you’re passionately “debating” with online is a real, breathing person? How do you know whether they’re just another impassioned supporter of whatever topic and not someone with government (or other) backing?

* * *
Let’s start by differentiating bots and shills.

Bot: A bot is a fake social media account under the control of an organization or government seeking to influence the online community. For instance, a Twitter bot set to retweet certain hashtags and phrases in such volumes that it amplifies the specific topic. Another example is Reddit bots downvoting views disagreeing with the bot controller opinion (while upvoting those that do agree). Bots require volume for success on certain platforms, while at other times only a few can begin to shape the direction of a conversation.

Shill: A shill is different. Shills are real people actively engaging in the shaping of online (in this instance) discussion and opinion—while receiving payment in exchange for their presence. Shills promote companies, governments, public figures, and much more, for personal profit, essentially engaging in propaganda.

Depending on the organization or government, shills can work in conjunction with large bot networks to create intense vocal online movements. And while the combined efforts of shills and bots shape online opinion, these efforts are increasingly affecting more than just social media users.