Can’t help but think that American farmers are in the worst possible situation: diesel is up, fertilizer is up, interest rates are up, and available migrant labor is down.
Perhaps they will reconsider who they vote for in November.
You can't make this up. From Costas Samaras: We the taxpayers are going to pay companies $900 million, which is more than 6x what we spend on wind power R&D, to NOT build wind power at a time when electricity prices are spiking and we need more clean power?
I called the heating oil company I have used these past 20 years, just to check the cash price. It's $5 per gallon. It was $3.70 per gallon prior to the Israeli/US bombing, with "epic fury", of Iran. Prior to that, it was $3 per gallon this time of year in 2025. This is a 66% increase. I buy an instant coffee imported from Germany. The price before Trump's tariffs was $10.49. It is now $12.99. That's an increase of 24%. To quote Trump, I'm tired of winning?
I put my oil delivery on hold - I can’t see storing $1,000 of oil in my basement for the next six months. Maybe oil will be less or more. I’m willing to take the risk.
Looking at getting a hybrid car (Toyota) and paying cash - cost over $100 per week to fill the tank on my 15 year old (Toyota) truck to get to work.
All ready have a hybrid hot water heater and LED bulbs everywhere.
Solar is a bad joke now that all the subsidies are gone. The break even won’t occur in my lifetime unless the rates double - which is possible.
I've not found that to be the case with solar. I contract with a company that provides power from solar "farms" at what seems to be reasonable rates for this area. I also have panels on my roof that provide all of my power needs for nearly ten months out of twelve. Without the subsidies, they would've cost about $50,000 (I got estimates about ten years ago).
If I had gotten the panels installed before the subsidies began, they would be breaking even about now. As it is, my panels were installed three years ago and will break even within another two. Since I'm 77 years old, that may, indeed, not be in my lifetime, but I'll take my chances on that.
I also regard it as my duty to my grandchildren. Next project - replace my gas furnace and water heater with a ground-based heat pump. I'm also looking at induction stoves.
Wow! Our kitchen appliances are all black. I've been waiting on the manufacturers to offer these in something other than bright stainless. They're finally doing it.
I have induction stove and love it. We also have a heat pump, really great. Solar panels with battery storage power it all, and we don't have to worry about power outages anymore.
I live in the tropics. Plenty of sunshine most of the year but also plenty of heat and overcast clouds.
So, I recently installed additional solar panels made by a Norwegian company, REC using their solar panels REC alpha pure RX. I've very happy with them. The deterioration in performance due to heat (I live in the tropics) is 0.25% for every degree Celsius increase in ambient temperature above 24 degrees Celsius.
It's lead free. it works even on overcast days which is important because in the tropics there are often, over cast skies.
I'm not installing a battery because I can use all the electricity generated by my solar panels during the day. There are 5 people living in my home 2 of whom work from home.
But when circumstances change for e.g. the kids move out, then I'll install a battery.
The company installing it expects my system to pay for itself in 6 years based on current electricity rates which have not gone up yet as I've locked it in till end of 2026.
I expect the rate will go up by the end of this year when my contract with the electricity supplier finishes.
But it's very nice NOT to care too much, one way or the other because with luck, we will be almost self sufficient in electricity for our home and our car.
Prius is a good used car. People are afraid of having to replace the batteries, but they don't need replacing often. We've had 3 and never had to replace them. Our first Prius went 320K miles. I get over 250K out of my old Toyotas.
I also buy old salvaged ones (cosmetic) for cheap (under $5K) regularly maintain them. The Scion is a Toyota stripped down.
I get it on solar. I finally got some solar with a battery. I wouldn't put it past the rates doubling. But I got my stuff with the last of the tax credits.
Regular heat pumps are also very good, especially newer ones. I just had one installed, including a new air handler, for about $6k. There were cheaper ones, but this fit the house well. It should last about 10 years.
Mini-splits are used more for adding a heat pump where there is no duct work and the cost would be prohibitive to add ducts, say, the lower level of a raised ranch or split level house.
I harness passive solar energy to keep my house warmer in winter (open blinds and curtains) and cooler in summer (close them). Deciduous trees that shade the west of the house also help.
My average electric bill for an all-electric house is around $110 a month because I set the thermostat at reasonable levels and use ceiling fans to push heat from the ceiling and to cool people in the summer.
I got solar panels in 2016 because of my bumpersticker 'Renewble Energy IS Homeland Security' - I felt that I needed to do more than the bumpersticker. Getting trees trimmed has cost so much I'll probably never break even, but I feel good about my decision.
And our horrible freeze caused by the erratic polar vortex caused by reduction of ice in the Arctic Ocean caused by fosssil fuel emissions led climate change killed the mangoes that persisted in shading the panels, so I plan to replace them with fruit trees that will work better with the panels - the mangoes were there years before the panels.
Sometimes it is important to do things based on what you think is right, not just based on the balance sheet. And sometimes that can work out surprisingly well.
Understand the sentiment and I do crave the moral high ground, however, the money has to come from somewhere. My electric bill is around $150 per month, so $1,800 /yr. Even if I never bought another kWh it would take 10 years to save $18 K - an approximate install cost for panels only, no storage. Ten years is also the expected life of the panels with decreased efficiency. By that point I’ll probably be someplace warm and with a lot less maintenance.
Where did you get the idea that solar panels only last ten years, some fossil fuel or climate denial website? The guaranteed lifespan of good solar panels is 25 years, and solar systems installed between 1987 and 1993 that have been in continuous operation since are still producing more than 80% of their original output.
My panels are ten years old and working fine. They have survived numerous hurricanes. We were unwillingly off-the-grid for several years when I was a kid; I would prefer to remain on-the-grid, so I just have ten panels, no battery. My net use is zero half the year and reduced in other months.
sounds like you got ripped off the same way i did. my solar company went bankrupt, but of course thanks to the wonders of modern capitalism, the new company had no legal trouble assuming my debt, and i could not fight it....this is money thrown away for the lease each month, in addition to 300-400 dollar electric bills.
Talk to your local representative, the city or county managers and pursue it.
I didn't get ripped off, my panels have worked from day-1, which is good because the provider went out of business. I did put a lot of research into the type of panels I got and the company had been in business for 26 years and used a couple of times by a friend on different houses; still went out of business after the son had it for a couple of years. Solar panels themselves are very robust; the installation and wiring, connection to the right type of meter - these are probably the trickiest points and should have been reviewed by the local inspector
That's just what the fossil fools want you to believe. Solar is getting more efficient and cheaper all the time, and lasts longer than previously thought, although Trump's TACO tariffs mean that panels cost more this year.
A recent study of six solar systems installed between 1987 and 1993 that have been in continuous operation since, and found most panels still producing more than 80% of their original output after nearly four decades. So it's not 100%, who cares? At this point it's free electricity.
And because of idiotic maga Republican policies against renewables and forcing stupid, money-losing coal power plants to remain open, rest assured that electricity rate will be going up in most places in the near term.
Living in a Boston suburb, my panels can more than cover my full needs year-round because of net metering. While we have awesome subsidies from when we installed 7 years ago, going from paying about $3000/year back then to paying $0/year now (with about $3500 in credit on our bill entering the high generation months) more than would pay for the panels in 5-7 years based on inflation rates for electric (with our subsidies it was more like 3 years).
Sounds like a case of roof-top solar to the rescue, although the power companies don't like it because they want to own the Sun and ship the solar-farm power over distant transmission lines.
Not so. We are beginning to see the used market for solar panels ($20-$40@ for older pulls in good working order replaced by new higher power ones) and EV tranches coming off lease. AND the beginnings of DIY solar system that could power your EV with cheap used panels and simplified all in one controllers.
solar doesn't help much; the industry is not regulated and no one will help you when the system fails to produce,as mine did; no real savings as promised, predatory lease, and no one to turn to legally. there's not a lawyer who will take a case against a signed lease. all you can do is default on the lease and hope for the best. stay away, unless you will buy your own, and don't expect much.
i have had electricians, the local power company, and the solar techs themselves look at the system. they claim it is producing. but my bills are not affected. try and argue with these folks. just try. this months bill was only 300.....i'd have to be growing an indoor pot farm to be using that much. the power company also took the meter for analysis. nothing wrong with it. gave me a new one. still got high bills. the contract is designed to fleece people. and it is doing that really well.
I don't think Hybrid cars are a solution. They may be slightly more efficient, but their limited battery size means that even plug-in hybrids won't actually save much fuel - certainly not enough.
Alas the narcissist in chief won't do anyone but himself any favors. It doesn't help that he is surrounded by self-dealing sycophants including our alleged negotiators who have a conflict of interest neon sign hanging over their heads.
Still doesn't matter. Trump readily breaks agreements even he himself created. He's proven himself utterly untrustworthy; like his recent surprise attack on Iran DURING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.
The damage he's done to this country is exactly what a KGB-controlled asset would do. Wait, Trump couldn't be under the control of a hostile foreign intelligence service, could he?!
ummm, big issue for Iran is that Trump could just tear up whatever agreement he purports to agree to. He doesn't consider himself bound by treaties with other countries or contracts with suppliers or contractors or wedding vows with wives... And Iran knows this very well.,,,
We had solar panels installed with battery storage about a year ago. We are getting a return on investment close to 10%, which is far more than our money earns in a bank account! The investment will pay for itself in about 7 years, probably less as electric rates keep going up (thanks data centers!).
We have just purchased an EV, and with the charger that runs off our solar we will pay $0 to "gas it up".
Freedom!
Republicans don't seem to know how this can make our country stronger and more competitive. The Chinese seem to get it.
The more I read about what the Chinese are accomplishing the more astonished I get.
They foresaw the oil wars of today and started preparing for cheap renewable energy decades ago. Their oil consumption is declining and their coal consumption is about to decline. They are installing enough renewable energy to eliminate their need for fossil fuels in 10 years despite an economy growing at double the rate of the US.
Trump and the Republicans have failed the country.
Every Republican president since Reagan was owned by fossil fuel that means the Koch brothers. All the Koch brothers are deceased but they left their huge wealth to their investment team to continue to destroy our Democracy with their fortune.
Charles Koch is 90. In November, he will turn 91. He is a 1960 graduate of MIT, so he is quite smart. However, he is a libertarian, and his views are off the wall selfish. He thinks the government should protect private property and take care of national defense, period. He’s morbidly rich, so he doesn’t care if children are hungry or that people can’t get medical care. He also thinks he’s the smartest person in whatever room he’s in.
Congress still retains the power of the purse. Trump is just ignoring it and repurposing the money as he wants. Thune and Johnson hold most of the blame.
Does Congress retain the power of the purse if they don't exercise it? Seems like that's part of our race against time, for Congress to exercise its power before it disintegrates.
And those companies will now be investing in new and existing sources of American fossil fuels to ship to overseas markets. No benefit to the American public. My big question is where is this congressionally unappropriated $900M coming from? Some DOI or DOE slush fund?
See, “Trump is crushing America’s farmers—yet they back him” in The Economist (online). Bottom line: despite the enormous pain this administration’s disastrous tariff policy and war have imposed upon it, the American Heartland continues to stick with their King. 🤦🏼♂️🤷♂️I think ignorance + racism are a pretty toxic (and tragic) brew.
he is down to 51-49 among white rural americans. and 50-50 among white males. he could not get elected dog catcher if the election were held today. unfortunately, we are stuck with his as we don't a way to force a resignation like other countries can.
While it's good to see the lights coming on inside some skulls, the president will never again be on the ballot. The self-talk among these voters to justify moving from supporting the Trump to Vance is too easy, while there's a long distance between disliking one guy and voting for the opposite party next time. There's still work to do.
The craven, complicit GOP are also bailing them out - again - with our dollars, buying their votes. They should absolutely suffer the consequences of their electoral choices, even if it means we all go down with them. Otherwise, they will never learn. No more socialism for farmers and corporations without socialism for all. As in - nationalized health care, decent wages, day care, and a good standard of living.
"There will be a breaking point." I dunno about that. The racism is deeply baked in. Asking these folks to walk away from it (i.e. from Trump) is asking them to abandon what is basically their entire identities.
