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« on: February 01, 2019, 05:02:22 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 2-1-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Feb. 1, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/digests/60919-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.” —Thomas Jefferson (1821)
https://patriotpost.us/fqd/60916-founders-quote-daily
IN TODAY’S EDITION
Payrolls grew by 304,000, shattering low expectations after shutdown.1
Measles outbreak reveals the problem of the anti-vaccination trend.2
Daily Features: More Analysis3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Memes6, Cartoons7, Opinion in Brief8, and Short Cuts9.
IN BRIEF
Turns Out the Shutdown Didn’t Kill the Economy10
Nate Jackson
Thanks to the 35-day partial government shutdown11, many economists were warning that the January jobs report would be, as The New York Times put it, “a mess.” Bloomberg’s prediction survey12 expected just 165,000 jobs created.
Well, so much for predictions.
“Job growth in January shattered expectations, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 304,000, the Labor Department reported Friday,” reports13 CNBC. Now, it wasn’t all great news. CNBC also notes, “December’s big initially reported gain of 312,000 was knocked all the way down to 222,000, while November’s rose from 176,000 to 196,000.” The headline unemployment rate ticked higher to 4%, and the fuller measure of unemployment rose to 8.1% from 7.6%, the result of layoffs due to the shutdown and also more people entering the workforce to find jobs. But one interesting note: Employment by the federal government actually rose by 1,000.
Well, so much for the shutdown.
A couple of observations: First, despite the massive entanglement of the federal government in the economy, even five weeks of a partial shutdown didn’t do much to drag down job growth, even if there was somewhat of a negative economic impact14. President Donald Trump’s administration has done important deregulatory work that stimulates growth by getting government out of the way. Second, as we wrote yesterday15, it’s now tax-filing season. That will help millions of individuals, but it will also help small-business owners who file taxes as individuals. Those small businesses are the real drivers of job creation and wage increases (3.2% over the last year), and they will see some breathing room from lower taxes. So we’ll go out on a limb and suggest the experts might just be wrong in predicting weaker economic growth in 2019.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60915-turns-out-the-shutdown-didnt-kill-the-economy
Measles Outbreak Reveals Problem of Anti-Vaccination Trend16
Thomas Gallatin
A measles outbreak17 in Washington state has led Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency. Meanwhile, health officials in Georgia, Hawaii, Oregon, and New York have also confirmed cases of measles in their states. This follows major outbreaks in several states over the last few years. There are a growing number of cases of the highly contagious disease that just 18 years ago was declared by the Centers for Disease Control to have been eradicated from the U.S. So what has led to these new cases?
In Washington, the cause is clear: non-vaccinated individuals. This fact has shown a bright spotlight on an increasingly heated debate over the broader societal health risks posed by the growing anti-vaccination trend.
As we’ve said before18, those who opt out of vaccines benefit from what’s known as herd immunity. In other words, as long as about 90% of people are vaccinated, the “more enlightened” few may choose to avoid doing so and suffer little consequence. But there is a mathematical limit to this gamble, and it’s often upper-class liberals who are rolling the dice. In the affected areas of Washington, vaccination rates are only about 75%.
Anti-vaxxers blame vaccinations for the supposed rise in rates of certain autoimmune disorders, but this belief is born out of a rejection or misunderstanding of mainstream medical practice due in part to debunked pseudo-scientific explanations19. This skepticism is coupled with a strong antipathy toward corporations or a deep distrust of governmental authority, and there’s a growing belief among some Americans that vaccinations are more of a health problem than a solution.
While a majority of Americans may disagree with anti-vaxxers and see their views as dangerously foolish, the First Amendment protects their right to hold and express them. However, the real rub comes when one’s individual beliefs may have direct impact upon the physical health and well-being of society at large. The current outbreak of measles demonstrates this balance and raises the question: When does protecting public health supersede the freedom of the individual to live according to how they see fit? Or to put it another way, when does the government have the right or responsibility to compel individuals to conform to certain behavioral expectations irrespective of personally held beliefs? As 19th-century physician Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” The choice to refuse vaccination — when rooted in vain conceit rather than medical reality — endangers others.
Frankly, given the devastating history of diseases like the measles and polio and the amazing medical breakthroughs that have (or had) virtually eradicated many of these diseases, profoundly improving the lives and health of all Americans living today, it is mind-boggling that this is even an issue up for debate.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/60918-measles-outbreak-reveals-problem-of-anti-vaccination-trend |
