Expel Wayward Republicans from the Senate?

[AngelSpeaks]

U.S. workers are expensive (paid too much). Foreign workers not as expensive, so the products they produce are cheaper.

They also aren't under the requirements of the Department of Labor or OASHA.

 

[Pat Hartman]

A live grenade is an extremely dangerous thing to have in house.

Why do you think it was live? Don't you think a soldier would be cognizant of that? Why endanger his family by keeping a live bomb in his home?

Do you think Trump will do better than that guy who was President from 2017 to 2020?

Absolutely. He was blindsided by the power of the deep state and the lack of political savvy of many of his advisors during his first term. He also had a bunch of people advising him who didn't really believe in his message and were giving him very bad advice. It is obvious from what we have seen so far that Trump has been verrrrrrrrrrry busy these past four years on finding the right people to implement his vision.

I would prefer that they slow down the layoffs/firings. It takes a while for a local market to adapt to absorb the people who are losing their jobs. But, I do understand the problem his managers face and that is of people with computer and other access being left in positions to do damage to the agency while awaiting the inevitable. As we can see, a government worker scorned is quite vindictive. I'm glad Pam Bondi has found some of the traitors who were leaking info about the ICE raids. These people should lose their pensions and do jail time for deliberately endangering ICE agents as well as losing their jobs. We also hear reports about people disappearing original documents. Stuff on computers is really hard to erase due to the many levels of backups. How many days/weeks/months/years of backups do you have to "fix" to cover your tracks?

 

[Pat Hartman]

They also aren't under the requirements of the Department of Labor or OASHA.

Technically they are if they are working in the US. What makes them cheaper is - lower wages AND no benefits.

 

[Isaac]

It is unlikely that cost are going to be absorbed (that is to say the corporations will cut their profits)

Companies like Costco and Walmart are famous for their ability to hold prices steady throughout supply chain changes.
Costco sold a slice of pizza for $1.50 since 1985, had nothing to do with the price of pizza.

 

[Pat Hartman]

And foreigners will have less money to buy from the US.

Have you looked at the tariffs other countries apply to OUR goods? No one except the rich can afford to purchase American cars for example.

Germany has a trade surplus and a stagnant economy.

And they willingly imported Muslims who hate their guts and are living on the dole.

 

[Isaac]

You sound a little woke for a republican.

Now do home invasion, a 20 year mando.

If you break into someone's home and pick up a knife in the kitchen and stab someone it's not home invasion.

if you walk through an open door with a knife and stab someone it is.

Thank you. I probably am a little woke for a Republican in some areas, lol. I just hate the edge cases in any direction. I hate it when I hear someone accused of a violent or brutal crime is set immediately free or serves nothing but probation, and I hate it when I hear that someone whose only crime was possessing drugs for personal use goes to prison for anywhere from 5 years onwards - totally ridiculous IMO.
Home invasion....Hmm., in Isaac's master book of rights and wrongs, I'd say that should be a 5 year mando going up to 20 possible depending on what happened.

I guess that does sound woke. I hate people rotting away in prison, a scary and abusive system, for all kinds of nonviolent stuff, and I hate things that are established on "waves of societal obsession", such as the trafficking one, just because nowadays everyone is talking about "trafficking this, trafficking that" - my brothers is close to the fundraising industry and he totally says it's not because of any actual reality or change, it's just become a fundraising powerhouse - the word. So now you can be in a group of homeless druggies everyone willingly doing their part, but God forbid your job is to collect the money or hold it even for a second, now you're a Trafficker. Ok i'll stop, i'm getting all excited.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Costco sold a slice of pizza for $1.50 since 1985, had nothing to do with the price of pizza.

The companies that are holding the line on the price of their roasted chickens for example use these things as "loss leaders". They get people into the store for the bargain and then buy other stuff.

 

[Isaac]

It is not a wash. It is unlikely that cost are going to be absorbed (that is to say the corporations will cut their profits). If production is brought back to the US, that means that those workers are not producing something else. And foreigners will have less money to buy from the US.

In the 70's, textile production in the United States moved from New England to the Southeast where the labor costs were lower. New England's standard of living went up overall as the tech sector expanded, often literally in the same buildings. Former factory workers became the service workers the new economy wanted. A few, whose skills were in the textile sector did worse, but most people were better off. Economics does not work differently because an international border. Does anyone think that a tax on imports from the Southeast would have made New England better off?

All taxes have a distorting effect on the economy, reducing productivity. The higher the tax rate, the greater the distortion. As foreign trade is only 12% of the economy, a tariff raises revenue from only 12% of the economy resulting in higher rates than taxes on the entire economy.

As for the question of reciprocal tariffs, I don't understand we should import bad policies from other countries.

Always remember Exports are the price we pay for imports. If we are running a trade deficit, that means we have higher a standard of living. Our standard of living comes from the goods & services we consume.

As for your contention that Trump's promises were just that of a politician without meaning, you certainly have a point. However it is reasonable for voters to want a politician not to do the opposite of what they said.

I guess we'll find out what happens with these tariffs soon enough. If only a fraction of what some people have predicted comes true, the economy will crash.

 

[Isaac]

The companies that are holding the line on the price of their roasted chickens for example use these things as "loss leaders". They get people into the store for the bargain and then buy other stuff.

