Trump 2.0

[reeshau]

More proof we are a rationalizing species...

Legal today, illegal tomorrow: How Trump is undoing the Biden border crisis

Gustavo Garagorry proudly voted for President Donald Trump, even though he knew it could complicate life for relatives who benefitted from Biden-era immigration programs.

"The Democrats are always toying with migrants' emotions," said Garagorry, a naturalized U.S. citizen. "But they've not done anything but create chaos and make promises they can't keep."

Garagorry's family members are among the roughly 1.5 million people who didn't sneak over the border or overstay a visa but took a path endorsed by President Joe Biden. They're a sliver of the nation's estimated 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

Now that his family members are in danger of losing their legal status, Garagorry doesn't blame Trump; he blames his predecessor. Biden's "legal pathways" were underpinned by law but as executive actions could still easily be undone.

Trump is now using his own executive authority to revoke these programs and the legal status of those who participated.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

More proof we are a rationalizing species...

Legal today, illegal tomorrow: How Trump is undoing the Biden border crisis

Gustavo Garagorry proudly voted for President Donald Trump, even though he knew it could complicate life for relatives who benefitted from Biden-era immigration programs.

"The Democrats are always toying with migrants' emotions," said Garagorry, a naturalized U.S. citizen. "But they've not done anything but create chaos and make promises they can't keep."

Garagorry's family members are among the roughly 1.5 million people who didn't sneak over the border or overstay a visa but took a path endorsed by President Joe Biden. They're a sliver of the nation's estimated 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

Now that his family members are in danger of losing their legal status, Garagorry doesn't blame Trump; he blames his predecessor. Biden's "legal pathways" were underpinned by law but as executive actions could still easily be undone.

Trump is now using his own executive authority to revoke these programs and the legal status of those who participated.

That's a lot of mental gymnastics. Perhaps the Democrats struggled to "make promises" they CAN keep because of the Republicans on immigration. But hey, definitely Dems to blame here. \s

[rantk81]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

[bacchi]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

I wonder how long this can endure. When blame comes to town, can Biden/Obama or wokeness or protestors be blamed for the inflationary increase on a F150? If we drop into a recession, which is likely, will illegal immigrants be blamed for layoffs?

Is there a break? I suspect there isn't for a fairly large proportion of the MAGA crowd. Like we see in West Texas, they'll refuse the measles vaccine even as their children get sick.

[GuitarStv]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

I wonder how long this can endure. When blame comes to town, can Biden/Obama or wokeness or protestors be blamed for the inflationary increase on a F150? If we drop into a recession, which is likely, will illegal immigrants be blamed for layoffs?

Is there a break? I suspect there isn't for a fairly large proportion of the MAGA crowd. Like we see in West Texas, they'll refuse the measles vaccine even as their children get sick.

Yeah, you're talking about the people who refused to accept that Biden won the last election and even was the president despite mountains of evidence.  Despite multiple investigations run by Republican supporters finding nothing.  Despite the fact that Biden was on fucking TV giving the state of the union.

Yeah, this can endure indefinitely.

[neo von retorch]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

I wonder how long this can endure. When blame comes to town, can Biden/Obama or wokeness or protestors be blamed for the inflationary increase on a F150? If we drop into a recession, which is likely, will illegal immigrants be blamed for layoffs?

Is there a break? I suspect there isn't for a fairly large proportion of the MAGA crowd. Like we see in West Texas, they'll refuse the measles vaccine even as their children get sick.

We're very good at rationalizing our (poor) decisions.

Yeah the F-150 is a bit more but that's because we're choosing to only use high quality American parts now. It's last twice as long, it's easily worth the increased price!

Coastal elites fucking around with the stock market, manipulating that shit and forcing Powell to cause a recession. Should send them all to El Salvador!

You got laid off? See this is the problem, we haven't gotten enough of the criminal foreigners outta this country yet! Probably hired somebody to replace you just based on some diversity bullshit.

