Cont: The Trump Presidency VIII

Status
Not open for further replies.
Imagine if Russia did hack just one district's machines and gave ridiculous results like a 100% vote to the Democrat in a historically red district. If the there was a blue wave otherwise it would be chaos with Republicans calling into question every Democratic win.
 
timhau said:
So that's how you win trade wars - by paying through the nose for the effects. See, it wasn't complicated at all!
Click to expand...

So now other countries have to up their tariffs to offset the US ag subsidy that undervalues the market.
 
So is Trump offering to give some of his personal billions to said farmers? Does he believe he controls the budget?

Has someone told him yet he's robbing Peter to pay Paul?
 
Last edited:
Skeptic Ginger said:
So is Trump offering to give some of his personal billions to said farmers? Does he believe he controls the budget?

Has someone told him yet he's robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Click to expand...

Under the terms of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the aid package does not require congressional approval. The program can use up to $30 billion in funding from the Treasury Department to “stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices.”
Click to expand...

(source)​
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
So is Trump offering to give some of his personal billions to said farmers? Does he believe he controls the budget?

Has someone told him yet he's robbing Peter to pay Paul?
Click to expand...

They have to get Congress to pass that bill. Which is really going to be interesting. What Trump is doing is antithetical to free market, anti-government Republican doctrine of the last 70 years.
 
dudalb said:
Again, it depends on what Russia's goals were. I tend toward the "Cause Maximum CHaos to weaken the US " theory. The are not stupid, they know Trump is limited in what the can do to help Putin (and they are under no illusions about the intelligence and competency of Trump) and are just out to weaken the US a much as possible by creating internal divisions.
Click to expand...
Trump is certainly not a smart weapon, but Putin strikes me as something of a bomb-thrower generally. If the status quo doesn't suit you, break it up and hope to engineer a better outcome.


I think Putin's central aim is to discredit liberal democracy and promote his own version of managed democracy. The former being weak and chaotic, the latter strong and stable.
 
Travis said:
Imagine if Russia did hack just one district's machines and gave ridiculous results like a 100% vote to the Democrat in a historically red district. If the there was a blue wave otherwise it would be chaos with Republicans calling into question every Democratic win.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

It doesn't even need to happen - it just needs FoxNews to say it happened. In a district ruled by Sharia law ...
 
CapelDodger said:
Trump is certainly not a smart weapon, but Putin strikes me as something of a bomb-thrower generally. If the status quo doesn't suit you, break it up and hope to engineer a better outcome.


I think Putin's central aim is to discredit liberal democracy and promote his own version of managed democracy. The former being weak and chaotic, the latter strong and stable.
Click to expand...

I think that is more of a means to an end then an end in itself. Putin's ultimate goal is to restore Russia as a major power;Bring back the Soviet Union (under a different name) and have total dominance of Eastern Europe..or maybe Europe as a whole,with Putin as the de facto Czar. This has,IMHO always been a goal of Russian Foreign Policty from the Czars on down.
And this is why some of the posters here who,underneath crocodile tears about the poor people of the US, are having orgasms over the thought of the US collapsing are being short sighted. They assume the EU will move in the vacume thus created,but it might well be Putin. Ijust don't thnk the EU (which is having it's own problems) can get it's crap together in time to stop Putin from moving in.
 
Last edited:
dudalb said:
I think that is more of a means to an end then an end in itself. Putin's ultimate goal is to restore Russia as a major power;Bring back the Soviet Union (under a different name) and have total dominance of Eastern Europe..or maybe Europe as a whole,with Putin as the de facto Czar. This has,IMHO always been a goal of Russian Foreign Policty from the Czars on down.
Click to expand...
(You forget the greatest dream of all : the return of Byzantium to Orthodox Christian rule.)
Putin may hope his dynasty will one day achieve that, but can hardly hope to do it himself. I have more faith in Europe than you do, even with this Brexit nonsense : we've been living with Russia in mind for three hundred years, since Peter the Great's empire reached the Baltic and he immediately relocated the imperial capital there. That was some statement of intent. In the end we've coped, and today's Russia is a rundown minor power way off east, just as we like it.

It could be that Russia's future lies in the east, not the west. With China's Belt and Road scheme, among other things, the geopolitical focus is shifting towards the central Eurasian continent - indeed, shifting back, because that's been the hitorical norm. The Age of Oceans is passing.
 
The program can use up to $30 billion in funding from the Treasury Department...
Click to expand...

In other words, thirty billion dollars of tax money, including my tax money, to help patch up some of the damage from Trump’s bungling. Thanks, Trump! Maybe some of our resident Trump supporters can provide an eye-roll emoji or unrelated two-word answer to justify this move, or just to pwn the libs.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not inalterably opposed to bailouts, even corporate bailouts, in certain situations. This is different; this is to cover up the utterly predictable, and widely predicted, outcome of a an exercise in ego gratification and malicious incompetence.
 
sts60 said:
In other words, thirty billion dollars of tax money, including my tax money, to help patch up some of the damage from Trump’s bungling. Thanks, Trump! Maybe some of our resident Trump supporters can provide an eye-roll emoji or unrelated two-word answer to justify this move, or just to pwn the libs.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not inalterably opposed to bailouts, even corporate bailouts, in certain situations. This is different; this is to cover up the utterly predictable, and widely predicted, outcome of a an exercise in ego gratification and malicious incompetence.
Click to expand...

Just wait until that $30 billion runs out and the government has to start dipping into everything else to keep all the other industries afloat that will also be impacted by Trump's trade war.

This farming aid thing is just the beginning... the US is only a few months into it and already having to dole out the welfare cheques.

This is where Trumpette Cheerleaders™ will start showing their true colours... when they have to start opening their wallets a wee bit wider than they're used to.

Strap in folks, it's going to be a rough ride.
 
So what happens to the crops that farmers allegedly couldn't sell? Or are they being paid *not* to grow crops?
 
Trump Tweets

" The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready - but they won’t!"
 
AnonyMoose said:
Speaking of tariffs....

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/bus...on-to-announce-aid-for-us-farmers-on-tuesday/

Trump to offer U.S. farmers billions to ease trade pain
$12 billion in aid for suffering farmers during Trump's trade war. That welfare bill will skyrocket to much higher altitudes each and every day that his trade war carries on.


I wonder which social safety nets he's going to steal the money from to pay for this farmers' aid ? Because we all know he won't touch his prized military budget, so....



Medicare/Medicaid ?
Food stamps ?
Social security ?
Veterans' disability ?
Subsidized housing ?





Robbing Peter to pay Paul... what could possibly go wrong ?
Click to expand...

A completely wrong statement fron that WAPO article:
Proposing federal subsidies for farmers is likely to place congressional Republicans, who typically resist large-scale government assistance programs, in a difficult position. Some were quick to denounce the proposal.
Click to expand...

The bold is complete baloney. They readily embrace such programs to benefit large corporation, especially defense contractors, the 0.5%, and, of course, farmers. In the last case, it's because they know the vast majority of the money will wind up in the pockets of agribusiness like ADM and Tyson while making them look good to the voters.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom