Reason #5744 That Trump Was Elected

Unemployment claims fall to lowest level in 43 years, despite hurricanes

The total number of laid-off workers receiving unemployment benefits fell to 1.89 million at the end of September, the Department of Labor reported Thursday, the lowest such mark in nearly 44 years.

And new claims for unemployment benefits dropped 15,000 to 243,000 in the first full week of October, according to the agency, as the job market bounces back from hurricane damage even faster than forecasters expected.

Low new jobless claims are a good sign. They indicate that layoffs are rare, and accordingly that job creation is strong.
. . .
Prior to the landfall of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, claims had been running at ultra-low rates. With Texas and Florida now recovering, new claims again appear to be sinking to levels that indicate robust job creation. First-time claims in the states most affected by the storms are still high, but have fallen in recent weeks.

"The data suggest that payrolls will bounce back quickly after last month's hurricane-related weakness and that the underlying trend in employment growth remains strong -- more than strong enough to keep the unemployment rate declining," noted Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist for High-Frequency Economics.

 Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and links.

Reason #5729 That Trump Was Elected

Final reading on Q2 GDP up 3.1%, vs 3% rise expected

The U.S. economy grew a bit faster than previously estimated in the second quarter, recording its quickest pace in more than two years, but the momentum probably slowed in the third quarter as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma temporarily curbed activity.

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the April-June period, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate on Thursday. The upward revision from the 3.0 percent rate of growth reported last month reflected a slightly faster pace of inventory investment.

Growth last quarter was the quickest since the first quarter of 2015 and followed a 1.2 percent pace in the January-March period. Economists had expected that the second-quarter GDP growth rate would be unrevised at 3.0 percent.

Harvey, which struck Texas, has been blamed for much of the decline in retail sales, industrial production, homebuilding and home sales in August. Further weakness is anticipated in September after Irma slammed into Florida early this month.

Rebuilding is, however, expected to boost GDP growth in the fourth quarter and in early 2018. Estimates for the growth rate in the July-September period are just above 2.2 percent.

However, they could be raised after another report from the Commerce Department on Thursday showed a decline in the goods trade deficit in August as well as large increases in both retail and wholesale inventories.

U.S. factory activity index to 13-year high

A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity surged to a near 13-1/2-year high in September as disruptions to the supply chains caused by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma resulted in factories taking longer to deliver goods and boosted raw material prices.

Still, details of the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) survey on Monday underscored the economy’s underlying momentum, with factories reporting stronger order growth last month. A measure of factory employment hit its highest level since 2011.

“Much of the gain is presumably linked to the aftereffects of the hurricanes. Nonetheless, manufacturing growth is strong,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

ISM said its index of national factory activity surged to a reading of 60.8 last month, the highest reading since May 2004, from 58.8 in August. A reading above 50 in the ISM index indicates an expansion in manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy.

If it's all hurricanes, why didn't Sandy et al, do it?

Rebuilding going to be a big business. If I were a young man with building experience, I think I'd head to Texas.

Reason #5719 - #5723 That Trump Was Elected

Desperately seeking Trump's Katrina, WaPo admits Trump administration earns cautious praise for early response to hurricanes

Hurricane Harvey was just beginning to unleash its full fury on Houston when President Trump took to Twitter to praise his new emergency management chief, Brock Long: “You are doing a great job — the world is watching!”

To Mark Merritt, a Federal Emergency Management Agency official in the Clinton administration, the tweet seemed premature. “I was having a ‘Brownie’ flashback,” said Merritt, referring to Michael Brown, the FEMA administrator lauded by President George W. Bush for doing a “heck of a job” during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In Trump’s case, however, the social media “attaboy” proved more prescient. Facing off against a pair of historic storms — first Harvey in Texas and Louisiana, then Hurricane Irma through the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida — Trump’s administration has earned bipartisan praise for coordinating the federal response with state and local officials, avoiding the type of catastrophe that marked the Bush administration’s response to Katrina, a storm that killed more than 1,800 people. . .

Instapundit: YOU CAN TELL HE’S DONE A GOOD JOB BY HOW LITTLE THE PRESS IS TALKING ABOUT IT: Faced with Harvey and Irma devastation, Trump finds his footing.

Then there was yet another hurricane, and liberals rushed to find fault again.

Trump Waves Jones Act, Critics Say Too Late

President Donald Trump’s top disaster adviser defended the administration’s eight-day wait to waive restrictions under the Jones Act that limited which ships could be used to deliver relief supplies to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, despite complaints from lawmakers.

