Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Skroe]

https://twitter.com/AshleyRParker/st...332369411?s=19

Shocked!

Donald Trump isn't even a mere joke anymore.

He's a goddamn American History Wet Fart.

Like what the hell is this?

[Redwyrm]

I have been thinking about the 2016 Republican Presidential field and wondering if any of them would have been worse than Trump. Cruz would have been a theocratic nightmare but he wouldn't be able to do much damage with the Supreme Court watching him (of course he would have had been able to stack the SC with religious nutjobs). Ben Carson maybe?

It's just hard to imagine anyone being any lower than Trump has taken the Presidency.

[Shalcker]

Reading comprehension failure. Shame, really, I thought we might make some progress.

You wanted me to agree, and i agreed. I think it's great when people agree on some point even while they disagree on others. We should see more of it in this thread.

And this one's funny: Putin offered to sell Trump weapons directly.

"But Trump never said -- "

Putin said he offered. And I believe him. Trump supporters will have to accept that, no matter how much their breath reeks of rancid turnips. Sorry. I don't make the rules.

Yes, we could help you with cutting-edge hypersonic weapons at low cost to maintain parity.

Seeing as you still haven't produced your own.

[Breccia]

Merriam Webster sent this tweet yesterday:

A 'mumpsimus' is a stubborn person who insists on making an error in spite of being shown that it is wrong.

But I'm sure that's just a coincidence. So, "Trumpsimus" anyone?

In other news, while I posted a list earlier I didn't make a big deal of it. A military school in McConnell's Kentucky will lose funding for the Wall. Specifically, the overcrowded school will have to wait longer for more living quarters -- despite McConnell writing this OP ED about how proud he was to get them their funding.

Whoops.

Analysis by Congressional Research Service finds that Trump's proposed change to food stamps will make the 17.2 million applications more difficult (which we've already seen him do with immigration, visas, and student loan forgiveness intentionally to block applications), but also will kick 3.1 million people off the program and deny lunches to 500,000 American citizen children.

Axios summarized the uncertain economy in an article citing professional, qualified experts and not just feelings. In addition to stuff we already know -- nobody knows where rates are going, they don't know if they should wait out the China trade war, and Powell himself saying "no recent precedents to guide any policy response to the current situation" -- they also point out business investing just fell 0.6%, why yes that's a dot-gov site, the first time that's happened since Trump took office. That's evidence to prove the point. Companies are still making decent profits but they're afraid to spend them, since Trump proved he could do anything from declaring war on the Fed to put National Security Lol tariffs on Madagascar and nobody would know until it happened. Investment is spending on the promise/hope of a return. You can't do that when there's no promise or hope to work with.

There's also bad news for Social Security.

According to the 2019 Trustees report, Social Security now sits less than 16 years away from completely exhausting the nearly $2.9 trillion in asset reserves that have been built up since inception. If or when this excess capital is depleted, across-the-board benefit cuts of up to 23% could be passed along to then-current and future retired workers. That's a problem, with 34% of current retirees leaning on Social Security for at least 90% of their income, and 62% counting on the program for at least half of their income.

Okay, we all knew SS was in trouble regardless. We've known since 1965. It's absolutely everyone's fault that it's gotten within 16 years of collapse, although obviously Trump's record-breaking deficit/debt is making the problem worse, not better.

But the article goes on to explain the current, most recent problem, which is of course Trump's:

Instead of making direct amendments to the Social Security program, Trump has favored indirectly influencing Social Security by bolstering the U.S. economy. The idea being that if workers are earning more, then Social Security's 12.4% payroll tax on earned income should bring in more revenue, leading to a healthier annual net-cash surplus.

The president's flagship legislation, thus far, has been the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which completely overhauled the individual and corporate income tax schedule in the United States. In doing so, the TCJA appears to have provided a temporary boost to economic growth (vis-a-vis U.S. gross domestic product), but it's unclear how sustainable this "boost" in GDP growth will be over the intermediate and long term.

Considering recent numbers, it might already be over.

However, with fears of a recession in the U.S. building following the recent inversions of the U.S. yield curve, Trump reportedly tossed around the idea of a payroll tax cut to put more money into workers' pockets and stimulate the economy. If you're curious, he wouldn't be the first president to do this, with President Barack Obama enacting a temporary payroll tax cut in 2011 and 2012.

