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Politics Thread ( Don't click if you don't want to see political discussions. )

AS per tariffs you asked: "How is that a solution to anything long-term or otherwise?????"
Long term it's correcting trade imbalances and the idea was through tariffs, that income taxes could be reduced, although if done wrong large tariffs could be counterproductive, time will tell as we head into a suspected cyclic economic downturn in 2026.
That's the point! They don't correct trade imbalances because America and the American people are paying 100% of the tariffs!!!!!!

And trump is borrowing close to, if not more than, a trillion dollars from China to try and offset the loss of goods and services caused by the tariffs and countries unable or unwilling to send those goods and services to America with such high tariffs, part of that is American companies that have had to cancel imports because they would have to pay the sky high tariffs which they would either have to greatly raise the price to consumers, OR, sell the products at a loss!!!

It's a no-win for everybody, no matter how you look at it, and it doesn't get better "long term"!!!

trump brags about the "billions of dollars coming in" BUT THAT IS ALL COMING FROM AMERICAN COMPANIES AND EVERYDAY AMERICANS LIKE US!!! IT'S ESSENTIALLY A HUGE TAX ON ALL AMERICANS!!!

I know trump doesn't understand this, and he most likely couldn't care less, BUT I think you can understand why tariffs, in the way trump is using them, don't work, AND THEY ARE CRUSHING AMERICANS!!! like the farmers and many others...
 
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That's the point! They don't correct trade imbalances because America and the American people are paying 100% of the tariffs!!!!!!

And trump is borrowing close to, if not more than, a trillion dollars from China to try and offset the loss of goods and services caused by the tariffs and countries unable or unwilling to send those goods and services to America with such high tariffs, part of that is American companies that have had to cancel imports because they would have to pay the sky high tariffs which they would either have to greatly raise the price to consumers, OR, sell the products at a loss!!!

It's a no-win for everybody, no matter how you look at it, and it doesn't get better "long term"!!!

trump brags about the "billions of dollars coming in" BUT THAT IS ALL COMING FROM AMERICAN COMPANIES AND EVERYDAY AMERICANS LIKE US!!! IT'S ESSENTIALLY A HUGE TAX ON ALL AMERICANS!!!

I know trump doesn't understand this, and he most likely couldn't care less, BUT I think you can understand why tariffs, in the way trump is using them, don't work, AND THEY ARE CRUSHING AMERICANS!!! like the farmers and many others...
I don't think that you or I know enough detail about how the tariffs will benefit America or not in the long run, it's easy to say that it's all bad, bad, bad, but I could post something saying it's good, good, good, but I don't know for sure so I'm not going to do that.

I do know the idea is the tariffs are supposed to allow income tax cuts and I know democrats had already slated income tax increases that Trump killed, so depending on if you're a payer or a taker, your opinion would be different, Trumps policy favors the tax payer, not as much the welfare recipient.

p.s. I recently purchased a laser from China, I paid about a 10% "Trumps tariff" ....... ok, so be it, if it benefits America and reduces my income tax bill, then I can decide to buy non-essential items or not.
Trumps tariffs also benefit ( Made in America ) so there's that.
 
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I don't think that you or I know enough detail about how the tariffs will benefit America or not in the long run, it's easy to say that it's all bad, bad, bad, but I could post something saying it's good, good, good, but I don't know for sure so I'm not going to do that.

I do know the idea is the tariffs are supposed to allow income tax cuts and I know democrats had already slated income tax increases that Trump killed, so depending on if you're a payer or a taker, your opinion would be different, Trumps policy favors the tax payer, not as much the welfare recipient.

p.s. I recently purchased a laser from China, I paid about a 10% "Trumps tariff" ....... ok, so be it, if it benefits America and reduces my income tax bill, then I can decide to buy non-essential items or not.
Trumps tariffs also benefit ( Made in America ) so there's that.
Well, I've never received welfare in my life; everything I get, I've earned with hard work! So I can't speak to their viewpoint...

