Tariffs...what to make of them.

UtahJoe said:
Well more like prior to ~1890....by 1903 when we were funding the Panama Canal, about have of the revenue came from alcohol and tobacco taxes......But in 1890...This time Trump longs for when McKinley installed all of these huge Tarriffs.....what happened? Inflation went nuts, prices went up, republicans took a huge hit in the next election.

I mean I can't believe he would be dumb enough to think we could ever replace income tax with Tarriffs now....he has said it many times in the past few months, but im assuming he's just winding up the Maga people. I mean simple mathing...we took in 2.2 Trillion in income taxes....at best in the past few years we have taken in about 100 billion in Tarriffs. We're not getting to 2.2 Trillion even if they put tarriffs on cold air that blows in from Canada.

So I too would like to see the government some day not spending money like drunken sailors....but I have yet to ever see it outside of the late 90s....where we had some pretty unique circumstances all happen at once. Taxes were high enough, economy was strong, stock market was in the midst of the tech boom, and NOTHING happened...No wars, no covid, etc. For all I keep hearing about DOGE and gutting everything....The next sentence is we're deploying thousands of troops to help round up migrants....expanding Gitmo to hold 30,000 people....military flights to drop off 80 migrants at a time...hiring thousands of new super ultra highly qualified non DEI (Trump should have just said white aryans while he was at it) to be air traffic controllers. I mean this is going to get crazy expensive...So I will be SHOCKED if we actually spend any less money than we have in years past. And of course im leaving out what Elon might break as he is taking everything apart.....We have another terrorist attack as they are dismantling the FBI...bad is not the word for how that is going to look.
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All of Trump's initiatives require big bucks to implement. He needs to get the money from somewhere other than taxes because "tax" is bad. He can steal money from USAID and other DOGE cuts and get some more from tariffs. I'm not up on the Sovereign Fund thing yet, but no doubt that Trump sees it as another revenue source. It's all totally nuts. I'm surprised anyone would want to migrate here.
 
wonder if my niece will lose her job?
she is an ATC - kinda unique tho - she coordinates traffic in the theater.
On an AWACS. USAF.

Here is a DEI policy used at SXM, and other companies.
The name is redacted from job applicants' resumes - hiring manager does not get the name of the candidate until they have passed the initial vetting process, and have proven, on paper/video that they are a qualified candidate enough to warrant an interview.
Don't know anything about their personal gender identity (redacted if included), and other clues taken from names (religion, ethinicity, etc.)
 
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SmooveP said:
All of Trump's initiatives require big bucks to implement. He needs to get the money from somewhere other than taxes because "tax" is bad. He can steal money from USAID and other DOGE cuts and get some more from tariffs. I'm not up on the Sovereign Fund thing yet, but no doubt that Trump sees it as another revenue source. It's all totally nuts. I'm surprised anyone would want to migrate here.
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That's the thing. People want to come here because it's still so much worse where they are. It's always been that way. My grandfather didn't abandon great prospects in Ireland to come here. He left because it sucked.
 
Patrick said:
wonder if my niece will lose her job?
she is an ATC - kinda unique tho - she coordinates traffic in the theater.
On an AWACS. USAF.
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Interesting thought....our new defense secretary is anti women in combat....but would flying on an AWACS be considered a combat role? im not sure....we have never had one shot down...the usually stand off from any battle space.

Which brings me to the news I saw today:

President Trump has named his former speech writer Darren Beattie to a senior position at the State Department. Beattie was fired in 2018 after CNN reported he’d spoken at a conference attended by white nationalists. Last October, Beattie wrote on X, “Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work.”
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“Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work.”......so @Patrick this does not sound promising for your nieces career.

At this rate we will be annexing the Sudatenland in the next year or so
 
Captain Brainstorm said:
Go try living somewhere else for a few years then ask the same question again.
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I always find this conversation interesting. Because the 2 different parties are basically saying completely different things.

Option A: Nobody from Denmark would want to live here.
Option B: Have you been to Somalia?

We, as a collective, seem to think that America is either the most amazing place to live or, alternately, the absolute worst.
 
I
Norm said:
I always find this conversation interesting. Because the 2 different parties are basically saying completely different things.

Option A: Nobody from Denmark would want to live here.
Option B: Have you been to Somalia?

We, as a collective, seem to think that America is either the most amazing place to live or, alternately, the absolute worst.
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So true...
 
Norm said:
I always find this conversation interesting. Because the 2 different parties are basically saying completely different things.

Option A: Nobody from Denmark would want to live here.
Option B: Have you been to Somalia?

