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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
![[awesome]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minis/award_star_gold_3.png "[awesome]"){kind=small}
There's now mention of Trump threatening to retaliate against the EU by slapping more taxes on vehicles made in Europe and sold in America.
VW pointed out that most of their cars used there are also made in NA.
You know, if this tariff stuff comes down to a congress vote, I wonder if Dems in congress wouldn't be better off abstaining than voting "no".
You know, as a way to say "here's just enough rope to hang yourselves with" and letting it be clear it's the Republicans' fault.
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."
People would just blame Dems for not voting "no".
No reason not to vote no. Better to keep the vote from passing and then say 'yeah, but look how many Republicans voted yes; here are their congressional districts, welcome to midterms', than letting the tariffs pass and taking shit from it.
Things didn't work out so well last time 'just don't vote' was floated as a course for the Democrats. The time for passivity is over.
It's been fun.
The "don't vote" might work if there was rationality in the electoral bases. But the "strong" Republican voters are so riled up that they will not ever vote Democrats. So the best thing for the Dems is to try and convince their voters and the indecisive ones that they are at least trying to oppose the madness in charge.
Florida senate approved AR-15 ban for 15 minutes before rescinding it
A Saturday voice vote in the state Senate, whose members generally firmly oppose firearm restrictions, passed an amendment approving a two-year moratorium on sales of the weapon, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
While the Senate president ruled that the amendment passed, the body reconsidered the amendment 15 minutes later and overturned it by a margin of 21-17 in a roll call vote, with each "no" vote cast by a Republican. Two Republicans backed the moratorium on the rifle
In the all-day Senate session, lawmakers considered multiple measures aimed at reducing gun violence, including millions of dollars for school safety and improving mental health services, after the tragic shooting in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed. A final vote on legislation is slated for Monday. The chamber's flip-flop was met with frustration among state residents advocating for gun control following the tragedy.
Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky, a leading activist among the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students now pushing for action by state and federal lawmakers, appeared to criticize the decision in a tweet shortly after the vote took place. He did not mention the vote directly in his tweet, however.
"Florida is not disheartened by the pathetic choices made by our lawmakers. We’re simply excited to kick them out and save our own lives. We have more hope now than ever. We have a very clear understanding of who’s with us and who’s against us," Kasky said.
Democrats in the chamber took action on the calls by national lawmakers in the party to hold Republicans accountable on the issue of gun laws, and insisted on recording the roll call votes to have a record of GOP legislators who opposed the moratorium and other measures.
United Earth
They should stop trying to ban specific types of weapons and institute a proper licensing and vetting system for individuals, including a higher age limit and a cooldown period. It doesn't need to be as strenuous as Japan, either.
edited 4th Mar '18 6:21:03 AM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
‘Pure madness’: Dark days inside the White House as Trump shocks and rages
These are the darkest days in at least half a year, they say, and they worry just how much farther President Trump and his administration may plunge into unrest and malaise before they start to recover. As one official put it: “We haven’t bottomed out.”
Still, Trump’s friends are increasingly concerned about his well-being, worried that the president’s obsession with cable commentary and perceived slights is taking a toll on the 71-year-old. “Pure madness,” lamented one exasperated ally.
Retired four-star Army general Barry Mc Caffrey said the American people — and Congress especially — should be alarmed.
“I think the president is starting to wobble in his emotional stability and this is not going to end well,” Mc Caffrey said. “Trump’s judgment is fundamentally flawed, and the more pressure put on him and the more isolated he becomes, I think, his ability to do harm is going to increase.”
This portrait of Trump at a moment of crisis just over a year after taking office is based on interviews with 22 White House officials, friends and advisers to the president and other administration allies, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss Trump’s state of mind.
United Earth
One day they'll make a movie about him... Oh, wait, it's been done.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
And part of another film had him in a major antagonistic role.
Someone brought up the Dollar two pages ago...
Yeah, indeed, the Dollar has fallen in reaction to the news of a possible trade war. A holiday in the US is getting cheaper and cheaper by the day...too bad that I have no intention whatsoever to allow US customs to snoop through my personal data. As long as Trump or someone like him is in charge, I won't put one toe over the border.
Part of me is now wondering if he's not trying to burn the country to the ground out of spite.
Spite, ignorance, impulse, take your pick.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Honestly the focus in this thread on Trump praising Xi's power grab is just silly, there's literally nothing new there. We already knew that Trump was an autocratic and authoritarian moron, so of course he would love that China is becoming more autocratic and authoritarian.
