Maybe the EU can say sth like, "We will reduce our tariffs on American products by 35%," without, you know, saying how small the raw-value amount would be overall.
Since Dumpy doesn't know anything about anything, he likely will. And then we'll be treated to the following: YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT, DONALD J. TRUMP, FORCED THE EU TO REDUCE ITS TARRIFF RATES ON THE EU BY 35%! SO MUCH WINNING! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
Yes, so EU, retaliate, especially on rich people's stuff like LVH and other designer merchandise, expensive motor vehicles, top-shelf liquor, and wine. Since we know the billionaires are so cheap that they are fine making children starve in the US, even though they can afford the increase, they will squeal like the livestock they are.
Rich people have no problem paying for expensive items. It shows how much more they have than you and me. Many of their purchases are investments of one kind or the other. Rich people economize when they pay the maids, the gardeners, the chauffeur, the handymen, local businesses, etc.
Although I still point out his whims have killed people, 600-800,000 extra deaths based on his policy when compared to Canada…’whims’ is too nice, more ‘diarrhea of the mind’…spewing over the lands we used to call America!
No. Giving in to bullies never pays. Because he will only come back for more "concessions."
If the EU threatens even larger counter-tariffs, the markets will start to to tumble once again, Trump/GOP megadonors will threaten to put away their checkbooks, and we'll get another round of TACO.
This is also the main reason all the made-for-TV ICE raids are hammering the economies of CA & NY--and NOT TX & FL. Because the devastation to Republican-owned farms, builders, meat packers, hotels, etc. by killing their labor supply would royally piss off the GOP donor class.
Exactly. But the economic punishment being intentionally inflicted on them is meant to *motivate* them to hate Dem control in Sacramento even more, and push even harder for Republican rule...I guess.
The big ICE raids in CA & other Blue States are for the national pro-GOP audience watching FOX News. The GOP farmers, etc. devastated by this are expected to suck it up. For the cause.
Possibly true. I don't know CA politics in enough detail to be certain. But, at the same time, the ICE raids on farms and in SF won't endear the GOP to them.
Most of the rural CA counties--where the farms and ranches are located--are all solidly Red. Which reflects the national political map, with cities predominantly Blue, and countryside Red.
But ICE hasn't *yet* started creating the economic devastation being inflicted on CA, in TX & FL, two other states containing perhaps 35-40% of the current illegal population.
Once this Trump-generated economic damage starts causing spikes in consumer inflation--which it will, because CA (and FL) is America's greengrocer, *then* he might back off.
Another explanation is that Trump/GOP by trying to shut down CA's agricultural output, is trying to increase market penetration for Florida's GOP megafarms.
Apparently, he prefers random capitalization, so I'm guessing it would look more like:
"Your Favorite president DONALD J. TRUMP, forced the EU To Reduce its TARIFF rates BY 35%!!1!! so Much Winning! Thank you FOR your Attention to This Matter."
The amusing choreography is from the musical (The Lambeth Walk), in which the song was a show-stopping Cockney-inspired extravaganza, inspiring a popular walking dance, performed in a jaunty strutting style which, in the mocking satire of the doctored newsreel, knocked the Nazi military pomp into hilarious burlesque.
Full employment for Schicklgrubers is part of the BBB.
In the traveling circuses that used to wander around South America, the clown was often the baddest ass on the crew; if you scratch the skin off a comedian, you'll find an undercover cop. So comedians and pundits should do hilariously too, and Art may even be democratized by oppression.
I still like TACO Loco, The Gold Load, Lard, Loaf. And ‘Cheating Incorporated’. So many to choose for a smile. He loves him some Gold Leaf, makes everything look new and shining, like his heinie! Now that’s lawn ornaments he could sell, “straight from the West End/Wing, Donny’s ‘Golden Heinie’, done in plaster-casters and pure gold (leaf.)
Unfortunately I don't think this matters. Trump I think is doing this not to honestly negotiate better trade agreements but to create the illusion of an excuse to tax your average American with tariffs and replace or significantly reduce federal income tax especially on the rich. His goal and strategy was laid out months ago when he said he wants to return to the 1800's (or some imaginary place) when we had no federal income tax and government was funded solely by tariffs and sales tax. It has been an idea floated by Republicans before and it is just to have one purpose for our federal government, an army to attack, intimidate and enforce our global dominance and nothing else.
I personally believe that Dump is trying to negotiate what he considers "better" trade deals, but because he doesn't understand trade, people assume there has to be more nefarious intent.
This is a vibes president who doesn't understand the nuts and bolts of politics or governance. Everything is performative to him - a show that always has to be over-the-top. It would be boring as hell to him to get world leaders together and try to arrange a new style of international trade that took logistics into account. So instead, he just goes off half-cocked and does whatever he thinks will make things the most interesting to him.
I don't know which of these theories is correct, and perhaps they all have some plausibility. But it's just obvious that in the absence of anything like consistency coming from the "Let's Make a Deal" White House, not only Americans but every foreign government has to assess our government as behaving capriciously and unpredictably. They have to treat the U.S. the way we used to treat the Soviet Union, with specialists engaging in "Kremlinology" to try to keep current.