[AJDZee]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

You would be shocked at how bad it would have to get before MAGA would admit they were wrong.
But you know what, if the roles were reversed somehow, same would goes for progressives.
It's human nature to justify, spin, confirm your bias, protect your pride.
It would be foolish to think one big group of the population is more susceptible to it than the other.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

You would be shocked at how bad it would have to get before MAGA would admit they were wrong.
But you know what, if the roles were reversed somehow, same would goes for progressives.
It's human nature to justify, spin, confirm your bias, protect your pride.
It would be foolish to think one big group of the population is more susceptible to it than the other.

While I agree that we all are susceptible to confirmation bias, I would also add that many folks work hard to take in a wide variety of news, work to understand science & facts, and are open to changing opinions/perspectives as time goes on. I think wanting to understand logical outcomes & believing in facts is something that separates some political groups, in fact.

[sixwings]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

I wonder how long this can endure. When blame comes to town, can Biden/Obama or wokeness or protestors be blamed for the inflationary increase on a F150? If we drop into a recession, which is likely, will illegal immigrants be blamed for layoffs?

Is there a break? I suspect there isn't for a fairly large proportion of the MAGA crowd. Like we see in West Texas, they'll refuse the measles vaccine even as their children get sick.

I do think the "he's an asshole with a great economy" group is relatively large and when the economy is no longer good he's only an asshole. I think a lot the hardcore MAGA bandwagon to death group is smaller than people on the internet think it is. Fox News only gets about 2.2M daily viewers. 75M people voted for trump, so only like 3%ish of trump voters are fox news viewers. Trump won about 75% of the republican vote in the primaries, however a large portion of that was after Haley dropped out. In the primaries he got 17M votes, so only 23% of general election voters were voting for him in the primaries. There's a lot at play right now, a farm bill needs to be passed, tax cuts, inflation is heating up and there's a recession. If a farm bill isn't passed soon that could dramatically change things in rural areas and with this kind of chaos I'm not sure a farm bill or tax cuts can be passed and the window for legislation is definitely closing with only a few months left where republicans will be willing to vote on stuff with very, very little movement towards drafting bills.

Trump probably holds somewhere around 65-70% support among republicans with an absolute destroyed economy, and that's pretty optimistic for republicans, it could be even lower. I think 2026 could get reallllllllly bad for republicans. They will be forced to either break with Trumps economic agenda on tariffs and be labelled a traitor by a large group of republicans, or they have to stick with Trump and get smashed by everyone else. I suspect they will stay with Trump and talk about how concerned they are with all but do nothing.

And yes, I definitely think there will be elections in 2026, there may be some laws in some states that make it harder to vote but there will be elections. Whether Vance certifies the election if it's an undesired outcome is another issue, I'm not convinced he would.

Also, it's worth nothing that restrictive voting laws may not actually be in republican favor anymore. There's been a big shift among educated engaged voters over the last 10 years in voting dem and low engagement voters showing up for republicans. Restrictive voting laws could end up hurting republican whose voters aren't the brights bulbs in the bunch and only show up occaisonally and aren't that engaged. 

[bacchi]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

You would be shocked at how bad it would have to get before MAGA would admit they were wrong.
But you know what, if the roles were reversed somehow, same would goes for progressives.
It's human nature to justify, spin, confirm your bias, protect your pride.
It would be foolish to think one big group of the population is more susceptible to it than the other.

While I agree that we all are susceptible to confirmation bias, I would also add that many folks work hard to take in a wide variety of news, work to understand science & facts, and are open to changing opinions/perspectives as time goes on. I think wanting to understand logical outcomes & believing in facts is something that separates some political groups, in fact.

The MAGA crowd is also on a particularly strident path of not trusting experts, whether they be epidemiologists or atmospheric scientists.

[Sandi_k]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

You would be shocked at how bad it would have to get before MAGA would admit they were wrong.
But you know what, if the roles were reversed somehow, same would goes for progressives.
It's human nature to justify, spin, confirm your bias, protect your pride.
It would be foolish to think one big group of the population is more susceptible to it than the other.

