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SEPTEMBER 23,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

COSTCO WARNS – FROM REUTERS:   Sept 23 (Reuters) - Membership-only retail chain Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) said on Thursday it was reinstating limits on purchases of key items including bath tissues, roll towels and bottled water, spurred by panic buying from customers amid rising COVID-19 cases.  A resurgence in COVID-19 cases had led to stocking up of household essentials last year during stringent pandemic-led lockdowns, forcing the company to put limits on purchases of key items. While there was a shortage of cleaning supplies even last year, transportation issues this year are causing delays in deliveries to stores despite suppliers having plenty of stock, Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said in an earnings call.  The pandemic-driven port congestion and labor shortages have forced retail chains including Costco to spend more on transportation and labor, digging into their margins. Costco said it was paying six times for containers and shipping due to price increase on items shipped overseas.  The higher prices are likely to have a dramatic effect on the 2022 political campaigns.  Nothing under Biden seems to be going right, with no sign of improvement down the line.

AND MORE ECONOMIC WORRIES – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The number of Americans newly seeking jobless benefits unexpectedly rose again last week amid ongoing concerns over the surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant, the feds said Thursday.  Initial filings for unemployment benefits, seen as a proxy for layoffs, rose to 351,000 last week, up 16,000 from the prior week’s revised level of 335,000, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.  Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected to see weekly new claims drop to 320,000.  Weekly new claims have fallen substantially from the 2020 peak of about 6.1 million new claims in a single week, but remain above pre-pandemic levels.  After a summer that saw new jobless claims settle at nearly double pre-pandemic levels, new jobless claims appear to be steadily falling — despite the setback presented by the last two weeks of data.  The warning flags are up.  The economic recovery will be more difficult than expected.  And we aren't getting much vision from Washington.  If things really start going south, the Democrats will blame it on Trump, and the amen corner of the liberal press will gladly agree.

September 23, 2021       Permalink

THE PARENT REVOLT – OVERNIGHT:  We're seeing signs of it around the country – parents outraged by the kind of education their kids receive, are voting with their feet and taking the kids out of inferior schools.  No way now to predict how far this will go, but I suspect that school choice may be a major issue in upcoming campaigns, especially if the schools continue to decline, or insist on indoctrinating kids with Marxist theory.  From PJ Media: 

A new report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools shows what a great advertisement American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten and her more radical members provided for school choice. After more than a year of school closures, Zoom classes, and battles over critical race theory, parents are increasingly taking their children out of public schools. The study looked at enrollment shifts between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years.

Their analysis shows that 1.45 million children left traditional public schools. Charter schools gained 237,000 students in the same period. The difference is made up by families choosing private schools or homeschooling. The researchers noted that public school enrollment declines began years ago in many cities and states. Some of the loss was due to demographic changes and population decline. However, the pandemic appears to have accelerated the switch to public school alternatives.
Charter school enrollment increased in all but three of the 39 states that allow them and provided data.

According to the analysis:
• Charter schools in the 42 states assessed gained nearly 240,000 students, a 7% increase
• Public schools, including district-run schools, lost more than 1.4 million students, a 3.3% loss year over year
• There was a decrease in public school enrollment in every state
• Increases for charter schools ranged from 49 more students in Virginia to 35,751 additional students in Oklahoma.
• In terms of percentages, the increase in charter enrollment ranged from 0.19% in Louisiana to nearly
• 78% in Oklahoma
• In some states (e.g., Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Utah), enrollment in virtual charter schools drove enrollment increases

The 7% growth experienced in charter schools was the largest seen since 2014. In the states they analyzed, the children moving to charter schools came from every racial and socioeconomic background. Arizona became the first state to have 20% of public school children enrolled in charter schools. Previously, only Washington, D.C., had reached that milestone. In California, public schools saw declines in nearly every racial subgroup, with substantial increases in Asian, Filipino, and Hispanic students transferring to charters.

The researchers say the pandemic was the reason for many of the changes. Some parents they spoke with were looking for an educational setting that fits their family’s pandemic experience. Gem Innovation Schools in Idaho expanded learning options and grade levels to meet the shifting restrictions. As parents shifted between the office and remote work, Gem allowed parents to select online or in-person schooling once a quarter.

Others became aware, thanks to the proliferation of remote classes, that curriculum taught in public schools did not match their values. In Florida, a father of five, Matt Mohler, observed his school-age children struggling with remote work and worried the curriculum would not meet their needs. The new Tallahassee Charter School opened in 2020, and after meeting with school staff, he moved his children there. Mohler shared, “Within the first week, my [then] first grader came home reciting the preamble of the Constitution. And I was blown away at the progress he was making in such a short amount of time.”

