Trump Tariffs

Let's talk about tariffs.

Trump says that his tariffs are "reciprocal". What does that mean? No one really knows. Trump doesn't know. It sounds good. It sounds like another country is attacking us, selling us their products while not allowing the US to sell ours. Anyone with a thinking very good very smart brain knows that isn't true.

The US is a country of 334 million consumers. France, say, is a country of 67 million people. The trade imbalance between the US and France is $15 to $20 billion annually. France sells us more product than we buy from them. That makes sense, doesn't it? We have more consumers.

As I pointed out long ago, the cost of a tariff is borne by you, the consumer. If an importer pays a tariff to obtain a TV set, that 25% cost is passed on to the wholesaler PLUS MARKUP. Everyone operates on margins. So the wholesaler sells to the retailer at 20% markup, and the retailer adds his 30% markup to sell to the consumer. Before, a $100 imported TV cost the consumer $156 in the end. Now that same TV is $100 for an item plus a 25% tariff + 20% markup + retailer markup = $195. That's a whopping $50 increase. If you add more middlemen to that simple example, such as distributors, the tariff markup compounds accordingly.

Trump promised to "reduce prices on day one". He said it repeatedly. He also said he would impose tariffs that would be paid by the country who exported their goods to the US. I think he believed that as well. Why? Because Trump is a moron. He doesn't understand accounting, or business at all. He most certainly doesn't understand how tariffs work.

Trump found himself backed up against a wall. Now that he was elected, he found himself with a promise to his voters to reduce their living costs, MAGA Republicans to take revenge on others via tariffs that they don't understand either, and his oligarch friends to make them wealthier. What better way than to tank the economy with tariffs?

At this point, Trump knows, from the federal experts, that tariffs will plunge the country into a very deep recession. Possibly a depression. His rationale is that he will make his oligarchs wealthy because they can scoop up bankrupt countries for pennies on the dollar. The MAGA Republicans are happy because showed everyone. And the average American? They will be told that becoming poor or bankrupt is a good patriotic thing to do. We're bringing factory jobs back to America! And MAGA voters will believe it.

The real reason American factory workers lost their jobs is not mainly because of foreign competition. Not by a long shot. Look at a Tesla factory video and who or what is building the cars? Automation. Machines cost far less than workers. Tariffs MIGHT, might mind you, move to the US to produce their products. They won't be creating many jobs. They will be bringing their machines.

That, my friends, is the plan. The Project 2025 plan. I hope you MAGA voters now realize that you've been duped. It's a con. You've been lied to. We anti-Trumpers warned you. We laid it all out for you.

You didn't listen.

Next comes our military-industrial complex. The one Eisenhower warned us about. Nothing makes money like a good ol' war. Consider Dick Cheney, whose Haliburton grabbed a $1 billion NO BID contract with the US government to supply US troops in the war with Iraq. We warned you then that there were no WMDs. Did you listen then, tea-partiers? No. We laid all that out for you too.

You didn't listen.

Are you listening now?

A Trump Rant

 Things you should know:

Two days after Trump lost the 2020 election, he founded a PAC named Save America. It is controlled by Trump himself. This is different than Trump's campaign organization in that money donated or allocated to it can be used on things other than Trump's reelection. It is Trump's primary fundraising organization.

It has spent $22 million on Trump's legal fees (so far). It spent $650,000 on a portrait of himself and Melania. $2 million was donated to other conservative PACs, $200,000 to Trump properties, and $132,000 to Melania's fashion stylist. It spent $132,000 to defeat Liz Cheney. It donated $20 million to Trump's super PAC MAGA Inc.

60% of the donation to Save America comes from retirees. 10% of all campaign donations are funneled to Save America (Trump's campaign cannot spend money on Trump personally so he sends funds to Save America, which can).

Lara Trump, Eric's wife, is on the Republican National Committee. She just stated that she believes GOP voters would support the RNC donating to Trump's legal fees.

Save America's bank account now has roughly $4 million, the rest being spent as described above.

Donald J Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, needs Save America to pay his legal fees? Needs Save America to pay for Melania's hairdresser?

I can't help but wonder if Trump's avid supporters know this.

My Shoes No Longer Fit

 

One downside of getting older is that your shoes no longer fit.

When I graduated high school, I was a 9 1/2. That has slowly increased as I aged. Your bones don't keep growing, but your ligaments and tendons stretch, making your feet larger.

The last shoes I bought were 11s. Those no longer fit. Around the home here, I walk around in socks because of my toe operation, and I flat out refuse to wear those orthopedic flippers I posted a pic of recently.

So now, I need to buy size 11 1/2 wide. The wide is to accommodate a bunion and hammertoes.

It's a good thing we old folks are wise beyond our years and are savvy enough to do things like buy proper footwear.

In my next episode, I will post about how our stomachs, as muscular as they are, also have tendons and ligaments that lose elasticity and that is why I now have to order extra large tee shirts.

Our Southern Border Crisis

I think that the vast majority of us understand the fentanyl problem in the US is a major one; that the real cause of the problem is not the dealers, but the Americans who are hooked on drugs. These addicts have always been a problem in modern America and will continue to be so.

Since there is so much money to be made from it, stopping the problem in one place will merely result in it moving to a different place, like the little Dutch boy sticking his finger in the leaks in the dyke.

But what can we do? Build Trump's wall? That is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and Tim Scott and the other idiots who support wasting tax dollars on a wall are morons. Vote for someone else. This is why:

"the vast majority of illicit fentanyl — close to 90% — is seized at official border crossings. Immigration authorities say nearly all of that is smuggled by people who are legally authorized to cross the border, and more than half by U.S. citizens like Haley. Virtually none is seized from migrants seeking asylum."

