The Biggest Loser

DoubleEgger

JohnInCarolina said:

Legume said:

Trump's highest tariff will kill tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, economist says - https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/trump-slaps-tiny-african-kingdom-lesotho-with-highest-tariff-all-2025-04-03/

are we great again?

surely this must be the road to greatness?

even if you are ok with the direction, don't you at least want competent people? I just don't get it.

The cruelty is the point.

Elon Musk has submitted a bid for a ten year StarLink contract for the country. I suspect that these tariffs will be removed if he is awarded the contract. 

StillH2OEgger

Legume said:

DoubleEgger said:

I want someone who is a pro Trumper to tell me their reasoning for supporting this.  

It's all of the illegal, trans fentanyl that the Venezuelan gangs are using to kill the cats and dogs.

Killing em, I thought they were eating them.

JohnInCarolina

DoubleEgger said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Legume said:

Trump's highest tariff will kill tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, economist says - https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/trump-slaps-tiny-african-kingdom-lesotho-with-highest-tariff-all-2025-04-03/

are we great again?

surely this must be the road to greatness?

even if you are ok with the direction, don't you at least want competent people? I just don't get it.

The cruelty is the point.

Elon Musk has submitted a bid for a ten year StarLink contract for the country. I suspect that these tariffs will be removed if he is awarded the contract. 

Yeah there’s definitely a lot of that going on too.  There are folks who believe the sole purpose of the tariffs is to extract concessions for and from businesses.

Legume

So much leadership.  Truly impressive.

DoubleEgger

Donald Trump is a fvcking moron who is too stupid to admit he’s wrong. 

DoubleEgger

Buckwoody Egger

any time we are in a situation where we think the improbable has happened, it’s helpful to assess what likely made it probable. then we have the list of what to fix, maintain etc. 

we are detached from the concept of earning a buck. compensation is totally out of whack. the rich people have “income entitlement” and the working person has historically low returns on sweat equity.

technology and social media have distorted the lens immensely for what people see as a path to prosperity. 

it was a close election and very winnable for the democrats but did they cater to extremes and lose the middle?

trump is licking the icing off all of our cupcakes. 

what are we going to do about it?

lousubcap

Friday TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION

There is a “fair likelihood” the Trump administration violated a court order by failing to stop the deportation of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador last month, a federal judge said yesterday, adding he will likely rule on whether officials were in contempt of court next week. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.

A federal judge yesterday said she plans to temporarily block the Trump administration from cutting at least $11bn in federal funding for COVID-19 initiatives and public health projects, stating that the plaintiff states made a “strong case” that they would succeed in their attempt to show the move was unlawful. Devna Bose reports for AP News.

The Attorneys General from 19 Democratic states yesterday filed a federal challenge to Trump’s executive order targeting election rules and administration across the country, arguing the President had “no authority” to make a number of directives contained in the order. Andrew Howard reports for POLITICO."

fishlessman

DoubleEgger said:

I want someone who is a pro Trumper to tell me their reasoning for supporting this.  

its just “a little disturbance”

Botch

Legume

Looks like we're off to a roaring start again today.

When you really, really love the color red.

DoubleEgger

The GDP forecast is now at -2.8%. 

This is will be known as the Trump Recession in the history books (except in Florida of course). 

https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/research/gdpnow

DoubleEgger

No tariffs on his buddy Vlad as well. 

Birds of a feather flock together. 

Buckwoody Egger

do these two statements (with links) go together like chocolate and peanut butter?  or more like horse manure and listerine?  make the observation yourself!  what are you eating today?


The White House originally said all others would be affected by at least the 10% tariff. But administration officials clarified on Thursday that countries already subject to stiff U.S. sanctions — for example, Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine, as well as Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Belarus and Venezuela — will not face the new, 10% global base tariff.

Official said that is because sanctions and other existing barriers mean the U.S. has so little trade with those places that deficits are minimal.
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2025/04/how-were-trumps-new-tariffs-calculated-why-isnt-russia-included-5-questions-answered.html

Russia

Russia Trade Summary

U.S. total goods trade with Russia were an estimated $3.5 billion in 2024. U.S. goods exports to Russia in 2024 were $526.1 million, down 12.3 percent ($73.5 million) from 2023. U.S. goods imports from Russia totaled $3.0 billion in 2024, down 34.2 percent ($1.6 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade deficit with Russia was $2.5 billion in 2024, a 37.5 percent decrease ($1.5 billion) over 2023.

https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/europe-middle-east/russia-and-eurasia/russia

lousubcap

Some interesting facts here:

Insights, analysis and must reads from CNN's Fareed Zakaria and the Global Public Square team, compiled by Global Briefing editor Chris Good   Seeing this newsletter as a forward? Sign up here.   April 4, 2025

