2024 US Presidential Election

[Daniel Lion]

This is a photo from 1945 of liberated Jewish concentration camp survivors at Dachau. Are some of them making the "Nazi salute", as well?

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@Luman, I do not correspond with you on this thread, so I will not comment on your perception of this photo.

Good luck. Post to your heart's content.

I will see you on a different thread if our paths cross again.

Take care.

 

[Fields]

I am not trying to demean anyone on this thread as I try to respect everyone.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

 

[Jammer]

Ah, the leader giving direction to private industry leaders to further his political goals.

There's a type of political structure that utilized this sort of organizing principle, but I just can't seem to remember what it was. All I can say it was kind of in vogue in Europe in the first part of the 20th century.

President Orange and his significant other:

 

[RunningMan]

Trump said he couldn't care less if we have to pay higher prices for new cars:

Trump says he 'couldn't care less' if auto prices rise because of tariffs

 

[Jammer]

Remember: Banks are people too!

Then they'll say you should just keep a 'buffer' in your checking so that doesn't happen and blame you again. Americans love to think they're so smart and wise for avoiding getting fucked in the ass that they don't see why the ass fucking should be prevented in the first place.

 

[just1morething]

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Do you mean our tinnitus? Or my personality? I've been really struggling with my left ear static noise. I'm worried about having this noise until I expire which is depressing. It's not that I'm not trying to fix it. I've had left jaw replacement and recently had CT scans of my temporal bone and TMJ.

I don't see why the ass fucking should be prevented in the first place.

That's what the Norwegians think is so damn natural. I always thought Adam & Eve was a man and a woman.

 

[Luman]

The UAW supports Trump's auto tariffs.

In a Victory for Autoworkers, Auto Tariffs Mark the Beginning of the End of NAFTA and the “Free Trade” Disaster - UAW | United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America

Days after Volkswagen, the #2 automaker in the world, announced making $20.6 billion in profit in 2024, a new UAW survey of VW workers in Chattanooga reveals the devastating financial toll of VW’s substandard U.S. health care offerings.

uaw.org

 

[Joey72]

You'd think that as a tinnitus sufferer yourself, you would be more concerned about the Trump administration harassing and firing FDA employees on a daily basis.

I read on Apple News two days ago that the medical device section will not be affected. Make of that what you will.

 

[Anomalous]

I read on Apple News two days ago that the medical device section will not be affected. Make of that what you will.

IT ALREADY HAS been affected.

Reuters: FDA staff struggle to meet product review deadlines after DOGE layoffs.

If you have any information to the contrary, please provide a link.

 

[just1morething]

Has anyone watched Elon Musk's informative town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin?

 

[just1morething]

Elon Musk:

IRS refund fraud payments are one of several means used by the Democratic Party to attract and retain illegal immigrants in the USA. That's why they are so opposed to @DOGE stopping this!

The Democratic Party is aiding and abetting fraudulent government payments to illegals in order to establish a permanent one-party majority nationally, just like they did in California.

The more you look into it, the crazier it gets.

 

[grate_biff]

Demagogue!
A political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.

Senator Cory Booker just taught me a new word I've been looking for for a while.

 

[Fields]

Has anyone watched Elon Musk's informative town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin?

Briefly. Other than Musk attempting to buy votes for the Wisconsin Supreme Court special election (which ultimately failed), I didn't glean any particularly interesting information from it.

What else was said?

Do you mean our tinnitus? Or my personality? I've been really struggling with my left ear static noise. I'm worried about having this noise until I expire which is depressing. It's not that I'm not trying to fix it. I've had left jaw replacement and recently had CT scans of my temporal bone and TMJ.

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles; a jaw replacement is a major surgery. Are you recovering well? Wishing you a speedy recovery.

I share your worries. Advancements in tinnitus research move at a glacial pace, and relief doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. Regenerative medicine currently seems like a pipe dream, but I feel that bioelectronics (such as Neurosoft) still offer a small glimmer of hope.

 

[ZFire]

Ah, the old appeal to emotions. We are talking about RFK Jr., not Elon. If the United States does not rein in its spending, there will not be money for anything except the interest on the national debt. So let us try to have a more serious conversation instead of petty gotchas.

Ah yes, the classic fake outrage over the national debt from you guys, which is funny when you consider the fact it has been Republican administrations (yes, even your beloved Trump) who have skyrocketed the national debt to record-breaking levels. Funny how that part always gets left out.

Tax cuts for the wealthy and unchecked military spending are all you're going to get from the so-called "party of fiscal responsibility."

 

[Jammer]

Eghhh, I was told corps are gonna absorb these tariffs so we are all just overreacting.

Wait, then I was told the plan is to crater the economy quickly so we will bounce back first. V style baby!!!

Shit, then there I saw something about a "Mar-A-Lago Acord" where the best deal maker to ever grace gods green earth was gong to renegotiate all of the countries debt somehow on his own! Wheeew, that's a relief.

