The economy is booming. He's sticking it to I-ran. He's putting the Canadians and Europeans in their place and like Cyrus in the Old Testament he is restoring the people of God to positions of power and influence.
Hey, he's brusque and blunt and unsophisticated but we can forgive him that, his dodgy business deals and various indiscretions and peccadilloes because God has put him in the White House a second time in order to work out his purposes and effect the return of Christ.
I though that was so obvious as not to be spelt out.
It could it be argued Trump has rattled NATO countries into increasing their defence spending -which will help counter the threat from Russia and help ensure Ukraine comes out of the war with some semblance of security.
To be a little bit more serious, I think there are some things Trump has done which, conceptually, are good. It is just that the execution has been that of a ham-fisted idiot with no common sense or understanding of the wider issues involved.
Example: Phasing out the penny has long been discussed. They cost far more to make than they are worth. It was not a bad idea to phase them out. Other countries have similarly phased out smaller currency. So deciding to stop dithering and order that the penny be phased out was a good idea. What was bad is that Trump took what was possibly the worst way to do it: just abruptly stopping the manufacture of pennies. The problem is that that put stores and businesses that do a lot of cash transactions in a bad spot. In theory one can round up or down to the nearest nickel, but in practice that does not work because there are laws forbidding a store to charge more than the listed price for an item. So, if an item is listed at $1.98, the store cannot round up to $2.00. To avoid using pennies, they would have to round down to $1.95 and lose 3 cents on the transaction. Those laws needed to be changed FIRST and then stop making the penny.
Of course, they could just change the listed price. I know at least one local restaurant who paid to have new menus printed up to make everything in multiples of 5 cents. But then you get into issues with senior discounts, which ends up creating the need for pennies. And in some states (not my own) there are sales taxes, so, even if the item is $2.00, if there is a 6% sales tax, the charge is $2.12 and you are back with wondering what to do with the pennies.
These issues could be handled smoothly and in a way that didn't screw over the small businesspeople. Like I said, other countries have done this--there is precedent to look at. Trump's idea was good, how he executed the idea was incredibly boneheaded stupid.
Example 2: There is nothing really wrong with cracking down on illegal immigration. I mean, it is called "illegal" for a reason. The idea was fine, the way he went about it was about as Un-American and as disgusting as you can possibly get. People who are accused of being in the country illegal should be detained. And then the evidence should be presented to a judge and the accused should be allowed a fair opportunity to defend themselves. Due process should be followed instead of kidnaping people and shipping them off to other countries or shipping them a thousand miles away from where they were living to a concentration camp just on the word of some administration flunk that they are "bad people" (such a childish way to view the world). If they are here illegally, prove it first in a court of law, then ship them out. Again, it is not the basic idea of removing those that are fairly proven to be in the country illegal that is wrong. It is the fascist way he did it that was wrong.
People who are accused of being in the country illegal should be detained.
It should take a lot more than mere accusation to detain someone, given the likely consequences in terms of employment, housing and so on. Kavanaugh stops are not ok.
I was aiming my satirical comments at the MAGA movement in general not at any specific Shipmate but I can see why it's inappropriate to ventriloquise in that way.
He’s helped expose how callous, hateful and cruel people are willing to be when encouraged or given an excuse, so from a Christian point of view, he’s helped make the sinfulness of humanity clearer.
Example 2: There is nothing really wrong with cracking down on illegal immigration. I mean, it is called "illegal" for a reason. The idea was fine, the way he went about it was about as Un-American and as disgusting as you can possibly get. People who are accused of being in the country illegal should be detained. And then the evidence should be presented to a judge and the accused should be allowed a fair opportunity to defend themselves. Due process should be followed instead of kidnapping people and shipping them off to other countries or shipping them a thousand miles away from where they were living to a concentration camp just on the word of some administration flunk that they are "bad people" (such a childish way to view the world). If they are here illegally, prove it first in a court of law, then ship them out. Again, it is not the basic idea of removing those that are fairly proven to be in the country illegal that is wrong. It is the fascist way he did it that was wrong.
Trump also created a whole bunch of "illegal aliens" by rescinding the legal status of people who were previously in the U.S. legally. Creating a problem and then pretending to solve it is very Trump.
I will say the only example I can think of where Trump made a positive difference (aside from the penny thing) is the one thing he absolutely won't take credit for: Operation Warp Speed.
