Liberals Suck at Politics

I attended an emergency community meeting the other night sponsored by the AFL-CIO and I came away with one giant take-a-way:  Liberals/progressives suck at politics.  I've actually known this for a while, but it was reinforced by some of the denial that I witnessed.  With the election of Trump, I think it's critical that liberals understand some things.

1. Don't care what the opposition thinks.  There is value in listening to other perspectives and understanding other points of view.  That being said, energy is much better spent trying to get non/low propensity voters to show up to the polls than to persuade conservatives to change their minds.  Are you really going to convince someone who completely disregards the scientific community and thinks climate change is a hoax that climate change is real?  No.  Are you going to persuade someone who thinks that black people have major advantages over white people that racism exists?  Not likely.  Are you going to sway someone who thinks that there is no difference between the two parties that Social Security and Medicare are more likely to be cut if they elect a Republican?  Maybe.
2. Understand the opposition.  If I had to choose Obama's biggest failing as a President, it would be not understanding conservatives.  I think that Obama thinks, that all conservatives are like the ones he met at Harvard (think David Brooks).  They're not. Newsflash:  People who allow your citizenship to become a defining issue for the first part of your presidency are not operating in good faith.  People who impeach a president over lying about a blowjob are not operating in good faith.  People who hold the economy hostage by credibly threatening not to raise the debt ceiling, are not operating in good faith.  People who refuse to even hold hearings for your SCOTUS nominee are not operating in good faith.
3. Emphasize the stakes.  You know what I didn't hear from the Clinton campaign?  I didn't hear about the Supreme Court.  I didn't hear about Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.  I didn't hear about climate change.  I didn't hear about college tuition.  I didn't hear about building infrastructure.  Clinton had policies to improve these things, but they rarely if ever came up. Not in her ads, not in the debates.  The only things I heard were "Trump is a monster" (true) and "Go to HillaryClinton.com" which is the single worst phrase a candidate can utter.
4. Bipartisanship is a means not an end.  Working with the other side is fine if it aimed at achieving a greater good even though you don't get everything you want, but that is never where you should begin the conversation.  Working with the other side is bad if it ends with overly complicated policies that barely address the problem and make it easy for conservatives to label government ineffective.   Too often I see Democrats beginning from a negotiated position before negotiations have even started.  Set high goals and aim for them to be implemented broadly (like Social Security), that way if they're repealed they fuck over a much larger chunk of the population.
5. Politics happens more than once every four years.  Generally speaking, if Democrats show up to the polls, they win.  The problem is, they only show up occasionally and usually only for a presidential election.  Republicans show up to nearly every election like clockwork and that is why they control the majority of statehouses, the House of Representatives, the Senate, and soon the Presidency and the Supreme Court.  Democrats didn't even show up in high numbers in the primary where there was the possibility for real divergence from the party elite.  As brilliant film director and sexual predator, Woody Allen said, "80% of life is showing up".
6.  You don't need to like the politicians you elect.  I very seldom vote for someone I like as a human or don't have some serious disagreements with.  You have to be a little off to run for office, so don't expect these people to be perfect.  At the end of the day, you're electing someone to do a job.  Politicians are vehicles for change, not the catalyst.  It's crazy to place a whole lot of trust in politicians, so regard all of them with skepticism.
7. Voting is a collective act, not personal expression, or a consumer choice.  Refer back to rule six.  If voting was supposed to be a form of self-expression, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be anonymous.  Voting is a collective action to assign power.  Nothing more, nothing less.
8. Expect them to cheat.  People cheating to gain power?  Next thing you'll tell me is people lie on their resumes.  Seriously, they cheat because they know the electorate as a whole is not on their side.  What's the best way to respond?  Get more people to vote.
9. Politics is about power.  This is rule number one of political science, but it seems completely lost on many people.  Ultimately, power is being assigned and divided up.  The only difference between democratic forms of government and undemocratic forms of government is how power is assigned.  If you want to understand politics don't watch The West Wing, watch Game of Thrones.

It's Perfectly Fine to Label Most Trump Voters Racists

Wikimedia Commons

I have heard may people whom I often agree with saying that we should not label all Trump voters as racists.  Maybe not all Trump voters, but most are completely indifferent to racism.  The Trump voters who think racism is disgusting but voted for him anyway are either:

1.  Completely ignorant of who Trump is and politics generally.
2.  View other positions as more important than letting a racist faithfully execute our constitution, in which case...Fuck you.

Voting is not an abstraction.  Voting is not equivalent to speech.  Each vote is the expression of a very small amount of power.  Trump is a man who through both actions and words has left no doubt in my mind that he is a racist.  Therefore, if you voted for a man that was running a campaign based primarily on bigotry, racism, xenophobia, and nationalism, then you have enabled all those things.  I do not care if what was deep in your heart had more to do with tax cuts, the outcome is racist and is having an effect before Trump even assumes office.

Do I think Paul Ryan believes black people are inferior human beings?  No, probably not more than most people, but I also think that does not matter because has helped enable Trump's rise to power.  I was taught that actions speak louder than words...  So guess what?  Voting is an action.  If you voted for Trump for reasons other than bigotry, you are still saying that those other reasons are more important than the freedom and dignity of your fellow humans.

Most of the white people in the era of lynching in the South were normal, as were most of the people in Nazi Germany who looked the other way as Jews were sent to concentration camps.  The fact that lynch-mobs and Nazis were largely normal citizens does not mean that they were not culpable.

It's Time to Start Writing Your Congressional Delegation

I wrote the below letter tonight and I urge everyone to follow suit.  You are free to copy the letter and modify it as needed for yourself, but it would be better for you to deliver the message in your own words.  The coming days, weeks, months, and years will require action and a lot of letter writing.  A few things about contacting your elected officials:

• Snail mail gets way more attention than an email.
• Be courteous but clear.
• Provide contact information.
• It's best if possible to reference legislation that is up for debate.
• Proofread.
• Find members of your congressional delegation here:  https://www.congress.gov/members

 November 12, 2016

Senator Patrick Leahy

87 State Street, Room 338

Montpelier, VT 05602

(802) 229-0569

Dear Senator Leahy,

Like many Americans, I am outraged by the election of Donald Trump as our next president. Republican obstructionism has prevented any meaningful legislation that benefits the middle class in President Obama’s second term and now we have elected a neo-fascist.