I agree. While I don’t expect logic from the White House, these letters aren’t asking for negotiations nor for changes in policies. I think they are pretty clearly just adding an illegal tax on foreign goods thinking this will reduce the deficits (not a crazy thought) and raise money.
I wonder whether The Trump thinks that revenue from tariffs will be completely under his control? That this is his pot of gold separate from ordinary tax revenues because He negotiated the deals for this new stream of money. Or, I just might be going nuts.
Speaking of percent, does anyone remember a month or so ago when Trump told how much he had reduced the price of eggs? The percentages he gave would mean that you'd get paid a few bucks for taking a dozen eggs instead of *paying* for them. No, I don't think he has the concept at all.
It could be a part of the Trump paradox that the less he uses his brain, the longer he will live; but it may have a reciprocal relationship to the size of his movement eventually. Americans are still prone to hope, which somewhat explains his political existence, but we'll see how soon our cultural health develops an immune resistance to spin. Weird how this kind of spin still seems to work in Russia, where they abandoned hope way back in Soviet times. It's astounding what people will do to each other to hang on to a little power.
But on the other hand, the current consensus seems to be that actively using one's brain (perhaps even just ny reading, especially aloud) lengthens its usefulness. And a new study says that the "age" of the brain, as measured by the proteins generated by the brain and various organs, is strongly correlated with NOT geting dementia and being less likely to die soon. We'll see, though I may not live to see it all resolved, being even older than Trump by a litte bit,
Might work. But if Trump takes the bait, what happens to all of that massive new tariff revenue he said was going to make us all so rich? No revenue, only an exploding deficit because of a huge tax cut for the already rich. Is this a great country or what!
It’s worth noting that Trump himself once wanted to impose a digital services tax on Amazon. I believe Bezos’s political shift toward Trump—such as placing restrictions on The Washington Post—is not unrelated to this.
Thank you for that link. Husband wants to keep our subscription for now; I'm more reluctant all the time and reaching out elsewhere for things the Post won't say.
That is a spot on approach that should be immediately adopted by the numerous “American trade adversaries”. It makes as much sense as the calculated tariff numbers.
I’m a retired CPA, and worked for a company that imported much of its inventory. Yes, a tariff IS a tax. Also, for retail consumers, you will also pay state/local sales taxes on the tariff tax — the cherry on top of this Baloney Sandwich!
SoS was regular fare in USMC mess halls when I was on active duty, and was pretty popular. Also had SoS aboard ships when I was embarked on Navy amphibious craft. Always liked SoS, so let's not be too derogatory about this mess hall staple.
Of course I make a great mushroom, pork sausage over buttermilk biscuits...not quick SOS but close. Dad, served on an LST (large stationary Target), post--WW II, and had fond memories as well. DeMOB duties...
At some point we need to call BS BS…I do approve of a sense of decorum but ‘murder is murder,’ not sudden unexplained loss of life…he is pulling people, hard-working people, off the street with supposedly ICE workers in masks and no markings…this is terrorism! We need a word stronger than just not okay, and it’s really the BS excuses that make it such a horror-show!
We are being played for fools, the only country in the world where heathcare is not a human right. You are scammed day-in and day-out by insurance companies and big pharma. Insurance premiums paid monthly only for you to see Claim Denied. Drug costs that are 2-3 times the cost for the same drug in the next country. It is carnage on the American stage. You accept all that. ?????? https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/health-inequity?r=3m1bs
Sadly the same folks who say they hate "socialized medicine" are the same people who have no problem with an unelected corporate beancounter working for a for-profit insurance scam ration their care.
More important for stockholders to get a big dividend check than for sick people to get all the health care they need!
Amen to Joe’s “unelected corporate bean counter” description. Those who harp on the “Unelected” label haven’t considered how excruciating it would be to have to elect all of our bureaucrats, judges, and bean counters of any kind.
Once I had to vote for the state insurance commissioner. No idea what that person even did and how to judge the qualifications of the candidate, who ran unopposed.
To Joe’s point, the general public can’t vote out the corporate executives, let alone the bean counters.
It was exposed back in the 90s that California SCREW CROSS actually gave bonuses to the examiners who denied the most claims. Those winners got prizes like a week on a cruise ship, a week's stay at Cancun, a shopping spree at a department store or a week a Club Med.
And that's the reward beancounters got for denying claims and making sick people suffer...
What you bring up is so important - - with all the chaos, we haven't really focused on what's going to happen with the destruction of regulatory bodies. Adhering to government regulations costs businesses a lot - - but it keeps us all safe. With the chainsaw taken to many of these bodies, there won't be watchdogs to ensure companies are not taking advantage of consumers. If healthcare insurance and pharmaceutical companies have egregious practices now (and they do!) I shudder to think of what's coming down the pike with deregulation.
It shouldn't be hard. Quality and service will plummet in most cases. Consumers will have little to no recourse for damages incurred by shoddy products and services. I.e., The race to the bottom will accelerate. It's likely going to be worse than the Gilded Age.
For the Trekkers, "Welcome to Ferenginar. That will be one strip of gold pressed latinum."
I think that in past decades, doctors themselves have been a major obstacle to widespread health insurance -- they are/were afraid that if people were insured, the doctors' income and prestige would be impaired.
