We begin today with Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post giving the ix-nay to private control of a vital communications networks.
It is unacceptable that the world’s richest man can, at a whim, turn on and off such a vital communications network. I don’t know what Musk thinks about the possibility that Chinese President Xi Jinping will launch an invasion of Taiwan — though I do know that China is the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles and that Musk is trying awfully hard to sell Tesla automobiles there. I don’t know what he thinks about China’s border dispute with Pakistan or what he thinks about the Middle East. I really shouldn’t have to care.
The U.S. government should deploy its own low-Earth-orbit satellite array, whose use would be determined by the president and the military chain of command. We spend far more on defense than any other nation, on the premise that we’re buying the latest, most advanced, most effective gadgets on the planet. If our aid to Ukraine is so beholden to one man — three of whose 10 children are named Techno Mechanicus, Exa and X — we’re doing something seriously wrong.
Of course, to launch our government-owned satellites, we’ll probably need the reusable rockets developed by SpaceX or those made by Blue Origin (a private company owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Post). Putting men on the moon was an epic national quest, in which we were all invested. Landing humans on Mars is being outsourced to the billionaires.
How to deal with the gravest threat to peace and security in Europe since the end of World War II should be a matter for our elected officials. No one elected Elon Musk.
John Cassidy of the The New Yorker says to beware of the political minefield for the Biden administration in the United Auto Workers’ strike negotiations.
Recent years have seen a resurgence of labor activism, with strike threats from railway workers, UPS drivers, and other groups seeking to raise their wages and improve their employment conditions. The auto workers have asked for a four-day workweek at full pay and a forty-six-per-cent wage increase over four years, as well as cost-of-living adjustments and better retirement benefits. But their contract dispute also involves some fundamental issues about the future of the auto industry. Under programs that were introduced in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Biden Administration is providing generous financial incentives to automakers that invest in electric-vehicle(E.V.) plants. The U.A.W., whose many members work in factories that make vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines, is demanding assurances that the Big Three won’t exploit the transition to E.V.s to eliminate union jobs and union contracts. It is also asking Joe Biden, who proudly calls himself “the most pro-union President in American history,” to support its cause. “I think our strike can reaffirm to him where the working-class people in this country stand,” Fain told CNBC last week. “It’s time for politicians in this country to pick a side.”
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Some progressive Democrats are calling on Biden to come out and explain the larger issues at stake in the dispute. I spoke with Felicia Wong, the president of the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank, and she drew a parallel with the writers’ dispute in Hollywood, which isn’t just about wages, either. “Whether it’s about A.I. replacing writing jobs or jobs in new battery plants that don’t pay a living wage, these disputes are all about who gets to have power in the new economy,” Wong said. “These are the things that President Biden should be talking about when he talks about Bidenomics, even though I understand this particular dispute is pretty complicated.”
Aaron Blake of The Washington Post notes that even Democrats have been turned off by New Mexico Gov.Michelle Lujan Grisham’s executive order to ban guns in Albuquerque.
The order comes just a year after the Supreme Court landed a major blow to efforts to restrict gun rights — and in a case specifically involving carrying firearms in public. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, the court struck down New York’s strict rules for obtaining a concealed carry permit.
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Some on her side of the aisle quickly said her order goes too far. They said that while the motivation was commendable, Grisham is at the very least flouting the Constitution, as the Supreme Court very recently interpreted it.
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Grisham has maintained more firmly that she has the authority on the gun restriction. But she has also cast the situation as just too serious not to try something. Her order notably comes after the Democratic-controlled New Mexico legislature struggled this year to pass new gun laws post-Bruen.
Paul Krugman of The New York Times sees a smooth landing for the American economy.
Now, there may be some bumps in the months ahead, largely involving technical issues. Government statisticians have no trouble estimating, say, the price of eggs; but while they do their best, the methods they use to estimate the prices of services, such as health care, can sometimes produce implausible results that add noise to the data. No, the cost of health insurance didn’t fall 30 percent over the past year. And given noisy data, there may be a few bad inflation numbers in our future.
Nonetheless, the dramatic fall in underlying inflation this year is clearly real, and corroborated by many sources, notably business surveys. Voters, especially Republicans, may believe or claim to believe that inflation is still rising, but while this belief may be politically important, it’s just wrong.
So the big economic question of the moment is: What went right? How did Goldilocks come to the U.S. economy?
Finally today, Michael Harriot of The Grio has some important questions regarding that party celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, held at MVP Kamala Harris’s residence.
4. Who had the best performance?
In no particular order:
- Common showing off: Look, I don’t want to be a hater, but Common needs to choose a lane. It’s not fair that his song “I Used to Love Her” captures the underground essence of hip-hop, and he’s also beloved by the ladies. Why would he shame his fellow rappers by demonstrating his freestyle skills and perform dance hits and show why he is considered one of the greatest conscious rappers? Because he’s a showoff.
- Kamala Harris’ dance moves: While everyone has seen the clip of the Veep dancing to “Vivrant Thing,” I also spotted Harris doing the Rockaway and the Electric Slide.
- The world’s greatest entertainer: It’s really not fair to put people on after Doug E. Fresh. He demonstrated a flawless beatboxing performance, taught the audience how to Dougie and had the crowd singing every word.
- The U.S. Olympic breakdancers: If I had known that breakdancing was an Olympic sport, I would’ve tried out for the pop-locking team!
- Jelani Cobb: The first Black person to lead Columbia University’s School of Journalism rapped along to every word of every song.
Everyone have the best possible day!