What is that all about? The guy has lost his mind. That was a pretty depressing inauguration speech. I think we have become a much richer country because we opened our borders by buying and selling products internationally. Not now, as of today.
I acknowledge, up front, this is a very divisive subject. But, come on, don’t we expect and deserve a president that has some intellect and thoughtfulness.
This is turning into more of a weird thing than most had imagined. The current president is at war with the media, really the 4th arm of our government. For some reason he doesn’t realize there is fact checking, actually more than that, there is actual recorded footage of him contradicting himself nearly each time he speaks. Now he has a press secretary that mimics his actions. It is nuts.
Obviously, I don’t like the guy. And don’t try to say it was the best of 2 bad choices. I’m not comparing him to anyone but himself. His priorities and statements are ludicrous.
He is saying he is planning on cutting taxes to corporations today. The response from one of the guys that covers bond ratings for all countries –
“Even before elections the U.S had the highest level of government debt of any triple-A country. If we add on top of that Trump’s plans to cut taxes by $6.2 trillion over the next 10 years that could add around 33 percent to U.S. government debt,” said Ed Parker, Fitch’s head of sovereign ratings for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
That means Trump’s plans to slash taxes could threaten the United States’ triple-A credit rating over the medium term.
And what’s with the statement, “America will start winning again, winning like never before.”, I wonder if he even knows the definition to the word win. We’re not in a game, or a war, with all the other people that live on this planet. Historically, our country has been looked up to as the country that has empathy and looks after others. Guess not so much anymore?
The purpose for politicians in our society is varied. Recently, and especially during this election, it seems like there was a main objective to win the election. That would explain a lot of political behaviour during the campaign, such as flip-flopping, which seems dishonest to some.
But after someone is elected, that needs to stop. And it hasn’t. Kellyanne Conway phrased it “alternative facts”. Pretty creative, but stupid. And this tweeter thing is insane. It seems that the guy is “at war” with everyone. Can someone name one thing the guy likes? Anything?
He hates Saturday Night Live, actors and actresses, the media, just about anyone that disagrees with what his views are. It doesn’t seem normal. It is a really bad trait for the leader of the free world.
I was hoping that he was going to surround himself with others that would help him get up to speed how this all works. Nope. He has surrounded himself with a team of advisors that have a combined net worth of more than $10 billion. Many from the financial sector, those that he criticized during his campaign.
One of the first things he does as President is to sign an executive order to curb some parts of ACA. That is health care related. Affects about 30,000,000 Americans. Where is the replacement plan? Wasn’t the line repeal and replace? Guess he’s just interested in the first part.
Wouldn’t you think that a non-politician, a businessman, would take a little bit to get up to speed about what the repercussions of executive actions would be? Give it a little bit of time to understand the gravity of his decisions? He has the most information available at his finger tips now. And maybe not doing so many “victory tour” gatherings and, instead, spend every waking hour of the day understanding 100% of what needs to be done. Guess not, once again.
I could keep going on and on. Sunday, there were close to 3,000,000 people that thought their views needed to be heard. So they went to the streets and “protested”. They did this for various reasons. But mostly to be heard. This was the largest protest in the history of the United States.
Whatever you might think about her, Madonna made a speech and said she was tempted to “blowing up the White House”. I guess now the secret service isn’t happy and is having a talk with her. They want to know her intent.
According to an official, “If it’s characterized as inappropriate, then there won’t be any discussions with the U.S. Attorney. If it’s determined that there’s intent on her part, then there will be discussions with the U.S. Attorney and they’ll take it from there.”
They actually think that Madonna has an intent on blowing up the White House? Kind of reaching here, aren’t we.
This is going to be a long four years if it has only been 3 days so far. I can’t see this working out that well for our citizens. Or people throughout the world. It isn’t how it works nowadays.
Madonna has some explaining to do.
Which definition is he meaning?
The only thing he likes is himself.
The truly troubling thing about the Obama – Trump transition.
It keeps being referred to as a ‘transfer of power’ when in fact it is a ‘transfer of responsibility’.