Not true. Conservatives are literally wired for black/white, right/wrong, mine/yours thinking.

https://archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/57386

[reeshau]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

You would be shocked at how bad it would have to get before MAGA would admit they were wrong.
But you know what, if the roles were reversed somehow, same would goes for progressives.
It's human nature to justify, spin, confirm your bias, protect your pride.
It would be foolish to think one big group of the population is more susceptible to it than the other.

Not true. Conservatives are literally wired for black/white, right/wrong, mine/yours thinking.

https://archives.northwestu.edu/handle/nu/57386

Also, going back to the 2016 election, any 3-time Trump voter has been invested in him for a decade.  That is a long relationship to break up, and a whole lot of your own life you have to figuratively throw away to move on.

[jrhampt]

Some people would rather bear the brunt of these policies and endure cruelty and unfairness, rather than admit they were wrong.  <shrug>

I wonder how long this can endure. When blame comes to town, can Biden/Obama or wokeness or protestors be blamed for the inflationary increase on a F150? If we drop into a recession, which is likely, will illegal immigrants be blamed for layoffs?

Is there a break? I suspect there isn't for a fairly large proportion of the MAGA crowd. Like we see in West Texas, they'll refuse the measles vaccine even as their children get sick.

I do think the "he's an asshole with a great economy" group is relatively large and when the economy is no longer good he's only an asshole.

I think this is correct.  It may take a lot to lose the 25M or so hardcore MAGA, but there are plenty of independents and others who actually did vote mostly on the economy, and he's starting to lose those now.

[Christof]

It may take a lot to lose the 25M or so hardcore MAGA, but there are plenty of independents and others who actually did vote mostly on the economy, and he's starting to lose those now.

I'm not so sure... Even when talking to friends I hear things like:

- Sure, it's not great, but Kamala would have been so much worse.

- At least he is doing something.

- Or the intellectual version: Churchill promised tears, blood and sweat, but in the end things got much better.

You assume that people not only blame him and his decisions for the current situation, but also assume that it won't get better, wouldn't have been worse otherwise, and that others (EU, China) aren't at fault.

[dividendman]

It may take a lot to lose the 25M or so hardcore MAGA, but there are plenty of independents and others who actually did vote mostly on the economy, and he's starting to lose those now.

I'm not so sure... Even when talking to friends I hear things like:

- Sure, it's not great, but Kamala would have been so much worse.

- At least he is doing something.

- Or the intellectual version: Churchill promised tears, blood and sweat, but in the end things got much better.

You assume that people not only blame him and his decisions for the current situation, but also assume that it won't get better, wouldn't have been worse otherwise, and that others (EU, China) aren't at fault.

Comparing Trump to Churchill is already a sign of insanity, I literally LOL'd at that.

[Christof]

Comparing Trump to Churchill is already a sign of insanity, I literally LOL'd at that.

I sigh silently, because these are otherwise nice folks I've known for quite a while. But I get you.

[Cannot Wait!]

https://share.libbyapp.com/title/6663966

I'm about 1/3 of the way through "The Chaos Machine" by Max Fisher and it explains what's happening in our world today. Mind blowing.

[Travis]

I'll see if I can find the original postings, but it looks like the US Trade Representative to the WTO filed a series of complaints to justify the tariffs that also looks like it was written by ChatGPT

https://bsky.app/profile/josephpolitano.bsky.social/post/3lmax7eirxc22

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Looks like Congress is coming around to the fact the Trump administration has no plan and maybe, just maybe, they should take back their authority over tariffs - WATCH LIVE: Trump trade chief to face Senate grilling on tariffs, trade policy

The hearing is ongoing, but there is no doubt several states are starting to fracture in their 'hands off' approach...

[jrhampt]

Looks like Congress is coming around to the fact the Trump administration has no plan and maybe, just maybe, they should take back their authority over tariffs - WATCH LIVE: Trump trade chief to face Senate grilling on tariffs, trade policy

The hearing is ongoing, but there is no doubt several states are starting to fracture in their 'hands off' approach...

That would be awesome, since it is THEIR JOB and they need to put a stop to this silliness ASAP.

[partgypsy]

https://share.libbyapp.com/title/6663966

I'm about 1/3 of the way through "The Chaos Machine" by Max Fisher and it explains what's happening in our world today. Mind blowing.

