No understatement there.  Title from my favorite news source, RTNews, but just Google the title, and you get plenty of the same reports.

 

Also stated 'hand in there', which is the sad part, as he actually thinks people care, or see the long game.  They don't, and don't care.   Why it will all fail miserably, very fast.  Even worse, nothing will have time change for the good, and people don't want to sacrifice at all, short or long term, for the benefit of future.

 

TBH, I'm the same ... but ... I never had to depend on the system to take care of me.  Why it will fail, and if no immediate improvement, come midterms, as Senator Cruz suggests, Reps will face a 'bloodbath' at the polls  

 

... and the deep state will be back in control.

 

All good for me of course, as not there, and whatever is bad for the USA, is usually good for expats.  I await inflation and a good COLA.  Any luck, and the exchange rate will hold steady for this year, and not drop too much, the next couple years.   If so, hopefully offset by inflation, and COLA.

 

He stated the same while campaigning, and first week in office, but people aren't going to 'buy USA', and manufacturing won't come back quick enough.   Good plan in theory, but people haven't go the intelligence, or care about the future.   Everyone lives in the now, and want 'free sh!t'  

 

Oh well, such is life.   

17 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

No understatement there.  Title from my favorite news source, RTNews, but just Google the title, and you get plenty of the same reports.

 

Also stated 'hand in there', which is the sad part, as he actually thinks people care, or see the long game.  They don't, and don't care.   Why it will all fail miserably, very fast.  Even worse, nothing will have time change for the good, and people don't want to sacrifice at all, short or long term, for the benefit of future.

 

TBH, I'm the same ... but ... I never had to depend on the system to take care of me.  Why it will fail, and if no immediate improvement, come midterms, as Senator Cruz suggests, Reps will face a 'bloodbath' at the polls  

 

... and the deep state will be back in control.

 

All good for me of course, as not there, and whatever is bad for the USA, is usually good for expats.  I await inflation and a good COLA.  Any luck, and the exchange rate will hold steady for this year, and not drop too much, the next couple years.   If so, hopefully offset by inflation, and COLA.

 

He stated the same while campaigning, and first week in office, but people aren't going to 'buy USA', and manufacturing won't come back quick enough.   Good plan in theory, but people haven't go the intelligence, or care about the future.   Everyone lives in the now, and want 'free sh!t'  

 

Oh well, such is life.   

Well, he doesn't care does he, because he knows it will be his last term probably. So he just wants to do what he thinks is right.

 

As for the exchange rate staying steady this year, with Trump in charge it's a lot to hope for. Though having said that, the current trend is pretty steady.

 

What he is doing is clearly right for the future. If voters will share that view in the future, let's see.

Deleted because link contains a banned word.

The MAGA supporters will mostly believe anything he says or how he spins it.

They are very flexible and forgiving of their hero and not the brightest.

As he golfs with the Saudis (you know the religion of peace guys)poops into his golden toilet as the world’s economic engine blows up at his bidding….. tired of winning yet?elections have consequences.

If you older folks remember the Jimmy Carter administration, one of his speeches was telling Americans something similar..  Like tough it out or something like that. July 15, 1979 Malaise speech.  Carter made several specific policy prescriptions. But in a presidency animated by spirituality perhaps more than any other in American history, this speech called more generally for national self-sacrifice and humility.

Oh and I drove through Palm Beaches Florida today on my way back from Seminole and Hard Rock casinos further South.  Apparently Trump has been playing golf regularly during this term.

1 hour ago, gk10012001 said:

Oh and I drove through Palm Beaches Florida today on my way back from Seminole and Hard Rock casinos further South.  Apparently Trump has been playing golf regularly during this term.

and?

1 hour ago, gk10012001 said:

If you older folks remember the Jimmy Carter administration, one of his speeches was telling Americans something similar..  Like tough it out or something like that. July 15, 1979 Malaise speech.  Carter made several specific policy prescriptions. But in a presidency animated by spirituality perhaps more than any other in American history, this speech called more generally for national self-sacrifice and humility.

I remember president carters speach it was grounded on sound reasoning and the proper way to get oneself out of debt.one thing it didn’t do was stick a knife in our friends throats take food from starving destitute people .it was not based on some imaginary grievance coming out the mouth hole of a pathological liar trust fund baby who has never known want nor consequences for his actions.it is indeed a dark time as an American I feel deep shame for #1 my fellow countrymen and women electing this defective person#2 as humble as it is all I can do is apologize .folks this ain’t us we are better than this.

7 hours ago, KhunLA said:

No understatement there.  Title from my favorite news source, RTNews, but just Google the title, and you get plenty of the same reports.

