Tariffs. How are you affected?

Seriously? You really think Harris would have continued anything even the slightest bit effective at improving the lot of anyone in the lower classes who didn’t also tick off 2 or 3 diversity boxes? You truly do have some amazing insight if you could identify in her anything even remotely close to competence or effectiveness.

I do think you have correctly identified that many believe neither party works for them at all. On the immigration issue alone, the left benefitted from importing a new population to vote for them. This is not a “conspiracy theory.” Many liberal writers have stated and celebrated it. On the right, the continual high influx of people suppressed real wages while driving up consumer demand, as their donors demanded. So yes, the right and the left political classes were out to screw over the native/domestic masses - not that this is anything new. It has always been so.

 

There is a lot more to this than just the tariffs, but the tariffs are certainly a part of this.

I hope this crisis does not come home to roost. Personally, I invest accordingly----like a manananggal---a type of vengeful Philippine vampire. But I wanted to enjoy my old age.

 

NPR news?! I know you didn't get that narrative about transvestites there, because NPR is one of my resources. In fact, they talked about the fallacies of that narrative on one or more of their programs.

Yes I do. Basic economics told me that what Harris was saying she would do, would be far more effective at providing relief to all Americans than anything Trump was saying. Would she have been as effective at achieving her goals as she hoped, I don't know, she would have had to fight the GOP every step of the way, as Obama did. Did her plan guarantee success, no. Because, for example, going after price gouging meant taking on big industry. But at least she recognized the problem! Trump literally had no viable plan, did not understand the economic situation, is a sociopathic liar, and he told us the stupid things he was going to do! Including the Tariffs! And the rest of it was spelled out in Project 2025! He said things like Drill, baby drill! and argued that would solve everything! The only way anyone could believe that is if they were fooled by the stupid lies about energy independence and the sanctity of oil that the oil industry was feeding directly to the GOP for them to disinform the public! Lies that went exactly against statistical data!

The fact is, even if Harris did nothing, we would be better off than if Trump were re-elected. I would have voted for a rock over Trump. And the Nation is seeing that now!

The thing is, I don't have a chip on my shoulder about DEI. I don't care what color of skin Harris has or what gender she is. So I listened to what she said. In fact, if you want to talk DEI------What the Hell is Hegseth doing in his position-----a completely unqualified alcoholic-----because he is a white person. Look at the utter stupidity of RFK Jr, again-----I guess because he is white? Or is it because his brain was partially eaten by worms?! Or JD Vance----an unqualified idiot who actually told the Nation that he would lie in order to present a narrative, and the narrative itself justified his lies! Look at our completely unqualified FBI director----because he is an idiot Trump supporter and yes-man, and I guess they wanted to have a person of color! Obviously, qualifications have nothing to do with the push against DEI. The actions of this Administration, from the whitewashing of history, to ICE, clearly demonstrate that the push against DEI has everything to do with skin color.

And the stories you believe about open borders tell me that, if your radio is on NPR, clearly you are not actually listening. No credible writer on the Left would argue that open borders are designed to provide voters for the Democrats. First of all, only citizens can vote, and you can't just come into the country and get your citizenship. Look at how closely the 2020 election was examined----searching for non-citizen voters. Trump in his first term made the same claim about votes for Clinton. He even set up a task force, with lots of fanfare, to find all those illegal votes. After over a year of investigations, finding nothing, he quietly shut down the task force.

The caravans of asylum seekers began in Obama's last term, and they were going strong during Trump's first term! There are so many lies around immigration---all with one purpose-----feeding our Nation's racism. We have never had open borders. The only ones who claimed we did, and advertised that to the world, were Republicans. The reasons the caravans of asylum seekers became so big, is directly because of the dysfunctional conditions we created in Central and South America, through our foreign policies and anti-drug laws and other interventions. Trump's actions in South America in particular created the economic conditions that led so many people to flee to the US during both his and Biden's presidency! Almost all of the asylum seekers entered the US legally as per our asylum laws. These laws were created after the US sent Jews, trying to enter the country, back to Europe and their deaths, during World War II. Europe today faces the same problems with people seeking asylum there. And on both sides of the Atlantic, the conspiracies and narratives used to try to stop these refugees are the White Supremacist narratives embraced by Far Right Parties (including MAGA).

Hannah Arendt wrote the book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, after World War II. If you read it, you would learn how these very same racist narratives, such as the Great Replacement, go back as far as the early 1800's or even the 1700's (Its been a few years since I read it last). These same lies were used to put the Nazis into power, and feed an anti-Semitic response in the German and other European people. We have been here before!

And we have seen the dysfunction of the Left before as well-----The Democrats are following the same wishy-washy path to oblivion as the Left did during the Fin-de-Siecle that led to the fall of the Hapsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which culminated in World War I. I would also argue that World War II was the death rattle of that era---the final gasp to regain life before the coffin was nailed shut. I believe it is inherent in the all-accepting live and let live moral foundation of liberalism. But that is another story.

