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Trump's Second Term

As of the close of the day on April 27, my positive/negative score on the Trump administration stands at -555.

27 April 2025
-1: Trump mistakenly says Suez Canal would not exist without the United States [176]
-1: US imports from China come to a halt [177]
-1: Trump brazenly suggests he’ll be able to cut all income tax because tariff revenues will cover them [178]

References:
176. Trump: “American Ships, both Military and Commercial, should be allowed to travel, free of charge, through the Panama and Suez Canals! Those Canals would not exist without the United States of America. I’ve asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio to immediately take care of, and memorialize, this situation!”

177. Lizzy Tish on BlueSky: “Not a single international cargo ship at the Port of Seattle. The port is dead. The last ship from China will dock at a West coast port on the 29th, and the last Chinese ship will dock on the East coast around May 10th. After that, there will be no more shipments arriving from China. We’re screwed.”

178. Trump: “It’s possible we’ll do a complete tax cut because I think the tariffs will be enough to cut all of the income tax.” (Individual income tax was 49%, or $2.4 trillion, in federal revenue for 2024)


26 April 2025
+1: Headline: Trump administration reverses controversial termination of student visas (USA Today)
-1: Headline: US to miss out on billions as Trump’s policies deter overseas tourists (The Guardian)
-1: Headline: Key commodity exports plunge as Trump’s trade war bites (Axios)
-1: Headline: Trump Promised Lower Food Prices On Day 1; 99 Days Later Has Delivered The Opposite (Yahoo)
-1: Headline: Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship (pen.org, from March 21)


25 April 2025
-2: Headline: Two-year-old US citizen appears to have been deported ‘with no meaningful process’ (Reuters)
-1: Headline: Wisconsin judge arrested and charged in federal court for allegedly obstructing immigration agents (CNN)
-1: JD Vance complains about judges ruling against the administration’s authoritarian rampage [171]
-1: Attorney-General Bondi declares war on the courts [172]
-1: Headline: Trump Claims Americans Won’t Accept Taxing Millionaires, Despite Public Support (Daily Boulder) [173]
-1: Headline: Trump takes executive action targeting ActBlue, the main Democratic fundraising platform [NBC]
-1: Headline: Voters See Trump’s Use of Power as Overreaching, Times/Siena Poll Finds (New York Times) [174]
-1: Headline: Trump Fires Top Official Over Loose Ties to “Anonymous” Author (New Republic) [175]
-1: Headline: Twelve states sue the Trump administration over ‘tax hikes’ through tariffs (CNN Business)

References:
171. Vance: “We’re seeing a consistent pattern.
“1) Biden administration does something the American people elected Donald Trump to undo.
“2) A lawless district court judge substitutes his or her policy preferences for the will of the People.
“This is not consistent with the Constitution.”

172. Bondi: “What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me ... they are deranged ... we are sending a very strong message today ... we will come after you and we will prosecute you. We will find you.”

173. Daily Boulder: “In a stunning display of detachment from public sentiment, President Trump recently claimed that taxing millionaires would not be “acceptable to the public.” This, despite the fact that polls consistently show overwhelming support for higher taxes on the wealthy.”

174. NYT: “Percent of voters who said the following words described Donald Trump’s second term in office well: ‘Chaotic:’ 64%; ‘Scary:’ 59%; ‘Exciting’: 42% ... Voters do not view him as understanding the problems in their daily lives and have soured on his leadership as he approaches his 100th day in office.”

175: New Republic: “It’s unclear what merited Bogden’s ousting, and there are few ties connecting the two men other than a Facebook photo of Bogden at Taylor’s wedding in 2019, one year before Taylor had revealed he wrote the op-ed.”
 
Blue Mountain said:
This is a total non-starter.
Ergo, Trump would need to set a blanket tariff rate of almost 72% in order to replace lost income tax revenue with tariffs.
Trump believes the exporting countries pay the tariffs, so it would be those countries filling the US coffers. He's wrong, of course. Effectively he would be replacing income tax with a sales tax. And unlike income tax, which is progressive, the increased costs of goods would be heaviest on the poor and lower middle classes.