The cuts passed along by President Obama saw the payroll tax liability of most workers (i.e., those who work for someone else or a company) fall from 6.2% to 4.2% for a two-year period, thereby putting more money into the hands of consumers to boost spending, which is important since consumption accounts for about 70% of U.S. GDP. On the other hand, it collectively reduced the amount of payroll tax collected by Social Security by more than $215 billion.

Even though Trump has backed off the idea of enacting a temporary payroll tax cut as sort of an emergency measure to prevent a possible recession, the simple fact that it was even on the table is somewhat scary.

To Obama's credit, while he shorted the fund himself -- ouch -- he did so in 2011 and 2012. He had some pretty good numbers in 2012-2015 in terms of GDP growth and jobs, so he might have covered that...maybe. I'm not convinced. Trump doesn't have those numbers. His worsening economy, done unilaterally with tariffs (the tax cut for the rich didn't change SS tax, 99% sure), is making the SS shortfall, already a crippling issue, even worse.

[Shalcker]

I have been thinking about the 2016 Republican Presidential field and wondering if any of them would have been worse than Trump. Cruz would have been a theocratic nightmare but he wouldn't be able to do much damage with the Supreme Court watching him (of course he would have had been able to stack the SC with religious nutjobs). Ben Carson maybe?

It's just hard to imagine anyone being any lower than Trump has taken the Presidency.

Are you looking at it from just domestic perspective or do you include international events to this assessment?

What do you think would be their response to North Korean ballistic tests? Various Syrian events? Afghanistan/Iraq?

As for domestic, wouldn't "religious nutjobs" push for federal abortion ban/defunding?

[Redwyrm]

Are you looking at it from just domestic perspective or do you include international events to this assessment?

What do you think would be their response to North Korean ballistic tests? Various Syrian events? Afghanistan/Iraq?

As for domestic, wouldn't "religious nutjobs" push for federal abortion ban/defunding?

Both domestic and international embarrassments. North Korea is playing Trump like the fool he is. And rather than admit that NK is dishonoring the spirit of the first meeting between Trump and Kim, he waves it away and pretends that everything is going just like he planned.

And religious nutjobs wouldn't stop at abortion. They would go into removing evolution from school texts, forcing school prayer, decency laws, gay marriage, etc.

[Breccia]

Trump already tweeted this was good news

Literally minutes later.

The Economy is great. The only thing adding to ‘uncertainty’ is the Fake News!

Once again, Everything I Don't Like Is Fake News. Those job numbers are from Trump's own admin. What was the media supposed to do, lie? Trump hired 25,000 temp workers for the census and still missed the mark.

Again, even if you think one month doesn't prove anything

A) you're right, but

B) 2019 has 8 months now and the overall trend is still down below Obama's second term, any year, and

C) Trump went 24 hours from "The job report is good and real news!" to "The job report is Fake News!" and the only thing that changed is his admin posted the numbers between the two.

Everything he has tried has failed. The #Sharpie deflection is just a hilarious reminder of that, but that's just a cosmetic example that didn't...okay, yes, Trump broke federal law, but other than that didn't do...okay no, he told Alabama to brace for a natural disaster that had zero chance of affecting them and everyone knew it, but other than that didn't do anything. The fact that he refuses to admit any sign of a problem either points to his continued attempts to lie to the American people, or that his own ego is more important than the setbacks of the country he's supposed to be running.

Supposedly the trade talks with China are back on, but bear in mind, Trump has broken every truce so far, and is scheduled to do so again Dec 15. Considering the legions of professional, qualified experts who have cited Trump's words and actions as a/the leading cause of the economy's stalling/downturn, and the tariffs were applied without a Congressional vote, the buck stops on him.

His refusal to accept responsibility for the role he fought for is smeared forever on the people who voted for him. Congratulations, rabid fanbase, you got yourself a crybaby who needs a safe space. I hope you're happy with your purchase (yes, you are paying to have him in charge).

- - - Updated - - -

The Secretary of Defense (yes, he does exist) went before our EUropean allies and implored them that China and Russia were bad people.

I would caution my friends in Europe — this is not a problem in some distant land that does not affect you.