I am urging you along with the rest of Vermont’s congressional delegation to return the favor to the Republicans with the same full-throated opposition and obstruction.  I hope you will urge President Obama to make Merrick Garland a recess appointment.  I understand that this may trigger a constitutional crisis, but these are extraordinary circumstances.

I want every piece of legislation favored by the Trump administration and a Paul Ryan led house to be filibustered.  I want investigations whenever there is the slightest hint of wrongdoing.  In short:  No quarter should be offered and no olive branch extended.   

I am 32 years old, I have voted in every election since I was 18, I am a state employee and a taxpayer.  This will be my generation's fight and it will take years to undo the damage that is likely to take place.  Please fight, this is my future. and you will be dead from old age while I am dealing with the consequences of this election.

Sincerely,

Andrew M

Being a Nice Guy Isn't a Qualification for Governor

By all accounts, Phil Scott the Republican candidate for Governor of the State of Vermont, is a fairly moderate Republican.  Scott seems to be pro-choice, pro-LGBT, not adamantly against social programs, and acknowledges the existence of global warming.  There are however, a number of economic issues where Scott more or less tows the line ideologically for national Republicans.  I've read Scott's economic plan several times and a number of things strike me:

• Firstly, despite being 40 pages long the plan contains very little detail.  Scott outlines a number of vague policy proposals, some free-market buzz words, and a number of pictures of Scott and his family, but there is very little in the way of concrete proposals likely to create growth.  There are also a number of proposals that would presumably cost money, but there are no dollar figures attached to these policies nor any mention of how they will be paid for.
• Scott frequently mentions the increased spending that has occurred under outgoing Governor Peter Shumlin, but this spending is mostly the result of increased healthcare costs and increased pension payouts.  Scott hasn't said what he would cut but he has said he won't raise taxes.  This position necessarily demands that cuts take place so he would either have to gut pensions or cut spending in state government.  Cuts to state government would likely have the consequences of shrinking growth further, increasing unemployment, increasing downward pressure on wages, and cause further dysfunction within state government.
• Nowhere in his plan does Scott demand anything of employers.  He opposes increases to the minimum wage under the disproven notion that a higher minimum wage will drive up unemployment (it should also be noted that Vermont has an unemployment rate well below the national average).  He also says paid sick leave should be "voluntary" which it is now and would have no effect on exactly the jobs where there needs to be paid sick leave.
• Oddly, when it comes to the legalization of marijuana, a policy which would at the very least bring in some new revenue, Scott opposes it, saying it's not about money.  The "this isn't about money" standard is something Scott applies to none of his other policies.   The longer we wait on the legalization of marijuana, a policy with relatively few drawbacks and is inevitable at this point, the less economic benefit it will provide the state.

The biggest economic issue Vermont faces is the aging of the workforce and the shrinking of the tax base.  Things like providing a couple years of free community or technical college as Sue Minter is proposing would help bring and keep young people here.  An increased minimum wage would increase economic activity among the part of the workforce where it has the most room to grow and also decrease the pressure on college graduates to immediately find a job that can pay well (most likely out of state).  Scott also initially opposed taking in refugees and then reversed course.  Apart from the morality of this, it makes no sense economically.  These refugees have skills, the desire to work, and where immigration like this has happened like in Lewiston, Maine, it has been a boon to the local economy.

Scott seems like a good guy, but the policies that he is proposing work against the ends he purportedly wants.  I don't care if my governor is a nice guy, I want good policy.

Podcast 7-24-2016: Guns-a-Blazing

On this episode, Vinny and I engage in some free-association.  We talk about Trump voters, the Republican National Convention, and we go window shopping for weaponry on Armslist.com.

http://s71.podbean.com/pb/4f4e570e701a841b54e4eebd6f91a397/579e9a4f/data1/fs181/958366/uploads/Podcast_7-24-2016_podcast_7-24-2016.mp3

Notes:

• We talked about drinking here's an Economist article about global alcohol consumption.  The cited article is as of 2012 if anyone has newer or more detailed information please forward it to me.
• Tim Kaine is 58.
• Sen.  Mike Lee is running for reelection.
• A demographic breakdown of Trump supporters.

*Music is brought to you by Bensound.com

Bernie Didn't Lose Because of the DNC

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is an idiot, a hack, and the DNC had their thumb on the scale for the Clinton campaign, but it had little to do with Clinton winning.  Clinton won because she had millions more votes than Sanders.  Her supporters showed up to vote in greater numbers and she had longstanding connections in minority communities.  That's it.

Were there incidents of voter disenfranchisement?  Yes.  Did they materially influence the outcome of the primary?  No.  In fact, the incidents of disenfranchisement particularly in Maricopa County in New Mexico, probably hurt Clinton more than they hurt Sanders.  Did party rules hurt Sanders? Maybe, but they were in place well before this primary and an equally good argument could be made that the long primary process helped Sanders by allowing his name to get out there.

Clinton received 16,847,075 votes while Sanders received 13,168,214.  This is in contrast to the 2008 Democratic primary where Obama received 17,584,692 votes and Clinton received 17,857,501.  The turnout numbers for 2008 don't even include the large states of Florida and Michigan that were excluded from the final count because they moved their primaries in violation of party rules.  The bottom line:  Worry about showing up to vote, not massive conspiracies between the incompetent DNC and the clueless Clinton campaign.

Sanders campaign accomplished a lot despite not winning the nomination:

• The TPP will likely be killed well before it has the chance to reach Clinton's desk.
•  The default position in the Democratic Party is now a public option that is the best way toward universal health care. 
• Clinton has now endorsed free tuition for families making under $125,000 a year. 
• The number of super-delegates has been cut by two-thirds in the primary process.  