As always, Trump fails at simple arithmetic.
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The highlighted would be considered a benefit for many in the GOP
 
jimbob said:
The highlighted would be considered a benefit for many in the GOP
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Yes, it would not least because, as has been repeatedly pointed out, it would represent a massive shift of taxation burden from the rich to the poor(er).

The true average level of tariff would likely have to be substantially higher than 72% because at this level people may switch to domestically supplied goods, evade tariffs (both legally and illegally) and demand would be suppressed for items with an elastic demand curve.

It would also be interesting to see whether it's more or less cost effective to collect tariffs as opposed to income tax.
 
The Don said:
Yes, it would not least because, as has been repeatedly pointed out, it would represent a massive shift of taxation burden from the rich to the poor(er).

The true average level of tariff would likely have to be substantially higher than 72% because at this level people may switch to domestically supplied goods, evade tariffs (both legally and illegally) and demand would be suppressed for items with an elastic demand curve.

It would also be interesting to see whether it's more or less cost effective to collect tariffs as opposed to income tax.
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And they don't have to abolish all income taxes, just reduce higher rates, increase loopholes exceptions for things like investment income, capital gains, property rental etc. If you're paying tax it's your own fault for not being rich enough not to.
 
Reporter: “Trump's strategy has been to announce these tariffs, then dial some back, pause them, make exceptions. Explain why you see this as a good negotiating strategy?"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: "It's called strategic uncertainty.”
 
Ugh. So much gaslight. Don't worry voters, the plan has a name: It's called "strategic uncertainty".

We don't know by whom it's called "strategic uncertainty" but never mind that, just cling to the idea that it's got a tacticool name which I totally didn't just make up and that should give you the confidence to imagine that very smart people devised it and they really do have a plan.
 
Andy_Ross said:
Reporter: “Trump's strategy has been to announce these tariffs, then dial some back, pause them, make exceptions. Explain why you see this as a good negotiating strategy?"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: "It's called strategic uncertainty.”
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Because everyone knows that there's nothing business & the markets like more than uncertainty...
 
MAGA voters discover: the disabled are ripping me off! No more DEI, no more taxes going to support freeloaders

... But when her family moved to Minnesota for her father's job, Tharpe's new school in the Twin Cities refused to accommodate her late-day schedule. As a result, her school-time hours were reduced to 65% of what her peers received.

...the Osseo Area School System, claiming that it failed to live up to the requirements specified under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act
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Jack by the hedge said:
Ugh. So much gaslight. Don't worry voters, the plan has a name: It's called "strategic uncertainty".

We don't know by whom it's called "strategic uncertainty" but never mind that, just cling to the idea that it's got a tacticool name which I totally didn't just make up and that should give you the confidence to imagine that very smart people devised it and they really do have a plan.
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By the likes of Bessent, because they think the phrase may give them a get out clause when the lynch mobs come knocking.
 
Norman Alexander said:
They are propping him up because there is nobody worse. And he makes a great distraction.
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There was a video recently of Trump signing an Executive Order. It had something to do with colleges, and the presenter was attempting to explain to Trump what was in the order, to very little effect.

I never believed in the “Deep State”, but in this case there’s certainly someone or some group “behind the curtain” preparing these orders with little or no feedback or comprehension by Trump. Which I find very, very scary.
 
Donald's message to Canada on election Day

@realDonald Trump
Donald J. Trump
Good luck to the Great people of Canada.
Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America.
No more artificially drawn line from many years ago. Look how beautiful this land mass would be.
Free access with NO BORDER. ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES.
IT WAS MEANT TO BE! America can no longer subsidize Canada with the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year that we have been spending in the past.
It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!
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President Donald Trump has said pollsters that have shown his approval ratings sliding in recent weeks should be investigated for "election fraud."

Trump cited recent polls from The New York Times,ABC News/The Washington Post,and Fox News, which put his approval rating on 42 percent, 39 percent, and 44 percent respectively.

Responding to the polls, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday: "They are negative criminals who apologize to their subscribers and readers after I win elections big, much bigger than their polls showed I would win, loose a lot of credibility, and then go on cheating and lying for the next cycle, only worse."
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More intimidation from the felon. So it's judges, law firms, brown people, universities, scientists, media, protesters . . . pretty much everyone save certain white folks.
 
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