The Trump Presidency: Part 19

[Regnad Kcin]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

Crazy Nancy Pelosi should spend more time in her her decaying city and less time on the Impeachment Hoax!

Originally Posted by alfaniner

Well, we know The PDJT can't be bothered to read. We sure as hell can't expect him to proofread.

Hur hur.

[plague311]

Originally Posted by BobTheCoward

Like that Starbucks dude's plan to point to a chair representing Americans. I can't even remember his name now. Weird year.

We had an old actor talk to a chair for a significant period of time in 2016.

[Tero]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

Any answers Nancy?

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Wow Crazy Nancy, what’s going on? This is big stuff! https://twitter.com/text88022/status...70523970850816

False.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pelosi-jr-ukraine/

[a_unique_person]

Originally Posted by Tero

False.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pelosi-jr-ukraine/

People are saying . So it must be true.

[tyr_13]

Originally Posted by SezMe

33 pages. Can you supply the key points.

Oh, sorry.

The abstract and conclusions (pg20) are both rather short and worth a read.

The protective advantages of the tariffs for US manufacturers nowhere near matched the jobs lost to other US manufacturers because of increased material costs, loss of markets, retaliatory tariffs, etc. This is even WITHOUT considering the loss of investment (which uncertainty has caused).

Costs were mostly passed on to US consumers. Output, increasing which was the state goal, has not increased.

Quote:

We find that the 2018 tariffs are associated with relative reductions in manufacturing employment and relative increases in producer prices. For manufacturing employment, a small boost from the import protection effect of tariffs is more than offset by larger drags from the effects of rising input costs and retaliatory tariffs. For producer prices, the effect of tariffs is mediated solely through rising input costs.

[a_unique_person]

Originally Posted by tyr_13

Oh, sorry.



The abstract and conclusions (pg20) are both rather short and worth a read.



The protective advantages of the tariffs for US manufacturers nowhere near matched the jobs lost to other US manufacturers because of increased material costs, loss of markets, retaliatory tariffs, etc. This is even WITHOUT considering the loss of investment (which uncertainty has caused).



Costs were mostly passed on to US consumers. Output, increasing which was the state goal, has not increased.

It's effectively raising taxes for all Americans while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.

[tyr_13]

Originally Posted by a_unique_person

It's effectively raising taxes for all Americans while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.

It's actually even worse than that. It has given more business to Rusall (Russian oligarch run aluminum company). It cuts higher level manufacturing in the US out of some supply chains and who is there to pick it up?

China 2025 is China's strategy to move up the value chain for manufacturing. That is to say, they want to start producing more finished high-value things that they used to sell components for.

So at the same time higher value manufacturing companies in the US are taking a hit and becoming less competitive in a FAILED attempt to bolster raw-material manufacturing, China is trying to step into that exact role. And subsidizing infrastructure improvements to make sales to other countries easier (and literally put these poorer raw-material producing nations in debt to China).

See where this is going? The US seemingly doing it's best to remove the last pillar of it's domination, brain power, will also not help. I hope that the US turns things around and Europe steps up some, because China going from stealing tech to being the native innovator would be horrible for the world.

[Blue Mountain]

Originally Posted by Aridas

Ugh.

Trump and the Stock Market Are the Winners in the Fed’s Repo Loan Binge; Here’s the Losers

Really short version? Nearly all American taxpayers.

Quote:

An unprecedented spike to 10 percent in the repo market is a harbinger that one or more of the borrowers in this market is in trouble and lenders don’t want the exposure so they are backing away from lending. This is how free markets are supposed to work. They are supposed to be allowed to send pivotal warning signs from time to time through an efficient pricing mechanism.

But instead of allowing the free market and efficient pricing components to function, the Fed cut this short and drew a dark curtain around this part of the market by flooding cheap, electronically-created money to Wall Street’s trading houses.

On December 12, the New York Fed upped the ante. It announced that over the next month it would shower the trading houses (primary dealers) on Wall Street with a cumulative total of $2.93 trillion in short-term loans.

Now Wall Street has made it clear what the cheap money is being used for. It’s not being loaned out to help the general economy – it’s being used to push the stock market to record highs each day.

