Political Brew: A billion-dollar recovery plan, vetting vanity plates, and the Senate vs. Joe Biden
This week our Political Brew analysts are former Republican state senator Phil Harriman, and attorney and radio talk host, Democrat Ken Altshuler. Author: Pat Callaghan Updated: 12:52 PM EDT May 9, 2021
MAINE, USA Gov. Janet Mills has unveiled a $1.13 billion Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan. It uses federal money to address economic recovery from the pandemic and boost future growth and revitalizing infrastructure.
Ken Altshuler says he loves the plan. The bulk of what she s proposing is all economically focused, which is what Republicans should like to hear.
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The U.S. economy added 266,000 jobs in April, an impressive number in ordinary times but a huge disappointment for forecasters expecting to see about 1 million new jobs during the month as the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic continued. The unemployment rate rose, too, increasing a tenth of a percentage point to 6.1%. And the previous month’s gains were revised downward by 146,000, from an increase of 916,000 to an increase of 770,000.
The rapidly reopening economy appears to be experiencing a labor shortage, with many business owners reporting that they are having trouble finding workers. “Demand is outpacing supply,” Daniel Zhao, an economist at Glassdoor, told the Associated Press. “That’s something that is occurring across the economy, in semiconductors to lumber, and we’re seeing a similar crunch in the labor market.”
Burned by the Lincoln Project, exiled by the GOP. What s next for this California Republican?
Sacramento Bee 1 day ago Hannah Wiley, The Sacramento Bee
May 7 In November 2019, California GOP strategist Mike Madrid got the national opportunity he d waited two decades to put on his résumé when he joined a group of anti-Trump Republicans known as the Lincoln Project.
A year later, Madrid would leave the political action committee amid harassment claims against another co-founder and infighting over finances.
The veteran Latino voting trends expert is now in the political wilderness, cast out by Trump-supporting California Republicans and shunned by the state party for his public castigation of the former president.