 

We are facing a potential serious crisis over the next day or two. Trump is threatening to impose 100% tariffs on Canada as Carney is making new trade deals with China. There is an awful lot at play right now and a lot of global implications. But industry leaders are saying that imlementing these tariffs will shut down American industries. Let me put it this way: If you are one of those people that pray, now is the time.

 

L

lol. Would somebody please get this man a pulpit?

Anyway, I certainly have heard about all of the beauty and wonder and spectacle that is drag queen story hour on npr. I’ve also heard about all the various evil-wevil-wepubwicans’ efforts to prevent the most awesomest evarrr parents from taking their gender-questioning kids to such lovingly inclusive events.

I can almost write the npr reports as soon as I hear the teaser for the story: Rebecca, like any concerned parent in this quiet Austin suburb is weary. She’s worried about her 9 year old child, Micah. Since Micah was two years old, xe’s been wearing dresses and makeup. Rebecca, herself a bi-racial, pan-sexual, trans-woman, knows how hard it can be to deal with these questions from a young age and just how cruel people can be to trans kids. Now, a fringe, far-right extremist group of local Christian nazi soccer moms wants to shut down the children’s burlesque show that has been Micah’s joy and passion since xe began participating in it at the age of 6.

When pressed for her thoughts on this, Rebecca tears up; “They’ve been so emboldened ever since orange man bad came back. We were having our regular show in the back yard like we always do. So many of our friends and their children were there. All the kids were having so much fun dancing for us and they all looked sooo hot. Then the police showed up. They said we can’t have a burlesque show in a residential neighborhood with only 3 foot tall picket fences. I feel so oppressed and Micah cried as they took a blanket out of the back of the patrol car and wrapped xe in it to cover xe’s thong and pasties.”

“On top of that, the racist tariffs are forcing my partners and I to have to chose between, our hormones and depression meds or putting food on the table. We can’t even afford a single oversized rainbow dildo for our monthly open-invitation cnc gangbang. This evil orange fascist and his supporters have ruined our lives!”

 

I'm sure there are plenty of people here who listen to NPR. Maybe someone else has heard a story like that, because I certainly haven't. I've heard stories of parents worried for their trans child because of Trump and his policies. I've heard parents complain that they have had to move out of state becuase of prejudice against their child, or issues with gender affirming care. But I have never heard a story remotely like the one you describe.

Anyone else?

As I tell every MAGA supporter, if you take issue with anything I've said, I'm always happy for you to try to debunk it.

 

Seriously? You couldn’t recognize the satire? Come on. You gotta at least admit it was a pretty good spoof. And you know we can always count on npr to give us a story about any issue - controversial or mundane doesn’t matter - and then throw in the twist of how some specific maladaptive deviant is most severely hard done by.

 

You got me on that one. Usually Im pretty good at spotting satire----except before my morning coffee...

 

So far so good. The dollar is rebounding a bit, Stock futures have held steady. At least for now, crisis averted. Trump has not placed 100% tariffs on Canada. China (Xi Jinping) has made a statement calling for calm.

 

Oh good. I was worried there for a minute that the sky was actually going to fall this time. Phew.

Someone must have satiated him with a few cheeseburgers or had him try some poutine. Mind you, if he’s now had poutine, he’s probably going to insist that Canada send weekly tributes of their best poutine to the white house or he’ll invade them to secure a supply. Oh well, maybe they can send Laura Looser into his office to distract him with something.

Now, hopefully, our government can get back to more pressing concerns like bombing various middle eastern countries to make the world safe for democracy.

 

I can't verify it yet---but I suspect a trading room, where a friend of mine is a trader, fell victim to some fake news that exaggerated certain current events. That is something that happens in trading rooms and in the markets. In the financial markets, this is usually used to try to gain a quick profit off of false information.

Unfortunately there are a lot of bad actors that will spread disinformation in a nation that is falling into fascism. The intent is to create confusion, muddle the truth, and discredit credible news sources. The markets didn't react overnight in a way I thought they should have to what I was hearing. Time will tell how much was true and how much was fake (I'm talking a few days).

But this goes to show how difficult it is to really know what is happening. Legacy news sources in the US are no longer reporting the news with the clarity of honesty of years past. AI has added a whole new dimension to this. Discrediting news sources is the intent with the claims of Lugenpresse ('Lying Press, as the Nazis claimed) or Fake News as MAGA called it. Then when you take power, you take control of the News outlets so they cannot report the truth. These are difficult times we live in.

 

Lol. Ok. Stay strong comrade. Keep your head down until they have passed. Trust no one - not even me. I will always lie to you. Except for that last statement. And that last one. And that one. And that one… Vive la resistance!!!