I'm sure none of this confusion and uncertainty I'm experiencing will do anything to the notoriously unflappable and calm markets our late stage.

 

[Anomalous]

BREAKING NEWS: US President Trump announces a 10% tariff on the Norwegian territory of Jan Mayen, a volcanic island in the Arctic ocean and home to absolutely no one.

 

[Watasha]

Ah yes, the classic fake outrage over the national debt from you guys, which is funny when you consider the fact it has been Republican administrations (yes, even your beloved Trump) who have skyrocketed the national debt to record-breaking levels. Funny how that part always gets left out.

Tax cuts for the wealthy and unchecked military spending are all you're going to get from the so-called "party of fiscal responsibility."

Ah yes, the classic: You know nothing about me, but you are so polarized that you lump me in with anyone that I defend. Not that it's any of your business, but I am registered unaffiliated and consider myself a deficit hawk who also considers the national debt the primary concern of the United States.

Joe Biden was running 2 trillion dollar deficits per annum, and not a peep was being said about it by Democrats. Yes, both parties have driven us to the brink of fiscal ruin. That said, the Trump tax cuts actually ended up EXCEEDED projecting revenues scored by the CBO (Definition = largely paid for themselves). Most of the debt related to his first term were existing deficits (which were gradually coming down under Obama) and COVID emergency spending. If you scored the increased revenues that came in at the end and after his term, the tax cuts did not impact that deficit all that much.

Unchecked military spending? Our national debt interest has eclipsed military spending, and again, where are the Democrats who constantly fail to even broach the topic?

Tax cuts for the "wealthy" are a cop-out, cliche term. Trump's initial tax cuts included doubling the standard deduction and child tax credit. The fact is, the "wealthy" pay most of the taxes, so any cut at all for them ends up being quite large in nominal terms. Those on the other side never fail to omit the cuts for the middle class.

This is my one response: I don't engage in back-and-forths with people who haven't demonstrated intellectual honesty; it's a waste of my time.

 

[grate_biff]

BREAKING NEWS: US President Trump announces a 10% tariff on the Norwegian territory of Jan Mayen, a volcanic island in the Arctic ocean and home to absolutely no one.

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He is just being thorough. Even nothingness needs tariffs. That is real power. That is common sense.

What a complete mess this is!

The good thing is, we will never see @Luman or @just1morething in this thread again. They will probably feel too embarrassed now.

 

[Luman]

Reciprocal tariffs are long overdue and, in the long run, will pay off. America lost five million manufacturing jobs over the past twenty-seven years, which is one of the largest manufacturing job losses in U.S. history. Trump is going to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America. In Vietnam, at 130 NIKE factories, there are half a million workers. These factories are sweatshops. They make shoes for seven dollars, and sell them here for one to two hundred dollars. Products produced by slave labor have no place in today's world. These foreign plants pay workers eight cents an hour. Many other American companies do this. GM has announced that they're going to bring back factories to the United States.

 

[Anomalous]

Reciprocal tariffs are long overdue and, in the long run, will pay off. America lost five million manufacturing jobs over the past twenty-seven years, which is one of the largest manufacturing job losses in U.S. history. Trump is going to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America. In Vietnam, at 130 NIKE factories, there are half a million workers. These factories are sweatshops. They make shoes for seven dollars, and sell them here for one to two hundred dollars. Products produced by slave labor have no place in today's world. These foreign plants pay workers eight cents an hour. Many other American companies do this. GM has announced that they're going to bring back factories to the United States.

You do realize that the column in the chart titled "Tariffs Charged to the U.S.A. Including Currency Manipulation and Trade Barriers" is in fact just the ratio between the trade deficit and imports from each country?

For example, U.S. exports to China were $143.5 billion and imports were $438.9 billion in 2024. (438.9 - 143.5)/438.9 = 67%.

Second example: U.S. exports to the European Union were $370.2 billion and imports were $605.8 billion in 2024. (605.8 - 370.2)/605.8 = 39%.

If the ratio between the trade deficit and imports is less than 10% (even when there is a trade surplus), the ratio is graciously rounded up to 10%. This is the case with the UK, Colombia, Turkey and Singapore.

That is how they obtained all those numbers in that column. It is only based on U.S. exports and imports and has nothing to do with tariffs imposed on the U.S. by other countries, which are generally much lower than 10%.

I personally cannot wait for you to rediscover why isolationism is such a bad idea. It famously worked very well for the Soviet Union, not to mention North Korea. Have fun sewing your own clothes, I guess.

 

[kingsfan]

Ten percent of the American stock market has been wiped out just the past month.

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I've been managing to survive by cashing out portions of my 401k. I'm completely fucked.

 

[Jammer]

Trump Tariffs: Stock Market Loses $3.1 Trillion in value in one day. Such a genius.

 

[Anomalous]

 

[just1morething]

BREAKING NEWS: US President Trump announces a 10% tariff on the Norwegian territory of Jan Mayen, a volcanic island in the Arctic ocean and home to absolutely no one.

