Author: Lone Candle

Yellen’s looming headache: Treasury’s vanishing ranks

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Key divisions at Treasury have been hollowed out by attrition during the Trump administration under Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has sought to cut “wasteful spending,” including on personnel he sees as superfluous. Between fiscal years 2016 and 2019, the department’s main offices — Domestic Finance, Economic Policy and International Affairs, among them — saw their staffing levels plunge by nearly a quarter as budgets were slashed.”

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“A former Treasury official argued that it made some sense that Mnuchin allowed staffing to decrease; once implementation of sweeping new financial rules after the 2008 credit crisis began to wind down, the domestic finance division probably didn’t need as big of a staff at the beginning of the Trump administration.
“But you always have to think about the tail risk — a financial crisis or a pandemic that causes a financial disturbance,” the former official said. “That’s when a smaller staff can expose some problems.”

Klein said it was positive that Yellen, a former Federal Reserve chair, already knows what it’s like to run a large agency, and her designated deputy, Wally Adeyemo, has extensive experience at Treasury, including as deputy chief of staff.

But Yellen and Adeyemo could face barriers to bringing in their own people, given the possibility of a Republican-controlled Senate. That will create pressure for the new leadership to find ways to bring people on board quickly, such as by appointing counselors.”

Illinois’ Population Drain Continues for 7th Consecutive Year

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Over the course of the last decade, Illinois lost more than a quarter-million people, dropping to a total population of about 12.5 million. The state lost 79,000 residents this year, an increase over previous years. The Wall Street Journal predicts that as a result of this loss, the state will lose at least one congressional seat during the next reapportionment.

Illinois isn’t alone. California, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and Michigan may also lose congressional representation due to population migrations over the past decade. New York and Alabama are on the bubble of each losing a representative. But none, not even California, has seen Illinois’ population loss.

Reason has been making note of this trend for years, while also observing (particularly in Chicago) that state and local government have poorly managed their public employee pension obligations, creating massive government debts that consume budgets and lead to service cuts. Government leaders have responded not with better fiscal management (the state’s powerful unions blocked pension reforms), but with more taxes and fees, even as residents leave. As C.J. Ciaramella has reported, Chicago’s corrupt policing system of fines, asset forfeitures, and vehicle impounds serves to extract whatever money the city can get from its poorest citizens to pay for itself.”

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” Major reasons Illinoisans are choosing to leave the state are for better housing and employment opportunities, both of which have been hindered by poor public policy in Illinois. Nearly half of Illinoisans have thought about moving away, and they said taxes were their No. 1 reason.”

Homosexuality! What causes it?–Video Sources.

Posted on by Lone Candle

What Is Homosexuality? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/sex/what-is-homosexuality Male homosexuality: nature or culture? Emmanuele A Jannini et al. 10 2010. J Sex Med. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21053405/ Nature vs. Nurture: The Biology of Sexuality Kimberly Cornuelle. 11 16 2010. BU Today. No single gene associated with being gay

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Study: Smoking bans saved countless lives — could they have increased drunk driving?

Posted on by Lone Candle

“While America may have taken smoking more seriously, it continues to kill nearly half a million people every year. Alcohol-related deaths number almost 100,000 annually.”

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““The number one substance that is involved in arrests and incarceration is alcohol in the United States,” Keith Humphreys, a drug policy expert and professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, told me. “In terms of the damage — people think of illegal drugs as the drivers of the criminal justice system, [but] none of them come close to alcohol.””

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“the documented health benefits to smoking bans like reductions in secondhand smoke exposure largely outweigh any of the costs, like a small increase in drunk driving in some places. Additionally, there are simple ways to eliminate potential increases in drunk driving.”

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“While there is still some debate around the potential increase in drunk driving, there is a vast, peer-reviewed, scientific literature around the harms of secondhand smoke inhalation, and around the massive health benefits associated with the sharp decline in smoking in part due to smoke-free policies.”