President Trump

[BDBoop]

I'm not biased but I don't understand the reasons why people can't move on about a reality. I just think, everyone else need to accept it and just help each other improve the country. Let us not waste time with it thus it create more problems than peace and development.

Wouldn't that be lovely? Impossible, really. Given what he has planned. But really - it's a lovely thought.

 

[SezMe]

The solution, if there is one, is to convince the American public to Buy American. Be an economic patriot and only buy products with the "Made in America" logo. I don't see that working but I don't know what else they can do.

You're right that "buy USA" won't work but there are things that can be done. One obvious area is tariffs. We (the USA) could say that pollution is bad no matter where it happens. Thus, we will apply a tariff to your products at a level that matches the economic externalities that your products generate.

The same concept could be applied to other areas such as child labor, or currency manipulation, etc.

One problem is actually putting a price on something like child labor laws but surely we have economists up to the task of coming up with at least a first approximation.

Another problem is that prices would rise. That would be politically unpopular but if we seriously want keep jobs in the USA it's going to cost the consumer no matter what the mechanism is.

Regarding taxation, disallowing companies tax advantages by passing goods through tax havens could be implemented. We could impose significant transaction fees to the movement of money offshore. And so on. Again, it might not be popular but if we want to keep jobs at home, the piper is eventually have to be paid.

 

[thaiboxerken]

I'm not biased but I don't understand the reasons why people can't move on about a reality. I just think, everyone else need to accept it and just help each other improve the country. Let us not waste time with it thus it create more problems than peace and development.

Help Trump improve the country? His plans seem to revolve around improving his wealth and power.

 

[TofuFighter]

I'm not biased but I don't understand the reasons why people can't move on about a reality. I just think, everyone else need to accept it and just help each other improve the country. Let us not waste time with it thus it create more problems than peace and development.

deluge of comments to follow.

Like BDboop says... nice thought, but impossible.
It's reasonable to say that more than half of the country probably find the man and his character utterly reprehensible. If your boat captain or airplane pilot has never driven a boat or plan before, and before take-off you hear him saying things that no captain or pilot should say, it's difficult to just relax and hope the trip will be ok. You can't even really trust in his own sense of self-preservation since he has a personal life-boat or parachute ready to go.

 

[newyorkguy]

You're right that "buy USA" won't work but there are things that can be done. One obvious area is tariffs. We (the USA) could say that pollution is bad no matter where it happens. Thus, we will apply a tariff to your products at a level that matches the economic externalities that your products generate...

The problem with tariffs is, countries retaliate. That's the down side. This is why America has moved away from using tariffs as a weapon and instead turned to trade agreements and cooperation. Another issue is that many of the products manufactured overseas are manufactured for American companies through the use of sub-contractors. In that sense tariffs would hurt our economy too, even if there was no retaliation and even if they didn't mean higher prices and inflation.

A major problem with Trump and his supporters is, they don't seem to understand when most of the manufacturing jobs were lost. [see below, a chart from the Brookings Institute] It was during the Bush Administration, in other words when a Republican was in the White House. The employment has become to come back under Obama.

 

[The Don]

A major problem with Trump and his supporters is, they don't seem to understand when most of the manufacturing jobs were lost. [see below, a chart from the Brookings Institute] It was during the Bush Administration, in other words when a Republican was in the White House. The employment has become to come back under Obama.

There you go using facts again

Don't you understand that the GOP in general and Trump supporters in general are impervious to facts. Their "facts" are

• Clinton was responsible for NAAFTA
• NAAFTA has destroyed manufacturing jobs in the US
• When they're in power the GOP do what they can to mitigate the effects of NAAFTA by reducing taxes for the very rich
• Obama in particular has been destroying manufacturing jobs by the million
• Any statistics that show differently are concocted by the Democratic Party

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump attacks China in Twitter outburst

US President-elect Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets criticising China for its monetary policy and its operations in the South China Sea.

"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency" and "build a massive military complex?" he asked. "I don't think so!"


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-38167022

 

[The Don]

Trump attacks China in Twitter outburst

US President-elect Donald Trump has posted a series of tweets criticising China for its monetary policy and its operations in the South China Sea.

"Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency" and "build a massive military complex?" he asked. "I don't think so!"


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-38167022

...and has been pointed out in another thread - the currency manipulation China has been engaging in has actually been to support the value of their currency not to devalue it

 

[Stacko]

Man appointed to position even he says he's not qualified for.

 

[ponderingturtle]

1000 people who know their job is only safe for a year. Not going to purchase much beyond essentials. And that $7 million has to be made up somewhere. 1000 working class people are not going to incur an additional $7 million in taxes in one year. So a net loss to the state of Indiana. If Trump continues making deals like this, the US is bound to be as successful as his Atlantic City casinos.

