Quote of the day:

The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead. ― Marjorie Pay Hinckley

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 and humor.

This week’s topics include unemployment claims, coronavirus deaths, Sam Johnson, Trump’s disapproval ratings, 2020 Census, Kayleigh McEnany, Montana Senate 2020, Trump’s declining support, Trump’s tweets, and much more!

2,123,000

In the week ending May 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 2,123,000, a decrease of 323,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 8,000 from 2,438,000 to 2,446,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,608,000, a decrease of 436,000 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 2,000 from 3,042,000 to 3,044,000. (DOL.gov)

100,047

As of Wednesday evening, the U.S. had recorded 1,695,776 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 100,047 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker. (The Hill) Last Thursday the deaths numbered 93,313.

Congratulations to President Donald Trump for this milestone.

89

Sam Johnson, an Air Force pilot held for nearly seven years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, who later became one of the most conservative members of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from Texas, died on Wednesday at age 89, his family said. (Reuters)

Johnson was a patriot and a statesman – Rest In Peace.

53.7

That is President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating. His approval rating is just 42.5%. (FiveThirtyEight)

Last week his disapproval rating was 52.4%.

One of Trump’s favorite polls, Rasmussen Reports, shows in their daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-seven percent (57%) disapprove.

I doubt we’ll see him tweet about that…

45

That’s Montana’s rank in the 2020 Census self-response, which is the same as last week. Montana has a 51.2% response rate that makes it rank #45. Last week Montana had a 50.8% response rate. Minnesota leads the nation with a 70.1% rating. The national average is 60.2%. (Census.gov)

11

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has defended President Donald Trump’s assault on vote-by-mail, insisting, like her boss, that it invites election fraud. The Tampa Bay Times reports that McEnany has voted by mail 11 times over the last 10 years. (TampaBay.com)

Many hypocrites are working for the President. McEnany is just the latest. I strongly support voting by mail and have done it in the past several elections. I will be voting by mail in the June 2 primary election in Montana.

10

The Hill is reporting about 10 senate seats that are “most likely” to flip and the senate seat currently occupied by Steve Daines (R-MT) is one of them. (The Hill)

I have not been impressed with the political career of Daines. He is not a strong leader. The word “spineless” comes to mind when I think of him.

5

NBC News is reporting that heading into the crucial summer stretch of his re-election campaign, President Donald Trump is grappling with declining support among key groups that helped deliver his 2016 victory, putting rising pressure on his campaign and the White House to shore up his base. With just over five months to Election Day, a string of polls this month shows an erosion of support among voters whom Republican strategists had expected would be rock solid behind the president at this point, including seniors, non-college-educated white voters, and evangelicals.

This is good news.

2

Twitter has taken the unprecedented step of adding fact-check warnings to two of President Donald Trump’s tweets that falsely called mail-in ballots “substantially fraudulent” and predicted a “Rigged Election.” On Wednesday, the president threatened to impose new regulation on social media companies or even to “close them down.” (AP)

Trump will supposedly issue an executive order about social media companies on Thursday. I doubt it goes very far. It’s laughable. Spreading fake information is a major problem on Facebook and Twitter. It seems fake news happens a lot with the older folks and with uneducated people.

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