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Daily Bread, Elections, Legislation, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 5.4.26: Two Theories on Bipartisanship

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 75. Sunrise is 5:45 and sunset is 7:59 for 14 hours 14 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 92.5 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board’s Policy Review Committee meets at 4:30 PM.

On this day in 1961, the Freedom Riders begin a bus trip through the South.

In some political developments, there’s more than one way to assess an event. As a sensible approach, should assess what one believes is accurate yet be open to being proved wrong.

On the existence of bipartisanship in Wisconsin politics, recent campaign spending produces two possible theories. The first possibility is that conservative spending on WISGOP candidates with selected moderate positions is a sign of increasing bipartisanship. The second possibility is that spending on these candidates is an attempt to preserve their incumbencies to support more conservative WISGOP positions on many other issues.

Brittany Carloni writes that recent ads suggest Republicans are reading the national mood and emphasizing bipartisan legislation:

In a late-night press conference during the final days of the Assembly session in February, eight Republican lawmakers in some of the chamber’s most closely contested districts made a dramatic announcement. 

They told reporters they had persuaded longtime Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, to allow essential votes on bills to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for new Wisconsin mothers and to require insurance companies to cover additional screenings for women at increased risk of breast cancer. Vos had opposed the bills, which stalled in the Assembly for months. 

Two months after the bills passed the Assembly, the Jobs First Coalition, a political advocacy organization that has backed Republican candidates, released ads lauding the efforts of some of those GOP lawmakers to get the two women’s health bills signed into law. Michelle Litjens Vos, the speaker’s wife and a former state lawmaker, works on fundraising and event planning for the Jobs First Coalition, according to recent tax documents. 

[…]

The ads, which have been shared as candidates are circulating nomination papers to get on the November ballot, point to an Assembly Republican strategy cognizant of a national mood that has turned on President Donald Trump and the Republican establishment. The bills also highlight a political issue that appeals to female voters, a voting group that Republicans have often struggled with at the national level. 

See Brittany Carloni, Conservative group’s ad campaign pits vulnerable Wisconsin Republicans against their own party leadership, Wisconsin Watch, May 4, 2026.

In this reading of events, these ads show a move away from traditional WISGOP positions generally. Perhaps this is an accurate reading.

There is, however, an alternative reading of this ad spending. This libertarian blogger, being skeptical of claims of bipartisanship, would contend that WISGOP support for some moderate (WisDems) positions may be an attempt to re-elect vulnerable Republican incumbents who will, if reelected, simply vote the WISGOP line on other issues. And so, and so — a few moderate positions for the sake of reelection and immoderate votes within a WISGOP caucus once reelected.

Which assessment is more accurate? We don’t know, and will not know unless these WISGOP candidates are reelected and their full voting records are examined beginning next year.

For now, I’m doubtful of genuine, comprehensive bipartisanship. These ads look to skeptical eyes as no more than situational, temporary positioning for immediate electoral advantage.

_____

Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

Whole lotta lambs:

A sheep owned by Anne O’Connor, who runs Clover & Bee Farm in Underhill, Vermont, with her husband, Gunnar, gave birth to a rare batch of six lambs earlier this month. The sextuplets and their mother are all doing well, making the lamb windfall even more remarkable. The same ewe previously had quadruplets, and while a recent checkup indicated she would have two lambs this time, O’Connor suspected more. When the big day came, the baby lambs seemed to have kept coming and coming, she said. “I was a little bit suspicious, just given how big she was and that she was going a little earlier, that she might have more than two,” she said. “Six is great, but it’s definitely — it’s plenty.”

Daily Bread, War

Daily Bread for 5.3.26: Shorter than the Vietnam and Iraq Wars Isn’t a Selling Point

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Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be windy with a high of 66. Sunrise is 5:46 and sunset is 7:57 for 14 hours 11 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 96.9 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1715, a total solar eclipse is visible across northern Europe and northern Asia, as predicted by Edmond Halley to within four-minute accuracy.

One reads today that Mr. Trump offers a new selling point for his latest war:

As the conflict continues, Donald Trump has encouraged Americans to keep things “in perspective,” citing the long wars in Vietnam and Iraq to suggest that U.S. involvement in Iran is “not very long at all.”

See Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Trump Faces the Complicated Reality of a Costly, Unpopular War in Iran (‘President Trump’s predictions of a relatively short-term conflict with minimal economic consequences appear to be crumbling’), New York Times, May 3, 2026.

Kanno-Youngs’s reporting places Trump’s statement in perspective:

Two months into the war in Iran, President Trump is confronting the complicated reality of a conflict that has proved costly, deeply unpopular and lacks a clear endgame.

Energy markets are in turmoil. The Pentagon has given its first public estimate of the war’s cost: $25 billion so far. Key Republicans in Congress are growing impatient. And Mr. Trump is lashing out at foreign allies, like Germany, who have shown no interest in joining the fight.

[…]

Just three weeks ago, Mr. Trump said Iran had agreed to all of his demands and he suggested a breakthrough was near. Iran would work with the United States to remove its enriched uranium, energy prices would drop and a growing global crisis with potential severe political ramifications would subside.

None of that happened.

No, none of it.

A better approach for a better world would be free trade in capital, labor, and goods.

We have tariffs and war instead.

_____

Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

Trump jokes that U.S. Navy will take on Cuba on the way home from Iran:

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Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Politics, WisDems, WISGOP

Daily Bread for 5.2.26: A Curious, ‘Leaked’ Assessment from WISGOP Consultants

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Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of 55. Sunrise is 5:47 and sunset is 7:56 for 14 hours 9 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 99.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1945, the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division liberates Wöbbelin concentration camp, finding 1,000 dead prisoners, most of whom starved to death.

One doesn’t have to be a Democrat (as I am not) and one doesn’t have to be a backer of Rep. Francesca Hong for governor (her candidacy would not be my first choice) to wonder about the sincerity of a leaked WISGOP consultants’ assessment talking up her candidacy. Jessie Opoien reports that

A leaked memo from consultants to U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s campaign for governor gives voters a glimpse into how a Republican campaign sizes up its potential competition from the Democratic side.

In this case, Tiffany’s consultants were raising a warning about state Rep. Francesca Hong’s early momentum in the Democratic primary field and suggested a strategy for how to prepare for a general election contest against a candidate who identifies as a democratic socialist.

As a counter, Hong’s Democratic rivals have pointed to polling showing her as the only candidate losing in a hypothetical matchup with Tiffany.

[…]

“We Need To Take Francesca Hong Seriously,” warns the subject line of the memo, prepared earlier this month by consultants Clinton Soffer and Chris Hansen.

They cited polling that shows Hong’s early strength. In a Marquette poll released March 24, Hong led the field with 14%, followed by former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes at 11% and the rest of the field in single digits. But 65% were still undecided.

[…]

The memo compares Hong to other potential Democratic candidates Tiffany could face in the Nov. 3 general election, viewing her as someone whose nomination “virtually guarantees elevated Democratic enthusiasm and turnout in Dane County and the Milwaukee media market, where statewide races are decided.”

See Jessie Opoien, What a leaked GOP memo says about the candidacy of Francesca Hong, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 30, 2026.

No one should take this ‘leaked’ assessment, from consultants to an opposing party, about a single candidate, in a crowded field, at face value. That the reporting does so is embarrassingly credulous.

A ‘leaked’ memo makes it sound as though someone smuggled a document from an office late one night.

It’s more probable (although not certain) that a consultant hit send on his own Outlook message.

Polls show most Democrats are undecided, liberal candidates with politics other than Rep. Hong’s have done well in both Madison and Milwaukee (Susan Crawford, Chris Taylor), and there’s solid reason to think that disappointment with Trump will be the foundation of any Democrat’s chances. (Indeed, Opoien’s reporting notes that the clear majority of Democrats, themselves, are undecided yet her reporting relies on Republicans‘ views of Hong’s supposed popularity.)

It’s more plausible to think that the leaked memo talks up the candidate the Tiffany campaign least fears rather than the candidate it supposedly most fears.

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

How Americans Are Struggling With Rising Healthcare Costs:

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City, Daily Bread, Economy, Special Interests

Daily Bread for 5.1.26: Latest Economic News Shows Higher Inflation and Disappointing Growth

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Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 49. Sunrise is 5:49 and sunset is 7:55 for 14 hours 6 minutes of daytime. The moon (a ‘Flower Moon‘) is full today.

On this day in 1971, Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.

There are two main consequences of destructive economic policies: the loss to those who experience them, and the loss of credibility for those who advocated for candidates who adopted those destructive policies.