Tom Bossert, Trump’s homeland security adviser, said the criticism is “unfounded.” Shortages of water, food, fuel and other relief supplies have been caused by distribution bottlenecks on the island rather than constraints in shipping capacity, he told reporters at a White House briefing.

Trump on Thursday ordered a waiver of the Jones Act, a 1920 maritime law requiring shipments of goods between two U.S. ports to be made with American-flagged vessels and manned by American crews. The waiver will last 10 days for shipments to Puerto Rico, though some Democrats criticized the time period as too short for the scale of the disaster.

“In this particular case we had enough capacity of U.S. flag vessels,” Bossert said. But the president took the action as a “proactive” measure after he received a request from Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello.

Amid NFL Obsession, Media Blinds Itself to Trump’s Puerto Rico Relief Efforts

In the past week, Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria and a bunch of millionaire NFL players took a knee during the national anthem.

Guess which one President Donald Trump tweeted about the most? If you don’t know, the mainstream media has been more than happy to let everyone know. Trump tweeted nearly 20 times about the NFL protest but devoted only one tweet to Puerto Rico.

Monday evening, Trump began tweeting about Puerto Rico, talking about its poor infrastructure and financial problems from before the hurricane hit. Naturally, Leftists weren’t happy, and the media was again able to attack Trump for his tweets being “not well received.”

Because, apparently, the only thing Trump does is tweet.
. . .
As it turns out, it was the media ignoring Puerto Rico—not Trump.

PBS’s John Yang spoke to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello about the help he has received from the states. Rosselo immediately said he was “very grateful for the administration” and that “they have responded quickly.”

“The president has been very attentive to the situation, personally calling me several times,” Rossello said. “FEMA and the FEMA director have been here in Puerto Rico twice. As a matter of fact, they were here with us today, making sure that all the resources in FEMA were working in conjunction with the central government.”

He asked Congress to quickly provide an aid package to the island.

Politico reported, “Rossello and other officials praised the federal government for planning its response in detail before the storm hit, a contrast with what Puerto Rico has long seen as the neglect of 3.4 million Americans living in a territory without a vote in Congress or the electoral college.”

It's gotten so bad that if it's not tweeted, it didn't happen.

FEMA: Hurricane Maria  Federal Response Updates

There are thousands of federal staff, including more than 600 FEMA personnel, on the ground in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands engaged in response and recovery operations from Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

U.S. Air Force Airmen load a C17 with food and water to support relief efforts in Puerto Rico and St. Croix

Commodities and Communications

• Officials in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico opened points of distribution (POD) in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for survivors to get meals, water, and other commodities. The Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands announced that locations in St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John will be open Friday.
• FEMA, working in coordination with federal partners, provided millions of meals and millions of liters of water to Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Additional meals and water continue to arrive to the islands daily.
• FEMA’s National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC) is facilitating private sector requests for humanitarian relief. The NBEOC continues coordination between government and private sector organizations as the community responds to Hurricanes Maria.
• Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) communications assets and personnel continue to support the FEMA Incident Management Assistance Teams (IMAT), Urban Search and Rescue (US&R), National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), and other federal teams in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As of September 27, 2017, there are more than 30 MERS personnel in Puerto Rico and more than 20 MERS personnel in the USVI.
• A U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) mobile communications team is in Puerto Rico to help improve communications across the storm-impacted area.

Life Safety and Life Sustaining

• FEMA search and rescue teams have accessed 90 percent of Puerto Rico, conducting search and rescue operations and helping to assess hospitals. FEMA US&R task forces saved or assisted 843 individuals and five pets, while searching over 2,600 structures as of September 27.
• The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority drinking water system is back online, and other drinking water systems on the islands are top priority for receiving generators. Additionally, the Concordia potable water pump station is online in St. Croix.
• The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Waste Management, and USACE are addressing potential public health risks of garbage build up; coordinating route clearance of wires and poles to enable garbage haulers to access the St. Thomas landfill.
• The National Guard Bureau (NGB) has thousands of Guard members on the ground in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands taking part in security and support operations. The Air National Guard is focused on transporting food, water, and communications capabilities as well as rapidly increasing airlift into affected areas.
• More than 180 Federal Law Enforcement Officers (FLEO) are in San Juan and the U.S. Virgin Islands supporting search and rescue, medical teams, and other federal responders, additional FLEOs are en route expected to arrive this week. Additional law enforcement support from New York State Police is on the ground in St. John.