By the way, the real problem is less that people vote for republicans; it’s more about the fence sitters who don’t vote or vote third party. 60 or 70 million people.
Non-affiliated voters don't realize that they are cutting themselves out of the most important part of the electoral process...the primaries. The primaries are where most congressional seats are won or lost.
How do you know that the people who don’t vote wouldn’t vote just like the people who do? Or lean either way?
Ezra Klein interviewed a Democrat pollster/marketing strategist who says that, from the people who didn’t vote, more would have voted for that current dweller of the White House than for Kamala. I don’t remember the guy’s name but he had the data. I think the interview was over a year ago, maybe more. I stopped watching/reading Ezra Klein about a year ago as well
It sounds like one of his typical narratives. And I'm sure any "data" he presents is cherry-picked, or is at least suspect. Republican strategists must love the guy.
They haven’t suffered yet. None of them have. Let’s talk when that happens. People leave cults all the time. A certain core remains, but when the real suffering reaches them, and it’s no longer that other person, attitudes change.
FOX and peer pressure. My friend is a farmer and they've been crushed by Trump policies, but she's on-line and FOX, so it doesn't matter. It isn't so much racism...the 1950s kind as it's 40 years of immigrant bashing by right wing news. She believes that criminal immigrants are running wild in the US and are being given government handouts.
just like germans believed the first world war was lost because they were stabbed in the back; the military had not lost any battles etc. the truth was the americans entered the war and after that they were cooked. but they continued to believe they lost the war because of jews and socialists who sold them out. or something. the r's are bitching that we call them fascists and that is ratcheting up the rhetoric, yet greg sargent points out, the cries of fascism are legitimate, pointed out by major scholars of fascism like jason stanley, tim snyer, and laurence rees, to name a few.
Most cults are populated by a majority of people who will eventually leave the cult. So people leave cults all the time.
In general, they might not open their eyes to reality when others are suffering. But they often do open their eyes when they themselves are suffering, or when their families are suffering. That might happen soon... unfortunately for our country.
To explain MAGA, two things can be true. There are negative factors like hatred and indignation at being condescended to by elites. But there is also a positive element: Some people LOVE Trump.
If you are a Paul Krugman reader who despises Trump, that can be hard to believe. But you probably know a friend who fell in love with someone that you couldn't love or even respect.
If you dream of persuading your MAGA friends to change their opinion about Trump, you'll have to be patient, respectful and calm -- just as you are with that friend who fell for the wrong person.
I'll never understand why the Democrats want to rush in and rescue Iowa. Seems to me, Democrats ought to go full anti-corporate welfare.
Let's help people get ahead by going to school, and leave the Iowa welfare bums out--where they want to be. Sure, it makes good economic sense to stabilize commodity prices. On the other hand, I could use some really cheap corn and wheat, so if they like Trump so much they can have 1930 again.
They remind me of the Jones Town Cult who committed mass suicide at the direction of their leader. Rationality is out the window with this crew. They drank the cool aide.
Good. Then the next Democratic POTUS can take over and completely remove all the grants and subsidies the farmers receive and they will be OK with that. And if some of them aren't OK with that then who cares? They chose their party, they get their door prizes.
"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." Lyndon Johnson
Or if. last summer’s crop (which was short) is sitting in silos. This summer’s crop is about to be planted and it will be significantly short. Then again if you are over weight you are going to be handed the opportunity to lose it.
I misread your comment as "peppers are looking prescient." When something doesn't make sense reread it. (Where are my damn glasses anyway?"
All of the preppers I know are libertarian MAGA wannabes. They actually all have large gardens which kinda makes sense. We also have a large garden but none of the 5 of us would ever vote for a Republican.
I laugh at Preppers. There is no way a family of four is going to survive in some bunker with canned goods. To survive will require forming tribes. That is true for the simplest of reasons. You have to man watches.
There's a wide range between a weeklong power outage, for example, and the far less likely (I think/hope) Cormack McCarthy - style "survive in some bunker".
The Thrope family is prepared for the shorter-term SHTF stuff. I'll share with you when that happens, friend.
They are a symptom of a national problem. They crave an apocalypse, and unfortunately they are more than willing to take the rest of us with them. It's a religious thing, but I'm not supposed to call it nuts because it's "religious."
As we can see in the polls, people are very dissatisfied with Trump but most of them plan anyway to vote for the republicans, probably as well most American farmers that voted for Trump. Very worrying to see this picture.
I'd say mostly anecdotal so far. I read an article in The Economist this morning making the same claim: farmers are still supporting Trump even though they are taking it in the shorts. And to the extent they are still sucking the pipe of Fox News, I'm sure someone else is to blame. Foreigners, etc.
Nate Silver has Trumpkopf's approval vs. disapproval around -18 since January. His approval isn't exactly in full blown free fall, but it's dropping at a pretty steady rate.
Yes, a relative would not vote for trump, but also would not vote for Harris (wrote in some other name) because, she said, Harris was not intelligent enough. This is what I call a hard-wired Republican.
Right. One of the NYT opinion writers (IIRC, Bret Stephens) did the same. He made no specific claims about Harris - he simply said that he would never vote for a Democrat.
"In the (Iowa) Senate race, GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson leads state Sen. Zach Wahls by 47 percent to 44 percent and state Rep. Josh Turek by 47 percent to 43 percent. The poll surveyed 1,200 likely voters from March 10-16 with a 2.8 percent margin of error."
Yes, and I think some congressional seats will flip, but, as a glass half empty guy, I can’t believe Hinson still had this much support. This is a State that went for Obama.
I assume you don’t pay an electric bill or gas bill? I work for one of Americas two grocery stores. Exactly a year ago (May 2025)both companies Albertson’s and Kroger both raised every single product line in their stores 42% out of greed.
That's true, but a lot of Republicans and right leaning Independents have or plan to switch sides. Presented for your perusal, former congressmen Joe Walsh and Adam Kinzinger as exhibit "A".
I don't believe pollsters since most ask bad questions and the voter also LIES in these polls I believe....I look at the results of every election in 2025/2026 and dems are cleaning their clocks
True story: Farmer's response to interviewer who pointed out that, "diesel is up, fertilizer is up, interest rates are up, and available migrant labor is down." "I guess he (Trump) knows what he is doing."
The repeating motive in memoirs documenting Soviet internal terror of the 1930s is, when deep-faith communists were taken from their prison cells to be shot, them declaring "I accept my fate if this advances the cause of communism!".
And I thought the Bolsheviks were rare sick psychos...
Delusional thinking is the foundation on which authoritarian regimes are built. And all of the authoritarians become megalomaniacal - like a certain orange troll in the WH... Megalomania eventually slides into psychosis.
In the case of Trumpski and his cabal, they are well into psychosis - serial killer level. And completely incurable.
Trumpski will burn civilisation to the ground, before he accepts that he has lost. The Iranians have assessed him and know his weaknesses. By offering their deal they have painted him even further into his nasty corner. He is now the person holding the world to ransom and even Republicans are starting to realise it. Yet he cannot accept anything other than his definition of "total victory".
Should America need help in a disaster, I wonder who will come to their aid?
Well, he was monomaniacal, but easily lead astray by crackpots and setting up the death by famine of 30,000,000 Russians and Ukrainians cannot, I think, be called sober.
"I guess he (Trump) knows what he is doing." - maybe we can understand this. It is very tempting to think that the fact that someone is doing incomprehensible things, proves that he/she is light years ahead of you in comprehension abilities.
Not unlike some scientists - when faced with a seemingly incomprehensible work, they praise this work as truly revolutionary. "I do not understand" = "this must be very advanced". See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair
Hmmm.. I got a Ph.D. in a natural science and spent a lot of time in the company of scientists, over a decade. I do not think I have ever heard them react to anything like that. First of all, believing themselves to be among the smartest people alive, you would never hear “I do not understand”. You would be far more likely to hear “This is plainly wrong. As shown by Chevenski[1], mallard ducks have three sexes and so can not possibly migrate to the Falklands from Canada… Please make appropriate revisions, and cite my work [9], [11-14] and [26] before consideration for publication.” This response is especially likely if they do not understand the work.
I do agree though that the farmer is probably hoping it is all 3D chess and not, say, bumbling narcissism or an attempt to collect grift gone wrong. Why he would refuse to believe what is now obvious, I can no longer fathom. It’s been obvious for a while.
OK, leave aside the hard scientists. They are primitive minds incapable of believing in two or more mutually exclusive facts. A simple "insufficient capacity" issue, poor folks. Nothing can be done to help them.
There is a through-line in Donald Trump’s life that his supporters mistake for boldness and his critics for corruption. It is simpler than either: a consistent, lifelong refusal to bear the costs of his own decisions, and an equally consistent talent for transferring those costs onto others.
Not a chance. The Economist reports: "Donald Trump is crushing America’s farmers—yet they back him". A fragment from The Economist's report:
"This week the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Farm Bill, which includes provisions that analysts reckon would help nearly double cash subsidies to farmers by 2027, to $41bn. “I don’t know one farmer who actually wants a handout,” says Jayden Jorgensen, a 25-year-old who works her father’s land in Iowa. “But if we don’t take them, then we’re behind everybody else.”".
I’m glad you are thinking of the farmers and others who are and will suffer from this war. I am thinking of the many,many mariners who are stuck on ships either within the Strait of Hormuz or at sea for many extra days, how are they getting supplies of food and essentials? Of the US service personnel and marines who are on the war ships how are they being being supplied? As one navy man noted on his sub stack - how are the logistics of this war working? So many are currently suffering before we even take of the lives lost to war. Nothing is being thought through - the oil is key but so are the other ramifications of this administration.
Thanks! I know that some ships are going around Africa to avoid the whole Middle East. ( including the Suez Canal) That adds about 40 days. I think seamen are often the most overlooked workers.
Thanks again. Do you have info on how the US navy is handling their supply issues with bases damaged?
"A growing crisis is silently unfolding in agriculture. Farmers are *3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population*. With mounting financial stress, that number could be on the rise this year.
It is unfortunate that the terrorism and cruelty midwest farmers voted to inflict on others has turned around to harm them. May their sacred Christian values help them through these troubling times.
Unfortunately, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that block votes against its own interests time and time again. It helps that there are bailouts in cash from the rest of us to compensate for the problems created by the officials they prefer at the ballot box. Put another way, they typically cannot stomach voting for the other party and they'll just put up with the consequences.
I came across an old New Yorker cartoon from the first Trump administration, which showed a woman in a travel agency, asking “which country is least mad at us now?” Still current today.
Europe in particular has to be wondering, “WTF??” It took them and us 20 months to carefully negotiate the Iran Nuclear Deal and then Trump rashly tears it up in 2018 with nothing to replace it. And that was after he twice certified that the deal was working in his first term.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a broad international agreement which put over 100 international experts on the ground in Iran conducting daily inspections plus using other high-tech 24/7 surveillance and measurement techniques to make sure they did not advance their nuclear program or ever develop a weapon, after sending 97% of their enriched uranium out of the country?
Yeah, well, we had that and it was working — but our Very Stable Genius broke it, like he breaks everything.
It would also be nice if Americans would realize that the Ayatollah himself always said that Iran had no desire to build nuclear weapons, because the concept of nuclear weapons is antithetical to the teachings of Islam.
How is it that we are constantly fed the line of bullshit about Iran wanting to attack us, and use nuclear weapons to rule the world, when WE are the ONLY country on the planet who has ever used nuclear weapons against anyone EVER?
This shitshow of a war has proven a few things:
1) Big bombs and big guns can still be obliterated ( actually, not rhetorically, like the so-called destruction of Iran's nuclear capacity that we were told occurred last June) by much smaller, much cheaper weapons.
2) The almighty US military is YEARS behind other military programs in using these smaller, cheaper weapons. Ukraine, whose brave leader trump mocked and tried to humiliate publicly last year, has kicked our asses in drone technology and production.
Iran has kicked our asses with drones, as well.
3) The ( by FAR) most expensive military on the planet has been outwitted by the very country that the US has disparaged and insulted for the past 47 years, using a fraction of the cost of the US military. Frankly, we have been handed our asses on a platter, compliments of Iran.
This is exactly what arrogance and ignorance delivers. We're now the poster child country for all that.
