Johnson said the latest evidence of this propaganda campaign is "The Lego Movie," in which the bad guy is a heartless businessman intent on destroying the world for profit. "That's done for a reason," Johnson said. "They're starting that propaganda, and it's insidious." The local blog included the comments in its statewide newsletter. In condemning "The Lego Movie," Johnson may be doing the work of his well-heeled supporters. At a separate event earlier this month, video of which was posted to YouTube Thursday, Johnson recalled a phone conversation with a father who'd recently been assaulted by the same type of propaganda. Typically, when senators are calling people they don't know well -- it's known as "call time" -- they're fundraising. "I actually called a gentleman, it was a couple months ago, he was so upset, he took his children to an animated movie ... guess who the villain was? That propaganda starts very early," said Johnson. For Johnson, a self-described "rich guy," the offense is also personal.
When he jumped into the race in 2010 against incumbent Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, he said in interviews that his wealth had been called to service by Fox News pundit Dick Morris. “I was sitting home, watching Fox News, and Dick Morris came on and said… ‘If you’re a rich guy from Wisconsin, step up to the plate,’" Johnson said. "And I kinda looked at [my wife] Jane and go, ‘Is he like talking to me?’” Johnson has several reasons to be concerned about how people view the rich. While he is often described as a "self-made millionaire," Johnson's wealth actually comes by virtue of marriage. He made his fortune as an executive at a plastics company owned by his father-in-law. Then the company, in a roundabout way, paid for what was referred to in the press as a self-financed campaign in 2010. Johnson spent around $9 million on his campaign; after winning election, the company made a lump sum payment of around $10 million to Johnson. Requests for comment from Johnson were not returned.
Johnson may still be taking his direction from Fox News, which has repeatedly slammed "The Lego Movie," comparing it to "The Lorax," "The Muppets" and "It's A Wonderful Life" in terms of propaganda value. One Fox segment, though, suggests that the critique can be taken too far. "I think about 'It's A Wonderful Life,' where Mr. Potter, the banker, is considered the villain," says one Fox host, laughing at the very idea. Off screen, someone reins her in. "You're defending Mr. Potter? Gross earnings for "The Lego Movie" totaled nearly $500 million, boosting quarterly earnings for Time Warner, the multinational media corporation that owns the studio that made the film. Have a tip or story idea to share with us? We'll keep your identity private unless you tell us otherwise. If you didn't mind this story, sign up to get an email when reporter Ryan Grim publishes a new one like it. Enter your email address: By Signe Brewster for WIRED. Despite the blocky, herky-jerky quality of their visuals, 2014’s The Lego Movie and its box-office-ruling spinoff, T...
It’s official: “The LEGO Movie” is the biggest opening of 2014 so far. The 3D animated film, which premiered Friday (Feb. 7) has taken in $69.1 million, according to an estimate from its distributor Warner Bros. While the family film, which follows an upbeat construction worker named Emmet Brickowski who is whisked away from his boring job by nonconformist Wyldstyle to embark on an adventure, is a rousing success, you might be surprised to know its voice cast is an embarrassment of celebrated TV actor riches. Seriously, there are so many of them. Who He Voices: Emmet BrickowskiWhy We Love Him: Pratt’s endeared himself to audiences for the last six years as the lovable goofball Andy Dwyer on “Parks and Recreation.” Who She Voices: WyldstyleWhy We Love Her: She may have already been a movie star by the time she began a lengthy guest-star arc on “30 Rock,” but Banks’ work as Avery Jessup is a favorite. The stuff when her character was stuck in North Korea?
Will Arnett Who He Voices: BatmanWhy We Love Him: Does the name GOB Bluth mean nothing to you? Arnett’s work on “Arrested Development” is what made him a star. Alison Brie Who She Voices: UnikittyWhy We Love Her: Whether it’s her dramatic work as Trudy Campbell on “Mad Men” or her hilarious portrayal of Annie on “Community,” there’s no way you can’t love Brie. Who He Voices: BennyWhy We Love Him: Day brought Charlie Kelly into our lives on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” For that, we’ll always be thankful. Who He Voices: President BusinessWhy We Love Him: Do we really have to explain this one? Ferrell is an “SNL” demigod. Who He Voices: Abraham LincolnWhy We Love Him: Come on, he’s MacGruber! Even that terrible film adaptation couldn’t undo our love for Forte. Who He Voices: BarryWhy We Love Him: “New Girl” may be about Jess Day, but Johnson’s steadily made his Nick Miller the heart of the FOX comedy. Keegan-Michael KeyWho He Voices: Foreman JimWhy We Love Him: Alongside comedy partner Jordan Peele, Key has brought about the second coming of “The Chapelle Show” on Comedy Central with the hysterical “Key & Peele.”
Who He Voices: Metal BeardWhy We Love Him: Ron Swanson is a national treasure. Who She Voices: Wonder WomanWhy We Love Her: Smulders came out of nowhere in Season 1 of “How I Met Your Mother” to steal our heart with along with Ted and Barney’s as Robin Scherbatsky. Nine years, she’s still got us in the palm of her hand. Who He Voices: ShakespeareWhy We Love Him: As one-third of The Lonely Island, Taccone is responsible for some of the most memorable digital shorts in “SNL” history. And then he proved could actually really act with his role as Booth Jonathan on HBO’s “Girls.” Submitted by Roger Barris of Economic Man, by way of Acting-Man After the February jobs report, President Obama said “America’s pretty darn great right now.” He then went on to disparage the “doomsday rhetoric” of the Republicans, which he said was pure “fantasy. I think that there is a good chance that this will enter the Hall of Fame of miss-timed statements, right up there with this jewel from Ben Bernanke in March 2007: “At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the sub-prime market seems likely to be contained.”