*twitch*

Quote:

U.S. taxpayers are also the big losers. The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is ballooning again as a result of these repo loans and is now back over $4 trillion. If its balance sheet is this big now, what’s going to happen if Wall Street blows itself up again and the Fed has to intervene as a legitimate lender of last resort. Are we looking at an unthinkable $8 trillion balance sheet at the Fed? U.S. taxpayers are ultimately on the hook for any losses at their central bank.

U.S. investors and U.S. citizens are also the big losers. A euphoric stock market undermines the case in Congress for making the critically-needed reforms of Wall Street’s mega banks before they blow themselves up again with derivatives.

And, finally, the next generation and their children are the ultimate biggest losers of all. By funneling cheap loans to Wall Street’s trading houses instead of using its bully pulpit to demand reforms at the casino-like mega banks, the Federal Reserve is aiding and abetting and guaranteeing that the next market crash will be worse than it needs to be. That crash will result in more fiscal spending to shore up the economy, ballooning the national debt exponentially. This will mean that our children and their children will experience a blighted standard of living as more and more of Federal tax revenues are diverted to service the debt load instead of going to healthcare, education, and rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

None of this seems to have been properly deliberated at the Fed. Based on its minutes, its main concern appears to be that the Wall Street banks borrowing from it might end up being “stigmatized.” The insular Fed needs a hard reminder from Congress as to whose interests it is supposed to serve.

This looks "off" to me. My limited understanding is the Federal Reserve is there for the banks and not for Wall Street, so I'm having trouble understanding why this article is saying the Fed is pouring huge amounts of money into the stock market to prop it up.

Overall, the site from which the report stems also seems a bit "off." It's not full-on nutbar conspiracy theory fomenting, but the sidebar picture of the ostrich (labelled "Media") with its head in the sand and multiple references to "Why isn't this in the mainstream press?" raises red flags. Perhaps the reason the issues the site talks about aren't in the mainstream press is because there's actually nothing there.

The "Books" section of the site shows it's very left leaning, to the point that I'm concerned they're falling into the same traps fostered by a lack of critical thinking that many of us here point out is an issue with the right wing.

[Jim_MDP]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

Listen I don't want to brag but if I hadn't mopped up the coffee that I spilled walking into the office this morning there's like a solid... 50... well 30... okay 10 percent chance it would still be there.

"You know, people are saying, I mean I hear it all the time... slip and fall accidents are the second leading cause of death in America. I probably saved two, six, no fifteen lives by mopping up that spill. All the do nothing dems just let it sit there. Just another reason I'm the greatest and most respected president in history."

[Norman Alexander]

Originally Posted by tyr_13

It's actually even worse than that. It has given more business to Rusall (Russian oligarch run aluminum company). It cuts higher level manufacturing in the US out of some supply chains and who is there to pick it up?

China 2025 is China's strategy to move up the value chain for manufacturing. That is to say, they want to start producing more finished high-value things that they used to sell components for.

So at the same time higher value manufacturing companies in the US are taking a hit and becoming less competitive in a FAILED attempt to bolster raw-material manufacturing, China is trying to step into that exact role. And subsidizing infrastructure improvements to make sales to other countries easier (and literally put these poorer raw-material producing nations in debt to China).

See where this is going? The US seemingly doing it's best to remove the last pillar of it's domination, brain power, will also not help. I hope that the US turns things around and Europe steps up some, because China going from stealing tech to being the native innovator would be horrible for the world.

China doesn't need to steal tech much any more. The big US tech companies were more than willing to sell it to them for the last couple of decades - sales are good for business, don't you know!

And now China is starting to take the initiative in some tech areas. The USA is being deprived of tech wizards from within due to ongoing reductions in investment in education courtesy of De Vos. The scientific community is getting older and thinning out. The brain is not just draining overseas, what remains is getting decrepit and shrinking. And Trump could not care less about that because it doesn't affect him personally.

[Segnosaur]

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

China doesn't need to steal tech much any more. The big US tech companies were more than willing to sell it to them for the last couple of decades - sales are good for business, don't you know!



And now China is starting to take the initiative in some tech areas. The USA is being deprived of tech wizards from within due to ongoing reductions in investment in education courtesy of De Vos. The scientific community is getting older and thinning out. The brain is not just draining overseas, what remains is getting decrepit and shrinking. And Trump could not care less about that because it doesn't affect him personally.

