WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Thursday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes:
- Another MAGA rally, this one in Freeland, Mich. Thursday night, well attended. Familiar themes, cheers of “Four more years,” and very few masks. September 15’s “Burn Your Mask” day is still on. Earlier a brief news conference, 18 minutes of opening statement, 12 minutes for three questions. Two of the questions were remnants of Wednesday.
“Such a terrible question and the phraseology,” the president said to a reporter who had not moved on from Wednesday’s questions.
Why did you lie to the American people? And why should we trust what you have to say now? Was the question.
“I didn’t lie,” was the answer.
“What I said is: We have to be calm; we can’t be panicked.”
There was more of the same. A lot more, as the president repeated what he had said Wednesday, and repeated on the Fox Hannity program Thursday night. The reporter wouldn’t stop.
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” the president said. “And your question — the way you phrased that is such a disgrace. It’s a disgrace to ABC Television Network. It’s a disgrace to your employer.”
The back and forth went on and on, a few minutes that seemed to have been scripted by some writer practiced in dark themes and surreal scenarios. Yet it was very real.
Q But you told Bob Woodward this is — this is worse than the most deadly — “deadlier than the most strenuous flu.”
THE PRESIDENT: Okay.
Q And then you went out and said, “It’s just like the flu.”
THE PRESIDENT: What I went out and said is very simple —
Q And that it was “going to go away.”
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, what I went out and said is very simple: I want to show a level of confidence and I want a show strength as a leader, and I want to show that our country is going to be fine, one way or the other.”
- The entire exchange, viewable at macenews.com, is now part of the lengthening record of what historians may find to have been an extraordinary episode in the annals of the institutional presidency, even as the president’s supporters seem to have already relegated it to a past filled with forgivable departures.
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- The sharp rebound of the U.S. economy, at least on paper, is to be documented by the government’s report of quarterly GDP. The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank tracks the evolution of the third quarter and Thursday’s upgrade suggested it will indeed be an historic leap, an increase of 30.8%. Being so close to the election it will be hailed as evidence of a successful recovery under way. Yet in a larger context, the one-time jump will not save the year from being in negative territory and says nothing about the fourth quarter or next year.
- Bridging from beginning to where we are, rather than tracing the collapse and the snapback as two separate developments, shows there are still 13.4 million unemployed getting state benefits plus many more not under the umbrella of unemployment insurance.The day’s weekly report on new claims showed no improvement, just another 884,000, exactly like the week before.
- The Senate took a procedural vote on a “skinny” virus relief package that was always doomed to fail and it did, falling short of the 60 votes needed 52-47 as Democrats withheld any support just as they made clear would happen. The temporary $300 enhancement to unemployment benefits is already running out. Food insecurity and impending bankruptcies threaten a darker not-too-distant future and its arrival may be necessary for real relief from Capitol Hill.
- Upcoming economic data includes the Consumer Press Index at 8:30a ET, the Baker-Hughes count of any changes in the count of oil rigs at 1p and the latest monthly U.S. budget balance at 2p. The morning’s report on business inflation, the Producer Price Index, showed an as-expected gain of 0.3% and as Kevin Kastner explained at macenews.com, it reflected increased profit margins and the core components, offset by declines in food and energy prices. As he noted, even with the monthly gains, the Federal Reserve’s shift away from inflation concerns remains well founded. Prices levels have barely moved from a year ago.
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