steveisser.bsky.social
Consultant, Economist, Lawyer and Independent scholar.
Have published three books on energy policy in academic presses, including Cambridge and Routledge.
Love dogs, H.L. Mencken and Mark Twain.
"Trust no one, my friend. No one . . . Not even me."
863 posts
55 followers
9 following
Discussion Master
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Yes. The Democrats need more progressive performative politics.
It's been so effective in expanding the Democratic brand that they're now the majority party!
What? They're not? They have their lowest approval rating in decades?
Hmm. Maybe the country is well to the right of Progressives?
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It was an unanimous decision.
Reason is Court can't justify reverse discrimination under the law. Can't base burden of proof on membership in an ethnic or racial group.
The Court shouldn't consider policy implications, that's for democratically elected Congressmen who write the laws.
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Note it was 8-0 b/c regulatory over reach.
Just because a regulator thinks it would be good public policy doesn't give her the authority to extend to industries and impacts not under her direct purview.
It's up to elected officials to make policy, not regulators.
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Both sides are callous.
Israelis have lowered their standards, one thing to accept civilian casualties to take out Sinwar, an architect of Oct 7, another for meaningless low level militants.
But Hamas deliberately embeds itself among civilians, putting them at risk to raise casualty levels.
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So when is she going to the Sudan? The Congo? Myanmar?
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Who is rushing to replace people?
Technology change has always resulted in workers being displaced (it's the major mechanism for productivity improvements) but there's no evidence that AI is penetrating faster than other technologies in the past.
The hype is reminiscent of the 2000 IT bubble.
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No. But neither can the UN, whose local people were infiltrated by Hamas, who stole the aid, then resold it to finance their militants.
Notice how well fed they and their supporters were when they came out of hiding after a year in bunkers.
Civilians in Gaza get screwed by both sides.
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No. Because it was a block party, not a disciplined movement.
The focus was diffused attention to racism, not on police reform.
Real movements patiently work toward achievable goals.
Instead, performative actions like DEI dominated.
Leading to the inevitable backlash.
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Guess that hospital was a legitimate military target?
Since Sinwar was in a bunker underneath it.
If only we could arrange a death cage match between the Jewish nationalists and Hamas, with the proceeds going to Gaza civilians who didn't cheer on Oct 7.
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Alabama deserves Tuberville.
At least that will get him out of the Senate.
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"Alabama, you got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track"
50+ years later, nothing has changed.
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Confusing correlation with causation.
Trump voters are self-selected to be Fox News consumers.
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I'm sure people in the Congo and Sudan will be glad to hear that there is still international law.
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Where have UN peacekeeping forces actually kept the peace?
Not in S Lebanon, where they turned a blind eye to Hezbollah.
Not in the Congo, not in . . .
They're a running joke and should be disbanded.
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If Hezbollah obeyed the cease-fire conditions there would be no targets in S Lebanon, since there would be no Hezbollah militants or infrastructure to hit.
Hezbollah was hoping for an Israeli withdrawal, and the Lebanese army turning a blind eye to their rebuilding their military capabilities.
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What grates Trump is Taylor and Bruce are both richer, more popular and better looking than him.
Compare the pictures of buff 75 year old Springsteen running on the beach and conducting 3 hour concerts with 78 year old Trump with his belly handing over his belt, huffing his way up the steps of AF1.
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Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, mostly hit Red States.
California is rich enough to get by without FEMA, but the southeastern states, not so much.
But I'm rooting for a category 5 Hurricane just north of Mar-a-Lago with a 20' storm surge.
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"The way we feel about our bodies is related to capitalism, patriarchy and misogyny. "
This is why I ignore more journalists (and social scientists) these days. Ideological labels in lieu of actual research (like the biology of sex, desire, etc.)
Both sexes are attracted to strong, healthy bodies.
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Bibi doesn't have an end game, but realistically, they'll probably do what they should have finished a year ago, completely eliminating all Hamas infrastructure in the north of Gaza (closer to targets in Israel), then declare victory at some point and let Hamas rule the rubble.
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I'm sure Hitler told Stalin the same thing.
Putin has mortgaged Russia's future to China, and Xi is the kind of landlord who won't accept excuses when the rent comes due.
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Having read economic journals for 40 years, a simpler explanation:
1) many Chinese authors aren't good writers, so their articles are relatively inaccessible
2) Chinese authors tend to be more technical, and technical/theory papers are cited by a small group but have little impact otherwise.
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The problem is economic/political.
Reliability is a "public good," and requires either investment in a gov/utility grid, or payments for sufficient ancillary services in a market (see ERCOT).
Technically, there are a number of solutions, the problem is getting regulators/customers to pay for them.
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Go away Joe.
You broke your promise to serve for one term because your ego got in the way of your judgement ("only I can fit it/beat him"). And your wife and sycophants enabled you.
And now we have 4 more years of the Orange Idiot.
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I tried reading it.
Just proved my basic rule, ignore anything he says, it's all lies and exaggeration.