These are all good and tangible things accomplished by the Sanders campaign and they will be completely abandoned if Donald Trump is our next president.

The next President will get to name 1-4 Supreme Court justices and greatly influence how the constitution is interpreted for the next 30 years. The choices are Clinton or Trump. If you're a progressive voter and you cast a third party vote or don't show up, that's half a vote for Trump.  Voting is a collective action, not a consumer choice.

Podcast 7-16-2016: May You Live in Interesting Times

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss HRC's emails, argue about Syria, talk about underinflated footballs, and the terrifying specter of a Trump presidency.

*NSFW

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-jv2ym-6133e3/download

*Music is brought to you by Bensound.com

Podcast 6/26/2016: Brelf-Harm

Getty Images

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss the British exit from the European Union and the DEA.

*NSFW

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-bh8ax-609cf9/download

Notes:

• Vinny mentioned the ability of the Scottish parliament to possible block exit from the EU. While it is true that an exit would require "consent" of the Scottish parliament, it's still unclear whether they would actually be able to block an exit.  I guess it if the Scottish parliament voted to block an exit it might provide a good excuse for English lawmakers to backtrack, but I don't know enough about British politics to make a judgment one way or the other. 
• We forgot to mention that a large part of Greece's financial crisis was exacerbated by Goldman Sachs aiding the concealment of debt from the rest of the EU.  Read a little about it here.
• The retirement age in Greece was 65 prior to austerity.  Not terribly different than other EU member states.
• The Greeks also work more hours than many other OECD states.  They work more hours per year than the Germans, the French, and the British.  The idea that Greece was in financial trouble because of an overly generous welfare state or lazy workers is mostly fiction.

*Music is brought to you by Bensound.com

Podcast 5-12-2016: Looking Toward a Long Hot Summer

After a long hiatus, Vinny and I discuss Libertarians, Clinton as the presumptive nominee, billionaires suing media outlets into oblivion, Deflategate/Ballghazi, trigger warnings for Vinny's dates, and more.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-53nm2-605ee5/download

NSFW
*Really disturbing images of Libertarians below the cut.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

There are so Many Other Amendments to Violate

NRA official Chris Cox:

...In the aftermath of this terrorist attack, President Obama and Hillary Clinton renewed calls for more gun control, including a ban on whole categories of semi-automatic firearms... 

...The terrorist in Orlando had been investigated multiple times by the FBI. He had a government-approved security guard license with a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security. Yet his former co-workers reported violent and racist comments. Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s political correctness prevented anything from being done about it...

There is just so much stupidity here to unpack...

Firstly, over a hundred years of jurisprudence prior to 2008 recognized no individual right to own firearms.  Even in Heller v. DC, the ruling still left open the possibility that types of firearms could be restricted.

Secondly, yes, the FBI interviewed gunman/terrorist/homophobe/nutcase and there was no evidence of a crime.  In this case, "political correctness" is referring to constitutional protections like the First Amendment's protections of religion and speech, the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure, the Fifth Amendment's right to due process, and the 14th Amendment's right to equal protection under the law.

Thirdly, it's a bit ironic that people who are constantly bitching about vague notions of "political correctness" in which they're usually referring to the "right" not to have their fee-fees hurt for saying bigoted and/or sexist things, are implying that this man should have possibly been arrested for doing just that.

I do find the notion that someone could have something recognized as a right taken away for being on a list that is arbitrarily applied and lacks any kind of due process problematic, which is why I don't think individual ownership of firearms should be a right.  Humans just aren't that good with weapons of mass-destruction.

Despite all this, one freedom remains strong in America:  The freedom to get shot.

What a D!ck

 

From the man who built his life sucking on the teat of government, who wants to cut social security but spent his formative years collecting survivor benefits, wants to continue his assault on people who work for a living.  Speaker of the House and Alfred E. Neuman look-alike Paul Ryan has voiced his opposition to the Obama Administration's expansion of overtime raising the cap from $23,660 to $47,476 for those who work more than 40 hours a week.

WTF is a "Moderate" Anyway?

From time to time I hear people pining for reasonable "moderates", centrists, and bi-partisans to come together and solve the problems that our political parties won't.  These arguments are non-sensical, self-congratulatory, completely devoid of the political system we operate in, and in many ways...extreme.  There are many problems with the desire for "moderates", among them...

Moderates aren't that moderate

As mentioned in this piece by Ezra Klein, the policies moderates actually believe in aren't that moderate.  It's possible to be a "moderate" who believes in gay rights, supports internment camps for Muslims, wants universal health care, and wants to eliminate the IRS.  None of those policy positions are moderate, but by virtue of statistics, those voters would be considered moderates.

Even insofar as "moderates" exist in American politics, their positions are highly ideological, just not particularly partisan.  For example, there is a certain segment of both parties that embraces things like free-trade, education reform, entitlement reform, austerity, and exploitive immigration.  These are positions that are extremely neoliberal, corporatist, in many cases a divergence from the status quo, and not at all in the interest of most of the American people, but in the context of American politics "moderate".

Podcast 4/21/2016: Moderate Headaches

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss the never-ending saga of marijuana legalization in Vermont, our frenemy Saudi Arabia, the criminals behind the impeachment of Brazil's Dilma Rousseff, the bizarre but prevalent notion of political moderates, New York's primary, fraud in the Northeast Kingdom, the NFL concussion settlement, and more.

http://s51.podbean.com/pb/34b76ec08239f06a7215f684f8fe5cd9/57229f6d/data2/fs181/958366/uploads/Podcast_4-21-2016Full.mp3

NSFW

Notes:

• Speculation on the still classified 28 pages of the 9/11 report.
• A little on the bill that would allow American citizens to sue Saudi Arabia for terrorism.  In my view (and I'm certainly not a lawyer) this would set a bad precedent and potentially open us up to all sorts of legal action.  Could citizens of Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Iran, El Salvador, and/or Iraq sue us?  Would everyone in the world just start suing each other?  Declassify the 28 pages, stop selling them weapons, and stop helping them in Yemen, but allowing civil action might be a bad idea.
• Foreign workers accounted for roughly 30% of Saudi Arabia's population in 2014.
• A look at what is behind the push to impeach Brazil's Presiden Dilma Rousseff.
• The massive fraud in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.  Looks like the underlying investment return was supposed to come from the sales of property and rents on condos.  In retrospect, it seems like people should have been much more skeptical.
• The extensive alleged criminal past of California Representative and former chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Darrell Issa.  It involves grand theft auto, arson, fraud, gun play, and drunk driving.
• Issa's net worth may be closer to $220 million rather than the $500 million figure I cited.