COMMENT:  School choice may become the biggest civil rights issue of our time.  It will require, however, substantial parental advancement.  Those opposing school choice will stop at nothing to prevent it.  Calling parents "racists" will become part of the educational landscape.

September 23, 2021       Permalink

SEPTEMBER 22,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT – FROM FOX:  Baltimore has reached 250 homicides so far in 2021, as violence continues to surge in the city's streets, according to a report.  Of those homicides, at least 25 have occurred this month, including 11 killings this past week, FOX 45 of Baltimore reported.  At a news conference Wednesday, Mayor Brandon Scott contended that having police officers in the city's neighborhoods isn't always enough to prevent the violence. He argued that perpetrators needed to be held accountable so they don't end up back on the streets to commit more crimes, according to FOX 45.  "What we're going to continue to do is hunt down these people and hold them accountable," Scott, a 37-year-old first-term Democrat told reporters. "As I told you yesterday, work to make sure as we go through the rest of the justice system, working with our partners to make sure they don't end up back on the street."  The mayor was questioned on Baltimore's crime problem during what was supposed to be an event focused on the city's plastic bag ban, which goes into effect next month.  Kimberly Klacik, a former Republican congressional candidate in Maryland, later suggested on Twitter that perhaps city officials' priorities weren't in order.
"Baltimore City will ban all plastic bags on October 1st," Klacik wrote. "Considering we just hit 250 homicides, who wants to tell the Mayor bodybags are plastic?"  It is the tragedy of so many American cities.  And most of them have one thing in common – liberal mayors.  Need I say anything more?  But New York, starting in January, will probably have a mayor who is black, liberal, and a tough former cop.  That will be a crime movie worth waiting for.

September 22, 2021       Permalink

DREAMIN' OF VIRGINIA – OVERNIGHT:  Many people don't realize that Virginia, one of the most critical of the swing states, will elect a governor in less than two months.  At one time Virginia was solidly conservative, a red state.  Then, due to an influx of northern liberals moving into the Virginia counties near Washington, the state turned purple and then blue.  Republicans are trying to flip it back.  And they might just do it.  From RedState: 

The prognostications about the 2022 election have begun and rightly so, given the current collapse of the Biden administration. Historically, unpopular presidents lead to mid-term wipe-outs for their party, and Republicans appear to be in their best position since the conclusion of the 2020 election.

Ironically, a poll out of Virginia that doesn’t actually ask anything about the 2022 election may be the best barometer yet, though. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate for governor has now taken the lead over Democrat Terry McAuliffe with likely voters. That election will happen this year and will represent a major marker in how public opinion is shifting in even blue states.

Another poll showing a close contest in the Virginia Governor’s race. A new University of Mary Washington survey shows Terry McAuliffe 43%, Glenn Youngkin 38% but among likely voters, it’s Youngkin 48%, McAuliffe 43%. @nbcwashington

Joe Biden won Virginia 54-44% in 2020. It wasn’t close, and this race between Youngkin and McAuliffe shouldn’t be either. A month ago, the narrative was beginning to form that Youngkin was not only dead in the water, but that he’d be absolutely shellacked on election day. Now, he’s actually within striking distance to possibly pull the upset in a state that has become a blue bastion thanks to Northern Virginia’s heavy leftward transformation.

This is also not the first poll to show Youngkin doing better than expected. Another recent survey showed Youngkin now leading with independents, making turnout the key factor moving forward.
If Youngkin somehow pulls the upset, it would signal a coming red wave in 2022 that may make 2010 look tame. Taking back the House is already expected for the GOP, but they could end up netting 40+ seats and the Senate majority if they are operating in an environment that makes Youngkin governor of Virginia.

But even if Youngkin doesn’t win, Democrats are counting on McAuliffe to clean house in order to bolster the narrative that things aren’t so bad. If the Republican ends up losing by only 4-6 points, that result will crush Democrat hopes of rebounding and reasserting themselves going into 2022’s election season.

COMMENT:  This will probably be the most exciting race in the country come election day.  I have no doubt that the Dems will wind up playing the race card, or any other ethnic card, to try to pull out a victory.  Republicans are animated, though, and do believe they can take back the governorship.  The path to 2022 is becoming more exciting.

September 22, 2021       Permalink