But even beyond that, I'm pretty impressed with walmart's ability to sell lots of products for the same price year over year, they're big enough to hold steady through at least some supply chain hullabuloo

 

[Pat Hartman]

But even beyond that, I'm pretty impressed with walmart's ability to sell lots of products for the same price year over year, they're big enough to hold steady through at least some supply chain hullabuloo

Some years ago, one of the shows that used to actually do investigative reporting did a piece on how Walmart moved from Sam Walton's "buy American" to squeezing its suppliers for every penny they could which pretty much forced everyone to mov e their manufacturing offshore. So, Walmart being the biggest retailer in the country was largely responsible for outsourcing our manufacturing.

 

[Isaac]

And there are other cultures who do SUCH a good job of that. Have you ever noticed Asian people steadfastly buy Asian-made cars? I'm serious, they do it out of loyalty to their home countries. A lot of cultures stick together and stand up for and with each other, we just need America as a whole - to do that. Trump's general idea is good America first.

 

[Pat Hartman]

And there are other cultures who do SUCH a good job of that. Have you ever noticed Asian people steadfastly buy Asian-made cars? I'm serious, they do it out of loyalty to their home countries. A lot of cultures stick together and stand up for and with each other, we just need America as a whole - to do that. Trump's general idea is good America first.

We've been indoctrinated into believing that we are the racists for believing in "buying American". I wonder what hateful word I should be called for preferring to support local mom and pop businesses rather than the big chains? I literally never even set foot in a Walmart until about 5 years ago and I'm older than dirt. It is still far from my first option but that's because it is always crowded and parking is a pain. If I know I can buy something I need at another smaller store, I don't care if it costs a little more. When I do go to Walmart, I never walk the aisles. I go to the department I want, pick up what I came for, and leave and you couldn't even pay me to go there in December.

When I bought my condo 8 years ago, I redid it and so needed a lot of stuff like furniture and appliances which only get purchased every decade or so. Try to find ANY appliance made in the US. My first choice is made in America by an American company, second is made in America by a foreign company. I avoid whenever I can anything made offshore by an "American" company. Those are the traitors.

 

[Isaac]

I agree. We should ALL - all, not just a few of us - be encouraged and able to be proud of who we are - I'm proud of my American-ness, I'm proud of my white-ness, just as much as any black person is proud of their black-ness and just like a Mexican is proud of their country's culture. We should all take some pride in our heritage.

 

[Steve R.]

A trade deficit means other countries are investing in your country.

Please explain that odd statement. Most of the products you buy at Walmart were manufactured in China. Other countries selling products in US retail establishments in the US include India, Laos, Vietnam, S. Korea, etc. In-order to produce those products investors from the US and other countries had to be build factories (investments) in those countries so that they can be imported into the US from the foreign country of origin.

If what you say were true, the US should be brimming with factories making all sorts of stuff. Given that, the products sold in Walmart would then carry the label: "made in the USA". But they aren't. Do you live in an alternate reality?

 

[AccessBlaster]

However, massive budget deficits and Trump's erratic policies are undermining confidence in the US$. If foreigners lose confidence in the US$ and use other currencies for trade, our standard of living will fall.

If Trump’s policies hurt confidence in the dollar, why hasn’t Biden’s record spending improved it?

Trade surpluses do not guarantee prosperity.

why do countries like China and Japan pursue them so aggressively?

 

[RogerCooper]

If Trump’s policies hurt confidence in the dollar, why hasn’t Biden’s record spending improved it?


why do countries like China and Japan pursue them so aggressively?

Budget deficits actually went down under Biden, as COVID spending expired. However, the deficits are a problem and we are reaching the limits of the rest of the world to finance the budget deficit. Trump's erratic trade policies are just making it worse.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econ...22 Triennial Central Bank,20 years (Figure 9).

China's government favored exports as a way of reducing unemployment. It has not been an effective policy with unemployment rising.

Japan has an overall trade deficit. Japan has a trade surplus with US, but it has deficits with the countries it buys natural resources from, generally the Gulf countries and Australia. Note that is cheaper for Japan to import oil from the Gulf countries rather than the US.

 

[RogerCooper]

We've been indoctrinated into believing that we are the racists for believing in "buying American". I wonder what hateful word I should be called for preferring to support local mom and pop businesses rather than the big chains? I literally never even set foot in a Walmart until about 5 years ago and I'm older than dirt. It is still far from my first option but that's because it is always crowded and parking is a pain. If I know I can buy something I need at another smaller store, I don't care if it costs a little more. When I do go to Walmart, I never walk the aisles. I go to the department I want, pick up what I came for, and leave and you couldn't even pay me to go there in December.

When I bought my condo 8 years ago, I redid it and so needed a lot of stuff like furniture and appliances which only get purchased every decade or so. Try to find ANY appliance made in the US. My first choice is made in America by an American company, second is made in America by a foreign company. I avoid whenever I can anything made offshore by an "American" company. Those are the traitors.

There is nothing wrong with your preferring to buy American and preferring to buy at small stores. Those are your choices. Why do you think that those choices should imposed on others?

 

[Pat Hartman]

Why do you think that those choices should imposed on others?

And exactly how are you reading that into my comment? My comment was all about my PERSONAL preferences. It neither said nor implied anything else.

 

[RogerCooper]

And exactly how are you reading that into my comment? My comment was all about my PERSONAL preferences. It neither said nor implied anything else.

President Trump is illegally imposing your preference for US-made goods on everyone with punitive taxes. And the Republicans in the Congress, are ignoring the President's illegal tax increases. Have you contacted your elected officials?

 

[Isaac]

President Trump is illegally imposing your preference for US-made goods on everyone with punitive taxes. And the Republicans in the Congress, are ignoring the President's illegal tax increases. Have you contacted your elected officials?

How are they illegal?