But, now that the doctors' income and prestige has been impaired, are they still against insurance?
The US government, as an effective entity, may well fail specifically because it is dragged down by the rent seeking medical industrial complex. The US wastes about $2Trillion/yr on excessive health care costs. There are multiple "known" solutions, used in other countries that provide heath care at half the cost per person of the US system. The excess spending doesn't go into doing anything productive, it just increases the national debt every year, money funneled from taxpayers into the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. This is a known problem, but it will not be fixed since there are so many people's hands in the till.
Is there no one in the White House to proofread official letters from the President?!! I'm a professor, and I would dock a freshman a full grade for the number of grammatical and capitalization mistakes in that letter. It's an embarrassment--or maybe I should say EMBARRASSMENT.
I can't imagine any freshman would write something so embarrassingly stupid. If so, docking them probably wouldn't be as sensible as referring them to the school shrink. Can you imagine how people in other countries must be gobsmacked by letters like that being used in high-level international communications? WTF?!
Trump didn't write this by himself - he can't write that well. But whoever he gives his draft to is too brow-beaten and afraid to change those insidious capitals.
I pity the folks who have to follow him around and write this shit! Really, I hope they graduated HS so perhaps they can get into somewhere like Columbia, not the country so much, but with all the fear he is doing, he hates education in all it’s forms!
He’s all blister and bluster! For a Mafia Don, he’s not hiring the best, just the cutest! Don’t what generals, I want someone who could play on on TV, Heagsdeath.
John, how come You didn’t misspell anything in your comment? You some sort of elitist who paid attention in sixth grade? You probably proofread, too, don’t you? Even now, after our Leader has shown us the way to Freedom, spelling and grammar-wise. We may have lost a few other freedoms here and there, but we can at least be free of the old chains holding us back from expressing ourselves in writing.
I made the same comment on a different Substack newsletter about the equally oddly capitalized letter Trump sent to Brazil threatening tariffs unless they end the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro (who conspired to overthrow their nation's election). But it shows that Trump wrote the letter. Random use of capitals is a Trump trademark - a sign of declining mental capacity.
"but there clearly isn’t a strategy, just the prejudices of an ignorant man and his enablers." Unfortunately there is nothing more to say about Tariff Dude. Ignorant and prejudiced........
And/or the EU and Latin America could charge the US a "licensing fee" to use the term World Cup, and a very large fee for allowing the US to participate in the event. The formula to calculate these combined fees would be based heavily on the economic loss and harm to the "FIFA Block Nations" from Trump's Tantrum Tarriffs. Tit for Tat ...
I beg to differ: the EU should not retaliate with reciprocal tariffs, but should instead announce with appropriate fanfare that the new tariff rate on non-agricultural US imports will be only 1% and only 3.9% for agricultural imports. Surely, that will sound like enough of a win for the Stable Genius.
No, it won't. Pay close attention to the "..and non-Tariff Policies and Trade Barriers.." in there. One of these that he's already mentioned is the VAT (your sales tax). He will get specific and demand that these be eliminated for items imported from the United States. He will also demand that you eliminate the health regulations that restrict sales of agricultural products to the EU.
EXACTLY. Doing what the would-be exporters want; ie no barriers to chlorine-washed chickens and other rubbish that is illegal here, for excellent reasons. Plus opening up our excellent national health systems to rapacious American insurance companies. In other words, remake the rest of the world in an imitation of everything that is wrong with the States. What we in Europe think of this could be expressed in any of our many languages, but in none of them would it be polite…
Nothing wrong with demanding to be treated BETTER than domestic companies, or is it?
I think the real problem is that Trump doesn't understand that every business entity gets fully reimbursed for any VAT paid by them, therefore it doesn't help any business entity at all if import VAT is not charged.
The only way would be to introduce a rule that CONSUMERS don't pay VAT on products imported from the US, making such products more competitive in the marketplace.
I don't think this would be possible to put to work. The other problem with that is that there are hardly any consumer goods made in the US that you can buy in Europe, so it wouldn't make a dent in the trade deficit anyway. The vast, vast majority of goods imported from the US are industrial goods like planes, turbines, machine parts, etc., for which (see above) VAT is not charged, or reimbursed, because the customers are business entities.
They're not stupid! Again. People outside the US are NOT the targets of his rhetoric. He doesn't care what you think - he only cares what he can convince his people of. Accuracy or truth is not desirable with Trump.
I would hope at least a few MAGAs would disapprove. I’ve seen comments at the WSJ of people complaining that the tariffs are wrecking their businesses.
"the VAT (your sales tax). He will get specific and demand that these be eliminated for items imported from the United States."
Except it wouldn't change a single thing for importers, because for them import VAT is strictly a pass-through item that doesn't affect the bottom line at all. Let's compare two scenarios:
I. The world as it is.
I.1. The importer imports goods for, say, 100,000€ net, and pays 119,000€ = 100,000€ invoiced value + 19,000€ import VAT.
I.2. He sells the goods to a retailer for 200,000€ net, and receives 238,000€ = 200,000€ invoiced value + 38,000€ VAT. He pays 19,000€ to the tax authority, and keeps 19,000€ to reimburse himself for the import VAT already paid, thereby making a profit of 100,000€ by reselling the goods he imported.