In Whitewater, the same special-interest men who claim they know what’s best for the city have for years advocated for policies that have done the worst to the city, state, and nation. They’re like film producers who repeatedly back movies that bomb, yet blame audiences for not appreciating their vision.

Of our national and state economies, one reads more disappointing news. Inflation is up and growth disappoints:

Consumers faced escalating prices in March as the Iran war sent oil soaring and created a new level of challenges for the Federal Reserve, according to a batch of reports Thursday that showed economic growth slower than expected and a generational low in layoffs.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes food and energy, accelerated a seasonally adjusted 0.3% for the month, pushing the 12-month inflation rate to 3.2%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The readings matched the Dow Jones consensus estimates. Core inflation hit its highest level since November 2023.

Including the volatile gas and groceries components saw higher readings, with the monthly gain at 0.7% and the annual rate hitting 3.5%, also in line with forecasts.

In other economic news Thursday, the Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product grew at a 2% seasonally adjusted annualized pace in the first quarter, up from 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025 but lower than the 2.2% estimate. 

See Jeff Cox, Core inflation rate hit 3.2% in March as first-quarter growth disappointed at 2%, CNBC, April 30, 2026.

Cox quotes economist Heather Long on conditions for ordinary Americans:

“This is a split-screen economy,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Companies and investors involved in AI are on fire. Meanwhile, middle and moderate income households are struggling with high gas prices and inflation that’s back at the hottest level in three years.”

That’s Whitewater too, isn’t it? In our case, a few student-rental landlords rode a wave over the last generation, but the rest of the city was left behind.

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

What’s Up for May 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA:

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower brings shooting stars before dawn, the Moon meets brilliant Venus after sunset, and May wraps up with a rare Blue Moon. Look to the early morning sky around May 5-6 for meteors from Halley’s Comet, though bright moonlight may wash out some of the fainter streaks. Then on May 18, spot the crescent Moon near Venus low in the western sky just after sunset. May ends with a Full Moon on May 31. May ends with a Blue Moon, meaning the second full moon in a single calendar month, but it will not actually look blue.
0:00 Intro
0:09 Eta Aquarids
1:25 Moon and Venus conjunction
1:54 Blue Moon
2:35 May Moon phases

AI, Daily Bread, Technology, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.30.26: (Almost) Everyone Hates Data Centers. They Don’t Like AI Much, Either

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Good morning.

Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 5:50 and sunset is 7:54 for 14 hours 4 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.6 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1789, on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first President of the United States.

In Wisconsin, there are now over 50 data centers. This libertarian blogger has not opposed data centers; on the contrary, I’ve contended that they should be left up to each community without state interference. (See from 1.13.26: ‘I’d argue for as little state regulation as possible, leaving counties and cities with the choice of whether they’d prefer a data center in their community. The rush to build data centers may not last, and the centers may take markedly different shapes from one proposal to another.’)

My view, however, is a minority view1 on the topic. The latest Marquette Law School Poll, in a nationwide survey, included questions about data centers and artificial intelligence. The results are clear:

A substantial majority (69%) of adults say the costs of data centers outweigh their benefits, while 30% say the benefits are greater. This represents an increase in skepticism about data centers since January, when 62% saw costs as greater than benefits and 37% said benefits are greater.

This opposition is bipartisan, with 62% of Republicans, 76% of Democrats, and 73% of independents saying the costs are greater than the benefits. This opinion increased across each partisan group. In January, 53% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats, and 65% of independents saw costs greater than benefits.

Doubts over the costs of data centers are only slightly related to income, education, age, or region of the country. Liberals are more likely to say the costs outweigh the benefits than are conservatives, but majorities of all ideological groups think the costs are greater.

See Marquette Law School Poll survey, April 23, 2026.

The Marquette Poll observes a relationship between opposition to data centers and dislike of artificial intelligence:

Views of data centers are strongly related to views of artificial intelligence. Seventy percent of adults say the development of AI is a bad thing for society, and 30% say it is a good thing. Of those who think AI is a good thing, 62% say the benefits outweigh the costs of data centers. Among those who say AI is a bad thing, 83% say the costs outweigh the benefits.