But I've listened to enough owners of both big and small businesses, and I know how the tariffs are affecting prices on many goods that most people buy, and nothing I am hearing from any of them is good when it comes to tariffs, and I'm told the worst is yet to come if trump doesn't reverse course soon... And we all know how trump feels about admitting he was wrong about ANYTHING...
 
I recently purchased a laser from China, I paid about a 10% "Trumps tariff" ....... ok, so be it, if it benefits America and reduces my income tax bill, then I can decide to buy non-essential items or not.
Trumps tariffs also benefit ( Made in America ) so there's that.
So you just paid an additional 10% trump tax on top of everything else it costs. Which, in most cases, is not a big deal. BUT when it is something you need every day, OR you're a small business that imports most of your product from overseas, or even just something you sell that needs something processed overseas, NONE of those tariffs are paid by the overseas companies because if they are hit with a 25% trump tariff, they just raise the price 25% and either the us importers pay the 25% or they have nothing to sell, in most cases if they do pay the higher price to get product to sell, then they jack the price up and you, I, and everybody else pay the 25% trump tax. That does nothing to help the trade imbalance because America is essentially paying the tariffs, not the overseas companies, and the imbalance is unchanged...

We would have to stop the other countries from selling as much here, OR , buy much less from them, OR, of course, somehow make them pay more for anything coming from us, none of which tariffs do...

But you are right that the trump tariffs could also eventually benefit "Made in America" by forcing American companies to make more here, but that will require large capital investments in building that up, capital that most companies likely don't have, and if they do, it will take many years to build up, which is no help with staying solvent in the meantime...

AND it may reduce your income tax bill, only IF, after getting so much more from you and me in tariffs, they decide they can lower income taxes, but do you really see them lowering our taxes after they've cut so many taxes for the wealthy 1%??

I sure don't... We'd be much better off keeping income taxes where they are and just getting rid of the tariffs...
 
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I'm not really a fan of the tariffs, but I also won't pretend to know that they won't be beneficial in the long run, because critical industry is returning to America, mining and manufacturing, which is good as we don't need to be so dependent on China for everything, especially critical needs and military related goods, and the US needs to maintain our technical edge, so manufacturing 2nm chips in America is a good thing, even if they cost a little more.




p.s. Democrats have created loopholes for their wealthy 1% supporters, so don't buy into the hype about taxing the wealthy, democrats tax the middle class and protect those ultra wealthy 1% and they always will.
 
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I'm not really a fan of the tariffs, but I also won't pretend to know that they won't be beneficial in the long run, because critical industry is returning to America, mining and manufacturing, which is good as we don't need to be so dependent on China for everything, especially critical needs and military related goods, and the US needs to maintain our technical edge, so manufacturing 2nm chips in America is a good thing, even if they cost a little more.




p.s. Democrats have created loopholes for their wealthy 1% supporters, so don't buy into the hype about taxing the wealthy, democrats tax the middle class and protect those ultra wealthy 1% and they always will.
Mining??? Well trump does love those minors... ;)

But seriously, those mines will take many years to get up and running, and the factory boom will take years to complete, in the meantime, countless people need relief from the tariffs to stay afloat...
 
Meanwhile our bloated wasteful government has spent us into 38.5 Trillion dollars worth of debt. and it's going to end badly, the democrat spending under Biden was out of control.

The national debt under Biden has risen from $27.8 trillion in January 2021 to to $36.2 trillion in January 2025. The U.S. national debt has increased by $8.4 trillion under Joe Biden during the four years he has been in office.

In 5 years of Trump it's only risen by 2.3 Trillion, which is still bad but only 1/4 as bad as under the Biden cabals drunken spending spree.

Do you have any savings? How would you like to see 75% of it's value evaporate when the Fed has to revalue?
What did you say your house is worth? Well it won't be when the housing bubble bursts.

Look I'm not saying a revaluation is coming next year, but the faster govt. runs up the debt. the sooner we're all going to get double fucked on top of inflation, which under Biden was worse, much worse than Trumps tariffs.