The more dependent a country becomes on Chinese investment and trade, the more susceptible they are to coercion and retribution when they act outside of Beijing’s wishes

"So, like the tariffs you put on countries when they don't sign trade deals?" Europe didn't ask but I'm pretending they did. "Or the threat to do so, like Trump's 100% French wine tariff, that he brought to G7?"

It is increasingly clear that Russia and China want to disrupt the international order by gaining a veto over other nations’ economic, diplomatic and security decisions

"Again, like the National Security tariffs? Or is this more like 'we will build a Wall if you don't act'? Or the time Trump told Middle East countries to lower oil prices? Or the time Trump unilaterally ended the Iran Nuclear Deal? Did you ask us first? I don't think you asked us first."

For anyone who wonders what a world dominated by Beijing might look like, I would argue all you need to do is look at how they treat their own people, within their borders

"Are you talking about the mass shootings, or the children locked in dog cages until they died?"

The US has never had the unfailing moral authority we have pretended to have. But it's objectively worse now. There's an increasing number of things that the US no longer has the ability to accuse, say, Russia of doing, that we aren't doing ourselves.

At least Esper wasn't laughed at.

[Nellise]

Trump is now getting the DOJ to sue automakers to force them to pollute more, sigh.

[Kujako]

Trump is now getting the DOJ to sue automakers to force them to pollute more, sigh.

It's all part of his Master Plan (tm). If the autos can't be sold outside the US due to not meeting international emissions standards, they may as well stop making them outside the us! Winning!

[Breccia]

Trump is now getting the DOJ to sue automakers to force them to pollute more, sigh.

Forcing automakers to make a product they can't sell isn't fascism, because at least fascism makes sense. This is just suicide.

Now, Trump could sign a law if one ever reached his desk. Fat chance. Best he can do is let the EPA set new guidelines and the auto industry could just make better ones.

...

Oh for fuck's sake, Trump tweets again, raising the count to 12 while Dorian hits North Carolina.

Trump's defense remains that he is talking about the original charts. Which is still not valid. They weren't relevant anymore. His defense of his incompetence is just another form of incompetence.

Lame-ass. Limp-dick. IMPOTUS.

- - - Updated - - -

Trump is now getting the DOJ to sue automakers to force them to pollute more, sigh.

Actually turns out there's more.

The White House has gone on record to say they're working on a plan with better fuel economy deals -- which is not going to help, because the WH was also clear that only Congress can set those -- and they'll release them soon, and anyone saying otherwise is Fake News. Basically, this is the ACA repeal again: break something already in effect, in exchange for a plan nobody has but will somehow be better just you wait this time for sure!

[Thepersona]

Why the hell does Dotard Hitlerine wants to make cars less fuel efficent? Anyone can give me an answer that doesnt make my head explode?

[Edge-]

The press release from the White House attacking the Washington Post was a fucking disgrace.

Remember the fucking shitfit conservatives flew into when Obama made some completely factual and rather tepid criticisms of Fox News?

Imagine what they would have done if the White House wrote up a pretty garbage press release laying into Fox hard (this is not a well written release).

[Breccia]

Anyone can give me an answer that doesnt make my head explode?

He thinks coal is clean, too.

Trump is applying his own objectively incorrect knowledge about how the world works, to make the world worse just before he dies. He thinks he's helping the auto industry by saying they don't have to make a cleaner product. Sometimes he also lies, saying that more fuel efficient cars are also more dangerous. But if he really wanted to help the auto industry, he wouldn't have endangered them by putting a tariff on steel.

By the way, anyone seen NAFTA 1.0.0.2 recently?

[Nellise]

Trump is applying his own objectively incorrect knowledge about how the world works, to make the world worse just before he dies. He thinks he's helping the auto industry by saying they don't have to make a cleaner product. Sometimes he also lies, saying that more fuel efficient cars are also more dangerous.

We went over this when this subject first came up last year. There are at least some grains of truth to what the administration is claiming about fuel efficient changes made to cars, it's not the usual complete bs they pull. If the way they make new cars more efficient is by just lowering their weight, it can make them more dangerous since older cars will be heavier and thus win if there is an accident between the heavier and lighter vehicles (car accidents tend to be least devastating to one side when weights are equal). But new cars can also have more new safety features which can offset that so it's hard to say what the end effect really might be.