II. The world as Trump wants it.
II.1. The importer imports goods for, say, 100,000€ net, and pays 100,000€ invoiced value.
II.2. He sells the goods to a retailer for 200,000€ net, and receives 238,000€ = 200,000€ invoiced value + 38,000€ VAT. He keeps 200,000€ and funnels the 38,000€ VAT to the tax authority, thereby making a profit of 100,000€ by reselling the goods he imported.
How can it help Trump's voters when the EU ditches the import VAT? It's almost as if nobody in the Trump administration has any idea at all how VAT in Europe works.
They don't care how it works. You people are not the actual targets of his rhetoric, so accuracy is not important. We've been dealing with this garbage since 2016. Quit trying to make Trump make sense.
Oh, Trump knows that. Nevertheless, he will pressure the European nations to eliminate these "unfair" taxes on US goods. He's already made noises about it.
I genuinely hope the EU, Brazil and Canada tell him to F off! We need to feel the consequences of his and his team of sycophants’ insane behavior for the needed backlash to fully kick in.
great article, thank you for the lead, one of my first mentors in history was a specialist in Latin American history, and he talked about "el Patron" as the model of governance; I'd forgotten that, so thanks for the reminder, I didn't know it was actually Weberian
🎶Who can short the market? And make a lot of dough? He's right there in the White House and you know he'll make that so! The Trumpy Man! The Trumpy Man can cause six crooks on the courts said it's OK with his scam!🎶
Am I crazy to think that the intended effect is the actual effect it's having? Cutting off Americans from imports (and tourists) and the American economy from exports, starting with knowledge and education.
Along with expelling brown people (soon other colors too I imagine) which has convenient side effects of drastically reducing women's autonomy (no childcare, no eldercare), personally I do see consistent aims and successful strategies.
My guess is that the SCOTUS and a congressional majority see very clearly how this will work to their advantage, along with many judges, etc. Also police, too much military, and scores of people eager to put on a mask to brutalize and chain gardeners.
Is it really to our advantage to pretend this isn't all coordinated?
The enablers are the only ones who can stop drumpf from dragging this country and the global economy into a slump, but they are enablers for a reason: they want this disruption, which will eventually lead to civil unrest and military response from governments against their own people, and the ultimate destruction of democracy worldwide, so the billionaires and their armies can rule us all. Dystopian, I know, but entirely likely.
You encourage the EU to retaliate. I get it, but will Trump? He practices The Golden Rule upside down and backwards, typically doing unto others what he doesn’t want done to him. It is no wonder many of us suffer imagined vertigo.
What does the world think about America and its vaunted political system that is stupid enough to choose somebody like Trump as its leader? Regardless of what Trump/Republicans/billionaires think, if they do, The United States is not a self-sufficient island.
Maybe the EU can say sth like, "We will reduce our tariffs on American products by 35%," without, you know, saying how small the raw-value amount would be overall.
Maybe Tantrump will fall for it.
Since Dumpy doesn't know anything about anything, he likely will. And then we'll be treated to the following: YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT, DONALD J. TRUMP, FORCED THE EU TO REDUCE ITS TARRIFF RATES ON THE EU BY 35%! SO MUCH WINNING! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
CNN will likely post this as their headline: "Trump scores win in EU trade deal."
Yes, so EU, retaliate, especially on rich people's stuff like LVH and other designer merchandise, expensive motor vehicles, top-shelf liquor, and wine. Since we know the billionaires are so cheap that they are fine making children starve in the US, even though they can afford the increase, they will squeal like the livestock they are.
Rich people have no problem paying for expensive items. It shows how much more they have than you and me. Many of their purchases are investments of one kind or the other. Rich people economize when they pay the maids, the gardeners, the chauffeur, the handymen, local businesses, etc.
reported
NYT: "Trump Extends Trade Wins To The EU"
He's never had a legitimate policy in his life - just fanciful whims and nutty, ill-conceived notions.
Although I still point out his whims have killed people, 600-800,000 extra deaths based on his policy when compared to Canada…’whims’ is too nice, more ‘diarrhea of the mind’…spewing over the lands we used to call America!
No. Giving in to bullies never pays. Because he will only come back for more "concessions."
If the EU threatens even larger counter-tariffs, the markets will start to to tumble once again, Trump/GOP megadonors will threaten to put away their checkbooks, and we'll get another round of TACO.
This is also the main reason all the made-for-TV ICE raids are hammering the economies of CA & NY--and NOT TX & FL. Because the devastation to Republican-owned farms, builders, meat packers, hotels, etc. by killing their labor supply would royally piss off the GOP donor class.
I think that many of the farmers hit in CA are actually Republicans. Otherwise, I agree.
Exactly. But the economic punishment being intentionally inflicted on them is meant to *motivate* them to hate Dem control in Sacramento even more, and push even harder for Republican rule...I guess.
The big ICE raids in CA & other Blue States are for the national pro-GOP audience watching FOX News. The GOP farmers, etc. devastated by this are expected to suck it up. For the cause.
Possibly true. I don't know CA politics in enough detail to be certain. But, at the same time, the ICE raids on farms and in SF won't endear the GOP to them.
