This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Courtesy of the Mississippi Driver Service Bureau

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Courtesy of the Mississippi Driver Service Bureau

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• Outdoor columnist Ben Smith says there’s always the opportunity to take a stab at the greatest delicacy of the swamp during a Mississippi summer – the bullfrog.

It’s about this time each year that I start to count the days until I’m able to put an arrow in the pump station of America’s top big game animal. We are a little over halfway there from the end of last season to the beginning of this season. To be exact, at the time of this being written, we are 93 days away from the October 1^st archery opener. For those of you south of highway 84, you’ll have to wait a couple of more weeks until the 15^th. In the meantime, here are some things you can do to pass the time.

Aside from sweating your tail off and fishing, July is a tough month for outdoor activities down here. Speaking of fishing, the MDWFP has declared July 4^th a “free fishing day.” What this means is that you can legally fish public waters in the State of Mississippi on that day without a fishing license. But don’t roll up to a state lake without your wallet, you’ll still have to purchase a permit to fish those waters for the day. Be mindful of limits for your targeted species, for I’m sure there will be plenty of law enforcement checking coolers.

If you can stand the mosquitoes, there’s always the opportunity to take a stab at the greatest delicacy of the swamp during a Mississippi summer, the bullfrog. Something that I’ve never thought of until now popped up in my head: What type of license do you need to catch frogs? After a quick online search, it seems as though you can hunt frogs with either a valid hunting or fishing license in Mississippi. The limit on these slimy, delicious amphibians is 25 per night. If you catch 25 in a night be sure to email me with your whereabouts. Keep in mind though, that bugs are attracted to light and the easiest way to catch these critters is with a light on your head, thus putting the bugs in your face. The rewards for this suffering are great if you can push through.

You’ve also got about two weeks left to try your hand (literally) at handgrabbing catfish in Mississippi. It’s a little late in the season but think of it like you would the post-rut. There will still be some fish in holes if you can find them. This is an activity best done with a buddy. Not just for the opportunity for success, but mostly for safety. We’ve already lost several Mississippian’s this summer due to water involved accidents and dying alone trying to pull a big catfish out of a hole just seems silly. 

If you’re a glutton for punishment, there’s still the opportunity to get your property ready for the upcoming deer season. Now is a great time to start surveilling your deer via camera if you choose to do so. I enjoy watching the growth phase from now until October on our trail cameras. I don’t put much stock on trying to pattern a buck during this time of the year because the food sources will change between now and the season opener. But it is neat to see what’s lurking around your property during the summer. We even got pictures of a bear a couple of years ago with summer cameras. The bear was gone by September, so we’d never have known he was there without running them during the summer months. 

If you’re the type of person that hates the summer and is just waiting for hunting season to arrive, there’s something for you too. Each year the Mississippi Wildlife Federation hosts the Mississippi Wildlife Extravaganza in Pearl, Mississippi. The dates for this year’s show are July 26th-July 28^th and will be held at the Clyde Muse Center. You can get additional information regarding the extravaganza at mswildlife.org/extravaganza/. 

I’d never gone to one of these shows until a couple of years ago and now that I’ve been I never want to miss another. If you can dream it up, it will be there. From hunting to fishing and land management to tree stands, there is a vendor for all. In addition to all of the vendors, there are also live demonstrations for fishing and retriever dogs. Have a big buck you want scored and entered into the Magnolia Records Program? That will be there, too. Upstairs at the Muse Center, there will be a several celebrities from the outdoor world, including cooking extraordinaire, Stalekracker. And that’s not even the best part!

Southern Drawl will have a booth upstairs for all of you to come by and throw tomatoes at me. In all seriousness, if you do come to the extravaganza, and you should, please come by and introduce yourself. It’s always great to meet the folks that read my weekly blatherings.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate.

While the U.S. economy added slightly more jobs than expected, the national unemployment increased to 4.1 percent – the highest level since October 2021 – representing some 6.8 million people.

The number for long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 or more weeks, rose by 166,000 to 1.5 million.

The unemployment rate hit its lowest point since 2020 in April 2023 at 3.4 percent. Since then, the rate has steadily climbed. Economic forecasts have been for the national rate to remain near 4 percent.

