The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released their April jobs report on Friday, and the results weren’t pretty. While many experts had predicted that close to a million jobs had been added in the month, the actual number was 266,000.
Article by Patrick Carroll from FEE.
So why did the economy do so much worse than expected? That is the subject of fierce debate in Washington this week. Republicans, for their part, are arguing that generous unemployment benefits have given people an incentive not to work.
“Almost every employer I spoke with specifically mentioned the extra-generous jobless benefits as a key force holding back our recovery,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last night.
McConnell has a point. With current unemployment benefits, many people are getting $300 per week just to stay home, so it’s no surprise that businesses are struggling to find workers.
But Senate Democrats are pushing back.
“If [businesses] are having a very difficult time attracting labor, let them pay the workers a decent wage,” said Senator Bernie Sanders. “I don’t think anyone’s getting rich on a $300-a-week supplemental, and I think, ultimately, the way the market is supposed to work is if I want you to work for me, I’ve got to pay you a wage that attracts you. Let’s try doing that.”
Sanders is not alone in making this argument. Across the country, progressives are pointing out that market forces are pushing wages higher, and if businesses want to attract workers they’ll need to pay the market rate.
But this is some seriously flawed reasoning. What we’re witnessing isn’t remotely close to “the way the market is supposed to work.” This is the blatant result of government intervention. Wages aren’t being pushed up by supply and demand. They’re being pushed up because the government is subsidizing unemployment.
It’s not supply and demand in a free market when the government is using all our tax dollars to make unemployment competitive with employment.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) May 10, 2021
All that to say, this whole jobs fiasco is yet another reminder that incentives matter.
‘The Purge’ by Big Tech targets conservatives, including us
Just when we thought the Covid-19 lockdowns were ending and our ability to stay afloat was improving, censorship reared its ugly head.
For the last few months, NOQ Report, Conservative Playbook, and the American Conservative Movement have appealed to our readers for assistance in staying afloat through Covid-19 lockdowns. The downturn in the economy has limited our ability to generate proper ad revenue just as our traffic was skyrocketing. We had our first sustained stretch of three months with over a million visitors in November, December, and January, but February saw a dip.
It wasn’t just the shortened month. We expected that. We also expected the continuation of dropping traffic from “woke” Big Tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, but it has actually been much worse than anticipated. Our Twitter account was banned. Both of our YouTube accounts were banned. Facebook “fact-checks” everything we post. Spotify canceled us. Medium canceled us. Apple canceled us. Why? Because we believe in the truth prevailing, and that means we will continue to discuss “taboo” topics.
The 2020 presidential election was stolen. You can’t say that on Big Tech platforms without risking cancellation, but we’d rather get cancelled for telling the truth rather than staying around to repeat mainstream media’s lies. They have been covering it up since before the election and they’ve convinced the vast majority of conservative news outlets that they will be harmed if they continue to discuss voter fraud. We refuse to back down. The truth is the truth.
The lies associated with Covid-19 are only slightly more prevalent than the suppression of valid scientific information that runs counter to the prescribed narrative. We should be allowed to ask questions about the vaccines, for example, as there is ample evidence for concern. One does not have to be an “anti-vaxxer” in order to want answers about vaccines that are still considered experimental and that have a track record in a short period of time of having side-effects, including death. One of our stories about the Johnson & Johnson “vaccine” causing blood clots was “fact-checked” and removed one day before the government hit the brakes on it. These questions and news items are not allowed on Big Tech which is just another reason we are getting canceled.
There are more topics that they refuse to allow. In turn, we refuse to stop discussing them. This is why we desperately need your help. The best way NOQ, CP, and ACM readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We are on track to be short by about $4100 per month in order to maintain operations.
The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. We had 5,657,724 sessions on our website from November, 2020, through February, 2021. Our intention is to elevate that to higher levels this year by focusing on a strategy that relies on free speech rather than being beholden to progressive Big Tech companies.
During that four-month stretch, Twitter and Facebook accounted for about 20% of our traffic. We are actively working on operating as if that traffic is zero, replacing it with platforms that operate more freely such as Gab, Parler, and others. While we were never as dependent on Big Tech as most conservative sites, we’d like to be completely free from them. That doesn’t mean we will block them, but we refuse to be beholden to companies that absolutely despise us simply because of our political ideology.
We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.
As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.
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