All_Pro_Bills

I hear some conflicting points of view on that. One such argument is the tariffs are counterproductive because the lead time to bring up a factory is long and immediate tariffs are not an effective incentive. Just punishing buyers of foriegn goods. Another is the 90 day pause dropping the rate to 10% across the board is a good faith adjustment to acknowledge the effort and commitment of the other parties to work towards a resolution. All apparently except China.

I think it's premature to draw any final conclusions on manufacturing at this point. The statements today about "good news" was attributed to progress in conversations with trading partners which resulted in a 90 day pause in the high tariffs with instead a 10% rate. For now the markets like it.

If push comes to shove, the expectation is the Fed will come to the rescue with QE to buy up all the Treasury paper required to settle things down and inject a lot of liquidity into the market. A story circulating is China is a big seller of treasuries, using their big stash of bonds as a countermeasure in the tariff battle and another being there are some very large super-leveraged hedge funds that are "trapped" in the market with large unrealized losses that will render them insolvent.

Most of the financial and economic "experts" here are just pissing their pants over stock market losses and are assessing the situation from a state of sheer emotional panic. Like anyone that thinks China is trustworthy. How comical is that? Go ahead and make a deal with them and you'll wake up in an alley with your wallet missing and your pants pulled down to your ankles. Is there anyone that believes the current path of racking up 3 or 4 trillion dollar government debts every year forever, running huge trade deficits, and strip-mining the country of productive capacity is a path to long term prosperity? Its either fix it now with relatively little pain or face certain disaster later.

So far all I've heard from the DOGE effort and the SSA is they're purging the active files of dead people and examining the database to identify fraudulent applications for benefits and payments then taking the appropriate action to remove them too.

Everybody can stop crying about the markets for now as it sounds like a deal or negotiations, with Europe and a possible tariff pause, is on the table. Or maybe not?

Looking at the big picture this might mean the end of globalization. Rich hedge fund billionaires and multi-national corporations strip-mining cities and towns across America. And while the trend helped almost everybody in some way it doesn't help everyone equally. Such as a guy that lost his job at a small company supplying auto manufacturers in the US with parts vs. a hedge fund guy making billion dollar deals doing no real work and creating nothing of value armed with cheap money thanks to lose monetary policy and unlimited government spending. I look at it this way. Small town America and small businesses got decimated by globalization and offshoring work. Not to mention millions of IT jobs to India, Ireland, and elsewhere, call center jobs to the Caribbean, and other occupations. All so big multinational corporations can report an additional penny to their quarterly earnings and bi-coaster smug liberals can boost about their 401K balances and the superiority over others. Few to none have any sympathies for those rubes and "MAGA" types that lost their livelihoods. And now its the turn of the people that benefited the most to take their lumps. People crying about their life savings when others don't have any life savings because of globalization. Especially the baby boomers that have lived a very comfortable lifestyle for their entire lives without much hardship. Welcome to the party. While it hurts me personally I suspect much less than others because of all the crying here.

The screen has the DOW at 25,309 so that's probably 5 or 6 years ago. But the point is still relevant. Most people are just speculating on price movements based on sentiment and monetary & interest rate policy and couldn't articulate the rationale for investing in any particular stock except that the share price is going up. Investing through FOMO, fear of missing out.

Word is Tiawan, Vietnam, and Thailand have agreed to negotiations to end 2-way tarrifs.

I've worked all my life too. But maybe I'm just a better and more informed investor, that's very well prepared for what's happening this week, than most of the people complaining about losing a few percentage points on their portfolio? And while they're panic selling and getting all emotional I'm monitoring my buy list of great qulaity companies for either entry points or adding to current positions at discounted prices. This quote I saw nails the attitude of the "outraged" people. "Market participants have been falsely conditioned by our monetary and fiscal policy in this country to always expect comfort and never expect interruptions from the market moving higher, or the quality of life status quo that we believe we are entitled to here in the United States to suffer". Not that I'm in the circle of trust on any trade talks in progress, but don't be surprised if there's some positive announcement or news after the bell today. Perhaps about the administration being close to an agreement with Canada and Mexico that will result in a decent rally on Monday's open. And whether its this weekend or the next or a month from now that's how this is going to work.

I'm not sure what you mean by both "embrace" and "Maoism". What traits of the CCP have been adopted?

I think most people in a state of panic about the tariffs are more worried about losses to their multi-million dollar stock portfolio than they are about the economy.

Then maybe she's really a democrat? Because the majority of them are the definition of ugly unless you're into lesbians with crew cuts dressed in flannel shirts and combat boots.