There's a 'caster named El who put out a video yesterday talking about U.S. expatriates. She said that Ireland and Portugal are the most popular countries at the moment. She also said that Canada just passed a law that makes any person with Canadian ancestors Canadian citizens. They're basically interested in attracting people who can contribute to their business interests. She also said that many (perhaps most) of the people trying for multiple passports have no current plans to move.
War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off. -Karl Kraus, writer (28 Apr 1874-1936)
Trump took us into this war with no idea what he wanted the war to accomplish other than decapitating Iran's regime. After Khameini was killed, there was not thought whatsoever as to what comes next. So Trump and Hegseth just kept bombing because what else is there to do?
And here we are, coming up on two months of this war. Trump STILL has no idea what he wants this war to accomplish. His negotiating team of Kushner and Witkoff is just a pair of blinkered imbeciles with also have no idea what they're trying to accomplish.
And all the while, Iran grows stronger, Russia grows stronger, and China grows stronger.
I think Trump, as always, just wanted the TV moment. Another episode in the never ending reality show "Trump is a very successful alfa male". Bibi and our idiot Secretary of War, fooled Trump into thinking that this would be a sure win in a few days or weeks. US clearly had the weapons (cards) to do a lot of harm to Iran and then they would cry uncle (as Trump would do if it was him).
The fact that there were multiple other potential outcomes was not something Trump considered for more than a second. Competent government would carefully consider many alternative outcomes at the second, third and fourth level and develop best approximations of the probability of each outcome. But competent government is a lot of hard work, and Trump doesn't do hard work - he plays golf. He even destroyed the State Department which would have been doing the competent government thing (because it had been led by Hillary).
I’m guessing Trump doesn’t even work at golf, which requires discipline and focus to keep the ball down the fairway. I’d love to hear how many balls he loses in every round. Thirty? Forty? Twice that? I can’t imagine him having the patience or desire to take lessons and to practice steadfastly. One of the nation’s most underreported sports stories.
Personally, i don’t think trump gives a crap! He’s most likely chose to live with his “ego” brain, that tells him, he’s winning, better than anyone has ever won before! This man has lost his mind, his “actual “mind, not the mind “he chooses to live by” and in that mind he’s living in the “golden age”
"Bravado: A noun referring to a showy, often reckless, or pretended display of courage and confidence intended to impress or intimidate. It is frequently used to describe a bold front that masks fear, insecurity, or a lack of real confidence."
Perfect! So he’s not insane, he’s just trump acting with Bravado. That makes sense, because sometimes, few times, he sounds sane. This is positive, so when he’s indicted for crimes to humanity he can’t use the “insane” plea & be put in a real prison! 😂
Except that Trump, Hegseth, Miller, et al, are not alpha males; they’re alfalfa males. They know it and it eats at them. Hence the bluster and cruelty.
I don't think he cared about regime change; he wanted the oil. His people may have seen this as a "Holy War" to bring about the End Times. But no matter what, we are in a mess now.
I believe you're correct - he's become a fanatic about oil. I wondered about his talk that the UK has no valid claim to the Falklands until I read that the area is "oil rich." I now believe that he wants the islands for himself.
I kind of look at it as the worst possible way to do a very good thing, start weaning the world off of problematic fossil fuels. So, I’m silently cheering the incompetence on. He is at times the leading protagonist for the other side. No Green Party member would dream of forcibly deconstructing refinery capacity in another country, but here we are.
I note that the Iranians have demanded that Witkoff and Kushner be kept away from any negotiations. They are so incompetent that they just get in the road.
Russia has strengthened its alliance with Iran, found new export markets for the Iranian Shahed drones it is manufacturing for Iran and a bunch of new clients, and has completely humiliated Trump by actively helping Iran while Trump continues to do Putin's bidding. So I'm going to say Russia's coming out in a much better position globally because of this. (The war in Ukraine is, of course, and entirely different matter.)
You can only describe Russia as being in a “better position” if you completely ignore their domestic problems and their disastrous invasion of Ukraine. Nothing about Iran has tipped the balance enough to solve all of their numerous problems.
I never said it solved all their problems. Just that Russia is coming out of this much stronger. He'll, Putin is actively aiding Iran and Trump lifted the sanctions that prevented Russia from selling oil, so now Putin is cashing in on the oil price spike Trump created!
Yes. It’s amazing to me that republicans were all national defense and military and faux patriotism for such a long time, and now we have a president who is obviously conspiring with and/or being manipulated by Putin, and it’s not a big deal. I’m surprised there aren’t Russian flags next to all of the trump flags and blu lives matter flags, etc.
Paul, I’ll admit I’m a little out of my depth on the energy economics here. Goldman Sachs talking about 11-12 million barrels a day in inventory draws is the kind of number that lands like a dropped anchor, and I don’t have your fluency with the markets. So take what I’m adding as a guy standing beside you, not correcting you.
What you’ve laid out is airtight. The Strait’s closed, the math is brutal, and the clock is running. The dissociation framing rings true to me, too. I’ve spent enough time around people in positions of authority to recognize the particular kind of checked-out that sets in when someone can’t reconcile the gap between who they believe they are and what the facts are telling them. It’s not laziness. It’s almost a self-protective reflex. The organism rejects the incompatible data.
But here’s what I keep coming back to.
Trump’s personal defeat and America’s structural exposure aren’t the same thing, and I think conflating them, even slightly, lets a lot of people off the hook.
Who’s minding the shop?
I ask that not rhetorically. I genuinely don’t know. And that might be the scariest part of what you’ve written, the part that’s implied but not said outright. When the person nominally in charge dissociates, someone else either steps up or the machine runs on inertia until it can’t. We’re somewhere in that interval right now, and nobody seems to want to say it plainly.
Congress is watching inventory draws hit record pace. Markets are screaming. The Goldman note is circulating. They don’t get to sit this one out because Trump’s fixated on crown molding.
The Strait will eventually reopen. The terms, when they come, will be what they are. But the inventory clock you’ve described doesn’t care about anyone’s fugue state or anyone’s political positioning. It’s just math. Cold, indifferent, and accelerating.
I appreciate you pulling yourself back from vacation for this. Some things are worth the interruption.
I terrifyingly agree with you KIm. We're in Big Trouble. I've been awake since 2:30AM--actually most mornings recently with a sense of dread. Thank you Paul for interrupting your vacation briefly with your pertinent information for us.
It probably depends on which department. Kennedy is running HHS and he's not 2025 but his own special independent grift. He's fine as long as he doesn't get too far out over his skis.
2025 has been running things most of the time. Trump's running on their recipe.
If Republican politicians really felt that their acquiescence to Trump's damage was destroying their electoral chances, they would be reacting NOW. I see some very marginal shift but it's pretty minor, compared to the damage. This is a missing piece of the puzzle: Where are the outraged Republicans?
Republicans are in a cult of personality. If you look at Germany spring 1945, they were still strongly behind their leader and had religious faith in him.
The billionaires recognize they can make money from prerunning markets, so they benefit from insider information and chaotic actions.
R's have nowhere to go so they're sticking with the (we hope) sinking ship.
Since they're mostly psychopaths, they figure the best outcome for them is to profit individually, then bail, confident the merciful Dems (in hock to Big Money) won't pursue them after they leave office. If the Progressive (Tax the Rich!) Dem wing wins, there will be so many targets, they figure they can skive out.
The base is in denial. As long as that is the case, they won’t move. If the base can’t buy toilet paper and trash bags, or sit through 1970s gas lines, then we might see some talk, but we do have to remember who we are talking about here. Is Lindsey Graham going to stick to his guns and tear down Trump as he said he would do Jan 6, 2020, or is he going to go crawling back? Again. We shouldn’t expect much.
The billionaires arouind Trump recognize that big swings in markets are opportunities for profit, ESPECIALLY if they get a couple hours notice of massive policy changes.
EG, if Mango Mussolini decides to quit on Iran, oil futures would go down-$tens of millions to be made.
This whole series of events makes painfully clear Trump's dementia has gotten completely out of control.
It's obvious the RPBs won't do anything to stop the slide.
But the "silence of the lambs [Democrats]' about his mental deterioration remains disturbing.
And Putin's p---ing in Trump's face re Iran -- & Trump's apparent failure to even NOTICE how Putin is yanking the US' chain -- finally makes unavoidable mention of the elephant in the room:
Aside from being a TRAITOR to the US when it comes to Russia, how is it NOT possible to raise the question if Trump's ACTUAL agenda is
to DESTROY all the institutional bases -- both domestic & foreign -- of US power & prestige?
He's clearly doing it -- the question is the extent to which it's INTENTIONAL
They need to make it a CONSTANT talking point in ALL interactions with the media, both legacy & new, and link it to Trump's consistent failure to articulate anything like a coherent "strategy" re Iran as well as his equally consistent & traitorous failure to support Ukraine & his self-destructive "tariff" policies, pointing out how his insistence foreign governments & corporations "pay" tariffs is the product of a "mind" that's not fully there. The point is to link his obvious dementia with his policy insanity.
It already is. Democrats can't do anything meaningful until the 2026 election. I'm just hoping that Democrats realize this time how important it is to win and wake up and smell the coffee. The working class is 2/3 of America and the college educated are only 1/3. I think that number is going to fall dramatically as AI is eating college degrees.
Democrats need working class candidates, push into unionization and quit with the identity politics.
It won’t help. Democrats can not stop the nonsense by simply winning every election from now on. They aren’t that good.
This ends when MAGA demands sane things. Not before. They will eventually be elected again and if they haven’t smartened up, it’s the same ride of concentrated chaos all over again.
I would like Dr. Krugman to post a graph of the (vocabulary) number of words used by the general population versus socioeconomics and/or years of education and/or political party, indicating where trump stands, perhaps overlaid by IQ (which, however, is not a reliable value).
The hurdles for removing him from office are so huge (it needs to be supported by the vice-president and a majority of cabinet, and that is never going to happen) and the risks so great (look at the depth chart, it is grim) that removal is a non-starter, and it's time we stopped wasting time and energy talking about it.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has introduced legislation to create a bipartisan "Commission on Presidential Capacity" under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. The bill would establish a 17-member body of medical experts and former officials to evaluate a president's fitness to serve, aimed at addressing potential mental or physical incapacity.
Key Aspects of Raskin's 25th Amendment Proposal:
The Legislation: Reintroduced in April 2026, the bill seeks to establish the "Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office" to act as the body envisioned by the 25th Amendment, which allows the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet (or this commission) to declare a president incapacitated.
Commission Structure: The proposed 17-member commission would be bipartisan, comprising physicians, psychiatrists, and former executive officials (e.g., former Presidents, Vice Presidents, Secretaries of State) to ensure objective evaluation.
Motivation: Raskin has framed the initiative as a national security issue, citing "erratic behavior" and "impulsive" decisions by President Trump.
Context: While the 25th Amendment was adopted over 50 years ago, Congress has never established the independent body mentioned in Section 4, which Raskin seeks to fulfill.
Status: The legislation, which has garnered support from dozens of House Democrats, faces long odds in a Republican-controlled Congress. …
Raskin has emphasized that the proposal is aimed at establishing a "scrupulously bipartisan" process…
A president faced with a 25th Amendment process can challenge it, in which case their removal requires a TWO THIRDS MAJORITY in BOTH the HOR and SENATE!
Dems couldn't get 1/6th of Republican Senators to recognize trump led an insurrection trying to overthrow the government in 2020, after he did and they were cowering in fear for their lives...
Sadly, the 25th and impeachment are only minor speed bumps in our current political environment.
While I appreciate your "crediting" Google AI for your comment, I think that explains why what it says is simply not relevant to the change in public discourse I'm talking about ... What Jamie -- I've known him since he was in high school -- is doing is fine, it's clear that it's going to fail ... Doesn't mean he shouldn't do it, as it may have an impact in moving public discourse in a positive direction ... But to say "Democrats are doing what they can" is, I'm sorry to say, actually an admission that my general critique is correct: they are nibbling at the edges of the right-wing discourse cancer that has dominated US public life since Reagan ... Not saying he shouldn't do it -- but no one should have any illusions that it's going to make much difference, if any, in moving the country as a whole in a fundamentally different direction, in the way Reagan's election in 1981 ...