Even a majority of people who have used large language models in AI programs think artificial intelligence is bad for society:

Those who say they have used an AI app in the last month are less negative about the effect of AI on society than are non-AI users, although majorities of both AI users, 60%, and non-users, 85%, say AI is a bad thing for society.

That’s quite something: believing data centers are bad, believing artificial intelligence is bad, and believing artificial intelligence is harmful for society even while using it. The latter is like a man who insists air travel is environmentally destructive yet flies regularly.

And yet, and yet, if many people and many communities don’t want data centers, they should be free to reject those centers. Better, morally and practically, to neither force communities to accept nor force to them to reject data centers through statewide or national regulations.

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  1. A minority view: A position held by a smaller number of people within a larger group. A person should know when he is in the majority or minority. On the issue of data centers, I’m in the minority. On so many issues beyond data centers, Whitewater’s special-interest men, for example, would do well to ponder their narrow position within the broader community. Falsely believing that one is in the majority because he collects ten like-minded people in a city of fifteen thousand is nothing more than a self-serving delusion. ↩︎

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

Best use of a monarch? — King Charles III feeds chickens:

Congress, Courts, Daily Bread, Law, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.29.26: Wisconsin Congressional Redistricting Is Off the Table for 2026 Election

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Good morning.

Wednesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 52. Sunrise is 5:51 and sunset is 7:53 for 14 hours 2 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 95.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Lakes Advisory Committee meets at 4 PM.

On this day in 1945, American soldiers liberate the Dachau concentration camp.

Yesterday’s post (Candidates Should Live in Their Districts Before Running for Office) discussed residency for candidates running for Wisconsin’s First Congressional District (in which most of the City of Whitewater is located). Today’s post addresses a related topic: the second of two separate three-judge panels has declined to rule on a challenge to the boundaries of Wisconsin’s congressional districts. Shawn Johnson reports that

The order issued Tuesday is the second in the past month dismissing challenges to the state’s congressional districts, which currently give Republicans a 6-2 edge.

The case was brought by the liberal firm Law Forward on behalf of a group called Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy. It argues Wisconsin’s congressional map is an “anti-competitive gerrymander,” designed to entrench incumbent candidates at the expense of voters.

In a 13-page ruling, Dane County Judge David Conway, Marathon County Judge Michael Moran and Portage County Judge Patricia Baker wrote that only the Wisconsin Supreme Court could decide to overturn a map on the grounds that it was too partisan.

“While plaintiffs have constructed a detailed theory to support their claims, this panel does not write on a blank slate when it comes to the use of partisan considerations in redistricting,” the judges wrote. “Until the Supreme Court says otherwise, Plaintiffs’ claims are non-justiciable and non-cognizable under Wisconsin law.”

In a statement after the decision, Law Forward attorney Doug Poland promised to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“This is the first anti-competitive gerrymandering case ever filed in Wisconsin courts, and it deserves to be heard,” Poland said. “We believe that the circuit court was wrong in concluding that anti-competitive gerrymandering is ‘functionally equivalent’ to partisan gerrymandering. They are different claims, based on different evidence, that target different ways of manipulating representation to the detriment of voters.”

See Shawn Johnson, Second judicial panel rejects challenge to Wisconsin congressional map (‘The ruling leaves in place Wisconsin’s current map, which gives Republicans a 6-2 advantage in the state’s US House delegation’), Wisconsin Public Radio, April 28, 2026.

The rulings from these two circuit court panels are not surprises. It was asking much, too much, of these panels to adopt and apply a new standard to redress the past gerrymandering of Wisconsin’s congressional districts. (It was asking even more than too much, so to speak, to expect that a decision could be handed down in 2026, as the plaintiffs in one of the cases expected.)

If there is a judicial determination, then it will come from the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and it will apply no sooner than the 2028 congressional elections.

Redressing past wrongs should only be done in the right way. The right way here, if there is to be one, requires the considered judgment of Wisconsin’s highest court delivered after unhurried deliberation.

Previously: Wisconsin Supreme Court Appoints Redistricting Panels and Plaintiffs in Wisconsin Congressional Redistricting Cases Propose Different Timelines.

