My wife is amazing! She just surprised me with a $250k life insurance policy and a trip to the Dominican Republic. -Unknown

Welcome to “Thursday Numbers!” In case you’re a first-time visitor, this is the weekly column where I take a look at the numbers that are in the news (in descending order) and provide commentary sometimes sprinkled with sarcasm, humor, and bluntness.

This week’s topics include Health and Human Services, Donald Trump’s Fourth of July celebration, unemployment, Major League Baseball standings, Trump’s job approval rating, Trump, Epstein and the Mar-a-Lago party, Volkswagen Beetle, 7-Eleven, low ratings for the All-Star Game, and much more!

100,000,000

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is spending an average of more than $100 billion per month. (CNS News)

Spend it – we’ll make more!

5,350,000

President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July celebration last week cost the federal government and Washington, D.C., $5.35 million, according to an Interior Department letter released exclusively to ABC News. (ABC News)

209,000

That’s how many people filed new claims for unemployment last week. (USDOL)

60-32

At the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in Major League Baseball with a 60-32 record. The NY Yankees are in second at 57-31. (ESPN)

On the other end, the Baltimore Orioles have the worst record 27-62 and my Kansas City Royals have the second-worst record at 30-61. The Royals are 27 games out of first place in the American League Central. Shameful.

41

Gallup reports that President Donald Trump’s job approval rating, which has been fluctuating between 40% and 43% since early May, was 41% in the second half of June, and includes 29% who strongly approve. Fifty-four percent of Americans disapprove of the president’s performance, including 44% who do so strongly. (Gallup)

Trump is vulnerable; but can the Democrats pick the right person to beat him.

28

Decades before he became president, real estate tycoon Donald Trump invited Jeffrey Epstein, the 66-year-old financier indicted in a massive sex trafficking scandal this week, to an insiders-only party at his Mar-a-Lago club in 1992 — even though he was warned against it. But the party was more than just a get-together between the two rich guys. According to a New York Times interview with the party’s organizer, the only other attendees flying in to Palm Beach that night were 28 women. (Vice News)

I am not surprised.

8

Volkswagen is halting production of the last version of its Beetle model this week at its plant in Puebla, Mexico. It’s the end of the road for a vehicle that has symbolized many things over a history spanning eight decades since 1938. (AP)

Bye, bye Bug!

7-11

7-Eleven won’t serve cake at its birthday party today (Thursday). Instead America’s largest convenience store chain will give away an estimated 9 million free small Slurpee drinks while supplies last from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time July 11, a day known as 7-Eleven Day and Free Slurpee Day. (USA Today)

Find the closest 7-11 store by clicking HERE.

6.2

Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game on Fox drew a 6.2 overnight rating, a record low overnight. Last year’s game drew a 6.5 overnight, same as 2017, and the previous record low came in 2016 when the game in San Diego drew a 6.2 overnight. (AwfulAnnouncing.com)

Baseball is so boring until the final few days of the season and when the playoffs start. #Yawn

 

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