Andy1

The x.com article below from April 6th is a great explanation of why Trump tariffs won’t work. Some stuff has changed since he wrote this but principles still apply.

What we are watching is the incompetency of authoritarian style leadership. Boss wants tariffs so everyone must get in line and talk the talk. Ignore the economic experts because they disagree with the boss. There is no public policy behind the reason for the tariffs. No one knows what the hell it’s all about. First it’s fentanyl, then it’s the deficit, then we are going to become factory world, it’s on everything from every country, etc. It’s all just whatever the boss wants and who pays him off. He is literally just making it up from day to day based on the mood of the day. On, off, on, national emergency, countries dying to make deals, still don’t see any deals, Japan tried to negotiate but they couldn’t get an answer on what the administration wanted so talks stopped. Trump doesn’t have a clue and everyone around him are afraid to do or say anything that isn’t what he wants because no one knows what that is because there is no policy. Corruption and incompetency.

I’d love for someone to explain to me why Trump is like a giant magnet for anyone who has been to Russia. In other administrations, the only staffer with Russian connections might be the ambassador. With Trump they are like flies on a bologna sandwich. It’s like visiting Moscow is the last part of training to be selected as “only the best and brightest” by Donald.

Agree. Sounds like words from someone incapable of empathy. The cameras will be there so he will be happy.

Trump has a history of promoting inexperienced, unqualified people to high level positions because he knows they will be loyal to him. They don’t have the wisdom gained by age or experience to form principles of integrity. He knows he can manipulate them to do things other more experienced people wouldn’t do.

What the hell is it with Trump people and Russia? It’s like it’s a prerequisite to be a Russian ally to work in Donald Putin’s administration.

Trump is a destroyer. It’s easy to kill and destroy relationships and institutions but hard to build them. You would think by now he would have some amazing incredible deal to announce to convince people to have faith in his economic plan. Now it looks like there are no deals because Trump does not know what he wants and no one can negotiate for him. The blind leading the blind. Today the market showed their lack of faith in him. No one has any belief or faith in his economic plan. The idiocy is obvious.

Instead of Adolf Trump, Donald Putin would be much more accurate.

No one wants to visit Trumpland. Forecasts are for at least $90 billion in lost revenue. Domestic travel will be way down too due to his policies. Lots of lost businesses and jobs expected. So Trump needs greater, more amazing trade deals to offset these and other economic losses he is causing before we ever see any net gain from the Trump tax. This is the guy who ran a casino bankrupt.

And now they are sending deportation notices to American citizens - immigration attorneys. Is that accidental clown stupidity or intentional? Either way, it shows the carelessness of Trumps deportation goons. https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/tucson-lawyer-receives-letter-from-dhs-telling-her-to-leave-the-united-states

First, with regards to the student activists - freedom of speech is a bedrock freedom which our democracy is founded on in this country. Personally, I think the students protesting against universities due to their alignment with Israel interests were stupid or brainwashed on TikTok. Everybody does stupid crap in college. A few may have had connections with Hamas. Universities handled the protests poorly, due to a variety of reasons. Regardless, there is no freedom of speech unless we allow others to speak/scream things that we don’t agree with. This applies to pro Hamas idiots and to the neo-Nazi losers without a life. Peaceful protest is the American way through which all major changes in society have been achieved. Now for Harvard…They will survive the Trump era. They may have to dip into their endowment a bit but this really isn’t about Harvard. Harvard is just the target Trump chose so everyone will pay attention. This is Trumps battle against all universities who dare not follow his orders. He wants to control what they teach and who they hire. He wants DEI for his minions. He is not just stopping funding for Harvard. They have stopped funding for universities all across the country. He wants universities to fear his wrath. It’s part of the authoritarian playbook. Government partnerships with American universities is a longstanding tradition which has helped create the best university system in the world. They have championed liberal values such as non discrimination and understanding of other cultures. It’s why wealthy foreigners want to send their children here to study. Our education system has its problems, but it’s one of the best things America has which is the source of so much innovation solving problems and creating new things in all fields of society. Trump wants to break that. If universities take federal funds, he wants to control them. If they don’t follow his orders, he will order investigations and launch lawsuits against them. Already 50 universities are under investigation about DEI crap. That’s what he does to people he doesn’t like. You seem to think Trump is not against university education. In my opinion, it is obvious that he and his crew want to control them or break them. Him and his cronies have all been through Ivy League universities though. Republicans love to crap on higher education as part of their fake populist act. Ted Cruz is famous for that BS even though he went to Princeton and Harvard Law School. I guarantee you that they will all be sending their kids to famous universities while they convince their followers that education is overrated and not necessary or desired today. The less educated the public is, the easier it is for the corporate wealthy to remain in power and pass laws to benefit them and not the people. Authoritarians love an uneducated public.

Well the current president is guilty of sexual abuse and republicans don’t seem to have any problems with that. Just sayin…

This is the stupidest thread on PPP.

What are you talking about? References? America has been multicultural since the beginning. If you don’t like it, there are plenty of “pure” options to move to. And as a reminder, the vast majority of immigrants from Mexico south are Christian.

This year China’s universities will produce over three times as many PhD STEM students as Americans graduating with same degrees. These are the people who will shape the future in technology, robotics, communications, AI, medicine, space, etc. So here’s Trumps solution to helping America compete - First attack foreign students studying here to send a message, heard around the world, that they are not welcome. Then his next move is to withhold funding for research at Harvard over his stupid, illegal demands so he can fight his culture war. In China they celebrate academic achievement. In America, Trumpists ridicule and demean it. Their motto might as well be “We don’t need no education…” He wants to make America dumber and less competitive. This is not what made America great.

The one consistent trait in Donald is that he LOVES the dictators. He seems to view leaders of democracies as weak people, subservient to the other branches of their governments.

This is a power play by Trump. He wants to make the court subservient to him. At worst, they will give him a sternly worded letter which he will ignore. The concept of coequal branches of government does not befit a criminal king.

Every election is a reaction to the last 4 years. This country is bipolar. If/when a true liberal president gets elected, they will have the authority to use all the levers of power Trump is now claiming. Ignore court rulings Fire government workers deemed disloyal Target private citizens and business with legal action Force conservative universities and organizations to do what he wants Target protesters Remove rights, etc… Everything goes around in a cycle.

Good thread topic. Bad title.

Trump can’t out-tough China. China and Russia are used to collective suffering for national pride in a way Americans can’t do. In the end, whenever that is, I don’t expect any meaningful advantageous new trade deal with China. China knows the cards they hold. They can create a lot of economic pain if they want to. He will create some other crisis to divert attention while the tariffs whimper away and he declares fake victory. The media will spend one day talking about tariffs being over, then focus on new crisis. Now, where are all the amazing deals with all the other little s-hole countries?

Ok, I agree. Nazis are a bad comparison - too old school and maybe a bit over the top. Now when it comes to unidentified masked men in black snatching people off of the street, or deporting people to hell hole prisons in another country with no rights, that’s much more like the Russian FSB. That’s more of Donald’s style.

Just look at the title and first post of this thread.. LOL 😆

Fine. Hyperbole is what politics is all about. Once upon a time, Obamacare was about sending grandma to the government run death chambers.