no, i didn't know that the June 2019 US Politics thread was nasty

I think I'm in the minority who believe John Dean testimony before the judiciary committee is exactly the kind of grandtstanding/theater the Dems need in lieu of WH stonewalling....but LOL at "fake liberal news media" CNN MSNBC not broadcasting it because a helicopter landed on a building three hours ago

are tariffs really bad policy?

Tariffs can be a helpful economic policy, under some circumstances, but tariffs are not a helpful foreign policy. The main reason to create a tariff is to shelter a domestic industry from foreign competition by giving that industry a privileged access to your domestic market. This can protect an industry whose domestic presence is seen as a national priority. In a country with a weak currency high tariffs can discourage the outflow of 'hard' currency reserves.

For example, Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum will allow domestic steel mills and aluminum producers an extra margin within which they can raise prices on their products, increasing their profitability. Whether this serves the national interest depends entirely on your parochial interest in the profits made by those industries. A steelworker whose mill might have shut down will be pleased. Every customer who uses steel or aluminum will not be pleased at paying higher prices.

As an instrument of foreign policy, tariffs generally stink, because the odds are that the government you are trying to influence is too insulated from the effects of your tariff to capitulate to your attempts at bullying them. The pain is felt in places too local and too remote from the government to be effectively transmitted, while the sharp indignity of broadcasting your weakness by giving in to the bullying is all too obvious.

Democrats can pledge to move away from two-country tariff wars and instead toward mobilizing an international response with allies against China’s trade abuses. Similarly, Democrats can argue for renegotiated trade deals that raise wage, labor and environmental standards, with the goal of helping U.S. workers via a sensible internationalism in contrast to Trump’s erratic nationalism. ...Democrats can argue for improved regional cooperation on the asylum crisis, including investments in Central America and policies to encourage in-country application for asylum to reduce the impetus to such migrations. They can combine this with a refusal to back off our international humanitarian commitments

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/10/trumps-latest-rage-threat-gives-democrats-big-opening-one-just-took-it/?utm_term=.45fc32241770

https://t.co/daUxFHkrs1

reince preibus is in the navy now

as an ensign. shit. why'd they let him in?

i forgot about prince rebus

Not even funny, just sad.

“Potus took a piece of paper out of his breast pocket and said it’s his deal with Mexico. He declined to show it to us, but said it will go into effect when Mexico tells him it’s okay to release it.” - via pool

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 11, 2019

https://resources.cleanitsupply.com/LARGE/USSCO/147159.JPG

<Jackie Treehorn doodle gif>

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C15t6muW8AQ5Hka.jpg

what is that

Early press conference in 2017, when Trump presented stacks of files that were supposedly his legal plans to distribute control over Trump Org to his sons. Widely speculated to all be blank copier paper.

callin' back to Yam's first year is experientially like asking us to recall the War of 1812

https://i.imgur.com/qUO0VXs.jpg

Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!

it says FOLD AND HOLD UP TO CAMERAS

i have here in my hand list

The trial of No More Deaths volunteer Scott Warren has ended in a hung jury here at US District Court in Tucson. The US Attorney’s office will have to decide whether to retry him. Next hearing set for July 2.

— Palms aren't really trees (@senyorreporter) June 11, 2019

fold your paper child you walk like a president

you can watch the House Intel committee grill Andrew McCarthy on the Mueller report here:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461556-1/house-intel-committee-mueller-report-lessons-learned&live

Adam Schiff appears to suffer from a case of crazy eyes.

"I would like to ask my wife, the first lady, to say a few words because she has been so much into the whole situation with the drugs and opioids, in particular the drugs.” — Trump at an opioid roundtable, per pooler @PhilipWegmann

— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) June 12, 2019

Explains Her Face...ial Expression.

Xpppopppl
Do 2nd/3rd world countries benefit from 1st world countries having self-destructive tariffs?

truthflash: america first, and in america we benefit when tariffs exist (because it forces corporations in other countries to be very sorry and move back to god's country) and we benefit when they don't exist (because we only remove tariffs when we get what we get the best fucking deal of all time in return)

Somebody deciphered the deal paper and it is not gibberish, just lame

This fucking guy
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/id-exclusive-interview-trump-listen-foreigners-offered-dirt/story?id=63669304

Russian if you’re listening it’s all good ! Stop by anytime

Wouldn’t this be enough to start impeachment? He just stated his willingness to cheat in 2020.

you would think so

or are we instead going to normalize it

He really could shoot someone on 5th ave, because he can’t be accused of a crime while he’s president because a sitting president can’t be indicted because we’re all fucking stupid and also it’s not fair to accuse someone of a crime who can’t defend themselves in court, and impeachment isn’t an option because republicans are mean and unfair

Why are his finances still a “black box” four years after he became a problem?