 

Yesterday, I paid $21.00 for a bag of rock salt, to help clear ice from a walkway. Typically salt is the cheapest of all comodities. Why did I get hit with such a high price? It's not from a tarriff.
I was hit with a supply constraint due to massive ice storm that had everyone purchasing rocksalt. Retailers upped the prices in response.

 

We used to buy 25lb bags of rock salt for <$5..... Of course, it helped that the salt mine wasn't far away....it was amazing how much salt came out of that place....and how much salt went on the roads.

 

Yesterday the Trade Deficit numbers came out. Trump promised he'd get the trade deficit down, economists said that tariffs will have little effect--------the economists were right. The trade deficit for 2025, despite lower trade numbers and a drop in foreign investment into the US, ended up the same as it was in 2024. SO despite all the chaos he created, the higher prices, the broken trade alliances, and anger from abroad, the open doors for multiple countries to create new trade agreements around us and without us, the bankruptcies, and all that other mess he created-----he achieved absolutely nothing other than to lower our own overall economic activity and alienate us from the world.

This demonstrates that Trump has absolutely no idea how the economics of the modern world actually works.

By the way, earlier this week, I think it was Monday, I met a guy who was directly affected by the tariffs. About 4 or 5 years ago he got an idea for a home improvement product, got a patent on it, found a way to manufacture it in China, and then quit his job and opened a company. All of his parts were manufactured in China. His sales increased steadily, and last year based on the orders he had, should have been his best year yet. Except that the tariffs killed his business. It was more expensive for him to import the parts than he could sell them for. He tried to source his product from both the US and other countries, but to no avail. As a small business he had no wiggle room. He couldn't time his purchases from China, and trying to hold them at the port was very expensive. He used up all his resources in Small Business loans, and other lenders who rose up to help small businesses finance their exports under Trump's tariffs. In the end he refinanced his home, but it was all too much for him. He went deep in the red trying to buy product, and there was no way he could recover that money by selling the products because the tariffs cost so much more than his sale price. Then there was the interest on his loans that was piling up, and money he owed to the port warehouses because he couldn't afford to pay for the tariffs when the product was unloaded at the docks, etc. Long story short, he ended up filing bankruptcy to try to save his house. He had to close his business, and thought he would have enough inventory to sell off in order to make his payments to service his bankruptcy until he could find a job. But that didn't go as smoothly as planned because he had to cancel a large amount of orders because he couldn't meet the demand. He no longer can afford to advertise, and does not have a business to advertise with, so he had a hard time to sell what inventory he had, and in the end, sold much of it at a lower price than he expected. Even worse, he has not been able to get a job, because---well, we know how many new jobs Trump's economy has been creating. He has been selling his furniture and whatever else he could get rid of, and working long hours driving Lyft in order to meet the bankruptcy payments, and he is running out of things to sell. His wife is working, but all her money goes to putting food on the table and taking care of their 2 kids. (The stress of all this is tearing his family apart.) He met the bankruptcy payment this month by borrowing from his brother, but he has pretty much exhausted what he can borrow from family. He worries that he will not be able to cover his payment on the first of next month (and since it is February, he has fewer days to come up with the payment, and then there is the month after that and so on for most of the next 5 years (his bankruptcy started in November). He has been trying to get a job since August and he hasn't had more than a handful of interviews, and doubts he will get a decent job anytime soon.

Coincidentally, a very similar story was reported this week on NPR's Market watch. They reported that a person who was selling some kind of DIY hair cut product was having to pay as much as 500% more because of the tariffs than what they were selling their product for. They too were manufacturing their product in China and tried to find someone to manufacture it here, but could not. Over the past year they have reported on quite a few small businesses that were closing because of the tariffs.

As I write all of this, the Supreme Court just ruled against Trump in a 6 - 3 decision, and now there is discussion of how Trump will have to pay back the tariffs.

On a related note, the San Francisco Federal Reserve put out a research note this week that concluded that illegal immigration is directly correlated with job growth---another thing that economists have been saying. As illegal entries rise jobs grow, when it declines we suffer job losses. Again---no surprise, economies grow as a population grows, therefore immigration, whether legal or illegal, involves an increase in people who buy goods and services, pay taxes, and do the work required to service, and support, and therefore create new jobs.

 

He's never going to pay tariffs back...please. Not to mention, where would he get the cash? I think he just intends to wipe out the small business sector.

 

America will be like an undocumented gardener who spent months working in the heat on one of Trump's properties, begging for their paycheck he had promised...

 

This has been the biggest cash grab from the middle class in history.

 

The message in all the economic courses I took…tariffs suck.. was reaffirmed today!

 

Lol. As one who lived through the free trade debates and agreements of the 80s and early 90s, I think it’s hilarious that liberals are now the ones who devoutly believe in it.

Mind you, I also remember back then, how we all laughed at the religious-right wackos with all of their slippery slope warnings of social decay and debauchery. And now here we are.

If I make it another 30-40 years it will be funny to look back at all of this and to see how much remains of what everyone now absolutely KNOWS to be true.