*Music is brought to you by Bensound.com

Podcast 4/9/2018: Panama

On this episode, Vinny and I discuss the Panama Papers and we ponder creating a series of profanely-named shell corporations to hide various activities of The Vomiting Brain.  We also talk about Bernie Sanders' interview with the Daily News, what a huge dick Rick Scott is, and then Charlie Rangel stops by briefly.

Sorry, this one was late.  We had some sound quality issues, which necessitated editing, which created nonsequiturs (more than usual), which necessitated more editing.  Plus, I'm lazy.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-7trkf-5e788b/download

NSFW

*Music is brought to you by Bensound.com
Notes:

• Daily News interview with Bernie Sanders
• MetLife's "too big to fail" designation being overturned.
• Vox on the Panama Papers
• Planet Money sets up a shell company.
• According to Planet Money, Deleware is unique in that they don't require any identification to set up a company.  Fortunately, setting up bank accounts is harder.
• Florida Governor Rick Scott presiding over widespread Medicare fraud as CEO at Columbia/HCA.  He pled the 5th 75 times.
• Rick Scott being called out on being the asshole that he is...

• Rick Scott proving that he is the asshole that we all think he is...

• Seriously dude, you're the governor; don't you have some governing to do?
• Sir Mark Thatcher, first of his name of House Thatcher, was among those named (thus far) in the Panama Papers for hiding his money offshore.  Thatcher was also a co-conspirator with a mercenary named Simon Mann in a failed coup attempt of Equatorial Guinea.  Mann is British not South African as I mistakenly said in the podcast.

It's Tax Time! (FY15 Re-Release with More Forms)

 

It's time to do your civic duty and pay your taxes or rather for most of us, fill out a form to verify what the government already knows. It really is silly when you think about it, the IRS actually does your taxes exactly like you and if you make a mistake, they will correct it.  Hell, they'll even correct it if you made a mistake in their favor and then refund you for the correct amount.  So this begs the question, why do we need to file a return at all?  Can't they just send us what they think our income was and ask us to either verify it or dispute the amount?  Why all the extra confusing paperwork?  I don't know with certainty, but I would venture to guess that it has a lot to do with why our government often does silly nonsensical things: lobbyists.  Intuit Inc., the company that brings us TurboTax, ranks 702 of 16,793 in terms of campaign contributions according to Opensecrets.org.  Tax preparers like H&R Block also contribute substantial donations.

Republican Presidential Candidates Should Put Their Barrels Where Their Mouth is

Ted Cruz via abcnews.go.com

As some of you may have heard, there is a petition circulating to allow open carry of firearms at the Republican Convention.  With an expected crowd of 50,000 in what is looking like a contested convention; with white supremacists, religious zealots, Ted Cruz, and the rest of the freedom-loving critters that form the base of the Republican Party in attendance, the need to pack heat has never been greater.  I for one cannot think of a better place to allow the full exercise of the Second Amendment.

This is how we determine which candidates are true patriots.  The buzzkill brigade otherwise known as the Secret Service is just big government getting in the way of the aspirations of our citizenry, undermining their Second Amendment rights, and jeopardizing their safety.  The candidates must demonstrate both their faith in the Second Amendment and free market principles by refusing Secret Service protection.  With the remaining candidates' net worth ranging from $3.5 million to $4-8 billion, they should have no trouble hiring security and I'm sure there are a number of members of the Aryan Brotherhood that would gladly offer protection to Donald Trump.

Naysayers will contend that arming attendees fueled with drugs, alcohol, and a strong sense of victimhood; in the great American shithole known as Cleveland, with protestors sure to be in the streets, the National Guard and Ohio State Police under the command of John Kasich, the convention could end in a bloodbath.  That is a small price to pay for freedom.

Merica!

Podcast 4/2/2016: The "Bernie or Bust" Movement and Minimum Wage

In this episode,  Vinny and I throw some cold water on the "Bernie or Bust" movement.  We then move on to discuss the political and economic justifications for a raise in the minimum wage.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cavrx-5e1988/download

Notes:

• Zephyr Teachout is running for the House in New York's 19th Congressional district.  If you're serious about progressive policies then consider donating to her campaign or voting for her if you reside in the 19th.  She's from Vermont, for what it's worth.
• Russ Feingold is a progressive candidate for US Senate (and former US Senator) in Wisconsin. Again, the above applies.
• Tim Canova is challenging incompetent DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the Democratic Primary for Florida's 23rd congressional district.
• The minimum wage went from $0.40 in 1945 to $0.75 in 1950 to $1 in 1956.  
• From 1948 to 1960 unemployment was as follows (BLS): 

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

• 1948 3.4 3.8 4.0 3.9 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.8 4.0
• 1949 4.3 4.7 5.0 5.3 6.1 6.2 6.7 6.8 6.6 7.9 6.4 6.6
• 1950 6.5 6.4 6.3 5.8 5.5 5.4 5.0 4.5 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.3
• 1951 3.7 3.4 3.4 3.1 3.0 3.2 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.5 3.5 3.1
• 1952 3.2 3.1 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.7
• 1953 2.9 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.9 3.1 3.5 4.5
• 1954 4.9 5.2 5.7 5.9 5.9 5.6 5.8 6.0 6.1 5.7 5.3 5.0
• 1955 4.9 4.7 4.6 4.7 4.3 4.2 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.2 4.2
• 1956 4.0 3.9 4.2 4.0 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.1 3.9 3.9 4.3 4.2
• 1957 4.2 3.9 3.7 3.9 4.1 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.4 4.5 5.1 5.2
• 1958 5.8 6.4 6.7 7.4 7.4 7.3 7.5 7.4 7.1 6.7 6.2 6.2
• 1959 6.0 5.9 5.6 5.2 5.1 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.5 5.7 5.8 5.3
• 1960 5.2 4.8 5.4 5.2 5.1 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.5 6.1 6.1 6.6
 