Millionaires and billionaires are going to report "tip" income? I'm dying to see that. Extending the tax cuts is not a cut. And given 50% of Americans don't pay any federal taxes how do you cut their taxes? Send them more free money? As for the IRS I have no insights into the working of the agency. Its hard to evaluate the impact of these staff cuts because for starters we don't know what they were doing? 38% of how many people? 100 or 1,000 or 10,000. What I also find preposterous is the idea Trump and Musk are in this for self-enrichment. I don't know about anyone else,but I'm not going to get shot at, charged with a bunch of bogus "crimes" just to make more money when I have enough money to live on forever. And Musk doesn't need more money and if he did there are other more direct ways to generate more income for the guy than getting involved in the headache of government. The idea Trump and Musk are pulling off some get richer caper is a narrative the opposition likes to peddle because they can't say, hey, we support fraud, waste, and abuse in government spending because we're the people committing fraud, waste, and abuse and a lot of that money is funding our causes and ending up in our pockets.

The tax cuts I'm hearing about are excluding tips and overtime pay from taxation along with eliminating the tax on social security benefits. Unless the "wealthy" are waiting on tables and catching some extra hours in the warehouse or depending on SS for their existence what exactly is the proposal on the table for cutting rich people's taxes?

Populists aren't attacking people and committing criminal acts here. When these socialist/leftists ass holes can't get their way through the ballot box they resort to violence and lawlessness all while claiming the other side is threatening democracy while they ignore democracy and resort to street violence and criminal behavior.

This tariff thing is a 2nd step in a reset of the global financial system. The first step was central banks allocating more of their reserves to gold. It would be wise for investors to follow the bankers actions. They're always properly positioning themselves to mitigate risks. Instead of moaning and groaning about the impact of tariffs adjust to a new set of arrangements. Or lose your ass going forward.

These NGO's need to be exterminated. Cutting off their access to free taxpayer money was the first step. Stripping them of tax-exempt status is another. They are partisan political organizations that don't qualify for tax-exempt status. Next, arrest their leadership and donors for inciting violence and criminal activity. Harass the crap out of them and their legal representatives. I say this knowing it might cross the line but its a line the opposition has crossed already. There can be no compromise with them here. Time to play hardball.

I might ask why are tree hugging California libs dumping raw sewage into the water in the first place? It sounds like something they should be dead-set against and assigning blame to the court ruling regulators over-stepped their authority in imposing limits seems misplaced. Shouldn't the ire in this case be focused on the city government of San Francisco?

I agree. So where does that leave us as a nation? We consume more than we produce incurring big trade deficits year after year. Our businesses are not cost competitive as other nations have cheaper labor and business costs aided by things such as weaker environmental and work safety rules. One conclusion is eventually there needs to be an adjustment in our overall standard of living. A downward adjustment to re-balance the economic and business realities of global trade..

I think raising taxes to cover the government's entire fiscal year budget and eliminating borrowing is a great idea. I also think the 50% that don't pay any federal income tax should start paying their fair share. Getting 100% of the benefit with 0 costs doesn't seem fair. Make rich people pay more too. And the middle class. Higher corporate and business taxes too. Because getting American's to pay for the entire federal budget instead of pushing the costs off onto younger workers and future generations through massive federal debts to the tune of 2 to 5 to 7 trillion dollars each year will wake everybody up to the obscene cost of government. Hitting them in the wallet for the entire annual tab might suddenly convince everyone of the idea we need to get control of out of control spending. And free health care, free housing, free food, free education, free everything, is not free.

Identity of Democrats 2028 Presidential candidate revealed!

I think a lot of players simply see no upside in expressing their political and social opinions. If I look at the Bills and Sabres, and other NFL and NHL teams I have no clue player views. Nor do I care to hear them. A Russian player criticizing Putin will most certainly be viewed by his countrymen as parroting American narratives. Kind of the opposite treatment of what anyone critical of the war gets here.

Liberal myth and folklore absent any tangible evidence but still repeated today because they continue believing Russian disinformation defeated Hillary in 2016.