I haven't read this particular book. But the people who think this is business as usual, or maybe people will vote against Trump in the midterms, doesn't understand it is no longer business as usual. This is project 2025. Our government has been rewritten.
As Tad Stoermer said, authoritarianism doesn't "have" a natural stopping point. 
https://billmoyers.com/story/increasingly-necessity-15-point-guide-surviving-authoritarianism/

[ChpBstrd]

Looks like Congress is coming around to the fact the Trump administration has no plan and maybe, just maybe, they should take back their authority over tariffs - WATCH LIVE: Trump trade chief to face Senate grilling on tariffs, trade policy

The hearing is ongoing, but there is no doubt several states are starting to fracture in their 'hands off' approach...

That would be awesome, since it is THEIR JOB and they need to put a stop to this silliness ASAP.

If I could persuade the Democrats to adopt one simple idea, it would be the idea that the presidency has accumulated too much power, is no longer a co-equal branch of government, and poses a threat to our democracy.

-Repeal the "emergency" laws that enable the president to set tariffs (taxation) without approval from Congress
-Repeal the "emergency" laws the enable the president to wage war without a declaration of war from Congress
-Repeal any law or rule enabling the president to unilaterally negotiate what are essentially treaties without approval from Congress - all this stuff is a Congressional duty per the constitution.
-Enable the president to be impeached for intentionally sabotaging the implementation of laws passed by Congress, such as IRS funding, EPA funding, dept. of Ed funding, etc.
-Strengthen laws to prevent personal enrichment from public office, such as requiring divestment and complete financial transparency as a condition of inauguration
-Require members of Congress to be present more often, by making it easier to bring bills to a vote at any time
-Create a branch or branches of law enforcement under the legislative and/or judicial branches whose sole purpose is to continuously investigate members of the executive branch and the president. These people need to be under investigation at all times, no matter how honest they seem.

Dems could capture so much energy from all the people and businesses who worry we are heading the direction of Russia and think Congress has become a bunch of useless grifters. Constrain the president and force Congress to work instead of delegating everything to the president!

It makes so much sense the Dems probably won't do it, and will instead keep talking about Palestine or the Gini Coefficient or the outrage of cutting funding for some obscure federal bureaucracy.

[partgypsy]

Looks like Congress is coming around to the fact the Trump administration has no plan and maybe, just maybe, they should take back their authority over tariffs - WATCH LIVE: Trump trade chief to face Senate grilling on tariffs, trade policy

The hearing is ongoing, but there is no doubt several states are starting to fracture in their 'hands off' approach...

That would be awesome, since it is THEIR JOB and they need to put a stop to this silliness ASAP.

If I could persuade the Democrats to adopt one simple idea, it would be the idea that the presidency has accumulated too much power, is no longer a co-equal branch of government, and poses a threat to our democracy.

-Repeal the "emergency" laws that enable the president to set tariffs (taxation) without approval from Congress
-Repeal the "emergency" laws the enable the president to wage war without a declaration of war from Congress
-Repeal any law or rule enabling the president to unilaterally negotiate what are essentially treaties without approval from Congress - all this stuff is a Congressional duty per the constitution.
-Enable the president to be impeached for intentionally sabotaging the implementation of laws passed by Congress, such as IRS funding, EPA funding, dept. of Ed funding, etc.
-Strengthen laws to prevent personal enrichment from public office, such as requiring divestment and complete financial transparency as a condition of inauguration
-Require members of Congress to be present more often, by making it easier to bring bills to a vote at any time
-Create a branch or branches of law enforcement under the legislative and/or judicial branches whose sole purpose is to continuously investigate members of the executive branch and the president. These people need to be under investigation at all times, no matter how honest they seem.

Dems could capture so much energy from all the people and businesses who worry we are heading the direction of Russia and think Congress has become a bunch of useless grifters. Constrain the president and force Congress to work instead of delegating everything to the president!

It makes so much sense the Dems probably won't do it, and will instead keep talking about Palestine or the Gini Coefficient or the outrage of cutting funding for some obscure federal bureaucracy.