The even bigger problem is that after running two good legs of the race, Obama handed off the baton to someone that’s never been responsible or accountable in their life.
As the announcer states “Oh the USA messed up the change”
If only we could rerun the election as easily as the US was able to rerun their heat at Rio 2016.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/us-women-drop-baton-4x100m-relay
Madonna is a bimbo. She just has more money than she did when she was an upcoming bimbo. As for Trump, America needed a change and now they’re going to get it. Unfortunately, It’s pretty obvious who’s steering Trump, and it’s Steve Bannon. He’s also the one who wrote Trump’s inaugural speech, the one Trump claimed he was writing himself. The people he’s surrounded himself with are the worst corporate whores imaginable, the only ones who aren’t actively opposed to the agencies they’re being tasked to run are the Generals, but we have always maintained civilian control of the military, so this is really an unacceptable diversion from the norm too.
I don’t care about someone voting their party line, not too much anyway. I am guilty of that myself, at least since the Republicans went off the rails in the 90’s. It’s the Cult of Personality surrounding Trump that drives me crazy. He’s an obvious conman, he lies more often than not, and surrounds himself with people willing to lie for him, and his followers believe it. I guess It’s easier to con people than to convince them they have been conned.
Obviously you don’t like him.
First question is, given the two people running, what was the choice?
Both were complete crap as candidates.
If this is the best (on either side) we can get to lead the country, we are in deep trouble.
Regarding Madonna, making statements like that is just plain stupid.
The Secret Service takes a very dim view of threats of any kind.
To even utter those words is going to get their attention.
Try saying something like that in a an airport and see how fast your butt gets locked up.
Buckle up! It’s going to be eight years.
Regardless of who is in the White House or who you are, if you state you are tempted to blow up the white house, you will probably have some questions coming your way. And most importantly, if you are a “celebrity” with a bunch of followers, it probably gets more serious. Bottom line is, don’t threaten to blow up the White House or kill the President.
I’m praying they put the hurt on Madonna..
Not that Trump is a good choice (as he is not) but, please explain what Obama was “responsible or accountable for” before he was elected President?
I’m praying you’re big rig truckin’ buddies put the “hurt” on you, Scrum.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C2vtjLzVQAAnA4M.jpg:large
If only these protesting people lived in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska and PA instead of L.A., San Francisco, New York and Chicago. That and if they actually voted. These people assumed victory was in the bag and they stayed home. There were more protesters this Saturday than the margin of victory in the popular vote! That’s totally fucking nuts!
The problem is that these people have clustered themselves in geographic areas that never needed their extra help. Are you liberal and want to make a real difference? Move to the Midwest, or to the south. L.A.’s got all the left-leaning people they’ll ever need.
Stop blaming Russian hackers for what any motivated teenager in Kentucky could have accomplished. Take responsibility. BTW, the same “fancybear” that supposedly threw our election is the same fancybear that exposed Wiggo and Froome for the cheats they are.
Now you’ve kicked over the hornet’s nest. You’ve got to remember the “True” and “False” are just words, and you can make them mean anything you want. Love is Hate, War is Peace, and Yes is No.
That’s the real New World Order (for a while)
“We are both part of the same hypocrisy”
– Michael Corleone
Ha. He will be impeached within two. The only way you get eight is if he becomes king. He certainly thinks that highly of himself????
Obama (and the press, the supposed 4th estate) lied to us for 8 years. And now you don’t like it?? Seems a bit hypocritical.
not really interested in your political bent, Steve. You’re a terrific bike racer & a credit to the sport, but let’s leave political commentary off the blog, please…!
He has very little political capitol. And what he has, he burns it up fast.
He will wreak the economy. Then we get a trumped up global crisis to distract. Then we are screwed. Do you think this delusional person can run a war? 2
We are going to have a state run propoganda ‘media’. They are going to control the ‘facts.’ Surveliance apparatus turned loose on his ‘enemies’ ie citizens. Matial law.
Its all right in front of us -1984 Orwellian. Just listen to him & his minions. Don’t need much else.
