Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: Trench on May 09, 2025, 08:22:39 AMWe have brought in record tariffs last month and it will help pay debt so our grandchildren will have a better chance at even having a country. We have been ripped off for years. The trade market is being reset and the market will take time to recover and stabilize. You can believe what you will and I will also. Time will tell. Once we get the tax cuts on one beautiful bill the economy should thrive. Also no tax on tips, social security and Overtime will put $ in people's pockets. Unfortunately the fed refuses to cut interest rates where the last administration they did even when they kept printing money and spending without regard for the future.

Again, time will tell

We could make $154 billion if we rehire the IRS agents Trump fired.  We could make billions more raising the tax rates on the billionaires and the 100 Millionaires. 

The idea that middle and low-income Americans should be shouldering the huge tax burden just doesn't make sense to me.

I don't want to hear about promises from Trump.   He promised another golden age and delivered us the dark ages, where only the wealthy are thriving.  Trump is telling Americans that they and their children need to make do with less and to suck it up and pay higher prices.

I have no idea where you got the idea that gas prices are lower.  I just filled up my tank this moring and paid the same rate I paid a year ago.

Quote from: MightyGiants on May 09, 2025, 08:26:58 AMWe could make $154 billion if we rehire the IRS agents Trump fired.  We could make billions more raising the tax rates on the billionaires and the 100 Millionaires. 

The idea that middle and low-income Americans should be shouldering the huge tax burden just doesn't make sense to me.

I don't want to hear about promises from Trump.   He promised another golden age and delivered us the dark ages, where only the wealthy are thriving.  Trump is telling Americans that they and their children need to make do with less and to suck it up and pay higher prices.

I have no idea where you got the idea that gas prices are lower.  I just filled up my tank this moring and paid the same rate I paid a year ago.

My gas prices are lower. The man has been in office for 100 days. Let's revisit this next year and analyze

Quote from: Trench on May 09, 2025, 09:49:12 AMMy gas prices are lower. The man has been in office for 100 days. Let's revisit this next year and analyze

And in that short time, he has cost me 10s of thousands in my investments, I am paying higher prices, and my job (and millions of fellow Americans) is in jeopardy.    If he managed all that in 100 days, I would hate to see what he can do in a year   

D'oh!

https://newrepublic.com/post/195070/donald-trump-tariffs-manufacturers-opening-factories?fbclid=IwY2xjawKLVrtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHp7tXBAo42osgSQQjh5jVYrU2iGnQ4BvWqVr5edvkrHhQK63DR8bhEGgnKmR_aem_m2DWlLhMYB_j-bhRxUi71Q

He's the one who said he'd fix this immediately, didn't he? For that matter, did he happen to mention putting up with pain until manufacturing comes back? I don't remember?

While we are sort of on the subject I find the fact that this administration fast tracks resettling "refugee" white Afrikaans while every other refugee group is on hold a little on the nose.

Wake me up in 2028.

Made in the USA

a very interesting read

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/a-business-owner-tested-if-customers-would-pay-more-for-american-made-the-results-were-sobering/ar-AA1EywcA?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=024093513cb04267b1cf66a1ab31f083&ei=21

Trump laid off hundreds of air traffic controllers.   Now because of a shortage of controllers, Newark airport is having to cancel 100s of flights.   Not good for the economy or the country.   Worse the media never reports the layoffs so there is no accountability.

Quote from: MightyGiants on May 12, 2025, 07:57:55 AMTrump laid off hundreds of air traffic controllers.   Now because of a shortage of controllers, Newark airport is having to cancel 100s of flights.   Not good for the economy or the country.   Worse the media never reports the layoffs so there is no accountability.

Rich,

I agree about the situation at EWR and the fact that air traffic controller layoffs haven't helped, but I don't fully agree with the second half of the last sentence about there being no accountability for layoffs.

As you of course know, plenty of very closely followed data on the state of the US labor market is made available on a monthly and, in the case of jobless claims, weekly basis. While I hear you that isolated examples of clusters of layoffs may not always show up in the national news, if the nation's overall employment situation takes a bad turn (which it may in the near future though it hasn't yet), I am quite certain it will not only be reported but will be a major story, as there is a very realistic chance it could be the trigger for the next recession.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on May 12, 2025, 03:36:35 PMRich,

I agree about the situation at EWR and the fact that air traffic controller layoffs haven't helped, but I don't fully agree with the second half of the last sentence about there being no accountability for layoffs.

As you of course know, plenty of very closely followed data on the state of the US labor market is made available on a monthly and, in the case of jobless claims, weekly basis. While I hear you that isolated examples of clusters of layoffs may not always show up in the national news, if the nation's overall employment situation takes a bad turn (which it may in the near future though it hasn't yet), I am quite certain it will not only be reported but will be a major story, as there is a very realistic chance it could be the trigger for the next recession.

Jeff,

What I am referring to is that the news will report all the problems and delays and acknowledge that it's driven in large part by a shortage of ATCs, but they don't include in the report why there are those shortages.  When the news only reports part of the story, than many people will only know part of the story as the layoff of ATCs got lost among all the thousands of other public servants Trump and Musk's DOGE fired without cause

Remember the ideal that a president was elected to work for all the American people and not just his die-hard supporters?  This is not a good way to run an economy or a country.

