Alan Zweibel

If there's competition, then corporations may have to swallow at least some of the tax increase. As an example, take brand names vs house brands. If Cheerios get too expensive consumers switch to a house brand. Or, if some product becomes too expensive, the end consumer may stop consuming it or consume less. So a corporation has to make a choice whether to pass along the full tax or swallow some portion of it. The is what's called by economists Demand Elasticity. Tariffs protect companies from competition. If you think competition is a bad thing, then you''ve made an excellent point. I stand corrected. The EU does require a minimum VAT of 15%.

Once again, you resort to making it personal. And that's because you've got nothing.

Most of the New power generation being created in the world today is from renewables. In addition, new or improvedtechnologies such as heat pumps, greatly reduce the rate of power consumption.

Only if you believe the lies created by climate change denialists.

Nonsense. The tariff power that he's exercising now, he's always had. How is that a win? All the powers of the presidency are now correctly defined? You got to list you want to share? And they all will be for the future? Does your crystal ball tell you how the Supreme Court will be deciding issues in the future?

You're the one who claimed it was a win-win for Trump. It might have been a win for Trump if he just grumbled about the decision and let it go. But now that he's going another route to impose tariffs, he's still shooting himself in the foot. Tariffs are not popular.

Sorry. Individuals don't have to pay all of the taxes imposed on corporations. You should look up "price elasticity" If the price is too much, consumers may be able to get along without it. Which brings up the second point. Maybe in a world without competition If a company raises its prices to cover taxes, that's the case that corporations can pass the full tax along to the consumer. . And Trump sure is trying to help that along by imposing tariffs and making foreign goods less competitive. But the fact is that there is still competition in the USA, although a lot less than there used to be thanks to lax enforcement of antitrust laws. As for "that VAT poor shmucks in the EU have to pay", in the fully developed EU nations there's a stronger social safety net and education is a lot cheaper than in the USA. And VAT is imposed by individual countries. The EU doesn't set the rates.

I guess 2+2=4 is cliched also. But it's the truth. Stop deflecting.

I'm sure you're going to share your sources for this assessment of mine. My sources say different: The New York City Office Market Is Roaring Back, and It’s Pricier Than Ever Manhattan office space is leasing at a rate not seen since 2006, while office markets in other cities are plodding along New York City’s office market is enjoying its biggest boom in nearly two decades, leaving the rest of the U.S. in its dust. Businesses leased 23.2 million square feet of additional Manhattan office space during the first nine months of 2025, according to real-estate services firm CBRE Group. That is the largest amount of new workspace rented for that period in 19 years. A combination of factors is fueling the recovery, from more New York workers heading back to the office regularly to the financial sector’s increasing appetite for more modern office space. Accounting and consulting company Deloitte signed one of the biggest leases this year when it rented nearly three-quarters of a new Hudson Yards skyscraper under development on Manhattan’s West Side. https://archive.ph/weQd1#selection-725.0-737.124

You think that Trump believes limiting his power to make threats is a win? That he's really for a Presidency with sharply circumscribed powers? A co-equal branch of government? It is to laugh.

Did the FBI have a warrant signed onto by a real judge?

You mean like trasngressing against the fourth amendment against search and seizure by using administrative warrants? DHS’s Position and Why It Should Alarm Us All To capture how extreme DHS’s position is, consider how the op-ed characterizes the lawyers who disagree with it: Although the law is clear, deep-state actors in the federal government have for decades told ICE officers that they may not enter a fugitive alien’s home even with a final order of removal and administrative warrant. Those “deep-state actors” were lawyers across multiple Democratic and Republican administrations at DHS and the Department of Justice, including lawyers in the first Trump administration, several of whom have publicly objected to the legal guidance. DHS’s top lawyer accuses them of ignoring “clear law,” even though no court has upheld the use of such warrants to enter a home, as a previous article explains. https://www.justsecurity.org/131621/ice-administrative-warrants-fourth-amendment-response-dhs-general-counsel/