The man has zero understanding of economics or business (his company is tiny and is basically a marketing/branding operation and has been guilty of multiple counts of fraud).
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How does his oath of office go?
Something about "will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
To paraphrase Mary McCarthy: “Every word he says is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the.’ ”
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Even worse, putting Trump in a body that he couldn't hope to have in his wildest dreams - one with actual muscles instead of rolls of fat.
The man is allergic to anything resembling exertion, physically or mentally.
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Progressives are only 15% of the vote, and nonvoters are slightly to the right of voters.
If you want to get rid of Trump and the MAGAs, you need to reach out to moderate Democrats and Independents and some old school Republicans.
Electing more Progressives from bright blue districts does nothing.
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Bezos played Trump like a violin.
By the announcement, he got Trump to threaten him, then he "placates" Trump, avoiding a confrontation.
Meanwhile, the media jumps all over the story, publicizing the impact of tariffs on Amazon prices - so when prices jump, consumers will blame Trump.
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The Sanctuary city thang was always stupid virtue signalling
"We're happy to cooperate with federal authorities, but our first priority is the safety of our citizens. Given our limited resources, fighting crime and keeping our streets safe will dictate our policies."
Same result.
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As a U of Texas trained economist, I'm all for Tequila and economics!
Too bad I won't be able to attend.
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Fight fight fight!
More meaningless posturing.
Meanwhile the DNC is finally financing state organizations in purple and red states - something that should be permanent and funded at a higher level.
Can't build the grassroots without seed money.
Can't build a majority by preaching to the choir.
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He'll be drooling by 2028, he's already showing signs of pre-Alzheimers, and it runs in his family. Plus, his lifestyle is correlated with a high risk.
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It started in 70 AD and 135 AD.
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Name me a country that isn't full of "morons"
Where do you think our morons came from?
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Not according to Denmark, where the Progressive party took a tough stance on immigration and was able to increase support for the social net.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/m...
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Hamas has said they want a similar status to Hezbollah, no responsibility but military strength and a de facto veto over the "official" government.
Notice how well that has worked in Lebanon.
The Israelis didn't blow up Beirut, Hezbollah did (with fertilizer).
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The Democrats are down to 35% of the electorate.
And that's with the "Left."
So how are they going to win anything?
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Progressive Regulation, The New Deal, the Great Society, Obamacare.
The 60s riots and Vietnam protests got you Richard Nixon.
Unfettered immigration, BLM and Rainbow flags got you Trump, twice.
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Really? Show me some PS literature that shows this.
Nonvoters tend to be slightly to the "Right" of voters - there is no hidden reservoir of Left wing voters that are alienated.
Wishful thinking is not a strategy.
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It's not if you have well designed, content neutral rules.
Taking over a building, shouting down speakers, blocking or threatening fellow students is not "free speech."
The problem comes when speakers, full of self-righteousness, become frustrated and feel they need to take extreme measures.
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The Democrats in Texas shunning people like O'Rourke and Ann Richards (and her Austin mafia) who are out of touch with most Texans.
Texas Democrats used to be pragmatic, understanding that a state that self-selects for conservative immigrants isn't going to embrace Leftist rhetoric or policies.
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Trump has no leverage over Zelensky b/c he's offering nothing of value - without a commitment to continuing to support Ukraine, why would Zelensky make any concessions?
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Everyone is in favor of fighting climate change, as long as other people pay for it.
That's why most surveys are useless, instead of elucidating commitment through willingness to pay, they simply as if people like "Mom and apple pie."
Just look at how unpopular carbon taxes are, for example.
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An activist journalist can't be trusted to tell the truth, and if you can't be trusted, what's the point?
Just create a new profession, "propaganda disseminator."
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So, Musk is going to donate $300 billion to subsidize larger families?
No. They're going to finance incentives by gutting SNAP, Medicaid, housing, etc.? Discourage the poor having children.
I'm sure baby bonuses will motive couples making $200+K to cut their income in half to have larger families.
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Now the Left wants to champion free speech.
While the Trump administration has gone way overboard, the concept that "offensive speech" can be silenced was championed by the Left and too many Universities went along.
Gov and Universities should be content neutral when it comes to speech.
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Buy aluminum stock!
The crazies will need their hats to protect them from alien mind control beams.
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$3,000 in cash to buy presents?
Gee, it's 2025, no credit cards, no Paypal, etc.?
Sounds suspicious to me.
"I saw she would meet her connection
At her feet was a footloose man"
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What it means is most of these actions will be blocked by the Courts, and none will outlast his administration.
If you want lasting change, you have to go through Congress.
Most of these orders are more for show than effect and will make it easier for the Dems to move to the center.
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Well. Hamas could agree to demilitarize, and its leaders go abroad.
That would remove any reason for the Israelis to stay in Gaza.
All Hamas can hope to accomplish is to re-arm and provoke another disaster in Gaza. As long as they are in de facto control, Gaza is doomed.