QuoteThe White House eased tariffs imposed on China after several staffers were forced to warn President Donald Trump that his penalties would cause his supporters - or "Trump's people," - to suffer economically, according to a report.

While Trump was reluctant to lower tariffs against Beijing too quickly, several White House staffers – including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other aides – warned him the penalties were placing his own supporters in danger, sources told the Washington Post.

That warning prompted marathon negotiations with China this past weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, with the two at-odds countries announcing they would suspend their respective tariffs for 90 days as negotiations continued.

"The key argument was that this was beginning to hurt Trump's supporters – Trump's people," one person briefed on the talks said. "It gave Susie a key window."

Trump officials have announced new or revised tariff policies more than 50 times, according to a tally by the Post.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-backed-down-china-174232131.html

I was talking to my father on Friday.  He spends his days listening to FOX News (claims he also listens to ABC news and even watches the view).

He was telling me about the dysfunctional Newark Airport that is causing major problems in the region and how they only have four instead of the regular 14 Air Traffic Controllers.  He was able to recite to me every talking point the Trump administration has issued, trying to blame the problem on the previous administration.  Yet, when I asked him if he was aware that Trump and Musk had laid off thousands of Air Traffic Controllers in their layoff spree, the man who spends his days watching the news answered:  "I didn't know that."  I found that very troubling (and part of a pattern that I have observed over the years).

Since so many Americans are only aware of facts that are carefully selected by the party in power, there was no hesitation to post the following.  Note, after drilling into the heads of 10s of millions of Americans that the economy was terrible under the last president, the current president does a 180 and talks about how a major retailer was thriving when they were supposed to be struggling.   In addition, the President is able to make this major contradiction from past claims (that tariffs wouldn't cost the American people any money, the foreign nation would pay) without fear of being called out, at least to the Americans who put him in power and are only told half the story.



I would say our nation's future could ultimately depend on Americans like my father realizing that damaging economic policies like tariffs are bad for our nation and our citizens, and pressuring the people they put into power to change their policies to ones that are not so harmful to our nation and our economy.

We need to get them to see that we can't be worrying about the nation debt when it comes to firing hard working civil servant (without cause and often illegally) who serve our nation's citizens, but completely ignore that debt when it comes to giving massive tax cuts to the wealthy and firing IRS agents to help tax cheats not pay their fair share.  When we have a functional media that does its job, such completely contradictory thought patterns (reminds me of the Novel 1984 that I read in HS) wouldn't be readily accepted by so many Americans.

I am curious about how the average Trump voter who considers himself a conservative Republican thinks tweets like the above are representative of the core belief system that he grew up with. Since when is government interfering in business and trying to instruct independent companies what prices to charge customers and how to run their operations conservative? It's the exact opposite! True conservatives in this country want government to stay the hell out of American business, and they believe in free market principles. Reagan must be rolling over in his grave.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on May 18, 2025, 08:34:02 AMI am curious about how the average Trump voter who considers himself a conservative Republican thinks tweets like the above are representative of the core belief system that he grew up with. Since when is government interfering in business and trying to instruct independent companies what prices to charge customers and how to run their operations conservative? It's the exact opposite! True conservatives in this country want government to stay the hell out of American business, and they believe in free market principles. Reagan must be rolling over in his grave.

Jeff,

I hadn't considered that angle. You make an excellent point. If you think about it, this is a departure from anything we have ever witnessed. As you said, Conservatives like to let the markets regulate themselves. Liberals tend to create regulations to protect the health and well-being of the American public and rules to protect the little guy from being taken advantage of by powerful corporations.

Yet, this latest demand falls in neither category. The president wants Walmart to reduce profits because he feels it will reduce his popularity, and he will be held accountable for the negative impacts of his policies if they don't.

I know we are getting away from tariffs, the main topic of this thread, and if anyone wants to delete this, go ahead, but since something was brought up about only getting one side and not hearing the truth, I saw this on the news yesterday.
Margery Taylor Green posted a pic of a man giving the finger, and she was expanding on it, when she was interrupted by someone with the real pic, which was edited to suit the agenda of the Chairman, and she didn't like it one bit.

The truth is being suppressed to suit a one-sided agenda, and it is being reported that way, and when people try to get the truth out, they are being suppressed or denied that privilege.

https://video.dailymail.co.uk/video/mol/2025/05/07/7178262574007434470/1024x576_MP4_7178262574007434470.mp4

Quote from: LennG on May 11, 2025, 02:35:24 PMMade in the USA

a very interesting read

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/smallbusiness/a-business-owner-tested-if-customers-would-pay-more-for-american-made-the-results-were-sobering/ar-AA1EywcA?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=024093513cb04267b1cf66a1ab31f083&ei=21

Yeah the whole buy American thing is xxxxxxxx. If a low income family or even medium income family is buying something new they need they are going for the cheaper option. Let's just use silverware as an example, I looked up and found a 48 piece silverware set for $10.96 from China. The American version for only 24 pieces was $228 dollars. Even if you add the 104% tariff, people are still going to go for the $20 dollar item over the $228 dollar version. You have just cost the typical family more money and solved nothing. Because the families that did have the luxury to buy American only goods were already doing so before the tariffs.