That, and legislation for Election Reform. This should be a completely non partisan issue where both sides should be on board. Overturning citizens united is a start. That and the interpretation that people and groups can bribe politiicians and judges after the fact.

[jrhampt]

That's a great plan, but Dems don't hold Congress so at this time it would need to be a bipartisan effort.  Republicans would need to get on board with this.

[dividendman]

The only way it happens is if one party controls congress and the presidency, and loses everything in an election. Then the lame duck congress and president can (and would be motivated) to pass laws to restrict the opposition president from doing too much.

[Travis]

Administration almost completely out of the "prosecute you for financial crimes" business

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/08/trump-crypto-fraud-doj-enforcement

https://archive.li/GLBtf

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/doge-to-shutter-doj-tax-division

[Gremlin]

Looks like Congress is coming around to the fact the Trump administration has no plan and maybe, just maybe, they should take back their authority over tariffs - WATCH LIVE: Trump trade chief to face Senate grilling on tariffs, trade policy

The hearing is ongoing, but there is no doubt several states are starting to fracture in their 'hands off' approach...

That would be awesome, since it is THEIR JOB and they need to put a stop to this silliness ASAP.

If I could persuade the Democrats to adopt one simple idea, it would be the idea that the presidency has accumulated too much power, is no longer a co-equal branch of government, and poses a threat to our democracy.

-Repeal the "emergency" laws that enable the president to set tariffs (taxation) without approval from Congress
-Repeal the "emergency" laws the enable the president to wage war without a declaration of war from Congress
-Repeal any law or rule enabling the president to unilaterally negotiate what are essentially treaties without approval from Congress - all this stuff is a Congressional duty per the constitution.
-Enable the president to be impeached for intentionally sabotaging the implementation of laws passed by Congress, such as IRS funding, EPA funding, dept. of Ed funding, etc.
-Strengthen laws to prevent personal enrichment from public office, such as requiring divestment and complete financial transparency as a condition of inauguration
-Require members of Congress to be present more often, by making it easier to bring bills to a vote at any time
-Create a branch or branches of law enforcement under the legislative and/or judicial branches whose sole purpose is to continuously investigate members of the executive branch and the president. These people need to be under investigation at all times, no matter how honest they seem.

Dems could capture so much energy from all the people and businesses who worry we are heading the direction of Russia and think Congress has become a bunch of useless grifters. Constrain the president and force Congress to work instead of delegating everything to the president!

It makes so much sense the Dems probably won't do it, and will instead keep talking about Palestine or the Gini Coefficient or the outrage of cutting funding for some obscure federal bureaucracy.

Congress has the power to declare a Presidentially declared emergency event over.  If brought to Congress, it must be voted on within 14 days.  Your Democratic Party brought such a bill.  Your Republicans passed a procedural bill that stated "for the purposes of this bill, a 'day' is defined as the length of the term of Congress".  In other words, the Republicans in Congress have ceded that unfettered power to your President for the duration of their term.

By the way, all of those things will need to happen before you will be trusted internationally as an ally again.

[Travis]

Treasury agreed to share taxpayer data with DHS to go after immigrants. IRS chief (third this year) resigning in protest.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/08/irs-dhs-tax-data-immigrants/

https://archive.li/Ixe0b

[RetiredAt63]

Treasury agreed to share taxpayer data with DHS to go after immigrants. IRS chief (third this year) resigning in protest.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/08/irs-dhs-tax-data-immigrants/

https://archive.li/Ixe0b

Good for her.  It sends a message to the general public when career civil servants resign in protest.

Way back when, our PM, Steven Harper, made the long form census optional (it was mandatory). Harper said the chief statistician at Stats Can (Dr. Munir Sheikh) had approved it.  Dr. Sheikh had not and resigned in protest.  Harper's government was another one that preferred basing policy on ideology instead of facts.

https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/when-harper-killed-the-census-he-robbed-canadians_b_5614355

[Omy]

The current regime wants everyone to resign. I'm afraid that replacing the good people with loyalists will make things worse. Selfishly, I'd prefer they stay and find ways to resist from inside.

