In a remarkably ill-conceived article at Real Clear Politics, Kalev Leetaru provides a simple meta-analysis of media coverage (CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News) relating to “scandals” of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Leetaru simply runs the numbers as to how often the word “scandal” was associated with the past two presidencies; he finds that Obama was implicated a total of 6520 times, whereas Trump to date has been implicated 5103 times. Making no effort at any further analysis, Leetaru concludes, “Though that comparison includes eight years of Obama’s presidency versus less than three years for Trump, the numbers make clear that the former’s tenure was not ‘scandal free’.”
Leetaru’s credibility suffers from the fact that his article does not contain the word “Benghazi,” any reference to the Obama-era IRS controversy, or to investigations and resolutions of those issues. In fact, he does not opine on the legitimacy of any of the controversies under either Trump or Obama; his point seems to be that all “scandals” are manufactured by a scandal-happy media. Such a cynical stance is counterproductive at best and mendacious at worst; media hyperbole aside, all scandals are not created equal.
Derek Thompson offers a contrarian analysis of the current economic picture. Where most commentators note (and decry) stagnant wages for the working class, Thompson claims the opposite is true:
- Imagine a world where wage growth was truly stagnant only for workers in high-wage industries, such as medicine and consulting.
- Imagine a labor market where earnings growth for low-wage workers, such as those who work in retail and restaurants, had doubled in the past five years.
- Imagine an economy where wages for the poorest Americans were rising twice as fast as hourly earnings for high-wage earners.
It turns out that all three of those things are happening right now.
According to analysis by Nick Bunker, an economist with the jobs site Indeed, wage growth is currently strongest for workers in low-wage industries, such as clothing stores, supermarkets, amusement parks, and casinos. And earnings are growing most slowly in higher-wage industries, such as medical labs, law firms, and broadcasting and telecom companies.
In fact, according to Bunker’s research, wages for low-income workers may be growing at their highest rate in 20 years.
I would take such claims with a grain of salt. I would also note that 5% growth for someone earning $20,000 a year is still less in absolute dollars than, say, 3% growth for someone making $100,000 ($1000 for the former versus $3000 for the latter).
To be clear, Thompson is not making any claims on behalf of Donald Trump. To the extent that the US economy continues on solid footing (regardless of how the numbers are parsed), Trump is the beneficiary of factors and forces he neither created nor controls:
What’s happening here? Donald Trump hasn’t sprinkled MAGA pixie dust over the U.S. economy. In fact, his trade war has clearly diminished employment growth in industries, that are sensitive to foreign markets, such as manufacturing. Rather, a tight labor market and state-by-state minimum wage hikes have combined to push up wage growth for the poorest workers. The sluggishness of overall wage growth is concealing the fact that the labor market has done wonderful things for wages at the low end.
It’s my understanding that markets, left to their own devices, are merciless; why Thompson wants to credit “the labor market” for interventions by states via “minimum wage hikes,” something opposed and condemned by all free-market ideologues in good standing, is unclear.
Finally, in my latest installment of “Not Everyone Sees the World the Way I Do,“ I offer without comment the following excerpt from Kevin Portteus at the pro-Trump American Greatness:
The personal corruption and moral bankruptcy of our elite are ripe for exposure. The scandals of the Obama administration, which have been hushed by a supine media, could be thrust before the public. The attempts of our elites and their allies in the bureaucracy to prevent Trump’s election or to depose him after he became president, are clearly targets of Barr’s and Durham’s investigations. Once the dominoes begin to fall, who can say what will follow?
The entire globalist neoliberal order is teetering on the brink. Trump was nominated and elected by people who are tired of endless wars of supposed democratization for people uninterested in it and unfit for its responsibilities. They are tired of the mass importation of illegals and refugees who don’t understand or care about our principles or way of life. They are tired of an economic system that brings ruin to the American working and middle classes and of the intensifying persecution of normal Americans. *
The signs of liberal desperation have been obvious from the day after the 2016 election. The hysterical demands for resistance...The Mueller investigation. Talk about the Emoluments Clause and the 25th Amendment. The Kavanaugh smear. Hate crime hoaxes. The New York Times’ campaign to brand Trump and his supporters white supremacists. Ukraine. Abroad, the Amazon rainforest fires as an attempt to discredit Bolsonaro. Decades-old groping allegations against Boris Johnson. Netanyahu scandals. The western elite’s open hatred for Viktor Orban. And on, and on, and on.
When today’s faux scandals blow over, something else will be lurking to take their place. Trump represents an existential threat to the power and privilege of our elites; they have to destroy him. Each attempt gets a little more desperate, however, and it shows. The more afraid they become, the more obvious and ridiculous are their projections. Every time they predict Trump’s downfall, they’re masking their own insecurities. Every time they accuse his administration of corruption, they’re trying to distract from their own corruption. It will get worse before it gets better, but time is running out. “The walls are closing in” on them, and they know it.
https://amgreatness.com/2019/10/02/the-walls-really-are-closing-in-on-the-elite/
*A citation here would surely be helpful, as well as a definition of “normal Americans”.
😄😂 Yes, Obama had a few scandals in his administration, though by current standards they could be classified as “controversies.” And there is a point to be taken (however poorly made) about news media exaggerating things, just as The Weather Channel often (not always) exaggerates weather events. I’m thinking about the huge deal that was recently made of Bernie’s recent heart attack. Yeah, sure, it’s a big deal; but the breathless speculation about “Where is he? Why are other people speaking on his behalf???” was hard to stomach. If “the elites” are trying to take down little donny, I wish them great success. Looking forward to President Nancy!
Posted by: Ann Markle | 10/05/2019 at 10:29 AM