Only 700. 300 of those jobs were not in danger.

 

[ponderingturtle]

It also is like shooting a sarter's pistol to other companies that they can get special tax breaks simply by threatening to leave. It's the government picking winners and losers. It creates a patchwork of laws and exceptions. Exactly the kind of thing YOU usually rail against.

If Obama or Clinton had done this, you would be ripping him and you know it.

This works great for professional sports teams in need of a new stadium. Why shouldn't everyone get in on that?

 

[ponderingturtle]

Some of the groups that lobby for getting special interests out of government, reducing their influence, say that during the campaign Trump made the right noises but that's easy. Once elected the special interests and lobbyists come out of the woodwork and exert immense pressure to influence the incoming president. That there is always a battle going on behind-the-scenes. That based on appointments the Trump transition team is making it appears the lobbyists have already won.

So another campaign promise -- drain the swamp (Trump doesn't spout that catch phrase much lately, does he?) -- bites the dust. Fasten your seat belts folks, we're in for a very bumpy ride.

He never said he wasn't draining it into the white house though. He is cutting out a lot of the lobbyist middlemen to. Putting a Goldman Sachs man in charge directly for example.

 

[Tero]

I have a problem with at least part of what Sarah Palin said:


Apparently unbeknownst to Sarah Palin, she's lamenting the 'invisible hand' that orchestrates "a free people’s free enterprise system," but what does she think is behind Carrier's decision to move assembly line jobs to Mexico? It's market forces. A major challenge American manufacturers face is producing products in the U.S. at a competitive price. Labor is only part of it. Also taxes. Probably just as important are utility charges -- power, water -- and other things as well. I'm sure Carrier looked at this carefully and decided they could lower their unit costs by a substantial amount by moving manufacture/assembly to a lower cost area like Mexico.

The solution, if there is one, is to convince the American public to Buy American. Be an economic patriot and only buy products with the "Made in America" logo. I don't see that working but I don't know what else they can do.

Great! Where can I buy a pair of American running shoes? Or a bicycle? Oh I see, there is a line, just to get a classic one speed bike made in Detroit. Next year, they will make a couple thousand more.
Meanwhile, 17 million Asian bikes are sold each year.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Because that wouldn't hurt China just as much?

And trump just cut the breaks while playing chicken.

 

[NoahFence]

The solution, if there is one, is to convince the American public to Buy American. Be an economic patriot and only buy products with the "Made in America" logo. I don't see that working but I don't know what else they can do.

Lay everyone off that won't take a 50% pay cut, and fill the rest of the openings will illegal immigrants.

 

[Andy_Ross]

I remember various ' Buy British' campaigns in the 70s and early 80s.
It didn't work. Unless you were buying very top end 'luxury' goods everything was crap.

 

[The Don]

I remember vsrious ' Buy British' campaigns in tge 70s and early 80s.
It didn't work. Unless you were buying very top rnd 'luxury' goods everything was crap.

Frank Zappa had the "buy American" thing covered

I'm a moron and this is my wife
She's frosting a cake with a paper knife
All what we got here's American made
It's a little bit cheesy but it's nicely displayed
Well, we don't get excited when it crumbles and breaks
We just get on the phone and call up some flakes
They rush on over and wreck it some more
And we are so dumb, they're linin' up at our door

Frank Zappa - Flakes

 

[Spindrift]

I'm not biased but I don't understand the reasons why people can't move on about a reality. I just think, everyone else need to accept it and just help each other improve the country. Let us not waste time with it thus it create more problems than peace and development.

You're right, but for the last eight years people could not move beyond the reality that a black man was president.

 

[steve s]

Man appointed to position even he says he's not qualified for.

"You're doin' a heckuva job, Bennie."

 

[Armitage72]

I think Baldwin is hilarious as Trump. If Trump didn't want comedians making fun of him, why the hell did he run for President? Hasn't he figured out yet that ALL politicians are made fun of. Where has he been the last 70 years? It has aways been OK as long as it was somebody else.

"If I got a paper cut, that's a tragedy. If you fell down an open manhole and died, that's comedy."

Everything stops being funny if it's directed at you and you have a sufficiently fragile ego. See, for example, Isaac Hayes. He was perfectly fine with South Park making fun of everyone and everything on Earth for years, but as soon as they made fun of the cult to which he belonged, the writers were suddenly too mean-spirited for him to remain on the show. Granted, that was likely a case of the Church of Scientology ordering him to leave the show, so the fragile ego was on their part.