The Second Trump Presidency

Marc9k writes: When the tax affects the lower income people more than the billionaires, you bet we don't like it. The right has their heads up their asses with how much they bend over for these billionaires, to bring their taxes down to virtually nothing.And migosh look at the Social Security system - a flat rate up to a number, then zero after that - this is beyond their public stance of a flat rate - what a wet dream for them! They have been trying to undo FDR's work ever since it went into effect, the assholes. Why do they hate the poorer people of this one-time great country (well, at least for whites)? They hate the idea that billionaires should have any restrictions on how much money they can steal from the common citizen's wealth of this land. Fuck them. After 1 billion the bracket should be at least 50%. It was higher than that during the Eisenhower years and look how well the country was starting to do. They built the highway system. They even went to the moon. But no! The Repugnants all decided it got in the way of keeping even more of the country's wealth their companies were controlling. Make it 50% at least. The top billionaires will still be billionaires.There was a battle in today's congress recently. The Dems got the House into a voice vote of raising the actual tax rates. They started with $400,000. Every Democrat said let's raise it and every Repugnant said No! Then they raised it to a higher number and recast the vote again. Same result. The kept increasing the number and eventually got up to a billion and still all Dems said Yes and still every single Repugnant said No.These Repugnants make me sick. They should make all of us sick. They should be voted out into forever oblivion, so the herd of Dem and independent cats can finally run the country for the People, by the People and of the People.

Successful businesses will raise their prices whenever they can based on what the market will bear, where they can sustain losses, tax environments, and so on. They have departments full of people looking for price-increase opportunities and market share threats. A tariff doesn't mean automatic price increases all down the line - market share, you know. Sudden cost increases will be mostly absorbed until the price increase - market share balance is figured out. In the long run, yes, the cost is borne by the consumer, just like any other tax.When Trump tariffs China he's sending a message that he intends to disrupt their economy. "China" doesn't pay anything. All of the myriad producers, importers, exporters, logistical players, wholesalers, retailers, etc. do. It's superfluous and simplistic to say that China doesn't pay anything. (And I haven't heard the term "Blockhead" since the last time I watced "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - good one!)Loss of jobs due to factories closing in those rural areas and loss all of the support functions that used to be around those factories that used to be dotted across those rural areas. I'm being perfectly consistent. Our trading partners, even the best of them, will take advantage of us if they can. And why not? Let the buyer beware. Simple hardcore business tenet: I f someone is willing to pay an exorbitant price, why stop them? No, this is a myth. Congress can override and undo anything the other two do. This makes the Legislative decidedly superior. Executive Power and States Rights
Congress ceded power to the Executive and things are now out of control. Congress needs to take it back. I am 100% in support of the 10th Amendment spirit and intent. I don't want Trump or any other Executive interfering with State's Rights, but things have gotten so out of hand that it's somehow legal for the Executive to impose his will in telling states how to run their high school sports programs. Back to the Main Topic
Trump has specific objectives (below) and specific actions defined to meet these objectives:

• The USA is financially bankrupt and over-regulated. Getting rid of financial waste/corruption and counter-productive bureaucracy is imperative.
• China has its sight set on becoming the world's clear hegemon. This cannot be allowed, this would be bad for the USA (and most of the rest of the world).
• Porous borders and the presence of illegal immigrants is a problem, this is a sentiment shared across the USA demographic (as evidenced in the 2024 election). The problem needs to be corrected.
• America spends more than any other advanced nation on "health care". It's easy to find studies that say we are the sickest. We are obese, our children are obese, we add poisons to our food. We have sickness care, not health care. We need to focus on getting the USA healthier, rather than accommodating/alleviating/enabling our unhealthy lifestyle.

If these objectives are the wrong priorities, then what are the right priorities? If the objectives are good but the methods are bad, then what are the right methods?Trump's detractors offer no specific alternatives, just various reconstitutions of "RESISTANCE!".Protestation is not a plan.

This is a good illustration of our dysfunctional national dialogue. I have never agreed 100% with the guy I've voted for, and never 100% against his opponent. I can support some of my guy's things, and oppose others. Not supporting a candidate because of the 5% you disagree with is almost always self-defeating. Of course they aren't. Maybe out of self-preservation or maybe because they agree with him, but certainly because they will blame him if anything goes wrong. This is the cowardice angle of ceding power to the Executive. And the Democrats won't talk seriously about curbing Executive power becuase they're making plans for the next time they have it. This is the dysfunction perpetuation angle. It can be the honest-discussion - thoughtful-compromise way.

Yes.
The tariff situation is a little unsettling, and I have some concerns about our national willingness to embrace the re-shoring of certain competencies, but otherwise so far so good.