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

JPL Tests Next-Generation Electric Thruster:

A prototype of a powerful new lithium-fed electric thruster that could one day help send humans to Mars was successfully tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Known as a magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster, the thruster runs on lithium metal vapor and is capable of reaching power levels far beyond today’s electric propulsion systems. During a recent test at JPL’s Electric Propulsion Lab, the thruster achieved power levels of up to 120 kilowatts, more than 25 times that of the highest-power electric thrusters on any current NASA spacecraft. The JPL team has been developing the thruster for the past 2½ years under NASA’s Space Nuclear Propulsion project, based at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The test took place on Feb. 24, 2026, and its results will inform upcoming tests. While much more development is needed before the technology can be used in space, this milestone marks an important step toward nuclear electric propulsion systems that could reduce travel time to Mars and lower risk for astronauts on long-duration missions.

City, Congress, Daily Bread, Elections, First Congressional District

Daily Bread for 4.28.26: Candidates Should Live in Their Districts Before Running for Office

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Good morning.

Tuesday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 62. Sunrise is 5:53 and sunset is 7:52 for 13 hours 59 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 90.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Finance Committee meets at 5 PM.

On this day in 1947, Thor Heyerdahl and five crewmates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to demonstrate that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia.

U.S. Census Bureau, Wisconsin 1st Congressional District

Embedded above is a map of Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. The Walworth County portion of Whitewater is within the district. (The Jefferson County portion of Whitewater is in Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional District.)

The incumbent representative for the 1st District is GOP Congressman Bryan Steil. Several Democrats have been running in the August primary for the district (among them Miguel Aranda of Whitewater), and now there’s another — Peter Burgelis.

If readers in the district haven’t heard of Burgelis, that’s understandable, because he’s Milwaukee Alderman Peter Burgelis:

Milwaukee alderman Peter Burgelis is launching a campaign for Congress to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, who immediately made his residency outside the district an issue in the race.

Burgelis was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council in 2024 and represents District 11, which roughly borders Greenfield and West Allis.

See Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee alderman Peter Burgelis launches run to unseat Bryan Steil, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 26, 2026.

One doesn’t have to be a cartographer to see that Milwaukee is not within the 1st Congressional District.

There’s no reason to doubt that Burgelis has represented his Milwaukee constituents well; the obvious objection is that his current constituents are in Milwaukee.

In this regard, Burgelis is like GOP Assemblyman Scott Johnson, who ran in 2024 for the 43rd Assembly District while living elsewhere. Johnson’s carpetbagging was objectionable then, as Burgelis’s is now. See In the 43rd District Race, Scott Johnson’s Disqualifying Situation.

Over at the Wisconsin Examiner, Erik Gunn has reporting on how Burgelis was recruited:

Burgelis said he was first approached a few months ago, by “a number of people,” including former Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate.

[…]

Asked about his role in recruiting Burgelis, Tate said in an email message, “Peter asked me about running a while back and I encouraged him to do so. He’s a hard worker, a good progressive, and we need a strong candidate to take on Steil. I don’t have any other color or the like to add.”

Burgelis said his review of past election results gave him confidence that the seat could be flipped to the Democrats.

“The residency thing, I think, is certainly something that a GOP campaign ad is going to harp on in November and October,” Burgelis told the Examiner. “But right now, the goal for Democrats is to get the best candidates through the primary.”

See Erik Gunn, Milwaukee alder enters 1st CD race to challenge Steil, frustrating another Democrat’s backers, Wisconsin Examiner, April 28, 2026.

(Mike Tate was the chairman of Wisconsin Democrats from 2009 to 2015, the period immediately before and during Wisconsin Republicans’ political rise under Scott Walker.)

There’s a way for Burgelis to get ahead of the ‘residency thing’ long before the November election: he need only become a 1st District resident before the June 1 candidate filing deadline.

The district has many beautiful communities, the City of Whitewater first among them. It is not too much to ask candidates to live where they wish to serve before running. On the contrary, asking anything less would be asking too little of them.

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

Sumatran orangutan uses canopy bridge to cross a road in Indonesia:

A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday.

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Daily Bread, Economy, Employment

Daily Bread for 4.27.26: A Difficult Job Market Regrettably Gets Less Attention

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Good morning.

Monday in Whitewater will see thunderstorms with a high of 66. Sunrise is 5:54 and sunset is 7:51 for 13 hours 57 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 83.8 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

The Whitewater School Board meets at 6 PM.

On this day in 1978, John Ehrlichman, a former aide to President Nixon, is released from the Federal Correctional Institution, Safford, Arizona, after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.