And his kids
Thanks for posting this, Steve. Drumpf is terrifying as are many of those in government (both on the right and in the supposed center) who placed him where he is. It will be a long time before things are corrected, but being out marching on Saturday did give me hope and a will to help push back.
Madonna has always been something of a provocateur but this wasn’t the best choice of words. There was a band called Love Cry Want that in 1972 performed a concert across from the Nixonian White House in an attempt to levitate it off the ground. I like that idea better.
Or you could just go watch Fox? Long history of his views outside cycling here.
Live in Ohio and get get a job? Pull your panties up & go get one. Oh what ead unemployment when Obama took office?
Replace Nebraska with Ohio & you are correct.
Before he was elected president Obama was responsible for instilling faith in his abilities for becoming the president.
No one sees any of this happening with Drumpf.
Once he was in a position to rise for the occasion, Obama was responsible for cleaning up the mess that 8 years of Bush left the world in.
The US is now in the omphaloskepsis phase.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/engel-world-reaction-to-a-trump-win-is-absolutely-catastrophic-804415555930
Walmart got Trump elected.
Walmart led the charge through the 80s and 90s to move production of virtually every consumer product to China. The goal was reduced costs, at the expense of quality and US employment.
This was the kindling for the fire that created a middle class in China, furthering their economic expansion at the expense of US jobs.
The middle class in the US has been gutted over the last 30 years, with loss of virtually every low skill, high pay job that existed in manufacturing (there is someone in a lesser developed country willing to do the same work for 1/2 the pay, and globalism facilitated it). These are the people that got Trump elected. They were abandoned by Washington and the Democratic party; they didn’t vote for Trump, they voted for change (just like the Brexit vote).
Hence the theme of his inauguration speech. We are nationalists firsts, global citizens second. We could afford to have empathy and look out for others 30 years ago; but that has led us to the brink of financial ruin.
Thank you Walmart.
(And I don’t mind Steve bringing up politics every once in a while; his non-cycling posts can be interesting too)
As long as Madonna leaves her clothes on and stops milking a career that should of ended in 1987, I think we’ll be able to carry on with our sex lives.
Are you saying Steve is ‘bent to the left’ ?
Even long time readers don’t know this for certain.
Thank you so much for writing this:
This is turning into more of a weird thing than most had imagined. The current president is at war with the media, really the 4th arm of our government. For some reason he doesn’t realize there is fact checking, actually more than that, there is actual recorded footage of him contradicting himself nearly each time he speaks. Now he has a press secretary that mimics his actions. It is nuts.
disagree 100%
Thanks for posting this as I for one am very much interested in your political views, along with all of your opinions on a wide range of topics outside of cycling. It does not mean I always agree, and frankly it would be boring if I did. Trump is a disaster, and many are rightfully freaked out by his words. The geographic self sorting of our populace by political persuasion is now a reality in America. It is what it is. I sure hope its four years and out for Mr Trump.
America First
My interpretation: The steel and auto industry have been obliterated by the Japanese and Chinese governments who took advantage of our weak politicians and dumped their (subsidized) goods into our free market. This has resulted in a nearly 40 year recession for US citizens who live in the Rust Belt.
Cheap labor (Mexicans who illegally entered the US) has made California the breadbasket of the world. In spite of the fact that California has some of the most expensive real estate in the world and water is scarce and expensive. This has driven the vast majority of individual farming families out of business to be replaced by a few massive farming corporations. The same cheap labor that has been building millions of, inexpensive low-quality, houses in California.
Allowing entire industries and regions of our country to virtually die because we elect people who have no understanding of macro economics or business experience blows my mind. These politicians are not empathetic towards other countries there inept! We LOSE on international trade deals because our politicians don’t know how to negotiate(due to lack of experience) and they’re playing with someone else’s money.
WINNING is what happens when you make a deal that is mutually beneficial and sustainable. If we continue to accept getting the short end of the stick we are LOSERS.
Yeah, I’ll give you that one. She really needed Ohio in a big way. But those former steelworkers in Ashtabula are FORMER steelworkers. They’re PISSED OFF.