The Biden auto pen cabal was out of control, Trump was the only choice, was he the perfect choice, hell no, but he was the only viable choice we had.

 
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Is that like they were going to take your...
gas stoves
x-mas
green m&m's
steaks
hamburger
shower heads
gas cars
and a hundred other things they like to fearmonger over...

Sure, that's all going to happen any day now... 🤪 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

ps - You know I don't keep my gold on my front porch? If "they" can find it, "they" are welcome to it... ;)
 
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The national debt under Biden has risen from $27.8 trillion in January 2021 to to $36.2 trillion in January 2025. The U.S.
interest over the last decade, but will spend $14 trillion in the next ten years. Interest costs crowd out important public and private investments in our future, harming the economy for every American.”

The U.S. hit $34 trillion in debt in January 2024, $35 trillion in July 2024 and $36 trillion in November 2024.
has increased by $8.4 trillion under Joe Biden during the four years he has been in office.

In 5 years of Trump it's only risen by 2.3 Trillion, which is still bad but only 1/4 as bad as under the Biden cabals drunken spending spree.
If you want to talk about the national debt, tell the whole story of the national debt during COVID and outside of COVID...

In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet.

It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year.

Kent Smetters of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model, who served in President George W. Bush’s Treasury Department, told The Associated Press that a growing debt load over time leads ultimately to higher inflation, eroding Americans’ purchasing power.

The Government Accountability Office outlines some of the impacts of rising government debt on Americans — including higher borrowing costs for things like mortgages and cars, lower wages from businesses having less money available to invest, and more expensive goods and services.

“I think a lot of people want to know that their kids and grandkids are going to be in good, decent shape in the future — that they will be able to afford a house,” Smetters said. “That additional inflation compounds” and erodes consumers’ purchasing power, he said, making it less possible for future generations to achieve home ownership goals.

The Trump administration says its policies are helping to slow government spending and will shrink the nation’s massive deficit. A new analysis by Treasury Department officials states that from April to September, the cumulative deficit totaled $468 billion. In a post on X Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that’s the lowest reading since 2019.

“During his first eight months in office, President Trump has reduced the deficit by $350 billion compared to the same period in 2024 by cutting spending and boosting revenue,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement, adding that the administration would pursue robust economic growth, lower inflation, tariff revenue, lower borrowing costs and cuts to waste, fraud and abuse.

The Joint Economic Committee estimates that the total national debt has grown by $69,713.82 per second for the past year.

Michael Peterson, chair and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, said in a statement that “reaching $38 trillion in debt during a government shutdown is the latest troubling sign that lawmakers are not meeting their basic fiscal duties.”

“Along with increasing debt, you get higher interest costs, which are now the fastest growing part of the budget,” Peterson added. “We spent $4 trillion on
interest over the last decade, but will spend $14 trillion in the next ten years. Interest costs crowd out important public and private investments in our future, harming the economy for every American.”

The U.S. hit $34 trillion in debt in January 2024, $35 trillion in July 2024 and $36 trillion in November 2024.

Under trump, the national debt rose by the largest amount in the shortest timeframe EVER!!! And we still have three years of trump to go...
 
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:cool:Do you have any savings? How would you like to see 75% of it's value evaporate when the Fed has to revalue?
What did you say your house is worth? Well it won't be when the housing bubble bursts.

Look I'm not saying a revaluation is coming next year, but the faster govt. runs up the debt. the sooner we're all going to get double fucked on top of inflation, which under Biden was worse, much worse than Trumps tariffs.
In the first year of his second term under trump the national debt rose by the largest amount in the shortest timeframe EVER!!! And we still have three years of trump to go!

And besides, I'll sell my house before the bubble bursts, and then repurchase it after the crash for 25 cents on the dollar, if and when that ever happens... ;)

I didn't lose a dime after the last crash, and I won't again under the trump crash, you just have to be smart about these things... :cool:
 


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