We've got a trade skirmish at the 49th. The president must have been looking to do some protectionist fan service, for he slapped on a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum on national security grounds. If our national security is threatened by Canada selling us too much aluminum, we're in very sorry shape, for Canada is just about our closest ally. Cheaper electricity up north might help the Canadians make aluminum cheaper, but having a ticked Canada threatens our security more than an underused US aluminum plant.
However, it sounds good to the anti-trade folks and kicks the Trudeau punching bag for good measure.
_________________
Speaker Pelosi is singing "Why don't you meet me in the middle?" The Democrats passed a $3 trillion Christmas list, the Republicans are offering just a thousand Sagans, so she says "how about two?" This looks like some interesting political theater, but interesting like a NASCAR multi-car wreck or a Battle Bots episode. All we need is the BB ring announcer to announce "It's SAUSAGE-MAKIN' TIME!"
COVID's lingering along, we still have double-digit unemployment, so some help seems called for, but at some point, fiscal sanity has to kick back in.
The unemployment benefits were a bit too generous for some, but the Democrats don't want to back off on the idea of a $15/hour minimum wage, which the $600/week benefit amounts to. $600/week divided by 4o hours/week=$15/hour. That's going to price some jobs out of the market, but market economics isn't a progressive strong suit.
Grab a refill of your beverage of choice; we may be here a while.
____________________________
The Tigers got an unexpected four-day break this week with the Cardinals COVID outbreak nuking a four-game home-and-home set. They thought they had the bug contained at seven players and were set to play the Cubs, but as Beetlejuice might say, "Not so fast, buff boy." Or as Tommy Lee Jones might say "We've got a bug." Player 8 now just went viral.
Recent Comments