Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

And he is correct that China has more to lose in this pissing match.

I think you're right that China has more to lose and our tariffs eventually hurt them more than us. But their government is also far less responsive to their citizens than ours is.

I heard part of an interview with Will Hurd this morning (R-TX). He's against the tariffs. Said we should be passing legislation that puts Chinese companies operating in the US under the same rules and restrictions that American firms have in China. I dunno about the feasibility of that but it's an interesting idea and a tactic that doesn't hurt American consumers so directly.

Anywho some general thoughts:

* The market was having a bad day until Mnuchin poked his head outside and said they'd been having some very "constructive" dialogue. Market shot up. But are things really progressing? Just about an hour ago Lighthizer released a statement saying that Trump's ordered him to begin the process of placing tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports that haven't yet been affected.

https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2019/may/statement-us-trade-representative

* My understanding is that things are escalating in a hurry because the Trump team is in a time crunch. Trump still wants to go after the EU. The USMCA still is a long way from passage and if the vote was today, it'd probably fail. The WH had hoped to get USMCA approved by the August recess. Because right after the recess, the debt ceiling takes top priority.

* Worth remembering that the President technically doesn't have the power to unilaterally impose tariffs. It's supposed to be Congress' job. Trump is doing so under a "national security" rationale. That's defensible when talking about China stealing technology and manipulating currency. It becomes a lot less defensible when talking about Italian wine and German autos.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Giuliani was openly bragging about going to Ukraine where he'd get "so much dirt" on Joe Biden. All of a sudden he's cancelled his trip and declared the that the people around the new President of Ukraine are enemies of Trump and the USA.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/giuliani-i-am-not-going-to-ukraine-because-id-be-walking-into-a-group-of-people-that-are-enemies-of-the-us

[AlabamAlum]

Yeah, it hurts them more. Their imports to the US is a much larger chunk of their gdp than our imports to them and there aren't a lot of other markets they can tap to take the place of the US dollars they will lose.

But it's a dangerous game. Once you start this, if you don't get concessions from the ChiComs, you never will.

[iam416]

I think you're right that China has more to lose and our tariffs eventually hurt them more than us. But their government is also far less responsive to their citizens than ours is.

Isn't that basically what I said? Ingrate.

Worth remembering that the President technically doesn't have the power to unilaterally impose tariffs. It's supposed to be Congress' job.

Yeah, the "technical power of the Executive" ship sailed awhile ago. I'd love to see Constitutional order restored, but that's about as likely as Palin-Cortez embracing Exxon, Buchan embracing brevity or The Wizard embracing a women.

[iam416]

To reiterate, tariffs are stupid. I mean, we have so much power that countries all over the globe ship their products to us and lay them at our feet for pennies. That's been a remarkably good position to be in for the bulk of human history. And lest anyone worry, China is pretty well tied to the US economy and the US dollar. Until they divest themselves of the US -- decades away -- these things will remain dust ups as opposed to wars.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Saw an article on CNN that Beto's campaign is rapidly tanking. Since Biden officially entered the race, the CNN gurus haven't found a single poll anywhere where Beto polled above 3%

[AlabamAlum]

As long as I can get my general tso's chicken and kung pao beef, I will be fine. They cut that pipeline off and it's fucking war.

[AlabamAlum]

Beto is about a decade too early for this. Beat Ted Cruz first. Then we will talk.

[iam416]

Goddman right, AA. Well, except about Kung Pao.

It's amazing what happens to the generally two-dimensional Beto when the media isn't spending all it's time promoting the shit out of him. When you actually look at him he's a remarkable ball of nothing and, even worse, oozes the dreaded "white privilege" -- a "cool" latino nickname may be enough for the media to paper that over when he's running against Ted Cruz (an actual hispanic kid from a middle class family), but in the Primary of the Woke it ain't going to cut it.

[AlabamAlum]

Was at a bar last night. A former employee and his date dropped by. Wasn't planned; just happenstance. Lovely girl. He introduced me to her. First date. Both were nervous. You could tell. Her last name was Pancake (apparently German).

Anyway, does slightly tipsy me say....

A. "Nice to meet you. You two have a lovely evening."

B. "Both of you sit down. Next round is on me."

C. "You two have big plans tonight?"

Or...

D. "I love eating pancakes." (which caused awkward silence before they said their goodbyes without having a single drink.)

[AlabamAlum]

Oh, I love general tso's, but sometimes I don't want even a hint of sweet in my dish. Just savory. When I do it is usually Kung Pao or Cashew Chx.

[Kapture1]

Giuliani was openly bragging about going to Ukraine where he'd get "so much dirt" on Joe Biden. All of a sudden he's cancelled his trip and declared the that the people around the new President of Ukraine are enemies of Trump and the USA.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/giu...mies-of-the-us

and the left lost their fucking minds over it, as if that is the scandal and not Biden as VP threatening with withhold 1 Billion in loan guarantees from Ukraine until the prosecutor investigating his son was fired, which he was.

Biden:

[Ghengis Jon]

Its never too late to do nothing about the budget.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/11/politics/congress-debt-ceiling/index.html

[AlabamAlum]

PSA: My mother died a few years back; so, this holiday tends to make me a bit melancholy. I will offer this: If you are fortunate enough to still have your mom with us, go see her. Try not to look at it is some ridiculous social convention manufacturered (or maybe resurrected?) by a greeting card company. Just embrace the moment. Take her to lunch or grill something or whatever because once she is gone most likely you would give anything for just one more more afternoon with her. At least I know I would with mine.

[lineygoblue]

Well said, sir.