• There were other things going on beside the minimum wage increase during this time like the baby-boom, soldiers returning from WWII, soldiers going to Korea, the G.I. bill, and the normal cyclical trends of the economy, but based on the above data I don't think it's necessarily reasonable to expect massive unemployment because of a minimum wage hike.
• During the same period of time as noted above inflation ranged from 10.2% in January of 1948 to -2.9% in October of 1949.  Again, there was a lot going on during this period of time. Since the 1920's the economy had been pretty volatile, so it takes a very selective reading of the data to pin it on a minimum wage increase (Inflation Calculator).  EDIT I just realized I cited the two extremes that occurred before either of the minimum wage increases.  Inflation from 1945-1960 was as follows:


• 1945 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.7 2.3 2.8 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.3
• 1946 2.2 1.7 2.8 3.4 3.4 3.3 9.4 11.6 12.7 14.9 17.7 18.1 8.3
• 1947 18.1 18.8 19.7 19.0 18.4 17.6 12.1 11.4 12.7 10.6 8.5 8.8 14.4
• 1948 10.2 9.3 6.8 8.7 9.1 9.5 9.9 8.9 6.5 6.1 4.8 3.0 8.1
• 1949 1.3 1.3 1.7 0.4 -0.4 -0.8 -2.9 -2.9 -2.4 -2.9 -1.7 -2.1 -1.2
• 1950 -2.1 -1.3 -0.8 -1.3 -0.4 -0.4 1.7 2.1 2.1 3.8 3.8 5.9 1.3
• 1951 8.1 9.4 9.3 9.3 9.3 8.8 7.5 6.6 7.0 6.5 6.9 6.0 7.9
• 1952 4.3 2.3 1.9 2.3 1.9 2.3 3.1 3.1 2.3 1.9 1.1 0.8 1.9
• 1953 0.4 0.8 1.1 0.8 1.1 1.1 0.4 0.7 0.7 1.1 0.7 0.7 0.8
• 1954 1.1 1.5 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.0 -0.4 -0.7 -0.4 -0.7 0.7
• 1955 -0.7 -0.7 -0.7 -0.4 -0.7 -0.7 -0.4 -0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 -0.4
• 1956 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.9 2.2 1.9 1.9 2.2 2.2 3.0 1.5
• 1957 3.0 3.4 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.3 3.3 3.7 3.3 2.9 3.3 2.9 3.3
• 1958 3.6 3.2 3.6 3.6 3.2 2.8 2.5 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.8 2.8
• 1959 1.4 1.0 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.4 1.7 1.4 1.7 0.7
• 1960 1.0 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.4 1.4 1.0 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.7


• Other empirical studies (namely Card and Krueger), have shown little to no increase in unemployment even when wage levels differ in neighboring states.  In the case of Card and Krueger, the minimum wage increased in New Jersey to levels above that of neighboring Pennsylvania.  The result was no discernable loss in employment compared to Pennsylvania and no noticeable rise in prices in affected restaurants.

NSFW

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Podcast 3/26/2016: News Rundown and College Tuition

In this episode, we run through a news-packed week including Brussels, Obama in Cuba and Argentina, the real reason behind the "War on Drugs", North Carolina striving to be a shittier state, racist twitter bots, voter suppression in Arizona and more.  We then dive deep into the practical and philosophical reasons for cheap college.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-rgth8-5df71e/download

Notes:

• Timeline of the riots in Gujarat http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/world/asia/modi-gujarat-riots-timeline.html?_r=0#/#time287_8514
• A history of the Tamil Tigers:  http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2008/11/2008112019115851343.html
• North Carolina did ban using climate change data.  More evidence that we should put birth control in their water. http://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-bans-latest-science-rising-sea-level/story?id=16913782
• The Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell (Republican) was in charge of the polling places in by far the most ethnically diverse and most populous part of Arizona.  I implore my fellow Bernie supporters not to engage in ridiculous conspiracy theories about how this was Hillary Clinton's evil plan.  Clinton conspiring with Arizona Republicans is pretty far fetched for me.  Also, you can place  a lot of blame on the Supreme Court overturning parts of the Voting Rights Act, more reason why the "Bernie or Bust" movement is idiotic and counter-productive. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/arizona-hearing-latinos-demand-answers-primary-voting-problems-n547131
• Steve Jobs was a terrible person.  Apart from the deplorable near slave labor conditions overseas in Apple's contractors, he engaged in collusion to keep the wages of software engineers down.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/01/technology/engineers-allege-hiring-collusion-in-silicon-valley.html?_r=0
• Cost of the University of Vermont's proposed new hockey arena:  $65 million  http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/sports/college/2014/11/14/uvm-gaining-ground-new-arena/19053135/ 
• Estimated in-state cost of attending University of Vermont for 2016-2017:  $31,960 ($15,096 in tuition alone) http://www.uvm.edu/~stdfinsv/?Page=tuition-fees.html&SM=tuitionsubmenu.html
• Ben Bernanke's surprisingly good and surprisingly subversive Baccalaureate speech to Princeton http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20130602a.htm#f1

NSFW

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Podcast 3/20/2016: Syria and Brazil

On this episode, Vinny and I discuss American foreign policy as it relates to the Syrian civil war, the crisis stemming from the Petrobras scandal in Brazil, and of course, some tangents.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-nzp8s-5dd1fe/download

Notes:

