September 6, 2024
Prepare, ye, for the 10th of September! It is on that date, in the birthplace of liberty, that one Donald J. Trump will square off face-to-face with his arch nemesis, Kamala Harris, in the only televised presidential debate before November. There has been a pitched battle over the debate rules, with each side quibbling over when moderators are permitted to mute the candidates’ microphones. For our part, we were hoping for them both to be muted and replaced with some smooth jazz or Yacht Rock radio for 90 minutes.
The most anticipated jobs report of the year dropped today, and we learned that 142,000 jobs were created in August, down from the expected 161,000. The unemployment rate, however, ticked down a hair to 4.2%. And while both sides of the political spectrum began spinning this report like an out-of-control centrifuge, it is becoming crystal clear that the Fed is gonna finally cut interest rates. So, hold off on that new mortgage, folks.
While the nation’s eyes will be fixed on Philadelphia next week, the Harris camp is spending the next five days in the Steel City, holed up at the Omni William Penn Hotel, doing debate prep. We would suggest the vice president not be tempted to look across the river and get a glimpse of the Pittsburgh Pirates trying to play baseball, lest she become so depressed and nauseous she can’t speak by next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, basketball fans in the City of Brotherly Love are anxiously awaiting the next dozen or so shoes to drop in the saga of a new Sixers arena. This week, the City of Camden shocked everyone with a $400 million offer to steal the beloved Sixers and move them to New Jersey. C’mon, now. The Liberty Bell is in the damned logo. What takes its place, a silhouette of a petrochemical plant? Moving the Sixers to Camden would be like moving the Steelers to Steubenville, Ohio.
No fewer than six proposed constitutional amendments were poised to head off for voter approval when this session of the General Assembly began. Then came the Democrats winning control of the Statehouse, and out the door they went. For those who are big fans of governing through constitutional amendment, we have some bad news. That clock is now going to reset, meaning the next time any change to our constitution can hit the ballot will be in 2027. By the way, for those who like to point to freedoms being guaranteed by the constitution, state or federal, remember that those documents aren’t written in blood on stone tablets. We amend those things quite often. Hell, we were ready to amend ours six different times last year alone.
The Biden administration is getting ready to pump more than seven billion clams into an effort to produce more renewable energy across the country. Of course, a big recipient of those funds will be Pennsylvania, because 19 ELECTORAL VOTES, B**CHES! Man, it would suck to be a deep red or deep blue state and be completely ignored. Purple is the only way to go, babies. Prince knew what he was doing.
A 2016 law that made it much simpler, and much more lucrative, for private companies to purchase public water/sewer assets is coming under fire after consumer bills doubled in the past eight years, with some jumping as much as 166%. The General Assembly has been wrestling with a solution, but as the clock approaches midnight on the 2023-2024 session, it is becoming clear that any fix is gonna be a 2025 fix. Or 2026. A wise man once said the final world war will be fought over clean water. As the General Assembly coalesces around a maybe, possible, kinda likely fix for mass transit funding, that too is gonna end up being a 2025 fix.
But in the meantime, SEPTA announced it is going to start hiking fares either way. The reality is “fare hikes vs. state funding” wasn’t ever the question. It was how manageable the inevitable fare hikes will be. We always thought the quickest way to convince folks that transit funding is crucial to our economy was to just shut the entire system down one random Monday morning and let folks see what a REAL traffic jam looks like. Sit on the Schuylkill for three straight days and ya’ll will be BEGGING to fund SEPTA.
The potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon has emerged as about the only issues that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump agree upon. All have come out against the potential sale of an iconic Pittsburgh company (a company that no longer wants to be in the steel business, apparently) to a company headquartered in our noted geopolitical enemy, JAPAN! Fun fact: a new $400 million steel plant outfitted with latest Italian technology is being built 15 miles to the north in Aliquippa by a company owned by two Chinese American businessmen.
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, which is not exactly a bastion of liberalism, has ruled 4-1 that counties cannot toss out mail-in ballots simply because the wrong date is on the outside envelope. Of all the kerfuffles over ballots, we always thought this was the weirdest one. If any ballot is postmarked on or before election day, what the hell does it matter what date is scribbled on the outside? If you asked us to fill out a ballot right now, there would be at least a one-in-three chance we’d have no idea what today’s date as if our phone was not in reach. Hell, we would be lucky to get the month right.
You know what else judges do not like? They really do not like it when county commissioners hand over voting machines to unqualified third-party “auditors.” So learned two Fulton County commissioners, who this week found out that doing so is going to cost them a MILLION DOLLARS IN FINES! We don’t know the third commissioner, but you gotta think that person is really happy not to have signed off on this move. Who, me? Nope, wasn’t there. Not my idea.
A special Shameless Client Plug goes out this week to Dr. Alaine Arnott of the National Liberty Museum, who will be speaking at a little-known academic institution known as Oxford University this weekend for a conference aiming to unite individuals from across the political spectrum to discuss a path forward for our culture and the institutions. Congrats!
The Triad Socials this week were busy! First, we hosted Harvard professor and Pulitzer Prize winning author Daniel Ziblatt, with a special appearance by former Congressman Conor Lamb!
We also bid adieu to intern Grace, who is off to Scotland to finish her degree before returning to conquer the public affairs world.
Finally, Olivia Rindfuss keeps piling up the honors, this time for the Central PA Business Journal’s 40 under 40 list! Go Olivia!
In our We Can’t Make This Up, we take you back to Philly, where law enforcement is facing an epidemic of crab thieving. This week, $42,000 worth of crab meat was hijacked in south Philly, apparently from some folks who didn’t feel like going all the way downashore to get their seafood. If you’ve ever bought fresh crab from the Goldbelly app, you know that $42,000 worth of crab is, like, seven or eight crabs. Max.
That’s what passes for news around here, as September skies will soon be filled with Jalen Hurts touchdown passes and Russell Wilson six-yard swing passes to a running back. From all your friends at Team Triad, have a great weekend!