None of that changes the fact that Trump lacks the power to do almost anything that he wants, if he declares himself President for life that will have the same effect if he declares himself god (i.e none at-all).
edited 4th Mar '18 10:42:38 AM by Fourthspartan56
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
So, lost Internet for a couple of days there. I see that Trump's still an idiot, and that Julep again tried to enforce the use of their personal definition of imperialism when replying to me; aside from that, did I miss anything?
The NRA boycott continues. It's an opinion piece but it contains links to the material it cites. No idea if this will actually matter in the long run, but every time the NRA loses even ten cents it's a good thing in my book.
Not sure if this was during your lack of internet or not but due to a bad mood on his part Trump has decided to up and start a trade war.
edited 4th Mar '18 10:47:10 AM by Fourthspartan56
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
That was just before I changed houses and lost Internet so I knew about it but didn't get the chance to comment.
No one in the history of the world has ever won a trade war. It doesn't happen. Sure, some countries have bigger economies than others and could theoretically withstand the war better than others, but in practice that doesn't happen. No populace is prepared to sit there for long and take it while prices skyrocket and jobs are lost. Doesn't matter if the other guys is suffering more and losing more jobs and being reduced to greater poverty; people care about what's happening to them.
Now, whether Trump's voters will know to blame him for the effects of the trade war is a whole 'nother question, but whether anyone will benefit from it is already answered. No one will. We'll all just get poorer.
Quite right, the only thing approaching a good side to this is that the general public will feel this more directly than more nebulous forms of harm that his administration has been engaging in so if he goes through with this then it may very well guarantee a Democratic Wave.
edited 4th Mar '18 11:07:26 AM by Fourthspartan56
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
Speaking as a Canadian, I can safely promise that while this will hurt us, it will hurt you guys too. America uses a lot more Canadian resources than I think Trump knows, and the same goes for most other countries.
Trump, and a lot of other anti-free trade types has this vision of the world in which the USA is entirely independent and can function without any outside resources or help. It's a pipe dream, but they believe it enough to hurt themselves.
Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Canada gets invaded.
I would, there's no-one that has the inclination or ability to invade Canada. So as much as I wish the US could annex Canada a la Fallout that's just not happening in the foreseeable future 
edited 4th Mar '18 11:29:26 AM by Fourthspartan56
"Sandwiches are probably easier to fix than the actual problems" -Hylarn
Yeah, indeed, the Dollar has fallen in reaction to the news of a possible trade war. A holiday in the US is getting cheaper and cheaper by the day...too bad that I have no intention whatsoever to allow US customs to snoop through my personal data. As long as Trump or someone like him is in charge, I won't put one toe over the border.
I think the question on the other page was how the markets were responding to the tweets Trump made yesterday. The market was already closed for the weekend by the time he made them. Obviously the markets don't like trade wars, but we won't see the market reaction until tomorrow.
In the meantime, we do have this:
Here’s what the 30 Dow industrials companies say about a potential trade war
But investors didn’t seem to buy it, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.29% tumbled as much as 391 points early Friday, before paring losses to cloe down 71 points. That follows the 420-point drubbing the Dow took after the tariffs were announced.
Pay particular attention to the stand taken by the Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading American companies, that has the CE Os of 22 Dow companies as members.
The industry group said that while it “shares” the Trump’s goal of addressing overcapacity of steel and aluminum, it urges Trump to pursue “other approaches” that won’t put the economy at high risk.
“Business Roundtable strongly disagrees with [Thursday’s tariff] announcement because it will hurt the U.S. economy and American companies, workers and consumers by raising prices and resulting in foreign retaliation against U.S. exporters,” the statement said. “Using ‘national security’ tools to implement tariffs could embolden other countries to impose ‘national security’ tariffs on U.S. exporters or otherwise restrict U.S. goods and services sold to their markets.”
edited 4th Mar '18 11:30:52 AM by Wyldchyld
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Some State Congress Silliness:
W.Va. lawmakers try to give teachers smaller raise, accidentally pass bill giving them full raise
The chaos in the state legislature comes as teachers in the state have been on strike for seven days in demand of a raise.
The state House and Republican Gov. Jim Justice had both approved a 5 percent raise.
Republicans in the state Senate on Saturday thought they had voted unanimously on a bill that only offered a 4 percent raise, according to local reporters.
I just finished making Useful Notes for every single territory in the Caribbean in North America. God, that was a pain, since only Puerto Rico had a Useful Notes page beforehand. I plan on making some for the remaining 4 Caribbean countries, too.