Friday, February 13, 2026

On the eve of the election Trump promised cheaper grocery prices, but breakfast costs nearly 8% more in Jan 2026 than it did then


 

A basket of bacon and eggs, whole wheat bread and butter, coffee and whole milk, and orange juice cost on average $32.47 in the United States in 3Q2024. Stretched out over a week, your breakfast cost you $4.64 a day.

That same basket in Jan 2026 is now $35.00 on average, up $2.53 or 7.8%.

Stretched out over a week breakfast now costs $5.00 a day.

Meanwhile OJ hit a new high, and despite removing some coffee-related tariffs, coffee hit a new record high price in Jan 2026, too.

 



 

Core cpi inflation falls to 2.5% year over year in Jan 2026, still 39% elevated above the 1.8% average rate which prevailed for twelve years 2009-2020

The average yoy rate for eleven months of 2025 was 2.91%.

  


On the campaign trail in August 2024, Trump promised to cut energy prices by 50% but in Jan 2026 they are down just 4.3%, and entirely on the back of modestly falling gasoline prices


 

 Average prices per unit of energy in 3Q2024 vs. Jan 2026:

Gasoline $3.496 vs. 2.961 (down 15.3%)

Natural Gas 1.403 vs. 1.704 (up 21.5%)

Electricity 0.178 vs. 0.192 (a new record high, up 7.9%)

Total 5.077 vs. 4.857 (down 4.3%)

 

The U.S. state capitalist EV boondoggle comes to an end, shape-shifting automakers take well-deserved $50 billion hit


 

 Detroit Automakers Take $50 Billion Hit as EV Bubble Bursts

... Following years of investments into EV technology, the Detroit Big Three ... have announced more than $50 billion in combined write-downs.

EV sales fell more than 30% in the fourth quarter, after a $7,500 federal tax credit that had juiced U.S. sales expired in September. ... 

Automakers’ retreats and massive write-downs have come as Republican lawmakers abolished a lucrative federal tax credit for EVs last fall, while also doing away with federal fuel-efficiency mandates. Even with federal support, EV demand was below expectations. ...

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Winning . . .

All today: 

 

Feds declare victory in Minnesota immigration enforcement operation and begin withdrawal, cutting their losses

They leave two murdered civilians in their wake, a permanent stain on the Trump administration. 

 
... “We have greatly reduced the number of targets for enforcement action” in the Twin Cities region as a result of the influx of thousands of officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies, Homan said at a press conference. ...
 
 

U.S. House votes 219-211 to overturn Trump tariffs on Canada

 House votes to override Trump’s Canada tariffs

... the effort is likely symbolic. Even if the Senate approves Meeks’ resolution, Trump would likely veto the legislation. ...

 

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

MA78A: The civilian employment level was 59.3% of population in Jan 2026, which was the average level first achieved way back in 1978 lol

The White House doesn't have a clue.

 




MA88A: Nonfarm payrolls in Jan 2026 were 57.6% of population, a level first hit in America in . . . Dec 1988 lol


 


Federal government employment in Jan 2026 is down 324k since Trump took over, with local government employment up 140k and state government employment down 72k


  That's a net hit to government jobs at all levels of 256k in Trump's first year.

The federal government last averaged 2.69 million employees in 1966. The Jan 2026 level is 2.686 million. 

 


 

Manufacturing jobs in Jan 2026 remain down 83k since Trump took over

 


The unemployment rate in Jan 2026 remains higher than when Trump took over

 


The unemployment level is higher in Jan 2026 than when il Trumpo Incompetento took over lol

 



Foreign born employment recovers by 565k in Jan 2026 under incompetent anti-immigration president lol

 


Wei Tu Hai: Trump's Dumb Ass Unemployment Rate in Jan 2026 ticked down slightly to 37.8%, 103.951 million still eating but not working

 


I'm so old I remember when Jan 2026 full time employment at 48.79% of population was Great Recession level bad

 That whole China joining the WTO and globalization thingy has really worked out great for the American middle class amirite?

The winter trend since Jan 2023 has been DOWN:

Jan 2023: 49.32%

Jan 2024: 49.16%

Feb 2025: 48.88%

Jan 2026: 48.79%. 

 


 

 

GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska strongly opposes hypocritical GOP scheme to federalize elections

How did Trump and the GOP sweep into power in 2024 with all these illegal aliens voting?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

 GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski comes out against Trump's election bill, with a warning to her party

... “When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed,” Murkowski said in a statement. “Now, I’m seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that. Once again, I do not support these efforts.” 

“Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she added. ... 

“Election Day is fast approaching. Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources,” she said. “Ensuring public trust in our elections is at the core of our democracy, but federal overreach is not how we achieve this.” ...

“This is not a federal issue,” McConnell told reporters in January 2022 when the bill came before the Senate. “It ought to be left to the states. There’s nothing broken around the country. The system upheld very well during an intense stress during the latter part of the previous Congress. There’s no rational basis for federalizing this election, and, therefore, there’s no point in having a debate in the U.S. Senate about something we ought not do.”

Ford Motor blames tariff timing and fires at an aluminum plant for earnings miss when it was its electric vehicle business

 

 
... On an unadjusted basis, the company’s net loss of $8.2 billion last year was its largest since the Great Recession in 2008, according to FactSet. That included $15.5 billion in special charges during the fourth quarter largely related to a pre-announced pullback in its all-electric vehicle plans.

Automakers commonly exclude “special items” or one-time charges from their adjusted financial results to provide investors with a clearer picture of their core, ongoing business operations.

Ford reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $11.1 billion, or a loss of $2.77 per share, compared with net income of $1.8 billion, or 45 cents per share, in the same period in 2024. Adjusted for the one-time charges, the company reported earnings of 13 cents per share.

 

Representatives Massie, Kiley, and Bacon revolt against House GOP and vote with all Democrats to take back Congress' Article I tariff power from the president

Expect tariff votes in the U.S. House in the near future, but not necessarily victories.

 

 
... The House Rules Committee on Monday approved language that would block any House votes disapproving of Trump’s tariffs through July 31. ... The Senate has on multiple occasions voted to strike down tariffs issued by Trump, while the House has blocked votes on tariff-related resolutions. The latest prohibition on tariff votes expired at the end of January. ... 

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

To get around the law on national emergencies, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives declares that the next 171 days will not add up to even one calendar day

Remember when the Obamacare provisions in March 2010 were deemed to have passed when they hadn't?

Remember how the Big Ugly Bill which passed last summer under reconciliation rules deemed that the Trump tax cuts of 2017 which had had a cost in 2017 no longer had a cost in 2025?

Remember how your mother told you "Saying doesn't make it so?"

That's how all this works now, including son saying to mom, "Mom, I'm a girl now". 

Our rotten society views reality as the enemy.