Most of the rural CA counties--where the farms and ranches are located--are all solidly Red. Which reflects the national political map, with cities predominantly Blue, and countryside Red.
But ICE hasn't *yet* started creating the economic devastation being inflicted on CA, in TX & FL, two other states containing perhaps 35-40% of the current illegal population.
Once this Trump-generated economic damage starts causing spikes in consumer inflation--which it will, because CA (and FL) is America's greengrocer, *then* he might back off.
Another explanation is that Trump/GOP by trying to shut down CA's agricultural output, is trying to increase market penetration for Florida's GOP megafarms.
Apparently, he prefers random capitalization, so I'm guessing it would look more like:
"Your Favorite president DONALD J. TRUMP, forced the EU To Reduce its TARIFF rates BY 35%!!1!! so Much Winning! Thank you FOR your Attention to This Matter."
That is what happens if you confuse capitalism and capitalization with capitalization.
Yes, the garbage scow Trump is a rudderless navigation hazard amid the shifting currents of global prosperity.
Note: Laughing at wannabe or actual dictators is powerful stuff - they want to be feared not amusing.
Here's an historically famous example, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnBhQHa0xDI
The amusing choreography is from the musical (The Lambeth Walk), in which the song was a show-stopping Cockney-inspired extravaganza, inspiring a popular walking dance, performed in a jaunty strutting style which, in the mocking satire of the doctored newsreel, knocked the Nazi military pomp into hilarious burlesque.
Thanks! I've never seen The Lambeth Walk. Genius editing.
So amusing that it infuriated the Nazis...just like maggots get upset about farcical videos today.
Full employment for Schicklgrubers is part of the BBB.
In the traveling circuses that used to wander around South America, the clown was often the baddest ass on the crew; if you scratch the skin off a comedian, you'll find an undercover cop. So comedians and pundits should do hilariously too, and Art may even be democratized by oppression.
Somewhere a lamp post awaits us all.
ça ira, ça ira - à la laterne, à la laterne....
Excellent!
This is the best! Thank you so much. Too bad no one used some similar satirical choreography during Thump's recent birthday parade.
I think the army itself did! it was a sort of shuffle .... or at least the images that I saw.
lol 😺
Now, now. Calling names doesn’t help… unless it’s more creative. Like Trumplethinskin.
Yeah. That helps. 😊
I still like TACO Loco, The Gold Load, Lard, Loaf. And ‘Cheating Incorporated’. So many to choose for a smile. He loves him some Gold Leaf, makes everything look new and shining, like his heinie! Now that’s lawn ornaments he could sell, “straight from the West End/Wing, Donny’s ‘Golden Heinie’, done in plaster-casters and pure gold (leaf.)
I think the things on the fireplace in the oval are just spray paint
I like Felon in Chief
Unfortunately I don't think this matters. Trump I think is doing this not to honestly negotiate better trade agreements but to create the illusion of an excuse to tax your average American with tariffs and replace or significantly reduce federal income tax especially on the rich. His goal and strategy was laid out months ago when he said he wants to return to the 1800's (or some imaginary place) when we had no federal income tax and government was funded solely by tariffs and sales tax. It has been an idea floated by Republicans before and it is just to have one purpose for our federal government, an army to attack, intimidate and enforce our global dominance and nothing else.
I personally believe that Dump is trying to negotiate what he considers "better" trade deals, but because he doesn't understand trade, people assume there has to be more nefarious intent.
This is a vibes president who doesn't understand the nuts and bolts of politics or governance. Everything is performative to him - a show that always has to be over-the-top. It would be boring as hell to him to get world leaders together and try to arrange a new style of international trade that took logistics into account. So instead, he just goes off half-cocked and does whatever he thinks will make things the most interesting to him.
I don't know which of these theories is correct, and perhaps they all have some plausibility. But it's just obvious that in the absence of anything like consistency coming from the "Let's Make a Deal" White House, not only Americans but every foreign government has to assess our government as behaving capriciously and unpredictably. They have to treat the U.S. the way we used to treat the Soviet Union, with specialists engaging in "Kremlinology" to try to keep current.
Maralagology?
I agree. While I don’t expect logic from the White House, these letters aren’t asking for negotiations nor for changes in policies. I think they are pretty clearly just adding an illegal tax on foreign goods thinking this will reduce the deficits (not a crazy thought) and raise money.
Perhaps the main word being "illegal."
Calling all members of congress, who haven't been crypto-bought.
I wonder whether The Trump thinks that revenue from tariffs will be completely under his control? That this is his pot of gold separate from ordinary tax revenues because He negotiated the deals for this new stream of money. Or, I just might be going nuts.
Betting he thinks he gets to take all of it when he leaves office ... or as much as he can carry in the gifted nice (old) 747.
The only difficulty I see is their being able.to keep a straight face when they announce it.
Speaking of percent, does anyone remember a month or so ago when Trump told how much he had reduced the price of eggs? The percentages he gave would mean that you'd get paid a few bucks for taking a dozen eggs instead of *paying* for them. No, I don't think he has the concept at all.
