The Political Page, T+89 -- April 20, 2017

Updates

Later, 4:05 p.m. CDT: Here we go again. Quality control issues at Tesla. A bunch of Musk Melon cars recalled due to faulty brakes. The headline says 53,000 Teslas recalled; I am surprised there are that many Teslas in the wild. On another note, I saw a wild Tesla with the gull wing doors while walking at Bridgeport Village, an upscale shopping mall west of Portland, OR. I wanted to take a photograph but I didn't want to look like a dork.

Later, 4:01 p.m CDT: Russians trying to influence French election? Story here: assailant, two policemen killed in Paris, near tall structure; another assailant may still be on the loose; city on lockdown -- the whole city? -- comes three days before the election.

Original Post

Jobs:

• first time unemployment claims rise more than expected
• consensus: 240,000
• actual: 244,400
• increase of 10,000
• four-week moving average: a decrease of 4,250 to 247,250 
• number of people collecting unemployment checks hits 17-year low

Gasoline demand: hand-in-hand with jobs.

• remains flat week-over-week
• remains slightly under same period one year ago 

Paglia: Trump already headed towards re-election; Democrats have played their hand.

O'Reilly: non-factor for the Fox machine. Today's social media environment: "one and done." If a corporation stung with really, really bad news that is going viral, make the decision quickly and move on.

GM: factory in Venezuela ceases production after seized by government. Well, that's one way to bring jobs back to America. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I assume Bernie Sanders supports the nationalization of GM. I don't' know; just thinking out loud.

Maxine: alt-left's nominee for 2020?