The Donald Trump Score Card

So I guess that if someone also judged you as being unworthy of life for whatever reason, they also have a right to kill you.
That's how a great society works, I guess.

 

So his strategy was to look like a moron who doesn't know what he's doing because people like you will see it and think he's a genius.

Apparently he has already reached a deal with North Korea as well-- so what is the deal? Is North Korea going to give up their nukes, reunite with the South on Trump's own terms, and then kneel and kiss Trump's ring?

And all that Trump had to do was threaten the entire planet with a nuclear holocaust. Wow... why hasn't anyone thought of this before? They must have been awfully stupid!

 

Before Trump cancelled the summit, he said "We'll see what happens."

After he cancelled it, he talked about revival and said "We'll see what happens."

He can cancel it again after reviving it and say "We'll see what happens."



Trump on canceled North Korea summit: 'We'll see what happens'
President Trump, who canceled a planned summit with North Kora a day prior, said on May 25 that the final status of the meeting remains undetermined.

Trump on canceled North Korea summit: 'We'll see what happens'

 

A salute to Trump.


music video:

Ames Brothers & Les Brown - Undecided

 

The voters essentially sold out their government to foreign oligarchs, and to a domestic oligarch who has already capitalized personally off foreign money, for the sake of electing a President who would go up against political correctness.


Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election
By Mark Mazzetti, Ronen Bergman and David D. Kirkpatrick
May 19, 2018

Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election

excerpt:

"WASHINGTON — Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. One was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor.

The meeting was convened primarily to offer help to the Trump team, and it forged relationships between the men and Trump insiders that would develop over the coming months — past the election and well into President Trump’s first year in office, according to several people with knowledge of their encounters.

Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016. The emissary, George Nader, told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president. The social media specialist, Joel Zamel, extolled his company’s ability to give an edge to a political campaign; by that time, the firm had already drawn up a multimillion-dollar proposal for a social media manipulation effort to help elect Mr. Trump."

 

Trump is using the same ploy again, this time investigating the auto industry to impose tariffs in the name of national securty.


US launches investigation into automobile imports on a 'national security' basis
- The surprise announcement comes at a time of worsening friction over international trade between the United States and its allies.
- Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 authorizes the Commerce Department to determine "the effects of imports of any article on the national security of the United States."
- President Trump asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to carry out the probe.
by Ted Kemp
Published 8:19 PM ET Wed, 23 May 2018 Updated 9:06 AM ET Thu, 24 May 2018 CNBC.com

US launches investigation into auto imports on a 'national security' basis

excerpt:

"The U.S. Department of Commerce started an investigation into automobile imports to determine whether they "threaten to impair the national security" of the United States, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday night local time.

The surprise announcement comes at a time of worsening friction over trade between the United States and other countries — including close allies — with tariffs, threats of tariffs and complaints with the World Trade Organization flying back and forth."

 

I heard a report that the WTO has seven "judges" who ameliorate trade disagreements. Right now there are only four, and two are leaving. They need a minimum of three to decide trade disputes. The US is not allowing new appointees unless they are friendly to the US.

 

I remember, during the campaign, that the head of CBS said that while he didn't like trump, but the corporation was making tons of money
because of trump

 

It's questionable if the WTO can adequately address issues that involve a country claiming national security as its reason for a tariff. The national security claim muddies the waters for dispute resolution.

Other countries could use the same ploy that Trump is using as a way of trying to circumvent the WTO and other orthodox channels that address disputes.

Trump's practice of keeping people guessing imparts uncertainty into the markets which tends to be damaging to particular businesses and workers related to the dispute. The Trump administration contends that damage may be done in the short run to achieve better conditions later.


Fights Among Friends: Trump’s Tariffs and the Global Trading Regime
By Kanzanira Thorington
Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 8:00 AM

Fights Among Friends: Trump’s Tariffs and the Global Trading Regime

excerpt:

"Until recently, under the current WTO system, members avoided invoking the exception as it could force the WTO to inquire into (and possibly find against) the country’s national security claim. To date, an Article XXI defense has not reached a panel decision, thus the scope of the clause is still uncertain.

Before 2017, there were only three WTO disputes where Article XXI was used as a defense, all ending in settlements. While Article XXI has been dormant for most of WTO history, since the emergence of China and Russia as more active WTO players as well as new security concerns such as cybersecurity, the security exception has reemerged as a hot topic. Last year, the security issue came up in three trade disputes: China’s new cybersecurity law, the Ukrainian measures against Russia, and the embargo against Qatar by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Russia-Ukraine dispute is the furthest along in the dispute settlement process."

 

Trump’s Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: How WTO Retaliation Typically Works
Chad P. Bown (PIIE)
March 5, 2018 3:00 PM

Trump’s Steel and Aluminum Tariffs: How WTO Retaliation Typically Works

 

I would like to know how importing foreign made automobiles is a national security issue. it seems to me to be an attempt to force americans to buy american made cars(which people don't want to do). the majority of cars sold in this country are foreign brands.
This brings to mind a question, why should I buy an american made car, if I don't want to? Is it to make sure that some assembly line worker has a job at an automobile plant? I couldn't care less if he has a job or not.

 

Trump going down the road of trade policy based on claims of national security bypasses Congress and the WTO and makes him the Chief Negotiator. This is expected considering the similar authoritarian approaches he used in his private real estate businesses where he didn't have to answer to a board of directors and had near complete control. It's a preferred operating mode for Trump considering his lack of experience in government and a general lack of ability to work effectively with Congress.