It could be a part of the Trump paradox that the less he uses his brain, the longer he will live; but it may have a reciprocal relationship to the size of his movement eventually. Americans are still prone to hope, which somewhat explains his political existence, but we'll see how soon our cultural health develops an immune resistance to spin. Weird how this kind of spin still seems to work in Russia, where they abandoned hope way back in Soviet times. It's astounding what people will do to each other to hang on to a little power.
According to trump's logic, babies are the STRONGEST humans, and only people who do absolutely nothing maintain their strength.
That may go far toward explaining Trump's stamina...
But on the other hand, the current consensus seems to be that actively using one's brain (perhaps even just ny reading, especially aloud) lengthens its usefulness. And a new study says that the "age" of the brain, as measured by the proteins generated by the brain and various organs, is strongly correlated with NOT geting dementia and being less likely to die soon. We'll see, though I may not live to see it all resolved, being even older than Trump by a litte bit,
Might work. But if Trump takes the bait, what happens to all of that massive new tariff revenue he said was going to make us all so rich? No revenue, only an exploding deficit because of a huge tax cut for the already rich. Is this a great country or what!
Nah, they should just tell him to go to hell.
Brilliant idea. P!ay on his idiocy, of which wehavealot.
Precious. It might actually work. But only if some TV star repeats it incessantly on FoxNews…😉
Unfortunately, the EU may end up yielding to Trump.
The EU has conceded on the proposed digital service tax, similar to Canada.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/08/trump-bullied-canada-over-digital-taxes-and-ottawa-submitted
https://www.politico.eu/article/victory-eu-donald-trump-meta-tax-digital/
I’m not exactly sure what that tax was but I think that any concession to Trump will just make him worse.
I’m already seeing Trumpers boasting about the concession by Canada as an example of their wonderful Dear Leader.
Here is an introduction to digital service tax.
https://youtu.be/MAKpewMQxbg?t=66
It’s worth noting that Trump himself once wanted to impose a digital services tax on Amazon. I believe Bezos’s political shift toward Trump—such as placing restrictions on The Washington Post—is not unrelated to this.
Thx. Since these companies are American it’s catnip for Trump. Bezos may well have talked to him about.
Bezos is horribly mismanaging WaPo.
https://presswatchers.org/2025/07/washington-post-publisher-seeks-to-crush-newsroom-dissent/
Thank you for that link. Husband wants to keep our subscription for now; I'm more reluctant all the time and reaching out elsewhere for things the Post won't say.
I prefer various Substack authors for opinion journalism. NYT and WaPo are too anemic, although I keep them for straight news.
That is a spot on approach that should be immediately adopted by the numerous “American trade adversaries”. It makes as much sense as the calculated tariff numbers.
"That's crazy enough that it just might work!"
I’m a retired CPA, and worked for a company that imported much of its inventory. Yes, a tariff IS a tax. Also, for retail consumers, you will also pay state/local sales taxes on the tariff tax — the cherry on top of this Baloney Sandwich!
More like ‘shit on a shingle.’
SoS was regular fare in USMC mess halls when I was on active duty, and was pretty popular. Also had SoS aboard ships when I was embarked on Navy amphibious craft. Always liked SoS, so let's not be too derogatory about this mess hall staple.
Of course I make a great mushroom, pork sausage over buttermilk biscuits...not quick SOS but close. Dad, served on an LST (large stationary Target), post--WW II, and had fond memories as well. DeMOB duties...
Right, but I have grandkids so try to moderate with Baloney Sandwiches instead of the other BS word!
At some point we need to call BS BS…I do approve of a sense of decorum but ‘murder is murder,’ not sudden unexplained loss of life…he is pulling people, hard-working people, off the street with supposedly ICE workers in masks and no markings…this is terrorism! We need a word stronger than just not okay, and it’s really the BS excuses that make it such a horror-show!
That is a great point!
We are being played for fools, the only country in the world where heathcare is not a human right. You are scammed day-in and day-out by insurance companies and big pharma. Insurance premiums paid monthly only for you to see Claim Denied. Drug costs that are 2-3 times the cost for the same drug in the next country. It is carnage on the American stage. You accept all that. ?????? https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/health-inequity?r=3m1bs
Sadly the same folks who say they hate "socialized medicine" are the same people who have no problem with an unelected corporate beancounter working for a for-profit insurance scam ration their care.
More important for stockholders to get a big dividend check than for sick people to get all the health care they need!
Amen to Joe’s “unelected corporate bean counter” description. Those who harp on the “Unelected” label haven’t considered how excruciating it would be to have to elect all of our bureaucrats, judges, and bean counters of any kind.
Once I had to vote for the state insurance commissioner. No idea what that person even did and how to judge the qualifications of the candidate, who ran unopposed.
To Joe’s point, the general public can’t vote out the corporate executives, let alone the bean counters.
It was exposed back in the 90s that California SCREW CROSS actually gave bonuses to the examiners who denied the most claims. Those winners got prizes like a week on a cruise ship, a week's stay at Cancun, a shopping spree at a department store or a week a Club Med.
And that's the reward beancounters got for denying claims and making sick people suffer...
Hence Luigi.
Medicare “Advantage” being a prime example.