• Cities and towns of the Syrian Civil War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_and_towns_during_the_Syrian_Civil_War
• Global arms trade http://www.globalissues.org/article/74/the-arms-trade-is-big-business
• I mentioned being John McCain being photographed with members of al-Qaeda on a visit to Syria.  I fact-checked myself and the details were sketchy.  McCain was ostensibly meeting with members of the Free Syrian Army, but that has been disputed.  What's clear to me is I can't make that claim as if it is fact.  You win this round, McCain.
• On the drugging of a Kursk relative http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/894597.stm.
• A Vox article on Brazil and the Petrobras scandal http://www.vox.com/2016/3/18/11260924/petrobras-brazil
• 
• A little on the admission of California to the Union http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/california-becomes-state-union
• Shrinking cities in the United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrinking_cities_in_the_United_States

NSFW

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Dorf! Lessons in Self-Awareness

Jeffery Dorfman-Via Forbes

From time to time, a publication founded by a funny-faced multi-millionaire publishes something so tone-deaf and utterly detached from reality, that I feel a visceral need to subject the author to champagne-boarding until they admit supply-side economics is bunk.  The publication I speak of is none other than Forbes.  Today’s author is Jeffrey Dorfman P.H.D. and he explains to us why the student debt crisis is no biggie because people also owe auto loans.

The purported crisis of mounting student loan debt is one of the most overhyped problems of this young century. We were treated to thousands of news stories when student loan debt went above $1 trillion in total, more as it continued to rise, and a growing avalanche of stories designed to create sympathy for these poor indebted college graduates (and drop-outs). Yet, auto loan debt in the U.S. has now reached $1.1 trillion, up 30 percent from its pre-recession peak, without a similar mountain of press warning of the imminent catastrophe. This divergence in media coverage and analysis tells us much about how the student debt crisis is more manufactured than real.

Don’t worry everybody, even though these are two separate loans, for two separate purposes, with limited overlap, the comparison is still great.

The average college graduate who has any student loan debt graduates with between $25,000 and $30,000 in student loan debt. On a standard ten year repayment schedule, this means a monthly payment in the range of $280 to $330 per month. The average new car loan in the second quarter of 2015 averaged $28,500, was for five years, and carried a monthly payment of $483 month. Payments on student loans and auto loans both take up almost exactly the same percentage of income.

This argument is on shaky ground.  First, Dorfman is talking mean not median.  In both cases, the mean is likely driven higher by expensive outliers.  Second, I don’t think I know a recent college graduate, who can pay $483 a month for a car payment without major assistance from family.  Most recent college graduates that I’ve met are lucky if they can afford a 10-year-old Civic.  Third, there is not 100% overlap here.  I would speculate that someone buying a $20,000-30,000 car probably is, at least, employed full-time. Auto loans and student loans are also inherently different.  Auto loans can be forgiven in bankruptcy, cars can be repossessed, and the debt can be settled.  Student loans are not usually forgiven until full payment or death.  Furthermore, if they are also carrying $30,000 in student loans in a job that doesn’t even pay $12 an hour, they aren’t getting any new loan for much at all.

Richard Sherman's right to be an asshole

So did you know that you're not allowed to tell a millionaire professional Guy Who Plays With Rubber Filled With Air unless you too are a current or former Guy Who Plays With Rubber Filled With Air?  Neither did I.  Try telling that to Richard Sherman though (or, don't, because who the fuck are you to tell him anything?).

The owners of all 32 NFL teams met in Boca Raton and discussed 19 rule changes, the one causing so much heartache with Sherman being this: a player flagged with two personal fouls in the same game should be ejected from that game. According to sportingcharts.com:

"The personal foul is considered the most reviled of penalties, and the most avoidable. The two main kinds of personal foul are unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct. Examples of unnecessary roughness include a late hit after the conclusion of the play, a  grasp of the facemask that turns the head of an opposing player, an illegal block on the knees of an vulnerable player, or a blow to the head of the quarterback. Examples of unsportsmanlike conduct include taunting, excessive celebration after a touchdown, contact with an official, or fighting with an opposing player. In the event that two players from opposing teams receive personal fouls on the same play, the penalties are considered to be "offsetting" and the down is replayed."

Richard Sherman does NOT like this.  Let USA Today take it from here:

"I think it's foolish," Sherman said in an interview on SportsCenter. "But it sounds like something somebody who's never played the game would say, something that they would suggest, because he doesn't understand. He's just a face. He's just a suit. He's never stepped foot on the field and understood how you can get a personal foul."

What the fuck does that even mean?  So I need to have been a professional football player in order to insist you don't punch another player in the face?  Only if I have taken snaps would I know how hard it is to avoid roughing up an official because I didn't like what he said?  This doesn't make any sense to me, but I'm just a non-football playing face, so what do I know?

 http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/seahawks/2016/03/20/richard-sherman-roger-goodell-foolish-ejection-proposal/82050612/

http://www.sportingcharts.com/dictionary/nfl/personal-foul.aspx

Intolerance must be tolerated!

A funny thing happened on the way to... well, no where.  A funny thing did also happen when people began using that spongy thing inside of their skulls to contemplate the attempt at a T.rump rally in Chicago though. Anyone reading this probably already knows what happened but for those of you who've just returned from drinking your own piss on Mars with Matt Damon, here it is: our future fuhrer T.rump tried to hold a rally on at the University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion (because it was totally reasonable for trumpets to believe this to be friendly turf) and a large assortment of Bernie Sanders supporters/#BlackLivesMatter activists/people who detest racism and bigotry first infiltrated the audience to the degree that they outnumbered the trumpets themselves, then engaged trumpet violence by meeting it in kind.

The most thought-provoking part, at least for me, happened the following day.  Trumpets, and people who claim not to support such nonsense while supporting such nonsense, began crying about free speech. They claim T.rump's right to it was violated, that Sanders, Obama and Clinton orchestrated it, that protesters are "thugs" (code for the N-word of course), and all manner of other heinous things.  Stripping away the layers upon layers of bullshit that wraps just about everything these people say and do, their argument is this: we must be tolerant of their views, even though the views and beliefs they espouse are that of intolerance.  They believe all Muslims are terrorists, all Mexicans are rapists, all Central American unaccompanied child immigrants are here to steal their jobs, gays getting married are a mortal threat to their religion, unions exist solely to take their money, Bernie Sanders is a communist, all black people are definitely racist against whites but white racism ended long ago, so on and so forth.  They simply refuse to tolerate this erosion of their idea of American values, that Jesus Christ himself the whitest person in history personally founded the United States so Christians can be free of anything and anyone they don't like save for those people they chose to own, and anyone who disagrees is definitely a member of the unholy alliance of the Gay Soviet Islamic Black Power State.