Fuel, Transportation, and Debris

• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has supported the restoration of services to seven of eight commercial airports in Puerto Rico. The FAA has restored full Air Traffic Control (ATC) services to Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan and limited ATC services to Rafael Hernandez Airport in Aguadilla. Recovery efforts are now supporting more than a dozen commercial passenger flights per day at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• 17 chainsaw teams (34 individuals) and one Incident Management Team (IMT) (23 individuals) from the Department of Agriculture United States Forest Service arrived in Puerto Rico Wednesday to conduct emergency road clearance and manage logistics. Nine additional teams are en route.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) deployed debris experts to assist FEMA with debris management strategies in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. One of the first priorities is emergency route clearance in multiple locations to enable access to remote locations.
• USACE also completed a Blue Roof install on Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas, and completed its first residential Blue Roof install on September 23. Assessments for St. Croix are ongoing. A customer service center for Blue Roof installations opened over the weekend for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• To bolster the delivery of fuel throughout Puerto Rico, 100 delivery trucks were dispatched by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) carrying an estimated 275,000 gallons of diesel fuel.
• Power is restored to Centro Médico Hospital in San Juan and San Pablo Hospital in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital in St. Croix and the Schneider Regional Medical Center in St. Thomas are established as mobile hospitals. More than half of dialysis centers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are open and accessible for patients. More critical care facilities will re-open in the coming days as power and access are restored.
• The U.S. Coast Guard reports the following port statuses with additional ports opening as assessments continue:

• Puerto Rico

• Open: Port of San Juan, Guayanilla, Salinas, and Talboa

• Open with restrictions: Arecibo, Fajardo, Culebra, Guayama, Mayaguez, and Vieques

• U.S. Virgin Islands

• Open:

• St. Thomas: Charlotte Amalie, East Gregerie Channel, Crown Bay, West Gregerie Channel

• St. Croix: Krause Lagoon, Frederiksted, Limetree Bay

• Open with Restrictions:

• St. Thomas: Redhook Bay

• St. John: Cruz Bay

• USACE coordinated transportation of more than 300 FEMA or Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) generators from across the U.S. to meet anticipated requirements in the islands. Additional generators are arriving in the coming days.

Happy Labor Day!

Have you hugged a fracker today?

Gas prices soar due to Hurricane Harvey

The spike in gasoline prices in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey has hit the accelerator.

The national average for regular was $2.56 a gallon by late Friday afternoon, an increase of 20 cents in the last week, according to GasBuddy.

Prices jumped at least 10 cents a gallon in 24 hours in Texas, Ohio, Georgia and the Middle Atlantic States, travel club AAA reported.

In Maine, AAA New England said the current price of gasoline climbed 6 cents overnight to $2.49 on Friday. That price is 12 cents higher than a week ago.

The nationwide average was already higher than most experts had given as a worst-case scenario when flooding from the devastating storm began knocking out refineries along the Texas Gulf Coast a week ago.

Two of the leading price-forecasting analysts, GasBuddy’s Patrick DeHaan and Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service, now see the national average peaking as high as $2.75 a gallon in the next few days.

That's not "soaring", that's a little uptick, caused by reduced refining capacity and the market response to scarcity.

Now maybe we need a national plan to move some more of our refining capacity away from the Gulf Coast, where it is susceptible to hurricanes.

Wombat-socho has "Late Night With Rule 5 Monday: Kate Upton Goes To Houston" ready for your viewing pleasure.

Reason #5673 That Trump Was Elected

Trump doesn't cry or sing, but he knows how to help Harvey victims

Harvey dumped around 25 trillion gallons of water on Texas and Louisiana, flooding countless homes and wrecking cities.

But the Federal Emergency Management Agency was on site two days before the storm hit. The National Guard and Coast Guard quickly mobilized and have saved thousands of lives.

On Tuesday, Trump went to Corpus Christi, Texas, to survey some of the damage and cheered on the relief effort. He told the local people that "Texas can handle anything" and he held up a state flag to roars of proud approval.

But he can't make the media happy.

Still, religion writer Anthea Butler said in a New York Times op-ed that Trump's actions were "devoid of empathy" because he didn't mention any of the roughly 40 people that died in the storm.

That Trump says, "Wow!" and, "Spirit of the people is incredible. Thanks!" on Twitter makes for long and restless nights for the media. Meanwhile, everyone else is relieved Harvey was managed as best as possible.

Journalists need Trump to sing "Amazing Grace" or wipe away a tear at the White House press podium in order to feel like he's really doing the job right.