However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate. According to the Labor Department, those able to work and are rose to 62.6%, up 0.1 percent.

The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows that nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000 jobs in June, under the prior month’s gains by roughly 12,000. Job gains occurred in the sectors of government, healthcare, social assistance and construction.

As for average hourly earnings, nonfarm payrolls increased by 10 cents to $35.00. This represents a 12-month average hourly earnings increase of 3.9 percent.

Goldman Sach’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, told the Wall Street Journal that immigration is making it difficult to forecast the level of job growth need to balance the labor market.

“Before the pandemic, economists at Goldman Sachs reckoned that, as a result of slowing population growth and more Americans hitting retirement age, the economy only needed to add around 70,000 to 80,000 jobs a month to keep the unemployment rate steady,” WSJ reported. “Now, as a result of the jump in immigration, they think it could be around 200,000.”

Hatzius thinks the best thing to do is watch the unemployment rate, WSJ notes, saying, “If it keeps turning higher in the months ahead, it will be an indication that the labor market has moved from a point of balance to one of deterioration.”

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate.

While the U.S. economy added slightly more jobs than expected, the national unemployment increased to 4.1 percent – the highest level since October 2021 – representing some 6.8 million people.

The number for long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 or more weeks, rose by 166,000 to 1.5 million.

The unemployment rate hit its lowest point since 2020 in April 2023 at 3.4 percent. Since then, the rate has steadily climbed. Economic forecasts have been for the national rate to remain near 4 percent.

However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate. According to the Labor Department, those able to work and are rose to 62.6%, up 0.1 percent.

The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows that nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000 jobs in June, under the prior month’s gains by roughly 12,000. Job gains occurred in the sectors of government, healthcare, social assistance and construction.

As for average hourly earnings, nonfarm payrolls increased by 10 cents to $35.00. This represents a 12-month average hourly earnings increase of 3.9 percent.

Goldman Sach’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, told the Wall Street Journal that immigration is making it difficult to forecast the level of job growth need to balance the labor market.

“Before the pandemic, economists at Goldman Sachs reckoned that, as a result of slowing population growth and more Americans hitting retirement age, the economy only needed to add around 70,000 to 80,000 jobs a month to keep the unemployment rate steady,” WSJ reported. “Now, as a result of the jump in immigration, they think it could be around 200,000.”

Hatzius thinks the best thing to do is watch the unemployment rate, WSJ notes, saying, “If it keeps turning higher in the months ahead, it will be an indication that the labor market has moved from a point of balance to one of deterioration.”

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate.

While the U.S. economy added slightly more jobs than expected, the national unemployment increased to 4.1 percent – the highest level since October 2021 – representing some 6.8 million people.

The number for long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 or more weeks, rose by 166,000 to 1.5 million.

The unemployment rate hit its lowest point since 2020 in April 2023 at 3.4 percent. Since then, the rate has steadily climbed. Economic forecasts have been for the national rate to remain near 4 percent.

However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate. According to the Labor Department, those able to work and are rose to 62.6%, up 0.1 percent.

The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows that nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000 jobs in June, under the prior month’s gains by roughly 12,000. Job gains occurred in the sectors of government, healthcare, social assistance and construction.

As for average hourly earnings, nonfarm payrolls increased by 10 cents to $35.00. This represents a 12-month average hourly earnings increase of 3.9 percent.

Goldman Sach’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, told the Wall Street Journal that immigration is making it difficult to forecast the level of job growth need to balance the labor market.

“Before the pandemic, economists at Goldman Sachs reckoned that, as a result of slowing population growth and more Americans hitting retirement age, the economy only needed to add around 70,000 to 80,000 jobs a month to keep the unemployment rate steady,” WSJ reported. “Now, as a result of the jump in immigration, they think it could be around 200,000.”

Hatzius thinks the best thing to do is watch the unemployment rate, WSJ notes, saying, “If it keeps turning higher in the months ahead, it will be an indication that the labor market has moved from a point of balance to one of deterioration.”

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

• However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate.