If Trump truly had a wealth of relevant experience in international trade then it would be reflected in the breadth and depth of his knowledge. He instead exhibits beliefs that reveal a high degree of ignorance:

• He believes that trade deficits make a country weaker and mean it is being taking advantage of by its trading partners. The truth is that while trade deficits can happen for a variety of reasons, most often it's because the country running a trade deficit is more wealthy and can afford to buy more goods from many other countries than they can afford to buy from them.
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• He believes that when we levy a tariff on a country that that country pays the tariff (the opposite is true, of course), thereby lowering our trade deficit and (since it's a tax that flows into federal government coffers) lowering the national debt at the same times. This misunderstanding of tariffs is why he calls them "a wonderful thing."

For a real world example, look at how Brexit and the accompanying disconnection from the EU trading bloc has made Britain poorer.Trump's business experience is irrelevant. He learns nothing about international trade when one of his companies buys something from a foreign country, just as you learn nothing about international trade when you buy a shirt made in Vietnam.--Percy

Based on what?

That's the website where the have posted many lies about what they have done.DOGE Secretly Changes Its Website After Being Caught in Huge Lies | The New Republic

The left has always been against regressive taxes like tariffs. In fact, the fact that tariffs place more of a tax burden on low and middle income families is the reason the left (i.e. FDR) got rid of tariffs and replaced them with a progressive income tax that put more of the tax burden on the rich.What Republicans are doing now is giving the rich a massive tax break and increasing taxes on the middle and poor.

I find it both surprising and unsurprising that Trump supporters will rail against the last administration for inflation and then praise Trump for embracing inflationary policies.

PaulK already caught up with this in Message 750, but it doesn't hurt to repeat it. Trump had to reverse direction on the China tariffs related to smartphones, computers and similar technologies. Imposing the tariffs and then reversing them are things that actually happened, not opinions.AbE: Here's a WSJ opinion piece on the exceptions: Trump’s Exceptional Tariff Weekend. First it relates the facts about the exceptions, then it addresses comments by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and by Trump by speculating on what they might mean.--Percy

Correct Taq.MAGAs sycophantic embrace of the repeating on-again- and off-again tariff policy is a clear tell. They are okay with needless catastrophic economic disruption.We can thus conclude, . . . to MAGAs, inflation under Biden was never a real concern. The outrage at the increased price of eggs was feigned and used as a cover . . .The true reason for MAGAs voting for the current president is simply because they want racist/misogynist policies, cruelty to support their victimhood, and (especially for k.rose) the raping.Any discussion with MAGAs is just distracting projectile vomiting, . . . special pleading for you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears . . .

Well, this is interesting, for two reasons.First, I'm not on the left. I'm a fiscal conservative and and a social liberal. Most people on both the left and right (except those gaslighted by Trump) understand who actually pays the tariffs.And that's all your post says about tariffs. After that you seem to lose focus and drift off into complaints about Biden and TV news.--Percy

Of course businesses and countries will try to deal with the new tariffs as best they can in both the short and long terms, but as you acknowledge, the cost is borne by consumers, and the tariffs that Trump wants are far too high for countries and businesses to do much in the way of compensating in a manner that would maintain current trade levels.Why is Trump flip-flopping on tariffs? One reason is that he likes to keep attention focused on himself, and another is that he's getting a lot of feedback from everyone he can't fire or primary that his tariffs are very bad for the economy, for example from the bond market and from some tech companies.--Percy

The WSJ is a useful news source in the times we are in, and after reading your link, I poked around and found one of my own. The Lessons of Trump’s Tariff Exemptions It’s good to be Apple’s Tim Cook but not to be a small manufacturer that can’t afford a K Street lobbyist.
This opinion piece mentioned several key points to consider moving forward.

Tariffs are advertised in the name of helping American workers, but what do you know? They turn out to favor the powerful and politically connected. That’s the main message of President Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones and assorted electronic goods from his most onerous tariffs.

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The whole backpedaling issue is showing that this current administration is likely to plunge us into something worse than a recession.

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Ray Dalio said as much in a conversation on Yahoo Finance.

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Ray Dalio warns the current chaos is much bigger than tariffs — claims the era of US dominance is over

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Dalio, who as many of you recall I mentioned in Message 507 was quoted as saying:

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A fresh wave of tariffs from President Donald Trump — despite a temporary pause on many — has unleashed chaos across global markets, reigniting trade tensions and rattling investors. But billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio says the real storm is still to come.

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On April 7, in a lengthy social media post, Dalio argued that the recent tariff drama is merely a symptom of deeper, structural problems.

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“We are seeing a classic breakdown of the major monetary, political, and geopolitical orders,” he wrote.

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China will ascend, and the US will descend.

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When both religious and non-religious people reach the same conclusions then you know religion isn't the reason.--Percy
God alone is God *but* God is not alone~Ellis Potter
We see Monsters where Science shows us Windmills.~Phat, remixed

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Critics would of course say that "God" is a product of human imagination...but then again God may well declare that all of creation is a product of His imagination! It is all in the perspective of the observer.~Phat

Is that what you voted for? How about your friends?You realise we're only a few weeks into this four year term? Imagine the damage still to come.