My real point being, pay attention to the rule book. Play the sport you’re actually signed up for. When you lose the game due to the infield fly rule, Don’t get mad at the rule. Focus on better pitching or better hitting next time.
HRC lost that election FOR REAL. The Russians didn’t do it TO her. She spent her time preaching to the choir in her “safe haven” states. The fact of the matter is that she had some tight races in some key places, and she let those places slide.
That and you’ll find few people who actually think she was much better than Trump to begin with. The only people we should be pissed at is ourselves. WE whittled down that field to these two lame candidates.
Protest Trump? No America: You should be parading down Broadway, flogging yourselves with chains.
You’re right, the media has become an arm of the government the past 8 years and that is a big problem.
Also during Obama’s term (2011) the US’s credit rating was downgraded for the first time in history.
Uh, Obama had been a state senator for 8 years and a United States Senator for another 4 years. He had an established political record that he was responsible and/or accountable for.
If 90% of the media vote democrat then they are virtually a part of the Democratic Party.
Walmart was just one part of the 2-part epoxy here. And it was more than just Walmart. It was every manufacturer on Earth that wanted to boost their margins. Talk to people in the UK, or Australia. Their store shelves are also crammed with Chinese-made goods. Everyplace.
Of course, the other part of the epoxy was US. We allowed it to happen. Regular people like you and I. We failed to STAY CURRENT and read-up on the important shit way back when it was fucking happening. We basically rubber-stamped it.
I remember back when I was in college. Ross Perot was this candidate that went up to the lectern and told everyone about the “giant sucking sound” we’d all hear when NAFTA was passed. America laughed at him. Ridiculed him. Sent him packing. Clinton won, got NAFTA going, and the sucking noise was loud and clear. Of course, that drain making the noise was completely dwarfed and swallowed whole when China was very quickly granted favored-nations status on trade. NAFTA didn’t mean shit in comparison to China.
And we’ve all seen the results. America was quickly sold-out by greed. And we all sat there and watched it happen to ourselves. Wealth shifted in a serious way. Now just EIGHT individuals have accumulated a wealth greater than that of the combined net worth of the poorest 3.5B people in the world.
Trump is a bully and we elected him.
Lance is a bully and we elected him king of cycling
The people love a bully.
I agree with every point you made…except that Walmart got Trump elected. Is it a coinsidence that Walmart is headquartered in AR, and led the so called “charge” the exact time the Clinton political machine was created….in AR? Maybe, maybe not.
Except for Tiffany.
You mean the winner!?
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Given the option of buying an item for $25, or buying a slightly inferior product for $5, America will ALWAYS go for the $5 item………..We are not Japanese.
https://youtu.be/YhXwyxDFmdw Welcome to your future America ,,,,,
Discussing politics online is the equivalent of re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic – in the end does it matter which way the chairs are placed?
Amen! The Guy is a complete ignoramus, & I’ve thought that for about 25 yrs. Not just since the campaigning. He has only strengthened my conviction on that in the last yr. He doesn’t embody a single trait that an american citizen or human being should have. I’ve always supported every president regardless of party, etc. It’s hard to on this one.
Yeah you are “right,” it isn’t Breitbart News, but honour me …… http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/donald-trump-lies-liar-effect-brain-214658
The Prince & Princess. Trust what you see, that’s what our ‘great leader’ sees.
You made milk come out of my nose!
Not very christian, since you pray. But of course one thing consistsnt w christains is their faith & their hypocricy.
Only if you are stupid.
Day one! Go Team Trump. You asshats cannot implode upon youself fast enough. Its a race to the biscuit. Trust me.
US investigating Flynn calls with Russian diplomat – CNN
https://apple.news/A0oW3h5k5R8uSstyMqrQxhw
Are you in Ohio & needing a job & a new opoid Rx? Olde Trumpy will fix all that for you. See he will keep the Mexican out for the job you won’t do anyway. Free trade? Shit you’re not even going to be able to afford tp at Walmart. And forget the Rx that stuff will be priced out of your league as Trump invests in big pharma. I mean the ‘bilnd trust’ invests 😉 Did you do some contract work? Good for you…shit…can’t get your money. Well, hell, the feds got you there too. Sit back & enjoy the beer, but make sure its an import. No telling whats in the water after Trumpy is done with the water here.