While the U.S. economy added slightly more jobs than expected, the national unemployment increased to 4.1 percent – the highest level since October 2021 – representing some 6.8 million people.

The number for long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 or more weeks, rose by 166,000 to 1.5 million.

The unemployment rate hit its lowest point since 2020 in April 2023 at 3.4 percent. Since then, the rate has steadily climbed. Economic forecasts have been for the national rate to remain near 4 percent.

However, the increased unemployment rate is coupled with an increase in the labor force participation rate. According to the Labor Department, those able to work and are rose to 62.6%, up 0.1 percent.

The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also shows that nonfarm payrolls increased by 206,000 jobs in June, under the prior month’s gains by roughly 12,000. Job gains occurred in the sectors of government, healthcare, social assistance and construction.

As for average hourly earnings, nonfarm payrolls increased by 10 cents to $35.00. This represents a 12-month average hourly earnings increase of 3.9 percent.

Goldman Sach’s chief economist, Jan Hatzius, told the Wall Street Journal that immigration is making it difficult to forecast the level of job growth need to balance the labor market.

“Before the pandemic, economists at Goldman Sachs reckoned that, as a result of slowing population growth and more Americans hitting retirement age, the economy only needed to add around 70,000 to 80,000 jobs a month to keep the unemployment rate steady,” WSJ reported. “Now, as a result of the jump in immigration, they think it could be around 200,000.”

Hatzius thinks the best thing to do is watch the unemployment rate, WSJ notes, saying, “If it keeps turning higher in the months ahead, it will be an indication that the labor market has moved from a point of balance to one of deterioration.”

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Nature abhors a vacuum. So do bureaucrats. When the vacuum is statutory silence or ambiguity, bureaucrats are quick to fill it in ways that give themselves more power. Nowhere is this more evident than “Chevron deference,” which has now been overruled.

Chevron deference, named after a Supreme Court case from 1984, has led to all sorts of administrative abuse across the spectrum of executive agencies. This is because the Court gave agencies the ability to identify “ambiguous” statutes that give that agency some sort of authority. Once identified, the agencies have made it a pattern to “interpret” the statute to mean whatever the agency wants it to mean.

This is exemplified in the Loper and Relentless cases that challenged Chevron deference. There, Congress had set forth a statute that permitted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to require fishermen to carry observers on fishing vessels to monitor their fishing practices. The NOAA felt that the statute was ambiguous as to who foot the bill for these observers and “interpreted” it to mean that the fishermen must pay. The Courts, feeling that Chevron deference tied their hands, agreed and allowed the NOAA’s interpretation of the statute to remain.

This has been common practice across the executive. But the question now exists: which agencies will suffer the most from the Supreme Court’s ruling? Which ones will be forced to return to the checks and balances originally intended by the Constitution? Which ones will be forced to abandon policies that only exist because of Chevron?

The candidates are numerous.

For example, the Department of Agriculture attempted to classify a small puddle as a “wetland” under the Swampbuster Act. Such a designation is subject to review. But the Department of Agriculture, conveniently, interpreted “such time as the person affected by the certification requests review” to mean that review can only happen after a natural event occurs. Clearly, the language does not contain that qualifier, yet lower courts deferred to that interpretation.

Elsewhere, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took it upon itself to seize power under the Tobacco Control Act. Congress granted the FDA authority to ensure addicted, adult, cigarette smokers had access to lower risk tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, to move away from cigarettes. Part of that process included evaluating the program’s effect on minors. The FDA took this and effectively banned flavored e-cigarettes, which was never a stated goal in the legislation.

Even the Department of Veterans Affairs misuses its authority under the guise of Chevron. In one example, a veteran who had qualified for disability benefits was denied three years of benefits. There, the veteran had gained employment with the National Guard, thus pausing his benefits. But when he left the National Guard, the benefits never resumed. When he made a claim, he was told that only one year of benefits could be credited to him, citing its own policy. But the statute never stated such an arbitrarily rigid one-year figure. But this interpretation was given deference by the courts.