What you bring up is so important - - with all the chaos, we haven't really focused on what's going to happen with the destruction of regulatory bodies. Adhering to government regulations costs businesses a lot - - but it keeps us all safe. With the chainsaw taken to many of these bodies, there won't be watchdogs to ensure companies are not taking advantage of consumers. If healthcare insurance and pharmaceutical companies have egregious practices now (and they do!) I shudder to think of what's coming down the pike with deregulation.
It shouldn't be hard. Quality and service will plummet in most cases. Consumers will have little to no recourse for damages incurred by shoddy products and services. I.e., The race to the bottom will accelerate. It's likely going to be worse than the Gilded Age.
For the Trekkers, "Welcome to Ferenginar. That will be one strip of gold pressed latinum."
I think that in past decades, doctors themselves have been a major obstacle to widespread health insurance -- they are/were afraid that if people were insured, the doctors' income and prestige would be impaired.
But, now that the doctors' income and prestige has been impaired, are they still against insurance?
The US government, as an effective entity, may well fail specifically because it is dragged down by the rent seeking medical industrial complex. The US wastes about $2Trillion/yr on excessive health care costs. There are multiple "known" solutions, used in other countries that provide heath care at half the cost per person of the US system. The excess spending doesn't go into doing anything productive, it just increases the national debt every year, money funneled from taxpayers into the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. This is a known problem, but it will not be fixed since there are so many people's hands in the till.
Is there no one in the White House to proofread official letters from the President?!! I'm a professor, and I would dock a freshman a full grade for the number of grammatical and capitalization mistakes in that letter. It's an embarrassment--or maybe I should say EMBARRASSMENT.
"I would dock a freshman a full grade..."
I can't imagine any freshman would write something so embarrassingly stupid. If so, docking them probably wouldn't be as sensible as referring them to the school shrink. Can you imagine how people in other countries must be gobsmacked by letters like that being used in high-level international communications? WTF?!
Trump didn't write this by himself - he can't write that well. But whoever he gives his draft to is too brow-beaten and afraid to change those insidious capitals.
Trump added the explanation marks. So many exclamation marks. In a formal letter to another president. 🤦♀️
I pity the folks who have to follow him around and write this shit! Really, I hope they graduated HS so perhaps they can get into somewhere like Columbia, not the country so much, but with all the fear he is doing, he hates education in all it’s forms!
He’s all blister and bluster! For a Mafia Don, he’s not hiring the best, just the cutest! Don’t what generals, I want someone who could play on on TV, Heagsdeath.
John, how come You didn’t misspell anything in your comment? You some sort of elitist who paid attention in sixth grade? You probably proofread, too, don’t you? Even now, after our Leader has shown us the way to Freedom, spelling and grammar-wise. We may have lost a few other freedoms here and there, but we can at least be free of the old chains holding us back from expressing ourselves in writing.
I made the same comment on a different Substack newsletter about the equally oddly capitalized letter Trump sent to Brazil threatening tariffs unless they end the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro (who conspired to overthrow their nation's election). But it shows that Trump wrote the letter. Random use of capitals is a Trump trademark - a sign of declining mental capacity.
With poor structure and content. Diplomacy by demand? These are not the work of professional writers.
Really, it is time for the rest of the world to walk away from this train wreck and make other arrangements
European nations are seriously working on that.
Every country is working towards that; the US will become isolated, except for Russia and Israel.
Good luck America.
Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound.
Kurtz: Are my methods unsound?
Willard: I don't see any method at all, sir.
Apocalypse Now.
I was going to post that; you beat me to it.
Probably the best line in that moving picture show (though I'll give the opening line some bit of propers).
Paul Krugman's got me to coda'ing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-bvNttwAUc
They were careless people, - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness.
"sell the house, sell the car, sell the kids, (and send me the money). I'm never coming home. Never!" But we know he's too chicken to do that.
"but there clearly isn’t a strategy, just the prejudices of an ignorant man and his enablers." Unfortunately there is nothing more to say about Tariff Dude. Ignorant and prejudiced........
Woe be it that we elected an "ignorant man"-- as if that wasn't already evident.
not elected...installed
https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/she-won-they-didnt-just-change-the
The EU can ask FIFA to move the 2026 World Cup out of the USA
And/or the EU and Latin America could charge the US a "licensing fee" to use the term World Cup, and a very large fee for allowing the US to participate in the event. The formula to calculate these combined fees would be based heavily on the economic loss and harm to the "FIFA Block Nations" from Trump's Tantrum Tarriffs. Tit for Tat ...
FIFA should just pull the World Cup over safety concerns given ICE. A slap in the face and a financial hit hard to ignore.
I beg to differ: the EU should not retaliate with reciprocal tariffs, but should instead announce with appropriate fanfare that the new tariff rate on non-agricultural US imports will be only 1% and only 3.9% for agricultural imports. Surely, that will sound like enough of a win for the Stable Genius.
No, it won't. Pay close attention to the "..and non-Tariff Policies and Trade Barriers.." in there. One of these that he's already mentioned is the VAT (your sales tax). He will get specific and demand that these be eliminated for items imported from the United States. He will also demand that you eliminate the health regulations that restrict sales of agricultural products to the EU.