Can’t even run their own fucked up narrative!
Classic!
Trump aide reverses course, says President Trump will release taxes after audit is complete – CBS News
https://apple.news/AVCHq8qAUTOy5IWxYtqcWPQ
“Alternative facts” , So dumb. I will be laughing at that one for a long time.
Pull that stat out of your ass or Fox? Same thing really. Just clean the shit off before you think actually means anything.
2017 is 1984. Even a few Trumpers had to get through HS reading list?
First weekend in office and all this ASSHOLE is concerned about is whose crowd was bigger? What a fragile ego!
But his hands, my god they are huge. As are his ties.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz .. asshat .. go watch Internet porn, of women who wouldn’t fuck you, for a cool $1000, with your small dick …
Zzzzzzzzzzzz .. asshat .. go watch Internet porn, of women who wouldn’t fuck you, for a cool $1000, with your small dick …
Thank you James … All the Canz-Ass crowd should read “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” They’re the ones whom put this despot (Trump) in power of the largest, most powerful, country in the world …
Barbed .. U R Jeally .. She is “self-made!” U deserve all that your Trump is going to give you ..imbecile …
Are you sure that was milk ?
He was a US senator, are you really “that” stupid?
So this is all Obama’s fault .. Not you as the “electorate?” Really?
I’m watching today’s press conference and hearing Sean Spicer say the president fully supports woman’s health care makes me think of Baghdad Bob. Utterly insulting.
Agree Madonna’s comment was stupid beyond words. Obviously, she was speaking metaphorically, but regardless I don’t want ideas planted in impressionable heads. I lived through the assassinations as a kid and they were very bad times.
Yup just like 1/6 RC model cars .. Huge …
Hey don’t want to put any ideas in kids heads. Like all the white kids now billying anyone not like them. Go Trump!
And don’t forget to mention the congressman and Senators that will vote to approve the laws, budget and nomineesee. Or you can say that closes their eyes on everything wrong with them.
It is all Republicans, probably motivated by their own interest vs population.
Can we go back to the “Should Steve wear a helmet” conversation….I read this blog to get away from politics. 🙂
“I’m a political man and I practice what I preach, I support the left though I’m leaning, leaning, to the right!” RIP Jack Bruce.
And if he just wreck the economy, it is fine. BUSH did it and Obama fixed it.
But he can get the US in nuclear war with China or Russia by accident. And with nuclear weapon, we are all cooked…
Honestly, the Trump media are lying about crowd number. Pretty sure they will kick out the journalist of white house soon…
I’ve been against TPP since I first heard about it, in fact I supported Margie Wakefield’s run against Lynn Jenkins(R-KS) for the Second District Congressional race because of that. Too bad the neoliberal Kansas Democratic Party sabotaged Wakefield’s campaign, and my money got pissed away yet again. Of course, I voted for Trump. He was against TPP, and NAFTA, which had precisely the effect a lot of others had predicted back in 1994. These “trade deals” are why the working class is doing away with itself by means of suicide, heroin and opioid addiction and the rest of it, why millenials are working as low wage service jobs (if they’re lucky enough to find one) into their mid-30s and beyond. If we had the manufacturing sector that ran away, first to the maquiladoras of Mexico, then to the laogai slave labor camps in China, those millenials would have had decent jobs that would have given them a decent middle-class lifestyle – and we wouldn’t be filling our landfills with cheap unrepairable Chinese junk. And of course the mainstream media oppose him, and they will every step of the way, because they’re owned by the same six corporations that are raking in the billions of dollars that would have gone to the shrinking middle class. If you hang out with Texas billionaires you’re unlikely to notice any of this – the middle and working classes are off their radar – NOCD is the term for it.