[NorCal]

The current regime wants everyone to resign. I'm afraid that replacing the good people with loyalists will make things worse. Selfishly, I'd prefer they stay and find ways to resist from inside.

They’re already going full accelerationist, and it’s outside the rest of our control anyways.

A normal authoritarian regime filled with yes-men usually takes a couple decades to crumble under its own inefficiency. The current trade war has caused more economic damage in a week than most dictators can cause in a lifetime.  It’s almost impressive how much they’ve destroyed so fast.

[EscapeVelocity2020]

Not sure why Wall St. is hopeful that Trump 'making deals' with countries around tariffs will work out well, judging by his deal-making so far with Russia and Ukraine, or Israel - Palestine...  He's basically going to ask them for things they can't possibly provide then throw a public tantrum about how unfair everyone is being.  We may even get escalation, unless Congress finally decides enough is enough.

[GuitarStv]

In retaliation for the American 'reciprocal' tariffs of 104% China is putting 84% tariffs on US goods.  Getting close to trade embargo territory here.  Of all the countries that the states could try to bully, I think China is probably best positioned to fight back in a powerful way.

[moustachebar]

We seem to be incapable of stopping any of this.

I want to hope the damage will compel Congress to act, but if they do, it won't be against the many worrisome things going on, it'll be just against tariffs. Broad sections of the electorate (and Congress) actually like the other stuff, and gerrymandering, the electoral college, voter suppression, and elimination of electoral security make it unlikely any coalition will feel the need to speak up.

There is nothing on tap to stem the executive's broad destruction of agencies created by Congress. We are in a taxation without representation moment. We have always funded things we don't agree with, because other representatives had other priorities. Instead, we are at a point where the Article 2 branch is unilaterally overriding decades of the work of the Article 1 branch. The Article 3 branch is enabling it based upon arbitrary, capricious, and novel theories specifically designed to suppress the Article 1 branch and purge decades of its action.

I also want to hope for maximum destruction that'll lead to a miracle where this all gets stopped, with broad losses in Congress and the executive branch, but I see no reason for hope.

Instead, given our populist confirmation bias/ postjustification, I think somehow this economic damage will all be the libs' fault. Probably for ruining the country with debt and DEI and forcing all this upon us now. Already it's being justified this way: daddy's coming home to punish us, making us take our medicine. If people were pissed before, and brought this upon us, imagine how pissed they will be soon, and how they will take it out on us all.

[GuitarStv]

We seem to be incapable of stopping any of this.

I want to hope the damage will compel Congress to act, but if they do, it won't be against the many worrisome things going on, it'll be just against tariffs. Broad sections of the electorate (and Congress) actually like the other stuff, and gerrymandering, the electoral college, voter suppression, and elimination of electoral security make it unlikely any coalition will feel the need to speak up.

There is nothing on tap to stem the executive's broad destruction of agencies created by Congress. We are in a taxation without representation moment. We have always funded things we don't agree with, because other representatives had other priorities. Instead, we are at a point where the Article 2 branch is unilaterally overriding decades of the work of the Article 1 branch. The Article 3 branch is enabling it based upon arbitrary, capricious, and novel theories specifically designed to suppress the Article 1 branch and purge decades of its action.

I also want to hope for maximum destruction that'll lead to a miracle where this all gets stopped, with broad losses in Congress and the executive branch, but I see no reason for hope.

Instead, given our populist confirmation bias/ postjustification, I think somehow this economic damage will all be the libs' fault. Probably for ruining the country with debt and DEI and forcing all this upon us now. Already it's being justified this way: daddy's coming home to punish us, making us take our medicine. If people were pissed before, and brought this upon us, imagine how pissed they will be soon, and how they will take it out on us all.

TLDR - "Thanks Obama."

[rocketpj]

In retaliation for the American 'reciprocal' tariffs of 104% China is putting 84% tariffs on US goods.  Getting close to trade embargo territory here.  Of all the countries that the states could try to bully, I think China is probably best positioned to fight back in a powerful way.

