The trade and economy mega-thread (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Is there a trade deal with China? Is it really a deal or just a pull-back to status quo ante? Is Trump advancing US interests in this well-executed trade battle plan or was this poorly conceived from the start . . . and harmful?

I think the jury's still out, but I haven't seen that the Chinese are offering much in compromise - and it's not even clear if there's going to be an agreement. But it's clear they are working on something and I'm sure Trump will sell it as the greatest trade deal ever. The proof will be in the details.

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

Inflation came in at 2.1% for April. This should make it easier for the fed to cut interest rates, which will be helpful.

 

[efil4]

Guess he had to get his "thoughts together" LOL

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

His mind truly exist in an imaginary realm, NOTHING in this post actually happened in the Real World:

 

[Optimus Prime]

TACO = Trump Always Chickens Out


LOLOL

for what it's worth

also, FWIW we should adopt TACO as our version on Let's Go Brandon
===============================================

.........Trump’s controversial tariff policies have faced criticism from global leaders, several lawsuits and even skepticism from other Republicans and some of his backers. But body language experts think his response to being mocked that he’s “chickened” out on his tariff threats didn’t sit well with him.

When the reporter asked Trump about TACO, the president initially heard “kick out” instead of “chickens out.” When the reporter corrected him, Trump looked away with “slight sadness around his eyes” and ”[twisted] his mouth showing he is upset,” said Patti Wood, a body language and nonverbal communication expert and author of “SNAP: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma.”

Wood said that when Trump referenced the “chickening out” dig moments later, his body language demonstrated “a lack of confidence and conviction with what he just said.”

“His head tilts, shoulders are down and not up, and his eyes squint and he looks down and away,” she said.

Traci Brown, an author and body language expert, said that Trump showcased a smile that was likely intended to “hide his anger.”

“We see his bottom teeth in this smile more than in his real smiles,” she told HuffPost. “That’s the tell. The other tell of a cover-up is the change of tone in his voice. He uses that when he’s working to create a distraction — as is evidenced by his rambling.”

Denise M. Dudley, a psychologist and author of “Making Relationships Last,” told HuffPost that she believes Trump “sort of goes somewhere else” after he learns about the TACO acronym and said he flashed a “tiny smile of recognition” that was possibly a combination of “embarrassment and the start of an anger sequence.”

“Next, he starts to shake his head in the negative direction; not in an emphatic ‘no’ way, but more in a ‘mad dad who’s disappointed in his kid’ way,” she said.

Karen Donaldson, a communication and body language expert, said that Trump’s body language showed that he was “actively listening” to the reporter’s question, but that when he realized what was actually said, he “showcased a quick smirk” that conveyed he thought what he was hearing was “slightly comical.”

“Then he looked away from the reporter who was asking a question while he spoke, which showcases a disregard for their presence,” she told HuffPost. “It also signals a disinterest for the person and/or what is being said.”

Brown said she noticed that immediately before Trump criticized the reporter for her TACO question, he “stands up really straight and puffs his chest out.”

“That’s a power display,” she said. “Then he shrinks as he makes the ‘don’t ever say that’ quote and points. Shrinking doesn’t show confidence. But pointing shows threat. So he’s a bit mixed here.”

Dudley said that Trump frowned during that moment “more than usual” and started “shaking his head in the negative direction.”

“Also, interestingly, he really pauses between ‘don’t ever say’ and ‘what you said,’” she continued. “It’s a pretty long pause, coupled with head shaking and frowning. He’s searching for words and isn’t sure how to finish that sentence. This TACO comment has bothered him.”

Donaldson said that Trump widened his eyes when he told the reporter that her question was “nasty,” which communicates that he’s “intently focused on what he is saying and also wants everyone to be as well.”

“As he speaks, his back straightens up instantly before he relaxes again; that signals that he is highly confident in that moment, paired with what he was saying,” she said. “Then his body language becomes dismissive as he shifted the direction his upper torso was facing.”

Wood said that Trump glared with anger as he told the reporter, “Don’t ever say what you said.”

His brows moved “downward” in an angry fashion, and his mouth was “wide open and snarling,” she said, calling it a “lion snarl.”

Wood said that when Trump called the reporter’s question a “nasty question,” she noticed a “sadness” in his eyes despite the “anger in his voice.”

“His face looks like he might want to cry,” she said.

Overall, Dudley said that she believes Trump appeared “more flustered than usual” throughout his entire response to the reporter.