There’s solid evidence that we have a difficult job market, and there’s an obvious reason the difficult employment market gets less attention than concerns about prices.

First, the job market — new entrants to the workforce are in the toughest job market since COVID-19:

This year’s grads are trying to begin their careers in the toughest job market since the COVID-19 pandemic, which experts say has been driven by a broader slowdown in hiring.

Nicholas Jolly, a labor economist and associate professor of economics at Marquette University, said the labor market is “not nearly as hot” as it was in the years after the pandemic, which saw strong job growth as the economy reopened.

“We had a very tight labor market post-pandemic,” he said. “It’s now softened as markets have adjusted.”

Unemployment has remained low at 4.3 percent nationally in March and 3.4 percent in Wisconsin in February, the most recent months with available data. But the rate of job openings has been nearly cut in half since its peak in 2022.

“If the overall labor market is getting softer, it stands to reason that it’s going to get softer for entry-level jobs as well,” Jolly said.

See Joe Schulz, Wisconsin’s class of 2026 entering the workforce in the toughest job market since COVID-19 (‘Economists say AI isn’t yet a major factor in the tough entry-level job market’), April 27, 2026.

The contrast between concerns over a weak employment market and concerns over higher prices is evident. Polls consistently show respondents’ worries over higher prices (regardless of why those prices are higher) top respondents’ economic concerns. Here’s pollster and data analyst G. Elliott Morris on prices:

[P]eople still mostly just see high prices for things and get upset about that. And fair enough! My theory is that price levels account for much to most of the “puzzle” of why consumer sentiment is lower than you would predict based on the historical relationship between CPI, unemployment, the cost of money and etc.

See G. Elliott Morris, The mystery variable that explains stubbornly low consumer sentiment, Strength in Numbers, April 12, 2026.

Morris’s work shows that prices drive much of the sentiment about the economy’s direction.

Whether prices and inflation are the right economic focus is different from whether it’s a predictable, understandable focus. As a matter of overall sentiment, a difficult labor market is experienced most particularly by new labor force entrants, while higher prices are experienced by a greater number of Americans.

This does not suggest that a tough labor market matters less. A challenging labor market for new entrants may have worse economic consequences than a relatively low level of inflation, even if inflation is perceived as more significant.

The greater perception of inflation’s harm does explain, however, why there will be more attention (and lower consumer sentiment) about inflation than about a slow employment market.

And yet, and yet… both elevated inflation and a slow job market for new workers are signs of a poorly functioning economy.

_____

Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Argumentation.

Ships wait in the Strait of Hormuz as waterway remains blocked:

Coffee, Comedy, Daily Bread, Drink, Food

Daily Bread for 4.26.26: Grading the Coffee Market

by  • 

Good morning.

Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 65. Sunrise is 5:56 and sunset is 7:50 for 13 hours 54 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 75.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

By IAEA Imagebank – 02790015, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link.

On this day in 1986, the Chernobyl disaster occurs near the (now-abandoned) industrial city of Pripyat in the Soviet Union.

Why This One Coffee Tasting Impacts the Price of Coffee:

Several levels above the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, a small group of elite coffee graders decides which beans meet the strict standards of the global commodity market. WSJ got an exclusive look inside the room where expert graders sniff, slurp and spit to set the global benchmark for coffee.

Chapters:
0:00 The coffee grader in the NYSE
1:01 Grading the coffee
3:57 What the coffee in the NYSE represents
5:28 The coffee market

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome-Driven Opposition.

Meanwhile, at the Brooklyn Coffee Shop:

Click image to play video

This libertarian blogger is a coffee drinker and, if there were a Brooklyn Coffee Shop, I’d be sure to visit often. These Instagram Reels are part of a series with @winnie_thepooj as Thyme and @darrylgenejr as Cale. The series recently won a well-deserved Webby Award in the Video & Film, Comedy category.

Daily Bread, Gubernatorial Race 2026, Politics, Tommy Thompson, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.25.26: More Silly Speculation About Tommy Thompson

by  • 

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be sunny in the afternoon with a high of 65. Sunrise is 5:57 and sunset is 7:48 for 13 hours 51 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 66.2 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 404 BC, Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Second Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.