If only…Democrats have been on the back foot regarding taxes since Prop 13 (I was in high school in CA at the time), and they have never recovered. Even now, I feel they need to defend the government and make the case for taxation on the basis of patriotism and the public good. Leadership is scarce.
Totally agree ... and kudos for recognizing the crucial role of Prop 13 in being the first step in Cali's deterioration ... Wish you were right about the Dems actually standing for something ... Unfortunately, being on the defensive since 1981, their basic rule has been "don't say or do anything that MIGHT upset a potential 'swing' voter" ...
They could start by repealing prop 13. We haven’t had a statewide Republican candidate win office in 20 years. They have the votes. They do not actually want to kill it.
No. This definitely steps back to Nixon. My parents generation possessed a will that the current 5 generations simply do not possess. My parents bought their first house, new, for $8,000 in 1958.. It’s not that you cannot buy cheap houses today it’s a matter of if you want to live where the houses are. I have to say this I back Jamie 100% while many think like you that challenging trump’s mental capacity under the 25th Amendment will fail, I have this to say, this is not just about trumps ability to surpass Dementia testing. Trump was diagnosed by his doctor with Dementia between his first & second term. He knows he is ill. Your doctor has to sign a document stating you are fit for the job so his doctor’s license is on the line. But the 25th Amendment is more than that. They have to prove that trump is capable of doing his job and Jamie has overwhelming evidence that he is not. As commander-in-chief trump started a war without just cause. He mass murdered thousands without just cause but then when the stakes were highest he (on Easter Sunday) threatened to wipe out an entire civilization with a deadline. When that deadline arrived trump issued the order to wipe out the civilization and his generals refused to obey his direct order. trump then began posing on the internet as Jesus, then the Pope, then a firefighter, etc., etc., instead of doing his job. WWE were at war, we are at war, instead of doing his job as commander-in-chief heaping on the internet as Jesus. This is a man who is clearly not capable of doing his job. His cabinet then posed behind him in a high level conference and trump was asleep. His cabinet may have thought this was funny but no judge will. We are at war and trump is asleep in the middle of the day. trump is ‘unfit to govern’.
There is an analog here. By 1943 Hitler had screwed up so badly that he retreated to Wolf’s Lair to basically try to hide from his mistakes. His standing orders to hold at all costs and never retreat, thus fighting to the last man, doomed him. By 1944 the Allies could invade at Normandy and the Russians could launch the greatest tank battle ever. Air supremacy was achieved partly through the use of the P-51 Mustang and the Allies could bomb Berlin in daylight and survive. Hitler choked. Will Trump hide in his ballroom afraid to face the Epstein inquiry? The Iran screwup? The crashing world economy? Trump is choking right now and the mid-terms couldn’t happen soon enough.
Dr. Krugman well demonstrates the intersection of economics and psychology. It's useful when thinking about what drives Trump to understand the psychology of the malignant narcissist, their desperate need to keep clinging to a delusion of omnipotence. See Erich Fromm, The Heart of Man. Roman history is also useful - Nero, Caligula, for example.
The edge of your "cliff" is starting to crumble in parallel with Trumpski's mental state. He will soon ask the MAGA "lemmings" to leap so that their bodies will cushion his fall.
It is quite likely that Trump will fabricate out of thin air some pretense of victory. He cannot help himself, and with his seemingly incipient dementia he only becomes more disoriented to reality. And yet, Republicans unfailingly fall in behind him. I suppose that having gleefully taken the Faustian bargain, they now are reckoning with the fact that their souls, honor, respect, and reputation for posterity can never be returned.
Congressional Republicans each fear to stand out from the herd. Be a leader and you’re the one nail standing up - you’ll be pounded by Trump, MAGA, Fox/OAN/podcasters. So they each figure: I’ll wait this out, it’ll pass eventually, I’ll still have my seat, my donors, my insider trading info. That’s the bargain… until Old Scratch comes a’calling for whatever remnants are left of their souls
I'm afraid it won't be that simple. It may be that he believes that, if the strait stays closed, he will obtain a world-wide monopoly on oil and natural gas. He said "If Europe is running out of jet fuel, they can buy it from us. We have plenty."
The problem with this is I doubt the Iranians have the ability to let him claim his victory. They are in a cycle of mocking him, and I doubt it’s possible for “them” to stop, even if their leadership reaches a consensus that it’s in their interest to do so. Too many random people can decide that one last post dunking on the crazy man needs to go out.
I don't remember a lot from my college economics course but the "law of supply and demand". It seems that Trump has been defeated by not only Iran but also by the law of supply and demand and he would have known it if he had been doing any studying in college. He was too busy looking at himself in the mirror.
Since he’s just the spokesmodel for about 30% of the US population, the stupidity would remain. They would just find another entertainment industry D-lister to replace him, just like Trump took over for Reagan.
Notes to "servile Republicans": the rest of the world does not like or want to conform to MAGA philosophy. The world has to live-in something called reality. The Law of Unintended Consequences and basic laws of Economics do not necessarily agree with MAGA philosophy. Side note: climate change conforms to physics not MAGA.
Tump's control over GOP representatives is, in part, through physical stochastic terror. There are tons of reports of Republican politicians getting threats against them and families, if they try to oppose Trump. So some politicians retire, some fall in line with Trump.
This terror does not extend outside US, so Trump has few friendly countries.
BTW, one of defining features of fascism is use of physical terror to control politcians.
I wanted to ask whether you might consider revisiting a related point you’ve made in the past: that the United States’ claim to “energy independence” can foster a misleading sense of security. In the current context, where disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have global price and supply implications, it seems especially relevant to clarify that oil remains a globally priced, fungible commodity, regardless of domestic production levels.
A short reiteration of how interconnected pricing, refining configurations, and trade flows continue to transmit external shocks into the U.S. economy could be valuable for readers & voters who may interpret energy independence too narrowly.
I've seen multiple FB comments by MAGAts that we don't get oil through the Strait and therefore it being cut off doesn't matter to us. They do "not" understand the idea of a "global commodity."
Trump's war was his war. of ego. Because HE thinks all bow to him, why wouldn't Iran too bow to the orange child god? Trumps mental issues run far too deep for any therapist alone to handle he needs a team of doctors to treat his sickness of the mind. He only is a bringer of pain and death. As an Atheist myself, I don't believe in gods of any kind, but these "Christians" out there who support him? Do they not see he fits the very definition of the anti Christ? America has fallen and it can't get up.
Trump keeps repeating he aced the intelligence tests. That turned out to be the MOCA, an instrument to measure cognitive impairment. You only do testing of cognitive impairment when there's a reason to do so. Trump is advertising his own medical issues.
To monitor the progress of Trump's frontotemporal dementia. Repeat, not to diagnose Trump's dementia, which is assumed as a given, but to monitor its progress.
Not my idea, mind you, but a hypothesis often repeated by one Dr John Gartner who frequently opines on YouTube what's wrong with Trump.
Can’t help but think that American farmers are in the worst possible situation: diesel is up, fertilizer is up, interest rates are up, and available migrant labor is down.
Perhaps they will reconsider who they vote for in November.
You can't make this up. From Costas Samaras: We the taxpayers are going to pay companies $900 million, which is more than 6x what we spend on wind power R&D, to NOT build wind power at a time when electricity prices are spiking and we need more clean power?
I called the heating oil company I have used these past 20 years, just to check the cash price. It's $5 per gallon. It was $3.70 per gallon prior to the Israeli/US bombing, with "epic fury", of Iran. Prior to that, it was $3 per gallon this time of year in 2025. This is a 66% increase. I buy an instant coffee imported from Germany. The price before Trump's tariffs was $10.49. It is now $12.99. That's an increase of 24%. To quote Trump, I'm tired of winning?
I put my oil delivery on hold - I can’t see storing $1,000 of oil in my basement for the next six months. Maybe oil will be less or more. I’m willing to take the risk.
Looking at getting a hybrid car (Toyota) and paying cash - cost over $100 per week to fill the tank on my 15 year old (Toyota) truck to get to work.
All ready have a hybrid hot water heater and LED bulbs everywhere.
Solar is a bad joke now that all the subsidies are gone. The break even won’t occur in my lifetime unless the rates double - which is possible.
I've not found that to be the case with solar. I contract with a company that provides power from solar "farms" at what seems to be reasonable rates for this area. I also have panels on my roof that provide all of my power needs for nearly ten months out of twelve. Without the subsidies, they would've cost about $50,000 (I got estimates about ten years ago).
If I had gotten the panels installed before the subsidies began, they would be breaking even about now. As it is, my panels were installed three years ago and will break even within another two. Since I'm 77 years old, that may, indeed, not be in my lifetime, but I'll take my chances on that.
I also regard it as my duty to my grandchildren. Next project - replace my gas furnace and water heater with a ground-based heat pump. I'm also looking at induction stoves.
There are more efficient panels coming online and that trend continues as the technology improves.
Induction stoves are wonderful. I’ve had mine for 12 years. I saw my first one in our UK relatives’ house 15 years ago and knew I wanted one.
Wow! Our kitchen appliances are all black. I've been waiting on the manufacturers to offer these in something other than bright stainless. They're finally doing it.
I have induction stove and love it. We also have a heat pump, really great. Solar panels with battery storage power it all, and we don't have to worry about power outages anymore.
I live in the tropics. Plenty of sunshine most of the year but also plenty of heat and overcast clouds.
So, I recently installed additional solar panels made by a Norwegian company, REC using their solar panels REC alpha pure RX. I've very happy with them. The deterioration in performance due to heat (I live in the tropics) is 0.25% for every degree Celsius increase in ambient temperature above 24 degrees Celsius.
It's lead free. it works even on overcast days which is important because in the tropics there are often, over cast skies.
I'm not installing a battery because I can use all the electricity generated by my solar panels during the day. There are 5 people living in my home 2 of whom work from home.
But when circumstances change for e.g. the kids move out, then I'll install a battery.
The company installing it expects my system to pay for itself in 6 years based on current electricity rates which have not gone up yet as I've locked it in till end of 2026.
I expect the rate will go up by the end of this year when my contract with the electricity supplier finishes.
But it's very nice NOT to care too much, one way or the other because with luck, we will be almost self sufficient in electricity for our home and our car.
Prius is a good used car. People are afraid of having to replace the batteries, but they don't need replacing often. We've had 3 and never had to replace them. Our first Prius went 320K miles. I get over 250K out of my old Toyotas.
I also buy old salvaged ones (cosmetic) for cheap (under $5K) regularly maintain them. The Scion is a Toyota stripped down.
I get it on solar. I finally got some solar with a battery. I wouldn't put it past the rates doubling. But I got my stuff with the last of the tax credits.
Mini split heat pumps are really good too.
Regular heat pumps are also very good, especially newer ones. I just had one installed, including a new air handler, for about $6k. There were cheaper ones, but this fit the house well. It should last about 10 years.
Mini-splits are used more for adding a heat pump where there is no duct work and the cost would be prohibitive to add ducts, say, the lower level of a raised ranch or split level house.
I harness passive solar energy to keep my house warmer in winter (open blinds and curtains) and cooler in summer (close them). Deciduous trees that shade the west of the house also help.
My average electric bill for an all-electric house is around $110 a month because I set the thermostat at reasonable levels and use ceiling fans to push heat from the ceiling and to cool people in the summer.
I got solar panels in 2016 because of my bumpersticker 'Renewble Energy IS Homeland Security' - I felt that I needed to do more than the bumpersticker. Getting trees trimmed has cost so much I'll probably never break even, but I feel good about my decision.
And our horrible freeze caused by the erratic polar vortex caused by reduction of ice in the Arctic Ocean caused by fosssil fuel emissions led climate change killed the mangoes that persisted in shading the panels, so I plan to replace them with fruit trees that will work better with the panels - the mangoes were there years before the panels.
Sometimes it is important to do things based on what you think is right, not just based on the balance sheet. And sometimes that can work out surprisingly well.
