Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

“For the last several years I have relied on real (inflation-adjusted) spending at fast food restaurants as a useful gauge of consumer sentiment. I began this during the pandemic recovery when the media were constantly telling us that people were struggling to make ends meet. While this is always true in a country with a weak social safety net and extreme income inequality, the question any serious person asks is whether it’s getting worse or better. I kept pointing to the data showing that, at least for those at the bottom, it seemed to be getting better. … In 2021, 2022, and 2023, real fast-food spending was growing at an average annual rate of 5.4 percent, considerably faster than the 2.9 percent growth rate in the decade prior to the pandemic. But spending largely stagnated in 2024. Real spending in December 2024 was actually 1.0 percent less than it had been in December of 2023. That stagnation has continued into 2025.” (10/02/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/10/02/the-fast-food-index-is-looking-bleak/

Source: Niskanen Center
by Solitaire Carroll

“In the first article of this series, I introduced capability-based budgeting: aligning funding to outcomes, not just projects. At the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), we tested this idea against the realities of the federal budget process — rigid cycles, entrenched habits, and layers of oversight. What we learned were hard but valuable lessons on how to realign dollars around enduring capabilities and cut through the procedural bloat that holds agencies back.” (10/02/25)

https://www.niskanencenter.org/fragmented-projects-to-focused-products

Source: Antiwar.com
by Rick Sterling

“Factual information about Israel and Palestine may soon be outlawed in the California K-12 school system. Assembly Bill 715 is currently on Governor Newsom’s desk. The legislation was recently rushed through the California legislature, amended just days before passage, and voted on at 1 a.m. with almost no time for public comment. The hurry is intentional because opposition grows whenever people learn about it. … If passed, AB715 will result in strict regulation of education and educational material that might subject Jewish students to ‘unlawful discrimination.’ Facts and informed opinions about the reality in Israel and Palestine may be considered ‘antisemitic’ or likely to cause discomfort.” (10/02/25)

https://original.antiwar.com/rick_sterling/2025/10/01/will-california-zionise-k-12-education/

Source: Show-Me Institute
by Elias Tsapelas

“Missouri’s Medicaid enrollment numbers are telling a story, but it may not be one that the federal government wants to hear. Late last year, I wrote about a sharp and troubling decline in the number of permanently and totally disabled (PTD) Missourians enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program. Since then, the enrollment numbers have continued their downward trend, and now have fallen by more than 30,000, or 20%, since 2019, which is significantly lower than any point Missouri has seen in the last two decades. At first glance, some might assume this drop is simply a byproduct of the state’s post-pandemic Medicaid redeterminations. But as I’ve written before, I fear that explanation doesn’t add up. Permanently disabled recipients aren’t people you expect to lose coverage once their eligibility is established, given that they’re unlikely to re-enter the workforce. Instead, the data and a new quote suggest a different story: PTD shifting.” (10/01/25)

https://showmeinstitute.org/blog/medicaid/medicaid-in-trouble/