EXACTLY. Doing what the would-be exporters want; ie no barriers to chlorine-washed chickens and other rubbish that is illegal here, for excellent reasons. Plus opening up our excellent national health systems to rapacious American insurance companies. In other words, remake the rest of the world in an imitation of everything that is wrong with the States. What we in Europe think of this could be expressed in any of our many languages, but in none of them would it be polite…
MAGAs keep saying that the VAT is effectively a tariff, no matter how many times you explain that it’s charged on ALL goods, domestic and imported.
I’ve even heard that some US states have such taxes too (typically called a sales tax).
Nothing wrong with demanding to be treated BETTER than domestic companies, or is it?
I think the real problem is that Trump doesn't understand that every business entity gets fully reimbursed for any VAT paid by them, therefore it doesn't help any business entity at all if import VAT is not charged.
The only way would be to introduce a rule that CONSUMERS don't pay VAT on products imported from the US, making such products more competitive in the marketplace.
I don't think this would be possible to put to work. The other problem with that is that there are hardly any consumer goods made in the US that you can buy in Europe, so it wouldn't make a dent in the trade deficit anyway. The vast, vast majority of goods imported from the US are industrial goods like planes, turbines, machine parts, etc., for which (see above) VAT is not charged, or reimbursed, because the customers are business entities.
Good points. But Trump and his cabinet are really stupid so I’m not getting my hopes up.
They're not stupid! Again. People outside the US are NOT the targets of his rhetoric. He doesn't care what you think - he only cares what he can convince his people of. Accuracy or truth is not desirable with Trump.
I would hope at least a few MAGAs would disapprove. I’ve seen comments at the WSJ of people complaining that the tariffs are wrecking their businesses.
"the VAT (your sales tax). He will get specific and demand that these be eliminated for items imported from the United States."
Except it wouldn't change a single thing for importers, because for them import VAT is strictly a pass-through item that doesn't affect the bottom line at all. Let's compare two scenarios:
I. The world as it is.
I.1. The importer imports goods for, say, 100,000€ net, and pays 119,000€ = 100,000€ invoiced value + 19,000€ import VAT.
I.2. He sells the goods to a retailer for 200,000€ net, and receives 238,000€ = 200,000€ invoiced value + 38,000€ VAT. He pays 19,000€ to the tax authority, and keeps 19,000€ to reimburse himself for the import VAT already paid, thereby making a profit of 100,000€ by reselling the goods he imported.
II. The world as Trump wants it.
II.1. The importer imports goods for, say, 100,000€ net, and pays 100,000€ invoiced value.
II.2. He sells the goods to a retailer for 200,000€ net, and receives 238,000€ = 200,000€ invoiced value + 38,000€ VAT. He keeps 200,000€ and funnels the 38,000€ VAT to the tax authority, thereby making a profit of 100,000€ by reselling the goods he imported.
How can it help Trump's voters when the EU ditches the import VAT? It's almost as if nobody in the Trump administration has any idea at all how VAT in Europe works.
They don't care how it works. You people are not the actual targets of his rhetoric, so accuracy is not important. We've been dealing with this garbage since 2016. Quit trying to make Trump make sense.
Oh, Trump knows that. Nevertheless, he will pressure the European nations to eliminate these "unfair" taxes on US goods. He's already made noises about it.
Agree.
Canada has already caved on the digital tax.
I genuinely hope the EU, Brazil and Canada tell him to F off! We need to feel the consequences of his and his team of sycophants’ insane behavior for the needed backlash to fully kick in.
He caved on the digital tax already.
It’s only suspended, not actually revoked…
OK, thanks, didn’t know that.
We are suffering under governance by tantrum.
great article, thank you for the lead, one of my first mentors in history was a specialist in Latin American history, and he talked about "el Patron" as the model of governance; I'd forgotten that, so thanks for the reminder, I didn't know it was actually Weberian
🎶Who can short the market? And make a lot of dough? He's right there in the White House and you know he'll make that so! The Trumpy Man! The Trumpy Man can cause six crooks on the courts said it's OK with his scam!🎶
Am I crazy to think that the intended effect is the actual effect it's having? Cutting off Americans from imports (and tourists) and the American economy from exports, starting with knowledge and education.
Along with expelling brown people (soon other colors too I imagine) which has convenient side effects of drastically reducing women's autonomy (no childcare, no eldercare), personally I do see consistent aims and successful strategies.
My guess is that the SCOTUS and a congressional majority see very clearly how this will work to their advantage, along with many judges, etc. Also police, too much military, and scores of people eager to put on a mask to brutalize and chain gardeners.
Is it really to our advantage to pretend this isn't all coordinated?
The enablers are the only ones who can stop drumpf from dragging this country and the global economy into a slump, but they are enablers for a reason: they want this disruption, which will eventually lead to civil unrest and military response from governments against their own people, and the ultimate destruction of democracy worldwide, so the billionaires and their armies can rule us all. Dystopian, I know, but entirely likely.
You encourage the EU to retaliate. I get it, but will Trump? He practices The Golden Rule upside down and backwards, typically doing unto others what he doesn’t want done to him. It is no wonder many of us suffer imagined vertigo.
What does the world think about America and its vaunted political system that is stupid enough to choose somebody like Trump as its leader? Regardless of what Trump/Republicans/billionaires think, if they do, The United States is not a self-sufficient island.
https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/she-won-they-didnt-just-change-the