Ok now, I'm not actually endorsing tariffs or saying that we should get rid of taxes. I'm also not trying to make any claims as to whether or not Trumps tariffs are a good or bad thing. But I don't really understand the vitriol some have against tariffs being used extensively.
I absolutely understand that the increased costs to the corporations fron tariffs will be passed on to the consumer, there's not a doubt in my mind that it'll happen pretty much 100% of the time. But the same people against tariffs are constantly clamoring about raising the corporate tax rate and THOSE increases are also going to be passed on to the consumer pretty much 100% of the time.
Again, I'm not saying that either tariffs or taxes are necessary good or bad, but I don't understand why one is "awesome" while the other is "evil".
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 05:57 PM
I'm still in favor of what Trump represents. He's a disruption to a system everyone has known for decades was broken but was content to cross their fingers and hope everyone suddenly decides to stop acting like an *******. He's been a wake up call in a lot of repects. He still does all kinds of stuff I disagree with, but the other politicians did too. It's just that they supported each other's efforts on the downlow by acknowledging only one other option. Trump has brought the idea of telling entrenched politicians to go to Hell in regards to the "safe" talking points they prefer go drone on endlessly about, and I do think that's a good thing. If there's a problem, it's existed for a long time, this way there's finally a conversation being had about it. Have you ever seen that movie Brewsters Millions? Trump is my "None of the Above" vote.
Oh shit, no had no idea about it at all. He always struck me like a good dude, but I suppose one never knows much about dating habits online unless they're addressed. I talked with him briefly about the possibility of working with him... guess I dodged a bullet there lol
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 07:28 PM
Not talking about the current situation with Trump specifically. Asking why tariffs that pass on costs to the consumer are bad but tax hikes that pass on costs to the consumer are good.
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 08:14 PM
Not true. The fact that he won despite every poll and expert saying otherwise is pretty much concrete proof of him disrupting the political landscape. The fact that he got conservatives to stop droning on about sexual morality is pretty much a concrete proof of him disrupting the political landscape. The massive increase in support from minorities for him at voter turn out is pretty much concrete proof of him disrupting the political landscape. Flatly denying that simple fact that he's disrupted the political landscape of the country seems pretty disingenuous...
And then he lost in 2020 when he had every advantage being sitting POTUS. Every election there's a winner and a loser.
False, Republicans/Conservatives are still droning on and on about gay, trans people and sexual morality in general, while having legions of pedophiles in their ranks.
But the fact that they were universally wrong the first time around is still proof of the disruption.
Yeah there are still hypocrites in the Repulican party. The party is damn near full of one variety or another. But never before on national TV did you have old Republicans admitting on national TV that sexual fidelity was irrelevant to presidential capability or excusing "lockertoom talk" from a candidate. They can flip their position back later, but they've already lost that particular argument in the mind of the independent voter.
How were his numbers compared to Republicans before him?
But keep right on acting like "before Trump" and "since Trump" aren't commonly used from both sides to note how politics have changed. I won't bother trying to haul you before the Lion to tell you what color the sky is.
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 08:58 PM
Yet most had it within the margins of error. You're acting like every poll had to Clinton 80-20.
Good lord. The only reasons Republicans don't care about sexual fidelity is because Trump is a serial cheater. Once he's out, they'll care again. eg If Gavin Newsom gets the nomination in 2028, they'll call him out for being immoral over cheating on his former wife, the frog-face Donnie Jr is hooked up with now.
Look for yourself. The point, it's not a "massive increase", it's an increase. We'll see how his popularity with minorities maintains once the Trump recession kicks in and prices skyrocket due to his trade wars.
I agree Trump has changed the Republican party. He's the most corrupt POTUS and Republicans are openly proud of it.
Speaking of, did you insurrectionist attack the Capitol on Jan 6th?
Pretty much everyone acted like it was a lock. I'm not talking about the people who needed to cover their ass on paper by including a margin for error, I'm talking about all the politicians and media acting like there was no chance of him winning the day of the election.
