Tag: michigan
Americans Losing Their Jobs

New Data Show Trump Tariffs Are Ruining Job Market

Unemployment claims have risen for the second-straight week, exceeding economists' expectations at the highest level in eight months, the Department of Labor announced on Thursday.

Initial jobless claims stood at 247,000 for the week ending on May 31, higher than the 236,000 claims that economists had been projecting. That jump caused the four-week moving average to increase by 4,500.

"New jobless claims are ticking up. The numbers are still low, but there's an upward trend. This is key to watch. The main reason the US economy has been so resilient is 159.5 million people are still employed and getting paychecks. If that goes down, a downward spiral will start,” Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X.

According to the Labor Department, the biggest surge in new unemployment claims was in Michigan, where 8,490 people filed claims—up 3,259 from the week prior. The state’s job losses came from the manufacturing industry, which is being hit hard by President Donald Trump's steel, aluminum, and automobile tariffs.

Indeed, a number of automobile manufacturing companies have announced layoffs, including Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, and a handful of other companies that manufacture car parts.

Ultimately, the increase in jobless claims comes after the payroll company ADP said that just 37,000 private-sector jobs were created in May—a major slowdown and possibly the first tangible signs that Trump's idiotic tariffs are now impacting the job market.

Economists said that Trump’s tariffs would cut into companies’ profit margins, leading to increased prices, layoffs, or both. And the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that the tariffs would cause the U.S. economy to shrink.

“If the president does not reverse course, he will increase the unemployment rate to recessionary levels,” Michael R. Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, told CNBC in April.

All eyes are now on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which will release its monthly jobs report Friday morning. Should that number come in under economists’ expectations, it will be more proof that their fears of Trump’s tariffs are coming true.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Trump Tariffs Are Already Throwing Americans Out Of Their Jobs

Trump Tariffs Are Already Throwing Americans Out Of Their Jobs

On Thursday —one day after President Donald Trump’s self-branded "Liberation Day"— 900 auto workers in Michigan and Indiana were “liberated” from their jobs, thanks to Trump’s new tariffs.

Stellantis NV, which manufactures Ram trucks and Jeeps, announced on Thursday that 900 U.S. workers across five facilities were being temporarily laid off, directly citing Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported cars as the cause.

"With the new automotive sector tariffs now in effect, it will take our collective resilience and discipline to push through this challenging time. But we will quickly adapt to these policy changes and will protect our company, maintain our competitive edge and continue delivering great products to our customers,” Antonio Filosa, chief operating officer of Stellantis North America, said.

The news broke as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on CBS News to declare that employment will boom because of Trump's sweeping tariffs.

"You're going to see employment leaping starting today," he said.

Meanwhile, economists were lighting their hair on fire to warn just how damaging Trump's tariff policy will actually be.

“Monstrously destructive, incoherent, ill-informed tariffs based on fabrications, imagined wrongs, discredited theories and ignorance of decades of evidence. And the real tragedy is that they will hurt working Americans more than anyone else,” Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, wrote on X.

And, with approximately 134 million households across the United States, Trump’s tariffs will amount to a $5,000 tax increase on every household, according to Wolfers.

The stock market is also responding in kind, with the markets losing more than 3% of their value since Thursday's opening bell.

Democrats, for their part, are calling on their congressional Republican counterparts to stand up to Trump and demand that he rescind his tariffs and put an end to the economic destruction.

"Trump’s idiotic economic policies are driving the world toward a global downturn. Instead of lifting a finger to stop it, House Republicans canceled votes after less than 24 hours of work this week & went home—refusing to stand up to Trump while American families pay the price," Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York wrote on X.

In a surprising move, four Senate Republicans joined Democrats in rebuking Trump’s tariffs on Canada Wednesday, but the House is not expected to move on that legislation, which Trump said he would veto anyway.

And on Thursday, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa joined Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington in introducing a bill that would require the president to notify Congress of tariffs, allowing Congress 60 days to approve or deny them.

“For too long, Congress has delegated its clear authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce to the executive branch. Building on my previous efforts as Finance Committee Chairman, I’m joining Senator Cantwell to introduce the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 to reassert Congress’ constitutional role and ensure Congress has a voice in trade policy,” their news release said.

But even if this passes in the Senate, it’s difficult to see it passing in the House or avoiding a veto from Trump, who has shown no signs of lifting his tariffs.

“I don't think there's any chance Trump is gonna back off his tariffs,” Lutnick said on CNN. “This is the reordering of global trade.”

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl

Dirty Tricksters Who Targeted Black Voters In Detroit Will Be Prosecuted

The Michigan Court of Appeals on Friday upheld criminal charges against two far-right operatives who prosecutors say made a series of robocalls in the state during the 2020 election particularly targeting Black voters in Detroit.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that criminal charges had been filed against Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl back in 2020 after it had been found that the pair had made about 85,000 calls spreading misinformation and fear about voting across Midwestern states.