Fareed: Trump’s Tariffs  Are Misguided President Donald Trump has roiled financial markets with this week’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements. In his latest Washington Post column, Fareed argues Trump’s new tariffs are the wrong medicine given decades-long trends in the world economy.   In making the case for these new protectionist barriers, Trump has painted a grim picture of the US—as a country getting taken advantage of economically, its industrial base hollowed out via offshoring in the age of globalization. Trump’s stated goal is to reverse that trend. But reality is quite different, Fareed argues: “The real economic story of the past three decades is that the United States has surged ahead of all its major competitors. In 2008, the U.S. economy was about the same size as the euro zone’s; now, it is nearly twice the size. In 1990, average U.S. wages were about 20 percent greater than the overall average in the advanced industrial world; they are now about 40 percent higher. In 1995, a Japanese person was 50 percent richer than an American in terms of GDP per capita; today, an American is about 150 percent richer than a Japanese person. In fact, the poorest American state, Mississippi, has a higher per capita GDP than Britain, France or Japan.”   Trump’s protectionism introduces a problem for the US, Fareed argues: Other countries will work around the US market, leaving America behind as global trade continues.    “This movement has already begun,” Fareed writes. “Since Trump first took office in 2017, the United States has abandoned virtually all efforts to expand trade. But other countries have picked up the slack. The European Union has signed eight new trade deals, and China has signed nine. As Ruchir Sharma, the chair of Rockefeller International, notes, ‘Of the 10 fastest-growing trade corridors, five have one terminus in China; only two have a terminus in the U.S.’ Countries around the world need growth, and that means trade. China will clearly be the big winner in this new world economy because it will position itself as the new center of trade. Add to this Trump’s hostility toward America’s closest allies, and you will likely see Europe, Canada and even some of America’s Asian allies find a way to work with China.”

Botch

lousubcap said:

"...In fact, the poorest American state, Mississippi, has a higher per capita GDP than Britain, France or Japan.”

Another shocker to me about Japan; two in as many days.  
 
EDIT:  I just checked, population of Alabama is 5M, Japan 123M; then I noticed it was "per capita"; also, Japan has one of the worst demographics in the world.  Never mind. [/Rosanne Rosannadana]

JohnInCarolina

JohnInCarolina

DoubleEgger

On a bright note, he can’t further tank the stock market today. 

JohnInCarolina

When did the Wall Street Journal become so Woke?

DoubleEgger

Canugghead

JohnInCarolina said:

Ummmm...voter in lime green Tshirt and dark green pants, I dunno 😂🤣

GrateEggspectations

Love America and its people (minus one, maybe). 

I say this with all respect…. 

It is tragically sad watching this implosion, in real time, on so many fronts. 

To the outside world, how he was elected, and re-elected after his first term and all that it entailed, is beyond all comprehension. Even if by some miracle his tactics were ultimately to result in great financial benefit to the country, the cost to democracy will have been so great as to disfigure the nation into a grotesque perversion of its once great self. 

Godspeed, U.S.A.

Canugghead

Welcome to OT!

GrateEggspectations

Glad I have you to keep me informed, not to mention riding in style, brother @Canugghead.

Buckwoody Egger

“trumps america” is a temporary perversion. by no means will it be an end state. it’s a fad. it is a lecherous and pathetic setback but america will survive it. 

GrateEggspectations

Buckwoody Egger said:

“trumps america” is a temporary perversion. by no means will it be an end state. it’s a fad. it is a lecherous and pathetic setback but america will survive it. 

Agree, but current actions will leave scars. 

Threats of annexation and the like mean that many of America’s allies are making pivotal shifts in their relationships with the country. Consumer habits and travel, trade agreements, etc. This will result in enduring change. 

The U.S.A. is hemorrhaging credibility on the world stage. 

Botch

GrateEggspectations said:

…To the outside world, how he was elected, and re-elected after his first term and all that it entailed, is beyond all comprehension.

To a lot of us in the US, ditto.  

GrateEggspectations

Botch said:

GrateEggspectations said:

…To the outside world, how he was elected, and re-elected after his first term and all that it entailed, is beyond all comprehension.

To a lot of us in the US, ditto.  

Fully Wxpect as much, which must make it all the more torturous. Was just offering the outsider perspective, as I am not on the inside track. 

I think that most Canadians recognize that this is not the people’s will.

Legume

GrateEggspectations said:

Botch said:u

GrateEggspectations said:

…To the outside world, how he was elected, and re-elected after his first term and all that it entailed, is beyond all comprehension.

To a lot of us in the US, ditto.  

Fully Wxpect as much, which must make it all the more torturous. Was just offering the outsider perspective, as I am not on the inside track. Yet.

I think that most Canadians recognize that this is not the people’s will.