I expect a good deal of Zelensky's reluctance to accept any type of "peace deal" is the difference between the public nature of this conflict and the "secret" activities and drivers under the covers. In essence, Pentagon/CIA war planners were running the show and using Ukrainian forces to execute the plan. Given the war in such a scenario belongs just as much if not more to the US and its objectives (not the support for democracy theme many continue to fall for), why should his country that bore cost of casualties and lost territory agree to Trump's demands for mineral rights and other concessions for US support. In reality, the war was the child of America. Some excerpts from the NYT story (and interesting timing on this revelation too!). Americans overseeing "kill chain" One European intelligence chief recalled being taken aback to learn how deeply enmeshed his N.A.T.O. counterparts had become in Ukrainian operations. “They are part of the kill chain now,” he said. The partnership’s guiding idea was that this close cooperation might allow the Ukrainians to accomplish the unlikeliest of feats — to deliver the invading Russians a crushing blow. Biggest battlefield feats were actually the CIA/Pentagon An early proof of concept was a campaign against one of Russia’s most-feared battle groups, the 58th Combined Arms Army. In mid-2022, using American intelligence and targeting information, the Ukrainians unleashed a rocket barrage at the headquarters of the 58th in the Kherson region, killing generals and staff officers inside. Again and again, the group set up at another location; each time, the Americans found it and the Ukrainians destroyed it. Farther south, the partners set their sights on the Crimean port of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea Fleet loaded missiles destined for Ukrainian targets onto warships and submarines. At the height of Ukraine’s 2022 counteroffensive, a predawn swarm of maritime drones, with support from the Central Intelligence Agency, attacked the port, damaging several warships and prompting the Russians to begin pulling them back. Overreach The Ukrainians sometimes saw the Americans as overbearing and controlling — the prototypical patronizing Americans. The Americans sometimes couldn’t understand why the Ukrainians didn’t simply accept good advice. Where the Americans focused on measured, achievable objectives, they saw the Ukrainians as constantly grasping for the big win, the bright, shining prize. Failed 2023 counteroffensive actually hatched at American HQ Yet at arguably the pivotal moment of the war — in mid-2023, as the Ukrainians mounted a counteroffensive to build victorious momentum after the first year’s successes — the strategy devised in Wiesbaden fell victim to the fractious internal politics of Ukraine: The president, Volodymyr Zelensky, versus his military chief (and potential electoral rival), and the military chief versus his headstrong subordinate commander. When Mr. Zelensky sided with the subordinate, the Ukrainians poured vast complements of men and resources into a finally futile campaign to recapture the devastated city of Bakhmut. Within months, the entire counteroffensive ended in stillborn failure. Biden banned clandestine operations in public, while crossing red lines in secret Time and again, the Biden administration authorized clandestine operations it had previously prohibited. American military advisers were dispatched to Kyiv and later allowed to travel closer to the fighting. Military and C.I.A. officers in Wiesbaden helped plan and support a campaign of Ukrainian strikes in Russian-annexed Crimea. Finally, the military and then the C.I.A. received the green light to enable pinpoint strikes deep inside Russia itself. In some ways, Ukraine was, on a wider canvas, a rematch in a long history of U.S.-Russia proxy wars — Vietnam in the 1960s, Afghanistan in the 1980s, Syria three decades later. Task Force Dragon The defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, and General Milley had put the 18th Airborne in charge of delivering weapons and advising the Ukrainians on how to use them. When President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed on to the M777s, the Tony Bass Auditorium became a full-fledged headquarters. A Polish general became General Donahue’s deputy. A British general would manage the logistics hub on the former basketball court. A Canadian would oversee training. The auditorium basement became what is known as a fusion center, producing intelligence about Russian battlefield positions, movements and intentions. There, according to intelligence officials, officers from the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency were joined by coalition intelligence officers. The 18th Airborne is known as Dragon Corps; the new operation would be Task Force Dragon. All that was needed to bring the pieces together was the reluctant Ukrainian top command. Debate over plausible deniability Soon the Ukrainians, nearly 20 in all — intelligence officers, operational planners, communications and fire-control specialists — began arriving in Wiesbaden. Every morning, officers recalled, the Ukrainians and Americans gathered to survey Russian weapons systems and ground forces and determine the ripest, highest-value targets. The priority lists were then handed over to the intelligence fusion center, where officers analyzed streams of data to pinpoint the targets’ locations. Inside the U.S. European Command, this process gave rise to a fine but fraught linguistic debate: Given the delicacy of the mission, was it unduly provocative to call targets “targets”? Some officers thought “targets” was appropriate. Others called them “intel tippers,” because the Russians were often moving and the information would need verification on the ground. The debate was settled by Maj. Gen. Timothy D. Brown, European Command’s intelligence chief: The locations of Russian forces would be “points of interest.” Intelligence on airborne threats would be “tracks of interest.” “If you ever get asked the question, ‘Did you pass a target to the Ukrainians?’ you can legitimately not be lying when you say, ‘No, I did not,’” one U.S. official explained. CIA and assassinations of Russian top officers The White House also prohibited sharing intelligence on the locations of “strategic” Russian leaders, like the armed forces chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov. “Imagine how that would be for us if we knew that the Russians helped some other country assassinate our chairman,” another senior U.S. official said. “Like, we’d go to war.” Similarly, Task Force Dragon couldn’t share intelligence that identified the locations of individual Russians. The way the system worked, Task Force Dragon would tell the Ukrainians where Russians were positioned. But to protect intelligence sources and methods from Russian spies, it would not say how it knew what it knew. US operations room directly oversaw HIMARS strikes Wiesbaden would oversee each HIMARS strike... HIMARS strikes that resulted in 100 or more Russian dead or wounded came almost weekly. Russian forces were left dazed and confused. Their morale plummeted, and with it their will to fight. And as the HIMARS arsenal grew from eight to 38 and the Ukrainian strikers became more proficient, an American official said, the toll rose as much as fivefold. “We became a small part, maybe not the best part, but a small part, of your system,” General Zabrodskyi explained, adding: “Most states did this over a period of 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. But we were forced to do it in a matter of weeks.”