Did you know that civil disobedience is not a thing?  Gandhi and Martin Luther King are definitely not the kind of people for whom you name streets and holidays. Of course this is all complete nonsense.  It takes a special kind of delusion to go out and say that you utterly refuse to believe that terrorism perpetrated by a small group of assholes who will use their own delusions to attach demonstrably wrong concepts of Islam to them are anything more than just that: a small group of assholes with an incorrect interpretation of their religion.  I don't understand how some of the people who will say "yeah Donald, Mexicans definitely are all rapists" will happily pay their daughters' plane tickets to Spring Break in Cancun.  "But wait, because it's over there I don't have to see Mexicans here".  This is what they really mean, for the few who haven't already understood that.  But what can we do?

Tell them how dumb they are, to their faces.  Take their intolerance and....well, don't tolerate it.

Podcast 3/13/2016: Super-Duper Tuesday Predictions, Violence on the Trump Circuit, and Rahm Emanuel Needing the Cersei Lannister Treatment

Better late than never.

In this episode, Vinny and I make some terrible predictions regarding super-duper Tuesday, discuss the weather, Trump's white power rallies, and more.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-d4tin-5da0bd/download

Notes:

• I bring up a demographic stat at one point that I can't place a name to.  I still couldn't find it.  I'll keep looking.
• https://www.yahoo.com/politics/trump-challenged-over-ties-to-mob-linked-gambler-100050602.html Trump and the mob.
• Operation Linebacker II http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/linebacker-2.htm

NSFW

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On Occasion, the Hitler Comparisons are Valid

I rarely refer to people I disagree with as Nazis or compare them to Adolf Hitler.  Usually, those comparisons are hyperbolic and not all that analogous.  Today an exception will be made: There are legitimate parallels to be drawn between Donald Trump and Hitler.

Trump has repeatedly cultivated the support of white supremacists.  He re-tweets them with alarming frequency, including glaringly inaccurate crime statistics that cater to the worst prejudices of white people with a sense of victimization.

Much like Hitler, who played to nationalist sympathies promising to restore Germany to former glory, Trump is promising to "make America great again".

Trump is undoubtedly an authoritarian.  He has openly advocated the commission of war crimes in debates, advocating for torture and the killing of terrorists' families.  He has cheered on violence at his rallies and casually suggested that he wished he could "rough up" journalists.  He has even quoted Mussolini.

For Hitler, the demonized outsiders were Jews, democratic socialists, homosexuals, communists, and the mentally retarded amongst others.  For Trump, the "others" are Muslims and immigrants saying:

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," he said. "They're sending people that have lots of problems...they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

Trump is often laughed at and not taken particularly seriously (including by myself).  Here's the thing:  Hitler wasn't taken very seriously either.  From my Western Civilization textbook, "...To most, Hitler was simply a right-wing rabble-rouser whose views were not worth taking seriously (p924 Nobel et. al.)."

Podcast 3/6/2016: Democratic Debate Color Commentary and Tuesday Predictions

On this episode, Vinny and I give the play by play on Sunday's Democratic debate.

We apologize for the quality of the audio.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-np3pc-5d5389/download

NSFW

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Podcast 3/5/2016: Super Tuesday Review, Preview of Saturday and Sunday Primaries/Caucuses

On this episode Vinny and I review our Super Tuesday predictions.  How wrong were we?

We'll also preview this weekend's primaries and caucuses.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-ycchc-5d4501/download

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Podcast 2/29/2016: SC(D) Recap, Super Tuesday Preview, Drunkenness, Syria, and Gasoline Huffing

On this episode Vinny and I discuss our terrible SC predictions, our new Super Tuesday predictions, drunkenness in history, the Syrian conflict, gasoline huffing, and more.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-wkt9g-5d2484/download

Notes:

• Hillary Clinton served as a Senator from January 2001-January 2009.

NSFW

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Realism for One

One of the things that irritates me the most about the upcoming election is that the media's line of questioning only seems to treat one candidate's policy proposals as though they're actually serious. Bernie Sanders is routinely questioned as though his proposals are crazy and unrealistic despite the fact that he's basically advocating for what every other western democracy already has.  I have no problem with asking Sanders tough questions like how he plans to pay for universal education or how he would get massive overhaul of the health care system through congress.  What I do have a problem with, is why other candidates are not subject to the same level of scrutiny.

Hillary Clinton has proposed a number of "reasonable" policies that under the current congress, where Obama could nominate Robert Bork and still not get him through confirmation in the Senate, would stand absolutely no chance of passing.  Clinton routinely talks about how she "would get stuff done" despite not offering any actual evidence of it.  The only things I see Clinton actually able to do given the current political climate, is work together with the Republicans to get bad free-trade deals and deeper involvement in wars we can't possibly win.

I don't hear how Clinton would pay for her policies.  Sanders at least has the decency to tell us that his "free stuff" would result in higher taxes and not just for the super-rich.  I never hear Clinton questioned on whether her "reasonable" and "technocratic" health care or education policies would create a massive amount of paperwork and bureaucracy for ordinary citizens to navigate.  I haven't heard anything about how these means-tested policies would be extraordinarily easy for congress to remove precisely because they don't apply to everyone.

Podcast 2/26/2016: Post-SC(R)/NV, Pre-SC(D)

In this episode, Vinny and I revisit our predictions of the Nevada caucuses, the Republican South Carolina primary, and make predictions for the Democratic South Carolina primary.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hqs9h-5d07d0/download

South Carolina predictions:
AM:
Clinton 54%
Sanders 40%

VM:
Clinton 58-59%
Sanders 40%

Notes:

• I said we are more segregated then ever... This is undoubtedly false.  The real story however, is less clear.  It's likely that many of us are more segregated in schooling than in the late 1960s. Bottom line:  It's nuanced.  Check out this 2003 UCLA study. 

