Won’t we expect to see captains of industry and union executives lined up at the White House, offering to kiss Trump’s ass and pay him for the privilege, in return for tariff relief?
We will see them and not just at the White House. There’s a Mark Jacob post on Bluesky (posted yesterday) that part of the point is to have various industries, countries, et al lined up to ask for favors or exceptions - in return for $. It fits the history, behavior patterns.
The interesting thing will be to see how long the tarrifs remain post Trump. I can't see Trump ever admitting he made a mistake no matter how big the economic catastrophe in the US. Perhaps they will prove politically toxic but I daresay the few who benefit will make lots of noise at the prospect of losing thier unearned protection.
Speaking of dumb muthafuckas: JPMorgan just put out a dire note-to-clients, calling tRump tariffs essentially a game-changer, and forecasts potentially a global recession...OK, now, who heads up JPM? Yes, of course, good ol' Jamie Dimon, who just a few months ago said any fears he had about a second tRump regime have been banished, and Dimon feels that the good times will continue.
Oi, Jamie...Jamie, mate, where the fuck are you? Oi, no comments or interviews?
When one clearly evaluates the effect on "globalization" of all this nonsense you note the those who see this as an end fail to see that it will end worldwide trade only for the U.S.
The rest of the world will continue to be fine operating"globalization minus one."
While it is a rational and even comforting thought to hold that the tRump tariff horror show is just more grifting, where presidents, prime ministers, industry CEOs from across the globe, , all of them will be jockeying for a dinner reservation at Mat-a-Lago to trade a tariff "exemption" for a "contribution" to any of several tRump slush funds on offer, and after bidness is concluded, we return to the status quo ante, right?
But yesterday 's announcements seem to go way beyond the usual grifting scale to something completely unprecedented and difficult to roll back...what REALLY is the game-plan here...OR, has the man totally lost control of his impulses, lost what purchase of a failing sanity he once had, and that in fact this is indeed "the Madness of King Donald?"
Editing comment as I clearly hadn’t had enough coffee before:
Will Bunch (Philadelphia Inquirer) posted on Bluesky "March saw the third-highest number of layoffs in U.S. history, and 80% of them were caused by DOGE
This was before the tariffs"
It remains: Staggering, self-destructive ignorance - among other adjectives.
Who else would throw in with him at this point but the most odious collection of ignoramuses? Anyone with a half a brain or a conscience would have been out long ago.
Always curious: why doesn’t Trump ever cite the real culprits, as in the Captains of Industry who decided, many years ago, that they could make more money by transferring their manufacturing operations to places outside of the US where they could pay less in wages to have their widgets and products produced? Blaming other countries for the greedy nature of USA people running our companies and otherwise shutting down the opportunities for American workers makes me sick at heart and mad in my mind.
I say this as the daughter of a tried and true depression era Republican out of the University of Wisconsin Madison who was ranting and railing back in the 1970’s and 1980’s about our country abandoning manufacturing. Also today, if he were still alive, my dad would be gobsmacked that my daughter and her two sons — dual US UK citizens — would be considered trade enemies to our beloved country. To his credit, he gave his all as a USNaval bomb disposal officer stationed at Queen Anne’s Battery, Plymouth England during the run up to DDay and thereafter.
I think Trump's comments about the income tax is relevatory. He likely sees revenue from tariffs as the golden road to replacing the revenue from the income tax, allowing the annihilation of the federal income tax. That's not going to work, obvs, but that's what he wants. I have a strong suspicion that he got the idea of eliminationg the income tax from his father & grandfather, who lived through the period and likely grumbled their way through it.
elm
the dead hand of german fathers seems to be pulling his strings
There's that adage, "if you idiot-proof it, they'll build a better idiot."
Is it possible, shades of COVID conspiracy, that The Self-Improving Idiot was built in a lab?
Won’t we expect to see captains of industry and union executives lined up at the White House, offering to kiss Trump’s ass and pay him for the privilege, in return for tariff relief?
There's also a thread by Chris Murphy on Bluesky discussing that the tariffs aren't about economics at all.
"Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.
https://bsky.app/profile/chrismurphyct.bsky.social/post/3lluxkmx7wc2m
We will see them and not just at the White House. There’s a Mark Jacob post on Bluesky (posted yesterday) that part of the point is to have various industries, countries, et al lined up to ask for favors or exceptions - in return for $. It fits the history, behavior patterns.