View attachment 60327

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Jan Mayen is an island between Greenland and Norway in the Arctic Ocean, administered by Norway. The island has 18 gay Norwegian inhabitants.

 

[Anomalous]

Jan Mayen is an island between Greenland and Norway in the Arctic Ocean, administered by Norway. The island has 18 gay Norwegian inhabitants.

Well, I hope you and @Luman enjoyed their hospitality.

 

[ZFire]

Ah yes, the classic: You know nothing about me, but you are so polarized that you lump me in with anyone that I defend. Not that it's any of your business, but I am registered unaffiliated and consider myself a deficit hawk who also considers the national debt the primary concern of the United States.

Joe Biden was running 2 trillion dollar deficits per annum, and not a peep was being said about it by Democrats. Yes, both parties have driven us to the brink of fiscal ruin. That said, the Trump tax cuts actually ended up EXCEEDED projecting revenues scored by the CBO (Definition = largely paid for themselves). Most of the debt related to his first term were existing deficits (which were gradually coming down under Obama) and COVID emergency spending. If you scored the increased revenues that came in at the end and after his term, the tax cuts did not impact that deficit all that much.

Unchecked military spending? Our national debt interest has eclipsed military spending, and again, where are the Democrats who constantly fail to even broach the topic?

Tax cuts for the "wealthy" are a cop-out, cliche term. Trump's initial tax cuts included doubling the standard deduction and child tax credit. The fact is, the "wealthy" pay most of the taxes, so any cut at all for them ends up being quite large in nominal terms. Those on the other side never fail to omit the cuts for the middle class.

This is my one response: I don't engage in back-and-forths with people who haven't demonstrated intellectual honesty; it's a waste of my time.

Amazing. Whining over the national debt and then, in the very next breath, defending the Trump tax cuts. And then, we wonder why we were consistently spending more than we were collecting in revenue.

By the way, you conveniently forgot to include the corporate tax rate set at 21% by Trump (it was 35% prior). This disproportionately benefits the wealthy exclusively. His corporate tax cuts are set to expire soon, and now he wants to lower them even further in his new tax proposal.

Lastly, it is difficult to have a real discussion about spending without addressing wealth inequality. It is becoming a major problem, and we are not seeing increases in productivity passed on to workers. That trend started around the time we left the gold standard. It is a complicated issue because we live in a system of private property rights, but at some point, the very wealthy are either going to need to open their pocketbooks voluntarily or be forced to do so in one way or another—and I am not sure that process will be pleasant.

But you're okay with the Trump tax cuts, which have widened economic inequality. You're all over the place, my guy.

I've been managing to survive by cashing out portions of my 401k. I'm completely fucked.

Sorry, man. The worst part is how completely self-inflicted all this bullshit is, thanks to this unhinged administration. And we were warned about this before the 2024 election, which is even sadder. Could have easily been avoided.

 

[Luman]

You do realize that the column in the chart titled "Tariffs Charged to the U.S.A. Including Currency Manipulation and Trade Barriers" is in fact just the ratio between the trade deficit and imports from each country?

For example, U.S. exports to China were $143.5 billion and imports were $438.9 billion in 2024. (438.9 - 143.5)/438.9 = 67%.

Second example: U.S. exports to the European Union were $370.2 billion and imports were $605.8 billion in 2024. (605.8 - 370.2)/605.8 = 39%.

If the ratio between the trade deficit and imports is less than 10% (even when there is a trade surplus), the ratio is graciously rounded up to 10%. This is the case with the UK, Colombia, Turkey and Singapore.

That is how they obtained all those numbers in that column. It is only based on U.S. exports and imports and has nothing to do with tariffs imposed on the U.S. by other countries, which are generally much lower than 10%.

I personally cannot wait for you to rediscover why isolationism is such a bad idea. It famously worked very well for the Soviet Union, not to mention North Korea. Have fun sewing your own clothes, I guess.

This is not "isolationism"; it's a way of opening up negotiations to improve trade relations, which are currently not working well for the United States. Every country is entitled to make changes, or is the United States the exception?

 

[kingsfan]

Sorry, man. The worst part is how completely self-inflicted all this bullshit is, thanks to this unhinged administration. And we were warned about this before the 2024 election, which is even sadder. Could have easily been avoided.

I should have just cashed it all out, but I was worried that would hurt me more later. I don't know what I'll do now. I'm getting close to needing to cash out more. I suppose I'll just get a warehouse job that will destroy my tinnitus.

 

[Jammer]

4D chess master Trump knows what he's doing. He said the economy will go BOOM with his tariffs that he personally determined.

I think this is the red wave he was promising. Which way to the bread line?

 

[Rainer]

Don't despair over the Orwellian distortions of reality. The world has not gone mad. Only the US. Here are some choice words from The Economist's most recent leader on page 9:

"the leader of the free world [spouted] complete drivel about its most successful and admired economy. [...] the president's mindless vandalism [...] Mr Trump's assertions are flat-out nonsense.