More importantly, they have placed export controls on the rare earth metals that the US desperately needs for its defense and tech sectors.  Which China produces almost 90% of globally, and will take decades and billions to replace production elsewhere. 

Totally aside from crushing Walmart, Amazon and all the other import based companies, this puts the US military and tech sector into a hole they can't escape.  Basic materials needed to make jet engines, superconductors, computer chips etc.  It makes building electric cars - including Teslas - more or less impossible in the US.

Trump is, of course, too colossally stupid to grasp this, or he doesn't care.  He seems to still think he's negotiating real estate development contracts.

[ChpBstrd]

In retaliation for the American 'reciprocal' tariffs of 104% China is putting 84% tariffs on US goods.  Getting close to trade embargo territory here.  Of all the countries that the states could try to bully, I think China is probably best positioned to fight back in a powerful way.

There will soon be shortages of manufactured goods on the shelves of WalMart, pharmacies, Amazon, and home improvement stores. The political conversation will turn to price gouging, and that will open the doors to price controls and the associated shortages like we had in the age of Nixon. Stock up on socks, shoes, meds, and tshirts while you can.

[Christof]

More importantly, they have placed export controls on the rare earth metals that the US desperately needs for its defense and tech sectors.  Which China produces almost 90% of globally, and will take decades and billions to replace production elsewhere. 

If you want we from the EU can add export restriction on AMSL. That's a company based in the Netherland sourcing many components from Germany and other European countries. It's also the only company in the world that manufactures machines capable of producing 2nm, 3nm, and 5nm chips.

The companies that provide the majority of hens in the US are from Germany and the Netherland, too. No hens, no eggs...

Just saying...

[GuitarStv]

In retaliation for the American 'reciprocal' tariffs of 104% China is putting 84% tariffs on US goods.  Getting close to trade embargo territory here.  Of all the countries that the states could try to bully, I think China is probably best positioned to fight back in a powerful way.

More importantly, they have placed export controls on the rare earth metals that the US desperately needs for its defense and tech sectors.  Which China produces almost 90% of globally, and will take decades and billions to replace production elsewhere. 

Totally aside from crushing Walmart, Amazon and all the other import based companies, this puts the US military and tech sector into a hole they can't escape.  Basic materials needed to make jet engines, superconductors, computer chips etc.  It makes building electric cars - including Teslas - more or less impossible in the US.

Trump is, of course, too colossally stupid to grasp this, or he doesn't care.  He seems to still think he's negotiating real estate development contracts.

Yeah.  I think China has been very smart about this thus far.  They're not going to raise tariffs as high as the US is imposing because (due to the trade deficit between the two countries) it won't really benefit them as much.  Restricting those items that the US can't really source anywhere else will be massively damaging and will seriously damage the country that chose to elect the Trump dictatorship.  The only question is whether or not Trump (or any of his advisors) are intelligent enough to realize this, or can pull themselves away from the personal enrichment grifts to notice/care.  Might be a problem for future governments (assuming America continues as a democracy).  Either way, it ensures that American ability to exert control over the rest of the world takes a good hit, and no other country will be anything but sympathetic to China for doing it.

[sixwings]

I was hopeful that the US would find a way out but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the only out is dissolution and balkanization of the US, which is.... not likely to happen peacefully.

I just don't see how the US can unfuck itself here. When the president doesn't live in reality and the other branches of government won't stand up to that, it's the end of reality.

[deborah]

Greenland has a lot of rare earths. One of the main reasons Trump wants it. China has by far the most. There are also significant deposits in Russia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, the USA and Australia. However, we’re going to run out of them very quickly - like in something like 40 years. Canada has deposits of other critical minerals.

[ChpBstrd]

In retaliation for the American 'reciprocal' tariffs of 104% China is putting 84% tariffs on US goods.  Getting close to trade embargo territory here.  Of all the countries that the states could try to bully, I think China is probably best positioned to fight back in a powerful way.

There will soon be shortages of manufactured goods on the shelves of WalMart, pharmacies, Amazon, and home improvement stores. The political conversation will turn to price gouging, and that will open the doors to price controls and the associated shortages like we had in the age of Nixon. Stock up on socks, shoes, meds, and tshirts while you can.