Link to Mark Jacob post - the entire thread is worth the time to read.
https://bsky.app/profile/markjacob.bsky.social/post/3llth7tfdwc2f
Global value chains will simply avoid the US. Hard to think of a better economic outcome for the overwhelming majority of humanity.
ROW says NO to tRump/US racketeering, full stop.
I love this headline, every time. Excellent combination of words.
The interesting thing will be to see how long the tarrifs remain post Trump. I can't see Trump ever admitting he made a mistake no matter how big the economic catastrophe in the US. Perhaps they will prove politically toxic but I daresay the few who benefit will make lots of noise at the prospect of losing thier unearned protection.
You can’t fix stupid.
No, but you can terminate stupidity with extreme prejudice, as the CIA would have it.
Speaking of dumb muthafuckas: JPMorgan just put out a dire note-to-clients, calling tRump tariffs essentially a game-changer, and forecasts potentially a global recession...OK, now, who heads up JPM? Yes, of course, good ol' Jamie Dimon, who just a few months ago said any fears he had about a second tRump regime have been banished, and Dimon feels that the good times will continue.
Oi, Jamie...Jamie, mate, where the fuck are you? Oi, no comments or interviews?
Wulp - the “good times” never really stopped for Jamie, did they?
He certainly had no consequences related to any of his earlier decisions and behaviors.
So this is where he ended up, at JPM? Not a complete surprise.
But where the fuck is he? Excellent question.
When one clearly evaluates the effect on "globalization" of all this nonsense you note the those who see this as an end fail to see that it will end worldwide trade only for the U.S.
The rest of the world will continue to be fine operating"globalization minus one."
While it is a rational and even comforting thought to hold that the tRump tariff horror show is just more grifting, where presidents, prime ministers, industry CEOs from across the globe, , all of them will be jockeying for a dinner reservation at Mat-a-Lago to trade a tariff "exemption" for a "contribution" to any of several tRump slush funds on offer, and after bidness is concluded, we return to the status quo ante, right?
But yesterday 's announcements seem to go way beyond the usual grifting scale to something completely unprecedented and difficult to roll back...what REALLY is the game-plan here...OR, has the man totally lost control of his impulses, lost what purchase of a failing sanity he once had, and that in fact this is indeed "the Madness of King Donald?"
Seriously now, where the AF are we?
Truly staggering, and self-destructive
Editing comment as I clearly hadn’t had enough coffee before:
Will Bunch (Philadelphia Inquirer) posted on Bluesky "March saw the third-highest number of layoffs in U.S. history, and 80% of them were caused by DOGE
This was before the tariffs"
It remains: Staggering, self-destructive ignorance - among other adjectives.
perfectly written!
Trump’s statement that foreign countries pay the tariffs is wrong. The importer pays it, who usually passes it on to the consumer.
Who else would throw in with him at this point but the most odious collection of ignoramuses? Anyone with a half a brain or a conscience would have been out long ago.
Always curious: why doesn’t Trump ever cite the real culprits, as in the Captains of Industry who decided, many years ago, that they could make more money by transferring their manufacturing operations to places outside of the US where they could pay less in wages to have their widgets and products produced? Blaming other countries for the greedy nature of USA people running our companies and otherwise shutting down the opportunities for American workers makes me sick at heart and mad in my mind.
I say this as the daughter of a tried and true depression era Republican out of the University of Wisconsin Madison who was ranting and railing back in the 1970’s and 1980’s about our country abandoning manufacturing. Also today, if he were still alive, my dad would be gobsmacked that my daughter and her two sons — dual US UK citizens — would be considered trade enemies to our beloved country. To his credit, he gave his all as a USNaval bomb disposal officer stationed at Queen Anne’s Battery, Plymouth England during the run up to DDay and thereafter.
Amen.
I think Trump's comments about the income tax is relevatory. He likely sees revenue from tariffs as the golden road to replacing the revenue from the income tax, allowing the annihilation of the federal income tax. That's not going to work, obvs, but that's what he wants. I have a strong suspicion that he got the idea of eliminationg the income tax from his father & grandfather, who lived through the period and likely grumbled their way through it.
elm
the dead hand of german fathers seems to be pulling his strings