Agencies still attempt to stretch these statutory interpretations all the time, even if they know the interpretation may be struck down in court later. For recent examples, the CDC tried to issue an eviction moratorium during covid, the Department of Health and Human Services tried to force nuns to purchase birth control coverage, and the EPA tried to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in industries not under its jurisdiction. Each of these actions were taken despite the statutory authorities giving no such power or wide discretion.

The Supreme Court did correct these bad interpretations, but not until years of litigation had occurred and some damage had already been done. Because courts side with government in more than 70 percent (more if Chevron is invoked) of interpretation disputes, agencies are incentivized to press the envelope.

The answer is that all agencies stand to lose. All of them utilize this de facto loophole in the law that allows agencies to make up authority to their own benefit. And all of them will be forced to justify their interpretations moving forward. In this case, when the agencies lose, the American people stand to win. 

#####

This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune.

Nature abhors a vacuum. So do bureaucrats. When the vacuum is statutory silence or ambiguity, bureaucrats are quick to fill it in ways that give themselves more power. Nowhere is this more evident than “Chevron deference,” which has now been overruled.

Chevron deference, named after a Supreme Court case from 1984, has led to all sorts of administrative abuse across the spectrum of executive agencies. This is because the Court gave agencies the ability to identify “ambiguous” statutes that give that agency some sort of authority. Once identified, the agencies have made it a pattern to “interpret” the statute to mean whatever the agency wants it to mean.

This is exemplified in the Loper and Relentless cases that challenged Chevron deference. There, Congress had set forth a statute that permitted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to require fishermen to carry observers on fishing vessels to monitor their fishing practices. The NOAA felt that the statute was ambiguous as to who foot the bill for these observers and “interpreted” it to mean that the fishermen must pay. The Courts, feeling that Chevron deference tied their hands, agreed and allowed the NOAA’s interpretation of the statute to remain.

This has been common practice across the executive. But the question now exists: which agencies will suffer the most from the Supreme Court’s ruling? Which ones will be forced to return to the checks and balances originally intended by the Constitution? Which ones will be forced to abandon policies that only exist because of Chevron?

The candidates are numerous.

For example, the Department of Agriculture attempted to classify a small puddle as a “wetland” under the Swampbuster Act. Such a designation is subject to review. But the Department of Agriculture, conveniently, interpreted “such time as the person affected by the certification requests review” to mean that review can only happen after a natural event occurs. Clearly, the language does not contain that qualifier, yet lower courts deferred to that interpretation.

Elsewhere, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took it upon itself to seize power under the Tobacco Control Act. Congress granted the FDA authority to ensure addicted, adult, cigarette smokers had access to lower risk tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, to move away from cigarettes. Part of that process included evaluating the program’s effect on minors. The FDA took this and effectively banned flavored e-cigarettes, which was never a stated goal in the legislation.

Even the Department of Veterans Affairs misuses its authority under the guise of Chevron. In one example, a veteran who had qualified for disability benefits was denied three years of benefits. There, the veteran had gained employment with the National Guard, thus pausing his benefits. But when he left the National Guard, the benefits never resumed. When he made a claim, he was told that only one year of benefits could be credited to him, citing its own policy. But the statute never stated such an arbitrarily rigid one-year figure. But this interpretation was given deference by the courts.

Agencies still attempt to stretch these statutory interpretations all the time, even if they know the interpretation may be struck down in court later. For recent examples, the CDC tried to issue an eviction moratorium during covid, the Department of Health and Human Services tried to force nuns to purchase birth control coverage, and the EPA tried to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in industries not under its jurisdiction. Each of these actions were taken despite the statutory authorities giving no such power or wide discretion.

The Supreme Court did correct these bad interpretations, but not until years of litigation had occurred and some damage had already been done. Because courts side with government in more than 70 percent (more if Chevron is invoked) of interpretation disputes, agencies are incentivized to press the envelope.

The answer is that all agencies stand to lose. All of them utilize this de facto loophole in the law that allows agencies to make up authority to their own benefit. And all of them will be forced to justify their interpretations moving forward. In this case, when the agencies lose, the American people stand to win. 

#####

This article was originally published by RealClearPolicy and made available via RealClearWire.

This article first appeared on the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Read original article by clicking here.