Yeah like I said, there's a good chance they'll flip flop when it's convenient because the party is full of hypocrites. But they've lost one of their loudest talking points, and that's going to remain obvious to the undecided going forward.
They can absolutely flip back to favoring Dems. The lasting effects I care about are new precidents being set that open the door for future improvement. "Always been that way" is no longer the argument it once was.
He's changed the democratic party too. Their political talking points have shifted. The candidates thriving are no longer the ones calling everyone on the other side deplorable nazis, it's the ones encouraging folks to actually talk to and try to understand the other side.
I don't disagree with him being disruptive because it's clear that status quo is not working for the average American (or most western democracies) and hasn't since the 2008 banking crisis.
Most people entering the workplace now have zero chance to buy a house, have savings or have any chance to retire and will likely have to work until they die.
When people are desperate for change they will look to anyone offering something different, even when that change is evidently going to make things worse for them.
In the uk it manifested in Brexit. In the US, it is manifesting as Trump/MAGA.
At the risk of getting conspiratorial, here's my take on it.
The "cost of living crisis" is being deliberately manufactured by the wealthy. Why? These people have access to all the research regarding impending environmental collapse. 20 years ago hedge funds commission a report about the economic impact of climate change and know it is going to wreck western economies. They know the only solution is a decline in global population. The way they are planning to implement that is to price populations out of being able to afford to raise families. This is what you are beginning to see emerging.
__________________ All the silver-tongued suits and cartoons that rule my world
Are saying it's a high time for hypersonic missiles
Last edited by jaden_2.0 on Apr 4th, 2025 at 09:40 PM
I honestly think that the only realistic option to improve things would be to create a major 3rd party. Head with a centrist dem and rep as the president and vice, and just focus on being the middle ground while the extremes of both party take control of their respective groups. I'm sick of Coke and Pepsi price gouging, I'd rather have RC, even if there's a bit of an aftertase.
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 09:58 PM
Both sides are not equally bad. It's degenerates like you why we end up with the worst of the two and why we're going to have an even larger transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top with Trump round two.
Which one is worse is subjective. I'm an independent libratarian, I don't like either sides way of controlling the populace which BOTH of them do equally, just about different things. Repunlicans want to control stupid shit like recreational drugs, prostitution, video game violence, and who's marrying who, etc. and Dems want to control the f*cking language and how successful everyone is allowed to be, and both sides are absolute bullshit. Until another option is presented so that I have reference point to better guage the prominance and support of the extremes... f*ck em both, let it burn.
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Well no, but do enjoy the MAGA-recession, job losses and massive price hikes Trump's trade wars are going to bring about so the people who have more than they could ever spend, can have some more.
"Tariff-related layoffs hit five US auto plants that supply factories in Canada and Mexico" #MAGA
And what... you think the billionaires would have ended up millionaires if Kamala had won and jacked up corporate tax rate? Rich people get richer, Repulican, Democrat, or Independent. Corporations cut cost when they feel a pinch, it doesn't matter who's doing the pinching or why. With tariffs the negative effects are obvious, immediate, and adjustable if necessary(not to suggest that Trump will actually adjust them), with taxes is a drawn out affair masked with inflation and amplified by the government bureaucracy that is the IRS. That doesn't mean that taxes are bad and tariffs are good because there's more nuance to it than that, but the Chicken Little routine loses impact everyday I wake up in something other than a wasteland like Dems were promising back when Trump was running in 2015
__________________
Last edited by darthgoober on Apr 4th, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Apparently, the last time the U.S. used major tariffs as a tactic was in 1828 and 1930 - both times, a major recession and economic depression followed.
Maybe that's why this tactic only gets used once every century. Everyone involved has to be dead, so they can't speak out about what a bad idea it is.
The U.S. doing this simultaneously to Canada, Mexico, China and the European Union? If there is justice, it's the U.S. that crumbles under from this.
__________________
"I'm not smart so much as I am not dumb." - Harlan Ellison
KMC Community Forums
Apr 4th, 2025 05:52 PM