Understand the sentiment and I do crave the moral high ground, however, the money has to come from somewhere. My electric bill is around $150 per month, so $1,800 /yr. Even if I never bought another kWh it would take 10 years to save $18 K - an approximate install cost for panels only, no storage. Ten years is also the expected life of the panels with decreased efficiency. By that point I’ll probably be someplace warm and with a lot less maintenance.
Where did you get the idea that solar panels only last ten years, some fossil fuel or climate denial website? The guaranteed lifespan of good solar panels is 25 years, and solar systems installed between 1987 and 1993 that have been in continuous operation since are still producing more than 80% of their original output.
My panels are ten years old and working fine. They have survived numerous hurricanes. We were unwillingly off-the-grid for several years when I was a kid; I would prefer to remain on-the-grid, so I just have ten panels, no battery. My net use is zero half the year and reduced in other months.
my panels are ten years old but the lease will go on for another decade, and they never produced jack squat in any case.
sounds like you got ripped off the same way i did. my solar company went bankrupt, but of course thanks to the wonders of modern capitalism, the new company had no legal trouble assuming my debt, and i could not fight it....this is money thrown away for the lease each month, in addition to 300-400 dollar electric bills.
Talk to your local representative, the city or county managers and pursue it.
I didn't get ripped off, my panels have worked from day-1, which is good because the provider went out of business. I did put a lot of research into the type of panels I got and the company had been in business for 26 years and used a couple of times by a friend on different houses; still went out of business after the son had it for a couple of years. Solar panels themselves are very robust; the installation and wiring, connection to the right type of meter - these are probably the trickiest points and should have been reviewed by the local inspector
That's just what the fossil fools want you to believe. Solar is getting more efficient and cheaper all the time, and lasts longer than previously thought, although Trump's TACO tariffs mean that panels cost more this year.
A recent study of six solar systems installed between 1987 and 1993 that have been in continuous operation since, and found most panels still producing more than 80% of their original output after nearly four decades. So it's not 100%, who cares? At this point it's free electricity.
And because of idiotic maga Republican policies against renewables and forcing stupid, money-losing coal power plants to remain open, rest assured that electricity rate will be going up in most places in the near term.
Living in a Boston suburb, my panels can more than cover my full needs year-round because of net metering. While we have awesome subsidies from when we installed 7 years ago, going from paying about $3000/year back then to paying $0/year now (with about $3500 in credit on our bill entering the high generation months) more than would pay for the panels in 5-7 years based on inflation rates for electric (with our subsidies it was more like 3 years).
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/27/opinion/electricity-power-grid-infrastructure.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eVA.HY9V.6_JL1yqCh7nM&smid=url-share
from the NY Times.
It looks like maybe you should do solar because rates are likely to more than double.
Sounds like a case of roof-top solar to the rescue, although the power companies don't like it because they want to own the Sun and ship the solar-farm power over distant transmission lines.
Excellent article. Thanks for posting this link!
Not so. We are beginning to see the used market for solar panels ($20-$40@ for older pulls in good working order replaced by new higher power ones) and EV tranches coming off lease. AND the beginnings of DIY solar system that could power your EV with cheap used panels and simplified all in one controllers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRqV8BHE8lY
solar doesn't help much; the industry is not regulated and no one will help you when the system fails to produce,as mine did; no real savings as promised, predatory lease, and no one to turn to legally. there's not a lawyer who will take a case against a signed lease. all you can do is default on the lease and hope for the best. stay away, unless you will buy your own, and don't expect much.
As others have said, have an electrician or other expert look at your system. Shade? Facing the wrong way? Not connected? Undersized inverter?
You should get 50-75% of the rated wattage from an hour after sunrise to an hour before sunset. If you're not there's a problem with the installation.
If that's not paying for the system, there's something wrong w the contract.
i have had electricians, the local power company, and the solar techs themselves look at the system. they claim it is producing. but my bills are not affected. try and argue with these folks. just try. this months bill was only 300.....i'd have to be growing an indoor pot farm to be using that much. the power company also took the meter for analysis. nothing wrong with it. gave me a new one. still got high bills. the contract is designed to fleece people. and it is doing that really well.
What state are you in?
nj
I don't think Hybrid cars are a solution. They may be slightly more efficient, but their limited battery size means that even plug-in hybrids won't actually save much fuel - certainly not enough.
I get ~40 mpg and don't drive much.
Yes an all electric would be more efficient, but more $$ to buy.
Trump should do the world a favor. Agree with Iran to freely open the Strait and work out the thorny issues like adults.
Big sticking point for Iran is some future president could just tear up this agreement and they're back to square one.
Only way to guarantee it is a formal treaty passed by 2/3 of the Senate. A very heavy lift and why it was so easy for Trump to rip up JCPOA.
Alas the narcissist in chief won't do anyone but himself any favors. It doesn't help that he is surrounded by self-dealing sycophants including our alleged negotiators who have a conflict of interest neon sign hanging over their heads.
Sadly the JCPOA was the way forward.
If there is a deal (big IF) it will look a lot like JCPOA except with Trump's name on it like The Donald J. Trump Most Beautiful Peace Deal Ever.
Still doesn't matter. Trump readily breaks agreements even he himself created. He's proven himself utterly untrustworthy; like his recent surprise attack on Iran DURING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS.
The damage he's done to this country is exactly what a KGB-controlled asset would do. Wait, Trump couldn't be under the control of a hostile foreign intelligence service, could he?!
LOL - Exactly!
ummm, big issue for Iran is that Trump could just tear up whatever agreement he purports to agree to. He doesn't consider himself bound by treaties with other countries or contracts with suppliers or contractors or wedding vows with wives... And Iran knows this very well.,,,
We had solar panels installed with battery storage about a year ago. We are getting a return on investment close to 10%, which is far more than our money earns in a bank account! The investment will pay for itself in about 7 years, probably less as electric rates keep going up (thanks data centers!).
We have just purchased an EV, and with the charger that runs off our solar we will pay $0 to "gas it up".
Freedom!
Republicans don't seem to know how this can make our country stronger and more competitive. The Chinese seem to get it.
The more I read about what the Chinese are accomplishing the more astonished I get.
They foresaw the oil wars of today and started preparing for cheap renewable energy decades ago. Their oil consumption is declining and their coal consumption is about to decline. They are installing enough renewable energy to eliminate their need for fossil fuels in 10 years despite an economy growing at double the rate of the US.
Trump and the Republicans have failed the country.
Donald doesn't like 'windmills' and our so-called leaders are a bunch of anti-science numbskulls.
This admin is evidence of de-evolution.
Every Republican president since Reagan was owned by fossil fuel that means the Koch brothers. All the Koch brothers are deceased but they left their huge wealth to their investment team to continue to destroy our Democracy with their fortune.
We need to overturn "Citizens United" and get corporate money out of politics.
Charles Koch is still alive. He’s only 90. I don’t disagree with your other observations, Ddrborah.
Charles Koch, according to Wikipedia, is 99 years old and the old bastard is still alive. David Koch died at 79 years of age in 2019.
Charles Koch is 90. In November, he will turn 91. He is a 1960 graduate of MIT, so he is quite smart. However, he is a libertarian, and his views are off the wall selfish. He thinks the government should protect private property and take care of national defense, period. He’s morbidly rich, so he doesn’t care if children are hungry or that people can’t get medical care. He also thinks he’s the smartest person in whatever room he’s in.
Totally agree. Please excuse my error—senior moment!
WHERE IS THE POWER OF THE PURSE? The day of reckoning can’t get here soon enough~~~~~
Congress still retains the power of the purse. Trump is just ignoring it and repurposing the money as he wants. Thune and Johnson hold most of the blame.
Does Congress retain the power of the purse if they don't exercise it? Seems like that's part of our race against time, for Congress to exercise its power before it disintegrates.
It will still be in the constitution. If we still look at it, that is.
Sold to Musk, Bezos, Thiel, Zuckerberg.......
Dancing as fast and furious as he can, Trump still can’t dance away glaring, gnawing reality.
And the plaintive music is a two-step harbinger to disaster.
Great analogy.
And those companies will now be investing in new and existing sources of American fossil fuels to ship to overseas markets. No benefit to the American public. My big question is where is this congressionally unappropriated $900M coming from? Some DOI or DOE slush fund?
Yep. Typical trumpian brilliance.
Actually, it's just his typical childish vindictiveness.
Those "noisy" wind turbines just really, really offended him...
https://tdhawkes.substack.com/p/the-rules-and-regulations
See, “Trump is crushing America’s farmers—yet they back him” in The Economist (online). Bottom line: despite the enormous pain this administration’s disastrous tariff policy and war have imposed upon it, the American Heartland continues to stick with their King. 🤦🏼♂️🤷♂️I think ignorance + racism are a pretty toxic (and tragic) brew.
The MAGA crew will not abandon Trump as long as they can openly be racist and....own the libs.
And as long as the right-wing media is dominating their airwaves and their attention.
Racist and sexist and own the libs
America is not the country of MAGA. If they want Trump, form a state for themselves making Trump their govenor. How about dividing Tx?
he is down to 51-49 among white rural americans. and 50-50 among white males. he could not get elected dog catcher if the election were held today. unfortunately, we are stuck with his as we don't a way to force a resignation like other countries can.
While it's good to see the lights coming on inside some skulls, the president will never again be on the ballot. The self-talk among these voters to justify moving from supporting the Trump to Vance is too easy, while there's a long distance between disliking one guy and voting for the opposite party next time. There's still work to do.
The craven, complicit GOP are also bailing them out - again - with our dollars, buying their votes. They should absolutely suffer the consequences of their electoral choices, even if it means we all go down with them. Otherwise, they will never learn. No more socialism for farmers and corporations without socialism for all. As in - nationalized health care, decent wages, day care, and a good standard of living.
💯
We’re not there yet. Thanks to oil reserves. So they haven’t suffered the full consequences yet. There will be a breaking point.
"There will be a breaking point." I dunno about that. The racism is deeply baked in. Asking these folks to walk away from it (i.e. from Trump) is asking them to abandon what is basically their entire identities.
By the way, the real problem is less that people vote for republicans; it’s more about the fence sitters who don’t vote or vote third party. 60 or 70 million people.
Agree. Is anyone working to address the non-voters? Anyone know of anything being done here?
Mandatory voting, similar to that in Australia, might help...
Non-affiliated voters don't realize that they are cutting themselves out of the most important part of the electoral process...the primaries. The primaries are where most congressional seats are won or lost.
How do you know that the people who don’t vote wouldn’t vote just like the people who do? Or lean either way?
Ezra Klein interviewed a Democrat pollster/marketing strategist who says that, from the people who didn’t vote, more would have voted for that current dweller of the White House than for Kamala. I don’t remember the guy’s name but he had the data. I think the interview was over a year ago, maybe more. I stopped watching/reading Ezra Klein about a year ago as well
It sounds like one of his typical narratives. And I'm sure any "data" he presents is cherry-picked, or is at least suspect. Republican strategists must love the guy.
They haven’t suffered yet. None of them have. Let’s talk when that happens. People leave cults all the time. A certain core remains, but when the real suffering reaches them, and it’s no longer that other person, attitudes change.
The eternal reason why the mice vote for the cats. It's as American as apple pie.
FOX and peer pressure. My friend is a farmer and they've been crushed by Trump policies, but she's on-line and FOX, so it doesn't matter. It isn't so much racism...the 1950s kind as it's 40 years of immigrant bashing by right wing news. She believes that criminal immigrants are running wild in the US and are being given government handouts.
just like germans believed the first world war was lost because they were stabbed in the back; the military had not lost any battles etc. the truth was the americans entered the war and after that they were cooked. but they continued to believe they lost the war because of jews and socialists who sold them out. or something. the r's are bitching that we call them fascists and that is ratcheting up the rhetoric, yet greg sargent points out, the cries of fascism are legitimate, pointed out by major scholars of fascism like jason stanley, tim snyer, and laurence rees, to name a few.
Never, ever underestimate the power of hate to overcome reason.
Most cults are populated by a majority of people who will eventually leave the cult. So people leave cults all the time.
In general, they might not open their eyes to reality when others are suffering. But they often do open their eyes when they themselves are suffering, or when their families are suffering. That might happen soon... unfortunately for our country.
