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can you imagine if trump was under subpoena for his emails and deleted 40,000 that were "personal"then offered up the following
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Can you imagine Trump testifying under oath before Congress for 8 straight hours and NOT committing perjury at least three dozen times?Originally posted by crashcourse View PostComment
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If Trump had all the power he needed to unilaterally build a wall vested to him in the constitution he wouldn't have needed to take a stand that you are criticizing him for not taking. He could have just done it. As it is, he does need congress for money, he did take a stand and that stand he took failed. He can take another one, but the obstacles still remain, if he wants something he has to give up something, that's called negotiation.
As for tariffs, the executive has the power to do just what he is doing. It isn't vested in him by the Constitution but the congress has given the executive the power to do this. They can certainly take it away, but it is a tool in his arsenal currently that he can do without having to negotiate at all. Really, he's been doing it all along, have people just noticed?Comment
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It's only a matter of time before Jon, Strangelove and Froot have their way and change all the dictionary definitions of gender. Shameful shit.
Last I checked, there was only two genders. Are you professing to be some new third gender?
BTW, good pastrami is a birthright....or at least should be.
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho MarxComment
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Looks like the Middle East will be heating up shortly.
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.” - Groucho MarxComment
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Leon Redbone died. Hate that. Just a unique performer."The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is sometimes hard to verify their authenticity." -Abraham LincolnComment
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On the tariff front ...... I don't think I have read but maybe one analyst assessment with a modestly positive outlook in the post crazies period of the threat of tariffs on Mexican goods. I suppose these threats are intended to light a fire under the Mexican government's meager efforts to stop the flow of migrants from crossing their southern boarder and making there way north to cross into the US as asylum seekers. There are immigration talks this week with Mexican officials and it appears that the WH announcement yesterday was timed to coincide with this visit. So, some are saying Trump's threat of tariffs is unlikely to be realized.
It is really hard to get a handle on numbers of immigrants legally and illegally crossing the US southern boarder. That's because there is so much misinformation and spin out here, confusion when talking about the various types of immigrants and the numbers associated with aliens who have entered the US on valid visas and then stayed past the expiration date of them (about 11m). There were 100,000 asylum seekers who were judged by the courts to have credible claims.
OTH, the courts also rejected 65% of asylum seeker's claims in 2018 ...... if my math is correct that means there were just over 1.8m asylum seekers trying to legally enter the US in 2018 assuming 35% got in (100k) and 65% didn't (1.8m). I've not seen anything like that number reported but it would be pretty easy for that kind of number (1.8m immigrants legally seeking asylum at the southern boarder) to overwhelm US Customs and the courts that adjudicate those claims. So, I get that is a problem. A crisis? Probably not but it is a problem requiring reasonable attempts to stem the flow of asylum seekers.
Was Trump's threat of tariffs on Mexican goods an appropriate thing to do. Appropriate? No. Fitting his penchant for unilateral, tough guy, arm twisting? Definitely. The Chinese are not going to be arm twisted on trade and from all I can tell, neither are Mexicans on immigration.
I'm thinking what will happen here is that when it comes to Mexico, this week's immigration talks will produce a "great deal for the US, a winning deal" and Trump will loudly proclaim victory. That would be best case for markets. Worst case would be the proverbial Mexican Standoff with business climate uncertainty and decreased consumer confidence the product of it.
I still think there is a chance China will blink and that is because they need generally unfettered access to trade generated dollars to finance pet global projects and China needs chip technology to support an emerging chip industry and guess who has that? To be clear, China is a competitor not our friend on the global trade playing field. If they do blink, it won't be an obvious caving in on their part. It's more likely the US will soften it's demands for legally binding (meaning written in Chinese law) outcomes. That should not include the insidious forced technology transfer that has soiled the trade playing field for decades. The Chinese, much more graciously than Trump would handle it, will say politely that the parties came to a trade agreement.
The one distraction, a red herring, if you will, would be a perception on the part of the Chinese that Trump will be brought down by a politically motivated Congress and they can hold out for the next president who is certainly going to be less confrontational, less irrational and more likely to let the shit like forced technology transfer that has gone down for decades between the US and China slide. I think you can see where I'm coming from on this..Last edited by Jeff Buchanan; June 1, 2019, 11:41 AM.Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.Comment
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Froot, on "why Ted Cruz?"
