Bidenomics were good, actually?

I wonder how DOGE feels not getting paid right now.

What's different than what has been explored before? “When DOGE is tweeting about UI data, that’s not good stewardship of [personally identifiable information],” Evermore said. www.nextgov.com/digital-gove...

Thank you, @epi.org for the number of workers in each state and district page! I've been using it all day helping to explain the shutdown and unemployment for federal workers. (Link in replies.)

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for unemployment agencies even if the government doesn't shut down, because all the deferred resignation people will be trying to figure out if they are eligble.

This article ran one day ago.

in light of the kimmel news, just a reminder that a few days ago a prominent fox news host literally called for killing homeless people. right afterward, someone shot up a couple homeless encampments. that fox news host still has his job.

Pay attention. Something dark might be coming. The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent. 1/ Here's what's happening.

Today, The Century Foundation published a new report from three of the nation's leading experts on unemployment insurance: Sec. @juliesulabor.bsky.social, and @aimstettner.bsky.social and @micheleevermore.bsky.social—leaders of DOL’s Office of UI Modernization during the pandemic: go.tcf.org/ui

Trump's Labor Dept. wants to create a national database of unemployment insurance claims. Expert @micheleevermore.bsky.social warns this will drain state budgets, expose workers' private wage data, and make fraud easier by centralizing all records in one system. news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/punching...

All of the alarm numbers that I look for in a jobs report are flashing red right now: Black unemployment is up nearly a point and a half from last year, marginally attached is up, U6 climbing, youth unemployment is 10.6% and Black youth unemployment is a stunning 24.8%. RAGE and tariffs are bad.

🚨 Join our next rally on September 5, the 143rd anniversary of Labor Day, to stand up for workers!

Why is the White House embedding social media teams with FBI arrest teams? They wouldn't do that to go after undocumented cooks or teenage hooligans. (Link to story in comments.) Who are they going to arrest with the social media teams in tow?

West Virginia is sending 300-400 national guard to DC, South Carolina is sending 200, Ohio is sending 150. What's the plan here? Is there a resistance or what?

Justice for sandwich bro!

Tech friends: What kind of coding issue conveniently deletes parts of the Constitution that the current president is trying to work around? I'm not a coder, I need some help here.

Would we still be talking about past month's revisions in the monthly jobs report if he hadn't fired Commissioner McEntarfer? He Streisand Effect-ed the jobs numbers.

24 hours later, what I think the normal people are missing about what's happening at BLS is that they think this is about numbers. Behind those numbers are human beings who lost their jobs. The president isn't just trying to demand fudged numbers, it is actually the erasure of unemployed people.

What to make of POTUS's attempt to fire the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)? Let's run down what knowledgable people are saying...

In addition to everything everyone else is saying about firing Commissioner McEntarfer, if we start cooking unemployment numbers, what happens in the red states with less than 26 weeks of UI until the unemployment rate increases? How about extended benefits?

Elon's departure has not changed the pace of the data grab in this administration. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/u...

Check out this super helpful brief on improper denials in unemployment insurance by @nelp.org's Flannery O'Rourke: www.nelp.org/insights-res...

Buying this president is like buying a new car these days. He won’t keep working for you if you don’t keep paying the subscription fees.

Great news! Massive lawsuit on grants rescinded across government. The section on the unemployment insurance modernization grants starts on page 43 of the lawsuit: portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/p...

I just spoke to one of the wonderful unemployment/workforce navigator people, for whom the Trump administration just ended funding. Their latest wave of clients has been people who were detained so long they lost their jobs, and they are scared to go back to the government for their earned benefits.

My hot take on the Social Security Trustees report is how bad policy in one area has ripple effects in other programs. The lowering of the fertility rate is a consequence of not making child care affordable and not fixing labor law so young people can afford kids. 1/2

A top staffer to Sen. Tina Smith emailed Sen. Mike Lee’s top staffers on Monday about “how much additional pain you’ve caused on an unspeakably horrific weekend” Full emails below

I've been explaining to people I know in my community what has been happening at the SSA and they think I'm being weird and making things up. Now reading this, I didn't even know some of the more bizarre details.

Why isn't there a group of hecklers who just follow the proud boys around and throw shade? They could be called the cloud boys.

To anyone downplaying the incident with Senator Padilla, here are some observations from someone who has worked in the administration and in the Senate. First, cabinet officials and even subcabinet officials require Senate confirmation. No cabinet member is going to not recognize a senator. 1/?

It’s like raiiiiiin on your fascist parade

And to think this woman sits in the Senate seat once held by the author of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It's disturbing how disability access is being disregarded by this administration. Bob Dole was a key champion of the ADA, signed by President George H. W. Bush. This isn't a partisan issue, it is one of basic decency.

We should be helping states prepare for a potential upcoming recession. Instead, this administration is pulling back funding that states were using to improve unemployment insurance systems. I guess nobody explained macroeconomic stabilizers to Ron Vara. My statement in replies.

I am not in DC, but just learned that the Secretary of Labor is having a press conference on the Constitution Avenue side of the Frances Perkins building at 9:00 AM tomorrow. Please go if you can.

Talk to your kittens about the ‘nip before it is too late.

With the likelihood of an economic downturn on the horizon, I have put together a short explainer about what Congress has done in the past and why the UI is in the worst position it has been in recent memory to serve as a macroeconomic stabilizer. Link in reply.

Trying to get to DC via Amtrak and my train got stopped at the Joseph R Biden train station because there is a massive fire in Baltimore. This all feels like a sign or something.

The findings in this report are shocking. 10,000 staff at SSA to be made political. Check out the whole thing.

You know how Fed Chair Powell said that growing unemployment could be paired with rising prices? Check out today's unemployment insurance checks versus 2008. California 2008: $450/wk, today, $450. NY 2008: $405, today, $504. Florida in 2008: $275/wk, today $275. DC 2008: $359, today $444.

Putting all federal data in one place is a horrific idea from a cyber-security standpoint and not a great one from a benefits accuracy perspective either. This is all for one purpose: feeding Elon's AI. How else do you explain the "five things I did this week?" He wants to replace gov't (link below)

47 downplaying recession fears is the height of irresponsibility. RIGHT NOW we should be getting funding to state unemployment insurance agencies to start gearing up. Current funding is based on the very low unemployment rate this administration inherited and squandered.

Generations of Americans have trusted the Social Security Administration with their private information. Yet, in a few short months, the Trump administration and DOGE have shattered trust that took decades to earn—trust that may never be regained. New from @mollyww.bsky.social:

I think a bunch of folks don't realize that what they miss isn't so much factories as it is unions.

Here is where you can go to oppose this administration's attempt to overturn the tradition of having professional, non-partisan civil servants involved in decision-making and replace them with partisan patronage: www.regulations.gov/docket/OPM-2...

“They’re finding fraud that was marked as fraud and saying they found out it was fraud.”https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/15/doge-trump-musk-unemployment/aa65fec6-1a2d-11f0-9160-306c35f9b3a8_story.html

More taking from the public good to give to large tax preparers and wealthy donors apnews.com/article/irs-...

New to Bluesky? Here's a thread of starter packs for those interested in economic policy, care policy, independent journalism, and authoritarianism studies. 🧵 (1/14)

NEW: I confirmed w/ CBP that the email @nicolemicheroni.bsky.social receive telling her to self-deport is real, not a scam. It's also is very weird and likely causing fear and chaos. I spoke w/ Micheroni—a US citizen and immigration attorney—about her experience. www.wired.com/story/homela...

Really at this point, just assume DOGE doesn't understand programming or data and I'm really not sure what their actual skills are. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...