“They can go into a room. It has been—it’s not formally classified, but it’s being treated as if it was classified, in terms of how the information is being managed. They go into a room. If they try and take notes, the notes have to be handed over to the government for safe keeping. And, of course, congressmen under those situations won’t take notes. So it is very well guarded from the press and the majority of people and even from congressmen. But 600 U.S. companies are part of the process and have been given access to various parts of the TPP.
OK, so it’s a—the largest-ever international economic treaty that has ever been negotiated, very considerably larger than NAFTA. It is mostly not about trade. Only five of the 29 chapters are about traditional trade. The others are about regulating the Internet and what Internet—Internet service providers have to collect information. They have to hand it over to companies under certain circumstances. It’s about regulating labor, what labor conditions can be applied, regulating, whether you can favor local industry, regulating the hospital healthcare system, privatization of hospitals. So, essentially, every aspect of the modern economy, even banking services, are in the TPP.
And so, that is erecting and embedding new, ultramodern neoliberal structure in U.S. law and in the laws of the other countries that are participating, and is putting it in a treaty form. And by putting it in a treaty form, that means—with 14 countries involved, means it’s very, very hard to overturn. So if there’s a desire, democratic desire, in the United States to go down a different path—for example, to introduce more public transport—then you can’t easily change the TPP treaty, because you have to go back and get agreement of the other nations involved.” https://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/27/julian_assange_on_the_trans_pacific
WTF? “All the white kids bullying….”
You are racist and ignorant!
Maria Louise Ciccone should have said she’ll “Let the 2nd Amendment people take care of it” like Il Duce II said about a Clinton presidency.
You know those movies where they go back in time and kill Hitler? I keep having a nightmare about being close enough to the greasy orange turd back in the Tour de Trump daze.
I was happy to see millions express their opposition to this guy’s ideas and I hope violence doesn’t become part of trying to get this clown’s attention, but he doesn’t seem to listen to anyone but the voices inside his own head. Will those who voted for him instead of pretty much another 4 years of the Obama regime ever realize they’ve been conned? The backlash when/if they do could get really, really ugly.
Here’s what we’re not teaching adequately in schools:
Everything in this world is about change and situational awareness. Situations shift and change. Economic currents that are much bigger than oneself. People need to be taught from a young age to pay attention to what’s happening economically and politically. They need to have good information so that they can be better poised to make good choices for their own futures. They need to have situational awareness. They need to learn how to attain it.
So many Americans are still stuck in the following mode:
“Democrats care about social justice. Republicans care about making money.”
People that can see beyond this way of thinking are the steamrollers. People that are still stuck in that mode are the roads.
I couldn’t stand to read ALL the posts but I think everyone is missing the point that Madonna’s cosmetic Surgeon should run the free world – “he’s a magic man”.
But, of course, he could be a she and all or you could be a bunch of ladies.
Dumbed:
Perhaps slow down to read? Yes, Obama was an Illinois State Senator for two terms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama#Illinois_State_Senator_.281997.E2.80.932004.29
You also don’t say that the President is a foreigner and a Muslim when you know that it’s not true.
I would think Democrats would be glad to see Obama go. When he took over the Democratic leadership in his first term , Democrats were in control.
After 8 years , the Democrats control nothing. They are the weakest Democratic party since the Great Depression.
History is going to look at that.
Obama Care is exploding under its own weight.
That’s his legacy . That’s what history will show.
Hate Trump ? Obama created him.
I can’t wait to see those W-2’s from some guy named Vlad.
Stupid??????….Maybe?
Benjamin Franklin felt that political assassination was justified in some cases.
Franklin had the assassination of Julius Caesar and the trial and execution of Charles I centrally in mind when discussing the removal of obnoxious chief magistrates. Both Caesar and Charles were tyrants who had subverted their countries’ constitutions in ways that undermined republican liberty, and both had prosecuted bloody civil wars in the process. Franklin and his compatriots therefore believed that Brutus and his coconspirators were justified in killing Caesar and that the English regicides were justified in killing Charles.
What do you guys really want?
i know you wont als.. lol
Me thinks he likes golf… and America. The united states of America, not sure how united they are anymore but anyway. He also likes walls.