First Hispanic name of a Senator that incorrectly popped into my head when I was angrily writing my post ........ the correct name of my US Senator for FL who is Hispanic would be Marco Rubio. He's who I wrote.
I wrote Cruz too. He's a Trump lap dog. In retrospect, it might be interesting to see what boiler plate email response I get from him on Trump tariffs in general.Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.Comment
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It was a waste of time, Trump called his wife ugly among numerous things and Cruz has become his biggest lapdog. You were better off sending a letter to Santa Claus.
I thought you may have moved to Texas.Comment
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The Chinese government issued a White (position) Paper on trade negotiations between the US and China today. The paper was issued, not necessarily, coincidentally with the cancellation of a planned trip by China's trade minister to Washington on Wednesday. This occurred in response to the planned imposition of more tariffs at midnight today. The paper lays out China's position on trade (see link below).
There is really nothing new in the paper except the tone is a bit softer than the language of early last week according to analysts. China wants to portray itself as the victim of Trump's unilateral, America first, big stick policies on trade and says it will not be intimidated. It accuses the US of damaging established trade protocols and working to rework them to the disadvantage of their trading partners. The paper makes specific claims about Chinese efforts to recognize and properly compensate companies for intellectual property and states that out of the $35b China has paid for such things, a quarter of it goes to the US.
It also charges the US negotiators with constantly changing the language of the trade agreement being fashioned last month in an incremental way to disadvantage China. This, not unexpectedly, is a different version than the US's regarding why the trade talks failed. It does, however, seem consistent with how Trump might try to work a business deal.
Here's my take: Trump's behavior regarding the threatened imposition of tariff's on Mexican imports to the US for the purpose of pressuring Mexico to tighten immigration protocols inside their country creates a perception that this US administration can't be trusted to act rationally in trade discussions. While Trump may be trying to rewrite the international order as a matter of strategic planning, and there may be some merit to that approach, he consistently takes steps that potentially derail the process because there appears to be no rational for some of the steps he takes on the way. It's hard to determine exactly what his objectives are in any given FP or trade sphere.
Policy talks among sovereigns have always been based and rely upon a measure of predictability. Trump, it appears to me, treats such talks like a business deal and believes that being unpredictable is a bonus for the US. I think you'd like to know how your competitor is going to play things. Trump rejects that notion in his administration's negotiating tactics. That's a high risk undertaking IMO.That approach, it seems to me, creates unnecessary obstacles and resentment by negotiating partners. We're seeing this with the Iranians and the Chinese.
I don't object to and have defended the Trump administration's efforts to reshape trade and military alliances to America's advantage after decades of being taken advantage of but a more subtle effort, one that is less in your face, would be the path I'd chose. For example, both the Chinese and the Iranians have repeatedly offered olive branches subtly intertwined in their messaging. Instead of saying, "fuck off," which seems to be Trump's typical refrain, usually defying his adviser's advice, it might pay dividends to offer talks out of the light of the world's press. Will he allow such a process? My Eight Ball says "decidely no" ....... and it is here that I can no longer support an executive who repeatedly screws the US with his unpredictable irrationality that it appears he interjects into the otherwise sound processes of his closest advisers.
It's worth seeing two takes on the White Paper:
Mission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.Comment
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Also, I would like to thank everyone for the well wishes."The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is sometimes hard to verify their authenticity." -Abraham LincolnComment
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I mentioned in a post up thread that Trump would be well advised to understand Asian culture and refrain from his in your face approach to trade and FP.
The link below underlines the appropriateness of this position. You have to read it through to get it's point but it makes it very clear that the current Huawei gambit is fraught with the potential for failure in it's objective if I understand it correctly....... a punitive measure that when combined with other measures to get the Chinese to temper their mercantilism.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-kneecap-chinaMission to CFB's National Championship accomplished. But the shine on the NC Trophy is embarrassingly wearing off. It's M B-Ball ..... or hockey or volley ball or name your college sport favorite time ...... until next year.Comment
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Trump admin reportedly considered putting tariffs on Australia because they produce aluminum more cheaply than we doLast edited by Dr. Strangelove; June 2, 2019, 10:04 PM.Comment
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