Thanks for not including a link. Or at least a reference to AI if your search otherwise came up short. But it shouldn't have come up short. I've been seeing this news consistently 11 Million Visitors Short: Inside America’s Continuing Tourism Slump Last year, the U.S. was the only major destination to see a decline in international travelers. With increased scrutiny at the border, ICE violence and unpredictable policies, the new year isn’t looking better. https://archive.ph/y4ZUR#selection-507.0-511.210 Fewer foreigners visited US in 2025 as global tourism spending rose The United States registered a 6% drop in foreign visitors in 2025 even as global tourism overrode concerns about saturation in some locations to generate a 6.7% rise in spending compared to the previous year, according to an industry group. More than 1.5 billion tourists spent $11.7 trillion on hotels, cruises and flights last year, according to the data from the World Travel and Tourism Council. https://archive.ph/Q3jPQ

February 21, 2026 at 1:59 pm EST By Chris Riback 256 Comments Washington Post: “Trump administration officials have struggled to figure out how to increase U.S. military spending by a whopping $500 billion in their forthcoming budget, slowing the overall White House spending plan, four people familiar with the matter said.” “President Donald Trump last month agreed to a roughly 50 percent funding boost sought by Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, in the White House’s annual budget proposal.” “Since Trump agreed to the higher number, White House aides and defense officials have run into logistical challenges surrounding where to put the money, because the amount is so large, the people said. https://politicalwire.com/2026/02/21/pentagon-seeking-ways-to-spend-additional-500-billion/ On the one hand you've got your tax and spend Democrats. On the other you got your spend and spend Republicans.

One of the problems that people have with understanding imports is that the majority of goods imported are what is called intermediate inputs. Like car parts. This is a relatively late large scale development. So most people still think of completed goods like washing machines or lawnmowers or whatever when they think of imports. Anyway, here's a link to an article from the rightwing magazine National Review. Which explains why trade deficits aren't in and of themselves a bad thing: https://archive.ph/d10dI https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/02/trump-was-always-wrong-about-the-trade-deficit/

It figures that your lame joke depends on events that took place long ago. And that you ignore recent evidence. How well has America fared in wars since 1945?

No more than he knows that he's being deprived of decent medical care.

Here's a little something to counter your deflection: https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-trump-obama-immigration-ice-death-deportation/a-75895526 You'll note that Trump in his first 15 months has already had more immigrants in custody die than did under Obama in the entirety of either his first or second terms.

Deflectin much? You made ignorant comments about the French miliatry so you offer dodgy assertions as a deflection.

So now you're trying to deflect from the fact that your summary was inane. And where did you pull your information about French fighting ability out of? You know, it's not incumbent upon you to have opinions about things you clearly know nothing about: French forces in Afghanistan French forces in Afghanistan were involved in the War in Afghanistan from late 2001 until fully withdrawing by 2014. They operated within two distinct frameworks: the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), carried out by NATO on a United Nations mandate and "Operation Enduring Freedom", under US command, as part of the war on terror. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_forces_in_Afghanistan France’s Lessons ABSTRACT: This article explains the role combat in Afghanistan played on the evolution of the French Army. With decades of relative peace since the Algerian War, French soldiers began their service in Afghanistan with little experience and minimal materiel, but quickly paid the price for developing into a combat-ready force that quickly responded when terrorist activity increased in Mali shortly after the Afghanistan involvement. https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2774&context=parameters

What has this to do with custody?

x Once upon a time they did have one of the world's most advanced civilizations. As did the Muslims. But ultimately, the Chinese turned inwards and paid a terrible price for that. The ironic thing is that now it's Maga supporting Americans who are denigrating the need for Chinese technology and science which are progressing at a dizzying pace.

Well, just because Trump did some things to appeal to racists, that doesn't mean that everyone who voted for him is a racist.

Good point. I bet right now the Dems are planning to send a huge flotilla to attack Iran. Oh wait a minute...

Here's what the person who, to judge by MAGA supporters' characterizations is really a secret Democrat, is proposing as part of his new budget: Trump calls for US military spending to rise more than 50% to $1.5tn President Donald Trump has called for US defence spending to be increased to $1.5tn (£1.1tn) in 2027 for what he called "these very troubled and dangerous times". That would be more than 50% higher than this year's $901bn budget, which was approved by Congress in December. "This will allow us to build the 'Dream Military' that we have long been entitled to and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe," Trump said on social media on Wednesday. Trump calls for US military spending to rise more than 50...The president also called on defence firms to increase production or face a crackdown on payouts.