 

Also stated 'hand in there', which is the sad part, as he actually thinks people care, or see the long game.  They don't, and don't care.   Why it will all fail miserably, very fast.  Even worse, nothing will have time change for the good, and people don't want to sacrifice at all, short or long term, for the benefit of future.

 

TBH, I'm the same ... but ... I never had to depend on the system to take care of me.  Why it will fail, and if no immediate improvement, come midterms, as Senator Cruz suggests, Reps will face a 'bloodbath' at the polls  

 

... and the deep state will be back in control.

 

All good for me of course, as not there, and whatever is bad for the USA, is usually good for expats.  I await inflation and a good COLA.  Any luck, and the exchange rate will hold steady for this year, and not drop too much, the next couple years.   If so, hopefully offset by inflation, and COLA.

 

He stated the same while campaigning, and first week in office, but people aren't going to 'buy USA', and manufacturing won't come back quick enough.   Good plan in theory, but people haven't go the intelligence, or care about the future.   Everyone lives in the now, and want 'free sh!t'  

 

Oh well, such is life.   

It was a mistake to mention that life isn't going to be easy. Western people have grown used to "easy" and have no capacity to accept things being "not easy". Generations without a real war or a depression have created a population grown soft and lazy. The sheeple want to know what is in it for them, not some hard times to build a better future.

 

IMO Trump's real battle will come not from the Dems and the liberals, but from the GOP, panicked by a possible loss in the vote box, which will put self interest ahead of the country and defeat Trump's program to remake the US.

So, back to the rotten, corrupt system which will just delay the inevitable crash till later.

"it won't be easy" coming from a man that pays for nothing.  Free rent...free golf green fees, free food...etc.

4 minutes ago, JohnOFphon said:

"it won't be easy" coming from a man that pays for nothing.  Free rent...free golf green fees, free food...etc.

He even lives rent-free in most lefties heads. 

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

TBH, I'm the same ... but ... I never had to depend on the system to take care of me.  Why it will fail, and if no immediate improvement, come midterms, as Senator Cruz suggests, Reps will face a 'bloodbath' at the polls  

 

... and the deep state will be back in control.

 

All good for me of course, as not there, and whatever is bad for the USA, is usually good for expats.  I await inflation and a good COLA.  Any luck, and the exchange rate will hold steady for this year, and not drop too much, the next couple years.   If so, hopefully offset by inflation, and COLA.

 

You seem very reliant on Social Security and I would point out that it is part of the system and it is currently taking care of you. I know we paid into Social Security and should get the benefits but your current checks come from money being paid by workers in the US now and the money you and I paid in was spent a long time ago.

 

 

It's legitimate to ask people to sacrifice for a necessary goal or real emergency.

It's TOTAL EVIL to force sacrifice on a population based on total insanity of intentionally ruining the future of your country based on bizarro-world formulas that no student could propose in school without getting an F.

Also he flippin' lied. 
He said he would lower prices instantly.

Don't let him gaslight you by saying he honestly warned people.

Yes it won't be easy to rid the nation and the world of this sleazeball mentally ill grifter who rules based on his weird whims and doesn't consider consequences, even to the next day.

The American people elected him.

 

FAFO.

1 minute ago, JAG said:

The American people elected him.

 

FAFO.

Yes, and that's a reason that the American brand has been permanently ruined. One time could be a fluke. Two times and Americans (collectively) are really that insane.

52 minutes ago, biervoormij said:

You seem very reliant on Social Security and I would point out that it is part of the system and it is currently taking care of you. I know we paid into Social Security and should get the benefits but your current checks come from money being paid by workers in the US now and the money you and I paid in was spent a long time ago.

 

 

Soc Sec could stop tomorrow, and I wouldn't be affected.  I never needed it, as I retired with 'my' money.   I've always lived quite easy, without the assistance of gov't or employers, once I realized I'm the only person that will pay me, what I'm worth.

 

That the govt depleted SS isn't my fault, or my problem, o  my responsibility to fix, or that I even care.  I left that place 25 years ago, and the only thing from their that I have, is the birthrate of a passport.

 

Didn't ask for anything else, don't want anything else.  Don't need anything else.

 

Learned 'Life Lesson #1' early on ... "Don't depend on a system, any system, that doesn't care about you"

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

IMO Trump's real battle will come not from the Dems and the liberals, but from the GOP, panicked by a possible loss in the vote box, which will put self interest ahead of the country and defeat Trump's program to remake the US.

So, back to the rotten, corrupt system which will just delay the inevitable crash till later.

I agree 100%.  He's a 'lame duck'' already, and the career politicians, such as Cruz, are already distancing themselves from him.   Even though he doesn't have to worry about midterm election, 22 other Reps in the Senate do.   Reps having the most to lose come 2026.