NSFW

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Podcast 2/20/2016: Originalism is Pure Applesauce/Scalia is Dead

www.businessinsider.com

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss the passing of Antonin Scalia, bizarre Supreme Court scenarios, the bogus idea of "originalism", and Scalia's conservative radicalism.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-3vrwg-5ce1c2/download

Notes:

• Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health et a.l (gay marriage and 14th Amendment)
• Bush v. Gore (14th Amendment and a presidential election)
• Shelby County v. Holder (Voting Rights Act and 15th Amendment)
• Lawrence v. Texas (sodomy laws)
• District of Columbia et al. v. Heller (2nd Amendment and gun control)
• Heien v. North Carolina (4th Amendment and ignorance of the law by law enforcement)
• Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of Burlington (4th Amendment and butt-hole searches)
• Could a Puerto Rican be president?  The answer is unclear.  Justice Breyer, for his part, doesn't see why not.
• What was the longest confirmed kill of the Revolutionary War?  After some internet research, several sources of unknown credibility say Timothy Murphy shot British General Simon Fraser at a distance of 300-400 yards.  Pretty impressive for open iron sights and primitive rifles. Here's the Wikipedia article.

NSFW

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Podcast 2/20/2016: Nevada and South Carolina Prediction

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss where I actually agree with Donald Trump, the possibility of a fistfight in the next Republican debate, our predictions for the Republican South Carolina debate, and predictions for the Nevada Democratic and Republican caucuses.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hqrcw-5cd602/download

Predictions:
VM:
SC Republican:

1. Trump 35%~
2. Cruz 25%~
3. Rubio 15%~
4. Jeb 9%~
5. Kasich 8%~
6. Carson 5%~

NV Democrats:

1. Sanders by a hair
2. Clinton

NV Republicans:

1. Trump 45%
2. Ted Cruz 25%
3. Rubio 15%
4. Kasich 10%

AM:

SC Republican:

1. Trump 30-35%
2. Rubio 20%~
3. Cruz 19%~
4. Jeb Who cares?
5. Kasich Who cares?
6. Carson Who cares?

NV Democrats:

1. Sanders by a hair
2. Clinton

NV Republicans:

1. Trump 35-40%
2. Cruz 20-25%
3. Rubio 15%~
4. Jeb 10%~
5. Carson 5%~

Notes:

• Next Republican debate is 2/25/2016 on CNN

NSFW

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Podcast 2/13/16: Post NH, Post Superbowl, and We Are Cyborgs

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss our NH primary predictions, the Superbowl, how Debbie Wasserman Schultz is doing her best to destroy the Democratic party, a clarification about the ACA, the last Democratic debate, the future, and more.

There is now a contact form at the bottom of the blog for questions, comments, insults, etc.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-j3sph-5cbb25/download

Notes:

• Jeb Bush getting bumped at the Rotary:

• The Nevada caucus for the Democrats is November 20th and November 23rd for the Republicans 
• The South Carolina Primary for the Democrats is November 27th and November 20th for the Republicans.
• Democratic Party is Pushing Away Its Future http://timesofoman.com/article/76968/Opinion/Columnist/New-Hampshire-event-shows-Democratic-party-establishment-aligning-with-Hillary-Clinton
• Politifacts article about the ACA vs. Heritage Foundation health plan http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2013/nov/15/ellen-qualls/aca-gop-health-care-plan-1993/
• Robot writing articles http://www.wired.com/2015/03/future-news-robots-writing-audiences-one/

NSFW

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David Brooks' Fantasyland

David Brooks via Wikimedia Commons

New York Times columnist David Brooks lives in a fantasyland.  Brooks, like most, is a product of his environment.  He's hobnobbed with the conservative elite of New York and Washington DC like the late William F. Buckley for years.  I would suggest that the circles Mr. Brooks inhabits has perhaps left him out of touch with the day-to-day reality most people face.  This has been clear for a while and is particularly evident this Friday as he writes in puzzlement on the millennial embrace of Bernie Sanders.  From his NYT column:

...Sanders would weaken the ability of members of the middle class to make choices about their own lives. He would raise taxes on the rich, but there is only so much money you can squeeze out of such a small group of people...

I'm not sure if Brooks realizes this, but the middle class has all but vanished thanks to many of the policies embraced by Brooks and those of similar ilk.  You know what hampers choice?  Relying on your employer to provide benefits that are universally guaranteed in other developed nations.  While it is true there is only so much money to be squeezed from the wealthiest among us, they are the ones who can afford to chip in a bit more for the system that has helped them amass such a level of wealth.

Podcast: 2/5/16 Post Iowa Pre-New Hampshire

In this episode Vinny and I discuss HSBCs $470 million cash settlement, the Pharma D-Bag, unemployment numbers, our predictions for Iowa, New Hampshire, the Superbowl, and more.

Our apologies for some audio trouble in the middle of the podcast.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-xdyqc-5c8157/download

NH Primary Predictions:
VM:
Democrat:

1. Sanders
2. Clinton

Republican:

1. Trump
2. Bush
3. Rubio

AM:

Democrat:

1. Sanders
2. Clinton

Republican:

1. Trump
2. Rubio
3. Cruz

Superbowl Predictions:

VM:

Carolina over Denver

AM:

Carolina over Denver

Notes:

• Glass-Steagall was 1932
• The term "quantitative easing" was first used referring to actions taken by the Japanese in the early 2000s. Arguably, the Federal Reserve used a form of QE during the 1930s and 1940s.
• HSBC http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/05/hsbc-agrees-470-million-settlement-over-alleged-u-s-mortgage-abuses.html
• Carolina scored 500 points during the 2015 regular season leading all teams.
• A little info on R&D in the pharmaceutical industry:  http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/ftpdocs/76xx/doc7615/10-02-drugr-d.pdf

NSFW

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