Scott Walker Is A Creep

Scott Walker Boasts About the Sun Coming Up in the Washington Post

Politicians like to take credit for things they have little to do with it. Serious newspapers point this fact out when it happens. 

The Washington Post fell down on the job in a piece that quoted Wisconsin governor Scott Walker saying, "There are more people in the workforce in Wisconsin than ever before in the history of the state." 

This is an pretty empty claim since it will be true most of the time (except recessions) for most states. Since populations generally grow, unless there is a downturn, in most months the state will have more people in the workforce than ever before. 

A more serious analysis would look at the percentage of the population in the workforce. This is not at an all-time high. In June, 54.6 percent of Wisconsin's population was in the workforce. This compared to more than 55.0 percent in 2000. 

It is possible that this drop is explained by demographic changes (more older people and children today), but the percentage of people in the workforce would be the real question, not the number. The Post should have pointed this out to its readers so they would not be deceived by Walker's nonsense boast.

US-Iran Relations

Weekend Reading: Kimberly Clark Corporate Welfare Edition

Tax Incentives For Kimberly Clark Could Hit Roadblock In Senate Heading Into Election
Tax Incentive Package For Kimberly Clark Faces Challenges In State Senate
Kimberly Clark Ready To Consider Incentive Package From State
More Questions, A Few Answers, As Uncertainty Swirls Around Kimberly Clark's Wisconsin Mills
Kimberly Clark Says It's Open To Talks On State Incentives Package

Weekend Reading: The Myth Of Voter Fraud Edition

Mass Voter Fraud Is A Myth - And Kris Kobach Just Got Sanctioned Trying To Defend It
The Misleading Myth Of Voter Fraud In American Elections
Purges: A Growing Threat To The Right To Vote
Resources On Voter Fraud Claims
Debunking The Voter Fraud Myth
The Voter Fraud Myth Is Just Embarrassing At This Point
The Bogus Voter Fraud Commission Is Dead, But The Myths Aren't
A Trump Nominee's Illegal Vote Exposes The Voter Fraud Charade

Weekend Reading

State Shared Revenue: Not So Much Going On
The Story of Stagnant Wage Growth
An Unlikely Group Of Billionaires And Politicians Has Created The Most Unbelievable Tax Break Ever
So Many Seats, So Many Tax Breaks
This Is Why Lawmakers Want To Gut The Endangered Species Act
White Americans Support Welfare Programs - But Only For Themselves, Says New Research
Koch-backed Study Finds Medicare For All Would Save U.S. Trillions
Much Of The U.S. Electric Grid Could Go The Way Of The Landline Phone
Most Wealthy Countries Aren't Religious. Then There's The U.S.
Billionaires Gone Wild
How Government Helps The Economy
Rulers Of The World: Read Karl Marx
A Radical Defense Of The Right To Strike
Stock Buybacks, Explained
The Trump Administration's Giant Fuck You To Working People
Chris Abele Suspending Values Tour

Supply-side Jesus

Sean Hannity Is A Creep

Unemployment

The U-6 rate is the unemployment rate that includes discouraged workers who have quit looking for a job and part-time workers who are seeking full-time employment.

[source]

For Further Reading:

Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons

Alternative measures of labor underutilization

You're A Terrible Judge Of Character

There's Gold In Them Thar Hills

Inequality In Milwaukee

2015 Milwaukee Summit - Marc Levine from L&S @ UWM on Vimeo.

The United States Of You Don't Wanna Know