 

Only 1 retiring vs 4 Dems retiring, so there's a plus for the Reps.  Vance & Rubio's seat need to be refiled,   Ohio could go either way, more likely go Dem.  Florida should be safe for Reps.

 

Fairly certain the Reps will lose the Senate in 2026.  

Anyone who believes that digging out of a $35 trillion dollar hole is going to be easy or painless (or take less than a few election cycles) is just fooling themselves. 

 

Or, more accurately, being sold a bill of goods in anticipation of the next election.  By purveyors of free money if you vote for me.

 

Just to quit digging deeper is going to require sacrifices.  But you gotta start sooner or later.  I'd prefer 10 years ago, but that's not the way that time works.  The best we can do is start today.

 

(And thank God we dodged that bullet in November)

 

It’s a waste of time for folks letting themselves get consumed by all the static and noise and latching on to the rationales of moving information targets flooding through the media. 
Just look at the black and white data and wait for the settled dust of history to show how foolish so many are currently.

10 hours ago, KhunLA said:

He stated the same while campaigning, and first week in office, but people aren't going to 'buy USA', and manufacturing won't come back quick enough.   Good plan in theory, but people haven't go the intelligence, or care about the future.   Everyone lives in the now, and want 'free sh!t'  

 

Oh well, such is life.   

Did Trump state the same thing while campaigning? I did a search and I couldn't find anything. There are some quotes from Musk who made such comments towards the end of the campaign. Maybe somewhere there can be found such an assertion by Trump. But, if so, they are very, very scarce.

Typical MAGA clown applying the logic on themselves:
Walmart has always treated me unfairly. It never buys anything from me. Beginning tomorrow, I will put a 50 % tariff on all products I buy from Walmart.

Having traveled a lot all around the world for 50+ years I have seen the good the bad and the ugly of a wide variety of countries from rich to poor.  I have seen people who literally have nothing.  There are millions of people who do not have easy access to clean water to drink.  There are people who were born into poverty with little to zero chance ever to escape their "fate". Their are people who die of all sorts of diseases for lack of a vax shot or a hospital or a doctor.

 

Then there is the USA where the vast majority of people overall lead not such bad lives.  Most have a place to live, a nice car, a 55 inch tv, smart phones, etc.   Want water? Press a button.  Want a/c?  Press a button. Want 300 channels on your 55 inch tv? press a button. Want to go somewhere? Get in your car and take off.

 

 Most Americans  live a life that billions of people who were not born on third base like the majority of  Americans.  Many live under brutual dictators.  People constantly die trying to get into the USA for a reason because they know that it offers them the hope of a better life.

 

Yes America has a lof of poor people and a lot of problems.  BUT take a look around the world and most would agree that most Americans have had it much better than billions of their fellow citizens of planet earth. To be born a white american male is very very different to being born a dirt poor cambodian kid.

 

So what the hell are so many americans so very angry about that they are ready to roll the dice on a convicted felon huckster who wants to disrupt the world and "make america great again" at the risk of sending it into a total tailspin? Of course ideally the goal is always to make tomorrow better than today but that does not mean you need to burn the entire country /world down and risk it all on a "concept"?

 

  Bottom line is with some exceptions America has been a great place to live for decades and with all it's warts will likely continue that way in spite of all the whining about what a <deleted>hole country it has become.

 

  Why so angry?

3 minutes ago, pomchop said:

Having traveled a lot all around the world for 50+ years I have seen the good the bad and the ugly of a wide variety of countries from rich to poor.  I have seen people who literally have nothing.  There are millions of people who do not have easy access to clean water to drink.  There are people who were born into poverty with little to zero chance ever to escape their "fate". Their are people who die of all sorts of diseases for lack of a vax shot or a hospital or a doctor.

 

Then there is the USA where the vast majority of people overall lead not such bad lives.  Most have a place to live, a nice car, a 55 inch tv, smart phones, etc.   Want water? Press a button.  Want a/c?  Press a button. Want 300 channels on your 55 inch tv? press a button. Want to go somewhere? Get in your car and take off.

 

 Most Americans  live a life that billions of people who were not born on third base like the majority of  Americans.  Many live under brutual dictators.  People constantly die trying to get into the USA for a reason because they know that it offers them the hope of a better life.

 

Yes America has a lof of poor people and a lot of problems.  BUT take a look around the world and most would agree that most Americans have had it much better than billions of their fellow citizens of planet earth. To be born a white american male is very very different to being born a dirt poor cambodian kid.

 

So what the hell are so many americans so very angry about that they are ready to roll the dice on a convicted felon huckster who wants to disrupt the world and "make america great again" at the risk of sending it into a total tailspin? Of course ideally the goal is always to make tomorrow better than today but that does not mean you need to burn the entire country /world down and risk it all on a "concept"?