In January 2016, then-President Obama cried while talking about the executive actions he was taking on gun control.

Chris Cillizza, a Washington Post blogger at the time, wrote, "I do have a strongly held belief in favor of men -- including male politicians -- crying in public if necessary." He added, "I say this as, yes, a male who occasionally cries in public."

After the 2015 mass shooting at church in Charleston, S.C., Obama delivered a sermon and broke into song. The Atlantic magazine was so moved by the moment, it published an entire analysis by Peter Manseau on Obama's rhetorical pause, calling it a "high-wire act."

Trump doesn't cry and he doesn't sing, but he did pledge $1 million of his own money to the relief effort and the administration saved lives during a record-breaking hurricane.

Which is a pittance compared to the damage. But if Warren Buffet and the other Democrat billionaires step up and do likewise, they could make a real difference. Do you think they will?

These #Harvey evacuees say meeting @realDonaldTrump changed their opinion of him.

"I think he's a wonderful man!"https://t.co/FDOJhzNhAM pic.twitter.com/3K7r5Tauec

— Elex Michaelson (@abc7elex) September 3, 2017

The Short Answer is Yes

Could Texas-level flooding happen in DC?

With all eyes on the historic flooding in Texas, many in Washington D.C. have asked if something similar could happen in the District.

DC has a history of flooding, with notable events along the Potomac River in 1996, Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and more.

Sandra Knight with the Center for Disaster Resilience at the University of Maryland said due to the District’s geographic factors, anything is possible when it comes to flooding.

“Well certainly Houston’s flood is unprecedented,” Knight explained. “But if you think of Houston and the Galveston Bay much like D.C. and the Chesapeake Bay, we’re certainly a coastal community and so we can be influenced by hurricanes, storm surges, plus, rainfall from the Potomac River and interior flooding.”

Knight pointed to flood-prone areas such as the Georgetown Waterfront, Old Town Alexandria and areas along the Anacostia River.

DC has more relief (in the form of varied elevation) than Houston, but if a similar storm came and sat for several days as it did in Texas there would by mass scale flooding here as well. It may not be as likely, but then, Hurricane Harvey wasn't all the likely either.

Tidewater Virginia on the other hand, is pretty similar to Houston as a slow draining, low relief area:

Hurricane like Harvey would devastate Hampton Roads, so planners are taking notes

The answer is yes: It could happen here.

A storm that dumps more than 50 inches of rain over several days, like Hurricane Harvey has done along the Texas coast, is extremely unlikely in Hampton Roads.

Still, “you never say never,” said Jeff Orrock, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service’s Wakefield office. “The ingredients that you’d need to have an event similar to that, we do deal with those.”

It’s impossible to predict how many people would die or how many billions of dollars of property damage would occur, since there’d be many other variables, besides rainfall, that would make the impact in coastal Virginia different than on the Gulf Coast. Nonetheless, a record-breaking rainfall, like Harvey’s, would be devastating, Orrock said, leaving it “very difficult to get around, if not impossible,” for days or weeks.

All of which is why Hampton Roads might want to keep tabs on Harvey’s ravaging of the Houston area long after the storm has blown out.

Reason #5668 That Trump Was Elected

Melania Trump and the unreasoning hatred of the MSM mob. Melania Trump wore her usual very high heels to cross the White House lawn to board Marine One as she and the Donald left to visit Texas, and the MSM crowd went wild: Melania's stiletto sideshow - As the first lady departed to see storm fallout in Texas, Twitter erupted with critiques of her shoe choice.

Melania Trump, the former model and reluctant first lady, often lets her fashion choices do the talking for her.

Since her belated move into the White House in June, Melania Trump hasn’t yet announced an issue, or even an area of interest, for which she plans to advocate from her powerful platform. She has made few public speeches or statements, beyond introductions at campaign rallies she attends with her husband. But she’s dutifully stepped into the silent role of enhancing her husband by appearing impeccably and appropriately dressed by his side.

Poor little mouse, has no feminist spirit. Only speaks 5 languages, and want to raise her son without interference from the mob.

But on Tuesday, she appeared to put the wrong foot forward when she boarded Marine One, en route to visit emergency responders in hurricane-ravaged Texas, wearing towering black snakeskin stilettos.

The emblematic first image of the first lady heading off to visit a hurricane in heels — a moment that the president has seized on as an opportunity to project strength and show off decisive leadership — instead became another symbol of a White House that can often seem out of touch.

You know, I wouldn't have thought anything of it, until they pointed it it. It looks like tall heels are Melania's first choice in shoes.

