August 2, 2024
Early yesterday morning, President Joe Biden (yeah, he’s still there) announced that an almost-too-hard-to-believe, seven-nation prisoner swap (not to be confused with Seven Nation Army, by the White Stripes) had been executed, and that four U.S. citizens imprisoned in Russia were on their way home. Congratulations to all of them, welcome home, and we hope Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel is on the next transport out of there.
After three years of strong monthly job creation numbers, the economy added only 114,000 jobs last month, while unemployment ticked up. This news will likely push the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September. So, if you believe that the twists and turns of the presidential election have been wild so far, throw in an interest rate cut and whispers of “recession” 45 days before voters head to the polls.
Former President Trump was back in Pennsylvania this week, rallying the faithful at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, which according to some folks now holds 100,000 people. Doesn’t LOOK like Beaver Stadium, but in any case, Trump promised to return again to Butler County in the near future. We have a message for Trump and Harris: y’all should just get an address here, move in and be done with it already.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Veepstakes are hitting the absolute meltdown stage online, as the “Vetted Seven” sit back and watch their detractors and supporters battle it out in cyberspace, as if one thing they write/tweet/say is gonna matter. For instance, if you are one of those “I will never vote for Harris if she picks (insert name here) as her VP, we have advice for you. Back up, put down your phone, go get some ice cream and spare us all the idiocy of your membership in the group pollsters call the STATISTICALLY INSIGNIFICENT! We are sure Harris is watching Twitter and thinking “well, @Karen1970 from Nebraska thinks Bashear is a terrible pick, so I guess I should cross him off the list!”
Wow, that felt good. Anyway, the local police in Butler and Beaver counties, respectively, are not too thrilled with what they perceive as a “pass the buck” attitude from the U.S. Secret Service, an agency that currently clocks in with an approval rating somewhere around “colonoscopy.” A special congressional task force has been formed to get to the bottom of this whole disastrous affair. Well, that’s good, right? We KNOW these task forces never devolve into a bunch of blame-throwing and name-calling.
Meanwhile, we ran across this story of those now-infamous nine missing Luzerne County ballots that eventually launched a million conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the 2020 elections. It is worth a read, if for nothing more than to sit back and marvel about how this tiny spark ended up as a raging nationwide fire. Or think of it this way – if these ballots never got tossed into the trash, Rudy Giuliani probably still has a law license.
Before we leave Electionland 2024, it is probably worth mentioning that a primary election race from last spring up in Luzerne County STILL hasn’t been called officially. For those not following, PA House district 117 features a first-term incumbent trailing his challenger by three votes. The next time somebody says, “my vote doesn’t matter,” take this paragraph, print it out, tape it to a ball peen hammer and smack that person in the forehead.
Governor Josh Shapiro and legislative leaders put a whole lot of work into crafting a state budget that made significant investments in economic development, from tax policy to new grants and support for existing programs. So here is a little quiz for ya. What industry receives BY FAR the most direct support from the state each and every year? Biotech? Agriculture? Energy development? Microchip manufacturing? NOPE! Horse racing. Yeah, let that one percolate around a bit.
Meanwhile, the state’s casinos have collectively asked the PA Supreme Court to weigh in on whether they need to pay any tax on slot machines if there is no tax parity on so-called skill games (spoiler alert: there is not.) We call that a Billion Dollar Question.
Governor Shapiro announced that, starting in 2025, Pennsylvania will be part of the IRS’ free file program, and our fine taxpayers may avail themselves of that service. We assume this news is making CPAs rather grumpy. “Free” is most certainly always better than “not free.”
Pennsylvania’s aging population, combined with the pandemic’s effect on the housing market, as well as the straight-up gentrification of neighborhoods, has all been mixed together to make a rather un-tasty cocktail called “the affordable housing shortage.” And while that began as a city problem, it is now coming to a suburb near you. Expect affordable housing to be on the menu for Gov. Austin Davis’s budget address next year. KIDDING!!! We don’t know anything, don’t call us!
As August rolls in, it is almost time for the cracks of the bats up in Williamsport, as Little Leaguers from all over the world descend upon Lycoming County. This year, the Pennsylvania College of Technology culinary chefs will be feeding all 15,000 of these ravenous little critters, which we think is cool as hell. Play ball!
In our We Can’t Make This Up segment, we take you to the waters off the coast of Brazil, where the sharks are apparently having a damned good time. Scientists say that 13 individual sharks have tested positive for cocaine, although it wasn’t clear how they enticed the sharks to pee into little cups in the first place. What we do know, however, is that the coast of Brazil is EXACTLY where we would expect to find cocaine-addled sharks.
That’s what passes for news around here, as we careen into the weekend and celebrate the arrival of August and another 31 days of 90-degree heat. Maybe we will go for a quick swim off the coast of Brazil. From all your friends at Triad Strategies, have a great weekend!