To explain MAGA, two things can be true. There are negative factors like hatred and indignation at being condescended to by elites. But there is also a positive element: Some people LOVE Trump.
If you are a Paul Krugman reader who despises Trump, that can be hard to believe. But you probably know a friend who fell in love with someone that you couldn't love or even respect.
If you dream of persuading your MAGA friends to change their opinion about Trump, you'll have to be patient, respectful and calm -- just as you are with that friend who fell for the wrong person.
I'll never understand why the Democrats want to rush in and rescue Iowa. Seems to me, Democrats ought to go full anti-corporate welfare.
Let's help people get ahead by going to school, and leave the Iowa welfare bums out--where they want to be. Sure, it makes good economic sense to stabilize commodity prices. On the other hand, I could use some really cheap corn and wheat, so if they like Trump so much they can have 1930 again.
They remind me of the Jones Town Cult who committed mass suicide at the direction of their leader. Rationality is out the window with this crew. They drank the cool aide.
many of them drank the cool aid at gunpoint though.
Does this equate to politicians continuing to support him because they might lose a primary or election if they don't?
Not forgetting that Trump has bailed farmers out in the past. Why work for a living when you can have it given to you by taxpayers?
Good. Then the next Democratic POTUS can take over and completely remove all the grants and subsidies the farmers receive and they will be OK with that. And if some of them aren't OK with that then who cares? They chose their party, they get their door prizes.
Maybe they are masochists. Cultists for sure. Sick, sick, sick!
"I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." Lyndon Johnson
Famine in 2027? Nothing can surprise me anymore. 😢
Not for the majority of Americans. But food scarcity is already showing up in poor countries and will get to poor Americans too if this keeps up.
I recently read that about 40% of the world population is malnutrationed.
Or if. last summer’s crop (which was short) is sitting in silos. This summer’s crop is about to be planted and it will be significantly short. Then again if you are over weight you are going to be handed the opportunity to lose it.
Preppers are looking prescient, eh?
I misread your comment as "peppers are looking prescient." When something doesn't make sense reread it. (Where are my damn glasses anyway?"
All of the preppers I know are libertarian MAGA wannabes. They actually all have large gardens which kinda makes sense. We also have a large garden but none of the 5 of us would ever vote for a Republican.
A huge garden is a very reasonable thing.
I laugh at Preppers. There is no way a family of four is going to survive in some bunker with canned goods. To survive will require forming tribes. That is true for the simplest of reasons. You have to man watches.
Ya' pays yer' money etc etc.
There's a wide range between a weeklong power outage, for example, and the far less likely (I think/hope) Cormack McCarthy - style "survive in some bunker".
The Thrope family is prepared for the shorter-term SHTF stuff. I'll share with you when that happens, friend.
Prepping = be prepared. Noone can prepare for the apocalypse, but easy does it, less can do it.
Same for us, Miss Thorpe.
They are a symptom of a national problem. They crave an apocalypse, and unfortunately they are more than willing to take the rest of us with them. It's a religious thing, but I'm not supposed to call it nuts because it's "religious."
As we can see in the polls, people are very dissatisfied with Trump but most of them plan anyway to vote for the republicans, probably as well most American farmers that voted for Trump. Very worrying to see this picture.
what evidence of this is there? I have to believe that trump lost a ton of R votes or they will stay home in midterms
I'd say mostly anecdotal so far. I read an article in The Economist this morning making the same claim: farmers are still supporting Trump even though they are taking it in the shorts. And to the extent they are still sucking the pipe of Fox News, I'm sure someone else is to blame. Foreigners, etc.
Nate Silver has Trumpkopf's approval vs. disapproval around -18 since January. His approval isn't exactly in full blown free fall, but it's dropping at a pretty steady rate.
More likely to stay home, than switch sides. (Dyed in the wool R's; that swing group may come out for D's.)
Yes, a relative would not vote for trump, but also would not vote for Harris (wrote in some other name) because, she said, Harris was not intelligent enough. This is what I call a hard-wired Republican.
Right. One of the NYT opinion writers (IIRC, Bret Stephens) did the same. He made no specific claims about Harris - he simply said that he would never vote for a Democrat.
You gotta wonder what the party has done to inspire such hate. It clearly wasn’t the civil war. Lincoln was a republican.
Check GEM’s Apr 24 post: something like 84% of 2024 R voters are still on side, as are 52% of men over 65.
They may tell pollsters that and either vote other way or stay home
You need to dig into the details.
If they include demographics you'll see far fewer Republicans than a year ago.
"In the (Iowa) Senate race, GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson leads state Sen. Zach Wahls by 47 percent to 44 percent and state Rep. Josh Turek by 47 percent to 43 percent. The poll surveyed 1,200 likely voters from March 10-16 with a 2.8 percent margin of error."
but it's Iowa....I am surprised Dems are that close in that red state
Yes, and I think some congressional seats will flip, but, as a glass half empty guy, I can’t believe Hinson still had this much support. This is a State that went for Obama.
He must be distancing himself from the orange clown
She is running for Senate, so she has to win the big towns too. The BBB is a “middle class tax cut”. Grassley does the same thing.
That’s a joke! Cuts predominately to top and expire soon. Gullible voters
I assume you don’t pay an electric bill or gas bill? I work for one of Americas two grocery stores. Exactly a year ago (May 2025)both companies Albertson’s and Kroger both raised every single product line in their stores 42% out of greed.
What’s ur point?
That's true, but a lot of Republicans and right leaning Independents have or plan to switch sides. Presented for your perusal, former congressmen Joe Walsh and Adam Kinzinger as exhibit "A".
I don't believe pollsters since most ask bad questions and the voter also LIES in these polls I believe....I look at the results of every election in 2025/2026 and dems are cleaning their clocks
We all have to get out new eligible voters. Period.
True story: Farmer's response to interviewer who pointed out that, "diesel is up, fertilizer is up, interest rates are up, and available migrant labor is down." "I guess he (Trump) knows what he is doing."
Not surprised Mark. Many of the MAGAs no longer proudly wear the hats and bumper stickers, but they will always be part of the cult.
Q. What's the difference between Jim Jones and Donald Trump?
A. Donald Trump would make the cultists pay for the kool-aid.
The repeating motive in memoirs documenting Soviet internal terror of the 1930s is, when deep-faith communists were taken from their prison cells to be shot, them declaring "I accept my fate if this advances the cause of communism!".
And I thought the Bolsheviks were rare sick psychos...
Delusional thinking is the foundation on which authoritarian regimes are built. And all of the authoritarians become megalomaniacal - like a certain orange troll in the WH... Megalomania eventually slides into psychosis.
In the case of Trumpski and his cabal, they are well into psychosis - serial killer level. And completely incurable.
Trumpski will burn civilisation to the ground, before he accepts that he has lost. The Iranians have assessed him and know his weaknesses. By offering their deal they have painted him even further into his nasty corner. He is now the person holding the world to ransom and even Republicans are starting to realise it. Yet he cannot accept anything other than his definition of "total victory".
Should America need help in a disaster, I wonder who will come to their aid?
There are some exceptions. Stalin I think was one sober bastard.
Well, he was monomaniacal, but easily lead astray by crackpots and setting up the death by famine of 30,000,000 Russians and Ukrainians cannot, I think, be called sober.
A large fraction of American voters are simply as dumb as rocks.
"I guess he (Trump) knows what he is doing." - maybe we can understand this. It is very tempting to think that the fact that someone is doing incomprehensible things, proves that he/she is light years ahead of you in comprehension abilities.
Not unlike some scientists - when faced with a seemingly incomprehensible work, they praise this work as truly revolutionary. "I do not understand" = "this must be very advanced". See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair
Hmmm.. I got a Ph.D. in a natural science and spent a lot of time in the company of scientists, over a decade. I do not think I have ever heard them react to anything like that. First of all, believing themselves to be among the smartest people alive, you would never hear “I do not understand”. You would be far more likely to hear “This is plainly wrong. As shown by Chevenski[1], mallard ducks have three sexes and so can not possibly migrate to the Falklands from Canada… Please make appropriate revisions, and cite my work [9], [11-14] and [26] before consideration for publication.” This response is especially likely if they do not understand the work.
I do agree though that the farmer is probably hoping it is all 3D chess and not, say, bumbling narcissism or an attempt to collect grift gone wrong. Why he would refuse to believe what is now obvious, I can no longer fathom. It’s been obvious for a while.
OK, leave aside the hard scientists. They are primitive minds incapable of believing in two or more mutually exclusive facts. A simple "insufficient capacity" issue, poor folks. Nothing can be done to help them.
If I were in the room with a farmer saying that, I'd truly have a hard time restraining myself from punching him in the face. Because, really?
They voted for this. I have absolutely no sympathy. All of us will pay, too.
There is a through-line in Donald Trump’s life that his supporters mistake for boldness and his critics for corruption. It is simpler than either: a consistent, lifelong refusal to bear the costs of his own decisions, and an equally consistent talent for transferring those costs onto others.
https://marcusnunes.substack.com/p/the-bankruptcy-artist
Frankly, if they voted for him last November they can reap what the sowed.
Looks like the “sowing” is going to be a bit thin, but that’s OK because China isn’t buying the corn and soybeans this year.
This is a slow moving train wreck that is going to require huge bailouts, but they won’t be enough.
Except we literally depend on eating what they reap lol
Not a chance. The Economist reports: "Donald Trump is crushing America’s farmers—yet they back him". A fragment from The Economist's report:
"This week the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Farm Bill, which includes provisions that analysts reckon would help nearly double cash subsidies to farmers by 2027, to $41bn. “I don’t know one farmer who actually wants a handout,” says Jayden Jorgensen, a 25-year-old who works her father’s land in Iowa. “But if we don’t take them, then we’re behind everybody else.”".
The number of farm bankruptcies is up significantly.
I’m glad you are thinking of the farmers and others who are and will suffer from this war. I am thinking of the many,many mariners who are stuck on ships either within the Strait of Hormuz or at sea for many extra days, how are they getting supplies of food and essentials? Of the US service personnel and marines who are on the war ships how are they being being supplied? As one navy man noted on his sub stack - how are the logistics of this war working? So many are currently suffering before we even take of the lives lost to war. Nothing is being thought through - the oil is key but so are the other ramifications of this administration.
The ships trapped in the Gulf can get supplies from Arab ports. Check the YouTube channel “What’s going on with shipping.”
Thanks! I know that some ships are going around Africa to avoid the whole Middle East. ( including the Suez Canal) That adds about 40 days. I think seamen are often the most overlooked workers.
Thanks again. Do you have info on how the US navy is handling their supply issues with bases damaged?
No I don’t know anything about the Navy I’m afraid.
From September 2025:
"A growing crisis is silently unfolding in agriculture. Farmers are *3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population*. With mounting financial stress, that number could be on the rise this year.
https://www.agweb.com/news/business/health/despair-hope-why-farmer-brink-suicide-chose-keep-going
Trump will shore them up with a 'grant' as he did before..
Suicides are up too
It is unfortunate that the terrorism and cruelty midwest farmers voted to inflict on others has turned around to harm them. May their sacred Christian values help them through these troubling times.
Unfortunately, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that block votes against its own interests time and time again. It helps that there are bailouts in cash from the rest of us to compensate for the problems created by the officials they prefer at the ballot box. Put another way, they typically cannot stomach voting for the other party and they'll just put up with the consequences.
I came across an old New Yorker cartoon from the first Trump administration, which showed a woman in a travel agency, asking “which country is least mad at us now?” Still current today.
Europe in particular has to be wondering, “WTF??” It took them and us 20 months to carefully negotiate the Iran Nuclear Deal and then Trump rashly tears it up in 2018 with nothing to replace it. And that was after he twice certified that the deal was working in his first term.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a broad international agreement which put over 100 international experts on the ground in Iran conducting daily inspections plus using other high-tech 24/7 surveillance and measurement techniques to make sure they did not advance their nuclear program or ever develop a weapon, after sending 97% of their enriched uranium out of the country?
Yeah, well, we had that and it was working — but our Very Stable Genius broke it, like he breaks everything.