To the point of immigrants. There are two types: documented, and undocumented. There is no such thing as an "illegal." That term implies people are illegal; however, US law treats actions as unlawful: overstaying a visa, entering without proper papers--but not the person. Then too many people labelled "illegal" are asylum seekers or other individuals in pending legal proceedings. Their presence is not a crime, but a civil matter.
MAGA people would like you to think undocumented immigrants are illegal, but don't give in to them. Let's try to keep it above board.
I would very much like to think that after all of the destruction and dismantling of government, particularly things that are good and helpful, after he is out of office, we can actually rebuild something ultimately better than what we had before, even though a lot of damage will have been permanent to the people who have been affected.
I would very much like to think that after all of the destruction and dismantling of government, particularly things that are good and helpful, after he is out of office, we can actually rebuild something ultimately better than what we had before, even though a lot of damage will have been permanent to the people who have been affected.
I could see a rewrite of some of the enabling resolutions for a number of administrative organizations detailing qualifications and chain of command and who has the power to hire or fire, plus better definitions of scope of duties.
I would like to see legislation to clearly restrict what can be done by "Executive Order."
But I doubt that that will happen because, regardless of party, the next President will want the option to use the same powers Trump claims and that President's party will want that too.
I would like to see legislation to clearly restrict what can be done by "Executive Order."
But I doubt that that will happen because, regardless of party, the next President will want the option to use the same powers Trump claims and that President's party will want that too.
The difficulty is that, regardless of what legislation actually says, if nothing is done to get the ideologically driven charlatans off SCOTUS it will turn out to mean that Republican presidents can do what they like but Democratic ones can't.
He has made me read the stickers that they put on fruit to denote where they were grown more carefully.
I’m curious—why so? (there’s so much happening every single day it’s hard for me to keep track… I could think of multiple reasons one might do that, but I don’t know if there’s something I’m not aware of …)
Simple, neither fruit from Australia, nor fruit grown here in Aotearoa/NZ has a tariff added.
Wait, you mean… fruit from other places has a tariff added if you buy it in NZ? 😮 I knew US tariffs affected prices (directly) here in the US… Why would (for instance) fruit from Mexico have a US tariff added for shoppers in NZ?
I used to think the curses against wicked people in the Psalms wildly exagerated, and the description of the behaviour of the Pharasees, scribes and Saducees in the Gospels 'over the top'. Alas, I now know better.
Simple, neither fruit from Australia, nor fruit grown here in Aotearoa/NZ has a tariff added.
Wait, you mean… fruit from other places has a tariff added if you buy it in NZ? 😮 I knew US tariffs affected prices (directly) here in the US… Why would (for instance) fruit from Mexico have a US tariff added for shoppers in NZ?
My guess, and it is only a guess, is that the fruit was transported through the US. Not sure if those tariffs apply anymore with the latest SCOTUS decision. The other possibility is some countries have their own tariffs as a way to protect their own producers.
It could it be argued Trump has rattled NATO countries into increasing their defence spending -which will help counter the threat from Russia and help ensure Ukraine comes out of the war with some semblance of security.
It could also be seen as him pulling back on obligations.
Also The US put more than others in because they wanted to. Not because they were asked. To then call others out is a bad look.
Comments
Not for me to provide any evidence. I just set up the proposition. It can be argued for or against. I am waiting just as much as you.
Full beard, actually.
Indeed.
Yes, of course. It might be a long wait, though...
He's making America great again.
The economy is booming. He's sticking it to I-ran. He's putting the Canadians and Europeans in their place and like Cyrus in the Old Testament he is restoring the people of God to positions of power and influence.
Hey, he's brusque and blunt and unsophisticated but we can forgive him that, his dodgy business deals and various indiscretions and peccadilloes because God has put him in the White House a second time in order to work out his purposes and effect the return of Christ.
I though that was so obvious as not to be spelt out.
Why is everyone so anti-Trump?
Can't we see that he's God's guy?