Adding to the problem of the failure of the Trump administration to invest in education is their anti-immigration policies (which affects the supply of science/technical workers.

Sent from my LM-X320 using Tapatalk

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Blue Mountain

This looks "off" to me. My limited understanding is the Federal Reserve is there for the banks and not for Wall Street, so I'm having trouble understanding why this article is saying the Fed is pouring huge amounts of money into the stock market to prop it up.

It's not saying that. It's saying that the Fed is pouring huge amounts of money into a very few big banks and artificially altering the conditions on the field to make them look as if they're still relatively healthy. One of ways that that money has been used, then, is to artificially prop up the stock market values as part of the efforts to prevent said banks from being "stigmatized" for engaging in a bunch of high-risk endeavors that, well, seem fairly likely to have gone badly. Again. Leading to the trillions of dollars in loans on top of the billions that were already happening.

Originally Posted by Blue Mountain

Overall, the site from which the report stems also seems a bit "off." It's not full-on nutbar conspiracy theory fomenting, but the sidebar picture of the ostrich (labelled "Media") with its head in the sand and multiple references to "Why isn't this in the mainstream press?" raises red flags. Perhaps the reason the issues the site talks about aren't in the mainstream press is because there's actually nothing there.

It also has "Fed Loans to Wall Street" in that picture, making it pretty clear that it's about this specific issue, which, going by a look at several of the other articles on that site, they (and several congresspeople and senators) are concerned about notable similarities between this and the financial meltdown about a decade ago. Still, I do agree that it's well worth being wary, as a general rule. Of course, there could also be an obvious concern in play when it comes to the MSM. Causing a panic that more directly led to a financial meltdown would be a heavy burden to bear (especially if the owners of the outlet were affected), however truthful and accurate the concerning things reported might be.

Originally Posted by Blue Mountain

The "Books" section of the site shows it's very left leaning, to the point that I'm concerned they're falling into the same traps fostered by a lack of critical thinking that many of us here point out is an issue with the right wing.

It's possible. Still, the $2.93 trillion in loans is not made up, by the look of it, and is quite the jump from before. Going further, it should probably be even more concerning in light of the fact that the big banks made out like bandits in the Republican Tax Cut.

[Roger Ramjets]

Originally Posted by tyr_13

China 2025 is China's strategy to move up the value chain for manufacturing....

See where this is going? The US seemingly doing it's best to remove the last pillar of it's domination, brain power, will also not help.

It won't halt the decline of our empire, but that was inevitable anyway, China or no China.

Quote:

I hope that the US turns things around and Europe steps up some, because China going from stealing tech to being the native innovator would be horrible for the world.

To late! they already are. And I for one welcome our new Oriental overlords.

The sad thing is, China will probably save the World - while we deny that Global Warming even exists.

[Darat]

Originally Posted by a_unique_person

People are saying . So it must be true.

I've heard people say, but who knows it's out there

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

He is Fake News, will always be Fredo to us. I should release some of his dishonest interviews? Coupled with bad ratings, he’d be out!

Breitbart News
@BreitbartNews
Drum roll, please... The Year of Fredo: Chris Cuomo’s 7 Embarrassing 2019 Moments
CNN's Chris Cuomo experienced an eventful year in terms of political gaffes, public meltdowns, and awkward comparisons.
breitbart.com

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

Our prayers are with the families of the victims and the congregation of yesterday’s church attack. It was over in 6 seconds thanks to the brave parishioners who acted to protect 242 fellow worshippers. Lives were saved by these heroes, and Texas laws allowing them to carry arms!

The Democrats will do anything to avoid a trial in the Senate in order to protect Sleepy Joe Biden, and expose the millions and millions of dollars that “Where’s” Hunter, & possibly Joe, were paid by companies and countries for doing NOTHING. Joe wants no part of this mess!

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!

Armed congregants quickly stopped a crazed church shooter in Texas. If it were not for the fact that there were people inside of the church that were both armed, and highly proficient in using their weapon, the end result would have been catastrophic. A big THANK YOU to them!

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

President Putin of Russia called to thank me and the U.S. for informing them of a planned terrorist attack in the very beautiful city of Saint Petersburg. They were able to quickly apprehend the suspects, with many lives being saved. Great & important coordination!