It would also be nice if Americans would realize that the Ayatollah himself always said that Iran had no desire to build nuclear weapons, because the concept of nuclear weapons is antithetical to the teachings of Islam.
How is it that we are constantly fed the line of bullshit about Iran wanting to attack us, and use nuclear weapons to rule the world, when WE are the ONLY country on the planet who has ever used nuclear weapons against anyone EVER?
This shitshow of a war has proven a few things:
1) Big bombs and big guns can still be obliterated ( actually, not rhetorically, like the so-called destruction of Iran's nuclear capacity that we were told occurred last June) by much smaller, much cheaper weapons.
2) The almighty US military is YEARS behind other military programs in using these smaller, cheaper weapons. Ukraine, whose brave leader trump mocked and tried to humiliate publicly last year, has kicked our asses in drone technology and production.
Iran has kicked our asses with drones, as well.
3) The ( by FAR) most expensive military on the planet has been outwitted by the very country that the US has disparaged and insulted for the past 47 years, using a fraction of the cost of the US military. Frankly, we have been handed our asses on a platter, compliments of Iran.
This is exactly what arrogance and ignorance delivers. We're now the poster child country for all that.
Thanks, Diaper Don.
Great one Walt!
There's a 'caster named El who put out a video yesterday talking about U.S. expatriates. She said that Ireland and Portugal are the most popular countries at the moment. She also said that Canada just passed a law that makes any person with Canadian ancestors Canadian citizens. They're basically interested in attracting people who can contribute to their business interests. She also said that many (perhaps most) of the people trying for multiple passports have no current plans to move.
People with multiple passports have options
True. I've heard that quite a few people want to use a passport from another country to avoid being identified as American when traveling.
It has been received wisdom for years for us ex-pats to hide our USA passports when in UK or Europe.
"Russia, North Korea, that's about it."
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
War, at first, is the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off. -Karl Kraus, writer (28 Apr 1874-1936)
War doesn't determine who's right, only who's left.
Trump took us into this war with no idea what he wanted the war to accomplish other than decapitating Iran's regime. After Khameini was killed, there was not thought whatsoever as to what comes next. So Trump and Hegseth just kept bombing because what else is there to do?
And here we are, coming up on two months of this war. Trump STILL has no idea what he wants this war to accomplish. His negotiating team of Kushner and Witkoff is just a pair of blinkered imbeciles with also have no idea what they're trying to accomplish.
And all the while, Iran grows stronger, Russia grows stronger, and China grows stronger.
Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.
Niccolo Machiavelli
I think Trump, as always, just wanted the TV moment. Another episode in the never ending reality show "Trump is a very successful alfa male". Bibi and our idiot Secretary of War, fooled Trump into thinking that this would be a sure win in a few days or weeks. US clearly had the weapons (cards) to do a lot of harm to Iran and then they would cry uncle (as Trump would do if it was him).
The fact that there were multiple other potential outcomes was not something Trump considered for more than a second. Competent government would carefully consider many alternative outcomes at the second, third and fourth level and develop best approximations of the probability of each outcome. But competent government is a lot of hard work, and Trump doesn't do hard work - he plays golf. He even destroyed the State Department which would have been doing the competent government thing (because it had been led by Hillary).
I’m guessing Trump doesn’t even work at golf, which requires discipline and focus to keep the ball down the fairway. I’d love to hear how many balls he loses in every round. Thirty? Forty? Twice that? I can’t imagine him having the patience or desire to take lessons and to practice steadfastly. One of the nation’s most underreported sports stories.
He simply cheats, sometimes even when on camera. Use your choice of search engine for "video of trump cheating at golf".
And naturally, he lies about his golf just like with everything else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_and_golf#Trump_as_cheater
One pro golfer who played a round with Trump said something to the effect that "I don't know what he's playing, but it isn't golf."
But he "wins" every one of his tournaments.
Personally, i don’t think trump gives a crap! He’s most likely chose to live with his “ego” brain, that tells him, he’s winning, better than anyone has ever won before! This man has lost his mind, his “actual “mind, not the mind “he chooses to live by” and in that mind he’s living in the “golden age”
"Bravado: A noun referring to a showy, often reckless, or pretended display of courage and confidence intended to impress or intimidate. It is frequently used to describe a bold front that masks fear, insecurity, or a lack of real confidence."
Perfect! So he’s not insane, he’s just trump acting with Bravado. That makes sense, because sometimes, few times, he sounds sane. This is positive, so when he’s indicted for crimes to humanity he can’t use the “insane” plea & be put in a real prison! 😂
Except that Trump, Hegseth, Miller, et al, are not alpha males; they’re alfalfa males. They know it and it eats at them. Hence the bluster and cruelty.
He was warned about the Strait of Hormuz but ignored it.
They have one goal- whatever will enrich the rich-to Hell with all of us peons
Dear Carole,
Thank you for reminding readers that most of us are peons.
I am one of the peons who struts around with designer purses, Gucci, Ralph Loren, etc.,
trying to look rich.
I feel silly. Why do I want to look rich when I am not?
The wealthy are buying our government. They control monopolies. They raise prices.
Just thinking...
I don't think he cared about regime change; he wanted the oil. His people may have seen this as a "Holy War" to bring about the End Times. But no matter what, we are in a mess now.
For certain, Trump is not motivated by any sort of higher purpose, e.g., religion or the spread of democracy.
I believe you're correct - he's become a fanatic about oil. I wondered about his talk that the UK has no valid claim to the Falklands until I read that the area is "oil rich." I now believe that he wants the islands for himself.
I kind of look at it as the worst possible way to do a very good thing, start weaning the world off of problematic fossil fuels. So, I’m silently cheering the incompetence on. He is at times the leading protagonist for the other side. No Green Party member would dream of forcibly deconstructing refinery capacity in another country, but here we are.
I note that the Iranians have demanded that Witkoff and Kushner be kept away from any negotiations. They are so incompetent that they just get in the road.
They are just there for the bribes anyway.
True about China and Iran. Not so sure about Russia. They are hanging by a thread.
Russia has strengthened its alliance with Iran, found new export markets for the Iranian Shahed drones it is manufacturing for Iran and a bunch of new clients, and has completely humiliated Trump by actively helping Iran while Trump continues to do Putin's bidding. So I'm going to say Russia's coming out in a much better position globally because of this. (The war in Ukraine is, of course, and entirely different matter.)
You can only describe Russia as being in a “better position” if you completely ignore their domestic problems and their disastrous invasion of Ukraine. Nothing about Iran has tipped the balance enough to solve all of their numerous problems.
I never said it solved all their problems. Just that Russia is coming out of this much stronger. He'll, Putin is actively aiding Iran and Trump lifted the sanctions that prevented Russia from selling oil, so now Putin is cashing in on the oil price spike Trump created!
Yes. It’s amazing to me that republicans were all national defense and military and faux patriotism for such a long time, and now we have a president who is obviously conspiring with and/or being manipulated by Putin, and it’s not a big deal. I’m surprised there aren’t Russian flags next to all of the trump flags and blu lives matter flags, etc.
When oil was $65, Russia was hanging by their neck - now they are hanging by a thread. So yeah - less badly off. But they are cooked.
And Kegsbreath claims that we still have plenty of munitions. I doubt that the Chinese believe that; they're pretty good at mathematics.
“blinkered imbeciles”. 🤣🤣🤣
Paul, I’ll admit I’m a little out of my depth on the energy economics here. Goldman Sachs talking about 11-12 million barrels a day in inventory draws is the kind of number that lands like a dropped anchor, and I don’t have your fluency with the markets. So take what I’m adding as a guy standing beside you, not correcting you.
What you’ve laid out is airtight. The Strait’s closed, the math is brutal, and the clock is running. The dissociation framing rings true to me, too. I’ve spent enough time around people in positions of authority to recognize the particular kind of checked-out that sets in when someone can’t reconcile the gap between who they believe they are and what the facts are telling them. It’s not laziness. It’s almost a self-protective reflex. The organism rejects the incompatible data.
But here’s what I keep coming back to.
Trump’s personal defeat and America’s structural exposure aren’t the same thing, and I think conflating them, even slightly, lets a lot of people off the hook.
Who’s minding the shop?
I ask that not rhetorically. I genuinely don’t know. And that might be the scariest part of what you’ve written, the part that’s implied but not said outright. When the person nominally in charge dissociates, someone else either steps up or the machine runs on inertia until it can’t. We’re somewhere in that interval right now, and nobody seems to want to say it plainly.
Congress is watching inventory draws hit record pace. Markets are screaming. The Goldman note is circulating. They don’t get to sit this one out because Trump’s fixated on crown molding.
The Strait will eventually reopen. The terms, when they come, will be what they are. But the inventory clock you’ve described doesn’t care about anyone’s fugue state or anyone’s political positioning. It’s just math. Cold, indifferent, and accelerating.
I appreciate you pulling yourself back from vacation for this. Some things are worth the interruption.
Dino - I hate to say this but I believe Stephen Miller, Russell Vought and the Heritage Foundation team are pulling all the puppet strings right now.
I terrifyingly agree with you KIm. We're in Big Trouble. I've been awake since 2:30AM--actually most mornings recently with a sense of dread. Thank you Paul for interrupting your vacation briefly with your pertinent information for us.
It probably depends on which department. Kennedy is running HHS and he's not 2025 but his own special independent grift. He's fine as long as he doesn't get too far out over his skis.
2025 has been running things most of the time. Trump's running on their recipe.
I agree. However, I could wish they were less Machiavellian about it. If you could see the blatant overreach, it would be more easily slapped down.
Oh, I think they are working with a big cudgel which makes it easy to see.
If Republican politicians really felt that their acquiescence to Trump's damage was destroying their electoral chances, they would be reacting NOW. I see some very marginal shift but it's pretty minor, compared to the damage. This is a missing piece of the puzzle: Where are the outraged Republicans?
Republicans are in a cult of personality. If you look at Germany spring 1945, they were still strongly behind their leader and had religious faith in him.
The billionaires recognize they can make money from prerunning markets, so they benefit from insider information and chaotic actions.
R's have nowhere to go so they're sticking with the (we hope) sinking ship.
Since they're mostly psychopaths, they figure the best outcome for them is to profit individually, then bail, confident the merciful Dems (in hock to Big Money) won't pursue them after they leave office. If the Progressive (Tax the Rich!) Dem wing wins, there will be so many targets, they figure they can skive out.
The base is in denial. As long as that is the case, they won’t move. If the base can’t buy toilet paper and trash bags, or sit through 1970s gas lines, then we might see some talk, but we do have to remember who we are talking about here. Is Lindsey Graham going to stick to his guns and tear down Trump as he said he would do Jan 6, 2020, or is he going to go crawling back? Again. We shouldn’t expect much.
The billionaires arouind Trump recognize that big swings in markets are opportunities for profit, ESPECIALLY if they get a couple hours notice of massive policy changes.
EG, if Mango Mussolini decides to quit on Iran, oil futures would go down-$tens of millions to be made.
This whole series of events makes painfully clear Trump's dementia has gotten completely out of control.
It's obvious the RPBs won't do anything to stop the slide.
But the "silence of the lambs [Democrats]' about his mental deterioration remains disturbing.
And Putin's p---ing in Trump's face re Iran -- & Trump's apparent failure to even NOTICE how Putin is yanking the US' chain -- finally makes unavoidable mention of the elephant in the room:
Aside from being a TRAITOR to the US when it comes to Russia, how is it NOT possible to raise the question if Trump's ACTUAL agenda is
to DESTROY all the institutional bases -- both domestic & foreign -- of US power & prestige?
He's clearly doing it -- the question is the extent to which it's INTENTIONAL
Not sure what the D's could do to proclaim his dementia; the cameras catch him snoozing, and his rambling disjointed and inappropriate remarks.
They need to make it a CONSTANT talking point in ALL interactions with the media, both legacy & new, and link it to Trump's consistent failure to articulate anything like a coherent "strategy" re Iran as well as his equally consistent & traitorous failure to support Ukraine & his self-destructive "tariff" policies, pointing out how his insistence foreign governments & corporations "pay" tariffs is the product of a "mind" that's not fully there. The point is to link his obvious dementia with his policy insanity.