“I’ve always assumed he has the toughest skin in the world, and that he must love being attacked and attacking back, but in this clip, I think he’s mad,” she said. “Is he mad that his staff hasn’t told him about the TACO thing? Is he mad about the TACO thing itself? Is he mad that the reporter made him look bad? Who knows!”..............

Trump's Body Language After He Learns He's Been Brutally Mocked Spoke Volumes, Experts Say

Body language experts say the president's nonverbal response to learning that he's inspired the "TACO" acronym was quite telling.

www.huffpost.com

 

[efil4]

Inflation came in at 2.1% for April. This should make it easier for the fed to cut interest rates, which will be helpful.

I think Powell is going to wait on tariff issue before making a move.

 

[MT15]

“I’ve always assumed he has the toughest skin in the world,

Okay, I quit paying attention to what she has to say as soon as I read this. Trump is a whiny little birch. Thick skin? That’s ridiculous.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Yes, we're all going to die. Perfect reason to cut Medicaid...

When someone in the audience yelled out, “People will die,” Ernst replied, “People are not – Well, we all are going to die.”

The comment drew sizable reaction from the crowd.

Ernst went on to say, “For heaven’s sakes, folks. OK … What you don’t want to do is listen to me when I say that we’re going to focus on those that are most vulnerable. Those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, we will protect. We will protect them.”

Sen. Ernst defends GOP’s proposed changes to Medicaid when pressed at town hall: ‘Well, we all are going to die’ | CNN Politics

GOP Sen. Joni Ernst on Friday faced concerns from town hall attendees over potential cuts to Medicaid and SNAP programs as a result of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, saying at one point, “Well, we all are going to die,” and insisting that those who are eligible for...

www.cnn.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Added to the list

Trump: XYZ is easy

Narrator: It wasn’t
===============

“Tariffs are easy,” Donald Trump claimed in March. For his administration, and the world, they have proven anything but. Now an obscure New York court has blocked his signature trade policy, setting up a battle that looks sure to end up in the supreme court.

The plan was simple. For decades, Trump has made the case for tariffs. Now, in his second term, he would dramatically hike them on the world; raise trillions of dollars for the federal government; cut taxes for Americans; and lure manufacturers to the country’s industrial heartlands, creating millions of jobs.

But this drastic bid to overhaul the global economy has proved far more complicated.Time and again over the past four months, reality failed to match the rhetoric. Threats were followed by delays.

Exemptions were carved out of supposedly universal tariff waves. Even when they were imposed, it was days, if not hours, before pauses were announced.

Trump returned to office determined to ignore all the warnings that led his first administration to hold back from executing his most extreme ideas.…..

Trump claimed ‘tariffs are easy’ – he’s learning the hard way that’s not the case

Time and time again over the past four months, reality has failed to match Trump’s rhetoric

www.theguardian.com

 

[bird]

Added to the list

Trump: XYZ is easy

Narrator: It wasn’t
===============

“Tariffs are easy,” Donald Trump claimed in March. For his administration, and the world, they have proven anything but. Now an obscure New York court has blocked his signature trade policy, setting up a battle that looks sure to end up in the supreme court.

The plan was simple. For decades, Trump has made the case for tariffs. Now, in his second term, he would dramatically hike them on the world; raise trillions of dollars for the federal government; cut taxes for Americans; and lure manufacturers to the country’s industrial heartlands, creating millions of jobs.

But this drastic bid to overhaul the global economy has proved far more complicated.Time and again over the past four months, reality failed to match the rhetoric. Threats were followed by delays.

Exemptions were carved out of supposedly universal tariff waves. Even when they were imposed, it was days, if not hours, before pauses were announced.

Trump returned to office determined to ignore all the warnings that led his first administration to hold back from executing his most extreme ideas.…..

Trump claimed ‘tariffs are easy’ – he’s learning the hard way that’s not the case

Time and time again over the past four months, reality has failed to match Trump’s rhetoric

www.theguardian.com

Tariffs are easy?

Trump is stupid.

 

[MT15]

OMG, Ernst just made it worse:

 

[coldseat]

OMG, Ernst just made it worse:

There's something fundamentally wrong with these Republicans. They really, really hate the poor. And she caps it off by bringing up her Jesus.

 

[Dragon]

When you look at the push to raise the retirement age, cut Social Security, gut Medicaid, and roll back public health protections — a pattern starts to emerge. These policies don’t just “save money.” They shorten lives, especially for working-class Americans.