[rocketpj]

Greenland has a lot of rare earths. One of the main reasons Trump wants it. China has by far the most. There are also significant deposits in Russia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, the USA and Australia. However, we’re going to run out of them very quickly - like in something like 40 years. Canada has deposits of other critical minerals.

Oh sure, rare earth metals aren't actually rare.  They are very difficult to extract and process.  If the US invests billions in mining and processing you might be able to replace Chinese production in a decade or two.  Who is looking to invest in the US right now?

As for us Canadians, yes, we do have some rare earth mining.  But you also started a trade war with us, remember? 

[bacchi]

I was hopeful that the US would find a way out but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the only out is dissolution and balkanization of the US, which is.... not likely to happen peacefully.

I just don't see how the US can unfuck itself here. When the president doesn't live in reality and the other branches of government won't stand up to that, it's the end of reality.

It all depends on the 2026 elections: how much gerrymandering goes on, how much disenfranchisement the courts allow, if the President announces a delay because of a nationwide "emergency," etc. Then it'll be a long slog back to respectability.

The recent elections show a 10-15% swing, even in very red districts. That'll only grow. Fox News can call shit gold for only so long.

I think it'll happen sooner if the madness continues. I'm expecting a worldwide depression.

[mtnrider]

I was hopeful that the US would find a way out but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the only out is dissolution and balkanization of the US, which is.... not likely to happen peacefully.

I just don't see how the US can unfuck itself here. When the president doesn't live in reality and the other branches of government won't stand up to that, it's the end of reality.

This scenario is in line with the Dark Enlightenment movement that Vance has been influenced by, and is pushed by conservative supporters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment

[Fru-Gal]

I was hopeful that the US would find a way out but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the only out is dissolution and balkanization of the US, which is.... not likely to happen peacefully.

I just don't see how the US can unfuck itself here. When the president doesn't live in reality and the other branches of government won't stand up to that, it's the end of reality.

This scenario is in line with the Dark Enlightenment movement that Vance has been influenced by, and is pushed by conservative supporters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment

if you look at the administration, isn’t it basically representing confederate interests?

[mtnrider]

Trump wants to stop state regulation of energy production and make energy production be under federal jurisdiction.  So much for state's rights. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/apr/09/donald-trump-tariffs-full-effect-executive-orders-coal-us-politics-latest-updates-news
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/

[mtnrider]

I was hopeful that the US would find a way out but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that the only out is dissolution and balkanization of the US, which is.... not likely to happen peacefully.

I just don't see how the US can unfuck itself here. When the president doesn't live in reality and the other branches of government won't stand up to that, it's the end of reality.

This scenario is in line with the Dark Enlightenment movement that Vance has been influenced by, and is pushed by conservative supporters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Enlightenment

if you look at the administration, isn’t it basically representing confederate interests?

I'd say sort of.  When I think of the confederacy, I think of: slavery and state's rights (an excuse to continue slavery).  They had other stuff related to governing themselves like independence from the non-slave states.  If I step back, the Dark Enlightenment and the Confederacy have a similar form.

Do you see other parallels that I'm missing?

[DoubleDown]

Meanwhile, despite the slashing of government services for the people in the name of "efficiency" and saving money, the Antichrist and his SecDef have promised the first-ever "One trillion dollar" military budget for the U.S. This is the size of the next twelve largest military budgets in the world combined. As I said in a previous post, plenty large enough to bully the rest of the world to do whatever Trump demands. I realize some on this forum from other nations think their own countries will stand up to Trump (and I completely agree with that sentiment), but I do hope they understand it is possible or even likely in the future that they will be under the same yoke.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/07/hegseth-trump-1-trillion-defense-budget-00007147

[Travis]

ICE Director wants to see immigrants shipped out of the US like it's an Amazon Prime operation.  I'm sure sending them to a "works makes you free camp" will be next.

https://michiganadvance.com/2025/04/09/ice-director-envisions-amazon-like-mass-deportation-system-prime-but-with-human-beings/