😉
Example: Phasing out the penny has long been discussed. They cost far more to make than they are worth. It was not a bad idea to phase them out. Other countries have similarly phased out smaller currency. So deciding to stop dithering and order that the penny be phased out was a good idea. What was bad is that Trump took what was possibly the worst way to do it: just abruptly stopping the manufacture of pennies. The problem is that that put stores and businesses that do a lot of cash transactions in a bad spot. In theory one can round up or down to the nearest nickel, but in practice that does not work because there are laws forbidding a store to charge more than the listed price for an item. So, if an item is listed at $1.98, the store cannot round up to $2.00. To avoid using pennies, they would have to round down to $1.95 and lose 3 cents on the transaction. Those laws needed to be changed FIRST and then stop making the penny.
Of course, they could just change the listed price. I know at least one local restaurant who paid to have new menus printed up to make everything in multiples of 5 cents. But then you get into issues with senior discounts, which ends up creating the need for pennies. And in some states (not my own) there are sales taxes, so, even if the item is $2.00, if there is a 6% sales tax, the charge is $2.12 and you are back with wondering what to do with the pennies.
These issues could be handled smoothly and in a way that didn't screw over the small businesspeople. Like I said, other countries have done this--there is precedent to look at. Trump's idea was good, how he executed the idea was incredibly boneheaded stupid.
Example 2: There is nothing really wrong with cracking down on illegal immigration. I mean, it is called "illegal" for a reason. The idea was fine, the way he went about it was about as Un-American and as disgusting as you can possibly get. People who are accused of being in the country illegal should be detained. And then the evidence should be presented to a judge and the accused should be allowed a fair opportunity to defend themselves. Due process should be followed instead of kidnaping people and shipping them off to other countries or shipping them a thousand miles away from where they were living to a concentration camp just on the word of some administration flunk that they are "bad people" (such a childish way to view the world). If they are here illegally, prove it first in a court of law, then ship them out. Again, it is not the basic idea of removing those that are fairly proven to be in the country illegal that is wrong. It is the fascist way he did it that was wrong.
@Gamma Gamaliel please do not ventriloquise opinions not your own, even ironically.
Hostly beret off
la vie en rouge, Purgatory
It should take a lot more than mere accusation to detain someone, given the likely consequences in terms of employment, housing and so on. Kavanaugh stops are not ok.
I was aiming my satirical comments at the MAGA movement in general not at any specific Shipmate but I can see why it's inappropriate to ventriloquise in that way.
Trump also created a whole bunch of "illegal aliens" by rescinding the legal status of people who were previously in the U.S. legally. Creating a problem and then pretending to solve it is very Trump.
I will say the only example I can think of where Trump made a positive difference (aside from the penny thing) is the one thing he absolutely won't take credit for: Operation Warp Speed.
To the point of immigrants. There are two types: documented, and undocumented. There is no such thing as an "illegal." That term implies people are illegal; however, US law treats actions as unlawful: overstaying a visa, entering without proper papers--but not the person. Then too many people labelled "illegal" are asylum seekers or other individuals in pending legal proceedings. Their presence is not a crime, but a civil matter.
MAGA people would like you to think undocumented immigrants are illegal, but don't give in to them. Let's try to keep it above board.
Yes, that's my hope and prayer.
I could see a rewrite of some of the enabling resolutions for a number of administrative organizations detailing qualifications and chain of command and who has the power to hire or fire, plus better definitions of scope of duties.
But I doubt that that will happen because, regardless of party, the next President will want the option to use the same powers Trump claims and that President's party will want that too.
The difficulty is that, regardless of what legislation actually says, if nothing is done to get the ideologically driven charlatans off SCOTUS it will turn out to mean that Republican presidents can do what they like but Democratic ones can't.
I’m curious—why so? (there’s so much happening every single day it’s hard for me to keep track… I could think of multiple reasons one might do that, but I don’t know if there’s something I’m not aware of …)
Wait, you mean… fruit from other places has a tariff added if you buy it in NZ? 😮 I knew US tariffs affected prices (directly) here in the US… Why would (for instance) fruit from Mexico have a US tariff added for shoppers in NZ?
Otherwise he’s a disaster.
My guess, and it is only a guess, is that the fruit was transported through the US. Not sure if those tariffs apply anymore with the latest SCOTUS decision. The other possibility is some countries have their own tariffs as a way to protect their own producers.
It could also be seen as him pulling back on obligations.
Also The US put more than others in because they wanted to. Not because they were asked. To then call others out is a bad look.
At least that strengthens the European Military Industrial Complex? Defense Industry.