That's right. The majority of fentanyl is brought here through legal check points by Americans. Not by people sneaking across the border. Not by the long lines of refugees Fox strangely shows.

I also find it strange that Republicans are in an uproar about the border anyhow. They don't give two shits about drug addicts, and place little value on human life in general, as evidenced by their constant battle to reduce social programs. Could it be they feel threatened by brown folks?

Let's get real. A wall solves nothing. Abbott's razor wire makes the US look no better than Russia. We have to address the real problem, which is the American desire for drugs.

We learned from prohibition that it doesn't work. It only made the mafia wealthy. The same thing is happening today. So like booze we should simply legalize all drugs. That's right, I have finally come to understand that is the only solution.

Legalize and put the illegal drug cartels out of business. Use tax money from drug sales to expand addiction rehab programs. Help the addicts get off drugs.

Folks, building a wall and trying to fight the cartel to solve America's drug problems works about as well as prohibiting liquor and marijuana and closing taverns.

So please, if any candidate for president proclaims that we must build a very expensive wall to solve our "southern border crisis" (as Fox describes it) don't vote for that person. They are either totally lacking in intelligence, or are disrespecting your intelligence.

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/09/1191638114/fentanyl-smuggling-migrants-mexico-border-drugs?fbclid=IwAR2FoqTi87-2Ye2Qrwn5wrdOQfX_QL1yRLWu2epNJr0bujYOacu-OZqQM6s#:~:text=Fenta 

Project 2025

I've been somewhat restrained lately with my anti-Trump rants. I hate the guy, plain and simple, and that is not a word I bandy about. I hate his unethical business practices, the absence of taking responsibility for his actions, and his constant blatant lying. I am not alone, of course.

I've chased off about a thousand people from my friends list, presumably all Trump stupporters, and those left either agree with me or respect my opinions if they disagree.

No, I have nothing more to add to the Trump train wreck. I am more interested in how he will run his presidential campaign and what he will do if re-elected. And that, my friends, is a distinct possibility we have to face. For some strange, bizarre reason, Joe Biden has decided that he needs four more years. He should have stepped aside and let someone younger run, but he didn't. So Bob's your uncle.

Trump and Project 2025 (a right-wing think tank) are figuring out how to shove their brand of conservatism down our collective throats. Project 2025 intends to redesign our republic. Trump is intent on revenge.

First up, naturally, is pardoning himself. That's a given. It should never be allowed constitutionally, but our forefathers never considered such a thing as possible. Next, pardons for all of the January 6th traitors. That's a given too.

Then he will set his sights on his enemies, Jack Smith being at the top of his list. Trump has been planning a truly weaponized Department of Justice including an "Office of Election Integrity" that will investigate elections Republicans lost and look for those "11,780 votes", if you know what I mean.

Trump's motives are all retaliatory to punish anyone who dared to oppose him or punish him for his crimes. His presidency will be one of intimidation and fear. He will purge our government of anyone who disagrees with him. He will undo the work of grand juries.

Trump is working closely with right wing think tanks such as America First Legal, Project 2025, and the Center for Renewing America. It is important to take these organizations seriously, and they are happy to tell you what their agenda is.

The Project for a New American Century laid out plans for the invasion of Iraq in the 1990s to protect US oil interests. Signatory members of the PNAC such as Dick Cheney, Alan Wolfowitz, John Bolton, and Donald Rumsfeld went on to serve in George Bush's administration and, of course, we invaded Iraq under the false pretense of WMDs. WMDs that did not exist, and the Bush administration knew they didn't exist. But that was the plan of the PNAC.

It all sounds like a bad movie, doesn't it?

Pay attention to the political machinery behind the curtain. Both the Trump and DeSantis campaigns are fascist movements, and they are telling you exactly what their political goals are. Only Joe Biden and our Constitution presently stands between us and them.

Reminiscing

I was talking with another resident last night about the cars we had when I was young.

My "car I wish I had today" was my '67 Camaro. White, black Z28 stripes, rear spoiler. Hurst shifter. 327 V8 with a .480 lift 330 duration cam, a 780 dual pumper Holley, and Hooker headers and mufflers. 355 gears, which is tall, but a good road car.

He had a '67 GTO, 400 V8 with three deuces and 411 gears with a posi rear.  

What did we have for lunch today?

I dunno.

Customer Service

 Typical. From all of my years in the computer biz, one thing that I learned is never to trust big corporations.

I need closed captioning on my TV to watch anything. The sound quality of television has declined over the years and everyone on TV now mumbles. No one enunciates anymore. So I turn on CC.

I have Max. HBO changed it's name, along with everyone else. Facebook is Meta, Twitter is X, and Prince is only a symbol. j

I've been having issues turning on CC. The other day I turned it on and got a different CC than the show I was watching. I was watching an action movie and got the CC for a nature show about rhinos. It was funny for five minutes.

Tonight, nothing. CC would not turn on. So I contacted Max via chat. Jagadeeswari signed on. Jagadeeswari had me update Max, update my Roku TV, and had me create a new profile. A half hour's worth.

Then he wanted me to unplug my TV and plug it back in. I declined. I explained that would involve me crawling under my desk. I told him that was busy work and I would just not renew Max and buy Netflix.

Then Jagadeeswari checked for known issues. Ah yes, it is a problem and their system engineers are working to resolve it.

Shouldn't you have checked that first, I asked?

So I cancelled Max. I wasn't thrilled with it anyway. I always had a hard time finding things to watch, and what's featured is bad.

Max should change it's name again to Min.