After hearing arguments concerning the case in November of 2023, the Michigan Supreme Court (MSC) supported assertions that Burkman and Wohl had utilized “corrupt means” and instructed the Court of Appeals to examine whether the pair’s actions violated state election laws.

The Michigan Supreme Court concluded in June of this year that the defendants attempted to deter Black metro Detroiters from participating in the 2020 election using the “immoral or depraved” method of spreading election misinformation, particularly for mail-in voting, using “racially based motives”.

“Defendants discussed their desire to “hi-jack this boring election” and arranged for the distribution of a robocall specifically to “black neighborhoods” with the call stating that the consequences of mail-in voting would include voter information being used by police departments to effectuate old warrants, by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts, and (potentially) by the CDC to support mandatory vaccination efforts,” the MSC wrote in its opinion in June.

In that opinion, the MSC ruled that the Court of Appeals needed to review whether Burkman and Wohl’s conduct violated Michigan law, specifically a section of election law pertaining to elector influence.

Michigan’s election laws say, “A person shall not attempt, by means of bribery, menace, or other corrupt means or device, either directly or indirectly, to influence an elector in giving his or her vote, or to deter the elector from, or interrupt the elector in giving his or her vote at any election held in this state.”

On Friday, the Michigan Court of Appeals found that because the calls directly pertained to misinformation about mail-in voting and promlegating false information in order to disrupt and deter Black voters in Michigan, they violate the law and Burkman and Wohl’s criminal charges stand.

“There can be no reasonable dispute that voting by mail is a voting procedure. That is, voting by mail is “a particular way of accomplishing” voting, which fits the definition of “procedure.” The robocall was related to the procedure, because it alleged that, if a voter used the voting procedure identified, certain negative events “will” occur,” Court of Appeals Judge Anica Letica wrote in the opinion.

In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Judge James Redford argued that the robocalls did not pertain to voting requirements or procedures, but rather possible negative consequences of participating in absentee voting, so the court has not fulfilled the inquiries set out by the Michigan Supreme Court to uphold the charges.

Nessel applauded the court’s decision saying in a statement her office looks forward to the case being brought to trial.

“Voter intimidation infringes upon the fundamental right to vote,” Nessel said. “I am grateful the Court of Appeals saw this conduct for what it was—a gross misrepresentation of voting procedures meant to scare voters from participating in our elections.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

This story originally appeared in Michigan Advance, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

Trump Paces Onstage At 'Pretty Empty' Detroit Rally As Microphone Fails

Trump Paces Onstage At 'Pretty Empty' Detroit Rally As Microphone Fails

Former President Donald Trump's most recent campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan experienced fairly significant technical issues. And that was after a lengthy delay that resulted in a reportedly sparse audience.

According to several campaign reporters covering the event, Trump's rally was off to a rough start from the beginning. CNN reporter Alayna Treene told host Erin Burnett that the crowd waited for hours outside the venue before the doors were finally opened. And by the time the stage was set, Treene observed that the venue was "pretty empty."

"You can't really tell, Erin, from where you are — I mean right behind me you can see the crowd — but behind the camera where I'm speaking toward, it's actually pretty empty. They have not been able to fill this," Treene said. "And I will also tell you that it took us more than two hours. They were two hours delayed in getting us into the venue today. And so, there are questions about, I'm told it was not a security issue, according to two Secret Service officials, so questions about whether they were changing the optics in here."

By the time Trump actually took the stage, he only spoke for a few minutes before his microphone abruptly cut off. CBS News campaign reporter Jake Rosen tweeted a photo of a screen that read: "TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES — COMPLICATED BUSINESS" and told his followers that the crowd was occupying itself by chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"It appears the sound system here in Detroit is completely down," Rosen posted. "After a few minutes of speaking, the mic went down. Trump hasn’t been able to get the podium mic or a handheld to work. The crowd is trying to keep the energy up."

Treene then tweeted that the former president's campaign team tried unsuccessfully to continue his speech by bringing him a different microphone, though that microphone was also faulty. Then she posted video of Trump shuffling around onstage while his supporters chanted from the stands.

"Trump has been walking around the stage waiting for a fix for several minutes now, while the crowd cheers & chants 'we love Trump,' Treene wrote.

Audio issues persisted for roughly 18 minutes, according to Treene. Once the ex-president's speech resumed, Rosen tweeted that he immediately launched into a tirade against the venue's audio-visual team.

Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have held competing events in Michigan on Friday. Harris held rallies in Grand Rapids, the capital city of Lansing and in Oakland County, which is in the suburbs northwest of Detroit. The Mitten State's highly coveted 16 electoral votes may be decided by a few thousand votes statewide.

Watch Treene's video of Trump onstage below:

Reprinted with permission from Alternet


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