I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15. The ceremony will take place at the White House. High level representatives of China will be present. At a later date I will be going to Beijing where talks will begin on Phase Two!

[JoeMorgue]

It's like he has multiple Tweet windows open at once and forgets which topic he is tweeting about.

[Safe-Keeper]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

It's like he has multiple Tweet windows open at once and forgets which topic he is tweeting about.

I don't know if he even needs to do that. His brains seems to be slipping further towards dementia by the month. His train of consciousness may have brought him from one topic to the next in the course of that one paragraph change.

Thinking about it, it's no different from how he slips from topic to topic in his public speeches, like someone wiki-walking.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

To those many millions of people in Iraq who want freedom and who don’t want to be dominated and controlled by Iran, this is your time!

[Craig4]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

To those many millions of people in Iraq who want freedom and who don’t want to be dominated and controlled by Iran, this is your time!

Why does the stupid ****** think so many of them joined ISIS?

[The Man]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

Our prayers are with the families of the victims and the congregation of yesterday’s church attack. It was over in 6 seconds thanks to the brave parishioners who acted to protect 242 fellow worshippers. Lives were saved by these heroes, and Texas laws allowing them to carry arms!

...

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

...

Armed congregants quickly stopped a crazed church shooter in Texas. If it were not for the fact that there were people inside of the church that were both armed, and highly proficient in using their weapon, the end result would have been catastrophic. A big THANK YOU to them!

Oh, if only there was a word or phrase for "Armed congregants" "highly proficient in using their weapon" who volunteer to specifically be there, armed and ready to act to protect other parishioners.


https://people.com/crime/security-gu...hurch-service/



And what's even sadder than trump's simple or deliberate ignorance of why those "Armed congregants" were there, armed and ready to respond in the first place, is the fact that the church felt it needed armed security guards at all and was correct.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

Very good meeting on the Middle East, the Military, and Trade. Heading back to The Southern White House (Mar-a-Lago!).
Updates throughout the day.

Read the Transcripts!

[Delphic Oracle]

Originally Posted by The Man

Oh, if only there was a word or phrase for "Armed congregants" "highly proficient in using their weapon" who volunteer to specifically be there, armed and ready to act to protect other parishioners.


https://people.com/crime/security-gu...hurch-service/



And what's even sadder than trump's simple or deliberate ignorance of why those "Armed congregants" were there, armed and ready to respond in the first place, is the fact that the church felt it needed armed security guards at all and was correct.

Even for those "see an armed good guy did stop it" moments that occasionally occur, the problem with playing it up (especially the part that leans towards embracing the idea of joe rando with a CCW) is that only ends with a future headline about a confused 8-way shooting with dozens of casualties.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

California and New York must do something about their TREMENDOUS Homeless problems. They are setting records! If their Governors can’t handle the situation, which they should be able to do very easily, they must call and “politely” ask for help. Would be so easy with competence!

The government already owns a nice plot of land up in Manzanar, complete with buildings. Perfect spot with proven history. A simple executive order would open it right up. Combine it with workfare and make the lazy bums sweep it out and put on a fresh coat of paint.

[Skeptic Ginger]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

California and New York must do something about their TREMENDOUS Homeless problems. They are setting records! If their Governors can’t handle the situation, which they should be able to do very easily, they must call and “politely” ask for help. Would be so easy with competence!

Just like Mexico will pay for the wall, coal jobs are coming back, China will buy billions in agriculture, he has all the best people and Jared is going to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem .... more delusions of grandeur.

[Fast Eddie B]

Originally Posted by Delphic Oracle

Even for those "see an armed good guy did stop it" moments that occasionally occur, the problem with playing it up (especially the part that leans towards embracing the idea of joe rando with a CCW) is that only ends with a future headline about a confused 8-way shooting with dozens of casualties.

There’s a name for that: Friendly Fire.

It sometimes happens with well-trained military troops. It sometimes happens with well-trained police officers. And no doubt it will sometimes happen with armed civilians, well-trained or otherwise.

And yet it seems like the alternative is to allow a shooter to just methodically execute as many as he can. God forbid I ever find myself in such a situation unarmed, I certainly hope another armed civilian will give their best shot at stopping the carnage. But if I am armed, I’ll do my very best not to screw the pooch and injure or kill an innocent bystander.