For reasons unknown to sensible people, every so often the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel will report on a possible Tommy Thompson run for governor this year. See Assessing Teasers and Speculation About Wisconsin Elections for 2026. Holy moly, the Journal Sentinel is back for more:

“U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany IS the only major Republican in the guv race but former GOP governor Tommy Thompson is still considering jumping in the race. And yes, Thompson would be 85 if he took office in January. That isn’t a hurdle to Thompson. He told me Thursday: “I know I could win, but I don’t know if I want to get involved.”

It hasn’t been unusual for Thompson to consider joining statewide races since he left the East Wing 25 years ago but there appears to be a bit more substance to the chatter this time. A poll popped up recently surveying potential voters’ thoughts on Thompson. Thompson told me he heard the results were “encouraging” for another Thompson candidacy but that he remains undecided about joining the race.”

See Molly Beck and Jessie Opoien, Will Tommy Thompson return with a run for governor? | Politics mailbag, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 24, 2026.

Here’s a better answer: It’s improbable that he’ll run, and it’s impossible that he’d win.

While it’s true that Tom Tiffany isn’t charismatic, hardly anyone other than the man Tommy Thompson sees each morning in the mirror is eager for a race with an octogenarian candidate.

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome-Driven Opposition.

Wildfires tear across northern Japan:

Residents of hundreds of homes in Iwate, northern Japan, have been ordered to evacuate after wildfires broke out on Wednesday.

Daily Bread, Legislature, Politics, Wisconsin

Daily Bread for 4.24.26: Wisconsin Capitol Departs from National Security Trends

by  • 

Good morning.

Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 67. Sunrise is 5:59 and sunset is 7:47 for 13 hours 48 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 55.7 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1916, Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organize a rescue for the crew of the sunken Endurance.

While ‘locked Capitol doors and more cash for security are the new normal after the Minnesota assassination,’ Wisconsin remains in the small minority of states without additional precautions:

Nearly a year after the assassination of a Minnesota legislative leader, lawmakers across the U.S. have worked to fortify security in state capitols and improve safeguards when officials are in their communities.

The changes have followed a rise in political violence nationwide that included the stunning assassination last June of Rep. Melissa Hortman, the top Democratic leader in the Minnesota House, and the September killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was speaking at a college in Utah.

In Minnesota, most doors at the state Capitol are now locked, and people entering must go through weapons detectors. People entering the visitors’ galleries to watch floor debates must go through a second set of detectors.

[…]

But some states have balked at making it harder to access the halls of power. Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican who knew Hortman, resisted efforts to install metal detectors in his state, saying he didn’t want to “fortify” the Capitol. Wisconsin’s is one of 11 state capitols that don’t have metal detectors, a state audit found.

See Steve Karnowski and Scott Bauer, Locked Capitol doors and more cash for security are the new normal after Minnesota assassination, Associated Press, April 24, 2026.

Doubtless — doubtless — in ordinary times of dispassionate political discussion one would prefer easy access to public buildings. These are not, however, ordinary times of dispassionate political discussion.

(These security measures elsewhere do not prevent public access to public spaces; they simply delay access slightly while scanning for weapons.)

Despite a preference for the least restrictive environment possible, Wisconsin’s decision to defy the security trends of nearly forty other states presents both practical and political calculations.

A practical (humane) calculation: Wisconsinites, however unique in many ways, are not so different from their fellow Americans that a few might not be inclined in character toward violent action. Seeing that state populations across America are mostly alike, and that there has been violence elsewhere one might sensibly decide to add security in Wisconsin as other state legislatures have done. The cost of the measures would be small against a possible loss of life.

A political calculation: Even if a legislator were not worried for himself — or even most people — he might still conclude that in the (unlikely) event of violence toward anyone for lack of security measures prevalent elsewhere, he and his caucus would be, rightly, blamed for inaction. The cost of the measures would be small against the political criticism.

Odd (although perhaps not so odd for him) that Speaker Vos has not made either calculation in favor of additional safety measures in politically turbulent times.

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Upcoming posts (in no decided order): Claims of Legacy, a Particular Species of Democrat, a Whitewater Comparative Analysis, Whitewater’s Workforce, ‘What Ails, What Heals’ Reviewed, and Outcome Driven Opposition.

This robot can beat you (and pros) at table tennis:

This robot isn’t just playing table tennis — it’s sometimes beating human pros, a major leap for machines in the real world.