If you look hard enough, you’ll find it… It is about time for an update on the US economy. It will be a bit pointillist, but I will try to give some backing. My basic view of the US economy is the following: We have never had a proper recovery from the global financial crisis (“GFC”). Although GDP is above its peak prior to the GFC, the rebound has been very muted, particularly given the sharpness of the fall, which has historically produced a “v-shaped” rebound. There has been no “v” in this reco-ery. The jobs growth, although seemingly impressive in terms of the headline unemployment rate, has remained un-validated in a whole variety of ways. The labor force participation rate, which normally would increase in the face of improved job prospects, has remained very low in a way that cannot be fully explained by demographics. US labor force participation rate: flashback to the 1970s – click to enlarge. Wage growth has been anemic, including a negative print in the hourly wages and hours worked in the report just lauded by Obama.
Productivity has also been poor, even though this statistic normally responds in a highly pro-cyclical manner: in the 4th quarter of last year, it sank at one of the fastest rates in decades. As I also pointed out in the “A Job Is Not a Job Is Not a Job” section here, much of the employment growth has been in low-earning and low-hours positions, a trend that continued with the February report. Finally, the allegedly booming jobs market has not been validated by a sharp fall in, for example, the number of families participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“food stamps”). Federal government spending on food stamps (a.k.a. “supplemental nutrition assistance program” in bureaucratese) – click to enlarge. As David Stockman has pointed out in another of his lacerating comments about the jobs scene and the official statistics, the reported figures are subject to a vast amount of estimation and seasonal and other adjustments. Even in the most stable of times, these make the numbers suspect.
At cyclical turning points, such as we may now be experiencing, they go from the suspect to the indicted; they are frequently massively revised downward after the smoke has cleared. This fact, combined with the lagging nature of employment, means that we should not be overly cheered by the latest figures. Stockman and others tend to look at the payroll withholding taxes sent to the IRS as being a better indicator of current trends in employment, since these figures are not distorted by estimation and they proportionately reflect part-time and low-income employment. As the chart about midway through the Stockman article shows, these figures have been flat in nominal terms, indicating that real labor input has been falling since the end of last year. This, to me, is some of the strongest evidence against the White House version of Everything is Awesome. Finally, we have one of the biggest counter-indicators of all, which is the strong showing of political outliers such as Trump and Sanders.
This is not the behavior of an electorate basking in a “pretty darn great” economy. Maybe some more duct tape is needed, Cartoon by Brian Farrington The recovery hasn’t been validated in other ways, too. Capital expenditure has been very weak, something that we also would not have expected. Corporate earnings have increased greatly from the bottom, but this trend stopped last year and the trailing figures have now turned sharply downward. The overall weakness of the US economy since the GFC has been partially masked by pockets of bubbliness. Like the tide, these are now in full retreat, leaving an economy that looks like a bunch of unclothed bathers. The fracking boom, which lived off cheap credit and accounted for a large part of the growth of high-paying jobs and capital expenditure, is now in full rout along with the junk bond market that drove it. Record numbers of shale rigs are idled. One area in which bubble activities have deflated rapidly
Likewise technology, which converted abundant VC funding into demand for software engineers, San Francisco and Silicon Valley real estate, and technology equipment, none of which could have been paid for out of non-existent earnings. This spigot has now been turned off and the pink slips are flying. The automobile industry has been a bright spot on the personal consumption side, with record-high sales last year, but much of this has been financially engineered through looser auto loan underwriting and a surge of leasing. We all know how this ends. It now looks like lenders have scraped the bottom of the credit barrel, which means that this one-time boost to consumption is over: recent inventory figures, which show the highest level of auto inventory to sales since the GFC, indicate that the industry may have gotten the memo late. In fact, the inventory to sales ratio for the entire US economy is also the highest number since the GFC. US automotive inventories to sales ratio
The commodities boom, manufactured by excess credit in China and directly in the countries that produced the stuff, died a long time ago. This drove a lot of the demand in the US capital goods sector. Companies such as Caterpillar have now experienced 34 straight months of declining sales. So much for the “renaissance” of US manufacturing. Our old favorite, real estate (particularly in coastal or “gateway” cities around the world), had also been bubbly. This is now over. As I indicated before, this canary in the coal mine is now looking decidedly sickly. Upper end house markets are turning down in prices like London and New York City, and undoubtedly with a vengeance in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. My contacts within the UK commercial real estate market indicate that rental growth and cap rate compression have come to a full stop, and the UK institutions are looking to dump their real estate holdings onto backward-looking foreigners. A minute of silence for those no longer with us…
The US can, of course, expect absolutely no help from the rest of the world. Seventy percent of the manufacturing PMIs around the world declined in February. International trade is collapsing, including the latest prints from China, which showed sharp falls in exports and imports, numbers validated by the figures coming out of other countries in the region. This is another sickly canary. The emerging markets are in a shambles, led by the former BRIC stars. Japan goes in and out of recession with the blink of an eye. Europe is growing slowly, at best, with some major black swans circling (Brexit, the migrant crisis, populist parties, unresolved Greek debt issues, unstable or un-formable governments, continued rumblings out of the banks, etc.). Global manufacturing: in a downtrend since 2014 (i.e., since the “tapering” and eventual end of QE3) – click to enlarge. I put the probability of a US recession this year at 50% to 75%. If it weren’t for the possibility of strong consumption growth, aided by low energy prices, I would put the probability even higher.