It already is. Democrats can't do anything meaningful until the 2026 election. I'm just hoping that Democrats realize this time how important it is to win and wake up and smell the coffee. The working class is 2/3 of America and the college educated are only 1/3. I think that number is going to fall dramatically as AI is eating college degrees.
Democrats need working class candidates, push into unionization and quit with the identity politics.
It won’t help. Democrats can not stop the nonsense by simply winning every election from now on. They aren’t that good.
This ends when MAGA demands sane things. Not before. They will eventually be elected again and if they haven’t smartened up, it’s the same ride of concentrated chaos all over again.
I would like Dr. Krugman to post a graph of the (vocabulary) number of words used by the general population versus socioeconomics and/or years of education and/or political party, indicating where trump stands, perhaps overlaid by IQ (which, however, is not a reliable value).
The hurdles for removing him from office are so huge (it needs to be supported by the vice-president and a majority of cabinet, and that is never going to happen) and the risks so great (look at the depth chart, it is grim) that removal is a non-starter, and it's time we stopped wasting time and energy talking about it.
The Democrats are doing what they can.
[from Google AI:]
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has introduced legislation to create a bipartisan "Commission on Presidential Capacity" under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment. The bill would establish a 17-member body of medical experts and former officials to evaluate a president's fitness to serve, aimed at addressing potential mental or physical incapacity.
Key Aspects of Raskin's 25th Amendment Proposal:
The Legislation: Reintroduced in April 2026, the bill seeks to establish the "Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office" to act as the body envisioned by the 25th Amendment, which allows the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet (or this commission) to declare a president incapacitated.
Commission Structure: The proposed 17-member commission would be bipartisan, comprising physicians, psychiatrists, and former executive officials (e.g., former Presidents, Vice Presidents, Secretaries of State) to ensure objective evaluation.
Motivation: Raskin has framed the initiative as a national security issue, citing "erratic behavior" and "impulsive" decisions by President Trump.
Context: While the 25th Amendment was adopted over 50 years ago, Congress has never established the independent body mentioned in Section 4, which Raskin seeks to fulfill.
Status: The legislation, which has garnered support from dozens of House Democrats, faces long odds in a Republican-controlled Congress. …
Raskin has emphasized that the proposal is aimed at establishing a "scrupulously bipartisan" process…
A president faced with a 25th Amendment process can challenge it, in which case their removal requires a TWO THIRDS MAJORITY in BOTH the HOR and SENATE!
Dems couldn't get 1/6th of Republican Senators to recognize trump led an insurrection trying to overthrow the government in 2020, after he did and they were cowering in fear for their lives...
Sadly, the 25th and impeachment are only minor speed bumps in our current political environment.
While I appreciate your "crediting" Google AI for your comment, I think that explains why what it says is simply not relevant to the change in public discourse I'm talking about ... What Jamie -- I've known him since he was in high school -- is doing is fine, it's clear that it's going to fail ... Doesn't mean he shouldn't do it, as it may have an impact in moving public discourse in a positive direction ... But to say "Democrats are doing what they can" is, I'm sorry to say, actually an admission that my general critique is correct: they are nibbling at the edges of the right-wing discourse cancer that has dominated US public life since Reagan ... Not saying he shouldn't do it -- but no one should have any illusions that it's going to make much difference, if any, in moving the country as a whole in a fundamentally different direction, in the way Reagan's election in 1981 ...
If only…Democrats have been on the back foot regarding taxes since Prop 13 (I was in high school in CA at the time), and they have never recovered. Even now, I feel they need to defend the government and make the case for taxation on the basis of patriotism and the public good. Leadership is scarce.
Totally agree ... and kudos for recognizing the crucial role of Prop 13 in being the first step in Cali's deterioration ... Wish you were right about the Dems actually standing for something ... Unfortunately, being on the defensive since 1981, their basic rule has been "don't say or do anything that MIGHT upset a potential 'swing' voter" ...
They could start by repealing prop 13. We haven’t had a statewide Republican candidate win office in 20 years. They have the votes. They do not actually want to kill it.
Their case will get a lot easier if we have 30% unemployment due to AI.
So… something to look forward to.
No. This definitely steps back to Nixon. My parents generation possessed a will that the current 5 generations simply do not possess. My parents bought their first house, new, for $8,000 in 1958.. It’s not that you cannot buy cheap houses today it’s a matter of if you want to live where the houses are. I have to say this I back Jamie 100% while many think like you that challenging trump’s mental capacity under the 25th Amendment will fail, I have this to say, this is not just about trumps ability to surpass Dementia testing. Trump was diagnosed by his doctor with Dementia between his first & second term. He knows he is ill. Your doctor has to sign a document stating you are fit for the job so his doctor’s license is on the line. But the 25th Amendment is more than that. They have to prove that trump is capable of doing his job and Jamie has overwhelming evidence that he is not. As commander-in-chief trump started a war without just cause. He mass murdered thousands without just cause but then when the stakes were highest he (on Easter Sunday) threatened to wipe out an entire civilization with a deadline. When that deadline arrived trump issued the order to wipe out the civilization and his generals refused to obey his direct order. trump then began posing on the internet as Jesus, then the Pope, then a firefighter, etc., etc., instead of doing his job. WWE were at war, we are at war, instead of doing his job as commander-in-chief heaping on the internet as Jesus. This is a man who is clearly not capable of doing his job. His cabinet then posed behind him in a high level conference and trump was asleep. His cabinet may have thought this was funny but no judge will. We are at war and trump is asleep in the middle of the day. trump is ‘unfit to govern’.
There is an analog here. By 1943 Hitler had screwed up so badly that he retreated to Wolf’s Lair to basically try to hide from his mistakes. His standing orders to hold at all costs and never retreat, thus fighting to the last man, doomed him. By 1944 the Allies could invade at Normandy and the Russians could launch the greatest tank battle ever. Air supremacy was achieved partly through the use of the P-51 Mustang and the Allies could bomb Berlin in daylight and survive. Hitler choked. Will Trump hide in his ballroom afraid to face the Epstein inquiry? The Iran screwup? The crashing world economy? Trump is choking right now and the mid-terms couldn’t happen soon enough.
Not a ballroom. A combined throne room, medical facility, and Fuhrerbunker.
https://time.com/article/2026/04/17/white-house-military-complex-bunker-trump-ballroom/
As I read it, I was imagining a golden throne, a large lever and some doors in the floor to drop visiting dignitaries into the alligator pits below.
Dr. Krugman well demonstrates the intersection of economics and psychology. It's useful when thinking about what drives Trump to understand the psychology of the malignant narcissist, their desperate need to keep clinging to a delusion of omnipotence. See Erich Fromm, The Heart of Man. Roman history is also useful - Nero, Caligula, for example.
But Valerian draws a hopeful smile. Those Persians … !
Makes sense.
We are in for very bad days ahead. And we are standing all alone at the edge of the cliff thanks to him.
You are correct. We need to batten the hatches, there is a mighty storm coming.
Problem is, the hatches are made of imported, tariffed lumber or metals, which are priced out of reach.
Canada was happy to sell you lumber, steel and aluminum but....
True!!!
My reply was “HOW!!!!”
The edge of your "cliff" is starting to crumble in parallel with Trumpski's mental state. He will soon ask the MAGA "lemmings" to leap so that their bodies will cushion his fall.
Not just my cliff. The country's cliff. And maybe the world's. I am all for the MAGA lemmings leaping first, starting with his obsequious Cabinet.
It is quite likely that Trump will fabricate out of thin air some pretense of victory. He cannot help himself, and with his seemingly incipient dementia he only becomes more disoriented to reality. And yet, Republicans unfailingly fall in behind him. I suppose that having gleefully taken the Faustian bargain, they now are reckoning with the fact that their souls, honor, respect, and reputation for posterity can never be returned.
Carninal barkers bark but they can't make a show out of an empty tent. Sure, he'll claim victory, but only the reptiles of MAGA will believe it.
That’s okay. Just get it over.
That last sentence, yes!
Congressional Republicans each fear to stand out from the herd. Be a leader and you’re the one nail standing up - you’ll be pounded by Trump, MAGA, Fox/OAN/podcasters. So they each figure: I’ll wait this out, it’ll pass eventually, I’ll still have my seat, my donors, my insider trading info. That’s the bargain… until Old Scratch comes a’calling for whatever remnants are left of their souls
I'm afraid it won't be that simple. It may be that he believes that, if the strait stays closed, he will obtain a world-wide monopoly on oil and natural gas. He said "If Europe is running out of jet fuel, they can buy it from us. We have plenty."
Aiken's comment about Vietnam is relevant:
"Declare victory and bring the troops home."
We can only hope that he'll stay distracted with Iran long enough to NOT invade/attack Cuba.
The problem with this is I doubt the Iranians have the ability to let him claim his victory. They are in a cycle of mocking him, and I doubt it’s possible for “them” to stop, even if their leadership reaches a consensus that it’s in their interest to do so. Too many random people can decide that one last post dunking on the crazy man needs to go out.
They should not stop. They are displaying their power to hold Europe and Asia hostage and showing how it grows day by day as the oil deficit deepens.
I don't remember a lot from my college economics course but the "law of supply and demand". It seems that Trump has been defeated by not only Iran but also by the law of supply and demand and he would have known it if he had been doing any studying in college. He was too busy looking at himself in the mirror.
Maybe Zelensky could meet with him in the equivalent of the Oval Office of Ukraine and tell him he doesn't "have the cards"??
If only Trump would go to Ukraine, to be caught in a Russian attack. The world would be instantly cleaner and smarter.
Since he’s just the spokesmodel for about 30% of the US population, the stupidity would remain. They would just find another entertainment industry D-lister to replace him, just like Trump took over for Reagan.
Notes to "servile Republicans": the rest of the world does not like or want to conform to MAGA philosophy. The world has to live-in something called reality. The Law of Unintended Consequences and basic laws of Economics do not necessarily agree with MAGA philosophy. Side note: climate change conforms to physics not MAGA.
Tump's control over GOP representatives is, in part, through physical stochastic terror. There are tons of reports of Republican politicians getting threats against them and families, if they try to oppose Trump. So some politicians retire, some fall in line with Trump.
This terror does not extend outside US, so Trump has few friendly countries.
BTW, one of defining features of fascism is use of physical terror to control politcians.
Paul,
I wanted to ask whether you might consider revisiting a related point you’ve made in the past: that the United States’ claim to “energy independence” can foster a misleading sense of security. In the current context, where disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have global price and supply implications, it seems especially relevant to clarify that oil remains a globally priced, fungible commodity, regardless of domestic production levels.
A short reiteration of how interconnected pricing, refining configurations, and trade flows continue to transmit external shocks into the U.S. economy could be valuable for readers & voters who may interpret energy independence too narrowly.
Mitch
I've seen multiple FB comments by MAGAts that we don't get oil through the Strait and therefore it being cut off doesn't matter to us. They do "not" understand the idea of a "global commodity."
Trump's war was his war. of ego. Because HE thinks all bow to him, why wouldn't Iran too bow to the orange child god? Trumps mental issues run far too deep for any therapist alone to handle he needs a team of doctors to treat his sickness of the mind. He only is a bringer of pain and death. As an Atheist myself, I don't believe in gods of any kind, but these "Christians" out there who support him? Do they not see he fits the very definition of the anti Christ? America has fallen and it can't get up.
Evidently not. fox news has very little fact based information. For many people that's all they hear.
Trump keeps repeating he aced the intelligence tests. That turned out to be the MOCA, an instrument to measure cognitive impairment. You only do testing of cognitive impairment when there's a reason to do so. Trump is advertising his own medical issues.
why take it multiple times?? there is an issue that it addresses
"why take it multiple times??"
To monitor the progress of Trump's frontotemporal dementia. Repeat, not to diagnose Trump's dementia, which is assumed as a given, but to monitor its progress.
Not my idea, mind you, but a hypothesis often repeated by one Dr John Gartner who frequently opines on YouTube what's wrong with Trump.
Also Dr. David Benjamin of the United Front.
He was set the test multiple times because nobody believed the scores could read that low.
Everyone who has dementia THINKS they aced the MOCA test. You have to be self-aware of your own decline to know you are failing.