Dude, that is the kind of question that will make people’s heads explode. They don’t want Trump. Isn’t that enough? LOL.
I like those pussy hats. Hand-made by American labor!
It beats a dick hat made in China.
We want a time machine!
When do want it?
That’s irrelevant!
If your party wages war on the truth for 3 decades, do you expect educated media folk to support them?
If Madonna were smart she would have said “I feel like blowing up Trump Tower” Like Bill Murray said in Caddyshack “there isnt even a law against that”. Steve-thank you for speaking up. Youre a hell of a lot more sensible than the average person including Madonna. I feel a bit better each time you state your observations and thoughts on the subject.
Steve is a complainer that has not done anything to contribute to society. And bike racing is not important to the betterment of society.
Krakatoa-you’re the only one on these threads that ever makes sense. Kudos.
James- I believe you are the dummy. It’s quite evident.
Thanks.
Trump is r prez. He’s about as obnoxious, bombastic and as long winded as one of those 4 page post by ALS. And just goofy. Well, at least we all get along..Time to go. I need to update my profile on UnchristianMingle.com.
Sillypuddy OUT!
Read up on the down grading by S&P (and remember that both Fitch and Moody’s maintained their highest rating for the country’s credit rating). It a combination of slow growth coming out of the Great Recession, which started during Bush II presidency, and the Tea Party members of the legislature who were willing to allow the government to continually shutdown in lieu of passing a debt ceiling increase with little regard for the Treasury’s warning on the potential to default without a spending bill.
Quote from S&P downgrade rationale: “The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. “
I’m curious what percentage of citizens who voted for Trump, lamenting the lost manufacturing jobs in the USA and the unfair trade practices, run to Walmart every two weeks to spend their hard earned paycheck to buy lots of cheap, shoddy, Chinese made junk at a retailer paying their employees marginal wages instead of buying fewer items that may cost more, but were made in the USA, at a local, independent retailer paying real wages struggling to compete with Walmart? How many citizens who voted for Trump, complaining about immigrants and unfair trade, spend their hard earned paycheck to buy produce at a MegaMart that came from Mexico instead of paying a little bit more to buy from local farmers, supporting local jobs? What percentage of citizens who complain about the ACA and were forced into purchasing health insurance and have come out ahead in terms of the medical benefits they have received from now having health insurance?
It seems so many Americans complain about jobs leaving, but won’t back up the jobs that are here if it means having to spend a few more dollars. Having lots of cheap material goods made overseas always seems to win out over owning fewer material items domestically produced, often of better quality, that also supports their fellow citizens and neighbors. We have no one to blame for manufacturing jobs leaving but ourselves due to our buying habits.
Sometimes less is more ….
It is the flood of cheap foreign made products that lead to the decline of American manufacturing. Walmarts, using their supply chain from China, killed thousands of small American business and decimated communities. Meanwhile our politicians allowed corporate inversions to occur, allowing US companies to rebrand themselves as foreign companies in order to keep their profits offshore and avoid US taxes. Apple scammed the system by creating a shell entity in Ireland to hide billions in profits. Meanwhile our country sees skyrocketing costs to healthcare and tuition while our money is shipped overseas and exiting our own economy. You can hate Trump all you want, but our own politicians sold us out because we are like sheep and care more about the fucking Kardashians and latest Snapchat pic than rebuilding our own economy.
Your point on WalMart is valid. But it needs to also be pointed out that Walmart truck drivers and distribution workers are some of the highest paid in the industry.
However , I agree less is better and the small shop owners are the ones who feel the Megastore blues. Let’s throw Target , Kohls , Home Depot , Lowe’s , etc in that group also.
But buying produce from local markets is only possible in a small part of the country.
Except in warm weather . I wish it was possible to buy local produce year around .
But that is only a portion of the problem. Unfair trade practices need to be addressed too .
I think the Trump election was driven by people seeing their jobs going away , and no candidate in along time spoke about this . Either party.
The Republicans are not the ones who elected Trump , it was Democrats who voted him in.
I think America is also tired of social justice warriors shoving their agenda down the voting populations throat .