[Thepersona]

He thinks coal is clean, too.

Trump is applying his own objectively incorrect knowledge about how the world works, to make the world worse just before he dies. He thinks he's helping the auto industry by saying they don't have to make a cleaner product. Sometimes he also lies, saying that more fuel efficient cars are also more dangerous. But if he really wanted to help the auto industry, he wouldn't have endangered them by putting a tariff on steel.

By the way, anyone seen NAFTA 1.0.0.2 recently?

I mean, in can... try to understand that. But when the auto industry told him basically: "Thanks, but no thanks", he lost his fucking mind.

- - - Updated - - -

We went over this when this subject first came up last year. There are at least some grains of truth to what the administration is claiming about fuel efficient changes made to cars, it's not the usual complete bs they pull. If the way they make new cars more efficient is by just lowering their weight, it can make them more dangerous since older cars will be heavier and thus win if there is an accident between the heavier and lighter vehicles (car accidents tend to be least devastating to one side when weights are equal). But new cars can also have more new safety features which can offset that so it's hard to say what the end effect really might be.

I mean, Afaik, the heaviest car recieves less damage in a car crash, ceteris paribus, as you aptly said.
But new (and lighter) vehicles are much safer. They're designed to essentially get rek'd (but leaving a safe spot for the passengers) in order to absorb the kinetic energy of a car crash.

[Nellise]

I mean, Afaik, the heaviest car recieves less damage in a car crash, ceteris paribus, as you aptly said.
But new (and lighter) vehicles are much safer. They're designed to essentially get rek'd (but leaving a safe spot for the passengers) in order to absorb the kinetic energy of a car crash.

Their point for this is that you can add the new safety features without changing the vehicle efficiency so they should be considered separately. So you can keep the weight the same while adding safety features and have a safer overall vehicle than one that's more efficient because of reduced weight.

But the whole thing is this is just another Obama regulation Trump wants to undo because he's petty, especially now that California and the automakers are trying to go over him.

[Breccia]

We went over this when this subject first came up last year. There are at least some grains of truth to what the administration is claiming about fuel efficient changes made to cars, it's not the usual complete bs they pull. If the way they make new cars more efficient is by just lowering their weight, it can make them more dangerous since older cars will be heavier and thus win if there is an accident between the heavier and lighter vehicles (car accidents tend to be least devastating to one side when weights are equal). But new cars can also have more new safety features which can offset that so it's hard to say what the end effect really might be.

Hmm. That's interesting.

Tell you what, the day Trump says the same about motorcycles, I'll agree he has a point. Until then, he's a fat obese lying fatass piece of shit fatty hypocrite for making the suggestion.

[Thepersona]

Their point for this is that you can add the new safety features without changing the vehicle efficiency so they should be considered separately. So you can keep the weight the same while adding safety features and have a safer overall vehicle than one that's more efficient because of reduced weight.

But the whole thing is this is just another Obama regulation Trump wants to undo because he's petty, especially now that California and the automakers are trying to go over him.

Yup, You got a great point.

[Breccia]

More about the jobs report, which is not Fake News:

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again this month to offset the drag from the trade impasse on the longest economic expansion in history. The U.S. central bank lowered borrowing costs in July for the first time since 2008.

A seasonal quirk could account for last month’s less-than-expected increase in employment. Over the past several years, the initial August job count has tended to exhibit a weak bias, with revisions subsequently showing strength.

But slower job growth is also in line with sharp declines in both the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing and services industries employment measures in August.

Job gains have averaged 156,000 over the last three months, still above the roughly 100,000 per month needed to keep up with growth in the working age population. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7% for a third straight month in August as 571,000 people, the most in 10 months, entered the labor force.

The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields fell. Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher.

[Zan15]

Donald Trump isn't even a mere joke anymore.

He's a goddamn American History Wet Fart.

Like what the hell is this?

I've been listening to several podcast and history documentaries about Rasputin and the fall of the Russian Tsar...and their families hundred years of rule

(Last podcast on the left and hardcore history- blueprint for Armageddon)

The crazy amount of similarities is insane.

The amount of incompetence and the idiotic leader/followers/appointments managed to destroy a whole country.

They were a wet fart that turned into a full shat. Hopefully trump remains just a wet fart and does not get a chance to shat us.