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie B

There’s a name for that: Friendly Fire.

It sometimes happens with well-trained military troops. It sometimes happens with well-trained police officers. And no doubt it will sometimes happen with armed civilians, well-trained or otherwise.

And yet it seems like the alternative is to allow a shooter to just methodically execute as many as he can. God forbid I ever find myself in such a situation unarmed, I certainly hope another armed civilian will give their best shot at stopping the carnage. But if I am armed, I’ll do my very best not to screw the pooch and injure or kill an innocent bystander.

Mmm. One of the main things that I pointedly support when it comes to gun reform is notably increasing civilian training, including on appropriate actions in an emergency like that, before allowing civilians to carry arms in public. Well-trained versus untrained does tend to make a significant difference, I think.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

Remember when Pelosi was screaming that President Trump is a danger to our nation and we must move quickly. They didn’t get one Republican House vote, and lost 3 Dems. They produced no case so now she doesn’t want to go to the Senate. She’s all lies. Most overrated person I know!

[JoeMorgue]

"President Donald Trump signed a bill on Monday that increases fines on criminal robocall violations and cracks down on companies making the calls, as part of a federal push against telephone scammers."

Don't know how much of a difference this will make, but any bit helps. As it stands now a phone line in the traditional sense is essentially unusable.

[Captain_Swoop]

Does anyone still use a landline?

[TragicMonkey]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Does anyone still use a landline?

Old people.

[Captain_Swoop]

Trump Tweets

“This guy (Peter Strzok) was organizing a coup to undo the 2016 election.” Rachel Campos-Duffy I @FoxNews
And he wasn’t the only one in that Administration. The greatest Witch Hunt in American history!

[Segnosaur]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Trump Tweets

“This guy (Peter Strzok) was organizing a coup to undo the 2016 election.” Rachel Campos-Duffy I @FoxNews

This is the same Campos who:
- Praised a republican candidate for assaulting a reporter
- Claimed that the separation of families at the border wasn't really that bad, since the conditions that the children were kept in were better than some places that black people grew up in.

[Ladewig]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

"President Donald Trump signed a bill on Monday that increases fines on criminal robocall violations and cracks down on companies making the calls, as part of a federal push against telephone scammers."

Don't know how much of a difference this will make, but any bit helps. As it stands now a phone line in the traditional sense is essentially unusable.

It’s not just land lines, I average 15-20 robocalls each week on my cellular phone.

[Segnosaur]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

Does anyone still use a landline?

I still have one (although I use my cell phone for most conversations.)

I keep my land line basically due to paranoia: Should I lose my cell I do not want to be completely without a way to call someone.

[The Greater Fool]

We still have a land-line as part of our internet/cable package. It would cost more to not have it. I think our provider blocks a lot of calls as we only get perhaps one a week at worst.

For our cell phones, we used to live in Las Vegas, so that's where the area code of our cells are. We have no contact with anyone in Las Vegas, so any calls from Las Vegas are robo/scam calls, easily identified and ignored. I recommend it.

[JoeMorgue]

Originally Posted by The Greater Fool

We still have a land-line as part of our internet/cable package. It would cost more to not have it. I think our provider blocks a lot of calls as we only get perhaps one a week at worst.

Funny story. About a decade or so back when the big internet/cable/phone bundles were at their peak I was in the same scenario, it was actually cheaper to get a phone/cable/internet then just cable/internet.

But I never actually bothered to buy a landline phone. There was an old regular POTS Line phonejack in the kitchen of my apartment but I never used. Hell I could even have told you what my phone number was without looking at my bill.

But this thing had this feature where called ID would show up on your TV screen for.. some reason. So I had this weird scenario where I had a home phone line, but no home phone, but would still at least once or twice a night have "CALL FROM NUMBER SO AND SO" appear on my TV Screen.

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

"President Donald Trump signed a bill on Monday that increases fines on criminal robocall violations and cracks down on companies making the calls, as part of a federal push against telephone scammers."

Don't know how much of a difference this will make, but any bit helps. As it stands now a phone line in the traditional sense is essentially unusable.

Mmm. When I looked it up, it received near unaminous bipartisan support.