Notes From All Over -- Part 5 -- The Social Security Edition -- October 8, 2021

Social security, two data points, link here:

• it's a given that the COLA for 2022 will be the biggest in decades; but,
• lobbyists say that won't be enough, and want those on social security to get an additional $1,400 stimulus check
• oh, there's a third data point:
• 2022 is an election year and the head of the Democrat Party is not polling well right now
• this is not rocket science

Stimulus money:

• billions in stimulus money but nothing to show for all that government spending
• across the board, analysts forecast upwards of 500,000 newly employed;
• in fact, less than 200,000 newly employed; link here;
• like the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, Biden celebrated the jobs figures for September, 2021, released today; thought the unemployment rate was remarkable;
  
• unemployment dropped from 5.1% to 4.8% but that was mostly because women are dropping out of the work force at alarming numbers -- "dropping out of the work force" -- simply no longer looking for work

Russia: doubts persist that Russia has the natural gas capacity to "save" the EU this winter. 

Tesla: raises prices of the Model 3 and the Model Y; the Cybertruck is now Elon Musk's least expensive EV.

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A Musical Interlude

Link here.