We, as a collective, seem to think that America is either the most amazing place to live or, alternately, the absolute worst.
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I don’t think it’s the worst, but it might be after 4 more years.


 
mfennell said:
That's the thing. People want to come here because it's still so much worse where they are. It's always been that way. My grandfather didn't abandon great prospects in Ireland to come here. He left because it sucked.
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Captain Brainstorm said:
Go try living somewhere else for a few years then ask the same question again.
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I was joking, but like most good jokes there's an element of truth to it. Here's a simple thought experiment: If you and your family lived in a country where the situation was desperate, would you attempt to migrate somewhere else, even if it was "illegal"? Pretty sure I would.

Another thought experiment: What if Trump successful making America "great" again? Wouldn't that result in even more people wanting to live here? If so, what's the logical extension of that thinking? Giant walls between both Mexico and Canada? A massive standing army of ICE agents?

Trump's isolationist approach ignores the root cause. It's not people coming here, it's that people feel the need to leave the countries that they live in. Historically, we've tried to attack this through diplomacy, providing aid so that people don't become refugees in the first place, and by exporting democracy, either directly or by being a good example of how to do it right. Dismantling USAID says we've given up on trying to deal with the problem at its source.

Another angle that's mostly ignored is increasing the number of legal immigrants we allow in. For the record, I'm not saying we should have "open borders", but there's plenty of room for discussion about what the "right" numbers are. I wonder what will happen when the effects of zero/negative population growth kick in shortly.
 
UtahJoe said:
in addition, also leaves a vacuum for others move in, China for example.
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True. I hate to say this, but sometimes China looks the the adults in the room. They play the long game like nobody else because they're not constrained by the length of election cycles like we are. It's been interesting to see them becoming westernized, but I'm sure they're picking up some of our bad habits along the way. Maybe someday they can become a full-on shitty democracy just like us! (Joking, sort of. I've always loved this saying: "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.")
 
Oh hey, remember that Ukraine war that was supposed to be over on Trumps first day....looks like it might be going on for longer

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he wants Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earth minerals as a form of payment for financially supporting the country's war efforts against Russia.
Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said Ukraine was willing, adding that he wants "equalization" from Ukraine for Washington's "close to $300 billion" in support.
"We're telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earths," Trump said. "We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earths and other things."


So if Trumps plan is to steal take...(whatever you want to call it) Ukraines rare earth minerals....I mean thats 100% going to mean a shooting war with the US and Russia.
 
@Patrick lock this train wreck up please. Not sure about anybody else but these threads spill to all aspects of the site and everyone’s interaction with each other - I have had my fill - all of it. Trump, Biden, China, Canada, DEI, Proud Boys etc - Can we go back to bikes?

DT wins again - get that hook outta ya mouth @UtahJoe cause you have been reeled in. @Norm, even you got dragging in - classy.

I remember years ago when we had to keep things “civil” for the NiCA kids. Guess that went out the window🥴
 
2Julianas said:
I heard a very nice explanation of what DEI means, and I semi-successfully used it on my dad. DEI doesn't just "give jobs to minorities" regardless of their qualifications. Imagine there are many people out there who are amazing at sprinting, all colors, genders, etc. They train and practice and have amazing physical abilities. One day they announce a race, and they call everyone to the starting line to see who really is the best sprinter. DEI just makes sure that all these people get to be at the STARTING LINE. It doesn't mean they will automatically win the race. Otherwise, its just a bunch of non-minorities racing and we may not actually get the best one.

And for those who want the most capable people doing jobs - that's all anyone wants. Therefore, the current state of our government is a catastrophe.
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This must be the best worded comment I have ever read on a Dave Taylor thread. No offense to you, @Dave Taylor, but your threads always seem to unravel quickly 😂
 
Johnny Utah said:
@Patrick lock this train wreck up please. Not sure about anybody else but these threads spill to all aspects of the site and everyone’s interaction with each other - I have had my fill - all of it. Trump, Biden, China, Canada, DEI, Proud Boys etc - Can we go back to bikes?

DT wins again - get that hook outta ya mouth @UtahJoe cause you have been reeled in. @Norm, even you got dragging in - classy.

I remember years ago when we had to keep things “civil” for the NiCA kids. Guess that went out the window🥴
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I would have liked it to stay on the tariff topic. I find it more interesting, now that I have my ytPhD in economics and global policy...
 
SmooveP said:
True. I hate to say this, but sometimes China looks the the adults in the room. They play the long game like nobody else because they're not constrained by the length of election cycles like we are. It's been interesting to see them becoming westernized, but I'm sure they're picking up some of our bad habits along the way. Maybe someday they can become a full-on shitty democracy just like us! (Joking, sort of. I've always loved this saying: "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.")
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Clearly sounds like you don't have much experience with communism, do you? By becoming more Westernized, you must mean allowing actual personal freedom and stopping state sponsored genocide?

Patrick said:
I would have liked it to stay on the tariff topic. I find it more interesting, now that I have my ytPhD in economics and global policy...
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Oh come on, listening to all of the experts here in politics and global affairs is entertaining, let it roll.
 
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