Is there already a house bill to allow for the indictment of sitting presidents? House dems should pass that so we can all scream at McConnell when he refuses to bring it to a vote for some mysterious reason

There is so much about this situation that is just bizarre. His charity was shut down for self dealing, we’ve seen a few extremely weird and suspicious tax returns, but the full story of where his financing comes from is not known.

This piece lays out the problems well.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/swamp-chronicles/is-fraud-part-of-the-trump-organizations-business-model

It is becoming increasingly clear that, in the language of business schools, the Trump Organization’s core competency is in profiting from misrepresentation and deceit and, potentially, fraud. There are many ways to make money in real estate. The normal way is to identify a need in the market, raise money by convincing lenders or investors that your plan is sound, build the structure, then either profit through ongoing rent or by selling units. The key variables in such a business are what is known as product-market fit—the accuracy with which a developer understands the housing or commercial needs of a place—and the ability to execute well by keeping costs down without sacrificing the right level of quality. Perhaps more than anything, practitioners of a successful real-estate business obsessively focus on maintaining the ability to borrow money cheaply. The profit on many real-estate projects often comes down to simple math: the cheaper you can borrow money to build, the more money you make. The more trustworthy you are, through a long period of successful projects, the less interest banks will demand on their loans, so the more profit you can make, and the more successful you will be.

Rather famously, Trump overinvested in luxury housing, spent too much on his casinos, and completely blew his brief foray into a regional airline. Far worse, Trump did the very opposite of insuring a long record of fiscal prudence that would allow him to borrow money cheaply. Despite the company’s mixed record, it has survived and grown. It’s doing something well, so what is it?

I would think by now journalists would have formed a clear picture of who trump is and where his money comes from but apparently not. It’s all still speculative—he’s never been hit with the kinds of financial crimes that took down his associates even though something is obviously not right with this business.

The obstruction stuff is important mostly because it is indicative of his character. His instinct is to stall and hide things from law enforcement. Why? Who is he and why is he president?

In a key passage, Bannon is reported as saying he believes investigations of Donald Trump’s financial history will provide proof of the underlying criminality of his eponymous company.
Assessing the president’s exposure to various investigations, many seeded by the special counsel Robert Mueller during his investigation of Russian election interference, Wolff writes: “Trump was vulnerable because for 40 years he had run what increasingly seemed to resemble a semi-criminal enterprise.”
He then quotes Bannon as saying: “I think we can drop the ‘semi’ part.”

Not that stephen k bannon is a reliable source but i don’t understand why we’re still in the realm of rumor and insinuation in this department. We should know by now whether this description holds water.

That’s what was disappointing about mueller—he only answered this very narrow range of questions when the expansiveness of his investigation suggested we’d learn somethinf

I’m out now. Sorry

agree with it all

Treeship otm

Who is he and why is he president?

July thread title obviously

the confidence in supercop Mueller never fails to amuse

he's a fuckin fed, they always save us

“the”

That’s what was disappointing about mueller—he only answered this very narrow range of questions when the expansiveness of his investigation suggested we’d learn somethinf

the other investigations he passed the stuff he learned on to, are they still ongoing?

That’s what they say. It still seems weird how little we know about the Trump organziation, given wall to wall Mueller and Trump scandal coverage for two years.

I never had confidenr in Mueller as a “supercop.” But I think the weary cynicism in regard to Trump is bizarre. He doesn’t act like any other politician and there is a lot we still don’t know about him.

If the Elaine Chao scandals stick to her do they automatically reduce the status of her husband?

they will not stick

would like to hold onto the idea that overt corruption would be something that might be punished not swept under the carpet however that's done. & that does sound like it is something that does involve both partners in that venal couple.
Would just be really convenient if the evil one was taken out of the picture by the exposure of his wife's venality.