 

Trump’s Tariffs Aren’t the Only Way to Shrink the Trade Gap
A gaggle of economists—and Warren Buffett—have alternatives.
By Peter Coy
March 29, 2018, 5:00 AM EDT

Trade Experts Offer Trump Alternatives for Closing the Trade Gap

excerpts:

"The newest idea, and one of the most intriguing, is called the market access charge. It’s a tax that would be applied to all foreign purchases of U.S. assets (possibly excluding currency trading to avoid a fight with Wall Street). The level would be set at perhaps half a percent—high enough to discourage inflows of speculative capital but low enough not to discourage foreign investments in long-term assets such as factories. The hope is that dollars diverted from hot-money investments would be spent on American goods and services. The Federal Reserve would administer the access charge, raising or lowering it as needed, and would keep it in place until the current account was in balance.

The idea was conceived by John Hansen, a retired World Bank adviser."


"The $1.5 trillion tax cut that Trump signed at the end of 2017 will only make the U.S. trade deficit worse, experts say. It overstimulates an economy that’s already running hot, with a jobless rate of just 4.1 percent, which is bound to suck in even more imports from abroad.

In fact, many economists say, now is not the best time to attempt a reduction in the U.S. trade deficit. An American widget factory that’s already running flat-out wouldn’t have the capacity to meet domestic demand if Washington curtailed imports of widgets. It’s still important for U.S. negotiators to fight genuinely unfair foreign trade practices because they harm individual sectors, but a sharp drop in the overall trade gap now would probably stoke inflation. So while there are plenty of ideas for better orchestrating trade flows, the best thing for Trump to do right now might be,,,nothing."

 

I don't call that a lesson in diplomacy. It was a belligerent use of force against a sovereign nation. The United States helped Al Qaeda/Islamic State to kill Gaddafi. He was killed with a sword and a gunshot as CIA agents watch and filmed it. The United States also lied about WMDs so a war could be launched against the people of Iraq, so America's Christians could steal Muslim oil. During the war in Iraq, ISIS was helped continuously by US forces, and resupplied well. The Libyan conflict was also about stealing Muslim oil. And America's current attacks on Syria are also about stealing newly discovered oil in that area. In Syria the American forces are helping ISIS and Al Nusra/Al Qaeda again. Today the American government told Syrian forces no to advance to the south against ISIS & Al Qaeda. Any Iraqi citizen could tell you American Troops are torturers, murderers, and oil thieves.

 

If America wants to be a capitalist society then the best product is rewarded. The others who fail deserve to. The only time Americans cars were popular was when people had no choice. American cars are not as good. That is why they have to cost less and they are depreciate so fast.

Japan did not come until the 1970's so you either bought a GM or Ford, or MAYBE a BMW if you were rich. They are German and expensive though so dad who fought them in the war does not like them. The average middle class person really only had Ford or GM.
Once people could buy a Toyota that ran for 20 years they did. They learned it was possible to have a car work for that long withous issues. In the old days you bought a new GM every 5 years because they wear out.

Just like coal mines certain people romanticize a time that is gone not understanding the world changes. I own a Ford truck but that is because it does its job well. I would never own a GM though.

 

Ford does know how to make a good truck.

 

“That Is What Power Looks Like”: As Trump Prepares for 2020, Democrats Are Losing the Only Fight That Matters
Even in an era of historic media fragmentation, Donald Trump dominates our attention universe to the point where he blocks out the sun. Is it any wonder that people don’t have any idea what Democrats stand for?
by Peter Hamby
May 26, 2018 3:30 pm

“That Is Power”: Why Democrats Are Losing the Only Fight That Matters

excerpt:

"So when Trump claims that he is the victim of a DEEP STATE conspiracy designed to undercut his presidency—#SPYGATE!—our political conversation suddenly becomes premised on a lie, but his lies are nevertheless the terms of the debate. The conservative echo chamber falls in line behind Trump to amplify the noise, repeating his claims without scrutiny. Even the mainstream press slips and muddies the waters, as when The New York Times blithely repeated Rudy Giuliani’s one-sided claim that Robert Mueller plans to wrap up his investigation into whether Trump obstructed the Russia investigation by September 1. How can Democrats possibly compete with this information overload?

“The way to disempower Trump is to ignore him, but its too hard even for his opponents to do it,” Wu told me over the phone recently. “It has to be a pure attention battle. If you were another network and Trump was I Love Lucy, what do you do? You can’t necessarily spend all your time criticizing I Love Lucy because that will just build it up. You need your own programming and to develop your own characters and celebrities who have to be as interesting and compelling. You need to have your own show. And I don’t think Democrats have their own show other than the ‘I Hate Trump’ show.”"

 

Just as we'll never win the marijuana argument by trying to demonize alcohol, the democrats can't possibly hope to win elections that matter by running a platform that's so dedicated to demonizing Trump. The democrats need to find a candidate that is way above that bitchy fray. All those wild calls for impeachment, as if it is itself a charge (which it is not) are utterly useless. Sure, it COULD slow him down, but tossing him out of office is a pipe dream.

When I look at the current democrat landscape I see only twisted versions of the party I saw as I was growing up. However, I'm beginning to think maybe the Clintons were right when they sank Bernie's shot at the top seat. He's a freakin mess now (I don't mean his hair, it's always been that way). And just look at the cartoon characters the democrats are allowing to spew whatever pops into their heads. It's amazing to hear.

I realize during the Obama years that it SEEMED like anything goes for the democrats, but that time is over. If they didn't get their message out then, it's too late now. So it's time for them to pull out of the spin and move more toward the center and attract some voters. If you don't win the elections, how can you hope to get anything done?

 

Some one say something about taxes after the audit?