 

  Bottom line is with some exceptions America has been a great place to live for decades and with all it's warts will likely continue that way in spite of all the whining about what a <deleted>hole country it has become.

 

  Why so angry?

You dont seem to understand there were only two options, trump or america turning into the UK. what do you want americans to do?

11 hours ago, KhunLA said:

No understatement there.

Oh yes it is a big understatement! This is called sugarcoating. The real expression would be impossible, but I am stupid enough to try. 

11 minutes ago, hotsun said:

You dont seem to understand there were only two options, trump or america turning into the UK. what do you want americans to do?

Definitely, as these GDP graphs show, the USA was following the path of the UK

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=gdp+in+uk

 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=gdp+in+usa

14 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Oh yes it is a big understatement! This is called sugarcoating. The real expression would be impossible, but I am stupid enough to try. 

Definitely possible ... IF ... you had intelligent voters, but now, only sheeple.   

 

IF you had intelligent voters, you wouldn't need to fix anything, as you wouldn't have ...

... $36T national debt

... trade deficits

... service oriented workforce

... outsourced manufacturing of most products

... the govt as the largest employer (2+M employees)

... defense budget being more than half of the 'discretionary spending'

50 minutes ago, impulse said:

Anyone who believes that digging out of a $35 trillion dollar hole is going to be easy or painless (or take less than a few election cycles) is just fooling themselves. 

 

Or, more accurately, being sold a bill of goods in anticipation of the next election.  By purveyors of free money if you vote for me.

 

Just to quit digging deeper is going to require sacrifices.  But you gotta start sooner or later.  I'd prefer 10 years ago, but that's not the way that time works.  The best we can do is start today.

 

(And thank God we dodged that bullet in November)

 

Get your calculator out, and borrow a brain from someone who has one......

 

How exactly is what he is doing going to erase the deficit and make things better? Have you ever designed and built a factory, considering everything from labor costs to worker skills to tax incentives to power and transport sourcing? Not easy, not done quickly, and sometimes makes no sense---even if one could get behind tariffs.

 

Now on another topic....

 

Since homo sapiens (or their ancestors) walked out of Oldavai Gorge, exactly how many sovereign governments have repaid their debt? Exactly how many?

 

The system is always based on confidence and a collective agreement to suspend disbelief. That is the great secret of civilization, apparently lost on MAGAs. "Service" debt is all that has ever counted.

 

Anyone who has followed POTUS' career knows he knows nothing and has zero skill. He could never service his own debt, so he couldn't lead others to collectively suspend their disbelief. He defaulted on loans and defaulted on junk bonds. 6 bankruptcies.

 

Like sovereign governments, however, he long had his own "Central Bank". Ours is called the Federal Reserve. His was called "daddy". His father 1) gave him a massive allowance from the age of 3 until dad's death, 2) co-signed every loan POTUS took until his death, 3) once walked into an Atlantic City casino and bought $3.2 million in chips so that POTUS could take the cash and repay a personal loan due in NYC, 4) left POTUS almost half a billion dollars in inheritance.

 

Still, POTUS failed...as his tax returns show. Two things bailed POTUS out. One was that Mark Burnett created a fantasy and made POTUS a Game Show Host, which actually earned POTUS some income, as well as fooling the goobers of US society into believing the guy is some sort of success. The second thing was that---for some reason---Russian oligarchs put money into SIVs (Special Investment Vehicles) at Deutsche Bank and loaned the money to POTUS, or as Junior said, "We get all the money we need from Russia". The SIVs at DB are off balance sheet, but also callable.

 

So we have a lifelong failure, save for Mark Burnett and oligarchs, who somehow thinks tariffs will mean Americans will knit t-shirts just like women in Bangladesh. NOTHING In the tariff plan has anything to do with reducing the deficit. Nothing. Oh, and all the "cost savings" of DOGE amount to not even a rounding error in a single year's budget, much less the total National Debt. DOGE slashing the IRS workforce had the IRS itself estimating it will result in a yearly loss of $500,000,000,000 in tax revenues because people will know they can get away with cheating. Toss in POTUS planned tax cut---which economists estimate will add more than a $trillion a year in new budget deficits, and it should be clear even to MAGAs that POTUS really has no plan for slashing the deficit.

 

Instead, POTUS is slaughtering pensions, insurance company funding, 401Ks, etc., as the markets tank.

 

And the biggest joke of all? Even MAGAs might laugh if they knew the actual story of where the impetus for the tariff plan originated. Perhaps I'll start another thread to discuss that. Just Google "Ron Vara".

7 hours ago, still kicking said:

"Elon Musk's net worth fell by $29 billion on Monday as Tesla's stock price also declined. Tesla's stock was down 15% as of close on Monday, while Musk's net worth was down 6.7%" ...