David Pepper

Yes!

Run against every Texas Republican pushing to rig American democracy….

One of the best artist's representations yet @knecessary.bsky.social, though is it more blond than what he can claim lately? Especially across those wild brows.

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Trump’s Jobs Sharpie

- by @knecessary.bsky.social

Without asking, I was offered the senior discount at @dunkindonutscoffee.bsky.social this morning.

That was a very painful 19 cents.

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Much bigger than employment data

Quick 🧵

While Trump fired the leader of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he was angry about the accurate reporting of his poor job numbers, the BLS oversees far more than just monthly job growth and unemployment.

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The take of the day right here. 💯

Mike Johnson stopped House business to protect a pedophilia racket.

Good for TX House Dems for stopping business to protect democracy.

Mike Johnson stopped House business to protect a pedophilia racket.

Good for TX House Dems for stopping business to protect democracy.

ALL the Critical Economic Data Now at Risk The Crown Jewels Trump Just Politicized

Same trick here, just with almost every aspect of American economics. And the certainty that Trump will pressure future officials to shape future reports to his benefit.

Yes, this is all right out of the authoritarian playbook.

Link here for more: open.substack.com/pub/davidpep...

There is no doubt what is happening here. This is the economic equivalent of Trump not wanting to test for COVID because he didn’t want COVID cases going up. Or gutting NOAA because it studies the impact of climate change on extreme weather, and other effects.

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Those two reports alone—on unions and low-wage work—underscore just how important this added work is.

Like the other data, adding a political taint is deeply problematic.

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and far greater benefits (“93% of union workers had access to a retirement plan, while only 67% of nonunion workers had access. Access to defined benefit plans was far more common for union workers with 64% of union workers and 11% of nonunion workers provided access.”)

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Another: unionized workers make more in wages and benefits than non-union members; that they enjoy far greater health care (“Health care benefits were available to 96 percent of private industry union workers and to 69 percent of nonunion workers.”

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One example: an analysis of jobs that pay less than $15 per hour — “and the industries, states, and areas where they are commonly found.”

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And as Trump fully knows, this data also will tell us (or would have told us) how Trump policies—from trickle-down economics to tariff chaos—are succeeding, or failing.

Beyond these, the BLS also generates a whole host of in-depth reports of great value.

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In short, these are the crown jewels of American economic data and performance.

Together, they comprise the lion’s share of the numbers that tell us how our economy is doing overall, and how consumers and workers are faring across a wide set of measures.

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•Employment (* the one that pissed Trump off)

•Job openings

•Foreign Direct Investment

•Labor productivity

•Consumer expenditures

•Workplace injuries

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Here’s a snapshot of the specific data the BLS tracks, analyzes and publicizes:
•the Consumer Price Index (inflation)

•the Producer Price Index

•Import/Export Prices

•Data on Wages (including by occupation, by demographics, by industry,

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That far broader array of economic data is critical to the country, to a wide variety of federal programs, and—as Trump no doubt is thinking—politics. And that makes the move that much more dangerous.

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Much bigger than employment data

Quick 🧵

While Trump fired the leader of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he was angry about the accurate reporting of his poor job numbers, the BLS oversees far more than just monthly job growth and unemployment.

1/

In Ohio, they defied court orders and violated the Constitution seven separate times in order to gerrymander the illegal maps we are stuck w today.

Even threatened to impeach a GOP Chief Justice for ruling against them.

They are THAT addicted to gerrymandering.

Stand strong.

How’d you know?

It’s definitely illegal.

And the GOP reps did it knowingly.

Remember.

Mitch McConnell refused to have a hearing for a justice for close to a year. Based on BS.

If he hadn’t have done that, partisan gerrymandering would’ve been ruled unconstitutional by a 5-4 court. (Instead of allowed by 5-4)

Stand strong, TX Dems. As long as it takes

In Ohio, they defied court orders and violated the Constitution seven separate times in order to gerrymander the illegal maps we are stuck w today.

Even threatened to impeach a GOP Chief Justice for ruling against them.

They are THAT addicted to gerrymandering.

Stand strong.

Stop being surprised by what they do.

Start surprising them with what we do.

Stop being surprised by what they do.

Start surprising them with what we do.

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Here’s a li’l secret about almost every GOP politician in a statehouse or Congress today.

Most of them have never really been in a real election. Gerrymandered districts are all they’ve known.

Which is one reason they’re so scared of democracy.

WATCH

the Consumer Price Index drives many many government programs. Like Social Security annual increases!

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Had a great conversation w @johnavlon.bsky.social of @thebulwark.com about how gerrymandering is the holy grail of GOP power

Without it, they would lose election after election.

And they know it! So they fight and scheme to gerrymander more than anything they do.

WATCH and RT