And here's the hard truth:
If people die younger, they don’t collect their full Social Security benefits. Some die before retirement. Others only draw benefits for a few years. But they paid into the system for decades. Where does that money go? Back into the fund — unclaimed. The government saves. The people lose.

Now combine that with weakened CDC oversight, cuts to vaccinations, environmental deregulation, and stripped worker protections. The result? More illness, more early deaths — fewer retirees.
Whether intentional or just the byproduct of cruelty disguised as policy, the effect is the same

 

[TampaJoe]

When you look at the push to raise the retirement age, cut Social Security, gut Medicaid, and roll back public health protections — a pattern starts to emerge. These policies don’t just “save money.” They shorten lives, especially for working-class Americans.

And here's the hard truth:
If people die younger, they don’t collect their full Social Security benefits. Some die before retirement. Others only draw benefits for a few years. But they paid into the system for decades. Where does that money go? Back into the fund — unclaimed. The government saves. The people lose.

Now combine that with weakened CDC oversight, cuts to vaccinations, environmental deregulation, and stripped worker protections. The result? More illness, more early deaths — fewer retirees.
Whether intentional or just the byproduct of cruelty disguised as policy, the effect is the same

The simple truth is that this country has to get a handle on entitlement spending. I don’t think there is a single “magic bullet”. It will take a combination of weeding out waste fraud and abuse, increasing revenues via increased taxation and/or economic growth, leveraging technology to increase efficiency and controlling the growth of these programs. Whatever is decided will surely piss off someone. Maybe everyone. There isn’t an answer that everyone is going to like.

At the end of the day, the numbers have to work. The longer we avoid dealing with the problem, the more difficult the task when the day comes when we have no other choice.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

OMG, Ernst just made it worse:

And there are imbeciles who would defend this to the death (pun intended).

 

[Neworleansfan]

When you look at the push to raise the retirement age, cut Social Security, gut Medicaid, and roll back public health protections — a pattern starts to emerge. These policies don’t just “save money.” They shorten lives, especially for working-class Americans.

And here's the hard truth:
If people die younger, they don’t collect their full Social Security benefits. Some die before retirement. Others only draw benefits for a few years. But they paid into the system for decades. Where does that money go? Back into the fund — unclaimed. The government saves. The people lose.

Now combine that with weakened CDC oversight, cuts to vaccinations, environmental deregulation, and stripped worker protections. The result? More illness, more early deaths — fewer retirees.
Whether intentional or just the byproduct of cruelty disguised as policy, the effect is the same

While encouraging the population to have more children. Half jokingly mentioned about this in the make American healthy again thread.

 

[fooferdoggie]

OMG, Ernst just made it worse:

and she threw in the fake christian shirt too.

 

[coldseat]

The simple truth is that this country has to get a handle on entitlement spending. I don’t think there is a single “magic bullet”. It will take a combination of weeding out waste fraud and abuse, increasing revenues via increased taxation and/or economic growth, leveraging technology to increase efficiency and controlling the growth of these programs. Whatever is decided will surely piss off someone. Maybe everyone. There isn’t an answer that everyone is going to like.

At the end of the day, the numbers have to work. The longer we avoid dealing with the problem, the more difficult the task when the day comes when we have no other choice.

The simple truth is there isn't much waste, fraud and abuse in entitlement spending. Those programs are under such constant scrutiny that we already have effective ways of limiting waste, fraud and abuse. If you want to reduce waste, fraud and abuse, you need to look at military spending and organization.

Making SS, Medicare and Medicaid solvent for the future, just raise the cap on the percentage of salary taxed. We already know the answer. We also need to increase taxes overall on the rich and corporations to reduce/eliminate budget deficits.

Leveraging technology to increase efficiency and modernizing government can help, but those also take investments.

 

[TampaJoe]

The simple truth is there isn't much waste, fraud and abuse in entitlement spending. Those programs are under such constant scrutiny that we already have effective ways of limiting waste, fraud and abuse. If you want to reduce waste, fraud and abuse, you need to look at military spending and organization.

Making SS, Medicare and Medicaid solvent for the future, just raise the cap on the percentage of salary taxed. We already know the answer. We also need to reduce taxes overall on the rich to reduce/eliminate budget deficits.

Leveraging technology to increase efficiency and modernizing government can help, but those also take investments.

It should all be on the table for discussion. As I said, there are no simple answers. If there were we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

But the discussion needs to be had. Sooner rather than later.