 Lisa Kline, who worked as a stylist to vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during the 2008 election, said in an interview she thought “it was a mistake in the message it relays. A lot of eyes were on them. They’re going to a devastated area. She should be dressed accordingly.”

The heels at least temporarily stole the spotlight from a gloomy president who aides said has been buoyed by what he sees, so far, as an effective coordinated response to a record-breaking storm.

And we know that John McCain packed Palin's staff with back biting snakes

 There was no acknowledgment from the White House that the first lady’s storm attire was at all off-key. Instead, her staff blamed the media for creating a “sad” side circus to an otherwise somber day.

“It’s sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas,” said Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for the first lady, “and people are worried about her shoes.”

And the heels affect the natural disaster how, exactly?

She wasn’t the only female member of the Trump delegation wearing footwear that raised eyebrows — two other women were spotted on Air Force One wearing pumps and suede heels.

Oh my god! pumps and suede heels? How can the Republic ever recover?

Later Tuesday, the first lady’s office released a statement on the storm. “I want to be able to offer my help and support in the most productive way possible, not through just words, but also action,” the first lady said. “What I found to be the most profound during the visit was not only the strength and resilience of the people of Texas, but the compassion and sense of community that has taken over the state. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of Texas and Louisiana.”

 But, have no fear!

 On board Air Force One to Corpus Christi, as the picture of the delicate heels ricocheted across the Internet, Melania Trump changed into a pair of bright, white sneakers, which looked fresh out of the box.

Any reason to think ill of Trump eh? Why would Melania wear old worn sneakers?  I kind of think Melania likes new shoes. She can afford them.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Butts! Boobs! The Final OUTRAGE!!!" and "FMJRA 2.0: The One You Love To Hate" up on time and within budget.

Reason #5667 That Trump Was Elected

Professors: via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 08.29.17" The Weasel Zipper brings us the "Professor: Texans ‘Deserve’ Harvey Because They Voted For Trump"

Meanwhile, some mean evil people who like Confederate flags are in boats rescuing people, including black people, in Texas because they actually care about people and aren’t looking at race or politics. Love trumps hate.

Via Daily Caller:

A sociology professor at the University of Tampa published a tweet on Sunday afternoon suggesting that Texas residents deserve the death, destruction and suffering caused by Hurricane Harvey because a majority of Texas voters supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
The professor is Kenneth L. Storey, reports Campus Reform.
“I don’t believe in instant Karma but this kinda feels like it for Texas. Hopefully this will help them realize the GOP doesn’t care about them,” Storey wrote in one tweet.

When another Twitter user responded that Texas is home to “good people” and that Storey “may want to rethink” the tweet, Storey doubled down.
“Well, the good people there need to do more to stop the evil their state pushes. I’m only blaming those who support the GOP there,” Storey wrote.
. . .
The University of Tampa webpage for Storey describes him as a visiting assistant professor. He has a master’s degree from the University of Central Florida and he teaches an introductory course in sociology. His research involves “urban issues within the southeastern United States, including research in gun shows, planned communities and unique issues of tourism focused commercial districts.”

Never mind that Houston, like most concentrated urban areas, is ruled by the Democrats. He later deleted his twitter account, but the internet never forgets, and rarely forgives. A visiting professor without a PhD? I'm gonna guess he's already gone.

With his time line slightly inverted in "Late Night With In The Mailbox: 08.28.17", Wombat brings us Twitchy:  Will This “Keep Your Job” Tweet Work For Prof Who Called Harvey Flooding “Instant Karma” For Texas?

Resign immediately. You're only sorry you got caught. Your comment is so disgusting, so disturbing.#Resign

— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 28, 2017

You know that apology your kid gives you when caught red-handed & he doesn't really mean it?!? Yeah, it's like that. https://t.co/Er973lw1Kb

— 🇺🇸Angela Dawn 🇮🇱 (@DiAlegna) August 28, 2017

UPDATE: Yep, Already gone: A university professor suggested Harvey was karma for Texas Republicans. Then, he was fired.

In a statement Tuesday, the university denounced Storey’s comments, saying they were made on his private Twitter account and do not reflect the school’s views.

“We condemn the comments and the sentiment behind them, and understand the pain this irresponsible act has caused,” the university said, adding that other faculty members will take over Storey’s classes. “As Floridians, we are well aware of the destruction and suffering associated with tropical weather. Our thoughts and prayers are with all impacted by Hurricane Harvey.”

A Kinsley gaff.